Access: Server Room, Telecomms, Maintenance
Additional Access: Engineering, Power Equipment, Tech Storage, External Airlocks
Difficulty: Medium
Supervisors: Chief Engineer
Duties: Ensure the network stays up and that hackers aren't destroying your precious computers. And occasionally fix things like an Engineer, just to prove you can do anything.
Guides: Computers, Hacking, Operating Systems
Quote: “You think you can hack because you can cut or pulse a few wires? You have no idea.” – Robert Hackerman, Network Technician
Ostensibly part of the Engineering department, your job is to make sure that the various kludged computers around the ship are in working order at any given moment. You may want to clarify with the Chief Engineer whether this means he wants you to replace existing consoles with new modern computer technology, or what aspects he would prefer you manage. The ship is rife with ways for a black hat hacker to raise havoc; are you a badass enough net tech to win?
The Network Technician's job becomes relevant under the following circumstances:
Telecomms is disrupted. Whether by bombing the server room or deviously breaking in and misconfiguring things, you are the one expected to know how to fix it.
The AI is in trouble. You are the only one short of the Research Director who is allowed to perform maintenance on the AI, repairing it if it is damaged, or defending against it if it is malfunctioning, or both if someone has uploaded some undesirable laws. You have some tools that can help you distract or disrupt the AI's plans if it has turned against you, just make sure they don't delete them!
Someone's running around EMagging things. With your Remote Tools module, you can fix otherwise unfixable machinery; just don't get too close as Emagged objects are often very dangerous. Under extreme circumstances, you may even be allowed to use the Root Access Disk, and attain AI-like power to fix and configure things.
Ghost within the Machine
A traitorous hacker is equally dangerous, though usually not too robust on their own. Still, that can be corrected with a few well-placed orders. But why go that route? Be creative! With enough effort, anything the AI can do you can do also, up to and including starting a Delta-level self-destruct event, sabotaging vital equipment to make the ship vulnerable to attack, making the AI your personal servant, causing valuable equipment to self-destruct, launch Revelation and totally fry the network, steal all the research data and use it to bargain with the Syndicate… Make sure to ahelp before you do anything truly dastardly - they might even grant you some extra help to accomplish your mission.