3500/In times of crisis you should always consult the Oracle.

In times of crisis you should always consult the Oracle.
Date of Scene:	22 September 2020
Location:	Cyberspace - Somewhere inside the State Departments computer system.
Synopsis:	With her tracking software disabled Vivian Vision decides to go hunting for Red Room spies in the State Department. Instead she runs into Oracle, one of the legendary figures of cyberspace.
Cast of Characters:	Vivian Vision, Barbara Gordon

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Vivian Vision has posed:
With the Red Room clearly leaking select bits of information to the Attourney General and both Wasp & Waspette now missing it's given Vivian Vision a rather urgent incentive to look for clues. Even if that means committing a little bit of computer crime. Thankfully after some very close inspection there seems to be a pre-existing backdoor into the system. And so the synthezoid teen begins a tentative investigation.

Her physical form is cloaked in a hologram and slightly out of phase with reality, hovering somewhere along the New York skyline where she can access the most unsecured wifi points to send her commands through.

Little does she know that this particular system back door is not the domain of mere criminals nor was it put in place by the Russians she's seeking evidence of. No, it was set up by a figure as legendary online as the Batman is in Gotham. And Vivians presence has not gone unnoticed...

Barbara Gordon has posed:
Cut to Barbara Gordon in the clocktower.

Sitting on her couch with her legs folded up beneath her, red frame glasses resting precariously close to falling off the bridge of her nose. Her hair is up in a messy top-bun with a few wispy tendrils danging down either side of her face and a big bowl of Lucky Charms in her lap. Like a /big/ bowl. When you work out as much as she does, she can afford to eat some carbs every now and then... nobody gets between Barbara and her morning cereal.

That's how you lose a hand.

Wearing a simple t-shirt with a Rainbow graphic and a pair of vintage She-Ra pajama pants, the legendary hacker has a pair of headphones sitting around her neck, connected to the massive computer up on the raised dias before transluscent clock face of the appropo named Clocktower. Overlooking the Gotham skyline in early morning, one can be imagine it has already started raining.

It's a good time for some tv.

On which she's watching a classic and singing along.

"~How turned my world...
You precious thing..
You starve and near exhaust me...
Everything I've done I've done for you...
I bend the stars for no one...~"

When she's alerted, by a beep in her ear, that one of her backdoor nodes has been accessed. She furrows her brow and pushes up from her seat, moving up the stairs to her computer bank to get connected. Bowl set aside, headphones slipped over her ears, Oracle materializes in digital space. The androygenous dismorphic green face traces the rogue signals connection directly to the point of access into the government database.

>>Can I help you with something?<<

The voice is many voices. Male, female, alien, human, and every variation of tone at once.

Vivian Vision has posed:
Vivian's access is certainly not the common garden variety of computer criminal. For one thing she's inputting commands and firing off requests with inhuman speed. And the traces all lead back to different unsecured home connections none of which seem part of a botnet.

>>I need to find something. It's very important. If I can't they'll hurt my family... If they haven't already.<<

Rather than sending standard requests Viv just transmits a stream of raw binary. When Oracle decodes them into something a little more Human friendly they all seem to be looking for information regarding a Hague warrant, Maria & Nadia Trovaya, Hank Pym and just about everything connected to the Attourney General.

>>I do not know who you are and I have no interest in 'fighting' against you. But I can't let anyone stop me.. It's too important.<<

Barbara Gordon has posed:
The unmoving facial projection regards the information stream and various code trace locations with a disinterested expression its face. A simple code line brings up a view of some kid playing xbox, viewed through the built-in camera, another shows a family watching television on their Stark Television.

All of them seem less than inclined to be accessing one of her datamines with the effeciency at which Vivian is doing so.

>>I see.<<

The information, to Oracle's credit, is decoded at a speed most humans would just not be possible.. between her innate skillset and the computer on which she's doing the decryption, it's really very simple. She has systems that do this on low power mode, after all.

>>I have narrowed down your search parameters to a series of nodes connected via remote access in a timed window relay. Whoever is moving this information is doing so under a carefully controlled, but predictable algorithm to limited potential unauthorized expossure to government anti-cyber criminal software.<<

One of those pathways opens up like a glowing green portal for Vivian's transmission codes. A direct access to the node,

>>I have given you temporary authorization as a read only user. I have no doubt you could have done this yourself, but I saved you the legwork and potential for accidentally tripping a shunt and wipe software.<<

Vivian Vision has posed:
The flow of instructions stop.

It's just for a moment. A few seconds at most. But in machine terms it's the equivalent of stopping to make a cup of tea and having a think.

>>To whom am I speaking?<<

The question is accompanied with an attempted backtrace. Searching for anything to suggest that Oracle is a Russian hacker.

>>Whomever you are that is most definitely not Government issue software. Or hardware.<<

Regardless Vivian begins 'reading' the files. The fact she can't copy anything isn't really a problem. Perfect machine recollection will retain pretty much anything she glances at.

>>The people behind everything.. they are called 'The Red Room'. Is that a term you are familiar with? From what I have been told they were.. are.. cold war spies.<<

Barbara Gordon has posed:
That length of time is staggering for even Oracle who thinks in codelines most of the time anyways. She is not a machine, but two thirds of her life is spent more or less inside of one, so she can absolutely appreciate the gravitas of such a long wait period. The equivilant of hanging of sitting on the edge of her seat.

Good oppertunity to get a spoon full of cereal. Which she does.

The trace, however, goes no where. Actually, it goes a lot of places, but it goes no where definitively. It even has a thread that leads to a satelite, possibly further, until it becomes abundently clear that who, or what, ever Oracle is, they are not some two bit hacker.

