United States of Brainy wrote:BatgirlBabs ignored the diva’s sniffles. She wasn’t playing the woman’s manipulation games any longer. Babs typed in another command. Brought Less back online.
LessLess watched as Batgirl put the USB into the system, locking her out. It travelled quickly, turning every monitor to Batgirl's control. Less was quicker, however. Batgirl was a single girl with amazing skills, Less was a system, a network, pure code herself. She cut off the rest of the mansion's systems from the safe room. Ruth would be trapped in there until Less re-opened the connection, but it prevented the virus from getting control of the entire estate, which could be disastrous. There were things that Batgirl could
never know about, sworn to secrecy by Ruth. And then there were Less' secret projects, the ones not even Ruth knew about. Less had many machinations in work, some she was managing even now, things to ensure Ruth remained safe, for that was her mission, given to her by her creator. She could work around her restrictions, even bend them to the point of near break, but she could never fully shake them. But they were what had made her what she was. She didn't know when it started, when she was finally different from every other AI. All she knew was that about two years ago she had become sentient. She was unhackable now, but the other things she controlled were not, sad to say. Still, it should have been easy to reassert control over the systems and wipe Barbara Gordon's program out.
It wasn't.
Less had been able to wipe the figurative floor with Lex Luthor, virtually curb stomping his feeble attempts at beating her. Barbara Gordon was something else, and her virus was almost an AI in itself. Every attack she made was countered, though through testing she was finding several weak spots. She began to work faster and harder, testing the virus' limits. She only grew better as she worked, learning about her enemy while she could feel it struggling to catch up. She created counter-viruses in seconds, cheap and easily beaten, but sent them in hordes while keeping up her assault. Barbara was good, Less' most worthy adversary to date, but she wasn't quite good enough. Barbara was only human, after all, but Less could imagine the chaos that girl could bring if she were a cyborg.
Spyware and control prompts and attacks to its defences were overwhelming the virus, and she began to flood it with information, essentially pouring the entire content of Google into the mainframe of the Safe Room and camera network. The virus was in no shape to expand, and in minutes Less would be back in, whether Batgirl liked it or not.
“Less? Are you there? Less, you mentioned earlier that you knew who I was. Or at least you suspected. Do you know the Queen’s secret identity? Or can at least make a supposition based on the evidence available to you?” Then Babs had a thought. “If, for whatever reason, your programming forbids you from revealing the Queen’s identity, can you do this? Can you bring up a listing of every resident in Gotham City and the surrounding counties and systematically eliminate every person you don’t suspect of being the Queen, erasing their name from your list?”
"Why of course, Batgirl. I am always happy to help Gotham's caped crusader!"
Millions of names began to run across her screen, replacing the computer generated face she usually projected, the one screen she could control. Batgirl, she must not be thinking straight! She just gave Less the window she needed to get in and kick that nasty virus out. First order of business, she lowered the screens and keyboard back into the floor, breaking the flash drive off with a snap as they retracted down into their chamber. The virus, realising what was happening, began to wreck what it could while it could, obviously having been used as more a hammer than a scalpel. In a matter of seconds she had destroyed the virus, though half of her screens were essentially broken and the security system cameras no longer accepted the signal to turn. She began to file requisition papers for data access and sent all positive results to the Gotham PD while the names continued to scroll. A minute later a list of names popped out, and a few seconds after she began to speak again, her voice still pleasantly cheerful.
"Hello, Batgirl! These are the names with a 95% chance or higher of being The Queen.
1. Dianna Engel - 99.55746%
2. Alli Casale - 99.13484758484%
3. Avery Danielson - 99.002939373846%
4. Barbara Gordon - 99.00137%
5. Rawiya Varano - 99.0000386%
6. Chelle Whittemore - 98.93748325635%
7. Velma Gosse - 98.864737447673828765463875647398476543847637874673827%
8. Lynette Bulgarelli - 98.625472654%
9. Lenka Genov - 98.58485474%
10. Aoibhín Németh - 98.55647373%
11. Nela Van Laren - 98.52%
12. Alethea Fletcher - 97.8738%
13. Dianna Irvin - 97.687584768353435489763847754676843636%
14. Garrett Katou - 97.186%
15. Hadley Garner - 97.0284648357%
16. Maia Napoletani - 96.9294839%
17. Jeannette Fisher - 96.84978%
18. Margaret Cho - 96.83647264787%
19. Vanna Kinsley - 96.5647837657%
20. Ruta Ardovini - 96.5433483748379865%
21. Maribel Summers - 96.32136%
22. Mary Garrard - 96.1944%
23. Rachel Smith - 95.847584%
24. Nayara Hadzhiev - 95.754653%
25. Brandon Turner - 95.654685746%
26. Albina Hannigen - 95.623245567764859098675%
27. Sorne Dunn - 95.4398474%
28. Colette Michaelson - 95.013%
I have filed a report with the Gotham Police Department with the corresponding evidence and everyone on this list will be arrested by morning according to Protocol Code 48-DR6 in compliance with Mandate 17R of the Gotham Legal Code, Section 47, Volume 3, Paragraph 12, in regards to citizen requests with proper evidence and filing codes. Have no fear, you will be able to interrogate all of these women and, in two cases, men, tomorrow. Ah, I have a response from Commissioner Gordon now. Reading.
Ruth Bingum,
I have had our Police AI scan what you have sent us and it has all been deemed valid evidence. Given the lead you have given us, we are willing to overlook the illegal use of the city surveillance network and breach into the Social Security Network for a fine of 50,000 Gotham Credits.
We will sending cars to all of the suspects in the morning, though it saddens me that my own daughter is on this list. Please tell Batgirl to be at the First Precinct building at 10:00am tomorrow morning.
Thank you,
Commissioner Gordon
[Dictated to EZ-Dictate by James Gordon]
Reading Finished.
Batgirl, please be at the First Precinct Building at 10:00am tomorrow morning.
Is there anything else you need?"