Lycaon
Very little unnerved Lycaon, but the N.E.P.S. officer, Jane Doe… something about her made him entirely uneasy. It wasn't the sensual way she moved, or the knowing glances she cast in his and Belle's direction, or even the way she could change the way she looked and moved- though that last was certainly impressive. It wasn't until Jane had left to interrogate Solider 11 and then returned that Lycaon finally realized what bothered him about her: Jane's scent. It was entirely unremarkable.
Lycaon inhaled slowly and deeply through his nose as Jane, Qingyi, and Belle discussed the recording device surrendered by Soldier 11. Even in close proximity, he could not pick out Jane from the scents of those gathered: Belle was there, Seth was there, even the faint scents of Qingyi's lubricants and hot components were easy to discern. But Jane Doe was simply not there. Her clothing was there (a vague soap and storage smell) but Jane herself was like an olfactory ghost. Lycaon didn't know how she managed it, or how useful it might be, but it felt decidedly odd to be standing next to someone in a stagnant hall and feel like Jane was downwind.
"So," Jane was saying to Qingyi. "This Major Cyrinn. What's your play?"
Qingyi looked deep in calculation. "He's a fish that's too big for my boat. He's in the Central Office."
"What unit?"
"Heimdal."
Jane made a tutting noise with her tongue. "That is a toughie."
Lycaon had no more insider knowledge of the New Eridu government than the average citizen- but he knew the name Heimdal. That was the intelligence division of the defense department, and from what Lycaon had heard while butlering dinners of the movers and shakers of New Eridu: simply being assigned to Heimdal was better than a rank promotion. One particular diner's gripe that had stuck in Lycaon's mind was that a corporal in Heimdal could talk down to a lieutenant from anywhere else and get away with it.
Belle's body language alerted Lycaon to her intent to speak. She stood as the third in the trio of women that the two men, Lycaon and Seth, found themselves beholden to. In terms of height, Qingyi and Belle were very similar, but in terms of silhouette, Belle took closer to Jane. To Lycaon's eye, Belle's form seemed coincidentally a middle ground between those of the other two. It was a rather vapid thought, but it had suddenly struck him, all the same.
"Why don't we listen to it and see what we have?" suggested Belle.
"A novel idea," said Jane with a smirk. "We should check the quality of our bait."
Qingyi grimaced at the device like it was some diseased and rotten thing. "I suppose we have to."
A button was pressed. The soft, hissing crackle of an overhot mic emitted from the little device. A tense silence stretched in the hallway. Lycaon tried to keep his eyes on both sides of the hallway, but three-man squads of Qingyi's faction's soldiers stood at intersections in each direction, automatic weapons in hand. Further surprise seemed far away from them all, for the moment.
"Eleven," came a male voice, deep but softly rich.
"Yes?" said a terse and direct female voice in response. Soldier 11 to be sure.
"The coffee in the mess was so bad today," said the man.
"I know. I think they left in the grounds from yesterday," said Soldier 11.
"You might be right. I had to put in double sugar just to get it down."
A short silence. Belle gave a questioning glance to Qingyi, who seemed intent on the device. Jane had a thumb of each hand hooked to the carabiners that hung from her jacket. Her hands hung by her thumbs in relaxed fashion as she listened to the device. She glanced at Belle's movement.
"Code phrases," said Jane. "They are confirming each other."
"Ohhhh," said Belle.
"Go ahead," said Soldier 11's voice.
"Rub out task. The target will arrive at Scott Outpost tomorrow…"
Lycaon's ears went back on his head as the man went on to describe Belle's physical appearance in great detail. Soldier 11 was to find Belle and kill her by any means possible, and yes, additional soldiers were authorized. There were more technical details briefly discussed, but Lycaon couldn't make sense of the jargon and he doubted it was relevant when the truth was obvious: this Major Cyrinn had clearly given the orders to assassinate Belle.
