Cleaning Up Corruption

Posted on Sun Nov 6, 2016 @ 11:40pm by Lieutenant Commander Alex Rho & Master Chief Petty Officer Thomas Barnes

Mission: An Orion to Die For
Location: Operations Office
Timeline: MD 2 || 1835 hours

It really wasn't all that late by the time Alex made it back to his quarters. As he was about to replicate a quick bite, when his combadge chirruped. The ensuing conversation was about the corrupted files. Apparently, F.R.E.D. was running into some issues with verifying them. He closed the conversation realized that it was time to call in Operations as the Captain had recommended. He tapped his commbadge again, =/\= Lieutenant Rho to Senior Chief Barnes.=/\=

His shift was well over, but Tom found himself in his office, keeping an eye on the changes in power consumption. With the survivors of Tactical Command on board, Tom wasn't at all surprised that they were all being screened before returned to duty. Power had been diverted from secondary systems to sickbay and to the brig.

He'd thought the brig was a bit odd, so Tom began to check the cameras to see how many were behind the forcefields. Tom was surprised to see the cells only had one occupant. He'd seen Orions before, but only through pictures. This would be his first "live" one, even though it were only through a video feed.

It was the voice of the Ullian Intelligence Chief that snapped him out of his gaze, one that had lingered for far too long. He tapped his badge and replied, "Barnes here. Go ahead, Lieutenant."

"I have some things I need your assistance with as the Ops Chief," replied Alex. "May I bring some data to your office?" he asked. He would have to go back to Deck Forty-Four and get the information from F.R.E.D. put on a PADD.

"Of course," Tom replied, clearing the image of the brig cell from his screen. "I'll put on the coffee."

"Coffee sounds good. I'll see you in a few minutes, then. Rho out." He tapped his commbadge, ending the conversation. He still had the Mnemonic Clothing set to what he was wearing on the Victorious and decided to just go ahead and leave it on and there. The Intel Chief headed out the door and down to F.R.E.D. while hoping that he would make it to Tom's office just as the coffee was finishing.

About ten minutes later, Alex was standing outside the door, PADD in hand, and ringing the chime.

Unlike Captain Avaran, Thomas did not have a coffee pot at his disposal. What he did have were plenty of replicator credits, and quite the advanced unit at his beckon call, much larger than what was available in any residential apartment. As such, he had developed his own mechanical 'recipe' for brewing coffee in large quantities. So, when Alex arrived, a carafe of the strongest Jamaican blend awaited him on the main table.

"Come in," Thomas replied, retrieving two freshly replicated white mugs from the replicator, as well as a bowl of creamers and sugar.

Alex walked in to the smell of fresh coffee. "Ahhh, even if it's replicated, it still smells good," he said, walking over to where it was. He put the PADD down and picked up one of the two cups. After pouring himself a cup, Alex took a sip. His eyes widened as the strong flavor hit him. "Tom, this is better than good. What kind of a blend is this?"

"It's a Jamacian blend," Tom replied, pouring himself a cup. "Well, a blend of Jamacian and Moroccan. It's a blend I stumbled on quite accidentally, though one should never buy unlabeled coffee grounds and pour them into the same container."

Alex chuckled as Tom's statement as it brought a memory to his mind. "No, not at all." He took a drink and sighed. "I think you have found a new convert, Tom." He took another sip and then put the cup down. Reaching for the PADD, he said, "This is why I came. The infiltration teams recovered some data from Orion Sector Tactical Command exploded. Most of it, we were able to access. There were some files, however, that F.R.E.D. couldn't access, try as he may. They are corrupted. Which is why we need your help."

"Fred?" Tom asked, searching his memory for the name. There were many people on this ship, and he hadn't yet met them all. "Corrupted files? That's quite the challenge." He indicated the holographic display at the worktable and the PADD insert slot beside it. Should Lieutenant Rho insert the PADD, its contents would immediately be displayed in a three-dimensional interface, enabling easier access to the material.

Alex laughed. "I had the same reaction. Not Fred, F.R.E.D....Forensic Recovery of Evidence Device. He's a holographic display in our Analysis Division. And either a humorist or a bit of a smart-ass. I haven't figured out which yet. But, yes, corrupted files." Alex moved to the worktable and slid the PADD into the slot. "I appreciate you help with this, Tom," he said, as he watched the PADD's contents appear in front of them.

"I'm not sure what help I can be," Tom said as all of the files were projected around then. Their corrupted nature caused them all to display as pieces, all jumbled and fractured. "If a program like F.R.E.D. can't do much, I'm not sure what you think I can do." In that moment, he started to study the pieces in front of him. It was almost like some three-dimensional jigsaw puzzle with no picture to use as a guide.

Alex grinned. "F.R.E.D. is exactly that, a program. He has his limits. Just...don't tell him I said that. At any rate, as Operations Chief you're trained to see things. That's why I brought it to you," he said. He watched as everything came up in a jumble.

Tom didn't reply, instead he slowly walked around the table, taking a careful look at the fragments in front of him. "There's a lot of logs here," he remarked. "The file structures are consistent with standard Starfleet encryption protocols. Most of these look like personal logs, but..."

Alex listened intently. "Most all of them are personal logs, at least all that we were able to recover from the station. But...what? What is it, Tom?"

"This," Tom said, pointing at some of the code for a few of the personal logs. "And this," he told Alex. "These are exact. Like they've been tagged. Someone has seen these already."

