The world cleared from a haze but was replaced by dim lighting for the most part, the only beam of light coming from a window right at the top of the room’s back wall. Allan was sat down with hands outstretched in front of him, arms placed upon a table… Or rather, arms forcibly held up on the table, with his wrists being bound by stasis cuffs which had been pinned to a crossbar atop said table. A single chair sat opposite on the other side, but it was unoccupied. The room was cold to the extent that a person could see their breath upon exhaling. There was the screech of metal and an automated but heavily reinforced door slid open, allowing a newcomer to enter. The man – large in height and stature, bald but bearded – was in plainclothes but exuded the typical air that some sort of law enforcement officer would bring. As the door slid shut again he paced over, sitting down heavily in the other chair. “So, Mr Allen,” he started, fixing the young man with an unimpressed look. “You obviously know why you’ve been brought in here today. I’m not sure why you thought it was such a bright idea to straight-up hack Starfleet’s website. And to live-stream it as well? Well, young man…” The unimpressed look vanished, and this burly man broke into a grin instead. “It’s the most impressive thing I’ve seen in a long time! Here, let me sort the heating in here – it’s always so damned cold.” - "Sheesh," Allan said immediately as he saw that he was handcuffed to a table in a dark room. And then he realized that the room was really really cold, so much so that he saw his breath as he spoke. At first, he'd think this was some kinky shit going on, but he was fully clothed, although he was in some comfortable shorts and a shirt, he had those Grippy Socks ™️ and no shoes because apparently those could be used to somehow escape or whatever. Whatever. The memory was flooding back to him now, but this guy? Who the fuck was he? "Uhhh, yeah, you're about eight years too late buddy, but yeah, the cold isn't pleasant, that's for sure, is this even safe?" He watched his breath go out of his mouth again. Felt like he could get frostbite from this shit! - "Eight years too late?" The man enquired, having paced over to the wall. He spent a moment scratching at his bald head as he tried to make sense out of the control panel on the wall and adjust the heating. Eventually he found the right setting for the heated flooring. "Is that when you started the whole streaming online thing? That's a little bit young, isn't it - but that would explain how you've managed to gain all of those subscribers over the years!" The laugh he gave was a chortling rumble as he returned to the desk, heaving himself back into the seat. "As for the heating -- we don't have to use these interrogation rooms very often. Not as if there's much crime around any more, is there!" - Allan raised an eyebrow. "How old do you think I am? I hacked Starfleet eight fucking years ago. 2404. On my eighteenth birthday," he said, wondering what the fuck was up with this. Had he been transported to the past somehow? If so, that kinda sucked, because he was kinda liking life right now, and his eighteen-year-old self... well, if this was the past, maybe he could change some things earlier on. But then would he have to meet Eshen all over again? Would he have to meet -T'alea- all over again? No, no. "Well... I don't know why you wouldn't prep it before handcuffing me to the damn table, but okay. Why am I cuffed anyway? Do you actually think I could stand a chance in hand-to-hand against you?" He raised an eyebrow yet again. Especially if he was in the past and eighteen again, he would certainly not stand up to this guy. - The man let Allan ramble on for a minute, just sitting there and listening as he scratched at his beard. "Kid - your door was booted down by armed officers because you had just hacked Starfleet. Do you really think that we can just let you wander about without precaution? As much as I appreciate your efforts - because hacking the fleet is quite a feat, no rhyming intended - you're a criminal in the eyes of both FedSec and the SCIS. You really think that precautions weren't gonna be taken? And as for the rest..." He sighed, swinging his chair back so it touched the wall, looking at the young man with an expression that was a little more solemn. "This is your eighteenth birthday. And I know you've been celebrating. So if you've taken something and didn't disclose it when you were being booked in, then you should say now. We'll get you something to get it out of your system." - "Okay, okay, whatever." He sighed, leaning back in the chair as much as he reasonably could to try and relax. So he... so he was in the past? Or this was a dream of some sort where he was in the past. Regardless, the least he could do was