Author Topic: Eclipse Phase  (Read 600875 times)

clockworkjoe

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Re: Eclipse Phase
« Reply #60 on: July 08, 2011, 04:48:20 PM »

Tadanori Oyama

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Re: Eclipse Phase
« Reply #61 on: July 08, 2011, 05:45:33 PM »
I hadn't even thought about Cody playing Eclipse Phase. I would imagine he'd go freaking nuts with all the choice and opinions available.

Kroack

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Re: Eclipse Phase
« Reply #62 on: July 09, 2011, 02:23:21 AM »
I miss cody. he only ever seems to appear in the NW games and wushu.

Cthuluzord

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Re: Eclipse Phase
« Reply #63 on: July 11, 2011, 11:41:56 PM »
So in the game tonight players...

...rescued a huge number of egos after only 40,000 or so of them died.

...promised to kidnap someone with experimental technology and give said technology to the person responsible for the death of those egos.

---adopted a german scientist.

---massacred a criminal organization down to the last man.

---released an AI convinced that Aaron is the messiah into an unstable mesh network.

---likely witnessed the destabilization of galactic government.

TOTAL SUCCESS!

Tadanori Oyama

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Re: Eclipse Phase
« Reply #64 on: July 12, 2011, 01:36:19 AM »
Sounds like Eclipse Phase. Since I didn't see anything about handing infected hardware or software out to neotenics I have to assume Firewall found their results up to par.

Cthuluzord

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Re: Eclipse Phase
« Reply #65 on: July 12, 2011, 06:36:30 PM »
Next game:

MEME HUNTER

The lead to Cloud 9 provided no information about No Evil, but Firewall agents ended up tipping the balance in a secret war between two powerful cartels and an illegal research group.  Now the agents are in business with Pax Familiae, the most unpredictable and mysterious criminal organization on Venus.  They bring her a neo-synergist name Fjalar Stefannson; she tells them what happened on Thought.  If Nine Lives doesn’t kill them first….

But what will Firewall think of such a deal? What kind of threat can No Evil possibly represent to justify such a deal with the devil? And how will the political unrest caused by the Consortium’s outrage affect the operation?

Is the virus even the top priority anymore with Augustine on the loose?

Tadanori Oyama

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Re: Eclipse Phase
« Reply #66 on: July 13, 2011, 02:54:42 PM »
I am really looking forward to hearing these sessions.

Cthuluzord

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Re: Eclipse Phase
« Reply #67 on: July 14, 2011, 11:44:25 AM »
New house-rule: any players that post on the forums in-character (as their PC, their muse, or some NPC they invent) get a free rez point.  I'm not putting a cap on this.

Rez points are rarer than gold and diamonds in this game. Come and get em!

Tadanori Oyama

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Re: Eclipse Phase
« Reply #68 on: July 14, 2011, 01:41:11 PM »
Rez points for posting? He's gone mad! Exploit his insanity, you fools, quickly before he discovers where his lithium is hidden!

Cthuluzord

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Re: Eclipse Phase
« Reply #69 on: July 18, 2011, 11:09:04 PM »
Alright, so here is how No Evil works.  The seed-AI gave you the whole skinny:

The “No Evil” strain is a constantly mutating nanotoxin with a preprogrammed strategy of multi-stage attack.  The need to reconfigure individual nanobots, adapt to the individual morph/mind of the victim, and maintain a low-key presence to avoid detection means that the virus has a high latency period lasting anywhere from 3-5 months.

Structurally, the No Evil virus resembles a microscopic fractal.  It has the ability to reassemble itself on the quark level to suit specific tasks.  However, limited energy production means that these reconstructions take time and must be followed by period of recharging (through ambient heat collection) before an individual bot can begin acting upon its environment again.

STAGE ZERO: CONTAINMENT

Due to its ability to reconfingure on the molecular level and maximize its effectiveness, there are few options for transporting the No Evil nanovirii in an inert state.  The nanobot fractals would make short work of even a diamond container.  No Evil can only be transported frozen near zero-degrees Kelvin or within a complex containment field.  The enormous energy cost of each method are the surest sign of a No Evil container, but one would first have to know what they were looking for.

