IoT: Yakuza Customer Experience
“Doug, we will be following close to the standard NSA TAO approach: reconnaissance, incursion and exploit, tool installation, lateral server transitions, and, hopefully, collection and ex-filtration of data. Our field agent, once the rescue is made, will find the server closet and install the cracker tools. He will trail a small, self-adhesive communications fiber as he explores. Following up on Kiko-Lyn’s communications postings on the web, we have traced out and contracted Dongjing, a Hong Kong investigative journalist who posts under “Dawn”. Dawn was the last friendly to see Kiko-Lyn. She will be providing local expertise.”
Using an auto-drive rental car rented by Jorge, Dawn picks up Ninan from an alley off the parade route outside Hong Kong town center. Ninan emerges from hiding behind a man-sized collection of colorful bags set behind the wall pipes in the alley. Dawn is struck by what looks like a Chinese demon. If she had control of the car, she likely would have driven away. But he enters and she gives the destination of the office building she supplied to Kiko-Lyn. Much later, she is dropped off a kilometer from the destination at a tea house. Her job is to provide local intelligence commentary on the video feed from Ninan. Ninan exits the car behind a warehouse in the same block as the office where Kiko-Lyn disappeared. Dawn has indicated her research found that all the buildings on the block are owned by International Widget. As this is the only building where she has never observed activity of people coming and going, it is judged the most likely to contain hidden workings.
Climbing to the roof, Ninan is beset by a drone firing darts. These implant in his side but are stopped by his embedded armor. He anchors to the wall and swings out a telescoping staff which he focuses on the incoming drone. Jorge explains to the watchers in the Operations Center, “That is a Directed Stick Radiator, DSR, which emits a remote focused sonic explosion.” With a loud bang the drone snaps back and falls out of the air. Reaching the roof, Ninan sets up a phased array com bridge and aims it toward the coast. Jorge continues, “He is using the millimeter band to connect to a Google mid-level atmospheric drone on horizon beyond the 200 mile exclusion zone.” Ninan has brought this portable com station from the ship arsenal and proceeds to arm the built-in anti-drone remote control weapon and turns control over to a remote gunner at Jorge’s operations center.
Ninan proceeds to a skylight and kicks it in. Attaching a line, he repels down into the warehouse. As Ninan begins his drop, he sees the auto weapon take out another drone that was diving for him.
Jorge thinks, Begin Act Two, Firefight at International Widget.
As Ninan swings down the cable, spinning, an old house, alone in the middle of the warehouse floor, briefly comes into view. Everyone is confused. Dawn’s voice comes over the communication. “That is an old British colonial mansion. There was dredging and development that changed the coast, so they relocated an old village. That village is now a local museum. This house inside a warehouse must have been ported and relocated during urban development. Apparently it was reassembled inside this warehouse. Checking local records… Found it now. An old newspaper feature says it is yet to be restored but will eventually be given back to the town.”
Ninan lands and heads up to the main entrance. The entrance hall is unrestored with tools and paint cans littering the room. But there is a traffic path in the debris that leads to a closed set of inner double doors. Ninan uses a sledge he finds to break them open. Behind these doors, amid 19th Century grandeur, the inner house is fully updated as a local living area and lab.
Ninan comes under fire from a ceiling emplaced low velocity auto cannon. His armor saves him from injury but he is knocked back through the entrance. The cannon fire stops and a guard rushes around the doors. Ninan roles behind a work cart and pulls out a metal storm Taser. He fires a flechette burst into the guard who goes down. Ninan strips him of coms, crushes his gun and secures him with zip ties. He slaps a remote scope on the metal storm tube and uses his cyborg hand to push it around the door. Bracing himself against the impact of slugs, he triggers a super capacitance burst at the gun’s electronics. The gun is silenced and Ninan discards the spent tube. As he passes the door, his video feed erupts into static at the Operations Center. The auto gun has cut the com cable he was deploying. Jorge texts him, They’re jamming the network feeds. You’re on your own.
Using the signal locator and decryption algorithm Doug Bear reverse engineered from Toby’s robotic harness, Ninan finds the signal for the Kiko-Lyn’s drones, which he follows, seeking the girl. The dragonflies are using the IoT low baud data house band, mimicking damaged environmental sensors and security cameras. He monitors one being pinged to return an image via NB-IoT LPWA with a low baud transmission. Clever. He waves to the drone, points to himself, and mouths Rescue. Ninan collects the drones as he passes them.
Ninan finds the cabinet of curiosities room. Resourceful young woman, he thinks. A hi-res 3D scanner embedded in Ninan’s arm records the trophy room in minute detail. The scanner combines stereo cameras and photometric imaging that he ordinarily uses to quickly produce 3D models. He broadcasts a simple text; all he can push through the signal jamming. Rescue from harm not needed. Subject is doing active surveillance. She seems to have escaped confinement on her own. Continuing search and extraction.
The coded signal finder shows her just ahead, but Ninan at first does not see her. He broadcasts Rachael’s personal authentication code for Kiko-Lyn. Then a movement resolves her from the background. Ninan slides up to her, flips up his face shield and whispers, “Jorge and Rachael sent me.”
Kiko-Lyn looks him over and responds, “So, me Jane, you Frankenstein’s monster?”
