14815/There Is Always a Way

There Is Always a Way
Date of Scene:	17 March 2023
Location:	Gotham City
Synopsis:	Babs tries to get into Stark's computers. Instead she runs into a talented I.T. guy and the challenge is laid down.
Cast of Characters:	Iron Man, Oracle

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Iron Man has posed:
    << Sir, an issue has come to my attention and so it is now coming to your attention. >>
    There was a sizzle. A crackle. And a pop. Welding goggles were held in place with one hand as the lights of the old room flickered. Tony lifted his eyes up toward the ceiling and asked, "How structurally sound is this building, JARVIS?"
    It seemed like a nicely solid warehouse in the shipping district just outside of Gotham. The two story ceiling used to be a place that housed old textile production machines and there had been in its hey day many an employee that felt the place was oppressive. It didn't help the original owners did not treat their people well, and the ominous atmosphere wasn't on purpose. But today, with all the old equipment cleared out it at least was more roomy. Though still with that industrial angle to it.
    Which Tony liked.
    << On a scale of A-F with S being 'special' as you seem to enjoy of late, sir, I would give the building a solid C. Minus. >>
    "Hmmm. Hm." Tony said as he pushed the gantry waldo arm, the semi-circular semi-bat shaped metallic sliver waggled back and forth from where it was conencteed to that robotic arm. "Let's save final calibration for when we're back home, shall we?"
    << Indeed, very advisable, sir. >>
    "Now, what was the thing, with the issue, and the stuff?" Tony walked across the old factory floor, casually booting some debris from his earlier work out of the way, sending it sliding under one of the workbenches set up against the wall.
    << There has been an intrusion in the Stark-Fujikawa mainframe sir. >>
    "Oh yeah? How long did it last? If it's over 15 seconds someone's getting fired." He grabs a bag of cheesy combos and shakes it, finding it mostly empty. He licks a finger and digs into the bag, picking up some of the cheese dust and then sticking it in his mouth.
    << It is ongoing, sir. Thus the need to notify you. >>
    "Ongoing?" His eyebrows climb as he hops onto a spinny-top stool, taking one rotation before he pulls over a laptop and casually gesturing at it, his chest-light flaring for a moment as a series of holographic displays appear in the air.
    "Ongoing. That's not good. I would, in fact, say that is bad. Or something akin to bad."
    << Indeed, sir. >>

Oracle has posed:
There were some places that were untouchable, or so it seemed. Thus, every once in a while, a certain hacker felt the need to see if they remained so. And often, she was rewarded. As people grew complacent they grew sloppy. Attempt repeatedly, each time learning a new way of their avoidance. Eventually she would find a way inside. That was her motto.

Thus she had her algorithm running on her secure system, doing the usual probes into the systems of various high level targets. Two of the highest? Stark-Fujikawa and LexCorp. All of her own firewalls were enhanced between Wayne Tech and alien thus, bounced through so many false sites that it would require several minutes for even a high speed computer to track her down. Eventually the trail just led to a lovely little hut somewhere in northern Siberia. Which if investigated was unoccupied and had been for years.

After the machine had done it's work, she moved to a more active roll, multiple lines of code running on multiple screens as her fingers flew over her keyboard.

Oracle in her downtime and bored was a dangerous combination. And why did she want in those systems? To be able to know she had done it. Not that she intended to do anything or steal secrets. Just that pride of being the best.

Iron Man has posed:
    It was rare for data operatives to have a chance to look at true zetaware upgraded security. So it wasn't surprising when various agencies or individuals make run on the security systems of well-established tech sites. Comes with the territory. There are even some tiers that some companies leave open just to catch intruders who have talent since sometimes... well they can go from being black hats to white hats. With a big enough paycheck.
    "Interesting, remote, multiple approaches. Some..." He gestures with one hand and several data streams are highlighted, their numbers glowing as he tilts his head to the side. "Trying to seem as if they're innocent nice quiet little requests for data. So innocent."
    << Running through their shell and ghost connections, sir. Putting the data up now. >>
    "These... are all distractions. Nicely done, but distractions." He gestures with one hand and pulls a few streams of data and connects them, then reaches over his shoulder for an app that he 'throws' at some of her ghost processes, each of them being knocked down after a moment or two. A few more as he tilted his head back and forth.
    When he sees a particular attempt come through under the names of Dr. Brown and Marty he chortles, though that doesn't stop him from squishing them down.
    << I've isolated one of their live connections, we can see data upstream flagged to draw attention, and can piggy back text upon it, sir. >>
    "That works, fun."
    He pulls a pair of glasses out of his pocket and affixes them on his head as he folds his arms over his 'BACK IN BLACK UK TOUR' t-shirt. "Translate to text for me buddy."
    << Translating. >>

