destinystrings | Randomly Accessing Memories

Entry tags:

Randomly Accessing Memories

Who: Nano Shinonome and Atsuro Kihara
Where: A computer lab in Monoceros Community College
When: May 28, evening
Summary: Even after her recovery, Nano's still got a memory that doesn't belong, and she's enlisting some help from someone she trusts.
Warnings: Action brackets because yolo

[Despite how deeply embarrassed and ashamed Nano is of how she treated Atsuro during the events of the past week, there's something she needs his help with. While it's true that there are several other people she could have asked - Latooni and Ruri come to mind - she's decided that she really does owe him an apology, and this is just as good an opportunity as any. So she's asked if she can meet him privately after hours at his job at the community college, and that she'd explain when she got there. The whole invitation was rather hasty and awkward, with no small amount of blushing and fidgeting from her end before abruptly ending the call.

So late that evening - after dinner but before sunset - Nano shows up in the computer lab, knocking somewhat timidly on the door.]

...Hello? Atsuro-san?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

...Ah.

[He shifts his computer over so Nano can take a look at the contents of her head. There are approximately ten kazillion folders each named things like xkfkdldk395ldkejq23k4k591jf. ...As they watch, some will randomly appear and disappear without any rhyme or reason.]

This is what's inside a folder labeled 'Dynamic Network Connectivity Monitoring'. ...I think these might be the files for your memories.

((That moment when you are tempted to use computational neuroscience in a tag except your character doesn't know computational neuroscience. .......Just thought I'd mention it since I doubt that moment will ever come again. =P ))

So many...

[Nano is seriously amazed over here. How will they ever find one specific memory amid such a huge sea of folders and files?]

Do we have to look through all of them?

...Maybe.

[In the end, this didn't seem like it was going to be programming and hacking so much as it was critical reasoning with some basic assumptions. Atsuro chooses a folder at random and opens it up - inside is more of the same.

Right. 'Network'. Memories weren't isolated on their own; they fed into each other, referenced one another. Each memory had to access other memories within the same network to give it reference and meaning - reference in time, in space... and meaning for something even as simple as understanding what the color 'blue' meant.]

The memory we're looking for is one that doesn't belong in this database. ...It's foreign to this network. Memories in humans are just... proteins and neurons firing. Inside of you, memories are clusters of self-referential files.

So if we're looking for a memory isolated from the network - a file that doesn't reference anything else...

[Atsuro bites down on his tongue as he leans forward, watches the shifting folders, and thinks.]

Nano, could you do something for me?

Bring up that memory. As vividly as you can imagine.

All right, I'll try.

[Nano closes her eyes, concentrating and trying to remember the rogue memory she'd woken up with a few days ago. The darkness, the people in masks, the graffiti... a flower with petals falling from it, and a butterfly with the number 13 on its wings perched atop the flower.]

...Is it working?

[Opening one eye, she peers curiously at the computer screen to watch what sorts of files and folders are scrolling by.]

[As Nano concentrates, Atsuro rapidly makes some adjustments to the way the files were sorted and displayed.]

OK. It's not a newly created memory, so I don't think it's as easy as just taking the most recent file that pops up. The ones here are probably going to just show us the memories you're forming right here and right now. And it still has some connections to the rest of your memories, just not as many as a normal memory should have.

[Click click click zoom copy click click click.]

I've isolated the 1000 most recently 'adjusted' files here. They should be stable now. And if I'm right, the file we're looking for is going to have one of the fewest cross-references to other memories in your database.

...What do you think? I'm kind of making this up as I go...

U-um... if it was put there on purpose, it's probably hidden somehow, right? To protect it?

[Hidden files and folders are definitely a thing, and Nano is at least vaguely aware of this despite ironically not having much firsthand experience with computers herself. There are also some password-protected folders showing up in the list.]

On purpose?

[Atsuro blinks at Nano for a moment. They apparently hadn't been on the same wavelength earlier.]

You think this was done intentionally? ...But it's so... harmless. You think someone would want to hide something like this?

[Perhaps he wasn't giving it as much importance as it deserved...]

If it's not the Anoli messing around... what could it be?

I don't know for sure. I was just thinking maybe what just happened with our memories wasn't just an accident.

[Nano sighs, shaking her head.]

I'm just guessing. I really don't have any idea what's happening. But if it's a memory that doesn't belong...

[Closing her eyes, she hugs her arms around her midsection.]

...You don't think it'll cause any problems, do you?

[To Nano, a robot, something like this is coming off sounding uncomfortably similar to a corrupted file or a computer virus. That's the thing she's really the most worried about.]

...If we find it, I'll delete it if it makes you feel any better. ...I'd, er, run a scan for corrupted files or something, but I think that might take a while, given your... size.

[...The most awkward way to put it possible.]

But you might have a point... OK, so let's look for protected files too. That should make it even easier - your own files wouldn't be able to access it meaningfully at all. ...I've never met an encryption I couldn't break, so I'm not too worried about that.

[Granted he had never tried to hack into the files of the CIA or anything but.]

My... size?

[Nano blinks curiously, staring down at herself and trying to puzzle out exactly what Atsuro might be referring to with that comment. The size of her hard drive and memory file isn't really the first place her mind went with that one.]

How will you know if you've found the right file or folder?

[All of a sudden, she's looking just a touch nervous. Looking into her protected folders might pull up some secrets that she isn't exactly ready to share with him yet - details of her crush on him notwithstanding, there are other things a girl keeps to herself. Even a robot girl.]

O-Oh, I just meant... Your files. ...There are a lot of them.

