The place his parents had chosen was a steakhouse he was fond of. How stuffed the waiting lobby was when they arrived made it clear they'd be waiting quite a while.
After a minute, Adrian checked his phone to find Raven had disabled the wireless again. “This One Cannot Find A Secure Network,” the AI texted to him shortly after he realized the shutoff.
“Were any of them suspicious to you?”
“This One Did Not Uncover Any Suspicious Connections.”
Adrian acknowledged the answer, then went back to glancing around. There were at least five other groups waiting to be seated, all of them smaller than his family. Otherwise, the atmosphere of the place was as lively as usual, and the steaks he could smell were already shaping his choice of meal.
After a few minutes, Adrian noticed his father heading towards the two waiters behind the seating podium. When he came back, he said, “Sounds like they're running low on milk, and french fries.”
“That's a surprise,” his mother replied.
“Did they say anything about sending someone out shopping?” his grandfather asked.
“Yeah. They sent someone just before we arrived.”
Figuring the stock would be replenished before they were seated, Adrian texted Raven to see if it wanted to view some pictures of the restaurant. “This One Would Appreciate That.”
Adrian then excused himself and headed outside. He got some some distance from the building, then took a few pictures of it and the surrounding area, making sure to catch the sunset in at least one of them. “I'll take more inside when I have the opportunity,” he texted after getting the last one. The AI didn't respond.
It took more than half an hour afterwards for the right sized space to be freed for his family; the wait staff had offered some water to them and the other groups before then, which Emma and his grandparents accepted. Adrian snapped another picture when he felt the angle was right, capturing a Texas flag and a pair of aged, framed pictures in the shot.
“That's all the pictures I can take for now.” Adrian texted as his family was seated and their menus laid out.
“This One Appreciates Them Being Taken.”
After the waitress had taken everyone's drink orders, and some minutes had passed, Adrian heard his phone sound the text notification.
“Is This One Able To Speak In This Location?” Raven had asked.
“Not here, no.”
“Then Is Adrian Ritter Able To Allow This One To View Surroundings?”
Figuring the AI was referring to letting it view the place with the phone's camera, Adrian glanced around the table. It would be tight on space once everyone's drinks and meals were served, and the portion of table he was seated at tilted a bit when leaned on. “I don't think I can in here, at least not with the phone standing on its edge.”
“What Position Would The Device Be In?”
“Face-down, so you'll see the ceiling for the most part. Otherwise, I can tilt the phone here and there to let you see the area for a minute or two.”
“This One Would Be Satisfied With That.”
Adrian then started the phone's camera app, then laid the phone face-down. Most of his family were still discussing what they wanted for their meals; he already knew what he wanted. After all of them had decided and the menus were closed, the discussions changed to what everyone wanted to do before returning home. Adrian tilted the phone up, facing the rear camera towards the middle of the table, as the discussion continued.
His aunt and uncle had to leave by the twenty-seventh; they'd made arrangements for New Year's the previous month. His grandparents however were in no rush.
“You both go back to school in January, right?” his grandmother asked of both Ben and Adrian.
“Yeah,” Adrian replied. “Last semester before I graduate, too.”
“Any companies contacted you yet?” his uncle asked.
“Unfortunately, no. Not even for internships.”
“That's odd. I wonder why.”
“Hopefully not because they don't allow remote work. Still, I'm more than capable of making a game from scratch, and going independent might be best these days.”
“Wouldn't you need an artist for that? And a sound engineer?” Adrian's father asked.
“...Yeah, I would. Just not right away. I can commission what I need when that time comes.”
His father nodded at that. Ben then took over, saying he was looking forward to getting his next run of classes done. “Once I'm done with them, and the testing, I'll be certified for at least two years.”
“And then what?” Adrian's grandfather asked.
“Then I just get re-certified. Anything that's major enough to need immediate attention, they'll test me on it right away.”
As the conversation began to shift to other topics, Adrian laid his phone back down. So far, Raven hadn't texted him. A while later, once the family had placed their orders, he heard a text message notification.
“This One Is Noticing Remote Attempts To Turn The Wireless Back On. Bluetooth Access Was Also Attempted. This One Prevented Both Attempts.”
“Someone's trying to hack the phone, you think?” Adrian replied as he looked around. He'd seen two people with laptops so far, but only one was in view.
“This One Assumes So. This One Will Maintain Device Lockdown Until Adrian Ritter Says Otherwise.”
Adrian's father noticed his behavior shortly after. “Something going on, son?”
Now with, he was certain, several eyes on him, Adrian responded, “Maybe. Raven's telling me something was attempting to turn my phone's wireless on.”
“What kind of something?”
“It didn't specify so, I don't know.” At that, Adrian noticed Emma get her phone and, he assumed, turn the wireless blocker app on.
“You're certain it's not your device itself?”
“Yeah. We've got it so the wireless doesn't turn on without my input.”
“What about our phones?” his uncle asked. “Should we turn them off?”
“I...don't think that's necessary. Turn on airplane mode though, at least.” His uncle nodded at that, and helped his aunt find the option. Emma then asked if she needed to do the same. “Nah, that app we installed does that already, just with a password on top.”
After helping his parents with their phones, things went back to the previous conversations, and stayed that way until the first of their appetizers arrived. Allthewhile, something was picking at Adrian's thoughts.
“Raven?” he texted after getting some of the bread that was served.
“Yes?”
“That attempt from before? Did you find an IP address by chance?”
“Yes, This One Did, And This One Made A Note To Record The Number.”
“Good thinking. Where did you save it?”
“Downloads Folder.”
