3434/Bat-Geeks and Their Toys

Bat-Geeks and Their Toys
Date of Scene:	19 December 2017
Location:	Unknown
Synopsis:	Training the next generation of oracles is important too.
Cast of Characters:	Oracle, Red Robin

---

Oracle has posed:
Although they've been working on the BatComputer together for ... well, it's gotta be months, now, upgrading and reformatting and reorganizing how things are filed, Barbara was very closed-mouthed about what she's been developing on the side. The BatComputer is sort of her guinea pig, where she experiments with the first stages of her multi-layered encryption protocols, which she's shown Tim and gotten his thoughts on. The version that she's been working on with him, however, is Earth-based and Kryptonian layers only. Today.... she's about to give him an eye-opener.

As she brings her array online at full capacity, she's told him to bring his hacker laptop. She wants him to test out something for her. But she also wants to show him what she's been doing, and in some ways... she *needs* to train him to understand what she's doing. Because heaven forbid something should happen to her, he's the only one who is likely to understand enough of what she's doing to either take it over or at least dismantle it and safely dispose of the intelligence that is amassed here.

While she waits for him to arrive, she busies herself with one of the screens, which she's actually using as a dedicated conduit to the BatComputer -- she's beginning the process of layering the protocols that she's developed over the current ones in the Cave, giving it even more security.

Red Robin has posed:
    He is not as stealthy as the others. He's plenty stealthy, sure, but she knows he's in the room before the coffee hits her nose. Skilled, but the morning he sneaks up on her while carrying his bag and two very large coffees (he drank another on the way here) is the day she definitely needs to get out of business. He shouldn't be trying to be sneaky at all, but it's another 'rep'. Damian has gotten under his skin. Everything is another challenge, another puzzle to be handled. That being said, the coffee is still hot, he must have ordered it at McDonald's temperature. He settles the cup right where she likes it. "Your security is better." Tim quietly remarks. His tone is just slightly off and a little distant. It is as if he is preoccupied some puzzle or something troubling him. His eyes manage to return to her. "Hiya, Barbara." He says, remembering to throw in a greeting. The little know-it-all asks, 'Why is that camera angled that way? Does it move? it is..." He pulls in breath.

    "hows about I actually let you show me what you wanted to show me, huh?" he decides, his grin becoming a little cheeky. 'Rather than being Timmy Grabby hands, huh?" He moves to sit next to her.

    He sits close, but not in a cloying way. he's the break point Robin. The older former ones might have a thing for her, but Tim? Yeah, she's hot. She's -his sister-, and he settles right in and pulls out his laptop to get it situated. "I ran a little late. Sorry. I had a long night. I've been thinking." When is he not?

Oracle has posed:
Glancing over her shoulder at him with no surprise -- hey, he brought goodies! She loves working with him -- Barbara grins. "It *is* better," she agrees. The fact that he NOTICED the angle of that particular camera makes her proud of him -- his powers of observation are good, and it tells her that he's learning the ins and outs of remembering what's normal and what's out of place. He's a good Robin.

"What's got your brain whirling this time?" she wonders aloud. The relationship that they've built is one that she enjoys immensely -- it's easy, and their brains have a habit of syncing up and coming up with really cool stuff when they make the time to do this kind of thing. "Timmy Grabby Hands will see what I need him to see when you actually start attempting to connect here," she informs him with a dimpled grin.

Red Robin has posed:
    "Well." Tim says. The pause afterwards is pregnant. "Who is asking?" His eyes flick to her as the laptop starts up. "Is it my friend and confidant who would die for me? Or, is it Batgirl, who will go snitching on me to the big bad bat?" Tim lays it out for her pretty openly. there is no rancor in his tone, but him putting it that way, well, it's something that is weighing on him.

    He doesn't let her answer yet. "I didn't want this at first, but I earned it. I earned it in a way that really only Jason would understand. Or -you-. But you wanted this. I just wanted to get the band back together. I jumped through the hoops. I earned my stripes."

