3234/Hacking A Government Contractor

Hacking A Government Contractor
Date of Scene:	04 September 2020
Location:	Mission Center
Synopsis:	Doug, Sam and Kitty work to generate leads on where Vulture and Green Goblin are with the prototype power inhibitor that they stole.
Cast of Characters:	Kitty Pryde, Douglas Ramsey, Samuel Guthrie

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Kitty Pryde has posed:
After the other mission was done last night, Kitty had looped back around to western New York to pick up in the Blackbird the members of the team who had stopped the mercenaries from stealing a prototype power inhibitor being developed for use in supermax prisons. Only to find super villains were behind the mercenaries, as Vulture and Green Goblin took a personal hand and made off with the shipment that had been going to a supermax prison for testing.

Now she's back at base. She's had a fast shower, but nothing to eat as she's concerned about how things went. A message fired off to Doug let him know the situation. She's got to hack into a high tech company with government contracts, and their security is good. She can use some help.

Lockheed is curled up in her lap. He's had a long day as she's typing, revising some of their hacking algorithms to increase their effectiveness against Plexeter Research Inc's particular defenses.

Douglas Ramsey has posed:
    Doug hasn't been spending a lot of time at the house - if pressed, his excuse is 'working hard at his day job' but there's plainly something else going on, as he's stiff and uncomfortable on his arrival to the mansion and after a warm and polite greeting, he stuck earbuds in and is focusing on the computer, text ticking by as he cuts through digital security and sets up apps to begin analyzing documents for important keywords.
    It's a huge amount of data to sift through. He sends a text - 'What exactly did they take? Has anyone figured out why they made off with it?'

Samuel Guthrie has posed:
Sam Guthrie has saw the two working in the computer lab, and he has been around when this happens in the past. He heads into the kitchen, and makes some sandwiches, cutting them on the diagonal and making sure not to messy. He will grab some chips, that are not to messy, and some cheese puffs, figuring him having messy fingers won't be an issue, and that Brings Sam with a platter of food for the three of them, and soda, and sets it on the table beside them, grabbing a sandwich "Food is here, you two ate in the past 24 hours?" He jokes.

Kitty Pryde has posed:
Kitty looks over her shoulder as Sam arrives. "oh you're a godsend. I'm not even sure when the last time I ate was. Before the missions at least," Kitty tells him. "Not counting coffee, which I think I should just start putting into an IV to save the time," she says.

She reaches over for one of the plates, taking a bite and giving a happy sigh. She finishes swallowing, mostly, before answering Doug. "The emails from personal accounts that two of their executives had discussed company business on, that I could hack on short notice, mention it's a power inhibitor, and that it was being shipped to a supermax prison so they could do further tests with it. Test it on the prisoners there in a secure environment rather than have to bring people in to their building which would be less secure," Kitty says.

She takes another bite. "But beyond that, we don't know what it is. Electronic collar like we have? Or a drug? A ray or a field emitter. No clue of the technical details at all. It was in a largish box in the armored car, but not so big that Vulture couldn't carry it in his hands."

Douglas Ramsey has posed:
Doug removesh is earbuds, and then murmurs, "I always wondered if the Vulture got his name because one day he forgot to wear his 'Oops, I Crapped My Pants'." He sits, and then looks up at Sam and smiles, "Thanks, buddy." Then he turns back to Kitty and says, "Well that sounds unethical to begin with, but we'll see what my search algorithm turns up. I've got it looking for keyword permutations related to experiments on prisoners."

He shrugs. "Could be anything then." He takes a cheese puff and tosses it into his mouth. "Listen, guys... I've been thinking of how to tell you but I'm not sure if I'm gonna stick around. I don't know if I have the heart to tough it through what I think is gonna happen."

Samuel Guthrie has posed:
Sam Guthrie starts to say something but stops and looks over to Doug. "What ya mean man? What ya think is coming?" He asks and will listen a bit more to the two. He does put a hand on Doug's shoulder giving it a soft squeeze showing his buddy support.

Kitty Pryde has posed:
Kitty Pryde sets down her sandwich to do a little more typing, and then fires off a worm to begin slowly insinuating its way into some systems to open up more access into PRI. "Yeah, I'm not quite sure what all they are doing there. Hopefully we get their research notes. Just had to extrapolate from a few sentences worth of info in the emails," she says.

Kitty swivels in her seat at Doug's comment. "Yeah, we've been through a lot in the past, what is it that you're worried might be happening that has you feeling that way?" she asks.

