torchwoodinstitute | (no subject)

(no subject)

Who: Jim and Sasan
When: January 11th
What: Kilgrave isn't their only problem.

Jim never minded when Sasan texted him relentlessly. Okay, Jim usually didn't mind when Sasan texted him relentlessly but he had been in a meeting with Jack trying to sort out their pending missions in the queue. Some could be put on the back burner while they dealt with Kilgrave, but some were pretty time sensitive. And yes, that joke did grow old when it came to a Time Agency, thank you.

The blond was wishing he'd never introduced Sasan to an iPhone as his own vibrated again. Jack actually paused mid sentence and glanced at him with an eyebrow raised. "Do you need to get that?"

Jim shook his head. Sasan could wait for ten minutes. And Jim didn't need to see any more pictures of fat animals wearing clothing or doing silly things.

Not unless he was drinking and Sasan was over and sending the YouTube videos to his AppleTV, thereby forcing him to watch.

It took half an hour more to finish cementing down the schedule. Gabriel was to stay with Jack at the Hub whenever possible which meant that Jim and Mitchell were on point. Mitchell might not have to sleep but Jim certainly did. He left the office quickly and pulled the phone from his jeans. As expected, all of his texts were from Sasan.

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Sasan felt a little bad for blowing up Jim's phone, but he was the one Sasan trusted to be able to take a look at this and tell him what he thought. It did, unfortunately, quickly graduate to an 'oh no this is probably a real issue' status.

Getting back to work after all the 'excitement' of Kilgrave's arrive had been a bit rough. But he'd been neglecting the message boards for a bit. So he sat himself down for some maintenance and some misleading posts. He'd set up the conspiracy board shortly after he arrived. It was actually getting to be fairly popular, at least among the sorts of people that catered to. And whenever he saw something that had been Torchwood-related, he used one of his many accounts to post something that led them to the wrong conclusion. It was fun, making up so many stories.

But this one he wasn't sure about. There were a lot of theories about secret organizations, but this one mentioned leather wrist straps, and described some other alien technology (medical specifically) that they really did have. And when this user posted up something describing Jim in his leather jacket, that was when the texts increased.

It had started fairly innocently: "Hey Jim, I was wondering about something and would like your opinion." It was language he'd use for work, mostly. But it quickly moved on to worried and then onto near-panic: "Jim how do i track people on the internet? who do I ask b/c i need to know where this guy came from" And then there was the last one which just said: "I'm coming to find you this is probably real bad"

He'd decided to head over there and interrupt their meetings after his last text. So Jim will probably find Sasan wandering in his direction shortly, looking intensely worried.

Jim had read the last text first, as that was what came up on his phone first, and he was striding down to meet Sasan when a familiar head popped up over the top stair. "Meeting ran long, show me what's happened." Jim was not and would likely never be again a man of many words.

They moved quickly to Sasan's office (Jim had helped move a potted plant down there a few weeks back) and he sat in front of the computer. This century's technology was childishly simple, though it did take a few moments to get use to the garish color scheme of the message board.

His eyes trailed over headings until he let Sasan point out the culprit.

"It looks like a superfan conspiracy theory nut job," Jim said. He was tired. His judgements were just a little off.

"Yes, of course he is. I made this website the ugliest thing on earth just to bring them here. But read what he's saying- it's a little too close, don't you think? Especially this one."

He scrolled down to the post describing Jim. "Did he see you on a mission or something? And even if he did, how would he know about our medical scanners and stuff? We don't take anyone in here that we don't retcon, right?"

"Some of this you can just infer... I mean, it's pretty much just all sci-fi, all the time," Jim muttered. "The stuff we have here-- You know, where I'm from, needles don't break the skin. Okay, they do, but they don't use needles to inject medicine. It goes right through your skin..."

He was sometimes just a little too babbly when he was mostly occupied with something else and right now, that something else was scrolling through all of this mess.

The medical scanners were bad enough, but there was also mention of missions--

And then of a train that went to no where whose solely important passenger disappeared-- Jim was on his feet and pulled the plug. "Get one of the IT guys up here. We have a bug."

No one messed with Sasan!

