“We are now convening the first ‘Meeting to Discuss Weird Stuff’ on the Brigand.”
In the planning room of the Brigand’s command pod, a small group of officers gathered.
At the head of this meeting was Ensign Braya Zachikova, the Electronic Warfare Officer aboard the ship. She had been missing during the battle against ULV-96 since she was getting acquainted with the ship supercomputer at the time. Missing out on the glory did not seem to bother her at all: her response to being asked about it was to simply say, “Leviathans have no ECM capabilities.”
Zachikova was a distant young woman with a somewhat short and skinny figure. She had tawny brown hair tied into a single tail, which looped into a long, wavy spiral that was quite fantastic. This seemed to be the only point of vanity she allowed herself. Her face was rather expressionless, she used no makeup, and she wore her uniform to code. Two metal antennae each about the width of her wrists adorned the sides of her head.
The agenda for the meeting was on a minicomputer she carried. When she set the minicomp down on the room table, she swiped the agenda text off her screen and directly onto the table screen for everyone to see. There were three particular items that she wanted to discuss with the group. Joining her in the room was Captain Korabiskaya, Commissar Bashara, First Officer Nakara and an engineer, Gunther Cohen.
At that moment, the Bridge was led by Semyonova temporarily.
“Zachikova,”
Captain Korabiskaya sighed deeply and brushed her fingers through her blond hair.
“That was a placeholder name for the project. But you still called the meetings–”
“It doesn’t really matter what they are called, does it?” Zachikova asked.
She looked at the Captain quizzically, as if she really didn’t understand the issue.
Commissar Bashara shook her head. “Don’t get distracted, Captain.”
Captain Korabiskaya crossed her arms over her chest.
“Fine then. ‘Meeting to Discuss Weird Stuff’ indeed. Zachikova, report your findings.”
Zachikova nodded. “First, a brief explanation for Nakara and Cohen about the project.”
Before the Brigand was handed over to its eventual crew, to prevent any leaks of its secrets, the sailors, mechanics, engineers, and officers were given very limited information about the ship in the lead-up to departure. It was understood that when the ship was underway its crew would have access to the finer details of the ship’s functions and would have a one-week shakedown period in peaceful waters. This time would be used for training, tuning and organization to make up for the secrecy and lack of onboarding.
The Captain accepted these terms. Mainly because she had no other choice.
Despite being attacked by a Leviathan almost immediately after setting off, the Brigand’s crew got underway and began to get acquainted with the ship per their schedule. Almost as soon as they started to touch things on the ship, however, they ran into numerous curiosities about the Brigand’s design.
Immediately, Helmsman Kamarik found oddities in the ship’s propulsion. Zachikova found that the ship’s supercomputer had several gaps where something was soft-deleted but the data was not zeroed out and could not be written over until it was properly reclaimed. Geninov and -de la Rosa took some mechanics to inspect the backup firing solutions on their respective weapons systems and found some strange parts in the hull armor when they dug themselves into the casemates for the guns and the guts of the torpedo tube. Supply staff found an inventory of unmarked spare parts in the cargo hold with instructions on destroying them.
The Captain halted any destruction of those parts until further notice.
Various confusing design “innovations” of this sort started to pile up.
Captain Korabiskaya tasked Zachikova with investigating as much as she could by digging into the ship’s computers and working with the engineers and technicians. As they sailed, Zachikova used drones to inspect every nook and cranny of the outer hull, gathering data on the materials and construction of the ship. She ultimately concluded that the ship had various functions that had been dummied out in the software.
“Cohen, you were part of the Cheka project, and traveled with the Brigand before. Can you shed some light on this? What do you know about the Brigand’s development?” the Captain asked.
Gunther Cohen nodded his head. “So, I will say up front, I didn’t design anything on the Brigand, and none of the guys who did were in contact with me. I know that, before the Brigand became fully seaworthy, it was a different, bigger ship. I know I heard folks talking about how they ‘chiseled’ the current Brigand out of the ‘rock’ that was the older one. I couldn’t tell you what that means, and it’s just hearsay, but this is a pretty mysterious ship. However, I’m not surprised they dummied a bunch of stuff out in the software. That’s standard procedure for Union design.”
“Standard procedure? To install a ton of extra equipment and make it inoperable?”
