capturing Alignment agents

ThinksMarkedly wrote:She's indeed pretty intelligent and she knows for a fact that the organisation that handles her is the one responsible for the attacks. How does she know? Because, like you said, her handler told her where not to go. Her handler knew where the explosions would be before they occurred. And she knows she's not working for the Ballroom, so the only other party had to be "The Other Guys" (to use the Ghost Hunters' name for the MAlign).

I thought it was the other way round. Her handler told her where to stay.

(I seem to remember some discussion, until she showed back up in SoV's epilog, about whether she was actually being put in a target area to add a well known name to the death toll from the purported Mantie atrocity)

Though reading the passage from CoG it's pretty clear she's aware that it was the Onion that was blowing up people to cover evacuations of (she suspect) low 5-figures worth of embedded Onion folks who were managing the levers of power on Mesa.

Cauldron of Ghosts-earc: Ch. 41 wrote:And now, given the unexpected rapidity with which the situation had gone pear-shaped, they had to be gotten off quickly.

Much more quickly, she was sure, than any plans would have provided for when they were first laid down. And that meant…

Drastic measures. Drastic ones. She could see no other way to manage such an evacuation under the current circumstances. And that assessment fitted perfectly with her new assignment…and with the fact that her lodgings had been specified. Her superiors hadn’t suggested that she stay at The Huntington Arms; they’d made it an order—a very explicit order. The sort of order someone gave to a very important asset who might have been at risk if she’d stayed anywhere she might choose.

They wanted her safely out of any possible target zones.

Obviously she thought her lodging were picked for her safety. Posters here wondered if she was horribly wrong about that; but events proved her (and not them) correct.

And despite it being potentially less suspicious to be ordered to stay in a given hotel, compared to being ordered to stay out of various areas that are later nuked, she apparently has no doubts about who is actually launching these "terrorist attacks". (And at least for that early round it didn't seem to bother her. Unknown whether the later much more widespread attacks affected her beliefs more)

Jonathan_S wrote:And despite it being potentially less suspicious to be ordered to stay in a given hotel, compared to being ordered to stay out of various areas that are later nuked, she apparently has no doubts about who is actually launching these "terrorist attacks". (And at least for that early round it didn't seem to bother her. Unknown whether the later much more widespread attacks affected her beliefs more)

It's worse than that. She knew it was an evacuation. Whether she deduced so or was told isn't explicit in the text (maybe it is, but I think I'd remember that bit). If she was told, that has consequences: that means she has Onion data and she knows what the organisation is called, its objectives (at least public ones) and its methods. That means she's a willing participant as most Alphas are expected to be and unlikely to turn coat, even after the Mesan Atrocity and being left behind.

I'm hoping she does change allegiances. I can see Victor Cachat staring her down in the next book with Irene Teague by his side and her breaking. Not that she has strategic info but her media help would be an asset.

ThinksMarkedly wrote:I'm hoping she does change allegiances. I can see Victor Cachat staring her down in the next book with Irene Teague by his side and her breaking. Not that she has strategic info but her media help would be an asset.

Not a chance. She is almost certain to have a nanite kill switch if she tries to.

Galactic Sapper wrote:Not a chance. She is almost certain to have a nanite kill switch if she tries to.

Maybe.

But maybe not. First, she was clearly outer Onion. Telling her too much about the objectives would surely bias her reporting. Second, because of the nature of her reporting and the need to establish her credibility as an incorruptible journalist, she must have needed to investigate matters that would run counter to the MAlign's objectives and follow lines of deduction that would take her where they'd take her. Her nanites, if she has them, can't be keyed to the same thought patterns as other agents.

It also depends on the lies she's been told. If the good guys exploit those properly, they can turn her without her explicitly considering herself a traitor to the MAlign.

ThinksMarkedly wrote:

Galactic Sapper wrote:Not a chance. She is almost certain to have a nanite kill switch if she tries to.

Maybe.

But maybe not. First, she was clearly outer Onion. Telling her too much about the objectives would surely bias her reporting. Second, because of the nature of her reporting and the need to establish her credibility as an incorruptible journalist, she must have needed to investigate matters that would run counter to the MAlign's objectives and follow lines of deduction that would take her where they'd take her. Her nanites, if she has them, can't be keyed to the same thought patterns as other agents.

It also depends on the lies she's been told. If the good guys exploit those properly, they can turn her without her explicitly considering herself a traitor to the MAlign.

Yes, what she knows would bias her reporting. That's the point.

She undoubtably reported things that ran counter to the MAlignment's goals - with their knowledge and approval. Things that either were against Mesa but not necessarily against the MAlignment, or true things that merely muddied the waters around untrue things posted by others, or a thousand other ways where posting the truth does minimal or no damage to the MAlignment itself. She's been part of a decades-long disinformation campaign where 99% of what she reported was the complete truth with the intent to build her image of being the best journalist in the League - all in preparation for inserting a couple bits of absolutely crucial disinformation when it would best serve the MAlignment's purposes.

I foresee one of two things happening to her:

1) either a disappearance/faked death or a real one when she's served the MAlignment's purposes or she becomes a liability in her current position or

2) a fatal encounter with a treecat. The question is whether the nano will be able to kill her faster than the treecat will.

I fully expect the latter but I think the former would be more interesting.

