Sarah and Chuck read Josie in on the intersect working group.
Chapter 12
Tuesday afternoon Sarah, Chuck and Josie were able to clear a couple hours of their calendars and meet in AG2. Josie was definitely on edge.
"The subject of this meeting is intersect related threats," Chuck began gravely. "As we are all aware, my family has a LOT of experience and knowledge of the intersect. It's only natural that any clandestine intersect research effort would be tempted to abduct some or all of us and decant this experience and knowledge."
Josie nodded somberly.
"We also know that the two foremost experts on the intersect outside the family, Daniel Shaw and Nicholas Quinn, were extremely unscrupulous and unsavory people. If any of their associates have evaded capture and remain in positions of trust in the US government, they would constitute a grave threat to us." Chuck brought down a large screen and projected a virtual investigation board on it.
"As you can see, Tommy Prendergast is the most likely field ops coordinator for intersect research with the Camposano faction of the Comorra and the Matsuba-kai of the Yakuza being the favored vendors for muscle. Dr. Eric Koslov provides technical support and Gen. Orlando West is the likeliest candidate for commander. The primary research group is led by Maj Jameson Clarke at Walter Reed and includes Capt Joseph Renetti, Capt. Steven Fedorov, and Capt James Montgomery. Are any of these names familiar to you Josie?"
"Wow, I knew you were busy with your own special projects but I had no idea you were THAT busy," Josie's eyes roamed the board as she tried to take it all in. "I'm sure you know Prendergast and Koslov are from my former unit at the CIA. I didn't work closely with either but they definitely have the dirtiest reputations in PsyOps. I did see General West in a halls a number of times and usually he was with that crowd. I never heard of Clarke or his team but I know Koslov has connections at Walter Reed. I also know none of Koslov's former colleagues at NIH want anything to do with him."
"I'm not surprised," Chuck noted dryly. "We've unearthed four NIH researchers who lodged ethics complaints against Koslov, all deceased."
"I hadn't heard about that," Josie replied. "But I can't say I'm surprised. Any background searches should also include Special Agent Albert Van Blerk and Special Agent Roger Dupont."
Chuck added them to the board as associates of Prendergast, then advanced to the next slide. "On our side intersect related research is conducted by Dr John Barrowman at USC-Neurosciences and Dr. Eleanor Woodcomb at UChicagoMedical-Neurology. We've committed to equipping both institutions with state of the art cybersecurity. The five of us are the Carmichael Industries Intersect Working Group. All records of this group's existence are confined to AG2. Any questions so far?"
"First off, do we know of anyone with a working uploaded intersect? Second, do we know of anyone with a reliable intersect program?" Josie asked.
"Good questions," Chuck acknowledged. "No to both with one major caveat. I have an uploaded copy of an intersect artifact called 'The Key' containing the technical specifications and research for the original intersect project. In theory this should allow me to create new intersect programs. Protecting knowledge of the existence of this artifact is a top priority." He paused to let that sink in.
"That's quite a bombshell, Chuck," Josie said, her head spinning. "What are you planning to do with it?"
"My plan is to form a council of trusted advisors and get some advice," Chuck said with a chuckle, gesturing to make it clear he meant them. "Honestly I haven't had the chance to read Johnny and Ellie in on the existence of the key yet. I told Sarah last week so you're the third to know. When it was just me I put together a tentative plan to start with a tactical program allowing me to read body cams and provide real time adjustments for an eight person team. This program would be put to work in support of our Field Ops team. I picked it because I hoped it would be hard to tell the difference between an active intersect program and a combination of tactical brilliance and good luck."
"Also of note, we caught an old school private investigator watching our training yard. I hacked into his email and discovered he was sending updates to Tommy Prendergast about my physical skills. In order to get him to report I definitely didn't have any, I created a short Tae Kwon Do program of poorly executed moves. I took video of myself in my hotel room and verified I was replicating the target moves. The PI agreed and reported I suck at hand to hand combat." Chuck grinned impishly.
"So your ability to create intersect programs is no longer theoretical," Josie noted. "Has anyone else tried uploading your bad Tae Kwon Do program?"
"No, and I wouldn't advise it," Chuck replied. "The reason I was looking for the PI in the first place is that I had been attacked by random strangers twice. Both times they quickly broke off the attack and ran off. I was hoping to get a third ambush so I cold see whether I'd be able to suppress activation of the program."
"That's stupidly dangerous, Chuck," Sarah said severely.
"Well, I wanted Johnny to get a good baseline of my brain with a program anyway," Chuck shrugged. "I've created an inverse program to remove it. Are we in agreement that I should pull the trigger on that?"
"I vote yes pull the trigger but I think a scan immediately before and soon after to monitor the effects would be a good idea," Josie said.
"Agreed," Sarah chimed in. "We should also make sure someone's keeping an eye on you for a day afterwards. I think I should be able to cover you if we do it tomorrow afternoon."
"Is there any chance this will remove the key?" Josie wondered.
