Log:Meta Fraud: The CB CSI Edition!

2020/10/14 	 Night Marshal|Carpenter Grimm

1

The labs of Colonial Bay PD, Crime Scene Investigation, are not nearly as advanced as crime series makes them out to be on the trid shows: no floating equipment that compress time to make searches/tests quicker, no AIs (or one assumes) working for the CSIs, and no alien tech solving mysteries by making it possible to view backwards in time. Plenty of 3D projectors though and peole maniupating screens by hand swipes though.

"Hello Detective Carpenter. And this is your guest, Ms. Grimm, I assume. Very good. Shall we get started? I must say I always enjoy your cases, detective, as they always seem to have interesting evidence," murmurs Dr. Melody Forest, one of the chief supervisors here and a one who specializes in the juncture of metas and evidence. "As I understand, this boken bit was found at one of the fraud sites, correct?"

Carpenter nods. "That's correct. It was connected inside the security system. I believe it created a short circuit. I'm not sure what the impact would be, though."

Grimm smiles and nods. "Yeah. Miss Grimm. That's me," she confirms, though she's amused at the various ways she's been introduced lately. Assistant. Guest. Etc.

"Well, I believe the short circuit is merely a side effect. Inside the fragment," Dr. Forest brings up one of those trid images and explodes it after a moment, "are micro circuitry. We, my team and I, speculate that circuitry allowed whoever placed it to access all the security systems funtioons. Probably controlled through a PDA interface of some sort, likely short range."

She points out an area on the fragment right at the tip. "These areas seem to function, we believe, as connectors using nanites. The body of the fragment is quite fragile, a ceramic composite of rather pedestrian materials, so no clues there. We did find what seems to be a, well, holding area for the connetcint nanites but no trace of the nanites themselves. Which, means whoever is using the nanites is taking more than adequate precatuoins about their spread. We checked over the box as well and no dead nanites were in it. Very professional of them." She then adds, "But despite all that, there is a certain...lack of sophistication to the fragment design elements. It seems much more a prototype than anything mass produced. I would speculate a meta inventor based on all these factors."

Carpenter furrows his brow, "This seems a bit disconnected from the objects being sold changing to something worthless. But it's clearly connected. It has to be."

Grimm shrugs at the suggestions. "Maybe they're just partners? I mean, how many meta inventors are known for thieving and work with nanites?"

"Well, we have checked over all the, hmm, faerie treasure turned in to us. While we can't prove it beyond reasonable doubt for court purposes, we, well, one of my investigators dates one of the guards at the Undermoon Embassy," adds Dr. Forest. "Sheryl showed Melissandrine some of the objects. She stated its not Fae magick, but that it's certainly similar."

Carpenter nods to Grimm, "Maybe? I'm not sure. Let me do a quick search." He pulls out his PDA to search for any related cases with nanites. He then nods to the doctor. "What kind of magic would be close? Any idea?"

Grimm rubs her chin at that. "Similar? Maybe goblin? Most of them have some shapeshifting abilities. But tech doesn't really work in Undermoon."

Dr. Forest shakes her head with a smile. "I have enough on my plate trying to keep up with meta science. I don't think we have a magick specialist on the force right now."

"I think Ms. Grimm's assessment might be correct: perhaps a meta inventor working with a mage of some sort? Or someone with access to some sort of magickal, hmm, fraud device?"

Grimm chuckles a bit. "I'm a big of a magical specialist, but I'm not on the force. I just consult."

Carpenter nods and keeps searching in the case records, trying a few more keywords.

Grimm takes a few moments to think about the magic. "Well...maybe it's not purely fae magic. In some cases, magic can be mixed. Since the spells don't last, the person isn't very powerful. But it's not ending by sunrise or sunset, which is typical for most fae spells. It's not black magic, because that leaves more obvious traces, and would usually degrade the items after."

Grimm chews her lip. "I don't think they're a magic user per se. Maybe someone who has an enchanted item that's making the illusion."

