2020-10-15: Web of Horrors: Chapter 2B: A Walk Through Dark Space and Time
| A Walk Through Dark Space and Time | |
|---|---|
| Rufus and Vic meet up at the Nexus to examine a strange piece of Hypertech. | |
| IC Date | October 15, 2020 |
| IC Time | afternoon, takes hours |
| Players | Rufus, Vic Rasmussen, and Vivian (ST) |
| Location | The Nexus |
| Prp/Tp | Web of Horrors |
| Spheres | Mage |
Vic called up Rufus, and said she had tech that she wanted him to look at. So! Rufus gathers his assortment of materials! A pair of high-tech wave-band glasses, his electronics tools and other devices. Nothing like being able to take your workshop with you. So! The location of Rufus's study is in the Garage, where the VR equipment is placed out. Rufus, for his part, practices Workplace Safety. By which to mean he is wearing a pair of Nylon gloves while unfastening the chassis of the rig so he can look at it's interior inside delectable parts.
Despite having called Rufus, Vic isn't there initially when he arrives. Instead she'd gone out and picked up lunch for both of them, returning with burgers, fries and chocolate milkshakes for both of them. "Hey there, figured we'd eat as well as examine the thing to see if we can figure out what could be causing the problem here," she says, quickly adding, "I've backups of the software on my laptop."
The item in question is a VR headset made of eye-catching red plastic, but much smaller and slimline than normal commodity devices of this type; about the thickness of an e-reader. There doesn't seem to be a cord or other obvious linking method, but included with the device is a small USB dongle, so presumably it is a wireless device of some kind. There is a small indicator light on the side and below that is an audio jack.
Getting the casing open on the goggles just takes a bit of muscle and leverage to crack open the plastic along the seam on the edge. Once the internals are revealed, the electronic guts are displayed -- and it doesn't look good. Much of the circuit board is burnt and the tell-tale smell of ozone and crisped plastic can be scented from the interior. Still, there are enough of the interiors in good repair to make some conclusions: of immediate notice (and pretty standard for goggles of this type) are the two small LED screens placed over the eye positions, no doubt for projecting the Digital Web into the face of the wearer.
The majority of the damage on the board seems to be around one central microchip, likely some kind of central processor, though it's difficult to tell with just mundane tooling and diagnostic equipment. One off thing is the standard power circuitry is arranged in an odd manner; sort of self-referencing in a way that doesn't make any sense in normal electronics (it'd just create a lot of waste heat and then die pretty much within minutes).
Rufus greets Vic with a smile. "Hey Vic." He says, moving over so she has a place to sit. He even tosses her some gloves. "If the corruption code is literally frying people's brains, shouldn't be too careful." He says, and then after taking a strawful guzzle of his milkshake begins to dissect the equipment. A meticulous worker, he doesn't hog the whole investigation, instead taking a part that Vic isn't looking at and looking at instead, handing it off to her when he's finished. "...Well this thing is definately fried." He says. "The processor chip seems to have taken the most beating. And these circuitry pathways are way too complex for off-the-shelf VR." He scratches his chin. "Gimme a sec." He says, and....meditates. That is what it looks like anyway. He just stops, closes his eyes, and breathes. To Rufus of course he isn't meditating. He is achieving Superposition, where his mind exists in all states, and pull knowledge from any state he exists in (which is all of them. Duh. Quantum! Keep up). After wards he opens his eyes and takes another look. "...This is magitech work for sure. Not the whole thing, but specific bits. The battery. Processor. The superconductors....very nuance." He looks further at the processor which is burnt to a crisp and after a moment shakes his head. "This thing is too far gone. I can't tell anything about it."
Vic had begun eating her burger and sets it down. After wiping her fingers off with a napkin she puts the gloves on. "I have some in my bag but may as well use your spare," she says and then watches him examine it and explain his findings. She winces at the end and says, "Too bad I screwed up and didn't get us new ones to examine.... however, our senses aren't limited to the here and now... or at least mine aren't." She then asks, "Do you have Time unlocked, Arr?"
