Post by Deleted on Feb 13, 2021 13:11:11 GMT -7
[ Anastasia ]
Ana checked her wristwatch, half-past nine in the morning. Interpol agents were still crawling into the office, the expressions on their faces a dead giveaway that it was Monday all over again. There wasn’t the usual noise--the buzz she was used to hearing around nine. The MACUSA agents were allowed this week of respite for an American holiday. She glanced around at the empty desks that were typically filled with familiar faces led by the mild-mannered man in cowboy boots. She couldn’t decide if she missed them or just the constant flurry of activity. It helped her feel like she was contributing to the large caseload on her desk and assigned to her department. Ana opened the bottom-most drawer of her desk and retrieved an empty folder. It matched the enchanted folders of the case files that the Department of Magical Law Enforcement handled. Even with the introduction of magical electronic systems, these enchanted folders helped the paradigm shift not give so many agents and Aurors whiplash. Purebloods such as herself were unsurprisingly confused at the small devices. Most of them acquired that could initiate verbal conversations with those at a great distance or even send messages, like an instant Owl.
Ana still wondered what was wrong with a handwritten note. However, she had embraced the device for its ability to send an instantaneous message. Unlike some Interpol agents and Aurors, she could not produce a corporeal Patronus capable of fulfilling that capability. A mark of shame upon herself and her achievements. She had been trained to fake a smile, a laugh, and even interest, but a Patronus was not something that could be fabricated--its source of magic came from within. In the empty file, she placed a small mirror. It was about the same size as her cellular device, and she kept the mirror’s twin in the bottom drawer under an actual case file. This one was for her companion today, an easy way to communicate that wasn’t traceable. She had asked why the quick message would not work, but there was concern about traceability. Ana had given her brother a look of disbelief but then shrugged and agreed to it--it was not something she understood, nor would she even begin to try. Their timeline for this project was short and didn’t have room to account for a Pureblood’s steep learning curve adapting to muggle technology.
She scoped the room once more. Nobody was paying her any mind though they tended to look away when random eye contact was made. Her reputation was helpful here. Nobody would question what she was doing or where she was going. That type of freedom was invaluable and integral to the plan’s steps within the Ministry. One might ask why she would put herself at such risk when the plan was not originally hers. Ana had sat and pondered that same thought late in her living room as she sipped a glass of wine. The answer was relatively simple. She trusted Cas. She trusted him and his agenda as it related to their shared goals. She trusted that he was not Damian and willing to use her as cannon fodder in some foolish and vain attempt at self-preservation. She trusted that he was not her brother Alek who would never have the nerve to participate without having his hand held. It was as simple as that—they both acknowledged the incredible risk she was taking and what she had to lose. However, she was not the only one taking a considerable risk—Leonardo was at risk as well. Ana knew that Leo was unaware of the connection to Ouroborus, though while others might have been uneasy about not giving him complete information—she did not see an issue.
She casually removed the file from the drawer, ensuring the contents inside did not shift a significant amount. Placing it on top of 3 other files on her desk, Ana grabbed the stack and held them to her side. Her face did not betray any of her intentions. She was merely an Interpol agent who required IT’s assistance with a malfunctioning enchantment that could have resulted from a faulty Case System entry or the enchantment on the physical file itself. Again, she didn’t try to understand how these things worked. This level of magical manipulation had its own department, and if anyone might decipher how it was done, it might be a Curse Breaker—or even a former one. She exited the Interpol offices, quickly flashing her friendliest smile at other employees that she walked past. Her offices were located on Level 2, while her co-conspirator on site was on Level 3. She walked at her usual pace, there was no need to rush with the entire day ahead of them and at least a month to prepare, and she did not want to draw any suspicion.
She waited in front of the lift until the doors opened. An Auror and an Interpol intern walked out, both of whom greeted Ana with a quick ‘Good Morning,’ and she entered behind them. Thankfully nobody followed her inside. The ride was a short one and uneventful, and while Ana wasn’t one to be nervous in these situations, she had to manage a tiny bit of paranoia. That inner need to be observant, almost as if she was in the field. She adjusted the files she was holding to her side and pulled out her cell-phone in her other hand, fiddling with the few apps she had managed to download to appear frustrated with the device. Most of Pureblood status, like herself, were still struggling, and that was if you could even convince all of them to try the adapted muggle technology. The doors opened, and she walked onto the floor and made her way to the back corner where Leo’s office was located. It was small, but as she had been told—much better than his previous posting in Human Resources. Ana didn’t know Leo personally and was operating purely on her brother’s word, not a tactic she tended to take, but Cas had been very insistent on this particular point.
