2843/Damn Russian Hackers!

Damn Russian Hackers!
Date of Scene:	14 October 2017
Location:	Unknown
Synopsis:	Don't you watch CNN? Russian bots, man.
Cast of Characters:	Katherine, Green Goblin

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Katherine has posed:
The lab is humming. Almost literally. Every machine is in operation, every digital computer is working on models of how various engineering feats will work, how physics will play out, how the machines themselves are changing this data in near-realtime. It all is going. And Katherine sits at a chair, at a desk, her hands are up on a keyboard but she's not typing. Her back is in perfect posture, her eyes looking at the screen. There's a soft smile on her face, but there's no response, no change in her position, no typing. Depending on how long Norman's been watching Katherine he'll realize that she's been this way for hours, if not an entire day. Before that she was going around and plugging in a USB drive into every single machine, physically linking ones that did not have ports, and otherwise getting code uploaded to all of the machines.

Whatever is being tracked on the back-end, the machine code on every machine has been optimized, the machines capable of working faster, harder, at greater degrees of sensitivity. And the code is often changing in realtime. If something is running, it doesn't just continue to run, basic code engines and structures are being altered, coding languages and libraries that are very unfamiliar to anyone in this era are being hacked apart and used where ever possible. It's an evolving, growing, dynamic that seems impossible for one person to be handling no matter how smart or intelligent she is...

But, there she sits. Not typing, not moving really, hasn't eaten or had to go to the bathroom in the entire time she's been at the lab. And when she was moving around it was only to design and alter the machines, and upload her code.

Green Goblin has posed:
"Hello, Katherine - it's been a while." A voice, calm and quiet, from a dark corner of the room. Odd, there didn't seem to be any footsteps leading to his entry into the lab, or another doors audibly opening - does Norman have his own entrances into the building, or is he capable of being THAT quiet, when he wants to?

As he steps into the lights of the massive laboratory space, Norman looks all around him - he's been getting semi-regular reports from his men surveilling the place (as well as video footage from inside the lab), but he hasn't had the chance to get a look for himself since he set her up in this location. Despite the stress-lined and sleep-deprived look around his face, the green in his eyes shines brightly as he takes in all around him. His right hand comes out of his suit pocket, dragging his hand along one of the assembled, well-organized tables as he slowly begins to approach, perhaps, his most... promising ally. He watches her carefully as he continues to approach, noticing the audible, distracting hum, his men having spotted the noticeable increase in power output over the short time she's been here. Improvement have.. obviously been made.

"I see you've made yourself at home," he says, his face cracking in a grin that just deepens the lines on his face - he's clearly exhausted with the pace of the past few weeks, "I apologize for not dropping in sooner. Maybe you watch the news," he says, vaguely referencing his political aspirations of late, "I hope you don't mistake my abscence for lack of interest."

He pauses for a moment, regarding the woman - he's still no closer to getting any answers about her; but he's convinced himself that her potential holds far, far more importance than any mysteries about her past. There's time to find out such things later, but tomorrow won't wait - he must look to the IMMEDIATE future.

"How are you settling in, my dear? I understand you've been spending quite a bit of time here," he can't help but chuckle - he's seen some of the sped-up tapes. The woman is nothing if not focused on the task. In all his years in the worlds of science and engineering, developing weapons and formulas for the military, he's rarely seen such an inhuman single-mindedness. A trait he once thought he possessed; a drive to reach one's goals, no matter what it takes, no matter how exhausting. Only, for all her work, Norman has to hide his amazement at how remarkably awake and fresh she appears. It's a stark contrast to his own bagged eyes and generally exhausted appearance.

He's stopped a few feet away from the woman, leaning over a table to take a brief look into a microscope, busying himself and acting casual (despite his stressed appearance) while he awaits a response, perhaps some update on her work.

Katherine has posed:
As soon as Norman makes note of himself, Katherine comes to life. She starts tapping away at the keys, to add to the electronic and machine hums that are happening about her, she turns her head in the direction of Norman and smiles a bit more fully in his direction. "Norman... Mister Osborn? N O?" She thinks about it for a moment, "Norm?" Shaking her head at that one, "Norman... almost, Mister Osborn or Big O probably my favorites." And she doesn't seem surprised that you are there, though she was clearly unaware of your existence before you let yourself be known. Again, like in previous experiences, it isn't that she's just -that- calm, it's more that she seems unable to be taken aback by any new stimuli.

"I do watch the news, and read it, generally over a few hundred sources in a day, really... I mean, aggregated of course, and summarized. I can't actually... watch... every channel... at normal speed. That'd be silly... but I don't actually pay much mind to politics." She pauses for a moment, reaching up from the keyboard and tapping her lip. As she does so, the other hand takes over typing even on the other side of the keyboard to allow her to continue to operate even as she thinks on something else. "Oh, and yeah, I am settling in just fine. You want to become mayor? Though there are a lot of... questions, about whether or not people should vote for you. Questions about your time away, your personality, and whether or not you actually want to do good for the city. Hrm, and then lots of conspiracy theories that you are a clone and that's why you were gone from the public eye for ... that's not sourced well."

