Quinday, Rami 26th 067.M42
To be completely honest, I didn't think that the plan would work. I mean, you don't just walk into the central data stacks and demand access to the Administratum's records. Not to mention, I didn't even know if my ID was still valid; I've been absent from work for over two weeks. My emergency family leave is only good for a few days at a time, and I have to keep in touch with my Scribe-Master.
Though I don't know why I even thought this would be a problem in the end. They are the Inquisition. I should have realised that something so pedestrian as counterfeiting some work orders and a new set of IDs based off of my personal ID would be just another day's work for people like them.
Maddy, Nate, Remy and Jakob left late Secunday. All they needed to do was stop off at one of Maddy's other bolt-holes to get into disguise, then they could make their way down to the lower hive to do their recon. Unfortunately, though probably much less dangerous, it turns out that Kel and I would have much more work to do to get ready. I mean, It's not surprising to think about in hindsight, but it makes sense that crafting counterfeit records and IDs would take more than a couple of minutes to throw together.
For my part, I didn't really have much to do. I got to sit and wait, fretting as I tried not to think too much about Maddy, my Mum and Dad, Mei and my kitten. I handed over my ID for reference and my dataslate to Kel and let her do her work. Which, to be honest, was really rather amazing to watch. I tried my best to keep out of her way, but with nothing else to do while she had my slate, I ended up just sitting there to watch what she was doing and we got to talking a little bit too while she did.
She told me a little bit about herself, referring to herself as a data-savant. Apparently she comes from a hive world not too unlike Asphodel, though she didn't say what world it was or what sub-sector it's located in. She was a tech-adept who was tithed to and worked for one of the Magi who was responsible for tending to the cogitators in her home hive and she discovered that she had a… she called it a sympathy with the the code that the cogitators used. I didn't really catch all of it, she reminds me so much of Lizzy in how she gets talking about a topic that she's invested in, all jargon, babble and high-speed speech. But she's apparently always been very good with data, information just jumps out at her, regardless of what she's looking for. She says she has a pictographic memory - she can remember anything just from seeing it for a short amount of time. We didn't get into why or how she ended up in the service of the Inquisition but, well, I can't find it hard to imagine why.
It took a couple of days for Kel to do the things she needed to do to get two new work profiles and IDs created for new adepts, and then to draft up the papers we would need to actually gain entrance to the data stacks in the first place. It was really rather clever, actually. She found a way to break into the Central Administratum's personnel data feed, and she pretty much looked for a couple of recently-hired adepts who matched our descriptions as closely as possible, amended the data to match us a bit better and to overwrite their ID-picts with our own, and had the ID cards rerouted to the central data office. Then all that was left was for her to draft up the decrees of appointment for us and for us to change into some clean adept robes and we were ready.
Despite our preparations, as we made our way to the central data office I couldn't shake the suspicion that we'd overlooked or missed something, that we were going to run into some complication or danger that would end up leaving us caught offside and having to put us on the run. I found myself looking over my shoulder at every junction, eyeing every alley as we passed and trying to steer away from any shadowed place or slightly dark area. Kel didn't seem all that concerned but then as with Lizzy, I wonder sometimes if she sees the world in the same terms as the rest of us. Things that aren't immediately related to her current subject of focus are irrelevant. I'd argue that the presence of xeno cultists in the hive who are currently chasing me for some unexplained, nefarious purpose is pretty relevant but then… it's probably not to her. Not until they're openly and directly a threat to her anyway.
But despite my paranoia, we made it to central without being hassled, molested, followed or even looked at strangely. And despite the Feed reports blaring out the newest headlines from the Kai-Ten/Hadrigan conflict, everyone we passed just seemed to be getting on with their lives. As if a monstrous cancer wasn't growing at the core of our home. I wanted to grab people, to shout in their faces and warn them. Of course I didn't, it wouldn't change anything if I did. I'd just be another adept, snapped under the weight of his duties and running amuck. Only the Magisters might care, until they shock-mauled me into unconsciousness anyway. And until that point all it would achieve would be to paint a bigger target on my back.
I had another moment of paranoia as we joined the shuffling queue to make our way into the central personnel office, where the presence of armed Magisters watching over the queue was another unpleasant reminder of the tensions that were taking place in the void above our heads and in unseen halls of power. After everything we've learned, I'm sure now that these beings have managed to manipulate the Kai-Tens in some way, and if the Hadrigans' allegations are correct, they may even be infecting the Governor's cabinet and the Arbites. It's hard not to see their clawed grasp everywhere I look, and I was worried as we made our way in that they were again somehow a step ahead of us, that as we went to take our IDs and documents that Kel and I would be pulled aside and never seen from again.
But I was wrong on that front too. We made our ways in, we presented our details to the frankly rather bored-looking Scribe-Adept who was managing the records, we were pict-captured again for their records, then handed our IDs and assignments. Data cleansing in the central stacks, just as planned.
And that's where we are right now. Kel told me to start in on our assigned task, to take a cogitator and start actually doing the data cleansing work so our presence down here would be overlooked as routine. She's been setting up equipment to pull the information we want from their cogitators and upload it to her personal data core. We talked on the way down about whether we should try to just read the information while we're here and only pull what is necessary and supports what we need, but in the end that would take a damn sight longer. And I don't think we have that much time. If we do a bulk data dump, then we can sift through it all for the relevant hints, and if necessary dive deeper to get what we really need at our leisure. And we won't be stuck here while we do it, so if we need to pick up and bug out, well at least we have what we need with us.
Kel doesn't know how long the dump is going to take, and the others are operating radio silent until they get back up to the hab, so I guess we'll just have to wait until we get back there and can catch up again before we know anything else. I'm just hoping we'll be able to get our data sorted before then, so I'll know whether or not my home even has a chance of surviving.