>>Please do not do that.<< Trace her.

>>My name is Oracle. I am everything. I am everywhere. Who, if we are doing introductions, are /you/.<<

By comparison, Oracle does not do a reverse trace, though the code used to try and find her would make it, if not possible, at least plausable, that she could back track. She suspects, accurately no doubt, that whoever this person is isn't going to appreciate the trace.. and probably isn't going to be any easier to find than she, herself, is.

>>I have seen incomplete investigations closed by high level security clearance without any substantial evidence that it exists, but I have no information that pretain directly to The Red Room other than unsubstantiate rumor.<<

She's never had any reason to look, though.

Vivian Vision has posed:
Oracle might be a little shocked that the connection to the Satelite isn't via another system. It's a direct query. Her mystery intruder seems able to punch a signal right up into space. Vivian does at least seem to give up her attempt at a trace when asked but by that point it's clear it won't lead her anywhere interesting. Just endless loops through the forgotten places of the internet.

>>I do not have a handle. I've never really done anything like this before... I suppose you can call me Viv. If you wish.<<

A trace might not strictly be needed. Pretty much all of the origin locations are within New York State. Although that narrows it down to almost twenty million people.

>>I understand that SHIELD have records. Unfortunately no-one I have asked seems willing or able to provide me with them. The Russian Government should also have records. It's just a question of where.<<

Barbara Gordon has posed:
>>In my searches I have found that most old Kremlin documentations that have been transitioned to cyberspace are of a utilitarian nature. Things they cannot continue without, while most of their high profile, classified information remains largely hard copy or completely destroyed. With the destablization of the USSR, it makes information gathering beyond the Old Iron Curtain pretty complicated... never mind that they actually use a completely algorithm for their internet space than the vast majority of the civilized world. Backwards people.<<

Babs shoves another big spoon full of cereal in her mouth and glances back at the end of the movie she'd been watching, a casual look, and her eyes are back on the multi-monitor set up.

>>I will set up a loop system scan of the alphabet soup of government agencies for anything pretaining to The Red Room and set up a data dump site for you. Transmitting you a construct IP access point... now.<<

It's not an intrusive upload, just a small data stream of infinitely repeating digits that shift randomly, but still keep a base, static, code structure.

Vivian Vision has posed:
>>I will have to try asking a member of the consulate staff directly then.<<

Vivian adds a string of 1s and 0s which equate to a sigh emoji.

>>Do not be alarmed if you notice any of their military satelites going dark. I may need to apply some pressure by encrypting them with a form of ransomware software. But I will ensure that all safety systems are operational so there is no risk to other objects in space. And that I only subvert things which are too small to survive re-entry. I do not wish to endanger any innocent people on the ground.<<

Her physical form has remained largely unmoving the entire time. Hoving unseen in the sky and looking down on the Russian consulate building. A partition of her mind plotting away.

>>I must admit I did not believe the rumours about you. But I am glad to have been proven wrong.. I'll keep an eye out for any further information via your access point. I just hope we can track them down before it's too late...<<

Barbara Gordon has posed:
>>I believe it is customary to say good luck in situations such as this. I have never paid particular service to such trivial notions as luck, however. Instead I will say, hunt well. Luck, as it pretains to us, is where preparation and hard work meet oppertunity. You have skills that can accomplish this task. So, hunt well.<<

Babs leans back in her chair, smirking at the sigh emoji she reads in the 1s and 0s without requiring a decypher. She sees in code now, she's basically The One. Keanu Gordon over here.

>>Do be careful. I will be monitoring all satelite opperations to make sure nothing Nation critical is taken down. Threatening those who might have information is one thing, destablizing an entire nation for the sake of finding your friends, that is quite another... Then again, it is Russia.<< That's a joke, people.

Calm down.

>>I will be in touch if I acquire any information useful to your search for your friends, it has been a pleasure meeting you, Viv.<<

Vivian Vision has posed:
>>If something happens to me and I cease to be available you can also forward the information directly to Doctor Pym or the Titans.<<

Vivian doesn't specify what that something might be. But given the situation it would probably be something violent.

>>That would be wise. I... do not know what will happen to my mental state if my family members are no longer alive. I may try do something I would later regret... But still I hope it will not come to that. And thank you for your help.<<

Barbara Gordon has posed:
>>I will forward all relevant data to the mentioned parties if there is no transmission from you within one weeks time.<<

The head nods, digital construct that it is. She's clearly use to dealing with humans that require some form of physical representation and the habit has stuck.

>>I can understand this sentiment. Do not let the actions of others dictate the course of your life, however. You are your own person. While stimuli may attempt to alter your behavior, it is ultimately the decision of the user to allow it. Fight against that corruption. Be better than the people with whom you are fighting.

It is my pleasure, Viv.<<

The construct breaks down into broken codelines that become one with the information stream. A tactic used to deceive any potential hostile trace programs that might try to follow the code back to the source. Which would be amusing for Babs... if she didn't think, perhaps, just maybe, whoever the woman was she'd spoken to, could actually succeed.

Babs leans back in her seat and eats another spoon full of cereal. Her plate, preverbial or otherwise, is pretty full.. but this definitely seems important. Who would she be if she didn't help someone in need?

Not Barbara Gordon, that's for sure.

"Alright mother fuckers, let's see what you're hiding..." She cracks her knuckles and begins her search. Woe be the through actions have indirectly gained the attention of not only Vivian Vision, but Oracle.

They about to have a really bad day.