L and a shota with odd colored hair [closed]

[sugarforteatime]

Characters: L and Joshua
Content: Horrible, wicked things ... mostly teaching Joshua how to hack better and tracking down evidence against the people framing Joshua.
Setting: L's office
Time: After this post, after things have started to pack up at the Gearship races.
Warnings: None

Comments

[fallingjunkyard]

When Joshua saw the message from the Captain, he didn't bother typing up a response. It was clear Ryuzaki would be waiting for him, and a message that he was on his way would be pointless when he could simply arrive. In honesty, if the Captain hadn't called him to his office today, he would have most likely appeared there anyway. Joshua knew his encryption skills were not quite up to strategist standards, and he wanted to fix that. It wouldn't be any good if skilled people could easily get into his plans, no?

Carrying his journal, Joshua let himself in to Ryuzaki's office, having the respect to knock one, but not having the courtesy to wait for a response before stepping in.

[sugarforteatime]

He'd been expecting Joshua, of course, everything that the strategist might be interested in had been hidden away and all that remained were cookies, cake and his own 'civilian' difference engine.

"We are going to begin your training with the more difficult aspects of the difference engine and continue our investigation into who was most interested in, and had the most to gain by, the BID investigation. My own inquires have discovered that the request is quite legitimate. That means that you are either genuinely under investigation or one of these conspirators is well placed."

Completely without preamble. He needed to make sure the two of them were on the same page.

[fallingjunkyard]

It was a pity about everything being hidden, but (sadly) understandable enough. He wanted to know more about his dear Captain. He was curious as to how thorough Ryuzaki's inquiries were, though the impression he'd gotten from him was that those inquiries would be very thorough indeed. Once again, his suspicions that Ryuzaki was more than he made himself out to be resurfaced.

Joshua placed his own journal on the table, nodding at Ryuzaki's words. He was, in a way, looking forward to this little lesson+investigation combination lesson. "I'm game."

[sugarforteatime]

"First." He stopped and took a bite of cake. "Do you currently have any theories?" That was, of course, the first place to start. He hadn't collected as much information as he would have liked. Joshua would have been disappointed with how little information he'd gotten through Watari and how much had been simple hacking and professional inquiries as a Captain.

sob thinking is difficult.

[fallingjunkyard]

Joshua took a seat. Did Ryuzaki eat anything other than sweets? Joshua wanted something spicy right about now, but no luck here. Just sugary goodies Joshua didn't have a palate for.

"We've discussed Major Toshirou Hijikata last time, no?" Joshua elaborated a little more. It was no good to assume, after all. "A boatswain on board the Victoria II, with a cousin on board the 4423. One would think there would be conflicts of interest, or a question of loyalty given the Victoria II's status. Unless the officers on board Ivona's flagship are unaware of it, of course."

He paused, waiting for input or any indication Ryuzaki already knew this.

[sugarforteatime]

He hadn't had as much time to devote to the 'pre-investigation' as he would have liked, so he admittedly didn't know about the possibility of divided loyalties for the Boatswain. That made things a little more interesting, though. "It does seem a conflict of interest. Do you think the cousin might have had something to do with it?"

He was interested in feeling out what directions Joshua's own hypothesizing had taken. "Certainly Major Hijikata will be a target in this, however, I am most interested in your friend from the Silvana, Ichimaru. His previous attempts to find information about you did not strike me as professional, yet, a high placed action against you has, nonetheless, appeared."

[fallingjunkyard]

"There is a chance, yes." Joshua wasn't entirely sure of the cousin's relationship with each other. He decided to lay what he knew on the table regardless. After all, he was working with Ryuzaki, not against him.

"Aside from a careless mistake a long time ago on the network and my public post, our dear Major keeps the state of his family under locks. I've always had the impression he's a remarkably loyal man to those he cares for. Not that he'll admit it, of course. Blackmail is a possibility." Joshua thought for a moment, recalling some of the events from some time ago. "I do remember the Major's cousin wanting to extricate information regarding the Victoria II from me, though. Perhaps the loyalty doesn't go both ways."

Ah, Gin. He certainly knew how to heat up a game! Joshua threaded his fingers together and leaned back in his chair. "What in particular do you want to know about him? Our interaction was, unfortunately, quite brief."

[sugarforteatime]

How interesting. He tucked the information about the Hijikatas away in the back of his mind. He would want that later. Right now it didn't seem like it was going to get him anything though. "If he is exceptionally loyal to the Ivonians it seems unlikely he would participate in a sham without more solid foundation."