Rufus nods. "I'm pretty decent in the Time Domain yeah. I think that's a good idea." Don't want to do anything that would make this think go beserk, turn into a death-corruption rig and corrupt everyone. "How far back are you thinking?"
Vic grins and pulls out her smartphone. She looks up a copy of Edna Stein's medical records and says, "Well, the patient this belong to was admitted to the hospital on September 10th and the doctors feel that, based on her condition on being found, that she'd been 'catatonic'... as they're calling it... for about three hours..." she says, as an aside, "She missed a doctor's appointment so was found really quickly you see," and then she resumes her original comments by stating, "So... since it would have been functional five weeks ago... about thirty-five days back should do it I'd assume."
Rufus pulls out his laptop as Vic goes to begin preparing for her own effect. He opens it up, swivelling the screen to him as he starts triangulating where to be examining. He links his visor to the laptop so it can display what is getting triangulated. The program takes an hour to process, going through errors, testing and decoding. Finally, after he is finished, he executes the simulation to display through his visor, replicating the VR Visor and it's activity 35 days ago.
Vic's work is to reinforce Rufus's. Like him she's working on a laptop. They occassionally consult each other with her applying her knowledge of Data to reinforce the reaching backward in Time in addition to weaving Forces, Matter and Prime to bolster each of the V-Dept's work. Most of the hour is going of the code work and confirming all the parameters are set correctly and there aren't any dangling parenthesis that could open up greater risk of the code Doxing her in the Nexus.
The sands of time roll back and the device returns to its functional state; the burnt segments on the electronics falling back like a wave, an arc of electricity from the power section moving in reverse. Soon, the device is in a ready state, the indicator light on the side glowing green, the image in the VA's goggles crisp and clear with nary a garbling of the data. The track of electricity within the device is easily discernible via the Forces, the room-temp superconductors of the power feed providing a more-than-healthy application of energy.
Minutes pass uneventfully, the device merely acting like an advanced, but still fairly mundane piece of equipment when it happens: lines of boot code scroll across the tiny LED screens -- of note is a Digital Web address marked as 'Pingback Recursion' followed by a cryptography key. A few minutes after that, another part of the device -- previously seriously burnt beyond recognition -- begins gathering power pumped from the superconductors; these are clearly extremely powerful electromagnets, like what is used in MRI machines, but miniaturized well beyond current scientific ability. Data flows into the device and the Prime detectors ping, but without Mind on the Effect, it can not be determined what exactly this data is.
The device must be fitted with a microphone as Forces data across the input bus can be interpreted as voice arrives; it is an old woman's voice, murmuring and breaking with loss and want: "Arthur... is it really you?" The LED screens display an old man in an ill-fitting suit and smiling kindly. There is a few seconds pause before there is a sudden change in the device. The central processor, which previously merely acted like a typical CPU and GPU combination, suddenly begins lighting up brightly with Prime as unused parts of the circuit begin drawing power from the superconductors -- and it's more than merely mundane electricity, this is Primal Energy itself! The indicator light turns an angry red and the Prime -- along with two other Spheres, Mind and Spirit -- is directed from the MRI magnets to the communication port. In short order, this combined energy is moved to the port and disappears.
This is the last action the device takes, either the effort of producing the Effect or by design, the superconductor power system arcs, frying much of the hypertech electronics. The red indicator light begins to blink slowly before the glimpse into the past ends.
Rufus observes the simulation. He slaps himself in the face when the Prime diagnostic is reminiscent of the Higher Order Domain of Mind and he slaps his forehead. "DAMMIT." He says. "Brain dead patients and I DIDNT include Mind in it. Stupid." He grumbles, using this opportunity to eat. It is also clear to Vic that Rufus has -0- knowledge of the Spirit Sphere, exemplified by when it emerges he says "What's that?" He says.
