Maniac’s Mayhem

(Crow)

“And this will be your desk,” Anne-Marie says, indicating a small desk in one of the cubicles, the only notable thing there being the beefy computer sitting in the corner.

After I finish observing my setup, I turn back to Anne-Marie, my new supervisor and guide for this welcoming tour. “Do I need any codes to access my computer?” I ask.

“Yes, someone should have sent those to you in a secure email.” The supervisor says with what I assume is a gentle smile.

I try my best to mirror the smile, to show that I am listening. “I don’t have an email.”

“Then how did you apply for the job?” the woman asks, tilting her head slightly.

“I contacted Jyne directly, asking if they had a job,” I answer, tilting my head in the same way.

The woman blinks at me a few times in rapid succession, making me wonder if she is trying to send a message in Morse code. “That… Right, let me sort that out,” she turns to another cubicle. “Jack, could you finish up explaining what Crow's job will be? Make sure she understands our systems and can work with them.”

“Yes, that is no problem, boss,” a male voice comes behind the wall.

I do a short bow to Anne-Marie to show my respect and then walk up next to Jack, who was sitting behind his own impressive computer, his desk littered with little knick-knacks and pictures, mostly of a woman and a little boy.

“Hey, I am Jack and you are?” the man says, raising his hand in what I presume would be a handshake, but the angle is a bit weird for a normal one.

I look back at Marie for a second. “Did she not just tell you my name a few seconds ago? Is your hearing defunct?”

Jack laughs, “yeah right…. that uhm, well, do you understand what we do here?”

“We collected data on Samurai not currently associated with the Nachtwächternetzwerk. Our focus is mainly focussed on Samurai in Europe, but we also categorise and file any information on Samurai outside of Europe. Especially if said, Samurai could be easily convinced to join our side.” I summarised the basics of the brief I had been given.

“That is pretty concise. Are you aware of the rules of engagement?” Jack asks next.

“I was under the impression that we should not engage with the Samurai.” I answer, wondering if I am about to get conflicting information.

Jack nods, “In almost every situation you would be right, but there are a few exceptions, like when a Samurai is in danger, or the life of an innocent is in danger.”

I let that statement bounce around my logic circuits for a while, coming to the conclusion that I can pretty accurately predict when a Samurai would be in danger but I am lacking on the other front.

“How do you qualify an innocent?” I ask.

“You don’t know?” Jack asks me in return.

I do my best impression of what Maniac would do in this situation and shrug. “According to all of my data, innocent is a very loose term with no strict definition.”

Jack slowly nods, “Well, people who are not innocent usually have committed some major crime like murder, rape, or assault with a weapon.”

“What if they order it?” I ask, the question somehow making Jack's eyes go wide.

“Like hiring an assassin?” Jack asks.

“That sounds like a reasonable example, yes,” I conclude.

“Then they are not innocent,” Jack says.

“So anyone committing major crimes is off,” I ask, looking at Jack, who nods. "Does this include financial crimes?”

Jack sighs, “Can’t you just read a book about morals and ethics?”

“I can, and I even did at one point, but their logic was mostly flawed so I deemed it as having a low amount of value.” I explain.

“Right then, what do you use as a moral compass?” Jack asks, showing me his raised eyebrow.

“I am a hacker according to the internet. I am not supposed to have one,” I point out. “But in most cases of moral quandaries, I look to what my sisters do in similar situations; they have had a longer time of figuring this all out.” I explain.

Jack lets out a sigh. “Well, do that then, it isn’t that important anyway because your first task is to make a profile on the Samurai named Maniac.”

I nod, creating documentation on my sister would not be too hard, just have to be careful not to reveal any of her secrets. “When do I start?”

“As soon as we get your access codes. In the meantime, let me show you some of our work apps.” Jack explains.

It takes forty-three minutes and twenty-nine point three seven two five six seconds from that moment for my codes to arrive, allowing me to get started on my own instead of trying to act interested when Jack is talking about his wife and kid. How normal people do that every day is still one of the greatest mysteries.

When I got to my desk, I immediately started working. Not on gathering the information and setting up the profile, but on removing the kilos of bloatware and spyware dragging the machine down. It is in this situation some guy in a suit finds me having removed all the programs and opening an empty text file.

