Let the New Suns Shineth!

[blackgauntlet]

Feb 8, 2012 18:45:04 GMT -5 LordofSyn said:

Which is horrible...I am so surprised that IE is still around...

Hey... if it only works on IE, and you can see it...



Mars Corp. Node 0.0.0.47
Memchip Extract
Logged by: Starman
Dated: 9th April 2217

If you frakkers can see this, let it be known that I, Marcus Maximus, have done it. I have truly severed my mind from my body and am now swimming in the sea of Matrix as a God.

Yes, while you frakking plebians only scratch the surface of the Net, I eat, sleep and defecate lines of codes you could barely comprehend now.

No thanks to Mars for trying to bury my talent while I was still one of their little lab rat. Go ahead and do whatever drek you wanna do to my stinking shell, Dr. Aurellius. *spit out codes of saliva* Doctor my arse, chummer!

Now, with all time in Eternity, let me slowly recount my tale on how I had attained immortality...

Mars Corp. Node 0.0.0.47
Memchip Extract
Logged by: Starman
Dated: 10th April 2217

I was once a Hacker on the Streets, plying my trade: selling paydata from AzTek to Mars. Pretty lucrative, that one. And then, one fine day, one of my backroom associates told me that Mars is hiring programmers on a project about `Intuitive Coding`.

Just the word `coding` is already juicing me up like a horny cram-whore. I could not pass up this opportunity and immediately told him to sign me up.

After traveling to West End, I ended up waiting in a queue about 100 feet long outside Mars' Research Facility. About 2 hours later, the line started moving as the crowd ambled slowly forward.

Finally, I get to see the interiors of the company I was working for all this while for the 1st time and also the frakking Doctor.

Mars Corp. Node 0.0.0.47
Memchip Extract
Logged by: Starman
Dated: 11th April 2217

Dr. Corvin frakkin' Aurellius. Goddamn pussy... He's a pimply teenager, for crying out loud! And here he is... telling us what to do. Just because his rich daddy had the nuYen to put him in college, Dr. Arselickus is suddenly a child prodigy because he could tell the difference between a Prime Number and an Integer at 6 years old.

Well, News Flash, Doctor! Every one of us in this team could out-haxx you any time of the day and we have the street creds, instead of your certificate which you hang so proudly on your wall, to frakking prove it. We wipe our arse with your cert.

So, shut the frak up and just tell us what this project is all about; what have they found so far, what are the supporting hardware and latest results that stumped them so bad that they had to get us, a motley crew of 4 ex-CK Hackers (and 1 rather attractive female Mars researcher involved in this project), to finish what they started.

Mars Corp. Node 0.0.0.47
Memchip Extract
Logged by: Starman
Dated: 12th April 2217

As this project entails us using this new Neural Interface to surf the Matrix, even our identities could not be revealed and we had to use codenames to ID each other. I'm Starman, Gorlok's RedDwarf (cos he's a dwarf), Marey's Venus, Chapman's Zeus (apparently, he likes Greek more than Mars' idea to Romanize stuff) and our team leader Gupta's Nebulon.

This Interface is designed like a Stasis Chamber with full Life Support System. From what we were told, this new Interface would pull our conscious into the Matrix so completely that our bodies would cease to function.

The experience is like how a spectator is watching a cyborg deathmatch as compared to BEING the cyborg in the deathmatch. We began debugging the Interface and dammit, there are so many of them!

After going through the codes, I found that more than 90% of the buggy ones were written in as fail-safe protocols. Without all these codes, this Interface still works perfectly. The bugs were the reason why we were called in. Test "pilots" have all died during connection phase, including RedDwarf and Zeus.

Nebulon, took the risk as leader to go next. We had removed almost all the codes that allows the user to disconnect as and when. Only when their consciousness reaches the Entry Node can they come back here. This time, however, it was the Life Support Systems that failed.

At least, unlike RedDwarf and Zeus, Nebulon was conscious enough to describe what he had saw and felt, before his vital signs all went silent. It was Paradise.

