Episode #6: Security with Patrice

Apr,17 2026

<-#5: Tamara Analyses

I made it to the compound well before sunrise. One thing that Cassian doesn't understand is that I have tasks every day. He cannot just reserve me for the day; that throws everything out the window.

Security is an ongoing thing, not just a once-in-a-while thing.

I know he thinks everything is automated. He isn't entirely wrong, but he isn't right either.

I get to my desk, and I review the patrol exception report.

We have sentries. They alternate between standing guard and patrolling.

They know their routine, and their watch reinforces it. We aren't stupid; they are trained to sound the alarm if their watch contradicts their plan, but the plan changes each day.

How does it make sense in their head? Easy! There are 7, 11, 13, or 17 distinct schedules they need to commit to memory, but they can't share their schedule with anyone.

They might guard a door for 27 minutes, patrol for 82, guard another door for 13 minutes.

A single door might have a single guard, or two, or three, and they know who the other guards are and when they leave.

This creates a perception of chaos. Anyone trying to impersonate a guard will be caught in minutes. Anyone trying to count on their movements to sneak between the patrols will be caught in minutes. In short, anyone trying anything will be spotted and intercepted.

Everyone who is authorized here has a smartwatch. It detects if it is on or off a wrist, so it can log when it was removed. We all use a special function to prove it's us who put it on, but only we know what it is. For me, it's to scan my right ring finger on the screen while giving a special password verbally, followed by a retina scan. For others, it will be different, and that's ok.

We do have visible cameras, but also hidden ones, and we compare the people on screen with the positions reported by their watches through a separate system.

The watches also emit an encoded UV signal visible to our cameras but invisible to the naked eye

That way, if any camera feed is being rerun and the positioning is also replayed, we will spot it via the UV signal.

I thought of everything I could.

Sadly, guards are human beings. Sometimes, it takes longer to do a patrol because a guard bumped into his wife or because someone needed help. Well, that triggers an exception, and I review all of them.

There is a range. If they have twelve minutes to walk a corridor, the silent alarm is sent one second after that if they still haven't made it. But if they usually take eleven minutes, we get an exception at eleven minutes and five seconds. It means something went wrong.

I see that Elaine went to the restroom. I know it's her periods, but she has time slots for that. She needs to learn to either hold it or ask for accommodations.

Robbie helped his wife with a crate. That's okay, so I mark it as approved. We want security to feel like they are integrated with the workers. This helps eliminate a divide that can only hurt if we are breached.

I finish the exception report before 8:00, when Cassian is supposed to come talk to me about his secret project, but I can't locate him, and he is in the analyst office with Tamara and her team. Predictable.

I did move my inspection to yesterday, which made me work longer hours so I would be available for him, and he isn't.

But that's ok. He is the boss.

I review security proposals, including exception requests and new proposals. Nothing today that I wish to approve. For an organization focused on security, most people have no idea how security actually works!

Almost all proposals I get are based on security by obfuscation. Which is good, but it's not enough.

Because if the only security is that an opponent isn't aware of security measures, it only takes good intel to cut through it.

I see that Cassian is moving toward my office. Finally!

I close my messaging app and take out my paper notebook and my paper tablet. I need a physical book, as paper burns, but electronic messages might live forever.

He doesn't need to knock on my door; I just open it when he is close. Cassian has a great poker face, but each time, I can see a little twinkle in his eyes.

I sit at my desk; he knows not to waste time with pleasantries and small talk. It's greatly appreciated.

"We have a new security problem"

"I am listening"

I take out my pad. This feels like something that should exist only on paper long enough to burn.

"We were made aware of secret information from a hacker who managed to get crucial information."

"You told me that"

"Well, it's worse than we thought, and once we act on it, every three-letter federal agency will be going at us"

"Wait, we are going national? We used to be citywide only, perhaps county level, but this is a major escalation"

"It is, but it's too perfect. So, what do we do to beef up security?"

"Well, our compound is already military grade; we have escape tunnels going for miles, and everyone's identity is hidden. We all live at the resort, which drastically reduces the risk of infiltration," I tell him

"I know. I just feel like we need to do something to break the routine," he says.

"Wait, is that what you want? Just a way to make our staff more vigilant?"

"Well, we've invested millions into base security. Like you always say, the weak link is people," he tells me.

"It is!"

"So, I know you have crazy projects in the pipeline. I know you, Patrice. The exception report you proposed? That was brilliant. The prime number of days for rotations? A work of art. Mapping watches to cameras was difficult to do, but just the right level of non-paranoia"

I look at him. He used to tell me that he enjoyed my paranoia, but as I always told him, it's not paranoia if they are really after you. Hence, non-paranoia.

