Ahsoka Tano; Mightiest Force Wielder (Book 1: The Rise)

VT-49 Mods 3

Right after having entered Mike's apartment, Ahsoka started: "I'm starving. I want to go and get some food for us."

Mike: "You should rather not. You have to be very careful about the public surveillance system. Here on this level, there is nothing, but where would you go to get food? Maybe I should rather go?"

Ahsoka: "Here are some credits, it would really be great, if you would get some food."

Mike took the money and left. First Ahsoka, was relieved, that she could relax now, but then she worried, what Mike would do. He could straight off run to the authorities, report her and cash whatever reward Vader had put on her head. He was out for more than ¾ of an hour, when Ahsoka worried so much, that she played with the thought, to leave the apartment. Opening herself to the force, she could not feel any danger however, so she decided to stay in the flat and remain being opened to the force. Eventually, Mike came back – with Togruta food. It had taken him so long to get to the Shili take away with the scooter, wait for the food to get cooked and packed, then return. It was very sweet of him.

This night Ahsoka barely slept. Storm Troopers or inquisitors would not be such a big problem for her to deal with, always depending on their number of course. But what would happen to Mike? And what should she do with him? Was, indeed, Vader himself looking for her? He could put a lot of resources into tracking her down, it was a big threat.

Next morning, when Mike had woken up he told Ahsoka: "I'm not going to work today. I'll bring you to your martial arts training and pick you up again at 13:00h. In between, I can make calls and visit people. Please, you should not go outside the school. I'll drop you off right in front of the door and pick you up at the same spot again. You have to bury your face behind my back so that no surveillance system will be able to identify you."

Ahsoka: "Will it not raise suspicion, when my face cannot be seen?"

Mike: "Those are computer systems, they scan people's faces and compare them with the first million or so in the list of searched people. If there is a match, the finding will get elevated to an operator. When a face is not recognizable, the compare operation will get discarded. There are too many villains, and in order to keep the system effective, it does not follow complex decision paths. Face not recognized, stop. Face recognized, next step, compare to no. 1 in the list, next no. 2 and so forth until the next face is recognized, then the compare operation of the previous one will get stopped. At frequented points, the list cannot get worked down very far, while at less frequented points the list can get worked down much further. Unfortunately, as Vader is after you, you can expect being so high up in the list, that it will be enough if your face is recognizably scanned anywhere. And it is enough, when the system captures 50% of your face."

Ahsoka: "And the surveillance system is everywhere now?"

Mike: "No, on the top levels and upper class areas, there are a lot, but on the medium levels only the bigger traffic ways are observed, while there is nothing on the lower levels."

Ahsoka: "How can you be sure, there is nothing on the lower levels?"

Mike: "Because such a scanner system would get stolen within hours. Hackers, pirates and others would pay significantly for one. They can only install the scanners, where the police can be within minutes."

Ahsoka: "How do you know all that?"

Mike swanky: "Because I'm in a hacker club. Why do you think, I can change RegIDs?"

Part 3

They left the apartment and Ahsoka got dropped off at the martial arts school. Thereafter Mike started his calls and ran all errands he had planned for. A few minutes before 13:00h Mike waited outside of the martial arts school, as close as he could get. Scanning the area, he could not see any scanner systems. They departed and arriving back in the apartment, Ahsoka was eager to hear what news Mike had. As promised, he had called some people he knew. First was the company developing high speed hyperdrives. They would sell her a prototype for 50000 credits. That included installation. Next, the university agreed to equip her space ship with a thought control prototype for a donation of 5000 credits. The hardware he needed to develop the side shift hyperdrive, would be another 10000 credits. Back at Mike's place Ahsoka checked her finances and what she had was a bit more than 32000 credits. Clearly it was not enough. She wanted those modifications for the VT-49 and she wanted them badly. Mike was right, they were simply - COOL.