7631/Changeling: I Heard it through the Grapevine...

Changeling: I Heard it through the Grapevine...
Date of Scene:	26 May 2019
Location:	Clint and Skye's, Greenwich Village
Synopsis:	Summary needed
Cast of Characters:	Quake, 8277

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Quake has posed:
Sye had missed the meeting with Clint's friend Mack - but she'd heard about it. And not that she disputed his skills, or the invitation that had been extended, but she felt more than a little personally responsible for the team on this mission and would feel ever so much better if she got to talk to him herself. Without the others around. At least long enough to get a read on him that wasn't couched in pizza, beer, and backyard grilling.

Work was.. okay, work was work, but at Chez Miscreant it was also often dinner. Just, this was Serious - capital S serious. Especially if he was going to be their engineering support.

She sent word to Mack to drop in for a drink after work. The house was going to be her own for a few hours - Clint was doing archery practice, and she'd shooed everyone away citing the need for a few intimate hours with her laptop after enforced hand rest, in order to get them back on schedule for the mission. Which was also true. It just wasn't the whole story. She figured she had two hours at best.

Mack (8277) has posed:
Mack hustles up the stairs in Clint and Skye's building. He is a good 20 minutes later than he said he would be. He knocks at the door.

When the door opens, Mack smiles apologetically. "Hey, sorry I'm running late," he says pre-emptorially. His jeans are soaked at the knees. "Van ran down some people right in front of me, had to help out."

Quake has posed:
Mack's being late is only noticed in that with a tight window, and a project deadline, Skye is a tad more antsy than normal. Skye on point with a project was rather more serious and focused than Skye in the wild. Mind, the extra time is put to good use, bits of code and data scanned and compared to what she's already gotten prepared. So far, so good. The test strings seem to be working in simulations, which was the best they were going to get..

"Oh, hey. Yeah." If Mack were Clint he might have gotten a tossed off 'ever hear of texting?', but as it happens she follows up with, "Beers in the fridge if you want one. Think there is some leftover pizza too. Haven't really looked since.. oh, you might not want to eat the pizza if it's there. I can't remember when we last ordered."

Not a good sign, and likely Mack's first clue that this isn't a social meeting - she didn't actually prepare to entertain.

"Grab me one while you're there? Just have to save this work here and I'll be good."

Mack (8277) has posed:
"Sure," Mack says and hangs up his coat. He makes his way around the clutter of kit. "This is like, my worst nightmare," he jokes.

He opens the fridge and fishes out a beer for Skye, then opens a cupboard and pulls out one of the British beers for himself. He opens both and wanders back and hands Skye her beer. He looks over her shoulder as she works.

"You sure we're gapped here? I didn't ask Clint, but it's a civvie building. I know your encryption is top-notch, but solid SIGINT and traffic analysis could single us out. This place just isn't engineered for transmission security, you know? Someone should've called me, could mask everything on the right hub," he grumbles.

Mack looks down at Skye. "How're you feeling, by the way?"

Quake has posed:
A single brow arches skyward as Skye gives Mack a *look*. "Do I tell you how to systemcheck the bus? Seriously. You asked me that?"

Skye was singularly paranoid, and between herself, the going over that May had done, and further checks by Fitzsimmons, Chez Miscreant was about as safe as a place could get short of if she were working in straight Oracle code. "And about that giving you a call."

Her beer is taken with a nod of thanks. He's even given her the correct one. "Thanks. But about that call thing - it's not like we've had a chance to sit and talk shop, you and I. And Clint isn't exactly a walking font of technobabble. He rolls his eyes and pretends he's still deaf when it comes up. You were off my radar."

Mack (8277) has posed:
Mack smirks good-naturedly at being put in his place and nods. "Yeah, I know. I was in Japan. Fitz handled it all, I'm sure. I'm just still getting used to the idea we're compromised..." he shakes his head. "For all we know they've sold the identities of every agent and the locations of all our assets to everyone who hates us. It's like walking around with a mark on my back all the time."

Quake has posed:
Skye sighs, relenting, and rubbing her forehead. "Yeah. And I'm feeling guilty because it's my fault."

Well, it wasn't, and she knows this, but at one point she had been the one to tell Fury to leave the Russian satellites in place and running and let Hydra think SHIELD was unaware, thus allowing them to watch what Hydra was doing. Later she'd learn that Zola knew all along what SHIELD was doing.

Later still, she'd learn he'd been in their systems all along. Decades long. Not that she felt any less guilty for not catching on sooner.

"I have no clue. They pulled a fast one on us a couple years ago. At the time we were a bit shocked at the infilatration. Not sure I'm not shocked it wasn't deeper given he's been living in our systems the whole time. The stuff he could have rewritten with nobody the wiser." She shakes her head, yet to take a sip of her beer. "Anyway, you can check shit out if you want. Kinda figured you would have already. I know May had crews through here before I was allowed back home. We did some adjustments once we fell upon this plan. Fitz has been through, but honestly, a second pair of eyes never hurt."