    "I hate to act entitled though, so I will knock that off. But. I'm rattled. Damian is better than me in some ways, and that..." It tasks him.

    "It isn't ego. It isn't. Dick and Jason are better physical specimens than me too. I can accept it. But I can be better, Barbara."

    His left hand is used to get past the biometrics on the laptop, then it starts connecting. The hand reaches for his coffee and he takes a long drink from it.

Oracle has posed:
Barbara cuffs him lightly on the back of the head. She never tattles on him -- unless it's a life or death situation. And even then... she didn't tell the Bat about Dick's bullshit fight with Shiva. "You know better than that, Little Bird," she informs him tartly.

Leaning back in her chair, she studies him closely. "You're a *good* Robin. Anyone can always be better. Even Batman. It's why he keeps training the way he does. You have more than earned your place, and you have nothing to prove. What's going on in your head here, Tim?" she asks him quietly.

Red Robin has posed:
    The swat means it is okay. The clues were small, but there was tension. "I'm the big bird now." Tim says with his face twisting into a bit distaste at the admission. He looks at the laptop, calculating and considering his words. "Okay. I didn't quite train the way the others did. Again, different situation. I do not want to get in the way of Dick's training. I don't. If anything, I want to help." If Barbara is his older sister, Dick is his big brother. He finally looks up at her under his hair. "Think when he is done, this hotshot guy can maybe polish my skill set too? I don't need to be the best. But I need to be the best that -I- can be. I can't forget things. Like you. I remember faces, i remember screams, and I remember feeling that if I was a little faster, a little better, a little more skilled, well, maybe it would have made a difference." His jaw works.

    "I might not be the best Robin in a fight, and I might always be the worst Robin in a fight. It doesn't mean I cannot handle myself. But I'm 18. If I want to be 40 and able to do this, I need to develop a more consummate skill set."

    His look is serious, "Will you help me?"

Oracle has posed:
Barbara looks a bit surprised, and then the expression is gone. Because she shouldn't be surprised. Tim's been really busy with the last of his semester's school work and he's had to, by necessity, be out of the Bat-loop a decent bit the past several weeks. "Richard Dragon is more than happy to take you on for training. I actually spoke with him myself about the matter. Dick's situation is neither here nor there when it comes to that. There are also some others who, if you want further training, would likely be more than happy to work with you."

She pauses a long moment and then says, "I will help you in any way that you need. All you ever have to do is ask. But I'm also going to point something else out to you... something that BRUCE pointed out to me, and I want you to really HEAR this. It's important." She makes sure she has his blue eyes. "Combat is not the be-all, end-all of what we do. And he doesn't WANT you to become him. He doesn't WANT any of you to give up having a life the way he's done for himself. The path that he's taken is *his* path, but he's fully aware that it's not the path for all of us."

Her tone is serious, and Barbara says quietly, "That's why I'm doing what I'm doing with you right now." She gestures to the array. "I'm stepping back, Tim. I'll still be on the streets -- hell, Batman honestly believes I could be as good as he is on those streets if I devoted my time to it. But it's not what I want for my life." That's a tough admission to make to any of them, but she thinks Tim might understand. "I'm starting a new path."

Red Robin has posed:
     It's an awkward gesture, but that means it is genuine. Tim Drake reaches a hand out to touch hers and squeeze it once, kind of hard. There is no romance in it. His eyes are intent and hard as he looks at her. "I am not him. I am me." Tim's defiance comes through plain as day in there. What follows is a painful admission. "But I'm a lot like him. I can't forget, Barbara. I can't quit. I can't stop. I'd have to be a recluse. I will never be the big, bad, Bat, but I will live and I will die on the streets. I can't live any other way now. There was a time when I could have walked away. The window is closed."

    He stops, and Time has to amend that. 'Well, the window is right there? But the person I am now? Tim Drake doesn't fit in it anymore. I have seen too much. I know too much. I'm not really Robin anymore. Oh, I am, but I'm not. I'm okay with that. Am I Red Robin? Am I someone else? Those are just masks, just names. Tim Drake is all in. I don't know what else I could do now. I guess you better get used to hearing my voice in your headset." Because he's resolved to the fact that the last voice he might be is hers, asking him if he's okay.

