Getting the auditor his answers will take some time. The first step is jacking in. Amy’s palmtop does what it couldn’t have done from her office at New Bronx Plaza: establish itself as a priority terminal with unlimited access to the System 80’s resources, including its many terminals, scattered throughout the building. The Metascience Group computer net utilizes an unusual technique to defend against unauthorized intrusions: complete isolation. No comm lines in or out of the network. A prospective datathief, or accomplice, would have to physically enter the building before a theft could be attempted from the group’s proprietary data.