Can You See Me Now?

[cachedout]

Who: Cayde-6 and, quite possibly, you
What: Scouting the rig's security systems
Where: Anywhere your heart feels
When: The pre-mission days after the first sheetcake party
Warnings/Notes: If you do brackets with me that is 100% fine I'll come do brackets too

One of the local robot people is out and about. Cayde is pushing boundaries, which is to say that Cayde is having a pretty typical day since he found himself in Jorgmund's loving corporate chokehold. If he has to be stuck in a frosty tincan with a bunch of strangers, he's going to make the best of it and figure out what that "best" just might look like. A key part of that is getting a grip on where he can and can't go, and how much security is going to limit his movements and activities.

Right now, he's playing with security cameras.

"Alexa," Cayde asks the ceiling, pleasant and casual, orange throat lamp lighting up as he speaks, "Can you see me on the cameras right now?" He's making eye contact (well, glowing blue optic contact) with a shiny black security camera lens as he says it. He gives it a little wave.

She processes for several silent seconds, then a sweet and chirpy reply rings out:

"No, Cayde-6, you are currently outside of visual monitoring!"

"You'd recognize me if you could?"

"Yes!"

"Is there anybody under...." he takes a few steps closer to the camera and squints up at it to check it for identifying marks, then gives her the camera number.

"Not currently!" Alexa reports brightly.

"That's very interesting. Thank you, Alexa."

"You are welcome, Cayde-6!"

He repeats this test throughout the rig. While he's careful to avoid actual world-resident Jorgmund staffers, he's less careful about other new hires. Each time, he feels like his heart (or whatever Clovis Bray gave him instead of one) grows another size. It's hard for a robot with no lips to grin from ear to ear, but the subtle shift in the plates around his eyes conveys some of the expression as Cayde figures out just how many great and nasty ideas he is probably going to be able to get away with here. The company can't visually track him. That doesn't mean they haven't planted a tracker of some kind on him, he'll have to find a way to test that later, but as long as he's within acceptable crew areas? This is an absolute game changer.

PROMPT A:

Cayde finishes another round of camera checking, asking Alexa if she can see him, and confirming that she can't. Someone else nearby might have some opinions on seeing this situation develop, no?

PROMPT B:

Cayde notices another new hire is conveniently nearby the latest camera. Wherever they are on the rig, someone finds a robot man asking them: "Hey, wanna help with an experiment I'm doing?"

Comments

[cachedout]

"Should be a good option for a first attempt. We have a solid guess where we'd find those." The exec deck, home of the repugnant and well-catered who deserve some not-quite-friendly pilfering anyway.

"My other priority here: figuring out where we're gonna stash stuff. Crew quarters are an obvious no-go."

He has an idea or two himself, but those he'll guard a little more carefully. A first cache is going to be potentially sacrificial. Save the real good places for when he's a little more certain they'll be safe.

"Once I've got my non-dangerous scouting done, I might be open to putting together some kind of a team to try something. Wouldn't be the first time."

He says it casually, like it isn't 100% the plan already.

[wheyoftheadept]

"I've found a lot of boltholes and possible caches. Got a knack for the hollow spaces, you might say. I can mark locations if you have a sign, or we can take a tour."

Specifically, she can twang on the pattern of the local reality weave and watch the ripples with her mind's eye, like sonar. At least that's what she's been told she's doing. She just - reaches out and knows.

And oh, he really has done this before. What an incredible relief.

"I have some people you might like for a run like this. Not counting myself."

[fromfryingpantofire]

"Yeah. The scary looking doors can wait a bit."

Sam looks closer at it. "I'm trying to figure out if these are even real cameras that just aren't hooked up or if they're mock cameras to make us think that we're being watched." He pushed up on his tiptoes to try to get as close as possible without actually taking the camera down. "It would fool some of the folks here, either way. I mean, they look good, at least."

[partiallysquirrelblood]

"Not what I meant, but..."

Something seems a little off about this. It's possible Alexa could just be glitchy, but Doreen's met AIs before. Heck, she's standing right next to a robot. Alexa might just be a personal assistant, but it's also possible she might be something more.

"Alexa, how many cameras are active?"

[takenalive]

Alloran considers, then turns his hand over in a palm-up gesture, something like a shrug that doesn't shift his narrow shoulders, and complies.

