Umi stares in shock at her ruined cyberhand for a moment, and then uses her off hand to attempt to set off the deadman switch. She gives up after a second and collapses to the ground, clutching her head and screaming as if in pain. After a moment, she stops and looks up at Na-Zo.
They've stopped Na-Zo. She smiles and then responds to Rache, a bit confused. Yes. Of course, yes. She lays her head against Na-Zo's shoulder and begins to cry.
If you examine the datajack you will see that it is smoking slightly and appears to be dead.
Quinoa saunters into the room with an air of confidence that is completely out of character. He glares briefly at Lew. I feel good boss. He turns back to Trophy and smiles. But I ain't gonna die in here. No way. A game? Sure. You paying me, I'll play.
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Lew and the bots roll their eyes in unison.
Na-Zo picks up the smoking datajack Safe to say they won't want this back. They say, pocketing it and cradling Umi I think that datajack had a bad interaction with your... installed hardware
Na-Zo quietly interfaces with the device... not running anything, but copying the files, and looking through them, seeing what it was that set Umi off.
When Quinoa is granted access to the digital lobby, ChLover already has things set up. The interior is a maze of etched glass and mirrors lit in a rainbow of colors. Through hundreds of panes of glass, a clear field of stars can be seen sliding across a black field. A pristine moon soars through the expanse of stars, marking time like a secondhand as it sweeps overhead. Once in awhile, stars will line up with an etching in a mirror or clear wall, the etching will flash, and the pane will slide across the floor.
ChLover, LaChessa's digital avatar, floats beside a tall statue. She's a lot bigger than she is when she appears through the veil, but still childlike and floating on gossamer wings. Because of the mirrors, she and the statue appear in several places, facing different directions, as does Quinoa's avatar. "Welcome 2 my super secret server! Trophy's node, and, like, the old bag's life support controls are in here somewhere." ChLover feigns looking around, tapping her chin thoughtfully. "Good luck finding them! I hope you're really a blackhat, and not some total n3wb like you said in your confessional. I also hope Lews slipped you some fun toys for me to break."
Rache looked to Na-Zo It's not safe to say that at all. It's...it's my responsibility to return that, no matter what state it is in. I'll need it back...
"See, the tough part here is that I don't know if I can still trust Quinoa--there's no telling what they've got in his head--and I don't know if he might be useful. I can't kill him until I've probed the IA veil, with or without him, so if he's not a coder, or he's been hijacked by some scumbag redhat cybernetics hacker, I've got to disable him somehow. The key is to stay adaptable. Survival in extreme circumstances requires versatility." LaChessa cuts off recording and watches the packets of Quinoa's avatar as they load into her stacks. The problem with relying on a healthy immune system is that you have to risk infection for it to do its job. Hopefully he couldn't break her DMZ firewalls too quickly.
As a relay between LaChessa and the pocket world being streamed into the local IA digital landscape, Trophy would remain vulnerable. There were overrides for the same motion, pressure, or trauma notifications a living surfer would receive, but they would share bandwidth with the digital landscape and icebreakers. LaChessa is only one woman. A prepared toymaker, perhaps, but she can still only watch one scene herself.
It's more important to return a burnt out relay, than to figure out what went wrong? I'm not sure I agree with those priorities. Na-Zo asks, raising an eyebrow Probably the iconoclasts, corrupting the tech, giving her the idea to destroy the scrape... We hadn't talked in years, and I still put her in danger,
They place the burnt out device onto the ground beside them If they don't want it, I do. might be related to... My Order's sworn enemies., and turn theatrically, sliding their arms out of their cloak and sending it floating in front of Rache's eyes as they reach out with their interface,a nd fall back to the safehold
A message pops up on Rache's feed moments after Hey... could you grab my coat... Actually really like that.
Rache shrugged and gathered up Na-Zo's coat and the burnt out relay.
She looked into the reflective finish of the cable Na-zo doesn't understand what we do. Things...physical things. They have a value that goes beyond credits. If you can't respect that...the whole system falls apart.
She made her way back to the elevator and keyed in the floor for IA. It was time to complete this gig
Na-Zo picks up the smoking datajack Safe to say they won't want this back. They say, pocketing it and cradling Umi I think that datajack had a bad interaction with your... installed hardware
Na-Zo quietly interfaces with the device... not running anything, but copying the files, and looking through them, seeing what it was that set Umi off.
[dice=Peirce the Veil+Joyous] - 7
Na-Zo, a quick scan through the deadened data jack reveals a general architecture unlike anything you have seen before. This is a huge jump forward in technology.
Questions for you: What are you copying these files into?
[dice=Analyze(joyful)] - 10
Quinoa is an open book to you, although he seems way too comfortable with this situation. The situation with Quinoa is not going to get worse before it gets better.
Awesome! Quinoa appears dumbfounded. I've never been inside the Veil like this before. You live like this?