Kitty reaches over, resting her hand on the other shoulder of her old friend as Sam does the same with the other, and giving it a soft squeeze. Just a reminder that he's got people there who care about him.

Douglas Ramsey has posed:
Doug takes up half a sandwich and takes a bite out of it. "Magneto's going to swoop down and declare himself King of the Mutants - again, and he's going to make a whole bunch of threats and energize every bigot out there, and then go 'see?' And then half of us will go 'You know what, Magneto's right, why NOT fascism?' And run off to join him. And then when it's all said and done we'll be even more screwed than we were before he pulled this."

He turns and looks back at the computer, checking its progress. "Well you know what, I *hate* Magneto. I hate that man, and he's not *my* king. So..." He shrugs, "I'm thinking maybe just hit the mat and go live my own life before he starts in with his crap."

Samuel Guthrie has posed:
Sam Guthrie looks to them, and says "I don't know about many of us going his way, I think the majority of folks believe in the dream, might have a few kids go towards him, but him showing favortism towards specific mutants when he took off, I don't know how well that will spin with them.

Kitty Pryde has posed:
Kitty considers Doug's words, the sandwich getting less of her attention even if she is very hungry. "Will there always be some angry people willing to listen to someone like him? Sure," Kitty says. "But I think he burned a lot of bridges with this latest stunt. Taking out the infrastructure on Genosha for his own uses? I just think people who looked up to him before are going to see him in a completely different light," Kitty says.

She sits looking at Doug for longer moments, and her eyes going over to Sam as well, expression showing a little concern about their friend. "You need to do what will make you happy though. Whether that means being here, or going off to found Doug's Twinkletoes School of Dance..." she says, flashing him a teasing grin at the suggested occupation change. "I might have to come and take a few classes if you do the latter," she says in a stage whisper.

Douglas Ramsey has posed:
"I haven't made any decision yet." Doug says. "Call me a Cassandra, but I just feel like I can see the writing on the wall, like when he swooped into Mutant Town like some sort of bull$@%# messiah." He turns back to the computer and adjusts the search parameters a bit before he adds "I'm rusty on my dance moves but hey -- my jazz-tap was always on point." He huffs out a breath and then says, "Enough about that, we have a job to do here."

He strokes his chin with thumb and forefinger and then mutters, "Green Goblin, huh. What a screwball that guy is. Nuttier than a Planters factory."

Samuel Guthrie has posed:
Sam Guthrie says, "Well what ever you do you know you still have us there when ever you need us bro." He offers the other man, and looking over their shoulders "Goblin and Vulture, Spiderman's rogue gallery right, both of them are basicly gadget villains, would think that leads to the device being electronic."

Kitty Pryde has posed:
Kitty turns back to check on the progress of her hack. She fires off another few executables once the ability to detect them has been neutralized. "Working on getting into this 'Applied Research' division's archives," she tells Doug, coordinating efforts with him.

"You were always fun to dance with. We should go out for a night on the town. Lord knows I could use it," Kitty tells Doug. "Sam, you'll have to tell me what the good clubs are now. I'm still getting used to being back home," she says.

Lockheed is given a little nudge to wake him. He stretches and stands up. Kitty doesn't say anything to him, but the empathic dragon senses the moods in the room and seems to divine why Kitty woke him. He hops up on the counter and walks over to Doug, the hops down in his lap to curl back up again. Few things fight dark thoughts like a good warm lap dragon.

Douglas Ramsey has posed:
Doug scratches Lockheed's head, absently. "I agree with you, Lockheed. Magneto's a $@%#." He says, as he mutters, "Thanks, Sam. Kitty. I appreciate the concern. And the PB&J. I'm not really sure what I'm going to do yet. I like my job, though. Ted Kord is a great boss, and he's got a lot of really innovative ideas. ...Bit of an odd duck, though."

"Let's see here..." He says, "I'm checking their financial records for any transactions with for-profit prisons. We might be able to approach this through the back end and get some insight from *their* records, too."

Samuel Guthrie has posed:
Sam Guthrie nods, and says "Hey you can always come take the police training with me." He jokes a bit, and looks to Kitty, "Know a few, Alexis more used to classical dances but about any type she is willing to try.

Kitty Pryde has posed:
"Oooo, good idea," Kitty says of approaching the problem from the other side. "I was in such a rush - we knew Ramses Harden had a timetable for the assault Humvee so knew it was happening soon - that I never got around to digging on the other side," she agrees.

She looks over to Sam and flashes him a smile. "And how are things with Alexis? I haven't seen her in quiet awhile. Though I know I've been in and out and kind of focused on some of my own things. I was really debating what to do. Like job, or what, when Scott needed me to fill in for some of his classes. Sort of delayed that decision but it's still there waiting for me," she says with a sigh.

