OPERATION: SALT THE EARTH - Log 15
Mar. 8th, 2018 03:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
xp_changeling posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
xp_logsNina makes contact with the resident IT manager and sets up a further encounter.
There was one advantage to a cover identity of a low level assistant, which was that you weren’t worth caring about meeting. It made it far easier to maintain her cover. Domino had a specific target tonight; Pavel Semyonov. He was a security specialist in their IT group, only a few years older than her. Without their powers, they’d need access to the secure areas through different means, and Semyonov was a potential way in. All she needed to do was figure out the best way to compromise him.
Snooping on him hadn't proven very useful, though given his position that wasn't altogether surprising. No, this was going to be an in-person job. Smoothing down her sleek blonde bob Dom made her way across the room to where Semyonov was hovering, his 'I don't want to be here' stance familiar from any number of undersocialised tech geeks she had met over the years. She knew the direct approach might well scare him off so instead she positioned herself in front of him, pulled out her phone and called up her WoW Legion app, hoping that the distinctive optics would catch his attention.
Semyonov's head came up, just a little. Tech geeks might be alike around the world, but he was also a Russian officer. He put down his barely touched glass of wine. Domino was the only one with a device out, clearly having been cut free momentarily from whatever official she was normally bound to. When she looked up, he stepped forward.
"You might not want to bother. The normal lag is ten times worse in here. The building is EM shielded, which makes both the guest wi-fi and cellular service slow and unreliable."
She nodded her understanding and shoved her phone back into the large carryall slung over her shoulder. "I knew it was a long shot," she told him with a wry smile and a shake of her head. "But anything to make the time pass more quickly. These events are always interminable, I find."
"No way around the bureaucracy, I'm afraid." He said, ducking his head for a moment. "I'm Pavel. Semyonov. I work in IT security. Which one are you stuck attached to?"
"That one," she said, indicating Wanda with a brief nod. "Given how much she likes to talk we'll be here all night, unless I'm lucky."
"I might be able to get you an outside connection for an hour or two while she's in one of the classified meetings. It would be monitored, of course, but-" He shrugged. "Sometimes you need to dip into the Horde a bit, right?"
The relief that suffused her expression was barely faked - this had been easier than she had expected. "You are an angel. If you ever need a healer, look me up. I'll owe you one."
"I'm so behind, I stopped playing. I have a new fondest for the old Civ games right now." He said, shaking his head. "Sorry. I'm sure you have access to it."
"Which ones?" she asked with a grin. "For me it's IV, all the way. Once they introduced the Vikings I knew what I had been missing all my life."
"No kidding? I tend to IV as well. There is a kind of meta-humour in conquering the world under Gandhi's theocratic Christian eco-Communist state." Pavel said with a laugh. "When we're compiling data or running security drills, there's enough time to play a full game on Epic speed, even if you take the Cultural and Spacerace win conditions off."
"Do you mod? Nevermind, even if you don't you have to check out Caveman to Cosmos, it's immense. Took me about 80 hours and I couldn't even get it running 'til I got my quad processor up and running. But there's nothing like going from playing around with fire to walking on the red planet, just nothing."
"Security concerns. All outside software has to be cleared and there's a cap on the size of non-security applications we can run. I played one of the early versions on my home system back in St. Petersberg, but I'm at least 20 patch releases behind since being stationed here." He shook his head. "I wasn't even allowed to bring my personal laptop. And most the people here idea of gaming is the built in solitaire program."
The sympathy on her face was real, and she reached out to put a hand briefly on his arm. "I hope the pay is good, at least."
"It is terrible. So I guess I won the jackpot." He said, giving her a small smile. "I'm sure it is no different for you."
"No, but at least I get to see the outside sometimes. And raid occasionally."
"I'm jealous. I have at least ten more months here. Eighteen if I'm unlucky. But at least I'll be in the position to upgrade everything when I transfer back to civilization and not this back end of nowhere. Where do you normally work from? St. Petersburg?"
"Most of the time, but we're on the road a lot too. I think she worries that if they don't see her face often enough they'll forget to be scared of her."
"It's the opposite here. They think boredom makes better soldiers or what have you." Pavel said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Unfortunately, I'm due back any minute to check the routing on the security doors or something equally tedious for the hundredth time today. I can expect you some time tomorrow or the next day though?"