<Does the presence or absence of small lights have anything to do with its function?> Some cameras have glowing diodes and others don't, he's seen, but Alloran has never had anything to do with this kind of technology.

[gautiheir]

"Ah, but you being right isn't the scenario I should be worried about, no?" Nonetheless, this seems to be doing approximately nothing to deter him, because he just grins and nods. "I'm game. What do you need me to do?"

[becauseimacoward]

"No need for concern"

It doesn't take much thought for Dojima to accept helping in something that's bound to be risky. If it means gathering some info...perhaps the risk is worth it. Without another word, Dojima stands in front of the camera, not looking straight at it, or at Cayde. He pretends to be looking at something far in the hallway.

"Test away"

Prompt A

[stickypete]

Peter has already gotten a sense that something is off about the cameras, mainly because Cayde has a bit of a delighted energy. He's happy to see him on his feet, moving around, more animated than when they first met.

"Look at you, getting all sneaky-sneaky."

The voice comes from up on the ceiling. Habitually silent as usual, Peter had crawled up behind him as he poked at a camera. The idea that someone suddenly talking from the ceiling might surprise others is not lost on him, but hey, good to keep everyone on their toes.

Plus he likes being upside down. Hanging upside down on a web-line is often one of his "thinking" positions.

[cachedout]

"I suspect you'd be closer to expert on technology from this era than me," says Cayde, peering up at it doubtfully. "Why go to the trouble of installing fakes? I know budget's running tight around here, but considering they've got whatever it costs to light us up like it's new years, you'd think a basic security measure would fall in line early."

His eyes shift from the camera up to the ceiling panels.

"That or I've got an unreliable source," he says. Is the fault with Alexa, then?

[cachedout]

"No rig cameras are reporting faults at this time," Alexa replies in sweet, fluent customer service.

Cayde's eyebrows jump up and he gestures at the ceiling as if to say see????

[cachedout]

"It might or might not," says Cayde. "I'm trying to figure out what kind of game the company's playing with us here."

Once Alloran steps into range, Cayde tips his head upward.

"Hey Alexa, do me a favor?"

"Yes, Cayde-6?"

"Can you tell me if you see that one blue alien guy on camera...." he squints at it, "B-32?"

Alexa is quiet for a moment, then... "No, Cayde-6, I am sorry. I do not see that crewmember on that camera."

"Thanks Alexa!"

Cayde finishes the demonstration with a triumphant little airpunch.

"Good news, Alloran. Either she just can't see blue people, or she's blind."

[cachedout]

"Alright, hold still," Cayde says, holding up an arm like a photographer framing a shot to make sure Dojima's in line with the camera.

"Hey Alexa, can you check something else for me?" He asks.

"Of course!"

"I need you to tell me if..." he takes a second to check Dojima's nametag, "...Dojima? Is under camera C-18. Can you do that for me?"

"I'll have a look... No, I'm sorry Cayde-6! I can't see that crewman there!"

"Much obliged!"

Cayde laughs and gestures at the camera. "Look at that! Useless! I knew I was getting somewhere!"

[cachedout]

"Very astute," Cayde gives. "But if you're game, get on over here," he says, pointing to a spot that's clearly visible from the camera's vantage.

"I need to figure out if it's just me she can't see. This place is so rude about robots I'm thinking I might be an outlier."

[cachedout]

Cayde jumps. He turns the motion into leaning against a nearby wall as he turns to look, but he can't manage to make it casual.

"And look at you all crawling around on ceilings," he replies. "I thought you didn't like that nickname we gave you."

And by "we" Cayde of course means "I."

[fromfryingpantofire]

"Well, I can't get up there to check behind the panels." Because tall as Sam is, it's above where he can get to. And most of the time, that sort of ceiling won't hold his weight. "But, to turn it around. Why would they put in real cameras if they don't wire them up?" He looks over at the Alexa, then back up at the ceiling. "Though, I suppose that budget might not have stretched far enough to connect them up once they decided on the shock collars."

switching to actionspam

[stickypete]

Nice recovery, very smooth.

[Peter says it approvingly, like genuine praise, not letting Cayde get away with thinking he didn't see that jump and lean. He stops crouching and stands up, facing him upside down.]

