Cheat Codes

Posted on 27 Apr 2018 @ 3:55pm by Ensign Miraj Derani & Chief Warrant Officer 3 Azra Ghoc

1,578 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Episode 15 - Emanation
Location: USS Hathaway, Edward Butler's quarters
Timeline: MD96 time 1500

[ON]

The first leg of the training cruise was over and all of the staged issues for the next simulation were prepared. The last simulation had presented some real issues and that had most definitely not been the plan. Despite that, Edward was confident that the next set of issues would throw only the planned wrench in the works.

The lanky man was off-duty, lounging in a quiet corner in Hathaway's lounge. The dim light was perfect for staring out into space. It was relaxing. Edward didn't know how to describe the quietude that came over him just sitting here, watching the stars pass.

"Excuse me, sir?" A young girl, a single ensign's pip on her collar was standing just to one side. Her hair was bound in bunches like she'd freshly escaped kindergarten, and in a shade of pink the perfect shade of candy floss. Her eyes had flared arches that slightly overshadowed them, and a feint trident shaped impression along her forehead. "Are you Lieutenant Butler?"

Edward twitched in his seat, pulled out of his reverie. "Uh, yes," he said, "how can I help you?" He blinked a couple of times and focused on the young woman in front of him. She looked young. Not just because she was, but there was something about her features that shouted that she should still be in secondary school at latest. Nevertheless, there as an ensign's pip on her collar and that meant she was either older, or far more accomplished than she looked.

"Hi. I'm having a problem with one of my holoprograms and one of the cadets said you were a holodeck specialist. Only its not a flight sim, its a personal program." The pink haired girl held out an isolinear rod to him. "I'm Miraj, by the way."

"Edward Butler," he responded, taking the small device. "I can absolutely take a look," Edward said. "It'll go faster if I know what I'm looking at, though. What kind of program is it? And what's the problem you're having?"

"Its a holonovel. About pirates. I was playing it a few months ago with a friend and I found an Easter egg, a plot i didnt know existed, its not in the actual book, and I didn't have time to follow it as my friend tripped a different set of events and I've tried replaying it since but I haven't been able to get back to that secret bit of plot. Is it possible to try and hack the game at all?" Miraj stopped babbling and had to breathe in.

"Easter eggs can be very easy to find, or very difficult." Edward dropped the data-rod into his pocket as he stood up. "It all depends on who wrote the program. Let's find a console." He headed out of the lounge toward his quarters.

"So, is this the typical pirate novel with debonair swashbucklers and heroic anti-heroes?" Those were far more popular than the gritty, realistic versions where pirates weren't quite the romantic figures that time and imagination had changed them into.

"Bloodbeard's Treasure!" She nodded eagerly. "Its the third in the series after Bloodbeard's Battle and Bloodbeard's Fury. Have you read them?"

"No, I can't say I have," Edward replied. He was familiar with many, though far from most, holo-authors. Many times holonovels were based around old literature, film, or other media. Far more often than they were original creations. It was a booming industry. The pair entered the small rooms assigned to Edward. He pulled the chip out of his pocket and dropped it gently on the surface-reader he had connected to the console at his desk.

Immediately, the chip lit up on the reader. The display filled with code, auto-opening Edward's preferred coding program. It automatically highlighted syntax and it had a feature he'd found indispensable. It took block, or minified, code and expanded and formatted it for easy reading. "Okay," he muttered as he settled into the chair at the desk, "where were you in the program when you found the Easter Egg? And what were you doing?"

"I was searching in the Governer's study for his decoding wheel. There normally isn't anyone in there, but this time Amaranai was...searching the governor's bedroom." And that was the clean version. "So when I got to the study, there was someone else in there as well, a character I've never met before. He was also searching for something, but I've never been able to find out what."

Edward cross referenced scenes involving the name Amaranai and the governor's bedroom. Thirty-seven results in the plot. Most were flagged as explicit. The code was well constructed and commented. That helped.