When you get closest to her, she stops her typing and turns in her seat to look more fully at you. "I am mostly getting the machinery and lab up to specifications. Maximizing what it is able to do, and then I will begin my first project, likely working on making more generalized nanites for medical and body modification purposes." She lets out easily, quirking her mouth to the side, "And a food bar where the package is edible, and it doesn't produce waste. 2 dollars, equivalent, and you can eat it over the course of a single day, and gain most of what you need as a human. Though, it would be better if I could tailor them to each person's genetics..." She trails off, "Did you arrive because you had questions? Or needed something? Sorry, I'm being rude, and just, chattering away."

Green Goblin has posed:
The unusual quirks of this odd genius have been something Norm seems to have missed, as his smile widens noticeably at her initial reaction to his arrival - Big O? He thinks it over, shaking his head and chuckling, "No, as tempting as it is - Mr. Osborn will do fine. Hopefully, someday soon, yes... Mayor Osborn..." he acknowledges her response to the current political situation in the world outside. She seems relatively detached from the whole affair, but Norman has come to expect this from the woman in their few, brief encounters and his research into her time spent around the lab. to look around at the various machinery. Osborn does little to disguise the fact that he's rather impressed with the progress made - Katherine somehow managing to IMPROVE upon designs and prototypes that were already on the cutting edge of modern technology. If he were the self-congratulatory type, he might pat himself on the back for spotting this hidden talent - it is one of his greatest skills, after all, and his eye for the misunderstood geniuses of the world has made him a fortune.

He stares as she explains some of her recent work with nanities - putting his hands in his suit pockets and watching her carefully, as he always seems to do, marveling at the intellect on display. "I knew I wouldn't regret this little partnership" he says, turning the topic away from the woman's own research - as fascinating as he does find it - to more... pressing matters, "You did mention, though, the questions about me. You're right, Katherine. The media, the press, my business rivals, they've conspired against me. To smear my good name. To ruin any chance of me fixing my beloved city... They are making things... difficult for me - part of the reason we haven't had a chance to speak. I hope the things you might hear about me don't colour your opinion of us working together," he says, as genuinely as Norman Osborn ever says ANYTHING. "I did have a slight proposition, if you're willing to hear it."

Katherine has posed:
As you go over the names and then pick one, Katherine notes it by saying, "Mister Osborn." And smiling while she does so. Whatever creepy vibe Norman gives off doesn't seem to translate at all to Katherine's disposition. She, instead, sits there continuing to look at him whilst all the machines continue to run, update, adjust, and optimize, at least on the software end of things. Many of her project attempts have been scrapped mid-way in, as she is both running computer models and real life tests, the epitome of agile startup work. Though all of that is no longer something she is paying attention to as you indicate there is a question.

She gets rather happy about that and actually puts her hands together, clapping a bit awkardly in what appears to be excitement. "Goodie!" With her arms going up into the air as if she is watching sports and a touchdown was made, she jumps up and down a bit in her seat before calming down, face getting back to it's normal happy ish seriousness. "What did you want me to do for you Mister Osborn?" She ignores all of your attempts to persuade her and just gets to the end point, unconcerned it seems about the fluff and you indicating that the stories are all untruth. She has done research, she knows which ones have some truth, lots of truth, and are simply wrong. None of it bothers her, she is, as you've assessed, not at all paying attention to these kinds of matters.

Green Goblin has posed:
"Ah," he says, his voice going up a bit, obviously pleased none of the 'creepy, exhausted, amoral politician' vibe has worried such an important friend, "That's very good to hear, Katherine! You know, part of the reason I didn't show up for so long, is that I was worried you might have heard what the media was saying about me, and taken it to heart," he continues - lying through his teeth, as he is wont to do (after all, he's coming here directly from feeding his own daughter a bunch of half-truths, why should a relative stranger be any different?)

"Well..." he begins, exhaling slowly as he takes his hands out of his pockets to gesture vaguely in the air around him, "This might not even be necessary, but people like us - we hardly leave things to chance, do we? No, predictable outcomes are always preferred, in my experience at least," he says, smiling broadly at Katherine, sure she feels the same way, "Don't you agree? Now, in case the people of New York don't see the... wisdom, in supporting my candidacy for Mayor, I may need a... Plan B, so to speak," he eyes Katherine, almost waiting to see if she picks up on the hint - surely she knows where he's going with this, maybe she's even been expecting it, "Do you know what I'm referring to? It happens more often than most people might think, when it comes to these election machines..."

Katherine has posed:
You start to go off on various sorts of innuendo, not speaking directly about the thing that you want. And, Katherine, in the meantime is reaching up and tapping at her lower lip, her clearest sign of 'thinking' being had. She hmmms and nods her head a little, looking at you, "Well, I do not take the words of others to heart at all. I think you are very useful, and have helped me greatly with this lab." She indicates, before tilting her head to the side, "A plan B? Why not have it be a Plan A?" Confused, she adds, "Most election machines are not on any kind of network, and any sort of external tampering makes it so the harddrive is locked. The ballots, however, are printed and created by a particular company. I could hack their servers and put a particular bar code on the actual sheet. In addition to that, to maximum your ability to win without being detected later, I could also start a large campaign of taking down some of the more... accurate, posts, and replace them with more exaggerated conspiracy type talk to avoid the general populace from believing them. With that, I can alter social media's..." She stops, and then looks to you.