"You could approve my keypad plan"

"Patrice, I already approved your keypad plan. They are all on an LCD screen. They all randomize where each number is on each key press. Not only that, but they all have a hidden fingerprint scanner so that we know which person is typing the code. And a temperature scanner in case the hand was cut off. And we ensure their watch is there. I don't know what more we can do"

I smile. I do.

"We have 4-digit PINs, right?"

"Right"

I take out my prototype PIN pad and put it on the desk. It's flat, and we can both see it.

The numbers are scrambled, so that the pad says:

4 # 2

5 9 0

7 * 6

3 8 1

"I will show you how to type the PIN 1, 2, 3, 4 with my proposal"

"Ok", he says, curious but not impatient. He knows my worth.

"I start by pressing the key labeled 1, down at the bottom right," so I do. The numbers get scrambled.

"Fair enough"

"But my second number, 2, I don't press where the 2 is, I press where the 2 should be, top of the first line"

"Oh, so we ignore the scrambling"

"If someone sees over my shoulder, they will think my second digit is 9."

"Ok, I like that"

I press, and then, "For 3, I use the number 3, wherever it is"

"Like normal", he says.

"And 4, well, I press where 4 would be", I say.

"I like that. So everyone would do that?"

"Oh no"

"No?"

"Everyone will get two positional digits and two literal digits, but not always in the same order."

"Now that is the type of lateral thinking I like. Ok, I approve, but make sure it's a gradual rollout. I don't want chaos in here"

"Cassian, you know me"

"I do. But I do remember the magnetic badge phaseout, and that was chaos"

"We were compromised!" I say.

"We thought we were compromised"

"With all due respect, Cassian, from a security standpoint, a card accidentally dropped between an elevator and the floor and resting at the bottom of the elevator well and a card stolen by a spy both create the same outcome. Didn't we have an agent who hid in a government facility by staying in an elevator well?"

"Which is precisely why ours are secured and equipped with cameras"

"Well, no, it's why they were equipped with a camera. The card fell on top of the camera, so we couldn't see it"

"And now we have redundancy, including seeing the top of every camera. My point is just that tomorrow, I don't want long lines in front of each secured area as people try to figure out the new scheme, like we did when that card was dropped"

"Fair enough. I will be proactive"

"Good"

"But I will start with the autocannons", I say, with some disgust of my own. Active security measures are needed, but I prefer passive ones.

"Do we really want a bloodbath of federal agents if they rush in?" Cassian said.

"No, we don't. We want them to not even know where we were. And if they do, we want them to have no idea how to get to us. Which is why we have fake entryways: we want them to be lost in the outer maze. The autocannons are only if they breach the first real perimeter. By the time they fire, we will have evacuated to site B"

"Which is not ready yet", he says, with judgment in his tone.

"No, but it is secured. We might not be able to work properly, but we will be safe. And the tunnels will collapse behind us"

He sighs. I know he hates the idea of site B, but we can't be sure this mountain is fully secure.

He thanks me and leaves. This was a short meeting, and I moved all of my obligations for the day.

What a waste.

I find my heat camera and my portable radar. I put them both in my backpack. But then, before I leave for my inspection, I check where Cassian is now.

He is in Darian's office, with Darian and Jennifer. I don't know Jennifer that well, not at the resort and not on the job. We just don't work on the same projects. She did help me once with a computer issue, but we were both busy. Darian on the other hand, is my neighbor at the resort. I like him. I like his wife even more.

I go inspect the outer perimeter while I get my team to roll out the new PIN method scheme. I leave the teaching to my team. I don't have the patience for it.

The good news is that since the perimeter tunnel isn't climatized, I am allowed to undress to inspect it. There are corridors that make it to 104 degrees!

That's at least some good news for my day, spending part of it out of my stuffy uniform. And due to the layout, I can really lose myself in the long winding corridors. That's the point after all! My watch can show me the map, but I prefer to use my memory. I am in charge of security. I should know this like the back of my hand.

I think back to my last meeting with Tamara. Is it really just security by obfuscation to force everyone to get dressed to work? Visitors viewing our repetitions are allowed to stay nude, so it's not like a police officer infiltrating us wouldn't soon figure out we were naturists.

And yet, having our non-security personnel nude would reduce the risk of smuggling security devices. I certainly wouldn't mind working nude.

<-#5: Tamara Analyses