LAB / WEEK 07
Challenge the System
Translate authority into testable permissions, diagnose deviations and preserve policy versions when requirements change.
IN PERSON (PREFERRED) · ONLINE AVAILABLE
What you will learn in this lab
Translate authority into testable permissions, diagnose deviations and preserve policy versions when requirements change.
Keep this evidence: permission audit. Later use: A2 needs legitimate relay access. The digital final approach uses the appropriate local policy; physical handover does not gain an arbitrary software gate.
The online environment also supports preparation and revision between classes. Campus packs specify the proposed teaching setup; physical apparatus has not been validated by this website prototype.
For online participation and revision: follow the Lab mission checklist and named controls below. Complete the practical outcome named for this week. Perform an intervention or receiving handover only when the activity requires it; other field extensions are optional. Explain and save the attempt before switching phases. Need an example first? The demonstration uses a different scenario and keeps separate practice progress.
FIELD TRAINING / 07
Challenge the System
The Wrong Authority. Restore useful control-desk access without giving an observer permission to service or certify equipment.
The damaged policy blocks legitimate work and authorises the wrong role. Closing every permission would stop the recovery too.
The skill you need: Repair an explicit role-permission matrix and test every permitted and forbidden role/action combination.
Evidence output: permission-audit. Later use: A2 needs legitimate relay access. The digital final approach uses the appropriate local policy; physical handover does not gain an arbitrary software gate.
Learn the skill · worked example
An observer may read but cannot service or certify. Removing those extra permissions fixes two failures. Also test that read still works: blocking every action would violate the mandate.
First explain what you predict. Manipulate the apparatus, compare the observed result, then change one relevant condition. The transfer challenge changes the context so that repeating an earlier answer may fail.
Start here: read the worked example, then use the controls in Practice. The completed investigation, experiment or agreement is your practical output. The field operation is an optional narrative extension. Then try Skill check and Transfer challenge. The six rows in the lab timetable describe the whole teaching session; they are not six hidden game levels.
Scene guide · people, evidence and object placement
People and permission roles
An invented local permission matrix.
- Your part
- The moving student avatar represents you. Inspect the scene and use the lesson controls to record and test your decisions.
- Your instructor
- Mara stands in the marked teaching bay outside the investigation area. She guides the exercise. Her presence, appearance and idle gestures are not clues about what happened in the case.
- People in this scenario
- Observer, technician and registrar are test identities in the matrix. They are not the visible student, Mara, or permissions attached to a character model.
- What counts as evidence
- The published role/action rules define expected access. Compare every allow and deny result with those rules.
- Why the objects are here
- The console represents a self-contained policy test. Nothing in the surrounding room grants access.
Digital Observatory
Explore the room. Inspect its instruments. Discover the obstacle, use your skills and complete the operation.
Loads on request · all equipment also has accessible controls belowHow to move, inspect and complete the activity
Use WASD or arrow keys to walk. Press E near an instrument to examine it. Inspect means read its details; Use equipment performs the action named in its status message. The task controls let you choose exact settings and test a solution. Once verified, use the mission station to put it into effect, collect the resulting evidence or cargo, follow its checkpoints and complete the handover at the receiving station.
Scroll over the scene or use Zoom + / Zoom − for a closer or wider view. Click and drag to turn whenever the cursor is free. Choose Fullscreen mission to keep the scene, mission instructions and all task controls together. Fullscreen starts with a free cursor so you can scroll the panel and choose options. Press X or Lock cursor (X) to turn by moving the mouse. Press X again to free the cursor and return to click-and-drag turning. Tab also frees the cursor. The X shortcut stays inactive while typing or choosing a form value. Press Escape or Exit fullscreen to return to the page. On touchscreens, drag to look and use the zoom buttons. If your browser cannot enter native fullscreen, the mission expands to fill its window.
The activity below also works without 3D. Follow its objective and feedback, then save your record. Walking around the scene is optional and does not complete the lab by itself. The campus worksheet provides a printable alternative.