He jumps up and down and races to touch everything. You can even feel it! He suddenly stops and puts his digital hands on his crotch. No way. No way!
He finally starts to focus on what you are saying. Blackhat? I dabble I guess, but never anything like this. What are we going to try to hack into?
Umi is a bit shocked as she appears in the asylum. Na-Zo? Where are we?
Na-Zo uses his interface to send the data to a computer, one not connected to the safehold network, just in case, and shuts off that channel when the're done.
Na-Zo breathes deep, they were safe again. You remember that... I beleive the word you used was 'cult', that I joined a few years back? He waits for confirmation, before saying We're in one of their bases. it's kinda complicated, but I'm the last one, so I guess this place is mine now.
ChLover waves her hand as if clearing the smoke of Quinoa's compliments. "Spend all the flops I have coding mesh and veil scripts and you can simulate anything... and that's no firestick they plugged into you. <.<" She taps the sculpted statue, and it opens, splitting down the middle. "Matryoshka.get_asynchronous(peepingTom);" The phrase operates the controller module, which begins piping in the malicious spyware in benign bits through the datastream and assembling them. "This Mesh has to reside on the IA Veil server, in a virtual drive, probably in their demilitarized zone- like a quarantine, but it is totally on their turf, which is where they made their mistake. I was able to keep it secure from them, and so long as they think we're fighting, I can take a crack at hijacking Lew's lapdogs... or the doors... I dunno, something fun. I gotta see what's out there first."
Out of the strange statue, like a closet lined in spikes, steps a small puppet in a pork pie hat. "Trophy told you you might die out there, and that's totally still true, just it's not me who might kill you. The other two dead ringers are watching our bodies, but once we start pushing out there they're bound to start sending ice in here. We've got to keep them from leaving with any useful packets until I can do some real damage. See if you can make yourself a weapon. I'm a little limited, proxy'd through Trophy and then the old bag's satellite, but I've got a whole bag of goodies streaming in, like this probe." The little puppet navigates the maze to one of the mirrored walls and makes to headbutt his reflection. His head passes through the mirror, and he pauses, hands pressed against the surface, like a kid peeking through a hole in a fence.
But ... Did I fall asleep? How did we get here?
Make a weapon in here? Or out there? Are you sure this is a good idea? We are in the heart of the beast right now. You start mucking around in IA's systems and they will kill us.
Rache, you pass through the camp at the elevator without much resistance and make your way to level 1001. The door opens to a level that appears to exist almost completely within the mesh. Impossible sights greet you around every corner.
Level 1001 isn’t a theme level like Level 1872’s western theme or level 1667’s Victorian decor. Instead, it’s just pure unvarnished default mesh. It’s all blues and oranges. Data and words and images pass around the sky or ground. Everything is wireframe (though you can’t see inside any building except through “windows”). It looks like the worst stock photos of “internet.” It’s so much more expensive than the level Rache just left, but without skinning it customization it feels cheaper and more pathetic than the better curiated level where Rache lived. This is the level for people who want to live in the quads but don’t care enough about anything else to pick a customized floor.
She follows a sidewalk that lights up like the Billie Jean video, tracing the path to her contact.
ChLover rolls her eyes. "An ICE-breaker, and in here. Antivirus software? A firewall? -and you'll die, so learn fast. The old bag may lose her job, Trophy might get broken, but unless they've got something apocalyptic, I'll be cool. Here's the plan tho: We hijack the two robo-thugs, take Lews as a hostage, unlock some doors... Ideally, I'll come up with an escape plan between now and then, but I gotta get Lews scared I'm gonna kill him so he'll talk. I mean, I can't kill him yet. That would be a sucky episode, and kinda rude."
After a few moments ChLover identifies a massive and constant stream of heavily encrypted information flowing into Lew and the robo-thugs from a source that appears to be buried deep beneath numerous IA firewalls. Getting to the source would be a herculean task, but perhaps you could attach a rider on the information stream that would direct the thugs to listen to you instead of the source.
Listen- That group created a concurrent reality by folding a 5-cube into 10 tesseract, and using those to latch onto reality, keeping us mostly stable within time, but entirely separate within space. the only way to access one is to be an onomastic... or be taken here by one. Na-Zo says I wish I could explain it better, but that stream of jargon just about exhausts my understanding of it.
You wanna tell me what's happened the last few years? they ask
Rache arrives at Franz's estate, ready to end this episode and return the stolen property.
The bundle is tight, and self-monitoring, but security is a conceit. ChLover is practically drooling at the opportunity. She stops to generate an ICE breaker for Quinoa, a candy-striped wand with a large round star at one end. Then, she deploys a brightly colored parrot to ride the robo thugs' signal.
"This could get messy. Just remember, they won't know anything's up if their ICE doesn't raise the alarm... Well, there's a chance just trying this might set it off, then we cheese it, and all hell breaks loose." She looks even more exited at the prospect.