Carpenter furrows his brow again. "So...I found a few related things. Most of the cases involving nanites are defensive screens or some kind of attack. But...there's a villain who uses nanites consistently. Merry Andrew from CLOWN. His nanites are self-deleting and used to transform living organic matter into much smaller versions fo the same matter. He could probably use it for other reasons. But...there aren't any of the other hallmarks of his in these cases. No puns. No pranks. Unless you count the fake goods."

Gabrielle's lip curls in a grimace. "This isn't funny enough to be CLOWN. Or annoying enough. That's weird, though."

Carpenter shrugs, "I never find them 'funny', but yeah. But I suspect it's related? Maybe someone connected to him? Someone with a different sense of humor?"

"Well, I mean it's not even funny for them," Grimm clears it up. "Have they pranked you before?"

Carpenter shakes his head, "Not me personally, no."

"Good. Though I could already guess how you'd feel if you have to deal with them personally," Gabrielle smiles faintly. It'd be the same she'd feel if she had to deal with their pranks.

Carpenter checks known associates to see if anyone matches the given desciption they have.

"I think we have some exemplars of Merry Andrew's, hmm, past work in our archives. Let me check," adds Dr. Forest. "I don't know why I didn't think of it," she murmurs as she brings up a series of files. She flicks throug them rather quickly then, with a puzzled look, goes back to one she just opened. It seems to be detailed analysis of Merry Andrew's Shrinking Violet attack which shrinks a living person but not the clothes they wear. It extrapolates that the nanites seem to communicate with each other also on a nanite level using 'helper' nanites. The design of the only helper nanite they have matches the exploded circuitry in the fragment.

"This makes no sense though. The technology for the helper nanites is obviously much simpler than the Shrinking Violet attack. Merry Andres must have advnaced any intrusive nanites by generaions by now. It's like using a telegraph when you have a trid cellphone available," Dr. Forest murmurs.

Carpenter looks to Grimm, "There's a Kitsune spirit associated with Merry Andrew. Any chance the magic used would be Kitsune magic? They're listed as masters of illusion and shapeshifting."

Grimm thinks a moment, her lips parting as she remembers the strange spirit fox that interrupted Charity and her from having their showdown. "N...no, It doesn't seem like that. I'd really need a more recent sample of this treasure to really tell."

Carpenter nods and shakes his head, "So, we likely have someone using an early prototype of Merry Andrew's gear? Connected with someone else using magic. And they dont' have the same sense of humor."

Carpenter rubs his temple. "This reminds me of hackers. The stakes here are small. There's no 'fun'. They're just getting money...and not even a lot of money. It feels like a proof of concept."

Carpenter says, "Whoever it is...is likely working up to something bigger. Or at least more daring."

Grimm nods to Carpenter slowly. "Yeah. Sorry I can't be more help here, Detective," she keeps it semi-formal at his place of work. "And my guess is this person doesn't really know the Fae. But maybe they know of the Fae and trying to achieve something like that." She looks surprised at his assessment. "So trial runs?"

Carpenter nods. "They started small. The attempt to fool criminals was a later test. That seems like someone stretching their legs."

"Well, at least whoever is behind this is showing signs of sanity incontrolling the nanites. Uncontrolled nanites are one of science's nightmares," says Dr. Forest with a slight shudder. "I have one question. Could this be, to expand the hacker comment, white hat attacks? After all, all the victims have been known or suspected fences. No reports of anyone not fitting that profile has been hit."

Carpenter raises a brow, "The family-owned jewelry store?"

Carpenter chuckles. "In fact, that jewelry store is where we found that device."

Grimm tilts her head at the suggestion. "So...greedy robin hoods? Or only stealing from low lifes?"

Carpenter nods, "It's possible. It's also possible they're not vetting their targets well even if that's their motive."

Grimm leans a bit against a tabletop and folds her arms over her chest to think. "Could be vigilantes instead of crooks. Like green vigilantes."