Alex moved so that he could get a better look at what Tom was pointing out. "That's not good," he said. "When they're recovered and repaired will you be able to see who saw them already?"

Tom shrugged. "You're really banking on me recovering and repairing these, aren't you?" He sifted through a few data packets and pointed out. "Here's the same code, but these are official logs now. Either someone was looking for something in particular, or someone was running an investigation of their own a while ago. To access personal logs... This can't be good."

"At this point, I'd settle for less than a partial recovery just so long as it gives us more intel than what we have." He paused as he watched Tom sort through the coding on the files. "I agree. To have someone sorting through personal logs is bad enough, but to have them try to destroy them... Makes me want to know even more what they were looking for."

Tom stuck out his hands, grabbing pieces of a couple files. With a few smooth motions, he sorted the fragments into like types. "It's like a jigsaw puzzle," Tom said, selecting the start of the first file. Holding it at the tip of his index finger, he placed it on top of another pile. With his free hand, he grabbed the bottom of the pile and pulled. Everything in that pile quickly flew by both Tom and Alex until something snapped into place at the bottom of what Tom held.

"Analyze file," Tom asked the computer. A blue line zipped through the rough-looking image before it changed from a pile of raw data to a partial image. "Looks like we've reconstructed the first log," Tom said, handing the virtual file to the Intel Chief. "It's 87 percent intact, but it's playable."

Alex took the reconstructed, virtual file and looked it over. "Eighty-seven percent and playable is good enough to get something out of it." He set it off to the side of the virtual workspace and waited. "I'd like to get what we can so that I can put them in order of stardate before we play them. Set up a timeline of sorts."

"Having one person do this will take a while," he told Alex. "This is simple enough if you want to help. Just take one of these," the Ops Chief picked up a new fragment from the repository and held it over the second line of files. "And, pull..." Tom demonstrated as he'd done before. After a few seconds of the file paths flying by, a match was found and the file was reknit. After having the computer re-analyze the file, he tossed the eighty-nine percent intact file near the previous successful restore.

Alex chuckled a little and stroked his goatee. "You know, you're absolutely right. What was I thinking?" Alex followed suit and grabbed a new file fragment. He held it over the files and pulled as Tom had already done twice. He watched as the flying files circled around and came together. "Analyze file," Alex announced. "Hmm, seventy-seven percent...must have been one that the saboteurs got to first. Or at least wanted rid of quickly." He tossed with the other two completed logs.

Tom hit a rhythm, restoring six files over the next minute. "Now if only there was an algorithm to do this." He did take a break to sip his coffee before returning back to work. "And, I bet you never thought Intelligence was this monotonous."

Alex had yet to get a grip on how this stuff worked. He watched as Tom seemed to find his pace, but Tom had been doing stuff like this for who knows how long. "No, as a matter of fact I hadn't. But you know, funny thing, it reminds me a bit of searching through people's minds, looking for information or secrets or memories. They're scattered and fractured. It takes time to find the right ones at times. So, monotonous, I'd agree. But interesting in that it is similar to sorting through a few scattered memories in a mind."

The Chief nodded. "You know, I've always wondered how that works. Though, I have a strong feeling it's not this tedious. Here's number fifteen." Tom placed another completed file among the collection. "Computer, start new automation script and begin recording my actions." With the affirmation, Tom told Alex, "You might want to go ahead and start sorting those. If I can get these automations set correctly, we should be able to make quicker work of these."

Alex had finished three more by the time Tom had directed him to start sorting the completed ones. "No, not this tedious at all." In fact, there were times that it was interesting, strolling down someone else's memory lane. "Of course, I'll get started on those right away." He moved over to the stack of virtual logs and began arranging them according to their stardates. After a couple moments, he looked back to Tom. "How's it coming?"

"Just about..." Tom muttered, repeating the action for what felt like the hundredth time, though it was really the twentieth. "Computer, pause record. Extrapolate actions and create a search algorithm."

"Processing," came the emotionless voice. After a chirp, the computer replied, "Process complete."

"Save action as Barnes File Repair One and run on these remaining files," Tom ordered. Instantly, the computer chirped and began to work. Restored file after restored file began to mount in a holographic pile between the two men. "Looks like you're going to have a lot of work soon," he told Alex.

Alex laughed as he watched the pile of files quickly grow. "Yes indeed. Fortunately, there is a slew of analysts and a very high tech computer that can help me sort through all of them. Not to mention F.R.E.D., if I need him." He paused a second and turned to Tom. "You didn't know about F.R.E.D., either, did you?"

Thomas shook his head. "Intel types like to keep their secrets," he reminded the Intel Chief. "All I know is that your team consumes an unusually high amount of power and computer resources. I'm already looking at ways I can make those processes more efficient."

Alex nodded. "Yes, we do like to keep our secrets. I just guessed that, as Operations Chief, you might have had a bit more of an insight. That's all. But I'm glad to hear that you're looking for ways to keep us operating at peak efficiency."

"It's what I do," Tom replied as the computer finished it's job. "And it looks like my work here is done," Tom said, waving a motion with his hand to send the pile of holographic files back into the intel chief's PADD. "Anything else I can help you with, Lieutenant?"

"No, I don't believe so," said Alex. "That's really all we needed. Thank you, Chief." He his hand over the slot and removed the PADD. "Though if we have something else like this crop up again, I'll know who to call."

"Anytime, Lieutenant," Tom said, retrieving his now lukewarm coffee. He considered a refill, but he'd had enough of a day as it was. It was time to retire for the evening.