When the simulation ends he remembers the flow of the recursion and tries to deduce, based on how the Rig worked, whether it started it or received it. "Did you see that pingback recusion? Whatever it was seemed to kickstart the rig and put it into overdrive and triggered everything. I can't tell though if the rig self-activated it or if the rig received it, possibly from Web exposure." He says. Looking to Vic. "When I was in the corrupted sector there was a presence that seemed like it was trying to collect my IP code. I defended against it...but that might be this subroutine." He looks from the rig, then looks to Vic to see what she is thinking and chewing on.
Vic's first action is to focus on her laptop and chat under her breath about memory, both biological and electronic, and focuses her will into bringing what she observed into electronic storage on her laptop. Then she says, "What's what?" as she herself has not unlocked the Spirit sphere. "Yeah, I did see it," she says, particularly as she re-experienced it creating the video file. Any thoughts on it?"
"So, it was definitely dialing out like we saw there but that pingback recursion bit looks to have been a connection to a remote server," Vic explains to Rufus. "I suspect that's where the real problem is," she adds before sighing and saying, "I really want to be able to find a way to save Edna and the other victims... but, Arr, my Shen contact is sure they're a total loss. What do you think?"
Rufus frowns as he leans back in the chair. He is thinking. "...We could. In theory." He looks to Vic. "We'll need to run the simulation again to make sure. We need to deduce what that Mind effect was. If these people weren't awakened they shouldn't have been immersed enough for a de-rez to hit them." He frowns. "Unless that is what the recursion does. Sucks them in for them." He looks to Vic. "You said you saved the simulation right? You're better at Mind Domain than I am, obviously. Could you see what it was? I have a prog I want to run."
Vic nods. "Do you think we should re-run the simulation with a simulated person also... or... that's probably too advanced. I know that I can't do it on my own." She asks, "Definately I should send you a copy of the file I created," and then she asks, "I can re-run the observation if desired or you can."
Rufus hmmms. "I don't think we could replicate it with a person. Too advanced for me anyway...we could see how Edna responded to it in real time though." He looks at Vic. "We just run the simulation but have her as the simulated observer. We have enough evidence here, we could get a play-by-play from her perspective. It's a bit beyond my skill in Mind Domain though." He considers. "Let's have you run it this time. Your the better Mind person between us."
"Alright, you run your simulation of the device while I run a Time, Mind, Life scan for the same time period to observe her reactions," Vic suggests. She swipes a file on her screen into an email window types Rufus' nickname and taps the Send button. "If it helps there's the file of the first run also."
Vic spends another hour revising a copy of the original program adding parameters for finding Edna and evaluating her mental state during the usage of the device. During this time she finishes her meal by nibbling at it and sucking on the straw to get the last of her shake.
Rufus nods to Vic's idea. "Alright. I'll run it simultaneously to yours then and see what we can't come up with." He says. Once again he brings up the simulation data that she supplies and begins to work his coding mojo. Though unlike Vic, who is still wired and ready to go, Rufus gives a quiet little yawn as he codes. After a few minutes of coding he grunts. "Fuck it." He doesn't feel like coding anymore! And there is food! He wants food more. So he decides to code on the fly! No debugging and testing. YOLO.
The simulation begins again in much the same place. At first, there's no indication of Life or Mind, but that changes once the MRI magnets begin to draw power. Data streams across the input bus, creating a real-time image of the electrical activity within the user's brain -- presumably Edna -- with a focus on the parts of the brain dealing with memory, motivation, and emotions. This data is fed to the central chip which begins processing it, turning it into images displayed on the LED eyehole screens... and then feed -back- to the MRI magnets. Now more than merely -reading- the info, they're actively adjusting the electrical activity in the brain; no doubt this has the effect of making everything seem far, far more real than the equipment has any technological right to produce.
When the indicator light turns read, there's a sudden Mind surge and the electrical activity in the brain is somehow -pulled- out of the brain; this is beyond hypertech, this is straight up magic. The full electrical signature is melded with Prime and another Sphere before being sent -- seemingly without any processing -- down to the communications port and to the Digital Web.