The door was slightly ajar, and she could see a man hunched somewhat over a keyboard, typing away vigorously and making no note of his surroundings. So this was the former Curse Breaker, Ana found him quite unassuming. Harmless, really—he hadn’t even noted that she was standing in the doorway. Ana had done a bit of digging on Leo. She wanted to know who would be assisting in such a significant capacity. But she hadn’t managed to turn up anything even close to a significant red flag. Spanish, muggle-born, Ilvermorny graduate, early retired Curse Breaker, took a meager job in Human Resources when he left the Bank. With his background and skillset, he could have easily entered the Auror training program but had declined to do so. Then again, with what she saw in terms of his actions at the moment, it was probably best to not have someone so hyper focused in the field. "Ahem". Ana cleared her throat, and Leo seemed to be taken out of his trance as big blue eyes blinked at him for a few moments before registering that she was standing in his doorway. "Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t see you there…" His voice was quieter than most, or what she had expected from a former Curse Breaker.
"Are you Leo? I was wondering if you could help me with some of these files. They aren’t updating properly." She explained, slightly holding up the files she had in one hand and using a friendly tone. If Cas had been present, he might have rolled his eyes at the friendly and sheepish tone she had chosen to adopt for the moment. Appearances were important, and she’d certainly been trained to handle that. Leo nodded his head, stood up, and gestured to the chair in front of his desk. "Yes--uh--please have a seat." Ana walked in and sat down while he made space on the desk to set down her files. He removed a handful of cell phones in various states and some of the larger devices that some employees used to view information rather than the physical files. When there was room on the desk, she placed the 4 files on top—neatly stacked. Leo sat down, his posture much better now that he had company, she supposed. "Um—I don’t think I caught your name?" Leo asked, and Ana looked at him, tilting her head a bit and pausing before she answered. "Ana. Ana Karkaroff."She spoke simply, and Leo’s expression changed to a serious one. He understood now, and he nodded slowly. "...Nice to finally meet you Ana." Leo responded, glancing at the files—they were obviously fine.
"Shall we get started? Muffliato."
[ Leo ]
Leo leaned back in his chair, the base making a slow creaking noise in the process. While the servers, cell phones, laptops, and tech were new, the office equipment certainly was not. With his hands interlaced and neatly in his lap, he stared at the corner of his office in deep thought. His conversation with Cas had been but two days previously, and he had spent about twenty-four hours going over details in his mind of what he was being asked and, more importantly, why. Without the magical technology, his mentor’s old project might have needed less intervention, but it was now a volatile and unknown variable to many still. Leo had grown up with this technology, or at least the no-maj version. When he wasn’t in school, he was tinkering, learning code, learning how networking worked, how did it all tie together? Hacking. He had begun small. A lot of hacking was merely social manipulation, phishing for information. What was your mother’s maiden name? Your childhood pet? What year were you born? The combination of these values made it easy to crack simple passwords and gain access to information. Sometimes, one got lucky and found the user with the password that was literally ‘abcde.12345’.
He thought through the current Ministry systems. A central database was located on the other side of this floor with specific access limitations. Leo and one other IT employee had access. Without this server, the systems would have nothing to restore backups from if the application servers crashed. No backups, just nothing. There were enchantments placed so that only authorized users could use the terminals and login, also enchantments that kept the room at a specific temperature as the processors created a lot of heat. Backups of the application database servers were taken at frequent intervals, and Leo often installed regular updates in the room. The applications themselves ran on separate servers. The need to separate the front end from the back end was for security and robustness, really. The firmware on the servers needed updates. The BIOS required updates, and so did the operating system. Thankfully, Leo had talked them into using a Linux based system—he found that the other options were limited and clunky to use. There had been at least one incident this month where the server that handled the Time Cards had needed a reboot and caused a bit of a flurry within the Ministry—he could only imagine the panic if the server that housed the Case Files application crashed. The last thing he wanted was fifty Aurors marching into his office, wondering why their enchanted folders were now blank.