Ichimaru... "Did you antagonize him as spectacularly as you did the major, or was it something more sedate. Please, tell me everything that you recall from the interaction."

[fallingjunkyard]

"Perhaps. But not everyone pushes aside emotions when they should know better." Joshua left the 'like us' at the end unsaid

[sugarforteatime]

Fascinating, to say the least. Ichimaru... he wished he knew more. Joshua had been exceptionally thorough, however. That was something of a surprised and he hoped the momentary forthrightness might carry forward, but he wasn't hopeful

[fallingjunkyard]

It was easy to see that Ryuzaki's questions regarding Gin weren't directed at Joshua. Rather, Ryuzaki's questions were like creating documents to be carefully filed away in his mind. Joshua supposed even the Captain liked to think aloud on occasion, like many others. Personally Joshua liked to keep it inside.

Taking the offered seat, Joshua made himself comfortable in the chair, crossing his legs. Ah yes, people did tend to be careless when there was no overt sign of an intrusion. Which brought up a question...

As he looked down the list of people and their IDs, a finger tracing the end of each line, Joshua asked, "Is there any way to know you've been hacked?" Joshua paused at one name, with am amused smile. It may have been the unfortunate last name, Hooker. "Aside from finding news of your sordid affair plastered all over the papers."

[sugarforteatime]

"If the access was recent it is not impossible. I did an investigation into such a matter with Ness in his earlier time here when he was -- stalking himself. At first we believed his strange messages to be the work of a hacker, but I was able to determine the journal was accessed from no other station than Ness's." He turned around a little and looked lost in thought. "If the hacking is done on your own engine it is more difficult... I have not had to take such measures in some time. It is also far more difficult. The best defense to such detection is to not show your hand quickly, that way you give no one the reason to look when the logs are still available on the engine servers

[fallingjunkyard]

When Ness was-? Ah, now he remembered. The Nightmare. So it was Ryuzaki who had helped Ness out. It made sense, and it was a surprise he hadn't pieced it together earlier.

Listening to Ryuzaki attentively, even though Joshua had moved to lean an elbow on the table, he absorbed all Ryuzaki had told him. He reached for the pile of profiles he presumed Ryuzaki had gathered himself, Joshua rifled through them searching for Mr. Hooker's. As he glanced down the page, he asked, "And how long are the logs available for?"

A database liason? It was doubtful he'd be able to crack that one without good luck. But even though luck was often on Joshua's side, he wasn't here to get lucky; here was here to learn how to do this when luck wasn't at his side. Joshua put down the profile and picked up the next: Lor Rina.

[sugarforteatime]

"Usually no more than two weeks. If you wish your detection to remain unnoticed you must not share the information with anyone who might be in a position to inform the one you stole it from." Lor Rina, a much better choice. L had never personally hacked the account, but it had all the earmarks of someone who didn't change their defaults.

"In this situation, it also works to our advantage because there are many dozen people who have access to the information, so they would not be able to narrow down where it was stolen from. Of course, the secrets that many know tend to be less interesting." This was all still basic hacking, guessing weak passwords, after that, L would have to teach Joshua about installing interesting sniffing programs, but he was pleased that Joshua knew when to try a different tactic.

In time, and with the right lines of code, Joshua might even break Mr. Hooker's encryption.

[fallingjunkyard]

Of course. Generally it would be foolish to show your hand as soon as you received an advantage.

Not having much else to add at this point, Joshua focused on attempting to hack Lor Rina's account. He hummed a little, tapping a finger as he read Lor Rina's information. It didn't seem like Lor Rina was particularly predisposed to technical journal competency, so Joshua decided to give a crack at guessing the password. Something like birthdates, or childrens' names, perhaps with a few numbers thrown in at the front or end of the password...

[sugarforteatime]

L watched with something that might have been considered paternal amusement on anyone else's face. He watched Joshua's attempts carefully, seeing where his mind logically went first, followed by where it went after that. A few more tries later, L leaned over and carefully typed in 'password123' and pressed return.

The difference engine whirred a little as the connection went back to the server and then indicated that the logon was accepted. "Always try that first." He leaned back and picked up a fork, picking up one bite of cake and then eating it. Fork still dangling from his mouth he pointed at the screen. "Please locate any information on pending investigations."