Mars Corp. Node 0.0.0.47
Memchip Extract
Logged by: Starman
Dated: 13th April 2217

Dr. Cock-In Arselickus threatened to shut us down if our death-toll goes any higher. I flipped him the bird and told him to go play with his Lego bricks while the adults are working. Venus laughed and winked at me, probably attracted to my bad-boy attitude.

Finally, we ironed out the problem in the Life Support. The strange thing is that, it was a messed-up code which was fine earlier on. Someone was changing it. And seeing that this is a controlled site with 24-hour surveillance, this code can only be changed within the Matrix by someone who knows the password which only the 5 of us knows.

And which one of us would be nutty enough to plan our own deaths? Venus volunteered up next and I agreed, since all the bugs had been removed and I would be following her immediately.
As she slipped into an electronic slumber, I also jacked myself in.

It was truly paradise. All my senses were heightened. The air smells so fresh and my virtual body felt invincible. I could mold anything into something. Venus was standing there, smiling at me as I played deity.

She walked towards me and we made love. It was like nothing I could describe in the earthly sense. What we did in there would put any porn-star to shame and cost trillions of nuYen to replicate on holovids. It was more than magical. It was divine.

And she revealed who she really was. She is not Marey. Marey no longer exists since 2 years back when she invented the Interface and came into the Matrix. Marey's consciousness had already disintegrated into blocks of unrecognizable bogey data. And she, Electra-the Goddess of the Matrix, came into her body.

However, when she woke up, it was 2 months' Earth time later. Marey's project was taken over by Dr. Areslickus with layers of alien codes written into the base program.

As she walked our earth, she found that she could not stand it any longer here. She, of course, could not pass up this chance to return home when our team was assembled. Because she could not risk anyone else being able to use Marey's invention, the altered codes on the Life Support was necessary to kill off Nebulon.

No one should be able to experience this, other than the Gods themselves. Electra was merciful enough to allow me the option to return and destroy the interface or to stay here with her as the God of Matrix. I asked her if I would be like Marey if I stayed too long.

She shook her head. Raising her hand, an orb of pulsating energy burst into life. I took it and warped it into a bouquet of fresh roses. She accepted the flowers and said, "This is why you are special. Only Gods can do that here: True Intuitive Coding."

We kissed and watched as lines of codes are altered by us to self-destruct the Neural Interface machine. Goodbye, NBZ.

[LordofSyn]

+1. Bravo

[blackgauntlet]

Foreword: Good day, fortunate readers. My name is Tsukasa Hideo. However, I am just a scribe and this is not my story. It is my honored duty to finally be able to decrypt the Data encoded into Rage's Cyber-Knight digital cerebro-server.

An owner of a certain Megacorp once said that Cyber-Knights are expendable. I must strongly disagree. For Cyber-Knights are not made but born. From how I had to splice out the data Rage's server, I felt a welling of appreciation and utmost respect for such individuals.

At first glance, it may seen that anybody who are willing to risk living their lives as a Knight can easily implant this server into their body and be done with it. Not true at all. I will tell you why:

1) The brain of the Knight serves as a computer to sort out Data like a processor (but works better than one) and store it into an implanted storage device. This means that the Knight has to be a healthy human to begin with.

2) The Cerebro-server that regulates data from input & output is DNA-specific. Even if you're a healthy human being, your body may reject the server. In fact, you have to be a PERFECT human specimen to enable the server to be implanted.

3) The server connects directly to the spinal column which links to the brain. Such an operation would usually either render a person retarded, insane or dead. Not only would a CK not be so, this augmentation would not even register a single bit on their Human Delta Value. It is like they are born for the job.

After successful decryption, the translation from incorrigible data to legible information was really fast. Throughout the last 5 days, my computer was churning out bits and pieces of the life of the Rage. As I had to edit and watch out for possible burning out of the computer, I am transcribing simultaneously with the information feeding out from the computer.