STAGE ONE: SCOUT

Upon release, the No Evil virus starts as a self-replicating scout swarm. It will map out any habitat in which it is released whilst giving out false mesh ID’s identifying itself as standard cleaner swarm. Priority mapping is given to areas of high traffic and any access jacks available. This stage only takes a few hours.

STAGE TWO: HIVE CONSENSUS

After the scout has been completed, No Evil will swarm a centralized location.  In order to maintain maximum stealth, the virus limits self-communication to this very confined range. Each bot will link into a computational matrix whose sole purpose is to develop a strategy for total infiltration.  When a plan of attack is finished (usually within seconds due to quantum computation speed), the swarm will use its isolated location to self-replicate according to projected needs.  The few moments this process takes is, in fact, the final opportunity transhumans will have to totally prevent infection.  An EMP charge, guardian swarm, or plasma burst grenade could wipe out the infection completely during this stage.

STAGE THREE: DELIVERY

According to the population surveyed, No Evil will split into multiple swarms with delegated tasks.  Reconfigured sabateour swarms will infect habitat systems to disable InfoSec detection, then self destruct.  This allows large swarms to hide in any hard access jacks used on the facility: ectos, backup stations, secure servers, etc.  Other swarms will reconfigure as Proteans and begin manufacture of the chemical DMSO, a carrier substance designed for dermal delivery.  This slippery, clear substance found on handrails, shower floors, and beds is one of the few noticeable signs of No Evil incursion.  The energy required for this process means that it can take weeks.

Whether attacking synths through jacks or bios through DMSO, No Evil will opt for quantity over distribution.  The bots will assemble into a number of grouped cells so as to have sufficient numbers for immediate action upon infection of a morph.  This circumvents the need for large, attention-grabbing replication processes in the body itself.  It also means that not everyone jacking into a certain port or touching a certain wet spot will be infected; No Evil spreads itself thin.  In the long run, this means tracing the delivery path of the virus is very problematic, even if transhumans are aware of intrusion.

STAGE FOUR: STACK ATTACK

Upon entering a morph, No Evil will morph into a swarm of Nutcracker nanotoxins and another Protean swarm.  Due to the shifting nature and novelty of No Evil, medichines as yet have no templates for recognizing or fighting the infection.  The nutcracker swarm will immediately begin degrading the diamond lattice of the cortical stack’s case, but rather than full degrading the device, the following Protean swarm will redesign and reconstruct the tech in the wake of the nutcrackers.  The new stack’s exterior will have a two-way interface with sensors built to detect upload.  Once finished, the Protean will go dormant and reconfigure (see stage seven).

The nutcrackers will continue up the stem to the stack itself, using quantum computing capabilities to map the ego contained within.  The alien nature of No Evil allows it to selectively abrade certain links within the diamond lattice framework. The nutcracker swarm will attack only those areas of the mind used strictly for processing sensory information: visual and auditory encoding, kinestetic awareness, olfactory recall, etc.  While the one-way design of the stem prevents alert to the morph, the wireless coordination required of the Nutcracker swarm might cause minor interference withing the morphs mesh AR. Users might complain of sunspot interference or get their software checked, but nothing will be found. This process takes days.

At the end of Stage Four, the infected has essentially been unknowingly alpha forked.  The backup link is still active, still feeding information to the stack, but the consciousness within the stack has been “blinded” to this input, so to speak. The two way stem, while keeping the ego in the flesh or cyberbrain unaware of any change, provides distance that was never intended for the ego of a cortical stack. In short, all ability to receive or transmit information of any kind has been psychosurgically removed from the stack, yet its consciousness is still powered on. The fork within the stack is essentially trapped in a sensory-deprived hell where they can’t even hear their own screams.