Meanwhile, Rufus manages to trace the Prime pulse of the 'Pingback Recursion' through the circuitry and out into the Digital Web. Through the vast array of routed information the trace goes, being jumped from Sector to Sector on the way to its destination. Something familiar comes into view among the ; it's the rotting, chaotic mass of corrupted Sectors, but in a much smaller ball of nastiness; there also isn't any of the directly accessible Sectors on the periphery. The data makes a bee-line for the center of the mass, getting closer and closer to the center -- and then suddenly the magick link goes dead. There's a -massive- wall of protection there and the data scrying just whammed into it. Feedback pain races through the VA's skull like jackhammers against the brain and it's a damn good thing he's just tracing through the DW rather than in it; this would likely be fatal otherwise. As it is, it just gives a hellacious migraine headache which will last a few hours. Whatever is there doesn't want any unauthorized visitors.
Rufus traces it to...what the fuck is THAT thing. "The fuck?" He leans forward in his visor and looking at it. "That's no sector, Han Solo...that's a..." He only has moments however to examine this corrupted, writhing mass of sectors all crumbled into it's sphere. When it runs off Rufus shakes his head. "Fuck no you don't. I gotcha know pissant." He begins to type up a tracer to ping it, however the feedback as it passes it's defenses makes his visor short-circuit and phase out the simulation. "OOOOWWWW!" Rufus rubs at his temples, flicking his visor off and rubbing at his eyes. He groans as he puts his face in his hands. "uuuuuggghhh! GRRRR. THE FUCK MAN." He looks at the laptop and hisses. "Dammit!" He gets up to walk it off...but something says this headache isn't going away anytime soon.
Vic sighs and says, "Well, that confirms its the cause..." and then jerks in surprise at Rufus' reaction and says, "What's wrong over there, Arr?" Her plans to pull the memories to the computer again pushed aside for the moment.
Rufus is hissing. He looks likes someone who is trying to fight an eye-induced migraine with no meds and no water and then decided to go off and exercise. "MMMMMMMM." He says, grabbing his milkshake and not drinking it. Instead, the lukewarm, cool milkshake is put on the back of his neck. "....fuuuuuck yes." He says, and only when the pain marginally subsides enough that he realizes he is being talked to. "Eh?" His face is scrunched because he is still fighting off the headache. Ow. "Found the source." He says, putting the milkshake aside and pinching between his thumb and index. Hard. Ahhhh. Ten second bonus. "It's a thing, Vic. It's a fucking -thing-. And it caught my tracer ping."
Staring at Rufus for a moment in shock, Vic doesn't find the words to speak for a few hearbeats. She then asks, "A thing? Like... a living denizen of the Digital Web, Arr?" she then says, "Like a spirit maybe. I know you're shit for Spirit magic and I've not unlocked it yet but.... honestly I hope that's what it is otherwise we're even more blind than that for lack of knowledge."
Rufus shakes his head. "Dunno...didn't get a good enough look. It was codeborn though, or at least came off as data. No avatar, no ICON, no person nuffin...just....GRRR." He pinches his hand harder, the trick only lasting so long however before the migraine wins against pressure points. He even does the trick of trying to twist your head as if 'leaning into the pain' will help. He describes the 'small ball of nastiness', the code shooting away. "Where it went, I think, is where it started. It was surrounded by corrupted centers, so maybe the centerpoint. But it's protected. Like seriously protected." Obviously. Look at him. He has a migraine and he wasn't even jacked in. Anywhere.
"And by all appearances it feeds on human mental energy," Vic says and then pauses, stearing at Rufus all over again. Very slowly, making sure to not sound threatening, she says, "I think, Rufus, that I should scan you with Life and Mind to make sure you're... well, all there still." She then asks, "Will you let me do so?"
Rufus shakes his head. "Fine! Just promise me what comes next is a bunch of Excedrin." He says, trying another tactic of rubbing his temples. Ten seconds. "It didn't do it to me." He says. "The sector it fled into was protected. When my tracer tried to follow it it blanked my visor and this happened." He states. He doesn't however refuse to be scanned. Then he has an idea. "...how was it able to know I tracked it?" Too late. The pain comes back.
