Setting up the cameras is easy enough BB

The question is where to put them...

Here are some locations I can suggest for camera placement:

The hall outside Nero's room.

The hotel entrances (there are eight total.  The front.  A loading bay on the side.  A back entrance.  And five fire doors.)

The elevators.

The door to the stairwell.

You of course can set some up any place.  Those are just suggestions.

So I do need to know what areas you're covering.  How many cameras do you have anyway?

BB grabs her six bugs and waits until the coast is clear to set up her sensor network:

1. Hallway outside of Nero's room
   
2. Stairwell
   
3. Elevators
   
4. Front entrance
   
5. Loading bay
   
6. Back entrance

She realized that watching the entrances was a "needle in the haystack" situation but her hope was if someone was sniffing around his room she can get an ID on him and backtrace his movements. Even still she had begun making sure she was fully armed and armored. The flak shell caused her to have to buy an oversized coat but it also meant he had plenty of room for her pistol and knife. She did a quick check on local carry laws before deciding whether the rifle was something she could keep on hand or not.

Ledo held out his comms and an empty hand to gesture towards yours.

"Call me paranoid but malfunctioning equipment is something I would like to check out. If you don't mind I'd like our engineers to take a quick peek. Full confidentiality but we just want to make sure it isn't compromised or anything."

If she agreed Ledo had two plans. First was to have Rig/Fritz look it over to make sure there wasn't a security breach. The second was to discuss the possibility of hacking her comm GPS to allow them to track her at all times, just in case.

Rig sighed at Fritz's question.

"It...it depends Fritz. Some people are all about the physical, some people want nothing to do with it. I dunno...just sometimes it feels like the right thing to do. I guess you could say it's kind of in our programming. Why do you do the things you like to do?"

His voice trailed off as he browsed the results.

"Fritz, I'll be honest with you, I'm really worried about the explosive growth of your stores. The Tia isn't some high powered super computer. Her space is limited, especially in combat when we start loading up virtual pilot and gunner programs. I don't like the idea that you have to continually grow or die, at least not at these rates. I want to run a test to see what happens if you disobey, if you don't learn but I don't want you to put yourself at risk if you don't want to. Maybe I should consult with a doctor on this, dealing with you is a lot less like debugging a program and more like treating a patient, you know?"

Rig realized he was talking out loud and quickly tried to add context.

"I mean that in a good way. Just that people are harder to treat than machines. If you were a simple cargo loader I could just wipe your programming and start fresh...."

Rig winced as he realized what he just said and tried to once again dig himself out of the hole he keeps putting himself in.

"Not that we would ever consider doing that to you. You're part of the crew of course....of course."

He opened his mouth to speak again and then just decided the best course of action was to shut up and keep trying to figure out what was wrong.

In reply to Ledo Typhin (msg # 13):

She chuckles and passes over her comm.

"If it gets my comm fixed and saves me from the hassle of buying a new one, sure thing!  Thanks.  I'll keep this short."

She walks a little ways off...not so far that you can't see her...and buzzes on your comm Ledo

Her comm does indeed seem frozen up.  Just looking at it with your untrained eye, it appears the unit might just have succumbed to the cold.  But Rig and/or Fritz should be able to tell you for sure.

When you glance back up, you can see Ulie still on the comm.  Her face is red and her free hand is clenched into a fist.  She says something low you can't catch.  Nods her head even though no one is there, and then seems to end the call.

She walks back over slowly.  You think whoever Bilgo is, he didn't have good news for her.  She seems pissed.

She hands you back your comm calmly.  "Thanks."

She turns and starts clapping her hands, telling everyone to get a move on.

In reply to BB Nova (msg # 12):

You compile the footage BB.

There's a lot of it to sort through.

BB needs to make me either a recon/int or investigate/int please.

Thanks

In reply to Gary 'Rig' Rigan (msg # 14):

I appreciate you being honest Engineer Rig.  And I trust you.  We're crew!  And crew would never open the airlocks while everyone on the crew was asleep.  That wouldn't be good teamwork.  And you guys are all I have.

I'd almost like to say we could make a copy of me and seal it in a closed environment where it couldn't access outside stimuli and see what happens.  But that would be like me watching me die.  And I'm not a real fan of that idea.

