Antoine let out a low whistle, leaning back against a wall of cabinets as he pondered Abby's words.
"So it was that bad... Alright then." Serious face. As easygoing a person as Abby seemed, she was military with a job to do. Easygoing could vanish in a heartbeat if given a reason, he had no doubt of that. Indeed, he'd probably volunteer to shout down himself if he came across as making light of the issue -intentional or not- and then step back in line for her turn. She needed explanation, answers, knowledge, and he could help with that. He could, so he would. That's how it was, he didn't even have to think it over.
"The cryo-bed systems aren't perfect, only as close to perfect as possible." Gesturing lightly with one hand in time with his words, the other began to drum a soft, steady beat upon his chest. That helped, both helped, his mind focusing easily on the information he thought she'd need. "Much of the work is done by computer, it's simply to delicate to accomplish otherwise. You still need people on hand, however, who can do the small tasks computers are unsuited for, keep the whole system running, and be on hand should something go wrong: Cryo-techs."
Not to mention let people know that they were watched by more than just unfeeling machinery. People trusted people, not computers. That was one of the main reasons that got Antoine fast-tracked through experimental surgery, that got scientists and doctors alike so excited when he said he wanted to work with the cryo-beds. You needed people there when others went to sleep, and when they woke up. It made things easier, made things more comfortable, made it all possible.
And, if anything went wrong, there was at least a chance of saving those in Cryo. Projected mortality rate in a catastrophic-failure scenario, where the techs had to wake everyone themselves, stood somewhere between fifty and seventy percent... but it was less than one hundred.
Of course, despite all of that...
"Of course... people can't always be trusted." That was the heart of the matter, wasn't it. Antoine offered Abby a deliberate nod, letting her know he was at the heart of her questions here. "So while the Techs watch over the system, the system watches over us. We have to log in to any terminal we wish to use, be it a bed terminal, a general terminal set in the wing, etc. We have to choose a reason for logging in, which determines what permissions we have for that session, and must remain active or be automatically logged out after fiv- three minutes."
Right, they had changed that from when he was in the Mountain. No one had said as much when the third shift's Techs were woken up, but it was clear that change had been very, very recent. Add that to what was logged, the response of their superiors to questions or even minor transgressions? He and the other Techs had nervously laughed it off at first, but when poor Laura had been brought to tears after she tried to thaw someone slated for the shift, only to find out she had gone to the bed of someone with an almost identical name? It was clear what the higher-ups were scared of. Very, very clear.
"Everything we do while logged in is recorded, time stamped, and kept on file to be reviewed. Any action taken outside of set guidelines, from trying to use files you don't have permissions for to an automatic log-out, is reported to the heads of Medical. Waking someone up requires that they be cleared by someone with Admin permissions for that shift, the only exception being if an 'emergency thaw' is activated, which sets off an alarm throughout the cryo-wings. In theory ,someone 'might' have been able to do what Adams did, once. The sad truth is that it's possible, but anyone, anyone looking into the death should have been able to see that something was amiss from the logs, and be pointed to Adams as the Tech who was there when it happened... Which brings us to how he could have done it so many times."
Antoine took a deep breath, shaking his head as the finger-drumming picked up it's pace. They were here, now, at the same question his peers had been whispering amongst each other for over a week. On the bright side, they had come up with a couple ideas that might be able to help Abby. On the other hand... They had a couple ideas that, if verified, could put many, many sleepers at risk.
"In order for Adams to have gotten away with what he did again and again, the most likely reason is an exploit in the system. Some programming bug that was never caught, overlooked, or only occurs in a scenario no one considered, that would allow Adams to bypass the log-in requirement and/or the filing system and alarms. The Cryo-techs... we've put some thought into this, in all honesty. And there are two theories that I believe might be what happened."
"One: Adams managed to gain access to an Administrator or Master account. The Heads of Medical, Ship captain... and I believe the General all have Admin access, and then there's the original account that's existed since the system itself. There could be a bug with the log-in system that allows one to 'trick' the computer into logging you on with an Admin account, and from there... you are pretty much free. Administrator accounts are still recorded, but it's focused on their personal terminals, since they don't need to log in anywhere else. It's very possible an Admin account logged into a bed terminal wouldn't be recorded... which would have given Adams the freedom he needed.
Second, he found a way to trick the terminal into 'test-mode'. Before it was ever connected to the beds themselves, the system went through multiple virtual scenarios. The system thought it was connected to a bed inhabited by a person, and acted accordingly, allowing the developers to judge how accurate the system was and uncover what bugs they could before moving on. It's too useful a tool to have been removed, and if Adams managed to somehow 'trick' a terminal into believing it was in test-mode, he could then initiate a 'mock' emergency-thaw with no alarm, followed by a 'mock' re-freeze. It probably wouldn't be recorded, as no one should be able to access that on any terminal connected to an inhabited bed..."
Antoine was shivering, now. Thinking about it to this extent, talking about just how someone could manage to kill person after person without being caught. He forced his hands down, clasping each other before his waist, lest his gesturing grow wild and panicked. He was a cryo-tech, a medical-technician, and a combat medic before that. Protect life, preserve life, that was what he did.
To consider... to talk about this...
"One of... those two. They're probably... your best options to look at." He shook his head, trying to focus, trying to get away from the pit his thoughts were sinking into. Locking onto Abby's gaze once more, he offered her a pale grin. "Sorry, I think I ended up giving you a lecture. I hope it was useful to you, at least?"