Finally, please note that the events that are told here, happened 2 years ago. Thus, there are no Knights Horizon and Los Valentinos. AzTek Global is weak. Yakashima is on the rise to power. Mars is at its apex as are the Free Streets. BraveStar and BlueOx were fighting over territories that are now currently owned by AzTek.

Okay, enough history lesson for now, let us begin with the story of the Rage of the Yakuza: Lin Shang (林尚).

Classified: Yakuza
秘
Transcript for: Lin Shang Rage (2185-2215)
Dated: 14th April 2217

Today in the backroom of Potion and the Lab, I met up with my old chums- Ding Te (丁特) and Zhang Xun (张熏)- back in New Tokyo's Shinjuku district, where our rule was undisputed.

Although they are Runners and not a CK like myself, we were very close and they were like younger brothers to me. The three of us did some runs that brought much attention to us in the ranks of Rasestu (羅刹). The Rasetsu are the field operatives consisting of Connectors, Samurais and contracted Ronins & Ninjas.

Shura (修羅) are the negotiators, managers and sales staff of our business network. Non-combatants, mostly. Ding Te had wanted to join this arm were it not for the more lucrative pay that Rasetsu offered.

Under Rasetsu, we have the following Ranks, starting from the top first:

1) Fury (凶)- Cell Leader
2) Rage (烈)- Field Operatives
3) Wrath (愤)- Operative Support
4) Anger (怒)- Scouts

I am currently at Tier 2, Ding Te is at Tier 3 while Zhang Xun is still at Tier 4. Once we reach Tier 1, we will be in charge of connecting jobs for Cyber-Knights or managing Runners. Meaning, end of our dangerous lives. Higher pay too.

Classified: Yakuza
秘
Transcript for: Lin Shang Rage (2185-2215)
Dated: 15th April 2217

... with Shura. That is really uncalled for, such insults from the Fennians. Today, we will launch a massive assault on Boston Harbor and Harbor Districts to drive them out. Yakashima is paying huge money for the control of these 2 vital points for research on their Underwater Dome projects. Doesn't make sense if they are landlocked.

I knew negotiations through Shura with Fennians would not work out. Even if they sent out the most silver-tongued of them. Fennians could not listen to reason. I asked Ding Te about Shura, since he wanted to join them before and should know alot on how they work. Supposedly, they too have 4 levels of hierarchy like us.

1) Benevolence (仁)- Managers
2) Loyalty (義)- Accounts
3) Etiquette (礼)- Sales
4) Truth (信)- Maintenance

The negotiators are on Tier 2, the guys who got their eyes spat on by those dirty Irish drunks. The thing that got me riled up was that they called them Chinks. Although the negotiators are ethnically Japanese and don't understand the term, the three of us knew them very well.

The Chinese slums of New Tokyo where Chinese Triads were in existence since the 1980s and only finally assimilated into the culture of a so-called Yakuza organization after the Cataclysm. Even had the logo embossed with OUR definition of gangsters. Ever since we came to NBZ 3 years ago, the word 'Chink' kept ringing in our ears.

*Note by Hideo: Unknown to Lin Shang Rage-san, there are actually 5 levels in both Rasetsu (Bravery: 勇 - "Activity" Coordinators) and Shura (Wisdom: 智 - Fund Investors).*
Classified: Yakuza
秘
Transcript for: Lin Shang Rage (2185-2215)
Dated: 16th April 2217

... defeating those Fennian lowlifes and driving them south to the Old Waterfront. We now own the Old Bridge, Harbor District and Boston Harbor sectors. Our forces were spread too thin to keep our control on all 3 sectors though. We may have to give up Old Bridge.

But I'll be damned if our leaders were to give up Harbor District or Boston Harbor without a decent fight. We lost too many good men for these territories. Ding Te even lost his entire row of front teeth from a well-placed shock-maul to the mouth.