"As soon as I can get away," she confirmed with a nod. "Good luck staving off the boredom."
There was one advantage to a cover identity of a low level assistant, which was that you weren’t worth caring about meeting. It made it far easier to maintain her cover. Domino had a specific target tonight; Pavel Semyonov. He was a security specialist in their IT group, only a few years older than her. Without their powers, they’d need access to the secure areas through different means, and Semyonov was a potential way in. All she needed to do was figure out the best way to compromise him.
Snooping on him hadn't proven very useful, though given his position that wasn't altogether surprising. No, this was going to be an in-person job. Smoothing down her sleek blonde bob Dom made her way across the room to where Semyonov was hovering, his 'I don't want to be here' stance familiar from any number of undersocialised tech geeks she had met over the years. She knew the direct approach might well scare him off so instead she positioned herself in front of him, pulled out her phone and called up her WoW Legion app, hoping that the distinctive optics would catch his attention.
Semyonov's head came up, just a little. Tech geeks might be alike around the world, but he was also a Russian officer. He put down his barely touched glass of wine. Domino was the only one with a device out, clearly having been cut free momentarily from whatever official she was normally bound to. When she looked up, he stepped forward.
"You might not want to bother. The normal lag is ten times worse in here. The building is EM shielded, which makes both the guest wi-fi and cellular service slow and unreliable."
She nodded her understanding and shoved her phone back into the large carryall slung over her shoulder. "I knew it was a long shot," she told him with a wry smile and a shake of her head. "But anything to make the time pass more quickly. These events are always interminable, I find."
"No way around the bureaucracy, I'm afraid." He said, ducking his head for a moment. "I'm Pavel. Semyonov. I work in IT security. Which one are you stuck attached to?"
"That one," she said, indicating Wanda with a brief nod. "Given how much she likes to talk we'll be here all night, unless I'm lucky."
"I might be able to get you an outside connection for an hour or two while she's in one of the classified meetings. It would be monitored, of course, but-" He shrugged. "Sometimes you need to dip into the Horde a bit, right?"
The relief that suffused her expression was barely faked - this had been easier than she had expected. "You are an angel. If you ever need a healer, look me up. I'll owe you one."
"I'm so behind, I stopped playing. I have a new fondest for the old Civ games right now." He said, shaking his head. "Sorry. I'm sure you have access to it."
"Which ones?" she asked with a grin. "For me it's IV, all the way. Once they introduced the Vikings I knew what I had been missing all my life."
"No kidding? I tend to IV as well. There is a kind of meta-humour in conquering the world under Gandhi's theocratic Christian eco-Communist state." Pavel said with a laugh. "When we're compiling data or running security drills, there's enough time to play a full game on Epic speed, even if you take the Cultural and Spacerace win conditions off."
"Do you mod? Nevermind, even if you don't you have to check out Caveman to Cosmos, it's immense. Took me about 80 hours and I couldn't even get it running 'til I got my quad processor up and running. But there's nothing like going from playing around with fire to walking on the red planet, just nothing."
"Security concerns. All outside software has to be cleared and there's a cap on the size of non-security applications we can run. I played one of the early versions on my home system back in St. Petersberg, but I'm at least 20 patch releases behind since being stationed here." He shook his head. "I wasn't even allowed to bring my personal laptop. And most the people here idea of gaming is the built in solitaire program."
The sympathy on her face was real, and she reached out to put a hand briefly on his arm. "I hope the pay is good, at least."
"It is terrible. So I guess I won the jackpot." He said, giving her a small smile. "I'm sure it is no different for you."
"No, but at least I get to see the outside sometimes. And raid occasionally."
"I'm jealous. I have at least ten more months here. Eighteen if I'm unlucky. But at least I'll be in the position to upgrade everything when I transfer back to civilization and not this back end of nowhere. Where do you normally work from? St. Petersburg?"
"Most of the time, but we're on the road a lot too. I think she worries that if they don't see her face often enough they'll forget to be scared of her."
"It's the opposite here. They think boredom makes better soldiers or what have you." Pavel said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Unfortunately, I'm due back any minute to check the routing on the security doors or something equally tedious for the hundredth time today. I can expect you some time tomorrow or the next day though?"
"As soon as I can get away," she confirmed with a nod. "Good luck staving off the boredom."