[he called her fat by accident didn't he]

A-Ah... I think the file should still be linked to your visual processing system. Dreams happen in humans because our visual cortices are still firing - I'm guessing memories work the same way. So in you, your memories should tap into your 'sensory systems' to bring up the relevant information. If I can convert the data into a more accessible format, any decent media player should be able to process it.

...In other words, we can play it like a movie.

[Robots don't have naughty thoughts right.]

Oh... right! I knew that.

[he might have]

That sounds much easier! Okay, go ahead and try it, then.

[She just hopes they find it quickly without pulling up anything too embarrassing. Nano starts to blush despite herself, and several heavily encrypted folders immediately show up in the list.]

Right! I'll --

[Atsuro blinks at his computer.]

I'll just, er...

Huh.

...Were there this many of them five seconds ago?

[Well he's not cracking the encryption on each one individually that would take forever. Awkward pause]

Do you know any meditation exercises or something along those lines, Nano?

[Nano's eyes go wide when she sees how many new things have suddenly shown up in the list. Given what she let her mind wander to a moment ago, she can only guess as to these new folders' contents.]

I'm sorry! I didn't mean to...!

[The number of folders doubles again as she waves her arms back and forth, shaking her head. The key on her back has also begun to spin of its own accord.]

Um... I-I'll try!

[Closing her eyes tightly, Nano takes a few deep breaths, setting her hands on her knees and trying to calm herself down.]

Calm down... calm down...

[Eventually, the key stops spinning and the vast majority of the extra folders disappear. There are still a few encrypted files left on the screen, though - enough to serve as a decent starting point that won't keep them here all night.]

Edited 2013-05-27 16:48 (UTC)

Eheh...

[don't ask don't ask don't ask Atsuro is enough of a gentleman to refrain from commenting any further on the matter.]

Right. So... these are all the encrypted files that have been recently modified.

[The list now seems to be completely manageable.]

...You're OK with me going through some of these? I'll start with the smallest files, so I probably won't run into any major secrets or anything.

Mmhmm.

[Nano gives a slow nod, confident that she's managed to push most of the embarrassing things out of her head.]

Go ahead, I'm ready.

[She reasons if she just concentrates on the images on the screen, everything should be fine, so she sits up in her chair and stares intently at the monitor.]

Alright... Let's get cracking.

[Atsuro cracks his knuckles because he is cool like that before he settles them over the keyboard. In the true spirit of hackers everywhere, his fingers fly like lightning, tapping at the keys as lines of code scroll up along the screen.

We now redirect you to this virtual representation in order to provide a suitable context for the contents of this thread. Please type continuously for at least 10 minutes before returning to this RP.

...
...
...]

It will be easier if I crack a bunch of these at once before I convert the files. They're all encrypted the same way...

[One after another, the encrypted files open up as the screen flashes PASSCODE ACCEPTED.]

It looks like whoever designed you didn't expect the need for too much security - for these memories, at least. I'm sure the programs coding your vital functions are much more heavily protected... See, the parameters are set to dynamically respond to activity in the 'network' and alter the encryption level accordingly. So when one comes down, the rest will follow. It makes sense, I think - when humans are in a more vulnerable state or if they're with people they trust, they're more willing to divulge their secrets in general. Their guard goes down. So that's represented by a sort of base-level encryption across the board here. Once we hack through that, there might be an individual file here and there that's still locked up tightly, but most of the minor secrets, the ones that aren't so important, are more easily accessible.

Actually, since the file we're looking for isn't that kind of 'secret'; we can probably ignore all the ones that are linked together this way...

[Despite Nano's most valiant efforts at concentrating on what's happening on the screen, the sad fact of the matter is that watching real hacking is far less engaging than the kind that goes on in the movies. To her credit, she actually manages to maintain her focus for a few minutes before she's really just staring at the screen and thinking about other things.]

Hm?

[As Atsuro begins talking, she blinks a few times and looks in his direction. Those sure are a lot of words he's saying about things. A robot she may be, but a computer expert she is not, so Nano politely nods at the mini-lecture she's getting and tries to look like she knows what Atsuro is saying.]

Oh... okay. That makes sense.

[She's sure it does. He's saying it with such authority!]

[What Atsuro proceeds to say for the next twenty minutes can be summarized as 'blah blah blah algorithms blah blah parameters blah blah protocol'.]

.......So by manipulating the termination conditions to this algorithm, you can bypass the internal checks while maintaining the integrity of the data.

[...]

OK. ...Here's our first batch of movies. You ready?

[Atsuro runs the file and, as promised, a media player pops up. What it displays is.......]

I see.

[She doesn't.]

Mm.

[Another small nod from Nano.]

[As the video begins to play, it seems to be either a fantasy or dream sequence, since it's from a third person perspective. The video shows Nano giggling and blushing while she licks an ice cream cone.

As she pulls her face back from the cone, there's a bit of it still left on her nose, which she doesn't seem to notice right away. This is followed by a brief sound of a male voice laughing and a hand reaching toward her face.

The other person's identity is still unclear as the view hasn't pulled back just yet.]

[As the video plays, and just as it reaches this point, Nano's jaw drops wide. Stammering, she waves her hand at the screen before tightening it into a fist, which launches at the monitor and busts a hole clean through the screen. The sound crackles and cuts out in fairly short order afterward.]

[Turning to Atsuro all flustered and embarrassed, she retrieves her hand from inside the monitor and screws it back onto the end of her arm.]

Ahahahaha...! Haha! Wh-whoops! I'm sorry, Atsuro-san! You know how these attachments of mine are, always going off when I don't want them to!

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

1/2

2/2

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

1/?

2/?

3/?

4/done

1/?