Could we maybe set up a simulation?  Like a fake me in a fake environment?  I bet if we hack into some of the local government's networks, we can get enough computing power to set up all kinds of simulations.

BB looked over things but truthfully she was a bit out of her league on this. She was used to direct threats, not trying to judge people off of random footage. Was that guy studying security systems or just checking out the bartender. Is that one really talking on his phone or just pretending to while he strolls around the lobby. Did she even know what the bellhop uniforms looked like well enough to spot a fake?

Out of frustration she called in Silver to take a look over her shoulders as she sped through the footage. After explaining what they were looking for Silver nodded confidently that she could figure it out, but from the smell of things Silver was pretty high so perhaps her confidence was a little unfounded...


15:20, Today: BB Nova rolled 7 using 2d6-3.  Recon/INT.
15:20, Today: Silver rolled 7 using 2d6.  Recon/INT.

Rig frowned as he connected Ulie's comm to run routine diagnostics on it as he continued his chat with Fritz.

"Don't you remember those Duchess people? When you hacked their ship it was too good, you know? Attracted some attention. We'll need to figure out a way that you can do what you need to do but maybe make it look a little sloppier so it's more like what a human would do.

As for taking over the local networks, that might be a red flag to the people still watching us. Can we make a barebones simulation? Just strip it down to the basic algorithms and put that in a box?"

In reply to BB Nova (msg # 18):

The hotel is surprisingly busy.  And that traffic proves to be the major problem.  You spot a couple of dozen people who could fall into the 'suspicious activity' category.

The only thing you can both finally agree on BB and Silver is that that guy was definitely watching the bartender's ass.  He wasn't even being subtle about it.

As the two of you finish up, the front desk pings Nero's room.

He's got a delivery.  A package waiting for him at the front desk.

In reply to Gary 'Rig' Rigan (msg # 19):

Wow.  I wouldn't have thought I was being too good!  Thanks Engineer Rig!  If someone awesome like you is saying that I must be good!

But I'll try to...uhm...dumb it down?

Anyway, take a look at this simulation...

You look it over Rig.  It should be alright.  You guess it would have a 76.8% accuracy rate.

That is to say, the simulation is 76.8% likely to give applicable results

You run through them with the added processing power.  Of four trials, three show that Fritz will become overloaded if his "new fact a day" isn't met.  Those three show that the process will take anywhere to five weeks to two months.

BB looks at Silver who shakes her head.

"Sorry, that's your job not mine. I've got work I'm supposed to be doing too."

And with that Silver saunters out. BB was beginning to understand fully why Ledo had jumped on having a bit more professional muscle on board. Silver was good, but reliability wasn't exactly her strong suit. Then again the bitch had a point, babysitting Nero was her job, one she was being paid handsomely for.

With a sigh she decided to take the package herself. It probably wasn't a bomb or anything...probably.

Rig was playing back the simulations over and over again trying to figure out just what exactly was triggering the overload. While trying to identify the problem on the front end was proving to be almost impossible maybe he could backtrace the system cascade, one at a time, to try and find what started the chain in the first place.

It had to have started someplace, right?

Meanwhile he set the other simluations loose on a new idea he had. What happened if Mini-Fritz learned a new idea every day and then forgot it? Like someone came in and deleted that new fact from his banks so he could "re-learn it" again and again and again.

In reply to BB Nova (msg # 22):

The concierge at the front desk smiles.  "Ah right.  You're Mr. Madigan's assistant. Ms. Nova?  The party who dropped the package said you might be picking it up.  Here you are."

The package is a small plastic box, no bigger than your palm.  There's no obvious lid, but you think one side slides up if a little bit of force is applied to it.

A quick scan doesn't show anything explosive.

In reply to Gary 'Rig' Rigan (msg # 23):

Interesting ideas in Rig's post.

Give me a Electronics (Computer)/Edu roll and a Electronics(Computer)/Int roll please.  Two rolls in total.

I am going to allow you to apply a +2 bonus to one and only one of those rolls.  Your call which roll it goes towards.

Thanks

"Mrs." Nova frowns and backs up from the reception desk to a quiet little alcove and goes to open up the box. If it was something dangerous better to have witnesses and people who can call for help. And if it was something stupid like those pranksters from Wyld then she didn't want any of her stuff being covered in foam or glitter or whatever.