play along, right? "No, sorry, last time I was on anything like that was... a year ago, maybe? At a party, been a long time since. You don't know me, I kinda just say shit and see what sticks - believe me or not, though, I have future memories. I might be a time traveler, even! Who knows." He grinned, trying to make it obvious to the other that he was joking around, even if in reality he was being honest. "And your name is..?" - He gave a blank look at the 'okay, okay, whatever.' Teenagers would be teenagers, and they'd always be rude. He was fine by that - had two of them himself back home! "Alright, Mr Time Traveller - I'm sure that you and those future memories can have a nice time together once you've finished telling me about the present," he commented, chuckling. "Trying to go run-around with this chat won't get you anywhere, okay? And besides -- I'm the good cop here, I think what you did was impressive. So: let's start this again, okay? You're young Mister Allan Allen -" the man stopped, tapping his badge, "and I'm Mr Kerutep, FedSec-SCIS liaison." - "Sí. Do you need the full name?" Allan asked, wishing he could get comfortable in this stupid chair and just wishing to get this whole interrogation over with. How long had it been the first time? Sheesh, he couldn't remember the details that clearly. At the very least, this guy would probably need him to go over some of the basics. That was fine, he could do that. The sooner he could speed through the process of getting out of this place, the better. Speedrun Starfleet hacking interrogation, 100%. Then he could maybe find someone who knew about time fuckery at Starfleet Academy or something. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Kerutep. Let's get this over with quickly for the sake of both of us, then?" - "I can get it over and done with more quickly than you could even think of," the man mused in return. For a moment it was ominous, that smile turning a little lopsided and a little Uncanny Valley-esque -- but then it was back to normal in an instant, the smile being just a smile. "I'm sure that you understand the gravity of the situation that you're in. Armed officers don't go kicking in a person's door unless it's some sort of serious business, after all." That wasn't a lie; any attempts at traditional 'crime' were normally handled by specialists who could intervene and de-escalate, not proper officers wielding arms. "You're in a whole lot of trouble, but I don't think you should be. Y'see - you've got talent, young Mr Allen. And I don't want that talent to go to waste." - Allan crossed his legs and nodded. Of course he was in trouble, he was before and so he was now, blah blah blah. He knew the drill here. "Yup, completely understand that, sir. The gravity of the situation was, of course, the intention," he said, a little put off by this guy's Vibes but, like, ACAB, so that was almost to be expected. "I appreciate the compliment, but what do you want? Community service?" - "Community service? What, do you think we're going to have you go out there digging up weeds or making sure that automated public disposal units-" ah yes, that beautiful Federation term for 'rubbish bin' "-are working okay? Stars, no; what a waste of talent that would be!" The man actually shook his head at that, incredulous. "Look. You're eighteen now - you're a legal adult. You don't have the protection of being a kid any more. You hacked Starfleet. Community service won't be on the cards for you - the only place you'll be going is jail. Now -- I don't like that idea. You're too bright of a mind for that, and losing your talent would really be wasteful. So... I'd like to offer you a job. A chance to hone those skills, and go from hacking Starfleet to hacking what matters." - Allan allowed himself to laugh a little, mostly at the term for rubbish bins really, why was it so long? You could at least make it an acronym. APDU or something, at least it was shorter. "Sure, yeah, you're right. I'd end up there for who knows how long. An actual job would be nice. And the job is...?" He was just trying to speedrun this, truly, because he already knew how this went, or mostly, at least. "I'd do most anything to get out of these totally unsexy handcuffs." - My friends have a company named Da'val Theory. They're a private firm, working in the interest of Federation security. Here and there they've got ties to that Starfleet that you just hacked, but for the most part, they operate independently. Means they can get the job done more efficiently, as I'm sure you can appreciate seein' as how Starfleet can't even secure their own website." His gaze softened, looking at the man across from him. "Let them give you a job. They've got a good number of folk in their team, and all of them know what they're doing. They'll teach