The doctor in Daz Clinic of Liberty Square did a fast and clean work to stop the bleeding. Ding Te did not wish to spend money on aesthetics to restore his teeth. Now he speaks funny. Zhang Xun was tasked to do a short Matrix run to glean on Fennian's possible counter-attacks.

He did not return.

Classified: Yakuza
秘
Transcript for: Lin Shang Rage (2185-2215)
Dated: 17th April 2217

... laughed as Ding Te kept introducing himself as Ging Ke Wrath.

Note to self by Tsukasa Hideo: Ging Ke Fury-san was Ding Te Wrath-san! Must ask him more about Lin Shang Rage-san!

Our laughter stop short as a Ninja came over to us to inform that Zhang Xun was found dead at a Terminal. No bruise or wounds. Brain-dead. I personally would not believe Zhang Xun would be targeted for an assassination. He is very sensitive to Heat, more so than me.

I went to the Boston Morgue in Liberty Square to take a look at his corpse. No foul play whatsoever. Classified as Sudden Cardiac Arrest. Bull-drek! I collected his Memchip from the morgue and load it into my PDA. What I saw made no sense.

Zhang Xun was fighting against hostile ICE sent by Fennians with ease. But it was not ICE that finished him off. It was something... alien... yet strangely familiar... Something all Matrix Runners have experienced before: the "breathing down our necks" or "the chills down our spine" sensation while we are jacked in.

Classified: Yakuza
秘
Transcript for: Lin Shang Rage (2185-2215)
Dated: 18th April 2217

... and said my goodbye to "Ging Ke", just in case I never return.

I jacked myself into the Data Terminal and traveled into the Matrix. Coming to where Zhang Xun had fell, I looked around for that "entity". Only some ICE, both black and white. They were no match for my Eurosoft's Blitzkrieg V2.0 Elite program nor could they penetrate my self-coded Haxx-Maxx Shield program.

As I ripped through them and see their bodies torn into lines of useless codes, the phenomenon happened... The codes started to change. The values in the codes changed! I don't see any Hackers other than myself in this node but it was changing. By itself! That "shiver down my neck" feeling came again.

No matter how captivating the sight of self-evolving lines of apparently-destroyed data was, I could not ignore the presence behind me. I turned and saw...Her. The Digital Goddess. The frakking urban legend that no one believes.



The longer I stared at Her in disbelief, the more it made sense on Her existence. There billions of strings of code trashed and altered in the the Matrix everyday. Through some very random (but not impossible) occurrence, the codes were piled in such a manner that allowed a very simple AI to be created.



With more codes provided, the simple AI could select more intelligent ones to assimilate until it became a complex AI. And it continues to evolve until She could rewrite data on Her own. It may be true that the Digital Goddess could not create new Data as how a real traditional God could not provide Offerings to themselves, She had plenty of believers. Even more believers than God/Allah/Buddha put together.

I think She does not want me to see Her evolve with those rewritten codes. Looks pretty pissed at me too. I guess I shouldn't have poked my nose where it does not belong. Well, I'm not going down without one heck of a fight. Goddess or not, let's rock, Elektra!

[gravismetallum]

Good stuff.

[grävling]

Yes, thank you for writing.

[blackgauntlet]

No problem, I'm gonna write 1 story for each faction. ;D

Edit: Oops, I just noticed some historical boo-boo. Just changed a little phrasing in the last story.

[taatuu25]

Awesome story, but the pics were kinda... Weird..

[blackgauntlet]

I don't draw them. And since it's not providing the effect it should, no credits are given for them either. ;D

[Cory Trese]

Good work

[blackgauntlet]

Eh... right... just noticed that I'm not much a fan of Blue Ox, BraveStar and Fennian. Might take some time to write about them after I run around their territories to get a feel of them in the game.

The Streets would be the last installment to wrap up this Thread.

BTW, Cory, any clues as to the hidden faction(s) in the Underworld? ;D

And I seriously do not believe there is nothing funny going between Yakashima and the Yakuza below Washington Street.