    There are worse ways to go.

Oracle has posed:
Barbara's blue eyes are watchful of him. "Of all of us," she admits quietly to him, "You are the most like him. In all the right ways, and in some of the wrong ones." She smiles just a little. "Like both me and Dick, you needed this. And much like both of us have done, you're outgrowing the mantle and growing into your own skin. And .... it's a good skin, Tim."

She pulls in a breath. "And having your voice in my headset? It's a pleasure that I'll always look forward to. Now... let's see if you can use what we've been doing in the Cave to get into the Aerie."

She gestures to the computer array in front of him. "I need to know how long it takes you to actually identify the differences. The test isn't actually to hack in -- it's to see how long it takes someone familiar with my coding to figure out the difference so that I can extrapolate from there about people who don't know it."

Red Robin has posed:
    Tim the know-it-all nods, like Harrison Ford. "I know."

    He reaches over to put an ear bud in his ear. Some eclectic, frankly weird music can be heard coming from the earbud. He is drowning out the outside a little. Her computer immediately registers entry. Tim's eyebrows lift at that. He tries another method. Her computer notices the intrusion again. "****." Alfred would be shocked at that word. His music get a little louder.
    Intrusion detected.
    Intrusion detected.
    Intrusion detected.
    He gets past the firewall. He says something vaguely rude at that as well about someone eating something.

    Tim pauses, and looks over at her. "Sorry?" He lowers his gaze back down. He starts swearing immediately. It gets blue in a hurry. He pulls the ear bud out of his ear. "Your code? It's classic Barbara." his critique is scathing. "This is you all over it. Layer after layer of misdirection. It's clever. It's past clever. It's devious. it's brilliant." He is typing furiously though. "I'm betting I could cludge together a cipher." he doesn't turn the screen so she can see it. He pauses, only to grab the coffee and swear again as he struggle with it.

    She is rewarded with truly foul language. "The what, alternating encrypted language based cipher here? That is great security code. But how the hell do you program in it?" She wanted a critique. he starts to profile her, he isn't thinking as he speaks.

    "You are in love with the written word and language. You're the quintessential hot librarian." his eyes are on the keys. Social niceties have been forgotten, he is purely in the puzzle-solving mode. "you re like Bruise and me both. You know you are the smartest person in the room when you walk into it. Your code reflects both these things. the issue would be, if someone knows you, they exploit the fact that you are a genius and you know. Just like they common with Bruce and I. You are too damn clever for your own good, and you are trying to protect people. You're trying to protect the data. So the code is... hrm." He taps furiously at the keyboard. It's an awkward 20, maybe 30 minutes. He runs a command. A web browser opens, and its a .gif of a kitten. More swearing. "Wrong gif!" He looks up, looking pissed off. He pauses. "It's good code." He decides. "I got a command to run, but only outbound, and your algorithm scrambled the tail end of it, so its working in real time, which is in and of itself impressive as hell. And I'm cheating. I know who you are and how you think." His hair is a little sweaty.

Oracle has posed:
Barbara finds listening to him try to hack her hilarious. Blue language doesn't bother her -- hell, he might have even learned that last bit of nasty FROM her. She helps herself to more coffee. She actually runs through a stretching routine on the main floor while he cusses some more. Then she comes back when he starts talking.

The critique is solid. And Barbara snickers softly. "Of course, you realize that you only got something actually outbound because you knew the backdoor out of the Clocktower, right?" Because he had to wrap that code around itself to get it to come back to his laptop. She reaches out to hit a couple of keys and brings up on the monitor a digital map of where his signals have gone in her network -- just a visual. And the tiny little sgnal he got to go outbound loops and bounces back and forth within her system like it's in a mirrored funhouse. The *only* reason it apparently escaped was because there's a minuscule back door that he cheated with.