He gave Jim a Look when he heard the mutter of 'all sci-fi, all the time'. That was you, James T. Kirk. Jim was practically made of sci-fi.

Sasan's eyes went wide as saucers when he saw the post about the train. That hadn't been there when he left the computer. He watched as Jim pulled the plug. "B- bug? Like someone hacked it, or are watching something? How is that possible? Isn't this tech tons of years more advanced than anything out there?" He was growing increasingly worried that he'd caused some sort of leak, which was the exact opposite of the job description. And just seeing mention of the train made him really worried. Someone sure wanted their attention.

But he needed to calm down and be reasonable about this. "Right. IT guys." He went off to do that, and then he'd check the site on his phone. "Maybe I should shut down the site in the meantime- we could always say it was hacked."

Ugh, they just dealt with a crisis. What is this?

Welcome to Torchwood? Eventually Sasan would just come to grips with the fact that they pretty much were caught in a loop of crazy. Jim usually didn't lose his cool like this (not that he had really lost it but Sasan brought out some strangely protective qualities in him). It was just a little much.

If there was a bug, they were screwed.

"The best rule of thumb is to remember that someone always has better tech than you," one of the IT guys said as he slipped into the office and went immediately on his knees to start his hardware search. Jim had to even heard him approach, that was how shaken up he was.

He didn't really recognize this guy either but Jack tended to trade out their help frequently. Lots of Retcon went down to engineering and huge settlement series in compensation were rolled right on out with them. He rarely knew names. Jack said it was safer that way and the technicians knew what they were getting into when they signed on. It was all up front in the contract.

"If I do find anything," he warned, "I'm gonna have to put this place on lockdown."

Jim nodded. "You do what you have to." And he stood between Sasan and their tech. Just in case.

Sasan had no idea what to do in this situation, and Jim's antsy-ness was making him antsy. He saw Jim place himself rather obviously between Sasan and the IT guy. Did they have to worry about the IT guys, really? Could that be a danger? Jack had to be careful about hiring them, right? Or maybe Jim was more worried about the computer? Would it, like, blow up or something?

Sasan looked back and forth, then backed up a couple steps just in case. He barely kept himself from pulling Jim with him. "So I'm going to guess that this is not a normal thing that happens?"

"How the hell would I know?" the IT guy responded, typing with some vehemence on the keyboard.

Sasan eyed Jim with concern. It was something of a fool's errand to seek reassurance from someone so grumpy, but Sasan was trying, anyway. "Hacking's the only way they'd know about the train, right? That's not even this reality."

"If you put it in the Archives , it's retrievable.," the other man said as he scratched to top of his head and went back to typing away at the remote keyboard he had linked wirelessly to the terminal computer. They were no longer connected to the network, but he could still easily see who or what got passed all of the damned firewalls Torchwood applied to their servers.

Jim frowned. "There were details on that post that I didn't put in the official file," he said somewhat more blandly than his eyes let on. The Archive file only had the details. Maybe some of the information on the board could have been seen as fishing, but from the drink selection to the mention of the Man Clan and the call to his friend...

No, that was a little too spot on.

"Listen, gotta take this down to the mainframe and have some of the guys from the future look at it. I think we should cut the servers, though, until we find something. You want me to tell Harkness?"

Jim pinched his nose as he thought. "No. I think we should keep this need to know only. I'll let Jack know."

Sasan just watched while the tech disconnected the computer and carted it off. Then his eyes slid over to Jim. "That would have to have been someone on the train with us, wouldn't it? But then how would they know about the stuff here?" He was starting to look pretty spooked. "That was way too many details."

He was glad he called (well, texted over and over) Jim on this. He felt infinitely safer around him. "Could it be someone who's working here that's leaking it? But it's like they're trying to get our attention, don't you think? I didn't do anything to make us vulnerable, did I?" Sasan was not quite flailing, but he was about one step away.

"You didn't do any of this." Jim turned and put a hand on Sasan's upper arm, squeezing in a way he hoped was gently enough and firmly enough at the same time. He wasn't good at this comforting bullshit. The one and only time he had ever comforted anyone happened to be when he forced Sasan's look alike to act out and strangle him half to death.