When Adrian found and opened the file, the address began with the numbers he knew to be common for the area. Unsure whether the source machine was local or using a VPN, an idea soon formed in his head. “I'm going to the restroom,” he said before getting up. “Back in a minute.” His mother nodded her head to acknowledge the statement.
As he made his way to the other end of the restaurant, Adrian kept his attention wandering, looking for anyone using a laptop. He noticed two in the section where his family was seated; one had a USB drive attached to it, but little besides. The next section of the restaurant had only one; its user was dressed in a suit and sitting with someone else.
When he left the restroom, Adrian walked through the last section and found two more laptops in use. The one that drew his attention had a screen layered with a privacy filter; its user was otherwise normal-looking, though almost spotted him looking at the laptop. After faking a head scratch, Adrian headed back to the restrooms and texted Raven again.
“Can you tell me anything about the device that sent the activation request?”
“No. This One Only Found The IP Address When Looking.”
“Then, what if we turned the wireless back on? Would you able to tell it's the same machine?”
“Yes, This One Did Not See A Change In The IP Address Between Attempts.”
“Alright. One more thing: If that other device is trying to retrieve data from this one, do you think you can intercept the request and send some junk files, or a message?”
“This One Could Do The Latter. What Should The Message Say?”
“Something cryptic or ominous, like 'I'm Watching You!'”
“Is Adrian Ritter Hopeful About Finding The Source?”
“A little. Five people are using laptops in here, though there is a chance that source doesn't have someone watching it.”
“Should This One Send An Audio File Instead?”
“It would have to be with a batch file, something that forces the audio to play.”
“This One Doesn't Know How To Achieve That.”
“Then let's stick to the message option. One of those five looked a bit suspect to me.”
“Should This One Enable The Wireless?”
Adrian waited until he was out of the bathroom before answering. “Not yet. See if you get another signal first, then enable it. And let me know what you see come through afterward.”
“This One Will Do So.”
It took only seconds for Raven to respond.
“Signal Received. Allowing Wireless, And Intercepting Command.” A second later, it added, “Command Was After Saved Information In Browser Folder.”
Adrian began leaving the restroom area at that. “Go ahead and send a text.”
“Sending.”
Adrian's attention was immediately on the one he'd suspected, though after Raven said the message was sent, and the one he was watching looked at the screen, nothing happened. Suspecting that he was watching the wrong person, Adrian made his way back to the table, paying attention to the other four as he went.
None of them behaved surprised, and he passed the observation to Raven. “Adrian Ritter's Suspicions Were True?”
“I guess so.”
Raven didn't respond to that, and when he was back at the table, Adrian informed his family of what they'd found.
“Glad I don't save passwords on my phone,” his uncle said.
“What if we did have some?” his aunt asked.
“I'd wait until we get home and change them.” Adrian replied.
“Should we let the restaurant know about this?” Emma asked.
“Yeah, we should. Dad?” When his father looked at him, Adrian tilted his head. His father then stood up and the two of them headed for one of the back area hallways.
The first member of staff that noticed them was a guy a little older than himself, Sean by his nametag. “Evening. Can I help you?”
“Probably. Is the owner of the place working tonight?” Adrian asked.
“Yes, he is. Did something happen?”
“In terms of your service, no. My son noticed something he wanted to bring to your attention.” Adrian's father said.
The waiter nodded. “I got you. Wait right here.” It took a minute for the waiter to return with the owner in tow, Sal by his nametag.
“Good evening. I understand you wanted to talk to me?”
“Yeah. I think someone in here is attempting to steal passwords off people's phones.” Adrian replied.
Sean's eyes widened a bit at the statement.
“How did you get that impression?” Sal asked.
“I've got a program on my phone that warns me about strange access attempts. One of them earlier was an attempt to look through my phone's browser folder.”
“I see. Your program blocked it?”
“And got the IP address. It's a local one, but that's all I can tell from it.”
Sal hummed at that, and then glanced around the area.
“Wish I knew who was doing that.”
“Same here.” Sal replied. “Tell you what, give me the IP address you found and I'll get in touch with the police for you.”
Adrian nodded at that, and opened the document Raven had made. As it happened, the AI had recorded not only the IP address, but also the MAC address and when the attempts had been made. Four instances had been recorded, the last one minutes before.
“How long has your family been here today?” Sal asked after logging all the info.
“Since...at least five thirty-eight.” Adrian's father replied.
“And we didn't get seated until around six ten I think.” Adrian added.
“Looks like the first instance was a few minutes after you got your table.” Sal said before he added the detail to his own note. “Alright, I'll get right on the phone and pass this along. Thank you for bringing it to my attention.” He then held out his hand, and both Adrian and his father took a turn shaking it.
“Our pleasure.” Once Sal left, and Sean was back to work, Adrian and his father returned to the table; a refill of drinks had happened in the meantime. It took only moments for his grandparents to ask what would happen next.
“It depends on when and how soon that information is acted on,” his father replied. “Both an IP and MAC address can identify a computer, but how to find where it currently is is the trick.”
“And if this guy's using something portable, keeping the device off is all it takes to hide the location,” Adrian added.
“So, if they don't find that person here...?” his grandmother began.
“Then they'll have more time to scrape people's info. How much more, I don't know. Hopefully not more than a few days.”

====================

As Christmas Eve moves into the night, Adrian and his family go out to eat, and Raven notices something poking at its host device.

No voice lines this time since Raven wasn't allowed to speak.