Douglas Ramsey has posed:
Doug furrows his brow as he continues to dig through records, checking positives as they come up and then setting aside ones that might be of interest for a closer look later. "You're going to become a cop, huh? Well, best of luck to you Sam. I'm sure you'll do great, buddy."

"You'll be great at whatever you turn your hand to, Kitty." He rests his chin in his hand as he pets Lockheed and studies a record. "...And that can always change, so don't feel locked into a choice."

Samuel Guthrie has posed:
Sam Guthrie looks over and says "Thats the plan, figure it aint as dangerous as things we do every day, just a bit more of a target on me while doing it." He admits. "Planning on working out of Bushwick preferable, try to give folks a reason to trust the police in the area." He munches some of the cheese puffs.

Kitty Pryde has posed:
Lockheed leans into Doug's petting, happily having traded one lap for the other as he is able to give Doug that bit of happiness that comes from petting a pet. Not that Lockheed's a pet in that fashion, but he does love his scritches.

"I think it's a great career path," she says. "Though your powers are kind of... what's the word I'm thinking of... 'loud'? For keeping them concealed," she says, her voice having a teasing tone for Sam.

"So why don't the four of us go out dancing some night? Sam can pick the spot. Doug can show me he's still got those mad skills that I remember from dance class," she says.

Kitty leans forward. "Hrm. I found some technical specs, not for the inhibitor for the shielding around a testing room. It might have some radiation as part of it. We can have Hank take a look and see what he can make of them," she says.

Douglas Ramsey has posed:
"Aw," Doug says. "I don't want to go out with Lockheed, Kitty." He brings up some more records. "He gets all the girls and I get squat."

He looks up, and then says, "...What sort of of radiation?" He seems keenly interested in that.

Samuel Guthrie has posed:
Sam Guthrie smirks a bit and says "Hey can't get much better wing man, than someone with wings." He jokes along with them, and says "I'll talk to Alexis and see when she is up for it. Oh you two heard Paige made some friends on the teen titans?

Kitty Pryde has posed:
Kitty laughs. "I meant, us three and Alexis. Not that I wouldn't love to take Lockheed dancing too. You should see his mamba," she says, flashing a smile over to the little dragon.

The young woman gives a little shake of her head. "Doesn't say. It's just a set of plans for bulking up containment around this room they were testing it in. I'm assuming these materials are radiation related though, all high density alloys that would be effective at containing it. But, I can't make a guess on what type. That's where Hank can come in," she says.

Kitty glances over to Doug's screen. "How's it going, you finding anything on the prison end?"

Douglas Ramsey has posed:
"Well, I've got some fatality reports that are odd." Doug says. "Clusters of suicides that occur around the same time as really hush-hush financial transactions between the corporation that owns the prison and PRI. All of the prisoners were relatively young and healthy, none older than 40."

He adds, "And the coroner's notes say suicide, usually by hanging, but there's no autopsy photos or anything as part of the record..."

Samuel Guthrie has posed:
Sam Guthrie looks over and says "Is it a private owned prison? Is there a list of the inmates, and how many of them are super types of one type or another versus normal folks?" He hmms and says "Also see if there is any judge or string of judges that send them there?

Kitty Pryde has posed:
Kitty pulls up a map that shows the prison, and then pulls up information on the prison itself. "Well, it does have a management company, yes, contracts with the government. Though I think the government is the one that gave PRI the contract. The prison is just one of the facilities that could benefit from it. And is closest to PRI's offices in Oneida."

She focuses back on her hacking. "Still struggling to get into their actual design notes or anything like that. They might be air gapped even, I'm still hunting trying to find them. I mean, as a hacker I hate that they air gap them. As someone who doesn't want this tech getting, I love if they air gapped them," she says.

Douglas Ramsey has posed:
"Well see, it's this private corporation, Cross Corrections, that's begun making a name for itself by establishing holding facilities capable of containing mutant and meta-human offenders--" He quirks his mouth, "They're big in Florida." Then he adds, "But New York doesn't work with private prison systems. But they could still have a similar arrangement with the Department of Corrections."

"Let's check the NYS facilities. Attica has a metahuman containment facility. So does Clinton Correctional in Dannemora..."

Samuel Guthrie has posed:
Sam Guthrie hmms and says "If we had more time, I would suggest getting someone on the inside see what we could find out." He hmmms a bit in thought "Will drop some questions in class about the prison systems tomorrow.

