Virtually Innocent

Off The Record

"Soon," Anthony scoffed to himself, doing his best to remain patient. How soon did Coder 001 think 'soon' meant? A few hours? A few days? It had been a week, by Anthony's account, and there still wasn't any evidence sharing. The only thing that had changed for Anthony's virtual environment was that he had file boxes with news coverage, articles, and press releases about the case. Anthony was leaving the files out when he accessed them, since he had all the space in the world to sort through everything.

If there was factually accurate information, Anthony put it together in one space to his left. Information that was factually inaccurate was tossed to the right. Everything else was sorted into potentially helpful speculation, throwaway resources, and unhelpful speculation. The organization was like a spectrum rainbow in from of Anthony, the left being the stuff that he can work with and spanning over to the stuff that he can't use for his benefit on the right. He supposed that there was a possibility he could use the inaccuracies in an argument for an appeal, but he didn't fully know how that worked.

The hardest part of reviewing the coverage of the case was seeing the disparaging commentary about his dead wife. When they weren't suggesting that she was a sex worker and drug dealer, they were describing her as being so mentally unstable that she was always at risk of being a victim of a violent crime. The photos they showed of Annalise were the worst he thinks they could find online, because there's no way her parents would've given those photos for publication. Anthony's faith in the world and the system, already deteriorated, continued to slip through his fingers like sand to be replaced by rage. The media were vultures picking apart the remains of Annalise's memory and his life. His trauma was just roadkill to the rest of the world.

Except Coder 001 and Nurse Harper. That's what he reminds himself whenever he starts to get too angry. The new night nurse has been asking him if he is noticing any symptoms of increased blood pressure or heart rate, since his vitals are reflecting the irritability that he is feeling. When Nurse Harper comes in the mornings, and she asks him about it too.

This morning, though, she hears him mutter to himself.

"Soon what?" she asks with a joyful vibe in her voice.

Anthony chuckles, "There'll be something for me to actually do in here."

It's not a lie. Anthony doesn't like the idea of lying to Nurse Harper, who has been genuinely kind to him. She deserves better than that in return.

Nurse Harper groans in response. "I can't believe that nobody is doing anything about this limbo situation. I thought that Coder 001 was able to remote in and fix it."

He huffs. "Yeah, he popped in, but it isn't easy to fix, I guess. A few file caches loaded in. It just didn't keep my busy for too long."

Speaking in half-truths is easier than Anthony prefers, but it works in his favor for the purposes of this conversation. It'll probably be a useful skill to have in the future, too, if not for the rest of his life. Even if he's able to do something about his conviction, there will always be people who still will think that he killed Annalise. He'll have to practice a new level of discretion for the rest of his life.

"I guess that's something," she sighs, "but all of this still feels like a lot of trouble for something that they don't even know will work."

The conversation shifts, with Nurse Harper saying she didn't have time to grab a drink for her first stop, but that she would bring something at her next check. She also lets Anthony know that this week is his follow-up with the doctors to make sure he's physically well. Nurse Harper says that they can try bringing up the issues with the headset, but that she doesn't think the doctor will want to do anything about it.

She admits, "I record every day if there are any changes to the environment, but none of the doctors have asked me about it any further."

This captures Anthony's attention. Something about it doesn't seem right. If she's recording every single day, maybe even multiple times a day, that the virtual environment isn't functioning as intended, then why did Nurse Harper have to reach out to Coder 001 directly? Why hasn't Mr. Samuel Bergman paid Anthony a visit?

In that moment, he makes a snap decision.

"Harper," he starts very quietly, "I need to ask you for a huge favor."

He can almost hear the smile form on her lips as she prepares to agree. But he has something more to add.

"Off the record..."

It doesn't stop her from agreeing. Harper grabs his arm and squeezes it. "I don't have anything better to do anyway."

Anthony decides that they have to be careful, so he'll have to give her the full explanation in chunks throughout the day. He starts by articulating what the favor he needs from her is first.

"Look back at your old notes and see if your records about the VR not working are still there. If they are gone, I need you to take handwritten notes of every time that you can remember reaching out about it," Anthony has never spoke so quickly in his life, but he gets it all out without losing his breath. Nurse Harper says this won't be a problem because she writers everything down in a notebook before entering it in the computer. Without being told, she knew to keep her voice low.

"I'll tell you more when you come back later," Anthony assures her. "Thanks for trusting me on this."

Harper leaves without saying anything else. On camera, it makes sense. Speaking in low voices and keeping to a regular physical movement routine ensures that nobody who might be watching thinks anything is going on, and they wouldn't be able to hear anything clearly enough to be alerted otherwise.

It feels like forever has passed and no time at all when Harper returns. As promised, she has apple juice with her, and an update. Unfortunately, Anthony was right. Harper is quick to tell him that her notes have been edited by the doctors after she submitted them for review, but her notes about the virtual reality software had been removed.

"I'm already making copies," Harper's affirmation was soft while he held the straw in place. While he continued sipping, she continued her thoughts. "I'm taking photos of the edits with my phone, too. This is unethical."

Anthony grunts in agreement. The notes being altered by the doctors to erase this vital information could be any level of insidious. Whether it's because of a deeper cover-up related to Anthony's case, or if it is just to inflate the successful impression of the program's implementation, this is criminal behavior. It'll be important that Harper knows that she cannot get caught – and she can't ask questions.

She laughs at the seriousness in his tone.

"Believe it or not," Harper starts with an unfamiliar edge in her tone. "I've done this before."

She's right to make that remark because, truthfully, he can't imagine Harper getting mixed up in anything nefarious or otherwise unlawful. He's played tabletop roleplay games. He's created Dungeons & Dragons universe characters. Harper's moral alignment definitely is lawful good.

Well, maybe not too lawful good because, at least by the public records, she's helping a convicted murder. Anthony sucks in a deep breath. If she's done this before, then he hopes she's ready for whatever fallout might come with helping him. Anthony thanks her, and then finds himself back to waiting for Coder 001 to return. Surely, they will have more information to better understand what is trying to be hidden and why.