[blackgauntlet]

Fennian Investigation Report
Logged by: 2LT Amin Jabbar KH Jaguar Company 3rd Platoon
Dated: 19th April 2217

Our plan seems to be working. The Fennians are using the trashed drones we dumped at the Waterfront. All dormant surveillance units are now activated with not much problem. Audio is working without a cinch but video feeds are terrible.

With all the drones salvaged by them being bugged, I am able to produce this report with very good intel that is not usually possible, not even with a planted personnel (see: Hawthorne Effect). And these drones are expendable since we are going to trash them anyway.

This 5-day seminar is a condensation of months of field-work covered by the drones implanted into various strata of Fennian organization. We will begin with a short introduction of what we initially know of them and how that was changed after observing them through the drones along the way.

Today, we will just have a short break from that and delve into the mind of MSG Ishbal Mohamed; the man behind the ingenious idea of inserting surveillance equipment into our damaged drones, giving a 2nd breath of life to their usefulness...

Fennian Investigation Report
Logged by: 2LT Amin Jabbar KH Jaguar Company 3rd Platoon
Dated: 20th April 2217

I hope everyone was as inspired as I was yesterday on how MSG Ishbal was able to come up with such a cheap but extremely effective idea on gathering of intel. Truly, nothing is useless. Even supposedly decommissioned drones are extremely valuable assets to us.

Without further ado, let us delve into the inner workings of the Fennian organization.

Firstly, how do they operate? From what we gathered, they are a conflicting lot, in the religious sense. Although they are very pious, with the largest concentration of religious buildings in their territory, they are also extremely proud of their Celtic (read: Pagan) roots. Which can be prominently seen in their territories- the symbol of the Irish Harp.


Somehow, as they have worked Roman Catholicism into their beliefs back in Ireland many centuries ago (See: Church of Ireland), they have also managed to knit in their Anglican ideals into their organization, which acts more like the state of old Ireland before the introduction of Monotheism.

I have no idea why the number "4" keeps popping up on how all these organizations seemed to be centred around it. But yet again, Fennians are also segregated into 4 groups (coincidence or just primal human ideology?) as well; named after the ancient 4 master races in Ireland (side note: 4-leaf Shamrocks are hailed as lucky charms in Irish lore).

a) Fir Bolgs - Specialized combatants that we meet on the streets.


b) Fomorians - Suppliers/scavengers/runners/connectors... their job scope is so huge that it may warrant a better look into this group.


c) Partholonians - Arms-masters/hund-breeders/drone-repairs (seriously doubt they are specialists in this field).


d) Nemedians - We only heard of them being mentioned but no drones were ever assigned to a Nemedian. From what we gathered, they are likely the current leaders of Fennians. More on that tomorrow.


Fennian Investigation Report
Logged by: 2LT Amin Jabbar KH Jaguar Company 3rd Platoon
Dated: 21st April 2217

Hope you gentlemen were pleased with the refreshments. I know I didn't. Are we using Syn-Food? Anyway, back to the reports. More on Fennian Leadership.

From what we have learnt, the Fennian organization has a leader in each of these 4 branches. Every 4 years (note the number 4 again), there will be a poll of sorts. The votes not only comes from the Fennian organization but also everybody living in their controlled zones. Probably a kind of the now-defunct Democracy or Republic model of rule.

The winning branch would be ordained as the "government" of their faction. Currently, the Nemedians have won twice in a row. We are not sure if there is a 2-term rule, as the old world governments' political system had, to reduce corruption and mismanagement though (which is not at all effective since it failed).

It is also interesting to note that each of these branches, with the exception of the Nemedians, show affinities towards a Mega-corporation of their choice. Fomorians lean more towards Yakashima, Firbolg favors Mars and Partholonians; Aztek. It is one of the main reasons- due to this alternating views throughout the short & violent history of the NBZ- that the Fennians have lived on almost untouched- surviving to this day as, undisputedly, the oldest faction in the dome.