Kitty Pryde has posed:
Kitty turns her attention back to the sandwich, taking a bite and giving a sigh. "This really was a godsend, Sam. Thank you for the food," she tells him. "Well, at this point the focus is tracking down Vulture and Goblin. Getting info on the device itself is mostly in the hopes that knowing more about it might give us some leads on how to track it, or what to look for if they start using it," she says.

"The other thing we can do is try to investigate them directly. Sightings of either of them. What activities they been up to. See if we can figure out where they might be working out of, or if there is any rhyme or reason to their actions where could plan ahead where to catch up with them. As far as I know the device itself is... well, not any different than what SHIELD uses at the Raft, just more effective is their goal. I think the Raft costs a lot of money, uses a lot of power, to accomplish the level of security they do. Something that is less costly for containment could help there."

Douglas Ramsey has posed:
"Cheaper and more efficient's always the goal." Doug agrees, before he rubs his chin. "Aha, bingo. Something similar at Clinton. Four metahuman prisoners, all young men, all of whom were placed in solitary confinement due to undefined 'infractions' and then committed suicide within a short time-frame based on the coroner's records."

"Have either of you ever been to Dannemora? The answer to that is 'no', by the way. It's a town with a population of about 3,900 people - 3,000 of which are inmates at Clinton. Now, aside from a very clever and high-profile escape by some non-powered prisoners recently, the place is a black hole. Unless..."

Samuel Guthrie has posed:
Sam Guthrie hmms and will keep silent for now, getting himself another soda, and stands up pacing back and forth in thought. He will bring up a map of the area on another computer after a moment, and leans over the chair at it looking at satalite view of the area.

Kitty Pryde has posed:
Kitty glances over at the stuff that Doug is looking into. "Hmm. Seems like a whole thing worth looking into there," she says with a frown. Lockheed nudges against Doug's hand, reminding him there's supposed to be petting going on along with the investigations!

Kitty does a bit more typing. "Oh no you don't," she mutters at the computer, shutting down a network scan that might have picked up something and returning false results that won't pick up the extra network activity that's been going on.

"So Sam, anything else going on with you beside the police academy?" she asks him. "Been out on any interesting missions lately? You missed the ocean liner getting attacked by an actual siren out of the ocean depths. Aquaman was there too. Lorna got taken over by the siren's song and I had pull her with me out of the bottom of the boat. I was wondering if we were going to drown when Aquaman sent a giant squid to carry us to the surface. I think that one might make my top ten most interesting mission list."

Douglas Ramsey has posed:
Doug pats Lockheed on the head. "So barring on-site investigation of one of the most secure, most infamous prisons in the country..." He tilts his head and listens, before he says, "I feel bad for Lorna. That woman needs a vacation."

Samuel Guthrie has posed:
Sam Guthrie looks over and says "Not a lot, been busy with the whole college thing and working a bit. AH probably should try to get out in the field more. "I was thinking of the area the hijacking was in, probably a place easier to get to by air than by land where they using as a hang out

Kitty Pryde has posed:
Kitty gives a nod about Lorna. "At least there were no bricks. Though I left out the zombies. The dead passengers and crew... all reanimated again," Kitty says with a shake of her head.

She turns back to the computer, musing quietly as she considers things. "Yes, it was on State Route 46 south of out Oneida. They waited until they were out away from too many towns where there would be people, extra cops in the area, etc," Kitty says. "The rental SUVs that the team was in got shot up pretty bad. I made sure the insurance coverage on it didn't have a clause that would rule out... well, the kind of stuff that we figured might happen going after a Humvee with a machine gun mounted on top. But yeah, they didn't even know Vulture or Goblin were there until they were busy with the mercs from the sound of it. Could have flown anywhere after that."

Kitty sighs. "What I would give for our own set of satellites. Though... ah... there's such a thing as too many eyes out there."

Douglas Ramsey has posed:
"Hmmmmmmmm." Doug says, "Let me do that too..." He murmurs, "I'm checking what satellites would've been covering that area on the say and time of the--" His fingers race along the keys, "And now I'll just borrow them for a minute..."

He begins sifting through information, "And then I'll see if they caught anything."

Samuel Guthrie has posed:
Sam Guthrie looks over and says "Got some decent high speed cameras, I could do a few fly overs, and see if there is anything to be seen around it.

Kitty Pryde has posed:
The trio continue working, gathering leads. And eating sandwiches. Sam Guthrie really is a life saver. By the end of the day they have a few leads at least to continue running down as to the location of Vulture and the Green Goblin.