As for marks on backs, she'd been part and parcel of certain SHIELD files being hand delivered to Zola - then Karl, the Benefactor. Mostly Index files on assets and persons of interest, but a few agents as well.

"And yeah, no clue what you already know. Not actually sure where you fit into things, so figured you and I could chat about that and make sure we were using you to the best of your ability. And figured you might have questions too."

Mack (8277) has posed:
Mack leans against the wall. "Honestly? I haven't heard much. The Trisk just got quieter and quieter when I was in Japan, we just... kept getting fewer updates," he says and drinks from his beer.

"I've been catching up and trying to act normal since I got back. Haven't had time to sit down with my new partner. Carter."

"Anyway, May told me this was the priority, and that I was just babysitting a package. Beyond that, just tell me what needs doing. I can go over the place, make sure its tight, and whatever you like."

Quake has posed:
Skye tilts her head at Mack and purses her lips. "Okay. So, no touching the computers. I don't even know what half the shit Fitzsimmons is running is doing. Don't make me hurt you. Don't make Jemma give me that look. I'm already in enough trouble." And how. If there weren't trackers in her gauntlets already, that might just be the straw that breaks the camel's back. "But yeah, have at. And wait - you're Peggy's new partner? Shit. I didn't account for you. You're going field on this? Because yeah."

She gets a distant and calculating look over her features. "Still should work. Someone might have told me to add another body to the numbers, but whatever. And yeah, other than this Zola thing, it's been quiet. I mean the Sentinels threats. The Asian gangs. Something is going on with some judical corruption, but it's like overall we're in the eye of the storm. We've been trying to balance the comings and goings here to match the overall patterns we'd established before moving mission central to our place, but are you saying we've left a gap?"

To them it had looked innocuous enough, but they were inside that system. Mack wasn't. He might have seen a gap they didn't.

"Total priority, though. Until we get him out, everything is insecure. We can't even trust our own data. Not that I think he's been fiddling with it. Nothing smacks of his code patterns, and hackers are pretty egotistical that way, just.." She shrugs. She'll feel so much better when this was over.

Mack (8277) has posed:
Mack nods. "Yeah, I get it," Mack assures her.

"And I'm not jumping to conclusions on your opsec here, it's just not an easy place to lock down. I'll look into it."

Mack takes another drink of his beer and smiles. "You surprised I'm with Peggy. I've been field for a while now, since after the Illiad. Just haven't crossed with you much. I get a lot of interventions on alien tech, portal tech, that kind of thing. And somebody thought it would be funny to give me a bioterror file," Mack says dryly. "Was at an autopsy two days ago, someone's testing some bad... Anyway, compromise. Peggy. Me. The package that is going to do the servers, and if that fails, I burn them out," he sums up the directions from May. "Circumstances are rough, but aside from the blown opsec it's pretty routine."

Quake has posed:
"Except you're not going to burn them out. That serves no purpose. If the code doesn't get into the system burning them does fuck all. You don't get it - the code isn't there, he's still in our machine. And she's not got to reach the servers. In fact, I'm the one who has to look like they are. Zola doesn't give a shit about her. He won't be looking for her, so you walk her in to the servers, she becomes a target. You take her in, and you make it look like your target is something you and Carter would actually be after."

"I fake the servers with the backup distraction. Or without. Doesn't matter there really. Zola just needs to think I'm the goal to stop so Samantha can do her thing. As long as he's stopping me, you have time. And the boys buy me time by being the biggest pain in the ass there ever was. But you don't burn the servers. Understand?"

Mack (8277) has posed:
Mack spreads his hands. "Hey, calm down," he says. "That's what I was told. If the package fails, I kill the servers by any means necessary. If you're lead and you want it different, it's different." Mack shrugs. "Better talk to Clint, though. I don't think he's quite clear on your plan."

Mack eyes Skye for a moment. "Lot of pressure on you. You good?"

Quake has posed:
"And I'm telling you that you don't burn them. Not sure who told you to, but it's not their position to tell you that. And even if it were, they'd be wrong. Like I said, he isn't only in the servers. The servers are like.. it's like trying to put out a forest fire by dumping a bucket on a single tree."

Skye sighs. "Look, I don't know what you've been told, but he's part of the system. We're going to him so that the folks back here can swap out our equipment and insert supplementary code here to keep him out. We pull his attention away from here and back there. But he's not the servers. The priority is getting Samantha to someplace she can remotely insert the code. I'll have a backup to do manually if that fails. Another reason you don't burn them."

Mack (8277) has posed:
Mack raises an eyebrow. "I heard you the first couple times," he assures Skye, with a slight concerned creasing of his forehead. "You don't want them burned, they're not burned."

Mack drains his beer. "Maybe I should let you get some rest, you look beat. Even super agent hackers need sleep, right?"

Quake has posed:
"I'll sleep when I'm dead," Skye intones. "I have things to do. But have at checking out the systems. if nothing else, you and Fitz will have something to talk about."

Mack (8277) has posed:
Mack salutes with his beer bottle with a smile.

"On it," he says. "Because who doesn't love doing physical security audits?"

Mack winks and hops to it.