He'd carried those bruises for days before McCoy sat him down and---

He was staring now. His touch was lingering. But Jim's mind was somewhere else. When did Spock start becoming the lookalike?

Blinking back to himself, Jim slipped a hand down Sasan's arm. It probably ought to be taken as another one of those comforting gestures and not something else far more intimate. "As soon as they pin point the source, I'll shut it down. It might just be another reality's Torchwood being dicks."

Jim's reaction was a big comfort. Sasan hadn't thought he'd done anything wrong, but these computers were far beyond what he'd been using, and he'd honestly felt a little lost sometimes. If someone told him he was at fault, he'd believe them.

Sasan couldn't really mind the hand on his arm, either. Jim wasn't a touchy sort of guy, so even just the fact that he would to make Sasan feel better...that meant a lot. He did notice that Jim seemed to be somewhere else, but he was probably just remembering something about that guy they never talked about, the one Jim knew before him. Sasan hardly minded.

When the man came back to the present, Sasan gave him a grateful smile. He nodded as Jim continued. "That'd be- what, like an alternate reality hazing?" Sasan shook his head. He kind of hoped it was something like that. Then it would at least not be a sign of something more serious. Of course, no matter what it was, it would make his job harder, but whatever. "So we just have to wait for the tech guys to get back to us, then?"

"Jack said he did it to another Torchwood once and they had a kegger afterward but as it came from Jack, I'm not actually willing to believe it's true."

The Captain was a liar. Jim had seen it proven again and again. There were other reasons that Jim and Jack didn't always get along but this really was the biggest one.

"And I should go and talk to him. Maybe we both should." He was probably watching Kilgrave again. It was his favorite pastime. "As soon as we get a lead, you should probably stay in the lab with the scientists. It will be safest for you there because Gabriel will be there too."

Where Mohinder went, Gabriel always followed.

Sasan was not inclined to believe stories like that from Jack, either. Of course, all of it had a possibility of being true, but that just meant it was easier to lie. Still, if Jack said that, maybe that was going on here.

When Jim suggested they go to see the Captain, Sasan nodded. They should probably go inform him. The idea of staying in the lab under Gabriel's protection got a sour look, however. He was mostly okay with his lookalike, but the idea of hiding behind him while he did all his cool magic tricks- well, that kind of grated on him. Plus, the lab was boring. "You think they're targeting me specifically? I mean, I know they went through my website, but maybe whoever it is was just trying to get our attention..."

"I don't think they're targeting you, if that makes you feel any better." No, they were trying to get his attention, or maybe Jack's, through Sasan. Which meant that they knew how to get to him. Or to Jack. Shit.

Jim didn't like the idea that they were being watched, but now he couldn't shake the thought as he and Sasan headed up to Jack's office.

An office Jack was no longer occupying. Mitchell, however, was still there, feet on the desk, smoking. "I know you can't die from those, but there is literally only a joined ventilation system," Jim grumbled. "Never mind. Where's Jack?"

Mitchell shrugged. "He said he needed a shower."

A shower? Even Jack had to take a break sometimes, Sasan supposed. Mitchell's smoking didn't bother Sasan as much as it did Jim, mostly because it looked good on the guy.

So Sasan just looked to Jim and said, "Well, we were already waiting. We could do it here, I guess?" He shrugged. Sasan didn't like waiting, but maybe it'd give them some downtime (even if they were too tense to relax, really). "What're you up to, Mitchell?" he asked, with a small smile. There were two probable options, and Sasan thought he could guess.

Mitchell was a chatty fellow and he took the time to put out the cigarette -- for Jim's sake -- before he went over all of the interesting missions he and Henry would be put on next. He enjoyed his work, that much was obvious, and though it was a little unsettling to speak with Mitchell for long periods of time once you knew what he was exactly, that didn't stop him from happily taking up any and all time anyone gave him.

"Didn't fancy you two being back here so soon. Thought you'd be discussing dinner plans." Mitchell grinned. Jim did not.

"We've probably been hacked," Jim said blandly and Mitchell's wide, thick eyebrows lifted. "No shit? Damn it. That's nasty business!"