In his mind, it was all so simple. The entirety of the Ministry operated on an intranet, so if an Interpol Agent or even the Minister of Magic himself attempted to access the Time Card system or try to submit an expense report from their personal laptop, they would not be able to. They had to be connected to the intranet by either being on-site at the Ministry or using a VPN (Virtual Private Network). VPN’s were like access tunnels for employees and operated using standard encryption methods for network connections. The other option was to take the enchanted files on one’s person when in the field. It was far less secure and incredibly prone to human error. As far as he knew, there were no existing implementations of RSA encryption methods on files themselves, and that was more mathematical than it was magical. Leo crossed one arm across his chest, and his other hand went to his chin while he continued to think through it all—just as he regularly did. If anyone were to ask Leo, he would say something that mimicked blockchain might be best, a mathematically secure ledger of records that was inherently safe from modification. The elimination of a central server or trusted authority, and while it seemed too good to be true, it wasn’t. That was the beauty of it.
Still, he felt better now that all the systems were more or less moved to technical implementations. The first system that was up and running was the Employee File system that Human Resources used. His old department. Long gone was the need for mountains of scrolls and an outdated enchanted filing system. Trying to find the single one with some random bullet point of information you needed to reference. Electronically everything could be queried, could be sorted, and reports were easy to create. Where magic came into play was speed. Data entry was fast (via magic), and so was the processing speed. Leo couldn’t remember the last time he felt his eyes light up like it was Christmas until he saw the system spit out a list of every single employee that had applied to the Ministry over the past century and with such speed. Of course, this system was integral to the Ministry’s operation and why it had been the first to be spun up. This system integrated with the rest of the systems, so in a way, it was the foundation of it all aside from the magical tech hardware itself. Leo had been able to assist in a small amount. He was just some Human Resources employee, after all. Still, he familiarized himself with the Charms and Transfiguration that had to be done so the boards wouldn’t short out in the presence of so much magic.
The Cases and Evidence logs were moved to electronic systems next. However, the physical files were kept around for convenience. It reminded Leo of the tablets that existed in the no-maj world. Portable and modifiable right in your hands if one did not choose to log into their laptop or computer. They were enchanted to be linked with the internal databases. Some of the old-timers and pure-bloods preferred to feel the old files’ worn backs in their hands and the parchment at their fingers. Leo supposed there was a novelty to it. The Evidence system was obviously integrated with the cases but kept track of which Cases evidence was logged under and essential things such as chain of custody. They were able to keep track of items checked in and out. It was similar to the old system that worked off enchantments mainly, but Leo felt more comfortable with the digital trail. These were the systems he had thought about carefully regarding what was asked by him from the Karkaroff siblings. Ideas had come into his mind rather quickly. Leo knew the systems inside and out as he was tasked with his current position, and with his knack for technology, it hadn’t been that difficult. Bash was still bash in any Linux based terminal.
Then, of course, the smaller internal applications, Ministry employees, had expense reports to reimburse the cost of lodging and other things and time clock tracking for the interns and some other hourly employees. But he wasn’t so worried about these for this particular task, and despite the simplicity of those applications, they only cause issues when their respective servers decided to crash.
Leo didn’t notice the presence of another individual near his desk, though when he heard someone clear their voice, his eyes immediately looked in the direction that the noise came from. He blinked a few times and saw a woman with brown hair looking at him with a curious look. Leo recognized her. She shared some features with her brother but also because he remembered processing her employee file when she had been in-training and when she had completed training also. The name had stuck out to Leo when he’d been in his previous role, first because of the infamy surrounding the Karkaroff family and second because of his history with her older brother. Her background check had come up clean, much to the surprise of some Aurors and higher-level Interpol agents. Still, almost seven years later, this was their first face to face meeting and not under the circumstances he would have ever imagined. "Are you Leo? I was wondering if you could help me with some of these files. They aren’t updating properly." Leo nodded. ’Here we go.’ He thought to himself, this heist was real after all.
[ Leo & Anastasia ]
Ana cast the charm that would give Leo and herself the privacy to finally have a discussion. Leo wasn’t surprised to see the younger Karkaroff, but he was a bit more surprised at how soon. It had been less than a week since his conversation with Cas and his recruitment into his little plot. The magical dampener was not safe within the walls of the Ministry of Magic. Cas knew it, Ana knew it, and Leo would have to admit that he did as well. Leo looked at Ana, waiting on her next move—this was her conversation now. "I assume I don’t have to go into the details of what needs to be done. My brother should have taken care of that." Leo nodded in agreement, and Ana gave a quick smile in response. "Good." Ana took the file on top of the stack she had brought with her and opened it to reveal a single piece of parchment with some information written on it and a small mirror. "What is the mirror for?" Leo found himself asking before he could stop himself, and Ana paused what she was doing and looked at him with only her eyes. "You have seen a two way mirror before, haven’t you?" Her tone was a bit sarcastic, and Leo quickly nodded—of course, he almost seemed to forget enchanted items like this existed when Wizards started to adopt more cell phones these days.
