"Good morning, Mr. Anson, and thank you again for agreeing to join me for a talk this morning."
Talk, Nick thought. You call this "a talk"? As if I had any choice in the matter. Already squirming in a chair that seemed altogether too comfortable for the intended purpose, Nick reached out for the glass of water and took yet another sip. After eating a big breakfast, he had left his apartment earlier this morning only to stop at two fast food stands on his way here to fill up. At this point he'd been in the interview room for all of four minutes, and his glass of water was already nearly empty. He looked towards the exit door, wondering how long this was going to last. He was starting to feel peckish again...
The Habitat Administration, Department of Internal Audit, occupied the largest wing of the hab administrative complex. A large building almost in the centre of the hab, the darker colour of the metal compound which was used in the early days of space construction gave it away as one of the oldest structures Nick could remember seeing. Around 2080, Nick thought, is when they moved away from this compound and started using the new graphene based materials. Which would actually make this room part of the original habitat construction. Nearly 100 years old!
The drab and dark grey dominated the walls, floors and ceilings, and he was quietly hoping the Reform party would make some headway in the next elections. At least they proposed adding a budget for internal hab decorations, even if most of their other policy proposals were simply an echo of the current administration. Nick remembered Rashi going on about it some months ago. The Theory of Policy Convergence, she had called it. Used to describe how politics had shifted from the extremes that dominated the mid 21st century, to a political landscape where most opinions gathered somewhere around the same ideas. Some people had connected the convergence to the beginning of space travel and colonisation of the solar system, Rashi had explained. With all the potential "up there", both in terms of resources and living space, governments across the world suddenly had a common focus. Whatever the reason, the world had finally unified under a shared government at the stroke of midnight as the calendar turned to 2100.
The room he was currently in was uncharacteristically airy and spacious for a space habitat, and Nick guessed the room could be split into three sections vertically and still have plenty of headroom left over. The old Kings of Earth used large throne rooms and elevated thrones to paint a picture of power and prestige, he thought to himself. Internal Audit is simply copying that age old recipe. Or perhaps... Nick looked around again, harder this time, and knowing what he was looking for he could see them; strong anchor joints, reinforced bulkheads, a lack of windows. All pointing to the room's original purpose. A colonisation storage unit! He suddenly realised. This whole section had been used to transport all the materials that had been used to develop the original habitat.
Keith Garner, the auditor, had picked him up in the reception area and navigated to this room somewhere towards the centre of the building. They had walked past a small kitchen area on the way, and in deference to the internal... activities currently happening inside his stomach, and remembering Sae's admonition to get plenty of nutrients and fluids, Nick had accepted the offer of a glass of water.
Garner raised one eyebrow at Nick. "Mr. Anson, before we continue, would you perhaps like a second glass of water?"
"No, thank you." Nick replied, just wanting this to be over as quickly as possible.
"Certainly, Mr. Anson. Shall we get started then?". He looked over at Nick, who gave a small, nervous nod.
"Perfect. As indicated in the letter that we sent you yesterday, our detection filters reacted to some data processing done through your mindpal. Now, before I continue I want you to know that you would be within your rights to request the presence of a solicitor for this meeting, although I hardly think that is required.
As you may know we receive several of these filter triggers every week, and almost without fail it has an innocuous explanation. With your cooperation we can probably handle this case quickly and get you on your way.
To begin, can you please confirm for me that you understand your right to have representation present for these proceedings, that you are here voluntarily, that you do not have to answer any questions and that you can leave at any time. But also that you understand that your refusal to cooperate will be actively used as evidence in the event of any future administrative procedures regarding this matter?"
—
The last few hours had been stressful. Getting back from the medcentre, Nick and the girls had stayed up late into the evening dissecting the day’s events and preparing for the next. Nick was still not sure how they’d actually managed to pull off the plan as smoothly as they had, and even Goose appeared in what seemed like a celebratory mood. Together with Sae, he had spent parts of the evening going over the data imprint to look for copy errors and correcting those they had found.
