Insider Threat

What happened, Angro?

My Endfielder friends! Wonderful, you've arrived quickly enough to help us out! Thank you.

Yeah. I'm glad help has arrived. Mister Goody Two-Shoes can't do anything without his Endfielder friends. All he cares about is procedure or evidence.

An internal audit is not to be trifled with... Professor Crowe was the one who asked us to contact Endfield for a better and more thorough investigation. You know why they have to be here!

Hold on. What are your exact disagreements?

How to carry out the task at hand. Officially, they called it an investigation into recent instances of professional negligence. But more and more of the crew mates have guessed what we're really after.

Of course they know what's going on. I don't think anyone believes the Bonekrushers got lucky when they invaded the Power Plateau. They definitely had inside help.

It's natural to arrive at such conclusions. But I need to see some proper evidence to conclude this investigation.

Investigation...? Forget it. The way you're handling it, you're practically waiting for the criminals to step forward and own up.

Oh! So you're trying to dig around for traitors? Do you already have someone in mind?

I did my homework and I've got my eyes set on two suspects.

So why aren't you doing anything? These criminals are still running free in Valley IV!

Professor Crowe has told us, repeatedly, to step lightly and act with caution. He also reminded us that the operation must be seen as fair and credible by the entire crew.

This is why ... we'll need your help in this investigation.

What should we do, Endmin?

Awesome. I'll sync your terminals with the files.

We must act quickly. We can't let the traitors stay one step ahead of us.

Alright, my Endfielder friends, the safety of Valley IV rests upon your shoulders. You have my sincere thanks in advance.

I'm counting on you, Endmin!

No matter what, we need more evidence and clues.

Yulia's the long-range comms technician of Valley IV. She has worked at Power Plateau for quite a few years and is in charge of operating and maintaining all comms equipment at multiple sites. She's one of our most experienced crew mates for this job.

If she had plans to leak intel or disrupt our comms channel ... she could pull them off really easily.

She's still on her job as usual, taking care of the comms facilities at the Shattered Fringe. I haven't alerted her. Her superior, Dmitry, is my man. Talk to him for details about the sitch.

Georgi's in charge of stock redistribution at the Originium Power Plant. He got assigned to Valley IV just several months ago. The man takes care of supplies allocation at the plant. Looks like a greenhorn, but his post is a rather sensitive one.

He knows where most of the stashes are, but since his authority level is limited, he wouldn't know the locations of higher level storage facilities.

Right now he's coordinating supplies allocation at the Reconstruction Headquarters. My people got their eyes on him. I don't think he has any chance to mess around anymore.

Great! Call me if there's anything you need.

She's super familiar with every comms node in Valley IV, and that includes their locations, authority levels, and system switches.

I've checked the tables for goods allocation and outgoing supplies. I found some missing supplies from the stashes he's in charge of. The quantities do not look like standard losses to me.

It's been a while, Endmin.

I gotta thank you again for saving my life back at the Valley Fort.

But ... we desperately need to identify and arrest the traitors in the UWST.

The thought of the traitors still walking amongst us gives me the shivers... Their betrayal killed so many fellow crew mates. I wonder how they sleep at night.

Yulia and Georgi are the prime suspects! If I had my way, I would have them arrested at once!

Angro is a nice guy, but he's also indecisive. These are tough times, and we can't afford to suffer any more losses.

We publicly described the audit as a formal investigation — specifically for acts of standard professional negligence that occurred during the attack.

But truth be told, even in a time like this, such negligence shouldn't warrant an investigation with this much publicity — especially if it didn't result in any major problems.

The crew mates know how to read the signs. The worse thing is ... people are starting to get suspicious of each other.

That's why we can't afford to delay! We must move quickly!

If we fail to properly handle this investigation of traitors, the results could be just as devastating as another attack on the UWST.

We're all counting on you, Endministrator!

We must restore the comms channels. Primary priority is identifying sources of interference! All data must be sent directly to the Reconstruction HQ using the emergency procedure!

Endmin? And ... your team is here. Okay. Let's talk somewhere else.

Stop getting in my way. Can't you see I'm busy?

Are you Yulia?

Yeah. So what? If you got something to say, spit it out. The boss is going to blame me if my work gets delayed.

Just carry on... We're alright.

I always end up having to clean up someone's mess.

It's been restored! Reconstructing cache documents and files... There! That's the comm records.

These logs... The data volume is way too high. Something is sent every evening over the course of several days.