Leo couldn’t help but look around, scope out who was around them and what they were doing. There were not many employees on this floor, and most of the maintenance employees rarely were at their desks these days as they were fixing office equipment such as the printers and monitors that Wizards seemed to break rather easily. Ana noticed Leo’s slightly nervous disposition, and although her facial expression hardly shifted, her eyes watched him and his movements closely. "You can relax. Nobody is going to question me being down here." A Pureblood witch who had no idea how these new magical items worked? Truly a valid scenario. Nobody would look twice at them. Leo cleared his throat and sat up in his chair. It wasn’t as though he wasn’t used to participating in something highly illegal, but his playing field was not typically his workplace. "Right…" He paused, taking a swift moment to gather his thoughts and figure out where to begin. " Okay, I just need a Case number and the Evidence Item number of the….device." Ana closed the folder she had previously opened and handed it to Leo, who grabbed it. "Right…thanks."
If Leo was being entirely honest, Ana intimidated him as much as Cas did the first time they had worked together, but he always had a sense of dread and anxiety with figures such as them. People with such presence. "So, what is the plan on your end?" Ana asked. Now that the file was not in her hands, she leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms. Leo opened the file that she handed to him and glanced at the numbers. They looked like the standard numbering of the software in the applications used. Though, if this Karkaroff was anything like the older one—he wouldn’t have to worry about accuracy. Leo had a straightforward plan in mind, he’d thought it through several times and tried to see if there was a simpler way, but anything else was actually over complicating it. Really, all he had to do was manipulate the backend of these applications. The lack of technical knowledge among Magical folk was his advantage here—it was almost too easy. Case number I1407, an Interpol case. Evidence item numbers E46058 and E31426. Leo would have to check, but one of these evidence item numbers was the target item.
He closed the folder and placed it in the top left drawer of his desk. He would need these later. In the meantime, he sat up in his chair and cleared his throat, glancing around with only his eyes again—a habit of his. Ana was still staring at him uninterruptedly as if he would do something the second she blinked but he sat up straight and thought about where to begin. "What kind of case did you give me?" He asked about I1407, and Ana replied with a stoic expression. "Nothing important. Some nitwit from Belgium crossed into France and then across the Channel selling ’ Time Turners." She paused, an unamused expression across her face. "Fake, obviously but still illegal. It’s not an important case and its about a year old now." One of the ones that was handled simply or even dismissed, Leo figured, at least from what he’d seen in the many years he’d been around. Leo nodded. He didn’t need to state the obvious that a higher profile case would bring more scrutiny in terms of his plans—this worked perfectly.
"Okay." He began. The explanation was all in his head, but he wanted to find the right terminology to help Ana understand. "So, all the systems are backed by their own databases. It just holds the records that you see when you log into the Case System or Evidence System." He pointed to the large server room. Ana glanced over—her eyes looking up and down as if that would help her understand this tech. But she acknowledged. "Each of these Evidence Item numbers has a description and other details that go along with it in the database. I’m going to swap their descriptions." He paused to see if Ana understood what he was getting at. She looked away a moment to think but then nodded her head slowly. "So…as far as the ‘system’ knows, I’m simply retrieving a box of fake time turners?" Leo nodded in acknowledgment. Now they were on the same page, he could continue.
"As soon as you have the item, you can signal me—with the mirror, I guess and then I can shut down the system." Ana narrowed her eyes and looked a bit confused. "Shut down the system? Like the entire Ministry of Magic system?" It might have seemed excessive, but Leo knew it was the only way to make it seem feasible. "Yes—right—so, do you remember earlier this month when the entire system was taken down for updates?" Ana looked to be in thought as if looking through the files in her mind for a memory. Leo chose to continue. "Well, there was an email—a warning. Sometimes, the tech acts up, and I have to restart a server, and it ends up taking everything offline until I can fix it. And during that time, nobody can access any of those records." Leo watched Ana’s expression. She looked uncertain about this. "Won’t that be bringing attention to yourself?" All this meticulous planning wasn’t about to go to waste because Leo brought a huge spotlight upon himself with the system crashing. Leo shook his head ‘no’. "No, it’s my job—and crashes happen." Leo recalled the system crash that had happened earlier in the year when the systems had been newer.
