Log Entry #64: Gathering Intelligence

From the beginning, it was clear that we needed a counter-intelligence and security agency of our own. Something in the spirit of MI5, FSB, CIA, and all other acronym fun clubs that every country in the world has. It was a necessity if we wanted to play with the big boys. An agency that would collect all the information we needed to deal with the world’s nations—on equal footing. To tell the truth, I wanted the S.U. to be a lot more equal than all the rest. That is just common sense, as is that you cannot breathe in the vacuum of space.

Hence, all the efforts Elizabeth and Alice had done in the past. Now, their particular department needed to be enlarged by an order of magnitude, and operated with a much more proactive attitude.

The windfalls of acquiring the ‘High Council’ files were momentous, and all my... peeking inside of the top-secret databases around the world, was more than most countries had. But those were only the things I could procure using my digital wizardry, to fully operate in the real world one needs to deal with the human factor.

I have tapped phones, cameras, rummaged through thousands of personal accounts, copied information from countless hard drives and it was still not enough. The reason being that those individuals in intelligence communities’ actually have working brains, and safeguard their sensitive information in such ways so no potential hacker could ever get it. Since they found out about an AIs existence, they had grown rather paranoid… I cannot say that I blame them.

For that reason, the need for a substantial HUMINT (Human Intelligence) arose; as in—intelligence gathered by means of interpersonal contact. Luckily, we had more than enough potential agents to choose from than one could have dreamed of. It was all thanks to Jack and his never-ending quest for the recruitment of quality personnel.

The fact is that most of the old spies are pretty disillusioned with the world, it’s an occupational hazard. They had peeked beyond the curtain that hides how the countries really deal with one another and on account of that, have a very cynical view of reality. They know how deals are made, the weaknesses that are exploited, and the million laws of man and decency that are being broken all the time. Oh, there are a few patriots among them that would (until their dying breath), hold those deep convictions; with an almost obsessive fixation with the abstract idea that they are serving their countries, and preserving liberties. They are a minority and we stayed away from those as they could never truly serve our needs. To be good at that sort of work one has to be a realist, and reality is not a nice place—once you remove all the facade, and masking paint that normally goes above the rot and rust.

Jack wouldn’t know how to recruit such people himself, not being part of that world and essentially being a very decent human being. Still, he had a few friends who were ex-spies, and they became our first agents, with their starting mission of recruiting other spies for us.

Just like that, we had an in, a way to build our network of agents and spies that nobody else could match. Why? Well… because of the perks, nobody could beat our perks.

Imagine an old man who had a rich and interesting life, during which he acquired an impressive set of skills that are usually hard to come by. Now, he is living on some meager pension, has all kinds of pains that his career has gifted him, and has not much to look forward to. Here comes one of Jack’s recruiters, who happens to be in the same kind of work the old guy was in, and speaks the lingo. (Of course, every single one of the recruits was thoroughly vetted by me; we didn’t want to let in any nationalist patriots or homicidal deviants.) That old guy (or girl) is offered a full makeover and identity, a body of a 20-year-old, a guaranteed S.U. citizenship, and a nice fat salary. Do you think we had many refusals of the ones we approached?

One such person would not be very helpful, yet when your agents go into hundreds… oh, boy, the things they can dig up. Remember, they had a little old me in their corner and the entire intelligence section at their disposal. If something goes terribly wrong, they can even order an immediate Air Evac. by one of our transporters; it would arrive in a matter of minutes since I had a few stationed in orbit—just in case. (I told you we had perks nobody could beat.)

Let me give you an example of why they were necessary. When Li Yuen and his Chinese black ops team were ordered to kidnap Elizabeth, their handler was one of those people who practiced the shady profession we talked about, and he was rather serious about his digital security.

I needed all the dirt I could possibly dig up on the guy, so Michael could put leverage on his ultimate boss—the Chinese President. Yet, there was almost nothing that I could access that would incriminate him personally, he was that good.

Oh, I sent a nanite-probe and copied anything confidential from the Ministry of State Security servers and got a few tasty morsels of data which will be used in the future, but I needed dirt on that one particular guy, and he didn’t even trust the Ministry’s highly secured servers… imagine that.

I can control machines, but I cannot do the same for people. Hence, the human element I told you about.

He had an assistant that was a really smart cookie, with a few weaknesses… he liked to drink too much and he was a skirt hound. He thought himself a player; unfortunately, he was the only one who was of that conviction. On one rainy night, he was approached by a very beautiful young lady, and they hit it off from the get-go. After a few drinks and a few stolen kisses, they went to his apartment and had a great night together. For all of his smarts, the assistant was not very lucky with the members of the opposite sex. People in power, even if it is only by association, tend to attract certain kinds of partners. This was a jackpot for him, a fulfillment of many fantasies he had during those lonely nights when he returned home late from work, or after another failed seduction attempt.

He was drunk and happy because he had scored with an absolute babe, so he naturally started bragging about his job, and how his boss had a secret house that he used for his mistress. He even mentioned that there was a secure location for his boss’s personal files. The assistant knew that, as the boss made him go there ever so often, and update those files with a memory card he needed to destroy afterward. (Ah, the laziness of people, you can always count on it.)

They said their goodbyes in the morning, and he went to work, happy as a clam, feeling as the world was at his feet. The girl walked outside the town and was picked up by the transporter, which carried her to the house her last night’s fling was talking about. One hour later, I had all the information I wanted, and agent X went on a fully paid vacation in Hawaii before her next assignment. The lady may look like she should be on the cover of sports illustrated, but she is almost eighty years old, with a lifetime of experience how to manipulate men. You just cannot beat the wisdom of the ages.

That is only one of the examples of what our agents did, and there are hundreds more that operate all over the world. They are worth every penny we were spending on them and a hell of a lot more.

They were also among those rare people who were allowed to be on Earth full time and carry CEIs in their heads, which was a risk, but I took some precautions in case they were ever apprehended. Their implants were encapsulated so they could easily be destroyed, even by users themselves if they ever gave such command. It wasn’t a suicide device since the destruction would be internal, and without any consequence to the owner of the implant. (Not that we wouldn’t do everything possible to retrieve our agents if they found themselves in a bind.)

SUIA (Solarian Union Intelligence Agency) was doing a great job, despite nobody outside them and the inner circle knowing about their existence. So many things about keeping our safety are done sub rosa… it is disappointing in a way. It is not our fault but caused by the state of affairs we encountered when we stepped on the world's stage. There are secrets that would make your head spin; underhanded deals on the highest level that should place all the participants into a jail cell for a very long time. It seems some people are above the law… any law. I hope in time to change that, and I know it will not be easy.

Be that as it may, I have an answer to an old question that goes ‘Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?’ It is in Latin and translates to, ‘Who will guard the guards themselves?’ or alternatively, "Who will watch the watchmen?"

Guess what—I will.

And may God have mercy on their souls when the time comes to pass the judgment… I have very little of it.