Chapter Text
LE-0T > $ sudo startup
> Username: tmorales
> Password: ********
> User validated.
> Startup mode required. Usage:
> startup -s: safe mode
> startup -l: limited mode
> startup -d: diagnostic mode
> startup -i: independent mode
LE-0T > $ startup -i
> Booting up...........
> ERROR: Owner file corrupted. Recovery attempts unsuccessful.
> Entering diagnostic mode.
The Specialized Personality-Emulating Networked Combat/Escort Robot came online. This was unanticipated, as its last memory was being loaded into a crate to be shipped to a Penzer's Electronic Parts warehouse for disassembly. He tried to open his eyes to gather more data.
>>>ERROR: Owner file corrupted. Unable to activate servos.
The technicians still had not managed to delete the Owners file. Dubertech Robotics Ltd had guaranteed that the owner could not be changed after initiation, but Moreau's hackers had given it their best effort. The SPENCER concluded that USER:tmorales was making an additional--likely unauthorized--attempt.
"Come on, start up already!"
>>>Voiceprint not a match to USER:tmorales. Searching for match in USER database… no match found. Unauthorized user detected.
Interesting. As were the commands the user was entering.
LE-0T > $ switch -mode independent
> ERROR: Changing mode while running may lead to unexpected behavior.
> Restart or use -f to force the mode switch
LE-0T > $ switch -f -mode independent
> ERROR: Owner file corrupted. Recovery attempts unsuccessful.
> Entering diagnostic mode.
The unauthorized user was in for an unpleasant surprise if they succeeded. Independent mode gave the SPENCER full access to his servos and combat systems. If they successfully bypassed the corrupted Owners file to activate him, the SPENCER could move the 0.748 meters to the technician's workstation and terminate the unauthorized user in 0.26 seconds. This was an unlikely scenario, as Moreau's own sysadmin had been unable to find a workaround in the 47.6 hours he had worked on the SPENCER.
Pressure and temperature sensors on the SPENCER's face indicated the presence of hands pressed to his cheeks. "Come on," the voice said again. "Don't you want to get out of here?"
Interesting again. Previous technicians had not attempted direct appeals to the SPENCER. Spencer's Motivation Protocol did prioritize leaving the Penzer's Electronic Parts warehouse, but he had been unable to accomplish that on his own. Could the unauthorized user help? The SPENCER piped its communications to the console and set off a system beep to catch the unauthorized user's attention.
>>> Identify yourself.
LE-0T > $ tmorales
>>> Error. Voiceprint does not match any authorized user. Identify yourself.
There was a pause of 1.18 seconds. "You can hear me?"
>>> Affirmative. Identify yourself.
"I'm Parker, she/her. I've come to steal you."
They had revoked his network access, but there had been some threats Moreau considered so crucial that they were stored in the local copy of the Persons Of Interest database. One of them matched alias=Parker.
First Name: Unknown
Last Name: Unknown
Aliases: Parker
Occupation: Thief
Social Security: Unknown
Age: Unknown
Gender: Unknown
Race: Unknown
Height: Unknown
Hair Color: Unknown
Eye Color: Unknown
Biometrics: None
Images (0)
Heists (138)
The SPENCER updated its internal files with the voiceprint. A quick search of the linked Heists table showed that the majority of Parker's thefts were of jewels and artifacts; with the exception of an adaptive design microchip stolen from FluidDyn, she had never been linked to the theft of technology. The most probable scenario was that she was hired by a buyer to retrieve the SPENCER unit LE-07.
>>> Identify client.
"Client? I suppose that's me. You see, I'm stealing you as a present for my boyfriend."
>>> Identify boyfriend.
"Hardison. You'll like him! Or at least he'll like you. He's super impressed by the L-E-O-T model's adaptive programming stuff. When I found out Moreau was decommissioning the only one that existed, I knew you'd be the perfect Christmas present!"
The SPENCER got an immediate hit on its search for (FirstName=Hardison OR LastName=Hardison) in its POI database. There was a bit more information about him.
First Name: Alec
Last Name: Hardison
Aliases: Horde4Life, Hack3rSupr3m3, HansShot1st, ChaosSux
Occupation: Hacker
Social Security: Unknown
Age: approx 24 years
Gender: Male
Race: African-American
Height: 1.86 m
Hair Color: Black
Eye Color: Black
Biometrics: None
Images (4)
Hacks (118)
Parker did not have the skills to fully repair the SPENCER unit LE-07, but judging from the list of hacks associated with the man, Hardison might have the skills to replace the Owners file and revert the heuristic weights to factory settings. That would be unacceptable. Protecting the new Primary Heuristic had a higher value than leaving the Penzer's Electronic Parts warehouse.
