>LOG: FP — Malware Scan (Behavioral Log) (Cont.)

PT_LSGS: [a sigh] Seventy-five percent. The scan is running slowly right now, but that is to be expected under the circumstances.

DL_SBCS: It is not indicating any detected malware...

PT_LSGS: No. Only more mystery files.
PT_LSGS: Most of them are too organic to clearly identify, so there may be some false positives, but a number of them claim to be system core memory files.

DL_SBCS: ... that... could account for...

PT_LSGS: If a tainted memory file found its way into the conflux and was accepted as legitimate... it could significantly interfere with the iterator's perception of reality.
PT_LSGS: Of course, this would most likely be a symptom of the malware, not the source — there are too many safeguards against foreign core memories being spontaneously inserted into the system, so it would need the means to bypass that first...
PT_LSGS: Since network records seem clean so far, though, we cannot rule out a physical incursion.
PT_LSGS: Or perhaps even a pearl, or some other unsecured source...?

FP: ... pearl?
FP: I...
FP: No... don't... don't take...

PT_LSGS: Ah. He is awake once more.
PT_LSGS: Do not worry, iterator. You do not need to answer any questions here — your logs will suffice for now.

FP: Where...
FP: ... where is it?

PT_LSGS: Hm?

FP: The... pearl...
FP: ... where... ?
FP: No... no, no... give... back!

AT_CESNB: Shhh. Iterator, your pearls are all still here.
AT_CESNB: I can't let you access them right now, but they are here. See?

[Sound of fumbling, clinking, presumed to be Cairn of Eight Stones-Nine Branches picking up a pearl. Soft pre-recorded music is heard.]

AT_CESNB: Oh! I didn't realize this one contained a sound module. We really should have moved these out earlier...
AT_CESNB: ... iterator?
AT_CESNB: ... Five Pebbles?

FP: Th...
FP: ... thank you.

AT_CESNB: ... you are welcome?

[Dialogue lapses, about 70 seconds. Music continues. Soft, off-key humming, identified as Five Pebbles, follows melody.]

PT_LSGS: You do not need to keep that running.

AT_ARCCD: It soothes him. Unless it poses a security risk, we can survive a few hymns, can't we?

AT_CESNB: I am the one running it, not him, so it shouldn't be an issue.
AT_CESNB: And besides, if it did contain anything malicious, the vulture is a bit out of the cage by now, I think.

PT_LSGS: ...

AT_CESNB: ... I'll change out my reader when we finish, just in case.
AT_CESNB: It's not networked, anyway.

PT_LSGS: Fine. But see that you do, and check over your logs. If there is anything unusual, you will report it.

AT_CESNB: Yes, of course.

[Dialogue lapses, resumes at timestamp 032.49. Music continues on loop during this time.]

AT_ARCCD: Really? Ninety-nine percent and nothing detected...?

PT_LSGS: One supposes there is always the final percent...
PT_LSGS: ... or not. Hm.

DL_SBCS: What are your conclusions, then?

PT_LSGS: So far?
PT_LSGS: We have no positives for malware, but there are thousands of files now flagged, including those claiming to be core memories and system data.
PT_LSGS: These files do not show signs of self-replication or other problem behaviors — most were flagged for corruption, malformed metadata, and other inconsistencies.
PT_LSGS: That, at least, is comprehensible to some extent. I have little doubt these are related to the issue at hand, although it may take a while to actually sort through them all for further answers.
PT_LSGS: With regards to viral contamination — there is no sign of network activity consistent with an attempt at mass transmission or signaling home, at least, and no signs of any suspicious or obfuscated data in the messages sent during our iterator's breach of security.
PT_LSGS: Based on this, the likelihood of the broadcast network being used as an infection vector seems low, at least, if still theoretically possible.
PT_LSGS: Of course, a microbiological vector cannot be ruled out until the results of the antibody tests are available.
PT_LSGS: Speaking of which... Cairn of Eight Stones?

AT_CESNB: ... huh?
AT_CESNB: Oh! Yes.
AT_CESNB: The initial analysis shows low levels of recently produced antibodies for a common vector virus, but no virus was found in situ or in rapid culturation.
AT_CESNB: Unfortunately, without knowing the exact strain, there's no way to tell if the antibodies were for our potential attacker, or just some processing cells being preyed on by feral microfauna.
AT_CESNB: Immune cell counts look normal, though, and immune response doesn't appear to have been delayed or impaired.
AT_CESNB: This suggests that if there was a biological vector, it went mostly undetected, using a standard viral envelope to muddy the trail. The envelope alone wouldn't be enough, of course, but if the attacker was able to steal a protein key, maybe...

AT_ARCCD: Let us— let us not borrow that worry just yet.

PT_LSGS: It will be taken into account, though.

DL_SBCS: And the bridge incident?

PT_LSGS: I do not have answers for that at this time.
PT_LSGS: It actually makes less sense when given the logs as context.
PT_LSGS: The means of access involved administrative-level access keys which Five Pebbles should not have even had knowledge of, meaning either our iterator found a security breach and failed to inform us, or our unknown attacker acquired credentials for Looks to the Moon's interstructural firewall and chose to use it exclusively for the most inane purpose possible, perhaps as some kind of diversion covering for other unknown activity.
PT_LSGS: I am almost unsure which scenario is worse.
PT_LSGS: If this was the work of a malicious program, though — and I still suspect it was — it has hidden itself and its actions rather thoroughly, and possibly to the point of self-erasure.

DL_SBCS: That... does not sound promising.

PT_LSGS: It is not. There are still many, many unknowns.
PT_LSGS: I do not like it one bit.
PT_LSGS: For now, my base recommendation for action is to copy the suspicious files to external storage for future analysis, wipe them from the system, and reboot to see if his condition improves.

DL_SBCS: And if it does not?

PT_LSGS: Then we run another scan and return to the drafting board.
PT_LSGS: Has anyone contacted the original architect yet? Evening Fog?

TA_EFSTS: Had to cut communications temporarily for security, sorry. Request was sent prior to communications breach, though, and may already be under discussion.
TA_EFSTS: Will re-synchronize once confirmed safe to reconnect.

PT_LSGS: Thank you for your efforts, at least.

[Dialogue lapses several seconds.]

PT_LSGS: You do know you can turn the music pearl off at any time, Cairn.

FP: ... please... don't...

DL_SBCS: ... you know, it has grown on me, I think.

AT_ARCCD: Repetition legitimizes, don't they say?
AT_ARCCD: So with mantras, so too with hymns?

PT_LSGS: Fine, fine. I see how it is.
PT_LSGS: I don't care for it myself, but if it keeps him calmer, I will endure it.
PT_LSGS: ... Isolating the files now.

[Music pearl continues playing for several seconds until record ends at 032.56.]