The Captain looked unsatisfied with the answer.
At that point, Murati interrupted briefly.
“It probably saves on R&D, doesn’t it? It’s easier than physically ripping out mechanical systems that were not properly completed, and then having to restructure the ship’s guts for it.”
“Murati has the right of it. Projects like the Cheka and the Brigand are pie-in-the-sky kind of stuff, we were dreaming big, and then we had to temper our expectations. I can imagine for a piece of machinery as complicated as a ship once you have added certain mechanical systems it’s not easy to rip them out entirely if they’re buggy or just unfinished. Those extra jets, for example, are way easier to dummy out in the software than they are to remove and redo the whole stern.”
Commissar Bashara rubbed her chin with one hand, resting the elbow on the table.
“Zachikova, could you list the equipment you were able to account for that has no available software? I would like a clear picture of the kinds of things we are talking about.” She asked.
Nodding, Zachikova read from her minicomputer. “There are two retractable devices in the prow and two above the stern that appear defensive in nature. We know they have motors, actuators and what looks like an agarthicite lattice associated with them. There’s a vertical missile tube that can fit standardized tube drones, dummies, and chaff, but Geninov can’t launch anything out of it. There are two additional small jets, but they do nothing if Kamarik tries to engage them. These are only a few of the larger objects. There may be finer systems we haven’t accounted for yet.”
“This sounds like such a massive waste of engineering.” Captain Korabiskaya said.
“I can understand your perspective as a soldier, you all want to have as many options as possible, but these things were dummied out for a reason.” Cohen said. “Already the Brigand is a bit of a patchwork and it was designed as a testbed for a particular capability and purpose. I think right now, we should stick to the basics of launching Divers out of it and supporting them.”
“Sometimes equipment that is dummied out is fully operational.” Zachikova said.
“That’s true, but we can’t know that here.” Cohen said. “Everyone who designed these bits is a high-level spook, too, I’m almost sure of it. I think we should leave it well enough alone.”
Zachikova turned to the Captain with something like determination in her eyes.
“Captain, Commissar, I must admit I am fascinated by these findings.” She said suddenly.
“So are we. Cohen’s points aside, though, almost everything on this ship is digital.” Captain Korabiskaya said. “So, if we don’t have software to run it, we can’t use it. Even if we can crawl someone through the ducts to that vertical missile tube, for example, they can’t launch anything.”
“Judging by your expression, Zachikova, you have an idea.” Commissar Bashara said.
Captain Korabiskaya stared at the Commissar and then at Zachikova in confusion.
Zachikova smiled for the first time. It was a small smile, but quite self-satisfied.
“You are right, Captain, that the Brigand is a digital being and we have no analog ways of using this equipment. It is conventional wisdom that for security purposes, it is not possible to write executable code to a ship’s supercomputer, so the ship’s crew can only use the included script and software bundles to carry out their tasks and can only perform minimal customization.”
“Wait. You’re insinuating that you can crack the computer?” Captain Korabiskaya said.
“Indeed. I can potentially edit back in some of the ship’s lost functionality, with time.”
Cohen looked terrified. “Ensign Zachikova, have you read a single treatise on engineering ethics? There’s a reason, other than security, that we don’t let people just write and execute code willy-nilly on ships. We’re supposed to be guaranteeing a certified, safe environment to work in!”
Zachikova turned her cold eyes on him. “Engineer Cohen, what if I told you I was a ‘spook’ myself at one point? That I was exactly the sort of unreachable, invisible person whose intentions you feared to probe? That where my actions were concerned, the ends justified the means, far above any regulation you could name?”
“Say what? Excuse me? Did everyone just process what this woman just said?”
The engineer looked to the Captain and the Commissar for support and found none.
“Zachikova was a ship saboteur in the Union Navy special forces.” Said the Commissar, calmly.
“I guess if anyone can crack something like this, it’s her. A very lucky personnel assignment.” Captain Korabiskaya smiled, perhaps a little nervously. Zachikova puffed out her chest with pride.
Cohen looked at them as if he could not believe what he was hearing.
Murati then raised a rather soft concern, in light of the other issues.
“Wait one minute though, how can you write executable code on a ship computer?”