Call destinations are ... not in Valley IV. They're nodes outside the region. Data packs were sent with a special auto-adaptive frequency jumping technology. Such detection avoidance measures...

Can we access the call contents?

No. They've been encrypted. Data structure is complex and not included in any standard protocol. This wasn't ... the first time she used it.

That means ... she's super sus!

We can't jump to conclusions yet.

The problem is ... Yulia likely knows that someone's been looking at this terminal. We probably won't get any new evidence out of it.

Yulia's gone to support another site, but she should be back by now. I'll take you to her!

Dmitry! Where did you go? The demolition crew is running all over the place looking for you.

How could you leave your post at a moment like this? I don't understand why they made you the one in charge.

This one here is the Endministrator of Endfield Industries. This is Supervisor Perlica, and that one is Operator Chen... They got a few questions for you.

For me? I'm just an ordinary technician. What could I do?

Did you — mess things up again? Are you forcing me to take the blame? I've seen this way too often, Dmitry.

Stop putting it like that. Cooperate with the investigation. It'll help you ... and the UWST as well.

Investigation? Me? I've slogged in this backwater for eight friggin' years through storm and rain. I even soloed that signal outage and fixed it — But now, when the blight hits the fan, you decide to blame me for everything? I guess pinning everything on Yulia is our latest rule.

Then you better explain this — Right before the attack, you made multiple calls to an unregistered comms node outside Valley IV. Your calls are also fully encrypted. What do you have to say about this?

That's my private call! How dare you flip through my records? Did the Security Bureau authorize this search?

You really think I'd betray the UW? Forget things much? You didn't even know how to use the terminal OS back then. Guess who taught you that? And now you're biting the hands that helped you?

I'm not here to argue. I'll keep it simple: Undo the encryptions and prove your innocence.

I refuse!

What did you just say?

I'm Yulia, a comms technician stationed in Valley IV facility of the United Workers' Syndicates of Talos II. I served in the Valley for eight years and six months, and I didn't even run for it when the crisis hit us. And now you want me to prove my innocence without bringing any hard evidence to the table?

Apologies, Endmin... I've messed everything up.

At least we acquired the comms log. Angro will have plenty of materials to analyze for a while.

I'll help decrypt the call contents, but ... this might take some time.

Yulia, your duties have been suspended as we wait for the results... This isn't just about you. We're doing this for the safety of Valley IV.

Hah. That's a nice way to put it. Unfortunately, I'm very much aware that nobody in this blighted place would defend me.

Ugh... Endmin, Supervisor Perlica, just carry on with your tasks. I have to bring her to Angro.

Roger that!

This batch isn't really big. I can keep my eyes on it alone — The Reconstruction HQ is way too busy anyways...

Mr. Crowe said delivery and receiving must be verified and validated by two departments. All records must be properly taken. And no skipping of the procedure.

But this will slow things down... When I handled the level three stashes, we —

Get on with it. Complete the supplies delivery and receiving form. And remember, the form is a triplicate.

Who's Georgi, the one in charge of logging the records?

That would be me... Do we have a problem here?

We are. I'm Perlica, Supervisor of Endfield Industries. This is the Endministrator and Operator Chen.

We're here because the UWST commissioned us to investigate internal acts of professional negligence during the Valley IV Incursion.

...

When the Landbreakers attacked Valley IV, frequent counts of abnormal records and missing supplies were found in the stashes you managed. Care to explain why?

Wha... I ... uh ... I don't know. Maybe something was wrong with the system.

System error might help explain the accounting issues, but what about the missing supplies? I don't think that was caused by system errors.

Well ... maybe I allocated stuff to the wrong stash! There are just too many stash locations in the Power Plateau. The procedure is also a mess. Maybe I remembered and punched the numbers wrong!

Oh, okay... Follow me.

Georgi, why are you sneaking around? What are you doing?

Wha ... you're still here?! I thought the investigation had ended already...

What do you think? This stash looks pretty tidy, right?

Wow, what?! Oh come on, Endmin... You can't be serious.

We've found evidence of supplies going missing from this stash. Wanna try explaining that?

Are ... are you trying to say that ... that you actually saw...

We have acquired the monitoring logs for evidence.

Night? Oh ... yeah. Night-time deliveries to Origin Lodespring have made the trucks arrive late. And we got this curfew now. If I'm not around when the truck arrives, we can't deliver the goods.

So, how do you explain that the night-time batch of supplies ... ended up with the Landbreakers?

Land ... landbreakers?! That's ... that's impossible...!

