>INVIDIA<
It wasn't long after Adelin started to get into position when another transmission came over the tac-net, telling her that there were secured servers and terminals in the comm-relay's building, something that piqued her curiosity. The man that stepped out of the shed itself, a custom-made Synth, not entirely unlike her own Biomorph, the followed after Adelin.
Confident that they knew exactly what they were doing, she nodded once before striding to, and stepping inside, the comm-relay. It was small and poorly lit, with most of the light coming from the terminal screens and the pulsing lights of the servers, showing that they were at least partially operational. She instantly felt more at home, likening it to her own apartment back on Oberon.
She lowered her Shredder and walked over to one of the few chairs that fit inside the cramped space, sat, plucked up one of the fiber optic strands meant for direct neural interface.
Code:
Conquest, monitor all communications on the Firewall tactical network while I'm interfaced. If there is an emergency, let me know, otherwise: Do not disturb me.
Yes ma'am. Standing by.
As soon as her command was acknowledged, she brought the end of the strand up and around before plugging it into one of the Access Jacks at the base of her skull. The transfer of consciousness was immediate. While she could still sense her surroundings in the real world, they were dulled in comparison to the sensation of being in the Mesh.
Her Infomorph, a massive sea-snake with dark green scales, flexed in the deep waters from Old Earth that the Mesh resembled for her. And directly in front of her was the security firewall of the comm-relays mainframe. She uncoiled, raising her head in challenge, before she pulled her forks into the Mesh with her. A pair of identical Infomorphs materialized to either side of the original, and then they started to push through the firewall itself. Testing its defenses, seeing where it was weak.
Even as they broke through one layer of security after another, she supposed having the three of them hack in at once was overkill. But, it also meant that they would break in that much faster, and that much easier. After all, one expert hacker
might be able to break in. Three
would break in.
As soon as the last layer went down without so much as a fuss, Invidia looked over the comm-relays programming and had to pause out of surprise.
The Consortium certainly hadn't skimped on at least some of the equipment here, she thought when she realized that what they had there was a real-time communications line from this side of the Gate, to the other, which could potentially lead to any of the Pandora Gates in existence.
Unwilling to let such a valuable tool go to waste, she already began rebuilding the firewall with one of her own, while her two forks went to work on reprogramming some of the communications protocols. It seemed that the relay itself was able to differentiate between Gates that the local one could lead to. In addition, it supported quantum encryption, which she set to Firewall standards, and a more conventional comm-relay that their tac-net could tap into.
Once the programming and offensive firewall were in place, she began a transmission, in hopes that Proxie, back at the Fissure Gate, would receive it.
Code:
This is Firewall Sentinel, designate: Invidia. I have a priority status report for Proxie, from Babylon. We have encountered enemy resistance, and will likely encounter more shortly. Our specialists have found a communication relay that is able to reach through the Gate, which I am using now to contact you. It appears that hostiles are a contingent from Gatekeeper LLC, detached and assigned to a 'Project Ozma'. I am going to be setting up a communications network in the hopes of near-constant, real-time contact with Firewall. We have no losses as yet, and will proceed with operation as planned. We will keep in contact and keep you apprised with current status.