Belle herself looked rather pale, staring at the recording device in Qingyi's hand like it was a snake. "How does that guy know so much about me? Why is he even involved?"
Qingyi still looked to be deeply in thought. "Your brief celebrity as a singer's mistress might answer the first question. But as for the second, I have no idea."
"It is really this Major Cyrinn, then?" said Jane. "Voices can be imitated."
"They knew the passphrases," said Qingyi. "If those were passphrases. They had to be. And who else would know them but the real people who are involved?"
Belle's phone suddenly illuminated through the fabric of her jacket.
"Conceivably:" said Fairy's voice, muffled slightly from being inside a pocket. "...an artificial intelligence passively monitoring communication and information devices could learn such passphrases, much like how I have monitored this conversation of yours."
"I knew it!" said Seth, his tail bristling. "Our phones are listening to us! And now they can talk back!"
Jane gave Seth a very bored looking stare and Seth wilted slightly. Meanwhile, Belle took out her cellphone and held it up- the stylized eye symbol of the A.I. known as Fairy now joined with the thinking circle of women. Qingyi's expression became one of curiosity.
"Fairy," said Qingyi, not missing a beat. "Can you tell if a voice you hear is a real human voice?"
"Of course," said Fairy.
Jane gave Qingyi a questioning glance, obviously curious about Belle's phone and the voice coming out of it. Qingyi waved her off as if to tell her to ask later. Meanwhile, there was a short silence and everyone stared at Belle's cell phone expectantly.
Belle shifted her weight and then rolled her eyes. "Fairy! Can you tell if the male voice in the recording is a human voice?"
"Yes," said Fairy. "But I need access to the audio file. Please transfer the data to this cell phone for analysis."
"Didn't you just hear it?" said Belle, slightly exasperated.
"Yes, Belle. But the sounds coming from the recording device are not actually human voices. Speakers within that device are merely imitating the sounds of human speech through the manipulation of electricity and diaphragms. This technology was invented by humans several hundred years ago and-"
"Okay, okay, I get it Fairy," said Belle. "Qingyi, may I download that file to my phone?"
Qingyi plainly hesitated for a moment and considered the request, the recording device in her small hand. "Fake or no, this recording must not leak."
"I understand," said Belle.
"I understand," said Fairy, at the same time.
Qingyi handed the device to Belle, and she began manipulating her phone. Lycaon presumed she would do some sort of computer thing, perhaps with bluefang or whatever it was called. That was not his area of expertise. He simply could use mobile devices as he needed them. Lycaon took the moment to reassess Belle's security situation. His ears binoculared around, hearing nothing new or alarming. The soldiers remained at their posts in each direction- Scott Outpost was likely as secure as it could get, at this moment. Nothing seemed pressing.
Meanwhile, Qingyi received some sort of call and stepped away from their small group to answer it. Belle remained busy with her phone and the recording device. Jane stepped closer to Seth and leaned in to whisper something- and then she surreptitiously chewed on the rim of man's ear. Seth blushed but also seemed to intensely enjoy it. Lycaon averted his gaze, not seeing it as any of his business, whatever it was.
He took a deep breath and looked through the interview room window. Soldier Eleven sat at her table, head bowed. Whether it was in defeat, despair, or basic weariness, Lycaon could not tell. But in their battle, she had been quick and clever- an even match. Lycaon felt the arrival of Captain Miyabi had been fortunate, as he was unsure even now how his fight with Eleven would have ended without the intervention.
Lycaon took a deep breath. Was he getting a bit old for this? Or was that thought a way to avoid wondering if he simply was at the peak of his skills. He had simply not been good enough to defeat Soldier Eleven, and he barely had enough time to maintain his training now, as it was. What more could he do to improve?
Ellen would have taken out Soldier Eleven in half the time. That was what the fatherly instinct inside Lycaon told him. Ellen had surpassed him in combat, and once her attitude corrected itself, she was sure to surpass him in every other aspect of their profession. It was not a question of if, but of when.