"Almost none," Chuck reassured her. "An inverse surgically eliminates a known original. A suppression program, like the one the CIA used on Hartley and myself broadly degrades the connection between existing visual memories and the neural mechanism that generates a flash cascade."
"So how did the key survive suppression?" Josie wondered aloud.
"I access it using a completely difference mechanism. I wish I could explain the neural basis but I can only tell you how it feels. The key is more warmer/colder than flash," Chuck explained.
"Does that mean that suppression leaves most of the original intersect in a person's memory?" Sarah asked.
Chuck nodded. "Technically yes, but the only way to properly restore the connections is with a version of the original program."
"There's still so much we DON'T know," Sarah said in frustration. "I definitely think we should put a hold on trying any version of the tactical program until we can get Johnny and Ellie in here."
"Absolutely," Josie agreed. "We need to gather the whole working group in this room and the sooner the better."
"I can call Ellie, I want her to get to know you and Desmond better anyway," Sarah said. "Once we have a firm date for her we can ask Johnny to clear a spot in his schedule."
"Sounds like a plan," Chuck smiled. He turned to Josie and asked, "Can you think of any more questions off the top of your head?"
"I guess the biggest question mark in my mind is how are you gathering intelligence on the Prendergast gang? We might want to consider a broader effort than you can manage on your own."
"A broader effort would be nice but I want to keep the working group small," Chuck replied, his brow furrowed in doubt.
"I think we can build cyber intelligence capabilities and give our teams limited scope assignments without compromising our security," Josie replied.
"I'm already building up our Field Operations capabilities," Sarah said. "Creating a cyber unit to support them seems like a natural evolution." Josie nodded in agreement.
"To answer Josie's original question, I got most of my intelligence on the government by hacking North Korean cyber intelligence. I've also got several artificial intelligence tools working on public sources." Chuck said. "We've got some good AI Analytics people here already but after Field Ops settles down a little I'd like to work on building that up as well."
"No argument from me on the need for that," Josie said emphatically. "There is ONE area we're missing, though. If we want to keep an eye on government intersect research, we need to know who's backing the effort. That takes political knowledge. We need a corporate Public Affairs officer."
"Can you think of anyone?" Sarah asked hopefully.
"I do know someone who could really sink her teeth into the role," Josie replied. "The question is, how do you feel about hiring a woman who was assigned male at birth as Carmichael Industries public affairs officer?"
"If you think she's the right woman for the job she's got my vote," Chuck said.
"Casey might not appreciate it," Sarah grinned. "But we can always tell him his only other choice is that HE does her job."
"Speaking of Mr. Warm and Cuddly," Chuck said. "Does anyone have reservations about adding him to this working group?"
"None here," Josie put in quickly. "Brain science might not be his favorite subject but he's worked with you guys for years and this is important enough that he should know about it."
"I've remembered enough to know I want my old partner to be part of the team," Sarah said. Then she remembered a recent embarrassing incident and added, "And I mean partner strictly in the professional sense."
Josie looked confused and cocked her head at Sarah quizzically, "And you needed to clarify that your relationship with Casey is strictly professional because...?"
There was an awkward silence broken by Chuck who said in a horrified tone, "Dear God, my foot-in-mouth problem is finally rubbing off on you, Sarah."
It took a moment for Sarah to understand what he meant but as soon as she did she burst out laughing. Chuck joined in and even Josie cracked a smile saying, "OK, I'm sure there's an interesting story here."
Chuck nodded, saying, "There is but it's more appropriate for girls' night, wouldn't you agree Sarah?"
"Definitely," Sarah said, wiping tears from her eyes. "Before we run out of time I did have one last topic to bring before the group. I think we need to ensure good physical security for all group members. Chuck and I are naturally buddied up most of the time. I trust Mary to make sure Ellie is safe. That leaves Johnny and Josie. I propose we contract with Johnny's husband Karel to make sure all reasonable precautions are taken."
"Which, of course, leaves me," Josie frowned. "Desmond definitely makes me uniquely vulnerable."
"Exactly what I was thinking," Sarah nodded. "I know we're planning on remodeling to add some physical training areas. I suggest we modify that plan to include an on site day care."
"On site day care for one kid?" Josie was dubious. "Isn't that a bit extravagant?"
"Actually it's significantly cheaper than my Plan B: a full time bodyguard for Desmond," Sarah replied.
Josie's jaw dropped, "Seriously? A bodyguard?"
Sarah met her gaze levelly, "I'm deadly serious, Josie."
As the two women stared at each other Chuck was careful to stay out of the emotional sumo match. Eventually Josie deflated, admitting defeat. She went to Sarah and wrapped her in a tight hug.
"Okay," Chuck said diplomatically. "On site day care it is. Josie please give some serious thought to what the rules should be and don't be afraid to tailor them to your needs. This benefit will become a very enticing recruiting tool if we structure it in a way that makes it clear we understand the needs of working parents."
Josie nodded happily adding, "Just for the record, I love you guys."
"Just for the record we love you and Desmond too," Sarah replied, motioning Chuck over and initiating a group hug. She smiled at the thought that Casey would have been appalled.