"Okay," he said, leaning over and pulling a chair over next to him, "Have a seat. I've narrowed it down to around a dozen possible sections of code. I'm going to reproduce them here," he pointed to a small holographic pad that rested on his desktop, "and I want to you point out which one matches the scene you're looking for. Sound good?"

"Arr, captain," she smiled.

He loaded the first of the scenes. It materialized, in miniature, on the display. "Look familiar?" he asked.

Miraj leant over the projection. She could clearly see a dozen versions of the Governor's mansion: His bedroom, where the three whores were waiting; the library where she encountered his niece, the Dining room where The Governor was entertaining the French Ambassador and his wife. The first, the event most heavily weighted to occur, was nothing she hadn't seen a dozen times. The second featured the governor catching Roger in the act of ransacking his study, and handing the boy over to his guards. "That's the one," she pointed to the third, where a minature version of the man she encountered was rifling the study bookshelves." She glanced at the others, "hang on."

She leaned closer, a delighted smile spreading over her features.
"Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh! There be more buried treasures!" It was obvious that whichever poor sod was prepared to endure a caning, the other player would be rewarded with all manner of things. She pointed to another projection. "How many doubloons are in that thing? She squinted close at a secret compartment in the library that had obviously been kicked open in one iteration, and sent a veritable carpet of gold over the floor. In another, back in the study yet again, a secret draw was highlighted, and a call out indicated a contract with the infamous spanish pirate, Amaro Rodríguez Felipe, to hunt down Bloodbeard. And a third showed the Library again, and the French Ambassador, and the character she normally played, Bloodbeard's cabin boy, Roger.

She pulled back, blushing. "Oh. My."

Edward made a few changes to the code, censoring out the bed and the activities taking place on it. It was technically illegal to edit the novel, though many holo-novel authors included a variety of filters to allow the novels to appeal to a wider audience. It didn't appear that this author had done that. It was a temporary change, by way of a diagnostic, so Edward rationalized the choice.

"Well, that was a bit more adventurous than I was expecting. Did you find what you were hoping for?"

"Sort of." Miraj looked at all the projections. "At least I know what I need to do next." And finding someone willing to take a caning just so she could investigate all the other plot points was not going to be easy, maybe not even possible. "Can you tweak it so I can get to these without...er... that bit." She pointed at the governors bedroom. This program was way kinkier than the actual novel.

“Some holo-novelists cater to the more animal instincts in their viewers. I tend to avoid those programmers. Have you ever heard of CR Danes?” Edward shut down the simulation and retrieved the chip. “He’s a multi-genre programmer who programs some of the lesser known novels from the late 20th and early 21st centuries. His recreations are very good.”

"Did he do a lot of pirates?" Miraj asked. "Becuase I'm not exactly widely read. But when it comes to pirates, I'm as deep as Davy Jones."

Edward thought for a few moments. He'd experienced a few science fiction and fantasy novels by CR Danes, but he couldn't remember anything specifically about pirates. "I'm not sure," he said, "Danes does a huge variety of work. He's one of the most prolific recreationists out there, but I can't think of any pirate novels of the top of my head."

"Oh." Miraj looked a little deflated. More pirate books were always a good thing. "Well, if I ever finf a way around the spanking section, I'm going to need something to do once i've finished this one. Any recommendations?"

Edward thought for a while, trying to think of a good holonovel that had the same feeling as many of these pirate novels. He finally hit on one. "There's a space opera called The Doom of Vorma Hold. It's got a very piratey feeling, but you get to experience zero-g. It might strike your fancy."

Miraj nodded with a smile. "I'll look it up. Thank you. And thanks for..." She waved her hand at the now dissected holonovel. "This."

"Of course." Edward smiled and led the younger woman to the door. "Enjoy your holo-adventure!"

[OFF]

Ensign Miraj Derani

Lt JG Edward Butler (DEACTIVATED)
Assistant Chief Engineer
USS Galileo-A

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