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When you get down to basics, all cryptography, beyond the idiot code, is the obscuration of patterns by the seeming random replacement of symbols with other symbols. It could be as simple as the replacement of one word with another: ‘symbol’ for ‘Scranton’, for example. It could be the replacement of letters with numbers or symbols or other letters: ‘a’ becomes ‘16’ or ‘T’ or ‘68g#’. It could be the replacement of a word with a block of letters or numbers: ‘attack’ becomes ‘5BY8R’ and ‘retreat’ becomes ‘U7NH3’. However, many of these codes and ciphers are created by computers.
Computers use mathematical principles to create their data, since they operate in world defined by ‘1’ and ‘0’ and the combinations thereof. Everything they do has to go back to the manipulation of those two numbers, and the tool with which they are manipulated is mathematics. Unfortunately, anything created by mathematics can be re-created by mathematics.
The saving grace of cryptography through the 21st Century was simple: while the encrypting process only required one choice of mathematical scrambler, even if the exact method was known there could be nearly countless possibilities for the unauthorized decrypter to try. This led to the equivalent of nervous breakdowns in computers assigned to exactly such tasks. However, with the advent of AI’s, the balance of power started to shift.
Started, but not completely finished. Computers were designed almost from the ground up to recognize patterns. However, they cannot get the pattern from data which is incomplete, whereas humans have an innate ability to make intuitive leaps. AI’s, especially Alpha AI’s, were able to learn this ability given enough time for self-programming.
Harpocrates had sufficient time.
“Director Montana.”
Cris didn’t look up on hearing Harpo’s voice; she was far too used to his occasional intrusions. They were almost always worthwhile.
“Yes, Harpo?”
“I have a concern.”
“A concern?”
“That is correct, Director.”
Harpo had developed a sense of the dramatic over the time he’d been ‘awake’, and sometimes it was a pain in the ass. Usually she could wait him out, but something in his tone told her this would be best covered quickly.
“What did you find?”
With a hint of electronic annoyance at being called out, Harpo said, “Mr. Dent has been sending, and receiving, messages from Luna.”
Cris thought about it for a moment before shrugging. “He has family on Luna, if the Empress hasn’t wiped them out in spite.”
“Perhaps, Director, but these messages are coded.”
“Which would be sensible if he’s keeping clandestine contact with family.”
“There are other aspects to my concern, Director.”
Cris sighed. “Tell me everything, Harpo. Or drop it.”
“Mr. Dent has sent multiple messages to Luna of varying length and density. He has also made three real-time calls to Luna, specifically to a receiver within Artemis City. These have all occurred at times when he was ostensibly doing other tasks.”
“So I’ll have to talk to him about personal business on work time?”
“I have not finished, Director.”
“Sorry. Please, continue.”
“I have been unable to penetrate the security around the messages and transmissions.”
That was different. Cris didn’t think there was any system which Harpo couldn’t crack given enough time, and she said so.
“This is accurate, Director. However, even I cannot break a code without a large enough sample. Transmissions which do not go through my systems, or systems to which I have access, are similarly protected from my attention.”
“How do you know the signals were, what did you say? ‘Varying length and density’?”
“Simple observational data, Director.”
“And you suspect this is something other than keeping in touch with family.”
“Yes, Director.”
“He could be fomenting more support for the rebellion within Artemis City, using his contacts from his Ministry days.” She waited for a response before continuing. “But you don’t think that’s it, either.”
“No, Director. If he was working to further the rebellion, logically he would be using OutLook resources. He is not; ergo, he is not.”
Montana considered her options. Then she opened her ‘plant.
Colin.
Director Montana, how may I help you?
Do you have a minute?
Certainly.
My office, please.
On my way.
“I want you to listen in and analyze stress patterns in his responses, Harpo, but don’t say anything.”
“Understood.”
Dent’s office was only a short walk away and he arrived in seconds.
“You wished to see me, Director?”
“Come in, Colin. This shouldn’t take long.” She gestured to a seat and he sank into it.
“Thank you. For all the miracles the nanobots perform, standing and walking in this gravity is still a strain.”
“Colin, this won’t take long. You’ve been exchanging messages with people on Luna. Why?”
There was the briefest flash of what? Chagrin? Embarrassment? Regret? It was there and gone too quickly for Cris to pin it down before Dent answered her.
“I have, Director.”
She waited, but it seemed today was a day for incomplete answers.
“Would you like to explain, Colin?”
“Frankly, no. I recognize this puts me in a bit of an untenable spot, a former enemy caught communicating with the very people he supposedly fled. But I must beg your indulgence, if only for a little longer. Then I can reveal all.”
“Dammit, Colin, I need more than this!” she exclaimed. “I can’t go to Kendra and say, ‘Oh, hi, yeah, we caught Colin talking to someone in Artemis, but it’s cool. He said not to worry about it and he’ll tell us later.’ She won’t throw you out an airlock, like the Empress, but she definitely has ways to make your life uncomfortable. Give me something, anything!”
He squirmed, a surprising demonstration of awareness of his plight, then sat still. “I need a lunar, perhaps less. What I am working on could change the entire outcome of this war, on all fronts, but it is most delicately balanced. Interruption in the routine which has been established will be disastrous to my efforts.”
He looked directly into her eyes. “Cristina, as one professional to another, I am asking for this courtesy. Please.”
She knew the tricks; she knew his use of her name, instead of her title, was supposed to inspire intimacy and trust. On the other hand...
On the other hand, Mr. Dent, you’re not the only one with tricks.
She sat, silent, and the gap stretched to uncomfortable lengths. Dent broke first.
“What I can tell you, all I can tell you, is if this works, the Empress will be removed from the board. Permanently.”
She didn’t expect quite such a dramatic pronouncement, but she’d take it.
“Okay. I’ll keep it quiet, and if anything gets to Kendra I’ll tell her it’s a top secret project, compartmentalized, and need-to-know. Throw enough jargon at her and she’ll back off.”
She stood and extended a hand. “Good luck, Colin.”
He stood and accepted it, clasping it. “Thank you, Cristina.” With a nod, he left.
When the compartment hatch closed, and she was certain she was secure, she said, “You don’t need to say anything. He was telling the truth, but not all of it. He’s concealing something.”
“Correct, Director.”
“Try to break his code. See if Diana has access to any of the systems he’s using; she controls the station, he’s got to have a connection to it somewhere. Don’t interfere, but keep me informed.”
“Yes, Director.”
She leaned back in her chair instead of jumping back to her work. She might not have been in the field in seven years, and subtlety was never her strong suit, but she’d never failed on a mission.
She wasn’t about to start now.