Optional field extension · act on your result
Your lab record does not require this transport and handover sequence. Use it to rehearse the result in the academy story.
FIELD OPERATION · Briefing
The Wrong Authority
Restore useful control-desk access without giving an observer permission to service or certify equipment. Repair all nine combinations under the original role mandate.
The damaged policy blocks legitimate work and authorises the wrong role. Closing every permission would stop the recovery too.
Inspect the mission station to begin your investigation.
Nothing collected.
Mission actions become available when the activity loads.
Mission record and accessible controls
These controls perform the same actions as the marked stations in the scene. Use them with a keyboard or touch, or when graphics are unavailable. Equipment tests establish whether your intervention is supported. The final handover records a mission outcome; your explanation is assessed separately.
- No mission actions yet.
LAB MISSION / Practice
What you are trying to do
Give each role exactly its permitted actions, preserving useful access while removing inappropriate access.
DO THIS NEXT
Read which actions observer, technician and registrar may perform. In Transfer, also read the new maintenance freeze.
Equipment instructions for this mission
- Read each role’s mandate
Read which actions observer, technician and registrar may perform. In Transfer, also read the new maintenance freeze.
- Repair the permission grid
Tick Allow read, service or certify only for combinations authorised by the mandate. Untick extra permissions; do not deny everything.
- Run all nine checks
Select Test this configuration. The check tests every allowed and forbidden combination, not just the most obvious defect.
- Repair any remaining mismatch
Read the named mismatches in Feedback. Change the relevant checkbox and test again until all nine checks pass.
How you know you are done: All nine role/action combinations match the published mandate, including actions that must be denied. Save the practical record and your explanation; no package delivery is required.
Inspect means select a named object and read its finding. Use the equipment means operate the labelled controls below, then check the result. Exploring the scene does not automatically complete the task.
The apparatus and the controls below use the same model. All tasks can be completed with keyboard controls. No timer is required.
The complete worksheet below is available while the interactive lab loads.
Practice in progress
Load the controls or use the worksheet to begin.
Hint 1. Write the intended role/action policy before testing.
Hint 2. Check required actions as well as forbidden ones.
Hint 3. Read the scope of the maintenance hold before changing expectations; preserve the matrix under its earlier mandate.
After playing · explain and save this attempt
Finish the practical attempt first. Then record what you noticed, what changed and any help you used. You can also preserve an unfinished attempt.
Recording preserves your actions and explanation. Practice feedback does not award an academic grade.
Your recent action trace
- No actions recorded yet.
Complete worksheet and explanation · works without JavaScript
Mission: Restore useful control-desk access without giving an observer permission to service or certify equipment.
Obstacle: The damaged policy blocks legitimate work and authorises the wrong role. Closing every permission would stop the recovery too.
Task: Repair an explicit role-permission matrix and test every permitted and forbidden role/action combination.
Optional field extension: once the equipment check passes, deploy the verified access policy. Trace the result through Authorised control checkpoint, then confirm authorised control is restored. Expected consequence: The corrected policy is deployed: allowed actions illuminate, forbidden actions remain denied, and the authorised gate responds.
Supplied access model
Observer: read. Technician: read and service. Registrar: read and certify. Initial faulty policy allows observer read, service and certify; technician and registrar have only read. Write a 3×3 permission table and mark all allowed and denied actions.
Transfer update: maintenance freeze suspends technician service. All other rules remain. Verify both that forbidden actions fail and permitted actions still work.
Explanation: remove observer service/certify; enable technician service and registrar certify. Under the freeze, remove technician service again. Nine checks should match the published rules.
Reflection and example
Separate demonstration: I removed maintainer research access and restored reader access under the observatory embargo charter. After all nine checks passed, a release hold changed only custodian approval. I kept the bug repair and the later policy change as separately justified versions.
Your output: permission-audit. Record the conditions, actions, result and what you would test next. An explanation can be defensible while differing from the example.
YOUR SKILLS PASSPORT
Keep what you learn.
Practice stays in this browser. Export it to take your work with you.
Which save or export should I use?
