LtCmdr Tamio K'Wara - The Echo of a Changeling

[LtCmdr Tamio K'Wara]

(( Central Security - Afalqi Project Launch Control, Meranuge IV ))

It was never Tamio’s favorite thing to do during missions, telling government officials that their bureaucratic systems were shoddy and, frankly, woefully inefficient. Alas, this seemed to become a new normal for Tamio in the time that they had served aboard the Artemis. Two proper meetings with alien cultures, and in both cases, they’d been put in the enviable position of going “So, I know this is how you do things around here, but have you maybe considered not?”

At least First Secretary Jetripar wasn’t as resistant to change as Advocate Chevrainne had been initially, though Tamio would hazard a guess that had more to do with the fact that Tamio wasn’t actively harboring a whole shipful of prominent religious fugitives.

Considering the fact that just about a year ago Tamio’s day-to-day life involved reading cadet psych evaluation and graduation thesis? It was a wonder they were keeping up with themself, frankly.

K’Wara: I hope you understand that I only ask this because I wish to be thorough and finalize our investigation as quickly as possible. Every security system has to have been tested multiple times for potential workarounds, to verify that no one can sneak past it. Was the testing of this system done entirely in-house, or did you bring in consultants from outside?

Jetripar: I completely understand. I arranged for a contract with a security specialist. She has worked with many government agencies and is highly regarded. Krenna is her name. You’ll be able to find her easily, should you want to look her up

‘Krenna’. The name was noted, and filed away for later use, if necessary.

K’Wara: Thank you, that may be our next stop if we don’t find anything. Which is the hope, but-

They gestured towards the computer consoles lining the wall, not necessarily uncomfortable with the task before them so-much-as empathetic to how uncomfortable this entire situation must’ve been not just for the First Secretary, but for the Average Joe security guards whose cardgame they’d interrupted.

If Jetripar was facing the music for the Afalqi’s theft, Tamio didn’t dare imagine what the security personnel of the facility were facing.

Jetripar: Of course, of course. That’s why we’re here, after all.

Tamio followed Jetripar towards the console bays, and within seconds, realized that Jetripar must’ve spent very little actual time working in this facility, as he seemed to flounder slightly when faced with the prospect of operating the computers.

oO Grade A Bureaucrat Oo

Jetripar: You there. Officer… the one on the left. Can you pull up all the biometric data from the 16 hours before and after the theft?

One of the two security guards quickly did as asked, and it didn’t take them long to pull up the sizable list of data.

K’Wara: Thank you. ::looks over:: Wait. Scroll back up. What do you make of this?

The difference between the ‘before’ and ‘after’ sections of the Afalqi’s theft was laughable. 16 hours before, it was business as usual, a few coming and goings, but after the theft was a different story. There was just one who left in the immediate time after the Afalqi took off, and then nothing for ten-ish hours. Until an explosion of activity, as evidently, this was the time that the Afalqi’s disappearance had been noted.

But that one who left right after the timestamp marked as ‘Unauthorized takeoff detected’, that one looked weird. The biometric code read as Guardsmen Alvaine, and was registered correctly when they entered the facility 2 hours prior to the theft with the duty shift. But when they left, 2 hours and 35 minutes later, Tamio couldn’t help but notice that the biometric code was off.

Jetripar: That is… odd. ::pause:: Does that mean… Well, I’m not sure what it means. It’s a mismatch, but it was permitted. Why?

K’Wara: If I may? ::enters commands:: Hmm... It looks like the mismatch was allowed with the usage of administrator-level access codes. Who has those for this system?

Jetripar: Response

That wasn’t terribly surprising. It made sense that the authority codes for a facility such as this would be restricted to as few people as at all possible.

K’Wara: Well, if the mismatch occurred after the Afalqi’s theft, that means it can’t have been him doing it, though he might have shared his codes with someone. That being said- ::looks over the data:: If this ‘Alvaine’ entered prior to the Afalqi’s theft, and someone else left as ‘them’ after the theft. Where are both of them now?

Jetripar: Response

Tamio nodded. Obviously, the most logical thing to assume was that Alvaine had stowed away on the Afalqi alongside the rest of the thieving engineering team, and that was why no one had seen them since. And yet, something about this whole mess didn’t sit right with Tamio.

It was like something was scratching at their teeth, a sensation at the back of their jaw, pulling it taut.

K’Wara: The system says that all are ‘accounted for’, meaning all entries barring the already identified engineering team have a corresponding exit. We know that to be false. Someone left as Alvaine who didn’t enter as themselves. ::looks around:: Is there any way inside this facility that bypasses the biometric checkpoints? Any way at all?

Jetripar: Response

TAG/TBC

LtCmdr Tamio K’Wara

Chief of Ops

USS Artemis-A
A240006GS1