    And distantly, on a lone monitor in Gotham.
    (( Hey there, buddy. Whatcha doin'? ))

Oracle has posed:
That causes Barbara to pause. It was rare someone found a way to piggy back and send a message directly through. She remembered someone from SHIELD had done it but no one else in recent years. Never had one from Stark-Fujikawa.

She pushed a few buttons to change settings, putting that text over into the center of her main front monitor. She stared at it for long moments then shrugged to herself. A quick track of that line to send back text and she typed rapidly before continuing to work on her attempts at entry into the computer systems.

(( Nothing much. Bored so thought I'd give it a shot. First time someone was able to communicate directly. Hopefully Stark is paying you well for your skill level. Guessing you're new? ))

Iron Man has posed:
    (( You may refer to me as SYSOP1138. Congratulations though, you got through into our first layer where we keep all of Mr. Stark's fan mail. He has us digitize it all. Some of it is pretty steamy. ))
    As the text comes through in a slow crrrawl as each letter seems to come from a different ingress into her own security, she can see her intrusions being locked down, approachable aspects suddenly turning into brick walls.
    (( To be honest he'd probably like it if it gets out, the man's a narcissist. ))

    Meanwhile back in the warehouse which curiously enough is only a ten minute drive away, Tony's smiling to himself as he's still gesturing a bit at the display of holograms. He lifts his chin, "Pick this up for me, JARVIS. We got any markers or information on this. Any call sign? Hackers love that sort of thing. Social media would be great. I'll put a like on their twitfacestagram."
    << Nothing so far, sir. I'll let you know as soon as I have something so you can smugly present it to them. >>
    "Thanks."

Oracle has posed:
And as each door was closed on her intrusion, she was approaching other angles. It was as though she was testing each line of code, which would be ridiculous because there were millions of them. And not that she could actually see all their code.

And each time that they tried to find their way through hers, they found equally walled off areas not letting in anything but that bit of digital dialogue.

(( I figured he was. )) In regards to Tony's narcissism. (( Few people at his level aren't. ))

The mention of the fan mail had her smirking a bit. (( I'd like a glimpse at something with a bit more fun. People's sycophantic rantings trying to gain his approval or his company hold no interest. Can you hook me up with something to at least have made this worth my time? ))

Then she saw that line of query coming through on the screen to her left. Trying to find a signature or call sign. (( Tsk Tsk. If you want to see me, ask nicely. ))

Iron Man has posed:
    (( Can't blame a fella for trying. ))
    There's another poking inquiry sent, and then suddenly a thousand different lines light up as she gets a cascading series of warnings, so many different approaches as it burns through the security layer she has prepped to try and stop whomever from tracking her. Whomever is after her they definitely have some chops. It's a brute force attack, by... some sort of higher functioning program. Something she likely hasn't seen before.
    Yet in all the aggression and pursuit, she's able to at least get a hint of him as she's able to trace back up the line and...
    SYSOP 1138 is apparently in the outskirts of Gotham. Curious.
    (( Oh sorry about that, I used a power up. Are you okay there... Cassandra? Does Cassandra work? Dione? Delphi? You have a thing for mythology don't you? ))
    Which might surprise her as he's tracing down clues, narrowing down subprocesses of hers, noting odd markers.

    In the workshop, JARVIS' voice is heard, << Sir, go at it so directly is leaving our own data trail. >>
    "True, true, but we're in the right here, JARVIS. Besides I'm hungry. Do we still have any of those bagel dogs?"

