Chapter 1.9 - Virtual Reality: Central Mainframe
In front of the facility’s central mainframe.
Mikhail: Sorry to keep you waiting. Please wait a moment while I set up the dive beds.
Jan: I see. Go ahead.
Mikhail sets up simple cots for the dive.
Mikhail: Phew… all done.
Jan: Sorry about the trouble. …What’s Erich’s condition?
Mikhail: He seems to be in very good shape. Maybe it was just was a bit of fatigue earlier?
Jan: I hope so. I’m probably just overthinking things.
Lactis: So what’s our destination?
Jan: The central mainframe’s primary logout point. We’re going to track the perpetrator from there. Everyone, get ready.
Mikhail: Okay, going in? Contact me when you’ve achieved your objective. I’ll have everything ready for your retrieval.
Jan: Got it. Let’s get started.
Virtual Reality: Central Mainframe Access Point
Jan: Is this it?
Lactis: Yes. The criminal logged out from here.
Jan: Is it possible to trace him?
Lactis: The trace itself won’t be a problem. However, if he withdrew completely and escaped in the real world, it will be difficult to find him. I hope he’s still there.
Jan: Then we have to hurry.
Lactis: Right.
Lactis begins his analysis of the mainframe.
Jan: See anything?
Lactis: No, I can’t confirm any evidence of access. Did he already get away…?
Jan: Were we too late?
Mikhail: Captain! Good news!
Jan: What is it?
Mikhail: The intruder is currently attempting another hack. He’s online!
Jan: He’s still here!?
Mikhail: That must be a dummy point. I’m sorry, I was careless. I was paying attention to the trace logs and didn’t notice he was connecting. His location is north of where you are now.
Jan: Understood. Trace him as long as you can.
At another access point in the central mainframe.
Jan: Analysis.
Lactis: …
Jan: Lactis! Are there any signs of Voyager?
Lactis: As you might expect, nothing.
Jan: Mikhail! There’s no evidence of him here. What now?
Mikhail: Strange… until now the course of his movements was easy to follow, but… when you arrived there, it just disappeared.
Jan: It disappeared? Without us even seeing him log out…
Lactis: What’s this?
Jan: What? Did you find something?
Lactis: I believe it is information from the embryos. …This can’t be right.
Jan: Explain.
Lactis: Specifically, it’s data from their brains. This looks like the substantia nigra pars compacta… in the ventral tegmental area… information from the hippocampus was lost!? …I’ll check one of the other embryos. This one too!? …And this one too!! This is not good. All of them…?
Melisse: That sounds bad…
Jan: You mean the information from their brains was lost?
Lactis: These embryos. It’s not just their brains that are strange… it’s more fundamental than that. Whether it’s prenatal or postnatal is unclear, but it’s in their basic genetic structure… a severe defect in the stem cells is appearing!
Jan: Can you make a backup?
Lactis: Doing it now… but it’s exceeding my personal capacity!!
Jan: Mikhail! Make a copy of the information from Lactis!
Mikhail: Understood. Opening a connection to Lactis… !
Lactis: Hurry… exceeding maximum capacity… !
Mikhail: Wait… what’s going on? Lactis! Cut the connection immediately! I repeat, cut the connection immediately!
Lactis: …?
Lactis appears to have been disconnected from the mainframe.
Jan: Lactis! Are you okay?
Lactis: I’m… alright. However… the system seems to have locked up in the middle of the connection. Be careful!
Jan: Something’s coming!
Battle with Baldur.
Everyone logs out and gets up from their dive beds.
Jan: Mikhail! Did you recover that data?
Mikhail: The trace log was corrupted en route, so I’m not sure I was able to get it… but even if there was feedback, there should be some clean pieces left. However… it’s impossible to perform an analysis from this machine. What should we do, Captain?
Jan: …I see. It seems that all we can do is head back to headquarters and try to analyze that data. There might be a clue to Voyager’s next move in it.
Lactis: …Indeed. Judging by the span between the ambassador incident and this one, he isn’t likely to give us much time. But how does Voyager always know what we’re doing? From interfering with the data transfer to the swift deployment of that security unit, it’s as if…
Jan: …It’s as if he’s watching us from nearby.
Lactis: Yes. I have that feeling too.
Mikhail: A-Are you kidding? From the moment you entered that room I was running a very detailed trace. I’m certain that no one but us accessed the mainframe…!!
Melisse: But that macrophage didn’t come out of nowhere…
Jan: I don’t want to think about it, but… Voyager might already have the whole U.M.N. in his hands.
Erich: Captain! There’s some interesting data in the trace logs we collected. There’s evidence of an attempt to interfere with the data transfer to Lactis…
Mikhail: Ridiculous! There was nothing like that in those logs…
Erich: Wasn’t there a backup error in the portable computer terminal you were using…? Also, this is an access point to the imprinting central mainframe. There’s probably residual corruption in the trace.
Mikhail: Are you… saying that I falsified the data hack from Voyager!?
Erich: …No one said anything of the kind. I’m just saying that it’s a possibility, that’s all. There really is evidence of some kind of interference in the data I have.
Mikhail: …
Jan: Calm down, both of you. Can the trace data be trusted?
Erich: Yes. It’s an extremely minute interference, but I was able to find traces of the release of the extermination program…
Mikhail: Captain! Do you really suspect…?
Jan: I don’t distrust you. However, if Erich has discovered some new evidence, we should take a look at it.
Mikhail: I… don’t make mistakes like that… !
Jan: Either way, let’s go back to headquarters and get started on the analysis. Mikhail! I want you to repair and back up the data concerning the embryos. Let’s hurry! I’m going to recommend to the Chief that all U.M.N. connections be restricted until after the Pilgrimage Council.