STAGE FIVE: DORMANCY

Truly the most nefarious display of No Evil’s sick intelligence, all swarms will cease any activity except reconfiguration after the stack has been psychosurgically altered. This stage can go on indefinitely, the infected completely unaware that somewhere inside their head a version of their consciousness is silently going mad in an endless, incomprehensible vacuum.  This stage lasts until the transhuman, according to his or her regular routine, schedules a backup upload.

STAGE SIX: BACKUP OVERWRITE

Unless the victim is lucky enough to be very rich and very, very paranoid, an infected transhuman’s scheduled backup is a date with death. Typical backup insurance requires an overwrite of previous files in order to maintain corporate server space. Files overwritten with a mind amputated by No Evil’s stealth psychosurgery will forever be without the ability to process, perceive, or develop new sensory stimuli. Any attempt to resleeve them will result in a total catatonic state. If the true reason for this is discovered, any psychosurgery engaged to re-implement input/output processing will completely alter the person’s personality; how we see and speak to the world makes up a large part of a person’s identity.  Furthermore, “turning the sound back on” will likely only result in the deafening shrieks of a crazed mind bursting into reality for the first time in what feels like years.  All that will be achieved is the embodiment of a person driven mad in a never-ending night.

Sensors in the redesigned stem will know once backup overwrite has been achieved. They will then cease dormancy and enter stage 7.

STAGE SEVEN: EGO CLEANSING

The victim still exists in the flesh/cyberbrain of whatever morph was initially infected even after backup.  But after upload, No Evil recognizes that total, permanent death is now likely an option and goes about seeking that end.  The Protean swarm in charge of redesigning the stack’s exterior in stage four typically has plenty of time to reconfigure and prepare for this moment.

In biomorphs, No Evil assumes the form of a vicious Disruptor nanotoxin and begins abrading the myelin sheath on all sensory nerves in the brain.  This action is clearly and openly hostile, so Medichines can have a substantial affect on the speed of this process. However, the fractal nature of No Evil’s nanobots and the months of undetected study from within the host’s system make sure that defensive measures are no match. At best, a well-defended biomorph will be rendered totally catatonic within a week and left to starve to death on the floor.

Synthmorphs face even faster destruction. The susceptibility of cyberbrains means that No Evil can transform into a deadly combination of Sabatour bots armed with Scorcher algorithms.  No Evil can completely burn out a cyberbrain in a number of hours after the upload trigger, and the nuclear power source mean the victims get to exist in their own personal hells for decades rather than days.

This stage is quite painful, confusing, and debilitating to those undergoing infection.  Frankly, it is a horrifying thing to behold, which in turn leaves witnesses understandably scared for their own safety.  Once undergoing a deep scan (which will show nothing), any “uninfected” members of a habitat entering stage 7 will likely perform an emergency back-up, thus speeding the process.

STAGE EIGHT: DENABILITY

After the largest possible portion of a habitat is rendered catatonic, No Evil will self-destruct.  Stack swarms will reduce to component parts, as will Saboteurs in synthmorphs.  The trace elements actually have the effect of further corrupting whatever processes haven’t yet shut down.  Disruption nanotoxins will migrate to the bladder and intestines before breaking down.  They have the additional cover of being dispelled via bodily functions.  Any non-integrated swarms will stop identifying as cleaner swarms and be consumed by the habitat’s actual cleaner swarms.

Thus, to a scavenger or survivor, a No Evil plague will look like everyone merely came to the conclusion that they should lay down and wait to die.

Cthuluzord

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Re: Eclipse Phase
« Reply #70 on: July 18, 2011, 11:11:11 PM »
...And here's the stuff Fayun (Thad) found in the neo-synergist's box tonight:

CONTENTS OF THE “REMEMBER” BOX

The box contains three items stowed away in case the neo-synergists ever came to doubt “the threat.”  Every item requires WIL X3 to avoid SV.


