20141215, 12:54 – The fourth page of the Naomi edit!

14:07 – Tweaked the script to rub out “totally secure comms” in favor of “secure comms” and changed the wording in Raven’s panel to remove the implication that Greymalkin is omniscient. Rebuilt West’s eyes and eyebrows and part of his forehead in the last panel, then rebuilt the heck out of Naomi in panel two. Finished with an edit to West’s nose in panel three.

Second Edition Metadata

The noteworthy thing about TSCR (Totally Secure Comms, and the fact that it’s Range Limited) is that with organic computing and hardware like the Majestic packs, the entire spectrum can be snooped and cracked, quite often in real time. That includes comms lasers. Don’t ask me how, mind you – the tech is just That Good. What makes Totally Secure Comms totally secure is that the source is close enough to the target that relativity is no longer an issue.* Inside this range, one-time pads of the type used by this sort of scheme are practical, and limited only to processing power.**

While the super-hardware that can sniff and scarf a comms laser from orbit will still be able to sniff the traffic, the encryption changes so rapidly that the conversation is typically over by the time the observer has obtained anything actionable.

While the specialists on the Sabrosa could crack the Daedalus crypto package easily, West is doing this more to piss off the Templar, as the crypto kit Greymalkin has access to is still silicon based.

* There’s a bit of a delay between, say… earth and the shuttle. A bit more between earth and the moon. No matter your crypto, the second relativity gets involved, you’re open for intercept.

** I read Cryptonomicon. Great book, gave me some ideas – but not the kind I get to use much. I’m no crypto nerd – I’m not even a math nerd – but I think an OTP smart enough to change up every second or two would make even the most talented crypto types tear their hair out.

Mastering notes, 2016.12.06 – Minor dialogue adjustments.