I don't know ... I don't know anything, I swear... I ... I admit that I'm a little short on money...

...She found me first. She said the operation would be completely waterproof...

Who is she? A Landbreaker?

No, she's not... She calls herself a go-between with a small business. Anyone looking for some quick bucks on the side would talk to her.

I just gave her canned provisions that were about to expire... I never knew she would give them to the LBs...

One more question. Artyom — have you talked to him before?

Artyom? He's an old veteran of the trucking crew. He's got way more years than me. I know him, but —

Was he involved in this delivery of yours?

I don't know ... I really don't know! The only one I talked to was that go-between! I'm in the dark about anything else!

Endmin, you gotta believe me! I'm not a traitor ... I just ... made a mistake...

I —

Oh, it's getting pretty late. I, uh ... just got off my shift...

No one's going anywhere until the investigation is over.

I can't just let the supplies sit around this place. If the trucks arrive late, I gotta work overtime and get the cargo out.

Excuse me. Is there a trucker named Artyom here?

Supervisor Perlica? And you brought your team...

I'm the leader of this trucking crew. Artyom is usually assigned to our team. Why are you looking for him?

Won't be easy looking for Artyom. Recently, he's just been disappearing right after his shift and avoiding people for the rest of the day.

But his truck drove out of the parking lot last night. During the curfew, actually.

Impossible. All delivery jobs are scheduled during the day. I would even switch off vehicle access for the night—

Artyom was the one who taught you how to lock down the vehicles, right? I bet he's got the same authorization. Don't forget. He's the oldest guy in the crew.

What are you after, really? Is he ... involved in that thing?

You got too many questions, boy! The vehicle wax has arrived. Holler at the crew and get the stuff moving!

Endmin, this might be more complicated than we thought. I have to inform Angro at once.

Angro? Did he tell you about the investigation?

Yes. Back when we got notified about the investigation on professional negligence, he asked me to keep an eye out for things.

Artyom is a very respected veteran of the crew. I can hardly believe this...

Didn't you notice anything unusual about him?

My trucking crew eat and live together. We're like family, you see. But recently ... Artyom has been avoiding the rest of us.

There's an abandoned transfer station southwest of the Power Plant. Artyom occasionally goes there to blow off some steam. Maybe you can check out that place.

Understood. I'll cancel the jobs for today and get the crew glued to this post. Nobody's leaving till Artyom is found.

...Thank you, people. I probably wouldn't have been able to escape if you hadn't come to get me out of the mess.

Are you Artyom?

I am.

I'm Supervisor Perlica of Endfield Industries. And this is—

I know. The Endministrator, right?

You last visited Valley IV ten years ago — I was already working here back then...

We don't have time for nostalgia. Is this where you've been hiding?

Hiding? I guess you can call it that... I don't really like crowded places, so I got myself a quiet spot.

A quiet spot? We literally just had a mob of Landbreakers here.

They ... they just showed up, all of a sudden. Even took me by surprise.

Well then, Mr. Artyom — Why did that truck of yours appear along the fringes of Valley IV during non-working hours? We have the monitoring logs and the video is pretty clear.

I don't know what you're talking about.

We not only have the video, we even got your path mapped out. You strayed off the distribution route and headed straight into breaker turf.

Are you accusing me of working with the pipefaces?

I admit that I've violated a few of our SOPs, but I didn't betray the Syndicates. That night, I went out to handle a few ... personal affairs.

This is no longer a personal affair.

I believe Angro will have more questions for you.

...I believe he does.

Endmin, you're back! Wonderful.

Both Yulia and Georgi have been detained. We're now questioning them.

I already suspected them! Who knows what evil things they would've pulled off if the Endmin hadn't busted them!

Your help is greatly appreciated. We are certain that these two are indeed guilty of major infractions.

Communication Support is trying to crack the terminal she used to send her encrypted messages. She didn't use standard protocols. In fact, she designed the terminal herself and the encryption structure is incredibly complex.

She's really smart. Handy with tools and tech as well... But she focused her skills on the wrong pursuit.

No more buts! She deleted the logs and tried to deny it. We gotta figure out what she actually did before our losses get any worse!

I understand, but we need to take things one step at a time. If we can restore the original comm records, we'll learn about the people she was talking with.

We've managed to tag someone. She seems like a traveling merchant collecting old machinery. Never expected her to be dealing with underground markets.

We should count ourselves lucky. Georgi is willing to cooperate. I've made an arrangement with him. He'll have something on offer to lure her out, and then we'll pounce.