Galactic Sapper wrote:1) either a disappearance/faked death or a real one when she's served the MAlignment's purposes or she becomes a liability in her current position or

2) a fatal encounter with a treecat. The question is whether the nano will be able to kill her faster than the treecat will.

I fully expect the latter but I think the former would be more interesting.

I've been predicting that the MAlign will restrain its activities after its pull away from Mesa. Any orders to the agents would leave a trail for Zilwicki to track down and could eventually lead to Mannerheim and/or Felix. That's a risk they don't need. Even Streak Drive transits from Darius, without a wormhole, could lead to reasoning where Darius is (reducing the search area to a few hundred systems, instead of millions). But whether it's a risk they will take, only David knows.

A fatal encounter with a treecat would not be good for the GA. All that would be reported in the Solarian press is that the foremost truth-seeking journalist died in Manticoran hands, while investigating who was responsible for the Mesan Atrocity. Why would Manticore silence her? What is Manticore hiding?

So I predict she'll continue to live. Whether she can be turned remains to be seen. The text snippet above changed my earlier conclusion that she didn't know the explosions were a cover for evacuation, so I've reduced my likelihood that she will turn. She'll just be a thorn in Gold Peak's side.

ThinksMarkedly wrote:snip

So I predict she'll continue to live. Whether she can be turned remains to be seen. The text snippet above changed my earlier conclusion that she didn't know the explosions were a cover for evacuation, so I've reduced my likelihood that she will turn. She'll just be a thorn in Gold Peak's side.

Unless the Malign can find a way to kill her that implicates Manticore - in that case, she's toast.

Jonathan_S wrote:

ThinksMarkedly wrote:She's indeed pretty intelligent and she knows for a fact that the organisation that handles her is the one responsible for the attacks. How does she know? Because, like you said, her handler told her where not to go. Her handler knew where the explosions would be before they occurred. And she knows she's not working for the Ballroom, so the only other party had to be "The Other Guys" (to use the Ghost Hunters' name for the MAlign).

I thought it was the other way round. Her handler told her where to stay.

(I seem to remember some discussion, until she showed back up in SoV's epilog, about whether she was actually being put in a target area to add a well known name to the death toll from the purported Mantie atrocity)

Though reading the passage from CoG it's pretty clear she's aware that it was the Onion that was blowing up people to cover evacuations of (she suspect) low 5-figures worth of embedded Onion folks who were managing the levers of power on Mesa.

Cauldron of Ghosts-earc: Ch. 41 wrote:And now, given the unexpected rapidity with which the situation had gone pear-shaped, they had to be gotten off quickly.

Much more quickly, she was sure, than any plans would have provided for when they were first laid down. And that meant…

Drastic measures. Drastic ones. She could see no other way to manage such an evacuation under the current circumstances. And that assessment fitted perfectly with her new assignment…and with the fact that her lodgings had been specified. Her superiors hadn’t suggested that she stay at The Huntington Arms; they’d made it an order—a very explicit order. The sort of order someone gave to a very important asset who might have been at risk if she’d stayed anywhere she might choose.

They wanted her safely out of any possible target zones.

Obviously she thought her lodging were picked for her safety. Posters here wondered if she was horribly wrong about that; but events proved her (and not them) correct.

And despite it being potentially less suspicious to be ordered to stay in a given hotel, compared to being ordered to stay out of various areas that are later nuked, she apparently has no doubts about who is actually launching these "terrorist attacks". (And at least for that early round it didn't seem to bother her. Unknown whether the later much more widespread attacks affected her beliefs more)

Actually, just the fact that she was aware of an ongoing evacuation puts her deeper in the onion than Jack McBride. All the way in? who knows? But McBride was never briefed on Houdini at all.

Rob

ThinksMarkedly wrote:

Galactic Sapper wrote:Not a chance. She is almost certain to have a nanite kill switch if she tries to.

Maybe.

But maybe not. First, she was clearly outer Onion. Telling her too much about the objectives would surely bias her reporting. Second, because of the nature of her reporting and the need to establish her credibility as an incorruptible journalist, she must have needed to investigate matters that would run counter to the MAlign's objectives and follow lines of deduction that would take her where they'd take her. Her nanites, if she has them, can't be keyed to the same thought patterns as other agents.

It also depends on the lies she's been told. If the good guys exploit those properly, they can turn her without her explicitly considering herself a traitor to the MAlign.

These people are fanatics; her status as an Malign Agent was known to another Malign influencer who worked the financial news, who knew she was an alpha line. Just knowing about the different star lines puts both of them deep into the onion; they need to massage and spin the news immediately, not send it halfway around the galaxy to get the Detweiler's take on it.

Also, as journalists, they are in a good position to report to Franklin (?) or whoever is monitoring the pulse of the League, as well as Colin.
Rob

Armed Neo-Bob wrote:Actually, just the fact that she was aware of an ongoing evacuation puts her deeper in the onion than Jack McBride. All the way in? who knows? But McBride was never briefed on Houdini at all.

Rob

The evacuation happened a year after Jack decided to seek asylum. It was handled need-to-know basis, so it's possible that Jack hadn't known yet. Given his position in the Gamma Centre, he would likely be involved in the evacuation process far more deeply than O'Hanrahan.

It's still possible that O'Hanrahan deduced it was an evacuation, not that she was told in explicit terms it was so. It's not very likely, though, but I also fail to see the reason why she would need to know what the attacks were a cover for.