Cohen tried to look to her for support as well, but as a soldier, she was also not opposed to the idea of trying to rehabilitate some of the Brigand’s more eccentric features. A piece of equipment was something to be mastered and perfected, both in the realm of strategy and logistics, and in development. They were owed full control and full power over this ship. She simply did not share Gunther Cohen’s passionate sense of the sanctity of workplace regulations. At least, not aboard an experimental military ship on a black ops mission.
Zachikova, of course, had an answer to Murati’s question.
“I found an exploit that would let me install software on Union ship computers.” Zachikova says. “In order to make it work, we need to briefly cut power to the computer, causing an unexpected shutdown and recovery. Normally only thin clients specifically mated to a ship are able to connect to its supercomputer. Those clients are knocked out when the supercomputer goes down. However, I am an independent, compatible device on the ship network, so I can exploit the recovery state to take unauthorized actions. I’ll install software to guarantee us continued, privileged access to the supercomputer so we can write our own code to it.”
She pointed to the two antennae on her head and demonstrated how she could remove one to expose a tiny serial port in her head, to which one might have connected networking or data cables. This port could connect computing devices directly to the mechanical parts of her brain, which had been cybernetically augmented. Cohen stared at it speechless, while the Captain and Commissar looked quite impressed with it.
“So you’ll use yourself as a computing device through which you can access the supercomputer. Interesting.”
Commissar Bashara seemed to understand the plan. Captain Korabiskaya looked a bit lost.
“Will you be okay, Zachikova? I’m not sure of the limitations of your brain implants.”
“I appreciate the concern, Captain. I will be fine. I’ve used my status as a living machine to great effect on missions before this one. Suffice it to say, I wouldn’t be on this ship otherwise.”
“You’re not a living machine, you’re a person, Zachikova. But I accept your reasoning.”
Zachikova looked indifferent to the Captain’s assurances of her humanity.
As the conversation developed, Cohen grew visibly more dissatisfied. “You asked me to come here to consult. My advice is, don’t do this. There is a world of problems with this!” He crossed his arms, seemingly offended.
“We value your input, Engineer Cohen.” Commissar Bashara said. Her tail stood straight and her voice and expression both grew stern. “However, this ship is not a collective farm. You were asked to advise us and we have listened to your advice. We have a mission, and our mission is led by a dictatorship. The Captain and I appear to agree about this course of action. We need all the power we can get. Zachikova, you will prepare the cracking software. We’ll work with you on a window of time to execute it. Then we’ll explore our options with each individual customization. We will be careful with them, and we will be as responsible as we are able.”
“Those devices were removed for our own good. But you’re right; it’s your decision.”
Cohen sat back and turned his head as if he were wiping his hands clean of this business.
After the meeting, Murati escorted Zachikova to the laboratory.
Captain Korabiskaya and Commissar Bashara headed to the bridge to set up a window for them to cut power to the computer to crash it. All of the ship had to be informed about the shutdown and to take a break until this task was accomplished. As they walked to the lab, Zachikova worked on her minicomputer.
From her jacket she withdrew a memory stick, worn and scratched, a sticker peeled off it.
“Is that the program you need?” Murati asked.
“It’s my toolkit.” Zachikova replied.
“Were you issued that, or did you make it yourself?”
Her voice turned colder fast. “No comment.”
She might have taken it with her after leaving the special forces. Maybe not fully reported.
Murati did not pry any further. It would not have been fair to Zachikova.
“I wanted to thank you for your work in proposing this to the Captain.” She said.
“Well, I’m glad at least the people who matter were happy with my presentation.”
Zachikova spoke in a deadpan, matter-of-fact tone without a shred of doubt or hesitation.
“It may sound sentimental, but I respect your expertise. I trust you; because of your record.”
Everyone else had made such a big deal of Zachikova’s past in the Special Forces. Had it been her, Murati would have definitely felt ostracized by those kinds of comments. Zachikova was her peer. She had kept quiet at the meeting, but she wanted Zachikova to know she had support among her peers.
For her part, however, Zachikova did not acknowledge her intentions whatsoever.
“How do you feel about the special forces, Lieutenant?”
Interesting question.
How did Murati feel about the special forces?