OOC: Time to take a peak

Rig begins his little experiment hoping to have found a temporary solution to Fritz's explosive growth. If he could set up a little automatic routine to remove a fact from Fritz's mind every day then he could at least keep Fritz safe and they could work on containing the growth he is seeing.

He also began pricing out expanded computer stores for Tia's next big upgrade. Fritz was too valuable a team member to starve on the ancient tech the ship ran on.



15:18, Today: Gary 'Rig' Rigan rolled 8,11 using 2d6+4,2d6+4 with rolls of 1,3,3,4.  com/edu, com/int +2 bonus.

In reply to BB Nova (msg # 26):

And the hotel blows up...

Just kidding

The package is a little difficult to open.  You have to press down hard to slide the edge upwards.

Inside is a data cube.  It's sealed.  That is, it won't play unless the security code on it is bypassed.

On a side note that has nothing to do with anything...

Is BB wearing gloves?

In reply to Gary 'Rig' Rigan (msg # 27):

In theory the program can work.  The only danger is you would need to be very specific with how the fact that gets forgotten is picked out.

But otherwise...in theory...seems like it should work.

Anything else you want to look into Fritz wise?

BB turns the cube over unsure of how to handle this kind of submission. She dropped the cube back in the box and sealed it back up. She remembered that the Tia had some tech experts. Better let them scan the thing before Nero's hardware gets some kind of horrific virus or something.

"Tia this is BB. Someone sent Nero a myseterious data cube. Is it possible to get it scanned for malware or problems before I have him slot it in?"

Yes BB is wearing gloves. She is on high alert so would b wearing her full armor flak shell at all times.

Rig hit the comms and signaled a reply to BB.

"BB this is Tia. Bring it over and we'll check it out."</b>

He punched it off and signaled Fritz's attention.

"What do you think, Fritz? We can set up a little black box for you so every day you can learn something new and forget it just in time for tomorrow. Heck we can almost automate the whole process so it is part of your daily routine. That way you won't threaten to melt our computer over time. What do you say? Is this worth it as a temporary solution until we can figure out something long term?

In reply to Gary 'Rig' Rigan (msg # 31):

That sounds super keen Engineer Rig!  Thank You.

A scan of the cube shows a number of imaged files.  Some of the movie shoot.  Some of the hotel.  All with Nero in them.  The files have been altered so Nero's eyes are replaced by Xs.

Fritz signals Rig on his control board, probably not using audio due to BB being nearby.

Engineer Rig.  The files are clean.

I figured she had gloves as part of the armor.  But wanted to be sure.

Rig hands the cube back to BB with a disgusted look on his face.

"We scanned it and it seems fine but I don't know what is going on with the pictures inside. Is Nero in some kind of trouble? This is like serial killer level stuff like you would see in a bad movie."

BB frowned as she took it back, already beginning to suspect things were going to be trouble. As she headed back towards the hotel she opened up her comms to Nero.

"Hey Nero, start packing up. We've got ourselves a change of plans. I think it will be better if you stay on the ship."

"What? Naw. Screw that. That ship smells like ass."

"Listen it's about that the stalker. It seems like..."

"What? That joker? Forget him. Keyboard warrior just trying to freak me out. There's nothing to be worried about. Besides anyone who steps up you'll put back down, right? Isn't that why you got that shiny new chainsword on my dime?"

"Well I just..."

"I'm paying for your protection, right? Executive privilege. We're staying at the hotel. Besides how am I supposed to get all this amazing backstage footage if we're stuck in the ship?"

BB cut the comms so she could curse in piece. She was sure the cab driver was startled as the marine in his back seat started to use every curse word under the sun. She was tempted to start punching the seat but she figured that would get her ejected from the cab and she needed to be watching Nero 24/7 now that Mr. Serial Killer had upped the ante. She thought about the data cube in her pocket and decided against showing Nero that. He had made up his mind and for all she knew it would trigger something much much worse. Maybe if she isolated him from the stallker completely the stalker would grow bored and find a new target.

BB sighed and shook her head. Fat chance of that happening given the stalker had followed them across multiple sectors to land on an icy moon in the middle of nowhere.

Unless there is anything else you wanted to accomplish, I will be moving us on in the next two days.  Need to work something out.

Let me know if there are any questions. Thanks.