“Should you not be working?” The man asks.

“I am working,” I point out.

“Then why is your document still empty?” the man continues.

“Because I just opened it.” I say, trying to use one of Evelin’s smiles.

The man crosses his arms. “Then what have you been doing so far?”

“Cleaning up the computer so that it is actually usable,” I explain, “the poor thing was getting tortured by all this software slowing it down, so I removed them.”

“Edgar, back off. This is Crow's first day here,” Joline says, walking in still in combat clothing, making me wonder who she shot this time. As for her statement, I find it rather confusing. The man was standing more than a meter away from me, completely out of my personal space.

The man bows to Joline and takes another step away. “Of course, but the Maniac situation is rather volatile, so I was a bit peeved when she did not have anything yet.”

“I do have stuff on her quite a lot actually; I just haven’t written it down yet,” I correct the misunderstanding.

Joline's smile grows wider. “See, so what did you get on her?”

I turn back to the computer, typing at the same time as I speak. “She is most likely as she appears to be a young woman somewhere in her twenties.”

“Tell me something I don’t know,” the man says, interrupting me.

“The average belly button is host to 67 different species of bacteria.” I say, pulling up a random fact from my database.

“Something about Maniac he wouldn’t know, honey,” Joline says.

“The mask and loose clothing style are a way to hide her identity, but if we couple it with all the situations where Maniac has used extreme violence, it might also be an unconscious protection mechanism stemming from repeated assaults in her youth, most likely of a sexual nature.” I bring up Evelin’s past trauma. It’s definitely a lot easier to find information on someone when you share a brain.

It stays silent for a while, making me wonder if I somehow gave the wrong answer. But going over all the parameters of the question, I am sure I got it correct.

“How sure are you about that possibility?” Joline asks.

“Any assumption can be wrong, but the likelihood of this being false is rather small,” I conclude.

Joline nods, “Right, that is something, is there anything we can use?”

“It’s a baseline explanation for her aggressive behaviour; she never felt in control before, and now she is testing the bounds of her new cage.” I helpfully add.

“I see. Well, continue working on this then,” Joline says as she turns away.

I give a small nod, watching the two of them walk away together. Then I turn back to the screen and keep typing, making sure to keep all of my sisters' important details out of the document and keeping everything a lot more vague.

I am finished with most of it when Anna-Marie shows back up at my desk. “Crow, why are you still here? It’s lunchtime?”

“What does that mean?” I ask, not understanding the current query.

“That means we go to the canteen to get some food. You know what that is, right?” Anna-Marie explains.

I nod. “Of course, it is the least efficient way to take in nutrients.”

Anna-Marie stares at me for nine seconds before asking “What would be an efficient way?”

“Preferably, you could sustain yourself on sunlight or electric energy; lacking the technological advances to make that happen, an IV drip could work.” I explain the more superior forms of fuel consumption.

“And here I thought only Samurai were weird.” Anna-Marie says in a low voice.

“I agree most humans are weird, way too attached to their fleshy bits if you ask me.” I say, fully agreeing with my superior.

“That is not…” Anna-Marie pauses for another 13 seconds, “you know what, it does not matter as long as you understand the importance of food.”

I nod again, deciding that this experience will be a lot easier if I just follow along for now. The food is good, at least if the sudden messages of my sister are anything to go by, and the social aspect is okay. I am perfectly fine with being alone and sitting in silence, but being with my sisters has acclimated me to being in groups, so I get through lunch without any incident.

After lunch is done, I get back to work coding and picking up random jobs for other people on my team, generally keeping busy until it is time to clock out. As soon as I am done working, I make it to the employee dormitory, opening the door to my private room.

The room is not that big but has everything I would need: a small kitchen and bathroom, a desk with a chair and a comfy-looking bed, and most importantly, internet access through the company's systems. I put my butt down on the desk and open my AR console.

‘Are you sure that other Samurai can’t track my movement?’ I subvocalise to my AI.

According to Protectors' privacy laws, the statues and activities of other Vanguard will not be mentioned by another AI unless it is deemed a direct threat to their Vanguard.

That was a lot better than my original prediction. So I get to work slowly, sinking my own information network into their computers, allowing me to learn everything they know about other Samurai, about upcoming plans, major players, all to see where to best enact my plans first.