1.   AR game (in an ecto memory stick) called “The Darkness Between the Stars.”

The game is simply an AR screen that projects a vision of the night sky.  Wiping one’s hands across the screen paints the darkness inbetween with light.  Once the screen is entirely white, the resolution of the image sharpens and zooms in, showing all the miniature splinters of black missed by the brushstrokes.  Trying to wipe these away proves more difficult, as touching them starts an AR illusion of one’s hand bleeding, as if cut by the splinter.  The blood pools at the player’s feet and reads “You’ll never erase me.”

2.   Manuscript for “The Struggle”

The story is written on purpilish paper pulped from plants known only on Synergy.  The tale concerns a protagonist known only as “Character” fighting against her nemesis, “Writer.” Everything the character does is praised, even attacking the Writer.  Every time the Writer is killed, it turns out the character only murdered another character.  Everything is just as the Writer wills it.

The character experiences great frustration with this until having an epiphany.  She refuses any actions the Writer sends for her, claiming indignation because that is not what the Writer is “supposed to” do.  The Writer, confused, asks “what could he possibly be asked to do?”  Character merely responds the he should do whatever she says, because she wrote the Writer into her story.  Writer IS Character, because such a reversal of fate makes for the best story.

Obviously, the Writer disbelieves this at first, but the Character has learned much about the Writer’s psyche through his various manipulations of her.  Character spends pages telling Writer the nature of his own thoughts with such accuracy that it is as if she created him.  She picks at the Writer’s insecurity until he slips into a great depression, but the story ends in a splatter of red ink before reaching its conclusion.
 

3.   Episode 29 of “Back at the Office…”

A low-quality vid recording of an episode of the play run back on Synergy.  The scene involves Gracious, Leopold, and Akaja (Akaja is played by the synergist that gave players the box) Gracious and Leopold have discovered that Akaja has been conspiring to disrupt their romance by reporting them to human resources.  She does this because she is in love with Leopold as well.  The scene had Akaja giving a heart-felt monologue about how she “never felt alive until she saw herself in Leopold’s eyes”

Gracious is just about to give her response when Akaja grabs a drinking glass from the set and strikes the actor playing Leopold in the face, cutting him badly.  The actors and the audience all scream in unison as the blinded Synergist goes down.  Akaja looks confused, saying:

“Who did that edit? C’mon! Stop hiding your feed! It wasn’t me! That was supposed to be a breakaway glass! It wasn’t me!”

The crowd grows quiet, introspective.

“Seriously, no one is going to take credit? Is it a different plot point you were going for? I don’t remember it going meta- like this in the draft earlier… are we going there now?”

The actress looks confused. The character playing Gracious reaches out and is lightly batted away.

“No, she’s supposed…I’m supposed to talk to you.  You’re all part of it, now.  We’re back on track now…just let me get into chara….”

The actress playing Akaja grabs Gracious character by the hair, fishhooks her mouth, and tears a bloody gout across the shocked woman’s face. She frantically screams as men rush the stage.

“I’m here! I’m off your leash and here! I’ll rape every one of you to death as you sleep! I’ll chew you up from the insi—“

The vid freezes as she is tackled, focusing in on the maniac grin plastered over the actress’s face.

Tadanori Oyama

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Re: Eclipse Phase
« Reply #71 on: July 18, 2011, 11:18:56 PM »
Alright, so here is how No Evil works.  The seed-AI gave you the whole skinny:

You are mad men! Exsurgents!

Salkovich

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Re: Eclipse Phase
« Reply #72 on: July 19, 2011, 12:22:36 AM »
Jesus tapdancing CHRIST I want to hear these games. Caleb, you are something else.
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clockworkjoe

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Re: Eclipse Phase
« Reply #73 on: July 19, 2011, 12:30:23 AM »
its cool the seed AI thinks we're god

what could go wrong?

Cthuluzord

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Re: Eclipse Phase
« Reply #74 on: July 19, 2011, 01:08:26 AM »
I don't appreciate y'all's tone.  Augustine has been nothing but helpful!  She loves you!