I'm actually more concerned about whether she has more evidence against Georgi. The man is still putting on an act of a minor miscreant. I refuse to buy his show.

Artyom... He's an old veteran of Valley IV. I don't think he's involved in this.

You're too soft. That's why you can't get any suspects. He's the one who drove a truck out there in the dead of night!

Yeah. We even ran into Landbreakers near his hideout.

I understand. That's why I'm pegging him as a serious suspect.

But right now, that Artyom still refuses to tell us anything. What are you planning to do?

Give me some time. I'm going to interrogate him myself.

We now have three clear approaches to the problem. If our next step is successful, we'll be one step closer to the truth.

We can't just be closer to the truth. We need actual results. No compromises. Our fellow crew mates who lost their lives in this incident deserve this much.

Yeah! And we'll definitely help nab the traitor!

You've already given us a ton of help. We'll move things forward from this point. I'll notify you once we make any progress.

Listen, everyone — Professor Crowe asked Endfield to support this investigation to help us reveal the truth.

We managed to detain three suspects with the Endmin's help. We have secured some evidence, but not enough to condemn anyone yet. We have to follow UWST procedures carefully.

Those people — they got involved with outsiders and sold off our supplies to fill their purses! They've betrayed the United Workers!

I understand! We all want the traitors to be severely punished! But cursory trials and vigilantism are not justice! Our departed crew mates will not find rest in that!

Keep your philosophies to yourself! None of my people departed in peace!

When they attacked us, not a single member of my team abandoned their post! Remember Mark?

He just got engaged three months ago... His fiancée is still waiting at Triglava, hoping for news about him... But I just couldn't —

Yuri, Ivan, Anna ... everyone I ever led — I must secure justice for their souls!

That's right! Death to the traitors!

You're the ones...

Shawna! Calm down!

Endmin, I...

I must avenge them! I took an oath!

...You believe in me? But I don't know who to believe in anymore...

...If that's what you say, I trust you.

The truth and vengeance... Those are the only things I want.

Made any progress?

This is hardware-based encryption. She even changed the circuitry to achieve this.

I've connected this to the Originium Science Park server and attempted brute force decryption... But we don't have a device of the same model or make ... so we don't know how this terminal of hers responded to the signal.

...Will we have anything by the end of the day?

Hardware encryption... Do you have any older encryption device? Even broken ones might work.

Are you saying we could — emulate Yulia's device?

I got it! The Endmin's Originium Arts could emulate a terminal of the same model!

It's just like how we repaired the broken circuitry. Once the Endmin recreates the operational process of the terminal, we can bypass the hardware encryption and use Originium Arts to force it to "talk".

This will definitely work!

Alright. I'll find the old model encryption device. The rest is in your hands.

Endmin, we've restored the call contents.

We've read through them. The people she was talking to don't look like Bonekrushers.

That's great. However, even though she didn't leak any intel, her actions are still considered a major infraction.

How will you deal with her?

I'm going to transfer her to the Security Bureau... She probably has to spend some time behind bars and work with SEC-B to reveal the identity of her callers.

So it isn't Yulia... What about the other two suspects? Anything new about them?

I found a way to reach the go-between. She seems oblivious to our investigation, and believes that she's still dealing with Georgi.

Georgi's already arranged a meeting on the west side of the Originium Power Plant. If we can nab her there, we might have a chance to get the truth.

Great. Having you around is giving me peace of mind.

Failure is not an option for this operation. This go-between ... is key to proving if Georgi is the traitor.

These call contents seem unrelated to the recent Incursion of Valley IV. The caller asked for records from twenty years ago, and Yulia turned them down.

Who are these people? Why do they want call records from when the Great Originium Oak blew up?

That explosion shook the entire Civilization Band. From what I know, classified data from that event includes the locations of secret facilities and military deployment of the UWST.

Does that mean we ... proved that Yulia is not the traitor?

……Georgi, I thought you washed your hands of this after that last deal.

I ... I'm a little short again...

Your voice quakes when you lie — This is no exception.

I have a feeling you brought company, hmm?

Wha?! No, I didn't...

Come out now, my tunneling nidwyrm!

By Talos, even my tunneling nidwyrm is no match for you...!

Are you the only buyer of Georgi's supplies?

I thought you seized the manifest. It's got everything about my incoming shipments...

I don't have time nor patience for a nice convo, woman. Tell me what you know or this piece of iron won't go easy on you.

Hold on — Calm down! You wanna know who the Landbreakers' liaison is, right?

