Inside Job
 Obsidian  2017/1/8 23:50
 1381  4
On a hunch I ask the Black Mantis to let me take a look at the vault where Parata's head was kept. I am given the passcodes and various other necessities required to enter without getting killed. I am also given free access to the security tapes. However, there's a stipulation...the imperial grand inquisitor known as "Shadowblade" has been assigned to accompany myself and Spydra during our investigation. He's a hot head but scary....reminds me of a movie sub-villain...he doesn't say much to anyone as we enter the vault but they're visibly intimidated by his presence.
"I am not sure what you hope to find that my investigators could not. I assure you we were very thorough."
His tone is derisive, and it's clear he's offended by our presence but he won't disobey the emperor, not if he wants to live very long anyway.
There's no prints, no trace of bypass equipment none of the standard tricks of the trade that professional thieves use. What amazes me the most is the sheer quantity of magical wards in place, with an equal number of passwords to get through them. There's no way anyone could get the passwords necessary to get through here without inside knowledge.
"Who was the guard on duty?"
"That would be Tarar, he is awaiting summary execution until YOUR investigation is completed."
"I'd like to question him please."
"I'll arrange it."
As soon as the inquisitor is out of earshot I grab hold of Spydra's arm and pull her close to me. In a hushed tone I tell her what my worst fear of this investigation is, and the only conclusion I can come to based on the evidence.
"Spydra, as much as I hate to say this, I think this is an inside job."
"The empirical evidence, or lack thereof, would seem to support your conclusion but who do you think could possibly be a prime suspect?"
"Hell I have no idea, but if I'm right, and they catch on to what we know the situation could prove very....dangerous."
"Then we keep our suspicions to ourselves?"
"Yes, and I know this goes against your faith, but I need you to keep your mistress in the dark as well. No one can know what we suspect."
Some time later, we're brought into an interrogation room with Tarar. We leave our weapons at the door as Tarar is something of a well trained killer as is the norm with all of the citizens of Mantis's empire. Tarar is not what I would call stupid or corrupt. His dossier is so clean it squeaks. he has no money issues or any family problems, in fact his life here could not be more ideal.
The Inquisitor brings me a small box which contains a shiny gold ring.
"What's this for?"
"This ring will vibrate whenever anyone within 50 feet speaks falsely."
"It detects lies?"
"Yes."
"What's the fallibility level on this thing?"
"Zero."
"Really? What if he believes what he's saying is true even if it isn't?"
""Well, yes I suppose that could be a problem."
"So 99 percent then?"
With that he storms out. Sometimes I'm a jerk just to bring down some smug ass a peg or two. I ask the standard questions and even have the Tarar lie a couple of times on purpose just test the ring, which works fantastically by the way. But it's not until my sword teleports to my hand that he starts to look nervous. he knows who I am and that my blade is much like the emperor's in every way...and he keeps his hands very still. He won't dare touch the thing for fear of death, but I have no intention of killing him. No I focus the magic of the sword on a little known spell that compels a subject to answer 5 questions truthfully regardless of whether or not they want to. The subject is immediately aware of the presence of the spell. Which should have this guy quaking in his boots but he doesn't seem nervous at all.
"Question one: How is your family life?"
"No things are fine at home."
Question two: Any financial problems at home?
"No sir, the empire provides for all that we could ever want and I make an excellent wage here, enough to live rather luxuriously actually."
Question three: Anyone have blackmailing you?
"No."
Question four: Were you otherwise coerced into allowing an unknown person into the vault?
"No sir, the lady knew all the passcodes and had all the right credentials. She seemd shady so I called for authorization and she was cleared. I told the Inquisitor the same thing."
Question five: Who authorized the suspect to enter into the vault?"
"The order came from the emperor himself, I spoke with him on the comm."
"An inspection of the comm records shows there was not communication at the time you say you spoke to the emperor."
With each question the ring remains still, not so much as a twitch. If he's lying he's got some kind of powerful magic backing him up. I thank him and send him back to his cell. After some time I return to the vault to check the communication records myself. I'm looking for traces of unrecorded communications. The communications system on a vessel (I use the term loosely)it's tough to completely erase those kinds of records completely. A voice from nowhere just about scares the holy crap out of me.
'How can I assist you Obsidian?"
It's the damned computer. The realization brings my heart rate back down as I realize it's a simple AI interface.
"Computer, can you show me all communication records for the day of the theft, for the entire ship?"
"There were approximately 1,234,946,647,342 transmissions at that time."
The numbers are astronomical, but then I have a stroke of genius.
"Compute can send me a copy of the guard's fingerprints?"
"What do you need those for?" Spydra asks.
"I'm hoping that I'm right but I'm playing a hunch. Computer which consoles are used to check in."
The computer indicates a console near the door.
"Excellent, and which console is used to get authorization should a visitor be suspicious?"
As the panel lights up I smile wide and proud. They're not the same console. The one lit by the computer isn't the same as the one used for daily security logs. This means if he did in fact have a conversation then he'd have to have left behind his fingerprint on the screen...and sure enough...
"Bingo!"
"Did you find what you were looking for?"
"Indeed I did, food old fashioned detective work wins again."
A thorough check of the security logs reveals that while there was no transmission that day, there hasn't been one in over a century. So why would the guard's fingerprints be on the screen, Video records up until the day of the theft show he has never stepped foot over at that section since being assigned this post. Somebody with top level access altered the records, and deleted the transmission. Only six people have the access level required to do this and It's up to me to find out where each and every one of them was at the time and possibly beforehand. Looks like everyone is gonna be stuck here for a while. I'm not looking forward to telling them the news. |
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The comments are owned by the poster. We aren't responsible for their content.
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| Dragondack |
Posted: 2017/1/15 21:47 Updated: 2017/1/15 21:47 |
The Great Eternal Dragon   Joined: 2004/2/9 From: Edmonton,Alberta,Canada Posts: 11251 |
 Re: Inside Job |
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| Obsidian |
Posted: 2017/1/9 15:39 Updated: 2017/1/9 15:39 |
Henchman   Joined: 2012/12/23 From: Oxford Michigan Posts: 1088 |
Re: Inside Job Haven't done any gaming in some time.
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| Dark Wanderer |
Posted: 2017/1/9 13:56 Updated: 2017/1/9 13:56 |
The Metal Shinigami (Moderator)   Joined: 2004/12/6 From: Kentucky Posts: 5149 |
Re: Inside Job I am going to have to sit in on one of your gaming sessions :)
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| pijon |
Posted: 2017/1/9 0:25 Updated: 2017/1/9 0:25 |
Moderator   Joined: 2006/7/18 From: United States Posts: 6363 |
Re: Inside Job Nicely laid out. Ah, a bit of good old fashioned whodoneit in the storyline. Enjoyed the detective work angle. Very intriguing. Looking forward to seeing what comes next.  |
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