- Record attempt in skills passport on a lab keeps that phase's actions and your explanation. Save it before switching to a different phase.
- Export backup JSON downloads a backup you can bring back with Restore backup.
- Export learning record creates a readable account for your portfolio. Print record prepares the same kind of evidence for printing.
- Export assessment record inside a mission keeps that trial's decisions and debrief. Keep your written assessment explanation with it.
These controls keep your work; they do not submit it to an institution. Export a backup before changing browser, clearing browser data or resetting the passport.
Preparing your saved progress…
Your mission, in plain language
Your task: Make a records system useful to authorised people while preventing actions outside their responsibilities.
What you will produce: Keep both authority versions, expected and observed results for all nine combinations, repaired cells and reasons for each changed expectation.
Start here: in-person attendance is preferred. Read the briefing and In-person lab instructions. If you cannot attend, use the Online lab with the same learning record. The 3D environment also supports preparation and revision.
Before you arrive
Read CY-01 and predict all entries in the role matrix (20 minutes). Read the Week 6 distinction between observed results and interpretations (5 minutes).
Read the briefing. All starting rules and data are supplied here, so you can begin directly even if you missed an earlier lab. For the preferred in-person route, read the campus pack. The online route is available when you cannot attend. Both assess the outcomes below.
What you will learn
- Derive expected decisions from governing clauses.
- Test useful and prohibited operations and diagnose discrepancies.
- Separate a behaviour repair from an authorised policy revision.
Supplied case file and rules
Where to find the named materials: These labels identify the supplied material on this page and in the combined campus pack; they are not separate files you need to locate. CY-01 is the intended role/action policy. CY-02 is the faulty starting matrix and the nine decisions to test against that policy. The maintenance hold is the published transfer condition.
- Roles: observer, technician, registrar. Actions: read shared records, service the cart, certify the archive.
- Every role may read. Only technician may service; only registrar may certify. Other combinations are denied.
- The starting matrix is supplied by the activity. Derive expectations from the mandate and compare them with that matrix; record discrepancies yourself.
- Repair all nine role/action decisions and test both allowed and denied actions.
- Transfer: a published maintenance hold suspends technician service; read access and registrar certification remain unchanged.
- All requests operate within the local fictional simulation.
From example to independent challenge
Worked example: use the alternate scenario to learn the method. Its completed decisions cannot be copied into your assigned case.
Practice: use prompts and hints, recording help. Make the prediction or choice before checking.
Skill check: begin from the objective and evidence. Decide which test or action matters before consulting the optional explanation.
Transfer: inspect the changed condition. Decide what it invalidates and what remains supported; a justified unchanged decision can be correct.
The two-hour lab
These are the teaching session’s time blocks, not six compulsory game objectives. Adjust timing as needed; reasoning matters more than speed.
| Time | Activity |
|---|---|
| 0–10 minutes | Read the mandate and derive expected decisions before seeing observed results. |
| 10–30 minutes | Study the alternate embargo charter and identify why its table cannot be copied. |
| 30–60 minutes | Test the assigned matrix, record discrepancies and repair unsupported decisions. |
| 60–80 minutes | Exchange matrices and independently retest useful access and prohibitions. |
| 80–105 minutes | Apply the maintenance hold, preserving the first table and its authority. |
| 105–120 minutes | Assemble before/after evidence, coverage limits and the effect on A2. |
In-person lab · preferred route
Equipment: Role cards, action/object cards and the printable matrix; optionally the local browser simulation. No network target, credentials or external service is needed.
Setup: Print the intended policy and a separate faulty policy. Assign one student to propose requests and another to act as the rule interpreter; rotate roles after the repair.
What you do together: Derive the nine expected permissions from the mandate, test the faulty matrix and repair discrepancies. Preserve both matrices when the maintenance hold changes the authority.
The printable facilitator pack includes rules, prompts and explanation. Campus apparatus is a proposed teaching design; physical construction and handling have not been validated by browser tests. Use the paper model when equipment is unavailable.