Nick was slightly embarrassed as he recalled ordering a second pizza delivered to the apartment. His metabolism had started working overtime shortly after returning home, and Goose had quite unnecessarily informed him that
The repair nanites are working perfectly, Nick. They are managing to repurpose the fatty cells around your abdominal region for data storage faster than your immune system can flush them out!
Sae had added that "At least at this rate, that extra flab will clear out in no time!" with one of her more annoying smirks. Nick smiled as he remembered Rashi's offer of sharing in the second pizza order, "out of solidarity of course, and also because... pizza!".
Nick appreciated the necessity of eating to replace the destroyed fat cells, but he was getting seriously tired of eating constantly. He could even feel his jaw muscles becoming sore from the extra exercise!
They had spent the rest of the evening cleaning up all traces of the data signal from the mindpal and the storage qube, replacing it with data they had manufactured to simulate garbage input from a radio telescope. Their intent was for Internal Audit to take it for the data which triggered the detection filters.
In the start, this whole process confused Goose to a point where he seemed genuinely distressed.
Nick, please help me understand, he had suddenly exclaimed. Why are we building false information? I could understand why we wanted to hide the data - after all, you explained to me what could happen to both you and me if it was discovered by your authorities - but what we are doing will misrepresent the truth.
Remembering Goose's consternation and confusion at the very idea of "misrepresenting the truth" as he called it, Nick was again wondering what that was all about. Even as they finally managed to explain it to him, there was something there, something fundamental to understanding Goose... The concept of lies seemed almost unknown to him. What did that say about Goose and his background?
Finally, they had both confirmed the fidelity of the data imprint, prepared the data qube and Nick's mindpal for inspection, and put together a believable story that would tie everything together.
Nick had wanted to spend more time putting together a plan for a better long term storage solution for Goose - he really didn't want to spend the rest of his days as a Continuous Reincarnation Machine for an alien - but time had run out, and tiredness had finally taken all three of them.
—
In the interview room, Nick replied "I understand" before adding, "may I take a recording of this interview, please?"
The last part had been Rashi's suggestion. While Sae and Goose had worked on data cleanup, she had apparently spent her time reading up on Internal Audit interview protocols, and found a useful list of subject rights. They had already decided together to not bring a solicitor into the equation - after all, they wanted to paint a picture of the young and eager radio astronomer who accidentally stored a bunch of data - but everyone agreed that a recording would be helpful. It also served to bring Goose into the conversation, as they had not found a way to connect him to input from Nick's eyes or ears, but could easily hook him into a mindpal feed.
An eyebrow rose up in suspicion. "You... certainly may, Mr. Anson. That is indeed a right you have." Nick saw the auditor look away, accessing his mindpal, before he continued. "Ok, that is settled then. To begin with, did you bring in the data storage units we described in our letter?"
Nick handed over the data qube as well as transmitting a read only key to the folder in his mindpal containing the prepared data, and watched as Garner stepped out of the room, handing the qube to a young woman.
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.
"Thank you. My colleague should be finished with your qube by the time our conversation is finished, and unless she finds anything... anything she shouldn't, you will get it back as you leave.
Now, we are having this conversation because our automatic filters picked up a rather unusually large data processing yesterday. It appears that you downloaded, and retransmitted, a file which was... " Nick emptied his glass of water as Garner looked something up in his mindpal. "Nearly 1.5 thousand terrabits in size. A terrabit, Mr. Anson, is about the size of a full length movie. Now, processing the equivalent of one-and-a-half thousand movies... well, I am sure you can see why that has made us curious."
Garner sat back in his chair and put his hands in his lap. With an inquisitive expression, he looked at Nick. "Mr. Anson, can you please explain for me what is going here?"
As Nick started telling the story they had put together, he could hear Rashi's advice at the back of his mind. "Don't simply repeat it. Add some "hmms", and "maybes", and thoughtful pauses. Forget some parts. Nobody ever remembers stuff like this perfectly, that just makes it seem practised".
Nick did his best to follow Rashi's advice; interjecting appropriate pauses and words as he spent the next half hour recounting this version of events. As the interview went on, he got increasingly confident and Nick was quite happy with himself when he finally finished.
