2552/Window of Opportunity

Window of Opportunity
Date of Scene:	22 September 2017
Location:	Unknown
Synopsis:	Summary needed
Cast of Characters:	Insect Queen (OMara), Katherine

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Insect Queen (OMara) has posed:
"And this, ladies and gentlemen, is the future of building maintenance!" says the man in a suit (the CEO of JaniTech Ltd., if the giant posters hanging on the stage next to him and bearing his face above the company logo are to be trusted), and pulls a cord. Drapes fall off a two-story-tall hulking mass of metal with a humanoid structure, but looking definitely like a retro-sci-fi robot. About two stories tall, it looks like a large bronze monument to a past idea of the future, perfectly still in its powerful symmetry.

The CEO pulls his mouth in a plastic smile, and turns to a young man with disheveled hair and an unkept beard wearing a labcoat (the man is wearing a labcoat, that is, not the beard). "I'll leave the honour of activating our DomoBot to Mr.Rho, our head of R&D." The man grins, and extracts a remote control with only a large, red button, waving it around for the audience to appreciate it.

Katherine has posed:
Large red buttons are for show, that thing is likely connected to some other contraption that signals the actual techs to turn on the bot via some kind of computer system. Katherine looks around for the group of techs behind-the-curtain, as it were, from her place in the midst of the crowd that's come to see this robot be turned on. It's... archaic, really, and giant. Turning to a random stranger next to her, she says, "Giant Robo copyright infringement.. anyone?" She laughs a bit, smiling wide and then sighs out with a shake of her head.

Perhaps the only person in the crowd without shoes on, Katherine walks about, moving in between some of the news folks and construction heads, to try and get a better view of what's going on. Tapping at her lower lip, she says a bit to herself, "And I thought they were going to be showing off something of such magnificent change... and such. This is just... not what I was looking for..." From the ads about the event, and the people posting about it on social media, she thought some crazy super futuristic robot was going to be shown off, but instead she gets large toaster robot man.

Insect Queen (OMara) has posed:
With a large, sweeping movement, the button is pressed, and Large Toaster Robot Man whirrs to life, eyes slowly glowing green. "Observe!", says Mr. Rho, who has clearly seen too many black and white B-movies involving mad scientists. "Our product is goint to replace the windows on the fifth floor all by itself, without human intervention!"

Giant Robo Copyright Infringement takes a few steps, the ground shaking every time one of his feet hammers the concrete, and proceeds to silently pick up one of the many panes of glass, large enough to make passable shop windows, all framed, strategically place to stand around like many large vertical panels around the area.

And this is when it happens.

The robot stops, his eyes turning a burning shade of red, and the window is thrown into the nearby building, shattering the already mounted window there.

People do what they are wont to do in these circumstances: some scream, some look around in confusion, some run for their life, and some taker selfies for their social media.

Only one unassuming black-haired woman winces. "Oh, no. No... NO!", she whimpers, and runs away to a hidden place, away from prying eyes...

Katherine has posed:
Boooooooring. Katherine has more technology in her pinky than this robot has in it's entire existence. And when it comes to biological life she knows that she's inferior, but against other technological devices? An audible huff comes from Katherine as she folds her arms under her disproportionate bosom, and shakes her head, "Whooopy. Changing a window, all by itself." Rolling her eyes, she's starting to turn away from the 'lets show off dummy robots' and 'idiotic AI' when the robot changes.

Looking around as people start running away and getting to a safe distance as the glass shatters, Katherine unfolds her arms. "Great... I hope I don't catch something from this thing, like... robot rickets." No one's around, but she starts to walk up slowly. "Hello..." She calls out, waving toward the robot, "Excuse me! Mister Robot? I believe you have got an infection... or someone is controlling you. Either way, can your AI come out and talk for a moment?" The otherwise normal human woman begins to scan for any wireless connections that might be actively hacking the machine, but is also attempting to draw attention her way to avoid others from getting hurt. Smiling the entire time.

Insect Queen (OMara) has posed:
The air is abuzz with packets over all the frequency ranges and protocols, what with the social media peak going on, but a non-trivial hacking attack /is/ going on. Like, not your average out-of-the-box script kiddie thing. Something customized. Seems like someone managed to violate the machine's firewall, and there is some distinct exchange of encrypted packets.

The robot's loudspeaker crackles to life all of a sudden, and it starts droning, in an obviously synthesized voice, "THE 'CODE OF DISHONOUR' HACKING GROUP HAVE TAKEN CONTROL OF YOUR MACHINE. DEPOSIT ONE MILLION UNITS OF BYTEBILL CRYPTOCURRENCY INTO OUR ACCOUNT, OR WATCH YOUR CITY BE DESTROYED", it threatens.

Katherine has posed:
Looking around now, as the only person standing about. Some girl ran off muttering to herself last, but Katherine is very quickly being the only person still standing around. Likely police are going to start to show up soon. Forking herself, making an exact copy of her entire AI, a whole new Katherine, in cyberspace at least, she sends that fork off to start hacking away at the encrypted bits of data. Many other computers start slowing down in the surrounding area starting to mine Bytebill cryptocurrency as a backup plan.