"That's what your attempts look like. And that's you, knowing me the way you do, hacking from INSIDE this building. Now.... do you think it's breakable at all from the outside?" Because he has to know there are NASTY traps set outside that he never even triggered because he was already in the building.

Red Robin has posed:
    "You've gone too far." Tim says, looking it over. "I won't call it perfect. Nothing is ever perfect, but this is as close as I can think of. The problem is, though, you have made it too difficult. Now, I don't just want the data. I want you too."
    Tim Moves out of his chair, to pace a little. "I mean, now I know the data storage here is some primo stuff. Let's look at where we are at this point? I'm a government. I want to put you to work for me. And I want your data. Hell, I likely need you to get the data." Tim looks over at her. "Or. I'm something worse than a government. And I am going to physically take the data and you. And I am going to turn you. I think that the code invites a different trouble, and unless you have a dog whistle to summon Superman..."
    His left hand pushes through his hair. "I like the code. it's a good fall back. Put a framework up." He steps over. "A false front. Something good, but hackable, then have just crappy at. Like Internet crank stuff. Tons of it. Sorted and organized. We can build a bot and run it off the real server. That way, most people will come to the conclusion you are a crank and a nut. You get lucky. With the real server watching the false virtual, we can have our cake and eat it too? Still hide it and all that. Just build a crackable, but very secure front vault. Have this second vault hidden behind the first one." He tilts a brow.

Oracle has posed:
//Excuse me??// Barbara's blue eyes go rather wide at that first, and she laughs. "Wow. Just wow. Don't let your brother hear you say that," she teases.

She listens to his brain work -- this is what she needs. Tim has an uncanny ability to parse the possibilities and lay them out. Bruce can't think out loud like this -- he's too buttoned up. Barbara is impressed. "I like it," she agrees. "There aren't many hackers at this level out there -- maybe a half dozen in the whole world. And part of what I've been building is a minotaur's maze to keep my identity always hidden, ever changing the shape of the maze. I've already had a couple of feelers at the edges. But I like the idea of putting this behind a very very difficult hackable front." She nods slowly. "It's a still further level of protection not just for all our identities but the location of the hardware." Which, now that he looks at it, he has to realize that her hardware is augmented with alien tech as well. There is not another computer in the world -- not even Bruce's -- that can run the entirety of what she's been building this year.

Red Robin has posed:
    His head bobs. "Of course I am right." Tim tells her. It isn't said in a nasty manner, or even a cocksure one. It is an acknowledgment that he knows what he is talking about.

    "Part of me want to hide a false set up in like a closet someplace in an abandoned subway station in bludhaven or something, but I think is the two steps too far method. No one would believe such a trove would be unsecured."
    He reaches over to drink the last dredges and dregs of his coffee. "But that is gnarly code. I wouldn't know what to do with it, well, I'd have to write my own gnarly code to untangle yours." he flicks his eyes her way. "So, you are going to have to either teach me, or we'll have to physically periodically update and back it up off site."

Oracle has posed:
The redhead looks thrilled. "Looks like we've got a winner," Barbara tells him. "And of course I'm planning to teach you. Who's going to be Oracle for Batman -- the one that comes next -- when I'm gone?" It's said facetiously, but... in some ways, that's what she's doing. Planning for a far future when it's not Bruce in the suit and it's not her in the chair.

"We might have to consider the third-party site. But honestly... the server itself could be built into the superstructure of the Clocktower so no one will ever be able to tell what's there." She is excited, really. To be able to finally bring it all online.

"Wanna start some of the basics this afternoon?"

Red Robin has posed:
    "You let me crash from last night on your couch, and I can do it in a couple of hours." Tim counters. "I don't have anything else to do, other than train, and I can squeeze it all in." he assures her. 'We can do this. Just don't let Dick put my hand in warm water. Again." It's good natured. "I mean, it is your couch."

Oracle has posed:
Barbara just rolls her eyes and sets to work teaching him the very beginnings of how she started all this. Despite his brilliance, it's not going to be a one-day learning process. Not even close.