Even though Sue's explanation should've given him a fair idea of the possibilities of success, he nevertheless had to try. Needless to say, not with much success.
After he had finally contacted the Senior Operational Manager the answer was the same: I'm sorry, we cannot provide details.
'Oh, come on. This is an FBI matter, you want me to wave with Subpoenas? There's got to be something you could do,' Jack said, getting slightly frustrated.
'With you being a man of law I'm a little bit disappointed you're not aware of the Legislation regarding TRS,' the Manager, named Frederick Payne who also was one of the Company's Lawyers, said.
'TR what?'
'For someone who's working side by side with someone who uses it everyday, you're pretty ignorant, may I say.'
'Hey, let's keep it friendly, okay?'
'TRS stands for Telecommunications Relay Services, the kind of service we, amongst others, provide 24/7 nationwide. There are very strict FCC rules about TRS, and the bottom line is: confidentiality. It's what our clients expect from us, Mr. Hudson. And something we uphold to all costs.'
'Look, the call was a direct threat to an FBI Agent, it would be easier to know where to look. Did I mention we log every call, with the possibility to trace?'
On the other side of the line, Frederick Payne sighed. 'Unfortunately, we cannot prevent that. But it seems we're on two different wavelengths here, Mr. Hudson. So I'll try to get onto yours.'
'I happen to have a document in front of me. Let me quote the paragraphs on Confidentiality and Conversation Context, as it is put down in the FCC's Request for Proposals DBM 050R280035 dated February second 2002, considering the Maryland Telecommunications Relay Service, one of the states Hamilton wants to operate in.' He paused, and there was a sound of rustling of paper before he continued.
'Ad. 2, paragraph 5: All calls shall be totally confidential, id est, no written or electronic record or notes shall be kept beyond the duration of the call. Operators and supervisors shall not reveal information about any call, except the minimum details necessary for billing purposes. Operators must be required to sign a pledge of confidentiality promising not to disclose the identity of any callers or fellow Relay operators or any information obtained during the course of relaying calls, either during the period of employment as an operator or after termination of employment.'
oOo
Jack sighed. 'And what about those minimal details for billing purposes?'
'Even if we gave them to you, which we don't, the address-details would be of your employer, or in this case Uncle Sam. Oh and I forgot to mention this: After the inbound party disconnects, CA's lose the ability to view or access any information pertaining to that call.'
'No written or taped information regarding the call is kept after the call is released from the CA position. After the call has been terminated, the billing information is transferred to the billing files and is no longer accessible, except for billing purposes.' Payne paused, turning another page, before he continued.
'There are even regulations regarding the workspace of our employees: which seem farfetched but are maintained to uphold confidentiality to all means. CA terminal screens cannot face windows, and no terminal must be seen from any window area. Each CA has its personal sound-absorbing cubicle with high sound-absorption acoustic tiles and they wear special noise reducing headsets.'
'The cubicles are arranged to minimize the number of cubicles that are side by side and all access to the floors is through ID checks: no visitors allowed. No exceptions. The list is longer, but you get the basics. You see, Mr. Hudson, that's the effort we put into our service to safeguard our clients' personal life and to ensure they can enjoy this service. As is the case with your colleague.'
'Wow, you learn something new every day,' he said.
'I'm glad you understand, Mr. Hudson,' said Payne.
oOo
After he had finished his call he spun round in his chair, to see Sue looking in his direction. He made a gesture to indicate the call hadn't been fruitful. Sue just nodded and focused on her screen again. He frowned. He decided to go over to her. When he came closer she looked up. "WHAT UP?" he signed.
"ME FINE"
"ME THINK ANGRY YOU" She rolled her eyes. "Is it because I called them anyway? You know I had to, procedure." She nodded. "ME KNOW, it's just that you were rude in pursuing something I had explained numerous times."
"ME SORRY"
"It's okay, it just added to my anger over those threats. I am so angry, Jack, that they just sneak up onto me, you and us and start making threats, scaring us off." Her eyes squinted in anger, her lips pressed tightly together, her motions portraying vividly how she felt..
"ME THINK WRONG THEM, we're not backing off," he responded, "Those bastards should've known better. Because now we're pissed off." She had to smile. 'I never taught you the more vulgar signs, now did I?' He bit his lip and grinned back. Sue knew enough. "fs TROY, HIM TEACH YOU, I should have known, two guys, boyish minds..." she shook her head ruefully, yet smiling.
His eyes had a boyish twinkle as he grinned. 'That's the most fun part about learning any new language,' he said, 'there's always someone willing to teach you the most important words and phrases.' Sue watched him, her expression amused. 'And how many new languages have you learned?'
'Well, considering I'm from Wisconsin, I've managed to speak English rather good,' he joked. 'And my collection of profanities is well...' he spread his hands as an indication of the size.
'Your profanities?' she verified. He nodded, looking proud. She shook her head. He tapped her hand, and she looked at him again. "fs TROY, HIM GOOD TEACHER"
She held her right open '5' hand in front of her chest, spread fingers, thumb pointing towards her as she wiggled her upright fingers. "SWELL" she signed rolling her eyes yet smiling, "It would be better to just learn decent ASL."
'We do. He does teach me, and more important: you help me. But I thought, if I knew the bad slang, I would have a clue about what people really think...'
oOo
Then, one of the Lab's technicians walked in and handed Lucy a disc. 'The requested digital photo copies, they're magnifiable with a resolution of 48 BPP,' he said. Lucy frowned. 'Come again?'
'I'll save you the explanation, just that it's very detailed,' he said and smiled. He waved at Tara, who waved back. 'Just ask Tara, she'll know', he said and walked out again. Lucy got up and walked over to Tara. 'The digital copies. And something about 48 BPP, whatever that is...'
Tara's eyes expressed delight. 'Ah, now there's something I love about this job: the gadgets.' She put the disc into her computer. 'Guys, I have those photos you requested, and the Lab has gone nuts with the resolution.'
'Yeah, something about 48 BPP, which means absolutely nothing to me,' added Lucy. Tara's fingers flew over her keyboard. 'That's about the highest color depth you can get. BBP stands for Bits Per Pixel, 48 BPP means two raised to the 48th power or...' she tapped something on her keyboard, 'that is 281,474,976,710,656 colors.'
'Impressive,' said Myles 'I'll remember that whenever my holiday snaps are returned in vague abstractions. But what is it good for? That it means we can get into extreme details? Best get on with it...' Tara rolled her eyes. 'Aye, sir.'
