31 Talking to the Deputy Director
"Thank you, Teddy, I can see that," Fort rubbed his forehead before forcing a smile at his assistant.
Teddy registered the words which Noble had spoken a moment before. "Wait, is this your wife? I mean she looks just like the picture on your desk, but I was afraid to make things awkward."
"Teddy, this is Noble. My love, this is Teddy, my assistant." Fort took a deep breath. Clearly, he didn't want the assistant to know what was going on. He hadn't even informed her of Noble's impending arrival.
"I have heard wonderful things about you, Teddy," Noble said honestly. "Thank you for making my husband's life easier."
"Are you kidding? He makes my life easier. I didn't even have to call him to tell him you were here!" Teddy grinned.
"I am not accepting any visitors while my wife is here. Everyone else can wait."
"Right-o boss man. I'll just be here in this almost-perfect chair if you need anything at all. I am sure you have many important things to discuss." Teddy winked at Noble as she spun her chopsticks in a circle knowingly.
Fort stepped aside and allowed his wife to enter the room first.
"Teddy seems very nice. I really like her," Noble commented as her husband closed the door.
"She is and she has grown on me." Fort agreed as he shut the door.
He had a spacious office with a table for eight off to one side and a large screen taking up an entire wall. While it could have been used for presentations during meetings, right now it was projecting an image of an idyllic beach, free of Nightmare Creatures. The white sand and teal water looked like paradise.
Noble gave the scene a longing look. "Beautiful…"
"Yes, you are," Fort said without a hint of irony, "but that isn't why I asked you to come."
The professor flushed both at the compliment and the reproach. "I suppose playing innocent will not earn me any points, then."
"You and I both know it wouldn't." Fort took a seat behind his synthetic wood desk and motioned for the professor to take the seat opposite him.
"I promise it was an accident," Noble started.
The handsome man across from her held up his hand. "I should hope so! But we have to do this the right way." Clearing his throat, the deputy director took on a professional tone. After turning on the security measures of his office and starting a recording device, he interlaced his fingers in front of him on the desk. "Awakened Noble, are you aware your android accessed the government database and gained access to classified information?"
Noble bristled at the comment. She glanced down at the recorder before answering in the same no-nonsense tone. "If you are referring to Bee Two, your statement is inaccurate. It was made quite clear that Bee Two is a creation of the government on loan to me for research. She has never been mine."
Fort nodded the concession. "Were you aware that Bee Two accessed classified information?"
Noble thought carefully before answering. "I have not looked at any other information Bee Two collected today, classified or not. I am not sure that I would know the difference. I was aware that Bee Two had access to certain files, but I have no control over that part of the programming."
"So you were not intending to flood the government servers with millions of requests, making them think that the entire infrastructure of the NQSC was under a virtual attack?" Fort tilted his head, indicating this was the most important question he was going to ask.
"Excuse me, but what?" Noble's mouth hung open.
The deputy director straightened his shoulders. "Our entire complex went into lockdown until we discovered the source of the massive data hole. How did it even happen?"
The professor hung her head. "I was trying to conduct a simple search and got distracted by …things in my personal life. I gave unclear instructions about how much information I wanted and when I wanted it, leading Two Bee to become overzealous and ignore my previous directives. Nothing like this has ever happened before, so I did not know to anticipate it. I would never intentionally cause the hard-working members of the government any trouble. As soon as I get back to my office, I will wipe the information that the AI gathered today. An incident like this will not happen again."
The whole situation was not one Noble ever wanted to experience, let alone a second time.
"You are sure no one has seen the information which Two Bee gathered?" The deputy director started steadily at the woman before him.
"I am certain that no one has seen it. I had only become aware of the problem a moment before you contacted me when I got the notice that Bee Two's access had been revoked." Noble was very glad she could be honest on that point.
The government agent nodded.
"I think that answers all of my questions. We appreciate your cooperation. We will be sending someone presently to wipe the information and adjust Bee Two's parameters. We will also be limiting your…the government's android's access from our end. We will be following up, but for now, I think that is all I need for the initial report. If you have no other questions…" Fort turned off the recorder when the brunette gave a negative gesture.
"Are we off the record now?" Noble asked.
"Yes." Fort also seemed relieved, "But I am sure you will be called in for one other inquiry. Probably no more than that."
"Just one? Based on what you just said, I am shocked I was not taken into custody by a government Master before I even left my classroom. Unless you stopped that from happening?" Noble saw her husband shake his head.
"While I did request the case as soon as I found out Bee Two was involved, I have done everything by the book and above board. Fortunately for you, it is others who wish to keep this incident from becoming public." Fort raised his eyebrows at her. "Most people think the lockdown today was just a drill."
Noble's eyes swirled. It was all beginning to make sense. A leak as massive as Fort insinuated would shake people's confidence in the government. The fewer people that knew about her mistake, the better it would be for everyone.
That, at least, was a relief.
"What happens now?" The professor settled a little bit more in her chair. Now that the recorder was off, Noble felt like she was talking to her husband again and not a powerful government officer.
"The technician will be able to confirm that no one accessed the information. He is probably already at the Academy. Once we know that, then this becomes a case of a piece of malfunctioning government equipment, which is much less paperwork. You'll be called in for the formal investigation, but do not worry about that too much. I can already tell you they will just want to know the circumstances surrounding the incident like what you said that caused the abnormal AI behavior so they can avoid a similar problem in the future."
"I see." Noble tucked her hair behind her ear.
"It will be fine," Fort's face softened. "You still look worried, you weren't trying to do research for Catphine's Memory were you?"
"No. What I was looking for had nothing to do with a Memory. My research was in quite a different area." The professor would not meet her husband's gaze.
"Oh?" Fort lifted a datapad and began clicking to open the information collected on the case. "Hm, what you wanted included a massive batch of very recent files. They hadn't been classified properly yet, which is most likely how Bee Two was able to get them in the deluge of requests. That is not your fault and a definite mark in your favor, my love. Don't worry, the information is now locked such that only those with the highest security clearance can see it. We are very lucky you didn't view the files' contents."
"Yeah, so lucky." The professor shifted uncomfortably in her seat.
Fort looked over the datapad at his wife's pained expression. "You don't sound convinced. What would you want to know so badly that it might actually be worth prison time to discover?"
"I didn't say it was worth going to jail." Noble hesitated. She ran the hem of her skirt between her fingertips. "But if it was indeed worthy of receiving jail time, then the information must be worth knowing…"
Rather than interrogate his wife further, Fort clicked on the first document. The datapad scanned his face before revealing the contents of the file.
His eyes widened. "What were you researching?!"
Noble looked up at her husband. Her eyes stopped swirling, freezing in a state that resembled snow. "By the intensity of your emotion, you already know."
Fort's own eyes stared steadily at the screen. "This is bad…very bad."
