Reconnaissance

Intricate copper pipes and glowing data conduits interwoven throughout a vast control hall. One small section pulsates violently, causing the rest of the system to destabilize as cascading reactions flash across multiple monitoring panels. Engineers watch with apprehension.

In Ankh-Morpork terms, reconnaissance is what the Thieves’ Guild does before a job: watching the building, noting the guard changes, identifying the exits, and crucially, checking whether the Assassins’ Guild has already claimed the contract.

We can adopt and adapt their insights: The goal is to map the visible infrastructure, identify potential entry points, and understand the technology stack, without triggering any alarms or leaving traces. When done properly, reconnaissance is invisible. The target never knows you were looking, which is rather the point.