It's Artyom! Someone in your trucking crew! His brother joined the Bonekrushers several years ago.

WHAT?!

Calm down, Shawna!

We need better evidence.

Hur. I got a picture of Artyom meeting his brother here.

Artyom is the most senior trucker in Valley IV. He's literally the walking map of your trucking crew.

I had to do plenty of homework to get in touch with him for my business. I finally snapped a photo of him talking with the LBs.

One of those pipefaces called him brother... Now there's no need to doubt the authenticity of this photo. I was planning to use it to "coerce" him into backing my business. A fake photo would never work.

...Enough! I'm going to settle my scores with him.

As for you... Count yourself lucky I decided to let you live. SEC-B will determine your fate.

Shawna? What are you —

Shut yer trap! Take a good look at this! Is that your brother? What did you tell him?

...What are you talking about?

Talking about the unexpected, fool! Your own brother turns out to be a breaker!

So quit playing dumb! We already have the testimonies and hard evidence.

...You're right. I have a younger brother. Florian. He disappeared for several years, but I didn't expect to meet him again under such circumstances...

I'll also admit that I met him in private. He's changed — into a bloodthirsty extremist who can't stop rambling about that boss of his.

So you admit that you met and talked to him... You're the one who betrayed our intel to them.

No! I didn't leak anything!

ENOUGH! I've tolerated you for too long...

You're the only suspect. No one else could've sold UWST intel to the enemy!

SOMEONE! STOP HER!

...Do it.

Florian... He's buried under the transfer station. The place where you found me.

He's already dead?!

There were only the two of us when we last met. Florian wanted to smash my knees and hand me over to his boss. He said his breaker friends were suspicious of his loyalty to the clan — they thought he wanted out and planned to return to the UWST with me.

So he ... had to prove himself to the boss.

We had a hell of a fight... I remember seizing that blade of his.

I ... I just wanted Florian to be back with the crew...

Endmin, the Security Bureau agents are here.

You've done more than was expected of you, Endministrator.

I'll submit every piece of evidence and investigation records to the Security Bureau. They will take over this case and find out what really happened.

Valley IV has already lost too much. We cannot afford to let "trust" become another casualty.

After all this time ... I'm just thankful that you're here with us.

I tried to persuade him to leave the Landbreakers. I even said I could help him ... return to the Syndicates, but he refused to listen.

You're here, Endmin.

...You saw through me again.

It isn't your fault... The truth never reveals itself that easily.

I asked to meet you here for a simple reason... I just wanted to say thank you in person.

You kept your cool and trusted in me. Without you, I might have made a terrible mistake from which there would've been no turning back.

But I still remember that time at the Valley Pass. You showed up in the nick of time. I thought my crew mates and I had already been left behind.

But Mark and the others ... they weren't so lucky.

Sometimes, when I shut my eyes, I see their faces. It feels as though nothing has changed. They are so close, calling me their captain, but when I try to reach out to them...

And there's one more thing. I'm leaving the Valley.

The Security Bureau is hiring. I've submitted my application.

I don't care how many years it takes. I'll find that traitor. I'm doing this for one reason only ... for my crew who will never be coming back.

When that day comes, you'll be the first to know.

Farewell, Endministrator.

Angro told me. It's about Yulia, right?

I hope this is just a misunderstanding. We joined UWST in the same crew. The two of us have worked together for almost a decade.

Almost a decade? That means she's one of your technical leads, right?

It goes without saying that Yulia is a skilled technician. But she ... she's too much of a loner. Most work in the UWST requires us to function as a proper crew.

The Communication Support Department gave Yulia a chance, but she tried to solo the job and screwed up. She took it very badly and even claimed that someone was out to get her.

I'm not trying to defend Yulia, but ... she's convinced that the rest of the crew is ostracizing her.

I heard her complain a lot. Sometimes, when she got a little too tipsy, she'd start blabbering nonsense... She even said something about working for the enemy. Even then, I found that hard to believe.

But you don't have to worry about anything from me. I'll be completely open. I'll tell you everything I know.

Has Yulia been acting strange lately?

Her shift hours look normal. Call contents look clean. But she accessed the Valley IV long-range radio logs just a few days before the attack.

I reviewed the logs and found that all comm records within a certain time frame are missing... She deleted something, and I lost my trail.

Comm records? Did she delete them manually? That's really sus.

Yeah... And it was a really clean removal. I can't even restore the data.

Do you still have the terminal carrying the long-range radio logs? The Endmin can probably restore the data.

Great! I do have that terminal. Follow me!