How to get it to Baran though?
As a Tuann, he wasn’t likely to have a virtual identity she could exploit.There was no mailbox she could send a file to or handy comm code she could access.
That left her stuck at square one.
Maybe she was going about this the wrong way, Gus decided.There was no need to send anything directly to Baran.The oshota was here to gather information.From what she’d heard, he was rather good at infiltration and spy work.All she needed to do was put the file somewhere it was likely to be seen.Baran would do the rest.
If Gus were an oshota in search of information, where would she direct her attention?
There were several places she could think of.The whisper forum where less than legal jobs were posted and sensitive information was passed back and forth.The video archives slated for deletion.Security’s inner news bulletins that were meant to keep their people apprised of the latest threats and risk assessment.
To name a few.
None of which guaranteed her breadcrumb discovery.
The best way she could think of was to spread her little file far and wide.Make it so obvious that Baran couldn’t overlook it.
Gus used her access as Titan’s administrator to infiltrate all the places she could think of, uploading the file into each system before placing it behind a firewall only accessible via Tuann technology.As her last insurance policy, she used Tuann to name the file.
A gift, traveler.
That should do it.Humans would assume the file had been mislabeled.They might try to delete it but would soon find out how impossible that was.Only an administrator could take down something they’d added to the system.
Finished, Gus sat back and eyed her work.She’d done about all she could do.Now it was up to Baran and the rest.
Pushing aside her worries, Gus switched focus, accessing the video clip Kyle had sent her.It wasn’t long before she was forced to give up in frustration.Kyle was right.There was nothing there.With the angle of the video, she couldn’t even read lips to get an idea of what was being discussed.And once the subjects left the bar, they quickly disappeared from surveillance, leading Gus to believe they possessed a certain familiarity with the deck’s blind spots.
Such foresight was to be expected from her siblings.Even Baran, since his synth armor likely possessed some type of technology that detected when he was being surveilled.
The humans, however.
They would have to be familiar with the station.Either residents or frequent visitors.
Except a search using Titan’s facial-recognition software failed to yield any clues as to their identities.
It was frustrating.
More importantly, it was suspicious.
Like someone had gone into the system and deleted the relevant data.
“Impossible,” Gus murmured.
Titan’s administrator and its lieutenants were the only ones with that sort of capability.She knew she hadn’t done it.
Her lieutenants though.
There was a thought.
Gus considered it for a moment before she shook her head.She didn’t want to go down that path just yet.Paranoia was all well and good until it had you jumping at shadows.
Still, Gus checked in with her lieutenants.Most of them were where they were supposed to be, carrying out their assignments.
There was only one anomaly.
“Brooks,” Gus whispered, wondering what that man was up to now.
From the very beginning, the former space marine had been something of a wild card.He was one of the few who’d seen her true face.Though he didn’t know she was also Titan’s administrator and Belladonna’s creator.Like Kyle, he was under the mistaken impression that she was a cog in her alter ego’s organization.Much like them.