And you mean that nickname you gave me. Thanks a lot, by the way. [But he doesn't actually seem that angry.] You're lucky you already promised me your desserts at mealtime or I'd start stealing them in revenge. I mean, this is the thanks I get?

[He sits down on the ceiling so he doesn't have to keep standing. Apparently it's not just a foot and hand thing because he's still sticking up there through his butt.]

My entire identity cruelly reduced to one trait.

[He holds the back of his hand to his forehead, like he's close to needing his fainting couch. He falls back, so that he's just laying on the ceiling, like that's normal.]

I'm not even that sticky.

[He says, flat on the ceiling, flaunting how very sticky he is.]

[partiallysquirrelblood]

"Oh my gosh," Doreen whispers, "it's not the cameras, it's Alexa."

<Wait, really?> Tippy asks, poking her head out of Doreen's pocket.

"Yep. The cameras are fine, Alexa's just not telling anybody anything useful about what she seeing through them. She might actually be helping us."

[gautiheir]

Sylvain glides over to the spot indicated, look directly into the camera, and offers a thumbs-up and his most dazzling smile. "Maybe I should note that some ladies have absolutely pretended not to see me, even when they do, but they're mostly the ones I've already managed to annoy horribly. I don't think I've pulled that off here yet."

[cachedout]

Cayde looks up at the camera, speculating on the risk of naming names in front of it. He's willing, eager even, to put his own neck at risk and Saturday's clearly on board, but he doesn't want to pull anyone else in any deeper than he has to without so much as a by-your-leave.

"That's some information I'll take if we're a little more out of sight of the security measure I'm banking on being a phony. In the meantime, we might as well scout out a spot," he says.

"Keep your real good ones, this might be a sacrificial lamb here."

o7

[cachedout]

[ He watches this demonstration of ironic stickiness. It's quite derailing to a train of thought. ]

I'm seeing the error of my ways. I might even be compelled to apologize, if you tell me what it is you're doing up there.

[ The ceiling strikes Cayde as an uncomfortable place, but then again what does he know? He's never been there. ]

[cachedout]

Cayde chuckles. "Well, I suppose I'll have to find somebody else to try that variable with. You, as it happens, are gonna help me make sure it's not just blue people. You never know with this old technology."

He shifts his attention upward in the typical manner of talking to a big computer system. "Hey Alexa, got another question left in the tank?"

"I am always available to answer questions, Cayde-6," comes the placid voice, as ever.

"Can you tell me if you see Sylvain on the cameras right now? If you do, which one?"

Alexa "thinks" about it, a pleasantly simulated pause to make talking to her more personable.

"Unfortunately I do not seem to be able to find Sylvain Gautier anywhere at the moment. Perhaps he is outside my camera circuit!"

"Thanks Alexa, you're a gem," Cayde dismisses her. He turns back to Sylvain.

"So, how 'bout that?"

[cachedout]

"The corporation works in mysterious ways," says Cayde. "Regardless of if they're wired in enough, I figure if I make this big obvious show of checking 'em out I should get myself a nice visit from security. If they know. If not... well, regardless of the reason, I'll take it."

[cachedout]

"Really, you figure this intelligence is far enough to have those kind of chops?"

It's ironic, considering Cayde himself is a robot. He seems to realize that a split second later.

"No offense of course, Alexa."

"None taken, Cayde-6," she replies, but doesn't seem to be tipping her non-existent hand here.

[wheyoftheadept]

Saturday thrust her hands in her jumpsuit pockets, feeling very keenly the loss of her overcoat. It just makes for a better prop.

"Hope you don't mind the rain."

She leads him out to the deck of the rig, and across to a grate that looks down on a tangled web of piping. The grate pops out of its shell with a well placed slam on the heel of her hand, and she drops down. Despite appearances, there is just enough room for a single person of average size to pass. She lands on some grating what looks to be about twenty feet down, waves, then crouches and moves to one side.

[stickypete]

I'm up here doing things to vent covers and human-sized duct work that are probably similar to the things you're doing to cameras.

[He just folds his hands over his chest, like he's perfectly relaxed, grinning.]

We're being good little worker bees. Can you imagine, in a rig this big, how hard it is for them to do regular security camera and duct work inspections? We're doing them a favor.

[He tsks.]

It's hard to find good help these days, especially with the company running on such a thin profit margin.