Autumn Bay - Hacking the ABPD

Hacking the ABPD

16th Jul 2017, 7:19 PM in Season Two - Part 3: The Web

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Author Notes:

Professor Etheric 16th Jul 2017, 7:19 PM edit delete

Yes, Falchionne is being facetious when she says "hired". More like "conscrpited" following her arrest at Club Lilith.

To be clear, Bishop offered her a deal: work for the team for five years and her case is dropped. Refuse and she goes to jail for a very long time.

At this point, she and Bishop have what you could call a "friendly-antagonistic" relationship...

The name she's able to use to access the database is that of Detective Lieutenant Saronna Jones, head of the ABPD Gang Taskforce, one of our 30 Days of Characters entries for 2017.

Special thanks to the nice folks at Let It Ride Comics for the Club Lilith poster. The angel poster is an old piece I did.

I am now available for commissions!

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Microraptor 16th Jul 2017, 7:30 PM edit delete reply

Does Falchionne get paid? I realize that she wasn't exactly in the position to demand an immense salary when she got "hired", but on the other hand, Bishop certainly doesn't want his hacker to starve...

(Also, I wonder if her LinkedIn profile literally says "best hacker in the world" somewhere...)

Professor Etheric 16th Jul 2017, 7:39 PM edit delete reply

She does, yeah. It's not a great salary, but she currently doesn't have to pay rent or utilities, either (she lives on site).

Also, there's the whole "not in prison" thing...

(It just might...)

Chippewa Ghost 16th Jul 2017, 7:47 PM edit delete reply

@Fabs: It's probably called a stipend or a consulting fee or out of pocket expenses or something lame like that. And I'm sure that Falchionne is under someone's discrete but constant surveillance... no foreign vacations for her.

Professor Etheric 16th Jul 2017, 7:51 PM edit delete reply

@ CG: Right. They pay her out of petty cash. :P

You are absolutely correct on the surveillance thing. She currently doesn't have the privilege of going to the corner to get a hot dog without a chaperone.

Chippewa Ghost 16th Jul 2017, 8:01 PM edit delete reply

@Prof: Under that sort of babysitting, there is no way that Falchionne's not building "escape hatches" into the systems they give her... there is no way that Bishop's unit isn't deeply compromised by her very presence.

Professor Etheric 16th Jul 2017, 8:03 PM edit delete reply

Maybe they need to fit her with a cortical explosive?

She has her reasons for not betraying the team at this point...

Chippewa Ghost 16th Jul 2017, 8:10 PM edit delete reply

@Prof: While I'm sure there's at least one big and super awesome plot driving thing that keeps Falchionne under control, I'd wager that being treated decently for the first time in her adult life, being treated as a professional amongst professionals (by at least a few members of the team) probably goes a long long ways... this is Autumn Bay, as this work shows, not everyone needs to be viscerally intimidated into compliance.

Sorry to blow up this comment.

Professor Etheric 16th Jul 2017, 8:46 PM edit delete reply

@ CG: Blow up comments at will! :)

What we see here is a fundamental difference in how the Shroud operates as opposed to, say, the Shadowlight League. If she were working for the latter (and for the sake of this argument, let's say SL had the pull to offer a similar deal), she would probably have a much looser leash (since they can scry her pretty much at will, and they are just generally more decent to their people).

There is one other consideration: the more "good behavior" she exhibits, the more leeway she is given. The machine (in this case exemplified by Bishop and co.) likes its parts cooperative. Falchionne's place on the carrot/stick spectrum is not static.

And, of course, shifts in the team's status quo can have interesting effects on everyone's relative place...

Microraptor 16th Jul 2017, 8:02 PM edit delete reply

I hope they at least give her enough to pay for that hot dog...

Professor Etheric 16th Jul 2017, 8:47 PM edit delete reply

@ Fabian: Don't worry, she's fine. The Shroud doesn't care about her skimming a little off of this or that corporation (and might have left a list of "preferred" targets where she could find it...)

Seabiscuit 16th Jul 2017, 7:54 PM edit delete reply

Ah, only five years? She should totally stay.:D

Professor Etheric 16th Jul 2017, 8:04 PM edit delete reply

Yes, but five years in Autumn Bay is like 25 elsewhere, or something... :P

Microraptor 16th Jul 2017, 8:05 PM edit delete reply

But only if they give her a pay rise!

(Yeah, I'll stop my strange fixation upon Falchionne's financial situation now...)

Chippewa Ghost 16th Jul 2017, 8:11 PM edit delete reply

@Fabs: You and your dang obsession with coins... :)

AugustaCaesar 16th Jul 2017, 8:18 PM edit delete reply

Nice to see her talents being put to such 'good' use. Ah, perhaps if that can stop evil, the ends justify those means? Bishop better cut her some slack, or he is going to wind-up with his own database. :p

Professor Etheric 16th Jul 2017, 8:50 PM edit delete reply

Good use, indeed. Right now, she is assisting in the capture of a madman with who knows what plans and the ability to poke holes in the fabric of reality.

Bishop needs his team to be functioning on all cylinders, whatever that takes.

Still, if the currently ever-so-slightly delicate balance in the team were upset, things could get... "interesting".

Delta-v 17th Jul 2017, 12:23 AM edit delete reply

If Falchionne has hacked the ABPD, she could probably add a few files as well as read what's already there. If that thought doesn't keep Bishop up at night, perhaps the fact that she would also have access to NCIC might do it. ^^

Just imagine what kind of a rap sheet she could create for someone who ticked her off......

Professor Etheric 17th Jul 2017, 12:36 AM edit delete reply

This may be the exact reason he doesn't come down harder on her. Or, more appropriately, why he serves as a buffer between her and Director Shelby.

For a hacker of her caliber, any amount of petty revenge is possible. :)

Miaubol 18th Jul 2017, 12:01 PM edit delete reply

Such a wonderful "pay grade".. Yes, I can only agree with her on that one ;D

Professor Etheric 18th Jul 2017, 12:10 PM edit delete reply

She is criminally umderpaid... And yes! :)