Musing the Calliope

[Yoshida]

Jonas wiped his nose. The wet metallic cargo pod he was sitting within had been cleaned up but it was still an unpleasant and drudging experience. He could make out dreadful scratches on the walls which he tried to avoid looking at. Instead, the marks on the floor were distinctly different, the familiar result of metal pushed against metal. Jonas assumed this was caused by chains which used to hold the valuable "cargo" in place.

Four hours later the Maltese slave ship arrived to its destination. Jonas did not know where he was or how he got there, only that he was in a station called Corsica in the restricted Omicron Phi system. Carrying a suitcase in one hand and his hat in the other he followed the maskers without talking. Every Maltese of his entourage was carrying pins on their chest with the Contari familia heraldry which Jonas noticed that gave them an air of authority.

Corsica appeared to be a massive station. The hangar they were within could easily fit even the biggest ship of the Lane Hackers and based on the infoscreens they were in the 7th terminal, meaning there were at least six more terminals in Corsica, Jonas thought.

The Calliope was a super-luxurious Gallic Liner. It was held separately from the other ships under heavy Contari security. After another checkpoint, the group headed into Calliope's Command Center...

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Jonas checked the time. Fifty hours had passed since he arrived and had only made minuscule progress. Being one of Professor Yoshida's handpicked specialists, Jonas was one of the few experts in Gallic encryption yet the complexity of the FN4 system was nothing like he had ever seen. He sighed and stood up for a walk in order to clear his mind. At this hour most of the maskers were sleeping and the security had toned down a lot since the first day. His first destination was Charlotte's Royal Quarters. Despite visiting it four times already the extravagance and style of the chambers always drew the Hacker back in there to ease his mind and have a moment of rest.

"Where are you Charlotte?" Jonas murmured while aimlessly examining a golden comb. He closed his eyes and felt immense exhaustion, his mind demanding immediate rest. Instinctively he reached out to his pocket, picked out a tiny vial containing an orange liquid and emptied it all in his mouth. Just a few moments later Jonas felt his pulse rising, his mind no longer feeling numb. Then he finally opened his eyes and scanned Charlotte's private room. "How do I break the system?" he murmured referring to the Gallic Royal encryption, also known as FN4, which Calliope's Command Center was equipped with. "If only I had to break into a regular Gallic system." he said more loudly while his eyes focused on some photographs on the other side of the room. It was a random sort with Charlotte's family members and friends. But one in particular captured his interest and provided him with an important missing detail. His eyes flashed in excitement.

"Captain, I didn't know you were friends with Charlotte DeFrance." Jonas said with a smirk and dropped the photograph. Then he quickly turned around and started moving towards the Captain's suite, where he would hack into the Captain's logs, conveniently not encrypted with FN4. Jonas was in a hurry, his cardamine rush wouldn't last forever, after all.

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"There are those who lack ambition. Who lack ability. But if you possess both then it is your role to reign over this world."

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