She thought of what she knew about them: they handled critical missions, against external and internal threats. Asset protection, targeted liquidation, reconnaissance, sabotage, espionage. They were accountable to the internal security directorate and not formally part of the Navy. Training for the special forces was heavy, and it required a certain temperament to get approved for them. Or at least that was what Murati learned about them in her time writing papers about the military for the Academy.
She knew, basically, what they were and what they did — but how did she feel about them?
“I trust that your unit fulfilled its duty. Like all of us you worked to protect the Union.”
Even if she did not know exactly what Zachikova had done, Murati wanted to trust her.
Zachikova glanced sidelong at Murati in response. She put on a tiny little grin.
“I see. You would be really dangerous in the special forces, Murati Nakara.”
Murati waited for Zachikova to elaborate on that point, but she never did.
Zachikova stuck the memory stick into her minicomputer and connected to it via the serial cable on her left antennae. On the computer, the ordinary GUI for Union thin clients was taken over by a shell that was running a series of commands, scrolling through diagnostic text much faster than Murati could figure out. With that device plugged into her antennae, the hazy way her eyes looked while staring down at the screen, she really did look almost mechanical. When her eyes glanced sidelong at Murati once more, she briefly saw tiny digits flitting across them. They must have been cybernetic, like the antennae.
Most sufferers of Hartz syndrome needed both the antennae and the eye implants together.
She was not a machine, however. She was a person. Murati held firmly to that.
“You definitely joined this mission because you have a self-righteous streak, Murati Nakara. As for me, I just want a challenge.” Zachikova said, almost to herself. “I wouldn’t be here otherwise.”
“Did I give such a bad impression? I won’t judge you. What matters is that you’re here.”
No response from the Electronic Warfare officer. She became immersed in her work.
Murati felt mildly anxious about whether Zachikova appreciated or disdained her kindness toward her.
At the meeting she had called herself a machine. Did she really believe that?
They had barely met; Murati resolved to give it some time.
It still weighed on her mind as she traveled.
Beyond the common areas of the ship was the Science & Observation section, closer to the tail of the ship and directly plugged into the conning tower — a ship’s “top fin” that contained a multitude of sensors, cameras, and other equipment. Through the sliding doors, the first object in Murati’s sight was the ship’s tree. Encased in a habitat and attended to using drone arms controlled from the outside, the tree was almost as tall as the room with a vast, beautiful green crown that brushed against the confines of the hermetic glass in which it was kept. Like many Union trees it was planted on a black mound — a combination of synthetic soil, heritage soil that was brought to the Union’s agrispheres by the Empire, and soil extracted from continental caves.
That tree would provide some of their fresh oxygen, but it was mainly symbolic.
Even under the Ocean, after the catastrophe, surface life continued to struggle. Humanity was part of this.
Arrayed around the tree in the center was the laboratory equipment. Each station had a different purpose that would have been better understood by a science officer. There were centrifuges, containment cells for biohazardous material, burners, dessicators, evaporators, distillation equipment, all manner of glasses; a few more mysterious devices like a “vacuum oven,” a “particle accelerator” and an “ultraviolet chamber” among others. In the rear of the room was a nondescript box about the size of a locker turned on its side, containing the supercomputer and an array of cooling racks and heat sinks that looked almost like an art station.
Along the sides of the room were the agri-units, one growing mushrooms, a second growing spinach and a third housing a bubbling vat of modified yeast, which would be turned into patties. These units could provide some of the ship’s fresh food needs. They could not feed the entire crew, but they could make sure the entire crew could have a bite or two of fresh food regularly, rather than relying entirely on their packed supplies.
“Murati! You came over! I can’t believe it took this long for my hubby to pay a visit!”
Managing of all this equipment was the task of the Science Officer, Karuniya Maharapratham.
Seeing Murati, she rushed to the entryway and threw herself into Murati’s arms.
Unprepared to have to catch her fiancé, Murati nearly fell over with her.
Karuniya nuzzled herself against Murati with a big grin on her face.
Murati held her, like Karuniya clearly desired, but let a tired sigh while doing so.
“We see each other every day. We live together!” Murati then cried out.
“You think that’s enough attention for a maiden in full bloom? What a frigid husband!”
“I don’t even know where to start with that!”
“You should start by giving me a big kiss, hubby–”
Murati turned her face away with a big grin, making a show of denying Karuniya attention.