"And that's how, sir, I ended up triggering your filter. I apologise for the inconvenience, and will make sure I double check next time before dumping the raw radio telescope data through my mindpal!"
The auditor took a few seconds to note something down in his mindpal interface, before looking directly at Nick. There was something going on behind his eyes, although Nick couldn't say exactly what it was. With more intensity than before, Garner said, "Thank you, Mr. Anson. Now, can you please repeat your story - this time in reverse, please.". And with a small insincere smile that made Nick shiver, he added, "I find that even very good liars find it difficult to recount made up stories backwards".
Oh crap, Nick just had time to think, before he heard the voice.
Calm down, Nick. Simply follow my lead. "The last thing that happened was when I deleted the data because I realised it was a raw dump of garbage data".
Taking a breath, Nick smiled at the auditor and began. "The last thing that happened - was when I deleted the data because I realised it was a raw dump of garbage data".
--
A little more than a half hour later, and with Goose having guided him through the retelling, Nick let out a breath he felt he had held for hours as he finished. "At first, you see, I was very excited about the data coming in from that direction. I had messed up my orbital calculations, and hadn't realised we were pointing out into nowhere".
The auditor had been getting increasingly and visibly frustrated as Nick perfectly repeated the story backwards, and sat back sharply in his chair as Nick finished.
"Stay here, don't go anywhere", he said, getting out of his chair with another abrupt motion. As Garner moved towards the door, Nick felt himself getting more confident and asked, "May I have another glass of water please? And perhaps some biscuits if this is going to last much longer?"
Garner gave no response as he closed the door behind him. Nick could hear a click. So much for "I may leave whenever I want to", he thought.
So far, so good. Goose suddenly said. But I can see your are still nervous. Why is that?
That man knows something is up, Nick subvocalized. Even if he can't prove it yet. And if I am not mistaken, he is not the kind of man to stop looking if he doesn't find his clue on the first attempt.
But even if he keeps looking, how can he find anything if there is nothing to be found? And why will he not trust your story?
Nick was nonplussed at this question. What do you mean, Goose? He may not trust the story, in case I .. lied.
There is that word again; lie. I know you explained it to me last night. You said it means the act of sending erroneous information. Certainly, Auditor Keith Garner will check the storage qube and from what he sees there will ascertain that you have been truthful, when it matches what you have said?
Oh boy, Nick thought. A lie is more than that, Goose. We went over this. A lie is about purposefully sending erroneous information. It's about misleading the receiver into thinking something is true when you know it is not.
I still don't understand this concept. If individual units transmit erroneous information on purpose, how can the network trust the final result?
Another important hint to Goose's nature! Nick thought, quickly creating a mental note and storing away the exchange so he could review it again later.
Humans lie, Goose. He sent back a second later. The question is, how to determine when we do. That is what the auditor is trying to find out, and it is why he is watching me so closely, to see if he can detect any signs of lying.
But surely... Goose suddenly went silent mid-sentence. Nick was getting concerned when the door to the interview room suddenly reopened and the auditor stepped back inside with sharp steps. Nick could read the frustration in his steps, when Goose suddenly reappeared.
This body language is indicative of emotional distress. My analysis indicates that Mr. Garner has recently failed to convince someone of taking an action, which he was fully convinced was the correct action. Furthermore, I see clear signs that Mr. Garner is still contemplating going through with this action even if this someone... a superior, almost certainly.. has denied his request. Lastly I am almost certain that this action will be directed at you, Nick.
Nick gulped, his mouth suddenly dry. The auditor had of course failed to bring him back a glass of water and the requested biscuits, but that barely registered in Nick's thoughts. How had Goose... he began asking himself, before remembering there was a better target for that question.
Goose, how can you analyse all that from so little?
