How to Survive a Supervillain Attack

Monday, March 16: Positivity

I have no nightmares that night, but I am apprehensive throughout the bike ride to work. And my apprehensiveness means I am more jumpy and prone to curt responses that some would call angry-sounding.

Aaron certainly thinks so.

"Hey, be nice to be people, remember?" Great. My guide is making it even more socially unacceptable to feel negative emotions. I should have added, "Don't bottle up your feelings," to the list.

"Sorry. Just a little jumpy."

"Jumpy doesn't mean you have to bite my head off."

"I wasn't..." I sigh. It's no use arguing with Mr. I Know Scriptor's Rules. "Listen, I figured out how to keep electronic supers from accessing Futurescape's tech."

"Why didn't you say so earlier? We could have skipped the trip to Vocal's hideout." Aaron gives me a knowing look. "Did you hide the information, so you could see it for yourself?"

"No!" As if I wanted to go to that horrible place. "I didn't figure it out until I saw it in action. Electronica can't change what a device does, but she can repurpose it. If a device is built around protecting something form intruders, it will always protect that something from intruders. Electronica can change who is classified as an intruder, but she can't force it to stop protecting that something."

"I fail to see your point."

How he became the team leader is beyond me. "If we change that device's programming to attack anything that moves within a certain radius to protect something, there's less Electronica can do to stop it. She can maybe identify the device itself as 'something that moves' and cause it to self-destruct, but she can't protect herself if she comes into the radius."

"So... the answer is designing a device that will kill its employee and any intruders?"

"No. The answer is designing a device for a very specific purpose that can't be changed just because Electronica messes with its designations."

I can see the wheels turning in his head, trying to find fault in my logic. "What about security cameras? Can't Electronica see through them?"

I frown. "Yeah, I guess she can. But there are at least ways to prevent her from messing with the footage that gets transmitted out of it."

"How?"

I think through it as I speak. "Videos are just a bunch of pictures, right? If the camera is told to send each frame automatically after it's taken to a computer who's whole purpose is to receive and view these videos, the footage should stay intact."

"What if Electronica adds herself as a 'camera' and sends false footage to the computer?"

"She can do that, but the correct footage would be sent on top of that. Then, we could see both sets of data."

"What if Electronica overloads the computer with 'new cameras?'"

"I... don't know."

To my surprise, Aaron smiles. "It's still a good idea. Our team can spend the rest of the week working out specifics. Well done, Ruby." I feel a burst of pride for my achievement. At least something good came out of our visit to the hideout.

As Aaron's shaggy head goes behind the wall, another head pokes over the opposite wall. "Ruby? ¿Quiúbole?" I almost fall out of my chair in shock. "Sorry!" Jina exclaims. She winces as I flail my hands for balance. "I did not mean to scare you."

"It's fine. I'm not used to anyone but Aaron doing that."

"Sorry. I thought it was a normal thing."