Lycaon's tail sank slightly as he considered the recent attitude issues with Ellen. Maybe a really long 'when'...
He sighed. But regardless: thinking of Ellen reminded Lycaon that Victoria Housekeeping did not regularly assign solo agents to bodyguard duty of this threat level. By usual standards, Lycaon should have his full unit with him: Ellen, Rina, and Corinn. If that had been the case today, Soldier 11 would never have had a chance.
"A- all right," said Belle, regaining everyone's attention. "I think Fairy's done."
"Yes," said Fairy, her slightly animated eye making it seem like Belle's cellphone was peering around at them as they regathered to cluster around Belle's outstretched arm. "My analysis is complete."
A short silence.
"Just say it, Fairy," hissed Belle.
"Yes, Belle. The male voice in the recording is not a human voice. It is a construct. Very similar to the vocal construct I am using to communicate at this very moment."
Qingyi seemed relieved. "It's not the real person. It's it, isn't it? Daemon."
"While the signal lacks any such identifying mark, it is clearly an artificial voice created by an advanced computer program," said Fairy. "The context of the situation seems to strongly indicate that Daemon is the creator."
"How do you know?" purred Jane, her face intently curious. "How do you know it's a fake voice? Do you have samples of the real man's voice to compare?"
"No," said Fairy. "But I will again remind you- the sound from a speaker or a phone is not a true voice. It is the electronic approximation of a voice that was recorded by another device, translated into data, and then re-emitted elsewhere.'
"However, the individual nuances of human speech has a great many subtle variations that are imperfectly translated across the interface. These nuances are recorded, but the emitting device on the other end is often incapable of rendering them properly. I believe organics are unknowingly observing this phenomenon when they say that someone's voice 'sounds different on the phone.'"
A silence in the huddle as everyone contemplated this. Since Fairy did not breathe because she did not have a body, the short pause seemed likely to be a bit of humanization on part of the A.I. It continued:
"This recording, however, lacks any artifact of natural human voice. It is perfectly rendered to be within spec for the communication device being used in the conversation. That is only possible if it was created by a computer. Without any doubt, this male voice is not real."
Qingyi nodded with obvious relief. "That's good to hear. Obol Squad are not traitors. They were very cleverly tricked."
Lycaon thought Belle looked anxious. Perhaps it was not a great relief for her to learn that their enemy had managed to sway a military unit, regardless if the soldiers were guilty or innocent of malice themselves. Daemon's attempts at killing Belle were evolving at an alarming rate: a single low-quality thug, a squad of medium quality thugs, then a squad of high-quality soldiers.
What might be next? Lycaon had been overtaxed by the last two attempts, and if this pattern of escalation continued…
"Is there anything else, Fairy?" said Belle. "Anything in the data that helps us find Daemon?
Lycaon blinked. Belle was not anxious for her own safety at all. She was anxious for information on her enemy. Her eyes were fixated on her foe, even as Lycaon had begun to worry for their success. Lycaon felt a strong surge of pride and admiration for Belle in that moment. He needed to be like Belle in this: intent on the goal, always seeking victory.
"Yes," said Fairy. "There were trace elements in the data that will allow me to track the signal's origin. With more samples, I will be able to triangulate a location for Demon's physical server."
"More data, huh?" said Qingyi. "My people found some computers at one of the buildings we investigated today. They are bringing them to Scott Outpost now."
"That is good, Miss Qingyi," said Fairy as the cell phone buzzed in Belle's hand, almost as if it were excited at the prospect. "And I may now report that Wise and the Cunning Hares have just re-emerged from their hollow. They, too, return with data."
"Will it be enough?" said Belle. "Can you find Daemon?"
"Unconfirmed," said Fairy. "Belle, as you should be aware, I will need to gather the data and then proceed with-"
"OK, Fairy!"