For a moment, Karuniya put on a shocked face in response.
“In the first place, I’m a woman, I don’t know where this husband business came from–”
“Women can be husbands! And cold and mean as the river Cocytus! As you demonstrate!”
“Being called frigid and mean really puts me in the mood to indulge my needy fiancé.”
“Stop casting me as the villain. If you took better care of me, I wouldn’t be like this.”
For a moment, the pair indulged in this sort of teasing as if in their own little world.
Karuniya finally peeled herself off Murati with a big smile.
Murati could not help but smile, a bit bashfully. Being a “husband” was kind of charming.
After indulging in their aura of cohabitation, the pair suddenly realized they had company.
At their side, Zachikoya briefly looked up at them from behind her minicomputer.
Just as quickly, she went back into hiding behind the screen.
“Ah, sorry Zachikova.” Murati felt her heart sink with embarrassment. “This is Karuniya Maharapratham, the Science Officer. We’re getting married, and she gets carried away a lot–”
“You were playing along too.” Karuniya said, narrowing her eyes at Murati. She reached out a hand to try to be friendly, but Zachikova was not in the mood. As soon as Karuniya reached out, she had already walked past them toward the back of the room, headed for the supercomputer.
“Let me know when the Captain authorizes the shutdown.” She said, waving her hand.
As she disappeared behind the tree, she did not even glance at them once over her shoulder.
Karuniya crossed her arms and put on a petulant expression in response to the snub.
“What’s her problem?”
Murati sighed, rubbing her temples. She was so mortified she had begun to sweat.
“I think we made a bad first impression.”
“Whatever. I don’t care.” Karuniya was clearly mad. “So, what are you here for then?”
Murati almost considered trying to tease her, but her mood was simply too oppressive.
“Zachikova is going to do some work on the supercomputer.”
“Uh huh, this isn’t surplus junk at a station plaza, you know. What can she even do to it?”
“Apparently a lot. The Captain authorized it, so don’t worry about the finer details.”
Karuniya shrugged. “I haven’t done any important work on it anyway, so go right ahead.”
“I would’ve thought you’d have more to do than me.” Murati said, commiserating.
While Murati was completely idle, being a combat soldier without any combat or training to do, Karuniya was a scientist. She had drones and sensor tentacles and other equipment at her disposal to collect samples at any point. And she had other responsibilities too: her lab housed the ship’s tree and the agri-units.
Though mainly automated, they still required some supervision.
“We’re still in the Nectaris. Cascabel’s waters aren’t really any different from the Union’s. Once we’re deeper into Sverland and even the Imbrium, I’ll have research worth doing, samples to collect and all of that. Until then I’m just looking after the nitrogen levels on the tree and looking forward to my next meal.”
“Remind me to lend you one of my mixtapes. I can really waste away the hours to those.”
Karuniya perked up a little. She laughed gently with Murati. “I guess that’d help a little.”
On one of the monitors in the lab, Captain Korabiskaya and Commissar Bashara appeared.
“Alright, we’ve given her a window! Make sure she’s okay, Murati.”
“Copy.” Murati said. Karuniya saluted alongside her.
At the appointed hour, the pair of them stood by as the supercomputer went down.
There was really nothing to see.
Zachikova sat next to the supercomputer housing, plugged into it with one antenna and her minicomputer with the other. She had a placid, glassy-eyed stare as if sleeping with her eyes open. She was like that for twenty minutes. At one point, Karuniya kneeled beside her and pressed her hand to the girl’s chest to confirm a heartbeat and breathing. She was perfectly alive and fine, but her consciousness was somewhere else.
Finally, Zachikova moved. She unplugged herself from the computer and shook her head.
“Let me run a test here quickly.”
Zachikova stood up and got to work on her minicomputer.
One of the monitors in the lab graphically glitched for a second then began to display a horrid looking line of text that seemed to have been constructed out of graphical assets normally used for the UI on ship programs, like the cute swirls on the corners of the screen, and the stylized buttons, but chopped up into bits and pieces.
It read: “80085”
“Boobs?” Karuniya shouted, her jaw hanging in disbelief.
Zachikova smiled.
“Perfect. Tell the Captain we’re in business.”
a wonderful use of likely the oldest of leetspeek jokes, nice nice