Oracle has posed:
(( Mythology has a lot of good lessons one can learn from. You shouldn't scoff at it. And again, ask me nicely. I'll let you see me. ))

Even as she fired up some additional support through another system, sending those thousands of lines back an equal number of rebuttals. And suddenly on that holographic of his he would see a chess board midgame. Neither player had the advantage though there were several paths available to them. A digitized hand, but one that looked to be feminine, picked up a pawn and slid it forward. (( I think you might need bigger mushrooms. Though that was a nice trick. ))

And Barbara found herself smiling. It was rare she was able to actually engage and that made it far more enjoyable. (( Are you cheating? I suspect you have A.I. support? Very nice. Stark data is seeming more appealing by the minute. ))

But he might have a hint of something that flashes in front of him as well. A location. It seemed to be narrowing to the Tri-State area.

Iron Man has posed:
    (( Do you hear me scoffing? Not a scoff do I. Some of my best friends are myths. ))
    Those intrusions continue, steadily, quickly, so many directions and so much information coming at her. Her automated systems rejecting one after another after another, but there is a feeling of a slight losing ground. As some start to be aimed purely at gathering data about her countermeasures and then pulls that free, solidifying his position with a hint of delicate counter-game, but that brute force still doing a good amount of heavy lifting.
    (( A.I. what? Would never touch the stuff. This is all me. I mean just wait til I learn how to type. Then you'll be in trouble. ))

    Across town JARVIS' voice lifts, << Oh what a tangled web we weave/When first we practice to deceive. >>
    "Hush." Tony says as his eyes flick back and forth from one point of information to another, eyebrows rising as he ponders the 'game' they're playing. "I mean don't go silent. I mean hush with the sass talk."
    << Of course, sir. >>

    (( See I know the moment I ask to see you, suddenly I'll be looking at an animated gif of Rick Astley. And yes it's pronounced with a hard G. Don't care Wilhite says. ))

Oracle has posed:
(( Wow, you must be old. Interesting that you got a job in programming so much later in life. Rickrolling is so 2022. ))

She was actually having to start paying attention now. A bit more of that information starting to be leaked out about her countermeasures. She quickly made a few adjustments, to be sure that there were blank spots now. Just enough of a gap that whoever was getting the data would have to try to recreate it. And in particular, any alien elements were utterly gone so he would not be getting any of that info to fuel things along.

(( Not really fair when it is two against one. Obviously I'll need to get my own A.I. up and running before my next attempt. ))

And that search area was narrowing even as the question came through. (( How is Gotham this time of year? Always heard the tales and wanted to visit. )) Which is when her location starts to narrow. New York City. And narrowing further.

Iron Man has posed:
    (( It's lovely weather we're having, you should look out the window and see for yourself. ))
    Which might be when one of those small chess pieces in the side displays moves forward, giving a lovely conundrum for her to solve. Another series of assaults on her base is given and she can feel the ground starting to give away slightly. A few warning pop ups show that the VPNs she's used in the past are starting to be scraped for long strings of data that could show many of the incursions she's done in the last six months.
    But then the system backs off a little. (( There we go. All out. That's the door, I figure you can see yourself back home. Don't come back. But please do feel free to write. ))
    And suddenly all of the connections stop and abruptly she finds that the Stark-Fujikawa is suddenly... a giant monolith of security and none of her initial algorithms come close to working. Whomever ejected that intrusion was good.

    Across town Tony turns his head, "That was fun, got the blood pumping. Bagel Dog status?"
    << There are two left. >>
    "I've got dibs."
    << Of course, sir. >>

Oracle has posed:
And just as he shut her out, he got that location pinpointed. Which had led right back to Stark Tower. The one where Tony himself lived and the trace went back to the penthouse.

Then she was gone.

Barbara shut down all the systems, cut every feed as she found herself staring at screens going blank one by one. Not that she had been compromised. Her own system had kept him out, moreso because of the alien tech that was something Earth systems had problems dealing with. Though he had gotten Gotham and Oracle, but since that later was a programming language and unless he was in hacker circles it likely wouldn't mean a thing to him.

Barbara leaned back in her chair and smiled. Then she pulled up the system that was based on alien tech and started working. Her next attempt was going to be epic. For of course, there would be a future attempt.

Whoever that was, he'd made this far more fun than her previous tries. And thus, had sealed his fate being in her crosshairs, so to speak.