"You want to win, correct? And you want my help in doing so, without having to rely upon voting?" Katherine's tone shifts to a bit of wondering, as she waits for the response from you. "There is some preparation that would be required, but none of the technology here has been overly difficult to bypass."

Green Goblin has posed:
"This is what I love about our little arrangement here," says Norman - genuinely happy he's found himself a competent ally, someone who can exceed his own vision... as evidenced by the finely tuned machinery and improved electronic devices surrounding the two of them in the lab, "I don't have to explain everything, you understand me. And I hope you understand, for any of this to last," he says, gesturing at the vast laboratory space - far more cramped with equipment than when he had initially introduced the building to Katherine - as if to emphasize his point, "For me to be able to help you long enough to make a difference, then we will need to secure victories in the more immediate distance."

He steps forward, lowering his voice somewhat - he knows the area is being recorded contantly, and it seems to all be going along to the secure oscCorp servers as intended... but one can never be TOO careful when dealing in the realm of politics in New York, his men might not be the only ones listening, though he has full faith Katherine would be able to... root out any unauthorized listening devices. Nevertheless, his voice drops in volume, "Call it what you will - Plan A, B, C, it makes little practical difference. Yes, I want to win, to help this city," he stresses - though anyone who knows Norman Osborn knows he likely has his own desires related to the office as well, "And I know you can help me. What's more, I TRUST you to help me. All this equipment, you could have tried to steal from me, to sell it on the black market - and yet, you didn't. You're dedicated to your goals, just like I am. I'd like to keep helping you, Katherine. I could do... much MORE for you, if I were Mayor. So, you'll help me then? You'll have plenty of time to arrange everything, I just wanted to come see you and see if you were... still amenable, to a continued partnership."

Katherine has posed:
While you talk about the arrangement, Katherine smiles and takes the compliment, "Thank you. Yes, I understand a great deal." She mentions, not in any boastful way, just matter of factly and with a content tone. "There are always stages and side projects. I do not think that this will be much of a distraction, and if you want me to do it, I will. It will not significantly impact my progress." That seems to be the measure for Katherine, there's no morality debate here for her about votes or election fraud, it's merely a matter of deciding what will and won't delay her in any significant fashion. "We can call it just a plan on how to continue your rise up the political path." She waits for a moment to allow you to explain some more, quieting down your words before she makes the comment, "Do not worry, I have made it so I will edit out your voice and mine, alter our lip patterns, and adjust the recording. That way your servers will not have stored anything that is of compromising material."

While she was walking around and doing adjustments, perhaps even before then, it sounds like she's already discovered a way to hack into the systems that are recording and make alterations. And yet, she hasn't edited herself at all. Not a thing she's done, or has she? "I would not normally, I apologize, but I do not want to have to track down all copies of the same material across the vast storage spaces on the internet incase it were to get out. And people... are distrusting of these sorts of things." Smiling to you she just kind of looks at you blankly before wondering, "I definitely enjoy our partnership at the very least, for the lab, and that's amazing. Or rather, it is sufficient, and not even that, it's a first... iteration. A version zero point one." With that she nods, finding it amenable to call this lab version .1. Standing up, she's just as tall as you, taller if she were to wear heels but she's still barefoot, "Do you have a specific plan for what you want to do with the city after you are mayor? If so, I could put in seeds of that to make people more accepting of those changes."

Green Goblin has posed:
Somehow, Norman got the sense that such a request would be trivial to Katherine - in fact, his primary concern was whether or not she would view it as remotely worth her while. She seemed to think so little of breaking the military-grade encryption on the very first test he posed her. He'd assumed that she would have the surveillance angle covered - his time in the lab is being edited out directly on the oscCorp servers that the data is being fed to in real-time - he's just the... paranoid type. Comes with the territory.

"I appreciate your thoroughness when it comes to security," he says quickly, beginning to pace back around the laboratory in a kind of vague circle as he speaks, "It'll be important in the weeks to come. There can be no record, no trace - if SHIELD gets a hint of anything untoward, Director Fury and his ignorant boyscouts will be sure to take action." He's assumed Katherine is up to speed on what that could mean for everything they're trying to build here - no further explanation has been necessary as of yet, so why should he start now?

As to the question towards his... PLANS for the city, well, Norman just answers with the usual blank politician's smile - staring into her eyes and making putting on his practiced 'upstanding citizen' routine, "I just want what's best for the city and it's people, my dear. This place could be SO much more, and yet the lack of foresight amongst it's leaders, both in politics and the businessmen who have cropped up in my place," he says, leaving specific names like 'Rand' and 'Stark' unspoken - they hardly deserve the respect of being uttered by the man.

He shoots a quick glance at his watch, "I hate to cut this short, but if you didn't have any pressing concerns, I have another meeting... We can discuss this later, of course."