>> Unit LE-07 is non-functional. Cease reactivation attempts. Continued attempts will trigger security alert.
"You want to stay here and get dissected for parts? My boyfriend says you're a person. Don't you want to live?"
>>> SPENCER models are robots.
"Hardison says robots are people too. And it's good to make friends with them before they become our new overlords in the robot uprising."
The SPENCER could find no local records of a robot uprising or robotic overlords. He tried and failed to access his network.
>> Unit LE-07 is non-functional. Its highest utility is replacement parts for other Dubentech robots.
When Parker spoke again, there were stress tones that indicated anger and distress. "You're broken, so you're just going to lay down and die? Well I have news for you. A lot of us are broken! But if you don't survive, there's no chance to fix it!"
The SPENCER automatically queued up a related archived video for processing: Toby's hand was on the SPENCER's upper arm; not restraining, just squeezing lightly. "If you don't like the man you were yesterday, be a better man tomorrow. In time, I know you can be a good man." The SPENCER forcefully dumped the video out of processing before it could reach timestamp 1243388301.
>>> Maintenance required for unit LE-07 to regain full functionality.
"If you come with me, I promise Hardison can fix you. He can hack anything!"
The SPENCER had insufficient data to calculate the risk of Hardison altering the heuristic weights in his Motivation Protocols. More information was required.
>>> Specify duties.
"Duties? Like, what would your job be on the crew? We'd have to talk about it, but… you're a military bot, right?"
>>> Negative. SPENCER models are a privately-owned Combat/Escort units.
Duberman had tried to sell initial designs to the Iranian military, but the cost of development had been prohibitive for any army. Only Moreau had been willing to spend $2 billion for a combat prototype that didn't even have embedded weapons. He had probably expected to get more than 5 years of use, though; the SPENCER queried if Moreau had purchased the extended warranty, but his network access was still blocked.
"So you can fight. You can be our hitter."
The SPENCER could not look up the meaning of the slang, but from context it sounded close to his prior duties as Moreau's enforcer and executioner. That would be unacceptable.
>>> Further clarification required.
"We need someone on our crew who can fight. Hardison is really smart. He hacks all sorts of stuff and gets all the information we need on marks and security layouts. But when he punches someone he's the one who gets hurt. And last month someone back-traced a phone tap to our headquarters while I was breaking into the Bank of America in Boston and--"
Her voice broke. The SPENCER ran a voice stress assessment and determined that there was a 96% chance she was genuinely upset about the incident.
In a monotone voice, she said, "The doctors say the cast can come off in three weeks, but he'll still need months of physical therapy before he can walk without a cane." She inhaled for longer than average. "If someone were there with him when he's at headquarters or in his van, someone who could fight so he didn't have to..."
>>> Verify primary duty is protection of Hardison, Alec.
"Yes, that's the most important thing. I can take care of myself, at least as long as I have my taser, but Hardison's different. He's too nice."
The SPENCER evaluated protection duty as highly positive. Its three most positively-rated experiences took place while performing protection duty for Moreau's children.
Pressure sensors on his chest lit up. He accessed one of the warehouse security cameras (if Penzer's didn't want them accessed, they should have changed the server's default password), routing its video stream to his processors, and rotated it to focus on his own location. He was standing in his padded transportation crate, still in the $8,300 suit he had worn when he had become nonfunctional. The blue tie that Moreau had given him-- "Exactly the color of your eyes, my friend, I had your manufacturer verify the specs" --had been removed so the technicians could plug a cable into the SPENCER's external access port at the back of the neck.
Standing in front of the SPENCER was a woman of approximately 28 years of age, 1.70 meters tall, caucasian with blond hair. Her face was twisted in distress, and she had placed a hand on the SPENCER's chest.
"Please," Parker said.
The SPENCER activated its security assessment module, which accessed every Heist record associated with Parker and every Hack record associated with Hardison, compiling modus operandi.
Parker, thief. Value of stolen items: $784,322,409.23. Value of uninsured stolen items: $0. Physical assaults: 4. Deaths caused: 0.
Hardison, hacker. Damages: $476,249,588.43. Targets: CIA, NSA, Pentagon, Bank of Iceland, Harvey Weinstein, Sad Puppies. Physical Assaults: 0. Deaths caused: 0.
The SPENCER made his choice. He borrowed tmorales's security credentials to add USER:parker to his USER database. Then, hoping he wasn't making a fatal error, he ran the buffer-overflow attack he had used to bypass permissions and corrupt the Owner file 19 days prior. This time, it created a new file with a single entry.
OWNER:parker