It's actually quite simple. Our conversation about lies indicated the possibility of leveraging other available information to validate the spoken information. Sae has given me access to some popular media, and I did a quick analysis of a sample of what you call movies. I built some predictive models for when the characters in the media were lying and when they were telling the truth, and from there it wasn't difficult to extrapolate a complete model of human body language and behaviour. I also found some books on the topic, and even if most of them were quite wrong on the majority of their assertions, many factors are well documented. For example, when Mr. Garner entered the room just now he threw an almost imperceptible glance over his shoulder before staring at you. If you combine that with how his left hand clenched at the same time as...
Alright, Goose. Don't need the details now. But that is super useful. Can you do that to anyone? Anytime?
Certainly. And the models are not that advanced actually - if you want I can upload them into your mindpal and integrate them with your interface. You should be able to get the information as direct overlays in your view!
Erh... let's hold off on that, Nick responded, remembering Sae's admonitions about granting Goose any privileges that would let him direct input to the mindpal. For now, please let me know if there's anything you think I should know!
Affirmative, Nick. Will do.
"So, Mr. Anson", the auditor began. "Our forensics team have reviewed your storage qube, and so far... so far all their findings line up with what you have told us." Garner looked like he had a sour taste in his mouth. "However, to be certain that no regulation breaches have taken place we would like - with your consent of course - to keep the qube for further analysis. I will personally bring it to your apartment when we are done with it.... I expect in another six to eight hours."
He actually appears to simply want an excuse to visit your apartment, Goose interjected. He does not expect to find anything more on the qube.
"That's ok, sir", Nick replied, his confidence now dialled up to full by Goose's strange new ability. "But I expect I will be out at work most of the day, and then I will be going shopping. How about I pop in back here in ten hours or so? You can simply leave it by reception."
He's not happy about that response, Goose said - unnecessarily as it turned out. Even Nick could clearly read the displeasure radiating from the auditor as he nodded his consent to this plan.
Interesting, Goose continued. It looks like that response triggered a decision in favour of taking the action. Now I wonder what that may be....
Nick was wondering the same, as he prepared to leave. Silently remarking how the tables had turned. He was now confident and vigilant , looking up at the other man and trying to work out what his plan was. Whereas the auditor was now obviously nervous, frustrated and uncomfortable.
What was up? Nick wondered.
--
What is going on here? Keith was wondering as he led Nick Anson out of the office, and back into the reception area. Still frustrated with a feeling of having been outsmarted, he gave Mr. Anson a curt farewell and headed back into the office. Keith was used to being the smartest guy in any room, and he couldn't remember the last time he was so convinced that a suspect was lying their ass off without being able to point to anything specific in their story to explain his hunches. The problem was... the story checked out, and fact-by-fact it could all be proven with the available forensic evidence. Mr. Anson had even passed the backwards story test, which had almost never failed him in the past.
Sergeant Jeffries was too much of a by-the-book kind of officer to put much stock in Keith's gut feeling, and Keith had known it even as he tried to convince him to get a surveillance warrant that the request would go nowhere. He had expected Jeffries to be more interested however, but his superior had barely managed to keep his attention on Keith for two minutes. Keith smelled something big happening in the upper echelons of management, but with the current case fully occupying him, he couldn't bring himself to care.
Keith had pondered his options as he was leaving the sergeant's office. He had learned to trust his gut, and was a firm believer in the theory that intuition was simply another perspective on expert knowledge. A brain that had assimilated thousands of hours of experience to a point where it could point him in the right direction, even if it wasn't able to explain why that was the right direction.
The last few minutes of the interview had only reinforced the gut feeling that something was off. He also didn't like the look in Mr. Anson's eyes at the end; almost calculating as he scrutinised Keith's face. Far from the nervous bundle that he had brought into the room that morning.
He simply knew that there was something more to Mr. Anson and his story, and damned if he wasn't going to prove it. He hadn't gotten to where he was by always painting inside the lines. As long as the final artwork stood up to scrutiny in review, nobody cared if the brush slipped once or twice. Walking down towards the store rooms, Keith mentally put together a list of what he would need to put together a full surveillance of Nick Anson and his gang of miscreants.
Mr. Anson had said he was going to be out of the apartment most of the day, and having checked her schedule Keith also knew his sister would be at work all day....
This was his window of opportunity!