Keep the same prediction, changed-condition attempt and explanation as the online route. A dated observation, test, agreement or route sheet serves as the action record. Add acknowledgement where a handoff is part of the task; an additional browser run is not required.
Online lab · equivalent participation and revision
Do these actions in order
- Select Practice. Read the three role mandates. A permission is simply whether a named role is allowed to perform a named action.
- In Repair the access policy, tick an Allow… box to permit that action for that role; untick it to deny it. Compare all three actions for each of the three roles with the mandate.
- Select Test this configuration to check all nine combinations. Read both kinds of failure: an action wrongly allowed and an authorised action wrongly blocked.
- Correct the specific mismatches, then check the entire table again. Denying everything does not meet the task.
- Before switching, select Record attempt in skills passport. The field extension is optional; save the learning record after each phase. Try Skill check, then Transfer challenge. The transfer maintenance hold changes technician service permission; preserve the other legitimate permissions.
- After playing, include the original and repaired tables and explain one allowed action and one refused action. State what changed under the hold.
Optional field extension
Your investigation, experiment, agreement or revision is already the practical output. You may also stage its consequence in the scene; this extension is not required for the learning record. In Field operation, first Inspect mission station. Once your skill check is verified, select Deploy the verified access policy. The scene and mission record now show the consequence: The corrected policy is deployed: allowed actions illuminate, forbidden actions remain denied, and the authorised gate responds.
Collect the named result or record, follow the checkpoint controls in order (or visit the marked stations in the scene), and select Confirm authorised control is restored at the receiver. The optional extension displays Mission accomplished after that acknowledgement; your learning record does not require it. Keyboard and touch controls perform the same actions. If you change the underlying model, the dependent intervention must be verified again.
Keep any field-extension actions separate from the evidence supporting your practical decision. Neither its completion nor its absence determines an academic grade.
Finish and keep your work
After each practical phase, open After playing · explain and save this attempt, write a brief reflection and select Record attempt in skills passport before switching phases. Keep the attempts and changed-condition evidence you discuss; an unfinished attempt can still be useful if you explain its limit. Export a backup using the passport tools.
For an uninterrupted view, choose Fullscreen mission. The Mission & controls panel contains the task and lesson controls. Scroll over the scene to zoom, click and drag to turn with the cursor free. Press X to lock the cursor for mouse-look; press X again (or Tab) to free it for scrolling and choosing options. Esc or Exit fullscreen returns to the page. Touch and keyboard controls remain available.
What leaves the room
permission-audit
Keep both authority versions, expected and observed results for all nine combinations, repaired cells and reasons for each changed expectation.
Include scenario and assistance. Preserve a failed attempt if it explains a useful revision. Add approximately 100 words connecting result to decision.
A2 needs legitimate relay access. The digital final approach uses the appropriate local policy; physical handover does not gain an arbitrary software gate.
Feedback and explanation
Optional explanation and separate exemplar · open after an attempt
A complete repair preserves useful operations as well as denying unauthorised ones. The transfer hold affects one cell: technician/service. Denying every action fails the published policy.
Worked reflection from the separate demonstration: I removed maintainer research access and restored reader access under the observatory embargo charter. After all nine checks passed, a release hold changed only custodian approval. I kept the bug repair and the later policy change as separately justified versions.
Inspect this example’s complete record. Use your own assigned scenario and observations for your reflection.
How to judge the response
A strong response makes a decision the instructions did not supply, supports it with evidence and explains an alternative or limit. A model check establishes its published conditions only; a facilitator judges reasoning. Text length and game endings are not academic grades.
Keep both authority versions, expected and observed results for all nine combinations, repaired cells and reasons for each changed expectation.
Closing reflection
Which permitted action could a careless repair have broken?
Afterwards
Export your record and keep a backup. It contributes to Weekly Fieldwork, with the best ten of twelve counting. Continue to the assessment brief and consult policies for access, collaboration and extensions. Exporting does not submit coursework.
SLOP UNIVERSITY · THE ACADEMY OF IMPOSSIBLE SKILLS
An original fictional course. Progress records practice, not academic certification.