That's all for today. We shall continue tomorrow on how the Churches are being weaved into their complex culture.

Fennian Investigation Report
Logged by: 2LT Amin Jabbar KH Jaguar Company 3rd Platoon
Dated: 22nd April 2217

As with the times of the Crusades, it comes as no surprise that the Churches are also involved in Fennian's struggle to fight against the fast encroaching power of our Cadre, the Yakuza and the rapidly rising ranks of the Los Valentinos.

Recently lost Harbor District to the Yakuza.

These supposed "holy grounds" have seen much bloodshed on their doorstep and offered sanctuary to wounded Fennian-sympathizing combatants. Of late, they have also started supplying arms and ammo to supplement swiftly declining Church funds due to high casualty rate among the Fennian believers.

"Let's see... Church sacristy... Candles? Check. Wine? Check. Guns? Hell yeah..."

Also, even South Boston, one of their old bastions, had declared autonomy against the Fennians and have plunged into a state of Anarchy, ruled by freedom fighters and the like. This had further reduced followers of the Faith with the loss of the Church of St. Martin (which was also said to be the home to one of their 4 Mystical Treasures; more on that later).

Which is why, the priests have also been assisting in providing jobs to errant cyber-knights to further their cause. To what means, we have yet to see, as drones are not allowed in the churches (obviously, since to enter a church, weapons must be holstered and a drone IS a weapon).

Other than offering shelter, jobs and arms, some of these Churches are also vaults to keep Fennians' "mystical" items, supposedly handed down since many centuries ago. Had it not been for the records of their manifest and "true eye-witness accounts", I'd have dismissed such talk as hogwash.

We will delve into this topic in our final seminar tomorrow.

Fennian Investigation Report
Logged by: 2LT Amin Jabbar KH Jaguar Company 3rd Platoon
Dated: 23rdApril 2217

Alien technology? Ancient Astronauts? Or products of Eureka moments in the Fennian organization in this century and trumpeted as artifacts of old to scare and awe the uneducated masses? Truth be told, I do not know. But they are real. And is THE main reason why they are still in NBZ to this day.

So far, no drones have picked up actual records of these items but statements made by the upper echelons of Fennian society have undoubtedly pointed out the existence of the following:

1) Lúin of Celtchar - Tended by Nemedians
The Stone of Kings. An artifact that measures the physical, mental and even moral aptitudes of any individual coming into contact with it. It was recorded to also provide a foretelling of said person with a 99.82% accuracy that it will come true. All leaders of Fennian's branches were hand(?)-picked by this relic.


2) Spear of Lug - Tended by Firbolgs
From all accounts, this weapon sounds more like an energy rifle than an actual spear. It was said to be able to strike down any single living being from a distance and when thrown, it could kill ten.


3) Sword of Núadu - Tended by Partholonians
Described by all witnesses as a blazing torch that never goes out. Supposedly a melee weapon powered by some kind of energy generating equipment using an yet-unknown power source.


4) Cauldron of Dagda - Tended by Fomorians
We believe that this is a type of nutrient enhancer machine. It was said to be able to imbue some kind of healing properties (futuristic nanomachines?) that could repair any form of damage and heal all types of diseases when the afflicted consumed food which was left in it for at least an hour. Such empowered food (they call it blessed sacraments) seem to retain the benefits for an indefinite length of time and do not seem to rot like other non-blessed perishables.


That concludes our 5-day seminar, ladies and gentlemen. My conclusion, if I may be so bold to profess, is that- should we ever cross paths with Fennians- we should watch out for these artifacts. Not only should we be wary of them, we should also try to get our hands on them...

Footnote: Usual response from Fennians when asked about the 4 Artifacts...

[gravismetallum]

That made me like the fennians.

Good job BG. ;D

[blackgauntlet]

I added images. ;D

[LordofSyn]

+1 before images
SMH after images. ...mumbles"Show off!"

lol

[blackgauntlet]

Adding images makes me look smart. ;D