Ana gave him an apprehensive look but at least looked less doubtful. "Right—ok. So, when you have the item—the system will ‘crash’. I will wait about fifteen minutes and send out an email that lets the entire Ministry of Magic know that the system is down, and I’m working on fixing it." He paused. Ana nodded, but then her expression changed. Instead of apprehension, there was curiosity. "Your accent…..Spanish?" Leo was a bit surprised. He wasn’t expecting personal questions and merely those regarding their task for that day. "Uh—y-yes. I’m from Spain. Attended school in the United States." A simple enough explanation for the slight accent he had when speaking certain words but then to explain his proficiency in English. Surely an Interpol agent of her standing had access to employee files, she could run a background on him much as he used to do when he worked in Human Resources. Leo could feel her glaring at him, reading his face with her eyes. It was unsettling, he wondered about the poor souls that sat in her interrogation rooms. Still, he kept his face as straight as he could--it was a habit from his Occlumency training, something that he was more than grateful for. It had been no small feat to get up to speed and had taken time. But now, five years later he felt solid on that front. It would be important for this job. And though her gaze was unsettling he felt strong otherwise.
"I'm no-maj--muggle born, I figured I would be better off here than back there." Leo added, a bit solemnly. Ana's gaze lowered and she nodded satisfied by the answer he had given regarding is origins, and he wondered what Cas had told her about him. Leo knew they were of pureblood origins but did not subscribe to the blood purity beliefs, perhaps that had been enough to convince her to end the interrogation. He waited a moment, wondering if she would ask more probing questions, but when she didn’t he chose to continue. "So the system will be down, I’ll have to log into the servers that have the databases for the Case and Evidence systems and reverse the changes I made—switch the descriptions back. While I’m in there I’ll make it look like the ’device’ had been checked out by the Department of Mysteries."
Nobody questioned the Department of Mysteries. Even Leo had never been in that part of the Ministry. He had a good friend that worked in that area—but while their conversations covered many topics, it never covered his actual work. They were called ‘Unspeakables’ for a reason. "The other evidence item will show as ‘disposed’ since the case is old." Criminal records were vital, especially if they ever went to trial, but Ana hadn’t brought him a spotlight case. Ana nodded and uncrossed her arms, probing her own mind for further questions. She thought of one and looked at Leo. "Does anyone keep track of your work? Isn’t there some trace of what you changed?" Leo supposed that Ana watched her interns like a hawk for their accuracy and especially integrity within that department. Leo knew how fastidious Cas could be—he felt it was safe to assume his sister was about the same. Anyone who had a bone to pick with the world regarding the infamy of their name would have to be, a single slip up was ten steps backward for every step forward. It was a very valid question, very few people in the Ministry had any kind of omnipotent or unrestricted power, and if they thought they did, they would fall very hard when something went awry.
"No, not really. But that’s why I’ll modify the logs—the history of changes." It was an easy enough change, update a file. As long as certain networking cables were physically disconnected and the charms temporarily lifted, the server could be isolated, and so could the record of any changes. Audit logs were not foolproof, whether it was the no-maj or magical world. Leo knew that from experience and also all the research he’d done via the dark web. Ana’s expression looked as though she had more questions, but Leo hoped she would not ask them. There were some aspects of his job and the technology that could not be explained simply. She leaned back in her chair, glancing around and pulling out her cell-phone. Leo wondered what she was doing, but even if people could not hear them, they had to look like they were working on something. "And after that?" She finally asked after about a full minute. Leo swallowed, his throat was dry. Even though he was an expert in this field, he still felt a bit intimidated, and also having to explain what was already ingrained in his mind was always nerve-wracking. "Then I reboot the server, and all the systems go back online." Ana nodded her head but paused as if Leo was supposed to explain further. "And that’s it."
Ana crossed her arms again and nodded her head. "Okay." She spoke simply. "My brother seems to trust you…which is good enough for me." She stood up, pocketing her cell-phone. As she turned, Leo spotted her holstered wand at her side—Cas had mentioned his sister was a duelist. Between that and her piercing glare, he knew not to cross her. She picked up the files that she’d brought with her and gave him a sincere but also terrifying smile. "Don’t let us down." While there was a smile on her face, her eyes said otherwise. Leo nodded and stood since she was leaving. Ana lifted the charm she had placed earlier for privacy. "Thank you for your help today, Leo." Her tone was friendly and office-appropriate. "You’re welcome." He spoke in his usual tone with a quick grin. With that Ana turned and walked away. Leo sat down and let out a sigh. This was happening, and all very quickly. But he thought about his previous conversation with Cas and the importance of this—looks like he had work to do.
[ 5,030 ]
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