Umidiz looks at you with a blank stare for a moment. It has been hard Zo. Real hard. Odd jobs here and there to make ends meet, mostly virtual design. But it isn't about skill anymore. Well not only. You gotta have the new tech, like that IA data jack, to compete anymore. I need a new one. Can you help me?
Ms. Kosto! This is an honor. I'm a big fan. Have you taken care of that guttertrash? Tell me, did it come to a violent end?
Franz seems overly interested in the details.
Do you have my datajack?
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Hello ChLover. Welcome to IA. I see that you are attempting to hijack mainline flow to unit 3, unit 798, and unit 965. This is unlikely to succeed. Can I offer you some other assistance?
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Rache smirked at Franz, trying to convey amusement and coyness, rather than the disgust she felt. Spoilers. You'll have to tune in tonight to find out. It'll be worth your time. she winked at him and slid the datajack across the table.
In another time, someone in her position would have insisted that she get payment first. The bonds of Giri made such unpleasantry unnecessary.
Before I do that, I need to know what happened with the last one. but I may be able to get you one, and help out a ... benefactor., I'll need to know where they met you, and had you working. Na-Zo says, plans already forming in their head. their eye flutter a little as a message is sent to LaChessa.
@CHLover: Finished Ms. Kosto's errand. Think I have a way in. Can I go down tonight? Before Ms. Kosto's program begins streaming?
ChLover is startled, and annoyed. She's grabbed the parrot program and clutches it to her chest defensively. Come on, not in front of the pleb. You're a real buzzkill, Ms. Whatever-you-are. She looks around, expecting ICE to start coming out from between the edges of her pocket dimension. When it's just the calm collected voice, she loses the panic, but maintains the annoyance.
Then, she gets a message.
@Na-zo: (˘▽˘)b Go for it
On the heels of that message comes another.
@Na-zo: Trophy may need an extract soon though We're out trolling the competition Might get spicy I'll let u no
Annoyance subsides, replaced by confidence. Yes, I was trying to bully Lews into telling me stuff about your company and his place in it. He thinks we're in here fighting. IS there any way I could access some data without it getting traced back to my end user? She doesn't want people knowing she's checking up on an old flame." She laughs. Meat bags, right?
Quinoa is still looking around for where the voice is coming from.
Ms. Inverness looks up and to the left for a moment, and pauses as if accessing information.
Ah yes. Unit 3 appears to have an attachment to your end user. We can keep that between us girls if you like, and it really doesn't matter much anymore what with time in such short supply.
What kind of data are you looking for?
I picked up the data jack at Franz' house and mostly worked from home. It was good money Zo, more than I've seen in a long time. I'm not sure what happened.
Rache, you soon notice the credits hit your account, as Franz takes the data jack and throws it into a nearby recycler. I can't wait to see it!
As he leads you out of the house you notice that he is also implanted with the new model IA data jack.
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Rache noted his installation and made her way back to Kosto Corp.
Tybalt was waiting for her when she got back, anxious and frazzled. That maniac almost sent the whole stack tumbling down. We...we can't air that part. It'd cause a panic.
Rache knew he was right, which was a shame. It'd be killer ratings. With some deft editing, they were able to craft an interesting enough episode, even without the killbots and the near collapse of their entire world.
The ratings were as mediocre as the episode deserved. If she didn't find something really REALLY juicy soon, she'd never be the kind of star that her mother needed her to be.
But she made things right, shifted the scales back to the middle. Things were right. Things were settled.
It takes a moment before ChLover closes her mouth. Right. Short supply. I like you. When did he start here, and why?
Unit 3 joined IA shortly after I rescued him ...
She pauses again, glancing upwards and to the left.
... from you actually. She laughs nervously. This is a bit awkward now isn't it.
As for why. Unit 3 is ... particularly talented, as I believe you are aware. He also understands.
She frowns and whispers under her breath just loud enough for you to hear.
Or used to anyway.
Lew snaps his fingers in front of Trophy. He has stood up and moved around the table to stand in front of her.
LaChessa. Are you ok? I said "What now dear?"
lol should she be jealous? ChLover tries to remain casual, but this entire encounter is becoming off-putting. Who is this? A corp avatar? Lews' department manager? Personal vendettas and cross-brand bickering were safe reasons to be here, but if IA gets wind that she's here to figure out something of substance, she's toast, and not because IA might blow up Trophy.
A ping distracts LaChessa from the ChLover view, startling her. She closes out a heart rate alert to get to the Trophy view.
Trophy's eyes light up again. She's standing in the fake mist with Quinoa.
"Pretty good security on that thing, but I'm afraid he's not the diamond in the rough I had hoped for. It'll just be a sec."
She can't watch everything at once. She scans the room to clock the other Dead Ringers. The stream quality is throttled to handle the virtual drive where that woman still stood. The whole of LaChessa's database is at the other end of the stream, and she's suddenly acutely aware of her own vulnerability.