"Code of Dishonour?" Katherine wonders aloud to the giant robot, "You have come up with a horible name. Honor is more about performing one's duty well, and thus Coding, or Hacking, if that were your trade, an honorable hacker would be someone who does their job well. At least, in the most historical of terms. Dishonour would then say you are not very good hackers...?" She questions as she keeps slowly walking toward the robot, "Do you really believe that this robot that you stole is going to be able to destroy the city? It seems tough, but there are many super heroes far tougher, stronger and more capable than this... machine. It would be wise if you were to take a hostage, at the very least, since then they would be less likely to attack you. And this... just from a few seconds of thought."

Whatever she can do to delay these hackers from causing harm, Katherine is going to do. It gives her time to start breaking down the encryption, while also working on getting that cryptocurrency pulled together just incase. "And, if I am not mistaken, this robot only has a limited power supply, which would of course mean you might destroy some of the city but not all of it..." Shaking her head with a quirkish grimace on her face, "No... no I don't think you've thought this one through too far."

Insect Queen (OMara) has posed:
There is a short pause. "...WE ARE ILLEGAL COOL EDGY EVIL-DARK HACKERS. HENCE THE COOL EDGY EVIL-DARK NAME." Drones the robot, and some whirring later.

The encryption is some pretty solid deal here. Nothing out of the ordinary, but a competently chosen and accurately tuned open source package based on proven algorithms with no known weaknesses (yet). Looks like the encryption is not the weakest link: breaking the the algorithm may not be the way to go, but perhaps it is possible to find some way /around/ it. I mean, if the robot was vulnerable in the first place, perhaps the hacker did not worry to patch all /other/ potential vulnerabilities, and once one gains privileged control of the robot's computer...

"...IF YOU VOLUNTEER AS A HOSTAGE, FINE!" Says the robot, and extends its large arms towards Katherine.

"STOP!" orders a large, powerful insectoid woman/insect hybrid in a chitinous armour, two arms firmly on her hips, a third arm clenched in a fist, and a fourth arm pointing at the robot. "I order you to stop this destruction, in the name of the INSECT QUEEN." Where she came from, it's a mystery. She wasn't here one moment ago...

Katherine has posed:
"That's such a much better name!" Katherine exclaims, "Illegal Cool Edgy Dark Hackers. You could be I C E D, Iced hackers for short." Her eyes get big as she genuinely is impressed with that name. "So good!" And with her fork coming back to her to let her know what's going on they start an internal dialogue about the robot. And that's when she decides to start moving forward toward the hand. If she can get close enough maybe she can access a physical port on the bot. It's got to have something for those last minute upgrades, and scanning devices and such. "I volunteer..."

She turns her head to look at the insect hybrid woman who comes out of no where. She squints at the woman a bit, "Ummm, excuse me? If you are here to stop the robot, I could very much use a hand. I mean, if you wanted? Could you rip off a panel up near it's head?" Shouting this, there's absolutely no way the robot missed her shouting and question. "I can hack into it after that, almost certainly. Thanks!" She beams a smile in the Insectoid Woman's direction, "If not though... no worries, I can probably get in another way!"

Insect Queen (OMara) has posed:
The robot stands in silent contemplation for a few seconds. Did it... like the name? well, whoever is behind it. The hand, as expected, reaches for Katherine, and after a "...SERIOUSLY?" aimed at her ramblings, grabs her, without controlling its force too much. Were she human, the grasp would feel uncomfortably tight, and give her problems breathing. How her robotic body will cope with an equivalent mishandling, well, it will have to be seen.

The insectoid woman nods once, and sprints towards the robot. One, two, thre long steps, which turn into a run, and soon, wings start beating, and she is flying two or three feet above the ground, headed towards the robot like a missil-

*THUD*

After the impact, she is knocked backwards, but despite her momentary dizziness, that doesn't stop her from trying again.

THUD.

Three, four, five times she try to fly towards the robot, and three, four, five times she keeps slamming her face onto the same large pane of glass, in exactly the same spot.

"Windows. My age old enemy!" She growls, and returns to repeat the same mistake over and over, only with more determination.

Insect Queen (OMara) has posed:
The robot's glowing red eyes turn to the insectoid woman, and, once again, it goes, ".../SERIOUSLY/?", managing to sound even more incredulous despite the utter lack of intonation in the speech synthesizer.

Katherine has posed:
The squeezing is uncomfortable, but she wears tight clothes often and it's not too dissimilar an experience. The body she's in though is designed to mimic humans, and so she's coughing, and wheezing. Blood is starting to swell up in her mouth, though she's smiling still and looking wide eyed at the bug. "No, not... yes, okay." And she starts to analyze the robot some before indicating, "Excuse me? Yes, you are likely going to kill me, and that would defeat the purpose of a hostage! Look... I'm bleeding all over the place." And it's kind of true as she's coughing up gratuitious amounts of blood while still talking. Wiping her mouth with her forearm she looks back to the insectoid woman, "Can you make a corrosive? That would work as well! Thanks!" She gives a thumbs up in the woman's direction, and it's just a bit creepy that she's smiling around the blood and giving a thumbs up for good measure.

