d&d scenes } { of malware and minor breakdowns

[iluvroadrunner6]

Ric: [after he's rescued and finishes the meeting with the other team members and his own hacking attempts, he goes off in search of Siobhan. He has time to wait until the day and time of the will reading, but he needs to cover his own ass first.]

Siobhan: [in her computer lab, tap tap tapping away at her computer]

Ric: [and he will stroll over and smiled, putting himself in her perepheral vision, but waited until she reached her own stopping point to talk]

Siobhan: [there's a brief glance when she catches something, then back to the computer, then a double take as she turns to fully look at him] Oh, hello. What can I do for you?

Ric: I wanted to see if you could help me with a problem I've got.

Siobhan: What's up?

Ric: I'm trying to hack into a computer server, but it's the kind that you could only access on site. But there has to be a way to hack it offsite, right?

Siobhan: That entirely depends on the security and how dumb the people are who use it.

Ric: No, they're pretty good at what they do. My only advantage right now is that I used to work on the server myself until I opened the clinic and changed locations.

Siobhan: Well, if I could remote into a computer attached to the server, that would be the most efficient way to do it. Send an email with some spyware, get the person to click the link, and I'd be in.

Ric: [thinks, then grins, thinking about the people working in the clinic that had server emails to run volunteer operations] I think I know someone I could email.

Siobhan: I'll start working on the code then.

Ric: You're amazing. Thank you. Can I get you something while you work? Drink, lunch? as a thank you?

Siobhan: [shakes her head as she gets to work, fingers flying over the keyboard] Who am I sending the email to?

Ric: [and he will write down the e-mail address] She's the volunteer coordinator at the homeless shelter.

Siobhan: Alright. I'll whip something up and once she clicks the link, we'll see what we can find.

Ric: Great. How long should it take?

Siobhan: Depends how long it takes them to open the email and click it.

Ric: [looks at his phone] It probably won't be until after the dinner crowd when she goes to send out reminders about tomorrow's shifts.

Siobhan: Then approximately five hours. I could send you a text when it happens.

Ric: Thanks. I owe you one.

Siobhan: No problem. It's what I do.

Ric: [and he'll head out to leave her to her work and head...... yeah, he doesn't know what else he can do to distract himself]

Siobhan: [well, he'll have to find something because the volunteer rolled very high on their wisdom save so they won't be clicking the link]

Ric: [damnit Becky. Today you had to be smart]

Siobhan: [sorry Ric. Siobhan will eventually text him with:] Sorry. Looks like she deleted without reading.

Ric: [via text] Anything else we could try?

Siobhan: All of them tend to rely on a human on the other end giving us access.

Ric: Would there be a way to hack into the server getting close but not actually going into the facility?

Siobhan: Depends on the server.

Ric: I could try and get close and see if my backdoor password still works. [since he knows his front door password won't, but he built his own backdoor when he took a coding course in college] I can't go inside though. Not right now.

Siobhan: What are you looking for, exactly?

Ric: It's my previous job and they're under new management. I want to scrub my name out of the files in case they try and use me as a scapegoat.

Siobhan: Well, I could build you a virus that seeks out your name and deletes it but again, there's the issue of getting it on the server without you being attached to it.

Ric: What about a burner smartphone? If I can get it connected, could you use that to get the virus in and run?

Siobhan: Depends on the security of the server - most of them don't let you actually have access to the server when you use their wi-fi.

Ric: [and he's going to take a deep breath, his frustration hitting its limit] Let me think about it and I'll get back to you.

Siobhan: Alright. I'll be here.

Ric: Thanks again for trying. [and he's going to pace in the hallway, his fingers threading through his hair]

Siobhan: [and she will go back to her work, and start crafting that virus]

Ric: [and he's going to make his way to his room, and before he even closes the door, he's going to scream and swipe everything on the table off the floor and towards a wall]

Donna: [and someone happens to catch that before moving over and knocking on the door] Ric? Everything alright?

Ric: I'm fine. [he's so not fine. His hands are planted on the table and he's trying not to break down]

Donna: [she frowns] You sure?

Ric: [takes another deep breath, then shakes his head] I was supposed to fix this. Fix us. Someone killed him and I can't even do anything.

Donna: [she shifts to lean against the door] Are you sure there was something there to fix?

