destinystrings | Randomly Accessing Memories

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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?

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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.

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...
...
...]

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!

[what]

[WHAT]

[HOLY CRAP HIS LAPTOP
THE ONLY REALLY IMPORTANT THING HE HAD FROM HOME
what was in it GAMES games were in it all of his programs and hacking tools homework assignments when was the last time he had thought about those did he have like an essay due all of his materials for studying for the entrance exams pictures no everything was in it his life was in it his life was over no why did the gods hate him first they were trying to kill him and now they were breaking his computers

.......oh wait it was just a monitor those were like 10000 yen at worst and there were a kajillion of them lying around here anyway although it would be hard to find one that matched his laptop he was pretty sure he had seen a similar model

maybe it was time to upgrade anyway it wasn't as if he didn't back up his data religiously to one of his ten million external hard drives every week

Atsuro breathes.]

...Uh.

......Huh.

[Possibly the worst thing about this was that he hadn't even seen the secret his attention had already wandered to the next batch of files the moment he had seen that no flowers or butterflies were involved]

That... That's OK! I'll just... We can just switch to another computer here...

[sob his best friend in the world he would need to give it a funeral or something later

Atsuro breathes again and unhooks the USB cable from his laptop and sticks it into a nearby computer tower.]

M-Maybe... Maybe you should look at these and I can stand in the corner or something...?

Edited 2013-05-27 19:38 (UTC)

I'm sorry! I'm so sorry, Atsuro-san!

[Nano's already busily tearing up and bowing her head over and over again as she digs into her pocket to pull out her change purse. She doesn't carry that much money on her on a daily basis, and has no earthly idea what a laptop costs, so the amount she shakes out of it is really kind of pathetic.]

I can replace it for you! I really can! I have more money at home...

N-No, no, it's fine! It's just the screen...! These get cracked all the time; trust me.

['Completely and utterly pulverized' is something that happens less often but hey a broken screen was a broken screen.]

I tried to stick a notebook in between the screen and the keyboard once and carry it up the stairs and then I tripped. It happens! ...Besides, there were broken pixels on it already anyway.

[There weren't but eh]

Anyway I work in a computer repair station; I can have it fixed by tomorrow. ...The important thing right now is to get at that file - maybe someone really doesn't want us to see it and it's somehow linked to your, uh... responses.

[That someone's name is Nano.]

...Why don't you unplug your end and we can work on it in isolation?

I-if you're sure... it's my fault it's in such a condition, after all.

[She's sorry, really she is, but the deepest secrets of a maiden's pure heart must be protected at all costs!]

What do you mean? Don't I need to be connected to the computer to keep working?

I copied the files we were looking at directly into my own computer already. It might be dangerous to make alterations to these programs while they're... inside you, so I thought I had better just work on a copy.

[Here comes the rocket fist directed at his hard drive.]

If we didn't get the right files, I can hook you back up and grab some more.

O-oh... all right.

[She might be considering it. But if she can screen them herself, it might still be okay.]

So, um. I can just look at these and tell you which one is the right one when I find it?

[...]

...And delete the others?

Right! But, er... Make sure you don't delete anything... important.

[He is leaving you alone with his data Nano this is the highest level of trust Atsuro has to offer.]

You know what? We can just connect my laptop to this external monitor over here and access the files that way. We don't even have to paste it into a different computer again.

Go ahead; I'll just be... over here.

[With his binoculars watching you like a hawk.]

Okay... I'll let you know when I find it.

[Nano nods. She's worked with computers a little bit for school, and between that and having watched Atsuro just now, she knows enough about the basic functions to avoid making any catastrophic errors. His data will not follow the same fate as the laptop's poor monitor.

She reaches out and turns the sound on the monitor's speakers all the way down before she starts playing the videos, just in case. And as she views each one, her face cycles through various levels of surprise and embarrassment as she hastily clicks each wrong one away.

But finally after a while...]

Oh, oh! Atsuro-san! I found it!

[Don't mind her as she just block-deletes everything in the folder other than that one file while he's on his way over.]

[Atsuro is by her side again much faster than he should have if he were actually idly surfing the web as he had been pretending to be doing.]

You got it?! That was fast...! So our strategy worked...

[Three cheers for ingenuity is what he would be saying if he didn't keep glancing back at his poor mangled computer alas]

Can I see what it looks like?

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