Insect Queen (OMara) has posed:
Insect Queen stops in place, and rubs her face. "...Of course I can!" She exclaims, outraged. "I am a most advanced lifeform, akin to wondrous beings like bees, and mosquitos. Not like you primitive /mammals/. And stop exhuding food from your mouth. You're making me hungry." She extends one arm towards the robot, inclining pointing it upwards, and a chitinous growth forms around it, extending fowards, like some sort of conical nozzle. Seconds later, a steaming greenish-orange liquid pours forward, pungent in smell.

After some re-considering, the robot releases its grip slightly, just slightly, clearly unable to control it well, possibly giving the humanoid just enough slack for some freedom of movement...

And splash! With impeccable aim, the corrosive arcs over the framed window that stopped the Insect Queen, and landed neatly onto the chest of the robot, right next to Katherine, offering her a very convenient access to the boards inside. Ooooh, completel with low-level access and reconfiguration connectors...

Katherine has posed:
Squirming her overly feminine form about in the hand and making a mess of her 'food' coming out of her mouth, Katherine apologizes to the Queen, "So..." Cough, sputter... "Sorry. Just a reflex!" And with the more freedom, she squirms even more where she can lean out and grab at the panel that is being burned away, trying to pull it back even more. Her skin sizzling some, she looks around, "Ow... hot, it burns." It's not very convincing, but the way her skin burns and sizzles it is.

Then with still working fingers she ahhhhs, and sees the board, and other connectors. What she needs is an open communications channel, so she just starts moving wires about to force a wireless connection. As soon as she manages -that- she'll be able to very quickly hack in through that unecrypted signal and... well, do what she's designed to do. Be a very advanced computer virus... "And... uh, thanks super advanced lifeform! This worked great! Can you also add some glue to its feet?! It'd suck to have it tip over once I have it shut off." Of course, she'll also want to figure out where these hackers are hacking in from, "You are amazing though!" And Katherine takes the time to offer some boisterous cheering, with her arms raising up and all, despite the crushed bleeding she was just recently experiencing.

Insect Queen (OMara) has posed:
Wireless connection, achieved! While, in the meantime, the Insect Queen's lower arms produce similar chitinous nozzles, this time shooting some sort of rubbery, sticky substance, as required, in the direction of the robot's feet. Droplets fall onto the glass, and the Insect Queen has an a-HA! moment. One nozzle is lowered, and the window is covered in glue, making it... well, no longer transparent. "I have defeated you, fiend!", she gloats, and proceeds to fly-shoot around again, and to approach the robot from behind. "A superior being I am, indeed. As a reward for your intelligence, if you so desire, you may join the ranks of my subjects. I can also elevate your inferior mammalian biology into a superior insectoid one as part of the package." She offers, with a grin, while she grows and plants chitinous bars to prop the soon-to-be-falling robot up.

Katherine has posed:
As Insect Queen makes easy work of the big robot, and Katherine gets the wireless communications setup and then starts taking over the robot's systems in quick order. Once she has control over the arms she drops herself to the ground. With heavy breathing she picks herself back up and shakes her head "No thank you, for the offer. I would not be worthy enough to have said transformation." And she leaves the voice channel open to the hackers, now that she's taking over the robot, "I do think I have the robot mostly under control now. Taking it over bit by bit." And Katherine starts laughing, her eyes squint, she bends over and has to place her hands on her knees as she's laughing, her entire body shaking while she does so... and all while somewhat blood stained down the front of her clothes.

Insect Queen (OMara) has posed:
Well, that was pretty much the Insect Queen's idea as well. The whole point of insectoid conversion is that it also comes with telepathic subjugation to the will of the Insect Queen. Which, the Insect Queen thinks, is a pretty sweet deal. "Well, don't worry. My offer stands. Tell your friends, if they are interested."

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING." Drones the robot, and countermeasures /are/ being taken, as Katherine may notice. Too slow. Too weak. These are adequately competent hackers, but no match for Katerine's superior skills. "YOU SHALL FEEL THE WRATH OF ICED HACKERS." Well, they did like the name, it seems. But now, along with Katherine's taking control on one side, there's the Insect Queen slinging webs on the other side, further restricting the robot's movement, and slowly encasing it into a coccoon, more and more...

Katherine has posed:
As Katherine and Insect Queen finish up the task at hand, Katherine even nods a bit to herself as she admires the human attempts to thwart her futuristic and alien hacking skills. I mean, she's a Quantum AI virus, after all. Looking back over to the Insect Queen she waves over to her, "Thanks for the help, you did amazingly well!" She gives a double thumbs up to the other woman, and then turns to start walking away with only a bit of a limp from being crushed. The police are going to be showing up soon, and Katherine could only derail them so long with traffic signals and whatnot, but one of her forks are still present, hacking right along, eventually she'll have ICED Hackers's address and be able to report them to the local authorities... but for now she's happy enough that the robot didn't get to destroy much of the city at all. "Oh... oh, one last thing, I'm Katherine, nice to meet you both!" Giving a pleasant farewell to the hackers and the Queen.