Ric: I don't know. He's always been so proud of me. I know he mostly kept himself at a distance, but it was twelve years. [and he will turn and yup, the tears he was trying to hold back aren't staying there] He's the only person in this life who cared about me. I know, I know things were better in my other life, but that's just a memory to me now. This world is who I am now, and... I wasn't ready to lose him.

Donna: [she pauses before tipping his head to the side] I'm sorry you did. But ... from what I know of him, I don't think he was ever intending to reconcile.

Ric: You don't know that. If I kept trying, show him... [and he's going to just slide down to the floor] I was the only one who could make him smile.

Donna: [takes a breath and comes in to sit next to him] Nicholas Lammel has always been a zealot first. Whatever he may have cared for you, the second you refused his cause, it's likely you no longer had any use to him.

Ric: Either way, I'm alone again. I'm an orphan all over again and I'm not even allowed to do anything to help put him to rest.

Donna: Presuming she intends to leave him at rest.

Ric: [looks over at her] What do you mean?

Donna: An ecclesiarch of her power can raise the dead.

Ric: [shakes his head] She wouldn't. Why would she?

Donna: Why wouldn't she?

Ric: She hasn't been around since before he took me in. It's not like she cares about him.

Donna: You don't know that. And you also don't know that it isn't something he asked of her.

Ric: If he asked that of her, why's there a will reading? Why bother to identify his body at the morgue?

Donna: Probably because that kind of spell isn't a quick fix. He died very publicly, and she wasn't in town, so she needed to go reclaim his body in the first place. And, if they were smart, they'd go through the motions to not cause any suspicion.

Ric: [leans his head back] Let's say she does to that... what'll that do to him?

Donna: How do you mean?

Ric: I don't know a lot about magic like that. Coming back from the dead - it has to have some side effects, right?

Donna: That depends on the deity. But this isn't a necromancy spell. They're not an undead creature. Physically they're as they were when they lived. That doesn't mean they can escape the trauma of dying, however. [she'll keep it to herself, however, that she thinks this isn't the first time Lammel has been risen from the dead]

Ric: [closes his eyes] Am I an idiot for actually still caring?

Donna: Idiot isn't the word I'd use.

Ric: What word would you use?

Donna: Human.

Ric: [and that will get a smile out of him, and some of the tension will leave his shoulders] I'm sorry if my text scared you. I just... you're the only one who I knew would understand.

Donna: I'm just glad we got there in time.

Ric: Me too. Not that my being there really accomplished my goal.

Donna: Which was what exactly?

Ric: The police were going through his files. Files that have my name attached to them on old dealings.

Donna: Well, it's public record you worked for and were attached to him.

Ric: Yeah, but these were not the public files

Donna: What files were they then?

Ric: The 'other' business.

Donna: I doubt he would keep anything illegal where police could easily find it.

Ric: No, but it wasn't just the police I wanted to hide it from.

Donna: Then who?

Ric: Isabella.

Donna: What makes you think she doesn't already know?

Ric: Wishful thinking? More that I was thinking she'd point it out to the police.

Donna: I doubt that. Casting suspicion on you means casting suspicion on him.

Ric: But it could also pin the murder on me.

Donna: Could it?

Ric: I was home alone that night. Won't have an alibi.

Donna: That could be true of a lot of people that also have issues with Lammel.

Ric: [chukles] You're not going to let me fall into my own paranoia, are you?

Donna: Paranoia is sometimes just that. Paranoia.

Ric: [shakes his head] You know, I really appreciate this.

Donna: [small smile] Happy to help.

Ric: No, I mean... you're the only one who actually understands what I'm going through. The team, sometimes it feels like they only care our of obligation. But you... you know what I was, and yet you still care.

Donna: I also remember who you were before. And as I said - people can change, if they want it badly enough.

Ric: Just take it one day at a time.

Donna: Exactly.

Ric: [and he will give her a smile, his eyes looking at her lips a moment before looking back up at her. He isn't sure, though, if she likes him enough that way, so he doesn't try and kiss her. But he wants to]

Donna: [is just trying to be supportive and you're a little bit of a mess right now, Ric. But maybe once you get the Lammel stuff sorted out]

Ric: [yeah, probably for the best. If he lives through it all]

Donna: [we shall see] I was about to head to the kitchen. Fix you a cup of tea?

Ric: That sounds good. [looks at his destroyed room] I should probably clean this all up.

Donna: I'll get the kettle going. Come down when you're ready.

Ric: I will. Thanks.

Donna: [nods and off she goes to start making the tea]