Sasan listened to the mission descriptions with interest. He usually only heard about these things second-hand, or he'd have to read the files. It was far more exciting like this. Sasan tried not to let the whole vampire thing throw him off- after all, almost all of them had something weird going on. And he honestly found it harder to get on with Henry, who seemed to be the opposite of Sasan in nearly every way. Two awkward conversations had convinced Sasan just not to bother with Henry unless he absolutely had to.

He gave Mitchell a bit of a smirk when called out on how attached he and Jim seemed to be. It was kind of nice that other people noticed, at least, even if Jim didn't. But yeah, there was more serious things at hand. "Yeah, and they're using my website to let us know about it," Sasan complained. He pouted a bit. "My fake conspiracy site is way less fake right now. That's going to take some serious fixing." Plus, of course, they'd have to track down hackers and leaks and deal with wherever all that came from. But that was far more serious and he didn't want to bring that stuff up when Jim would inevitably be one of the ones dealing with it. He was curious about one thing, though. "What happens if we go into lockdown? Do we shut everything off?"

Mitchell found all of this to be almost amusing. He knew the stakes, he knew the costs, but he couldn't bring himself to really be worried about it. He had his own issues that were far more pressing. And Jack tended to save the day in the end. Maybe that was placating the situation though and so he kept it to himself.

He was about to answer the question when Jim stepped in.

"We'll stay here. The Hub's core will sink thirty meters into the bedrock, the Archive will be shut off and all entrances and exits will be disabled. That includes setting up a stasis field to keep anyone from using their manipulators to come and go." It was not pleasant.

Jim had gone through two Lockdowns before. One, he had been here for three weeks with everyone going stir crazy after an outbreak. The second, he had spent almost a month being unable to get back in. That had been the worst of all since communication was disabled.

Jim was not a sit around and do nothing guy.

Mitchell nodded. "Pretty much that, yeah," he grinned, as only vampires could.

Sasan frowned as Jim described it all. It sounded awful, especially for someone like Jim, who probably never had an inkling towards holing up somewhere and letting the world pass him by for awhile. And they wouldn't even be able to watch Netflix here, without the internet!

Sasan's priorities were not always the best.

"Well, let's hope that doesn't end up happening," Sasan said with a sigh.

Of course, the computer tech chose that moment to walk in and tell Jim that they had, indeed, been hacked. It was the same one that had taken the computer, and he looked about as happy about it as Sasan was. "The future guys are still working on pinpointing it," he grumbled. "But we've definitely been compromised."

It seemed that Jack couldn't even get a shower in without a crisis happening.

Words that Jim did not want to hear included 'compromised' and 'working on it' but he heard them anyway. He turned away from the small group and input Jack's signature code into his wrist strap. As expected when a man happens to be in a shower, there wasn't any answer. Jim didn't back down from reaponsibility.

"All right, John, you're going to have to get word out to any field agents. Do what you can. Work with Sasan to leave messages. Lock down the doors. I'm going to signal for a full lock down in ten minutes."

Mitchell smirked. "Ten minutes to reach everyone isn't--"

"Just make it work," Jim muttered and glanced at the bearer of the bad news. "Tell Kaylee downstairs to use the Rift for archive search. You're going to have to shut off all other connection. Tell her eight minutes."

"You gave them ten!" the IT guy protested.

"It's going to take you two to get down there and tell her. Comms don't work at the bottom level. I would hurry up before the lifts stop working."

Jim moved the papers around on Jack's desk until he found a computer terminal. The man was a disorganized mess! He keyed in the codes for lockdown and then went to find Jack. God help him if he was naked and flirty.

Sasan snapped back into Full Work Mode, stepping behind the desk to get at the computer mounted in the corner of the room. He didn't have a wrist strap, so he had to do it this way. He signed in, wrote a note to Mohinder and Gabriel, then thought for a second and set it aside. He'd notify them last. He instead pulled up a database with the field agents and their codes listed and glanced at Mitchell. "I'll start from the top, you start from the bottom?" he proposed.

Without waiting for confirmation, Sasan was opening new windows and setting up a text that would hopefully reach everyone out of the Hub, with an emergency tone. Certainly, anyone out on assignment wouldn't be able to make it back, but at least they'd be informed.

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