you to develop those skills and next thing you know it, you won't be hacking Starfleet for fun -- you'll be be hacking enemy factions to protect the Federation. ...And you'll get out of those 'totally unsexy handcuffs.' How does that sound to you?" - "Um," Allan thought about it for a second. Well, this wasn't how it went the first time. Was it because it was a different guy? Where the fuck was Amit? And anyone from CYSEC, really? It almost was if this was simulated rather than a straight up time-warp ordeal, but maybe it was an alternate universe? "I mean, one, how the hell is a private firm going to get me out of here, is that some kind of secret corruption or whatever? And two, uh, I was kinda hoping to talk to someone from CYSEC, you know, about how I hacked into their systems and all? Don't they want that information from me at all, or are they just going to leave the vulnerability wide open?" - An eyebrow was raised at that, but it wasn't sceptical - more impressed. "Oh, so you already know about Intelligence and their divisions? You must have done a bit of digging, huh? Was that what this was all about - some sort of way in so you could go and join them at Intelligence? Look -- it doesn't work that way. The only place that anyone wants you right now is jail. Like I said, we still have ties with Starfleet - look at myself, I've got roles in both FedSec and the SCIS - we can pass on the information so they can fix that vulnerability that you found... But they're not going to thank you for it - they're just going to send you to jail. So come on: let me get you out of this mess. Won't you join us?" - "Of course I did?" Yikes. It was just Allan's luck that his eighteen-year-old self put up such a fight with the head of CYSEC himself, not wanting to work for Starfleet, and here he was, actually wanting to work for Starfleet and somehow this... whatever this reality was, was different in so the only chance he had out of here was some private firm he'd never heard of. "I don't think you understand the question I asked, sir," he said with a sigh. "I get it, you have ties with Starfleet, you'll pass on the information if I give it to you. How are you going to just clear the entire trial? How are you going to get this case dropped? Because as far as I'm concerned, they're the only ones who can choose to drop the case or not." "If you're so close with them, just get me to talk with one of them. Then we can talk again, yeah?" This was what his past self would've said too, now that he thought about it - the whole reason behind the hack was to get to someone in Starfleet, after all. To just chew them out, really, but of course that wasn't the case now. - "C'mon now, I actually thought that we'd get a better response from you, Mister Allen - or at least a smarter one. Do you really think that I'd be offering you a way out of the mess that you made if I didn't have that ability? You really think that I'd go about jeopardising myself and my own position like that? Look -- sometimes we go by another name. It starts with S, and ends with some numbers. I'm sure you've heard of us. Thought you'd have worked it out by now." The smile was a little less soft, a little less impressed - and instead, it was decidedly more forced, almost cold. "I'm sorry -- but you're not going to be able to talk to anyone other than me. As soon as you speak to someone else, that's you - jailed. So come on now. Let me fix this for you. Come and join us." - Ah. Well, that made sense now. This was clearly some sort of alternate reality, probably, or some elaborate simulation - either way, he wasn't going to agree to work with the Section in whatever this was. "So you'd just take me out of here if I agreed somehow? Nobody would notice that, Starfleet wouldn't think huh, wonder where that guy went? It's not clicking, sorry." How would talking to someone else end him up in jail again? Without trial? He had no clue what fucking universe this was. "Forgive me for not being as smart as you expected, I turned eighteen just today after all. Not exactly an expert in anything but what I'm interested in." - "Oh, come on." It was stated incredulously, seriously wondering why this man - barely a man, just a man - was going on like this. Imagine it: the chance at a lifetime to do better than what you were doing right now, plus a free get out of jail card to boot... And here he was, arguing. "Not an expert in anything other than being an insolent teenager, huh? Do you really think we don't have the means to get you out of this without consequence? Do you know who we are?" A fed up exhale was huffed out and the man blinked. One eye had faded to a murky black, the other a piercing red. "It's a shame, really. You could have done a good job with us," he stated -- and the world faded to a haze once more.