Vic focuses her will and expands her senses as she magically examines Rufus' pattern though the lenses of Life and Mind. She winces in sympathetic pain and says, "Arr, you are one luckly devil that you were just scanning the D-Web from out here. Had you actually been deep diving you could've been reduced to scattered Data." She reaches into her bag and pulls out a bottle and hands it to him. "Your Excedrin," she explains.
"The points that didn't go into ravishing good looks had to go somewhere." He takes the bottle of excedrin, pops it open, pops four pills, and downs them. No fluids either. He pops the top and tosses it back to Vic. "Shit..." He does that 'lean into the pain' motif again. "Look. I'm gonna get in the shower...? Make this med stuff work faster." He rubs his head. "Tell you what...I'm not in a condition to do anything...you'll need to run something for me." He says. "It'll help figure out if we missed anything."
Vic catches the bottle and, almost in the same motion, puts it back into her bag. "Alright, what's your idea? What do I need to do?"
Rufus takes a moment. Breathes. Then using Akashic techniques pushes the brain back into the back of his head. Ten seconds. "Go to my laptop. Go to Q_LINK.HDQM. Plug in all the information you have so far. Hit execute." He says. "You may need to tweak the parameters a bit...but it should give you a general chain of events. Help figure out if we're missing any pieces."
Vic nods to Rufus. Before she moves to his computer she again focuses Mind and Data and weaves the experience of the second Time scan to a file on her computer. She then walks over to Rufus' and finds the designated program. She pulls his computer closer to her own so she can consult the data on it and adjust parameters here and there and then says, "Alright, I think I've got this. I'm executing the program now."
While the program runs Vic watches the code, tweaks the data parameters and re-runs it only to rinse and repeat one more time after refining the parameters even better based on all the observations and seeing how the program is using the data.
Rufus is only in the shower for 10 minutes, THANK YOU. Showers help blood flow, and therfore takes the bite out of his migraine. Now, it's in headache mode, which far more tolerable than the brain-splitting migraine he was suffering earlier. He comes back into the garage and is quiet as Vic is focused on her parameter changes, using the opportunity to eat and wait to see what happens.
Various facts and data coalesce into a clear pattern: clearly the corruption in the Digital Web and the Linkdead patients in the hospital are intimately related. Perhaps fortunately, it seems unlikely that the minds of the people being drawn into the corruption have been destroyed. Likely, based on the scattered information from the visit to Schaffenvolkvania combined with the additional information gained from examining the device, those minds are being used as a quick-and-dirty method to Format the sectors. They're enslaved to grow the corruption. They -might- be saved, but it will involve releasing them from the sectors they're bound to, eliminating the central corrupted sector, and guiding the lost minds back to their bodies.
In addition, there is some sort of numerology component for this; the cryptographic key from the device that sent the victim's mind to the center of the DW corruption was date-keyed. The place is a fortress, but every fortress still needs a way to get in and out -- this one seems to use dates. The next time the proverbial drawbridge is down? Why, of course, it's October 31st. Halloween.
Finally, it's unlikely that this is some kind of automated trap. Someone is absolutely orchestrating this. And the most likely place to be doing so is -within- the Digital Web itself, likely at the place the VR goggles were calling back to.
Vic leans back after the third set of results show up on the screen and finally comes to be aware of Rufus' presence in the room again. "Feeling better?" she asks him while indicating the results also. Before he can answer even she points out, "I think I'm seeing some thing deeper here what do you think?" as she leans in toward the screen and offering him to come closer to look over the results with her.
Rufus looks over and nods. "...better. I don't feel like my head is about to crack open like an egg. Just eye-throbs now." He says. When she gestures to the screen he slides over to sit next to her looking over her shoulder. "....Yeah. Everything is connected to that one protected server." He says. As he observes the findings he frowns. "That's numeric key." He gestures. After a bit of numeric jumping jacks, finding Halloween is making him groan. "Seriously? Halloween?" He groans. "Well..we have our attack window if we want to get those people out." He looks at the screen again. "These roots don't add up." He says. "Look there. The placement of the VR rigs, the choice of sectors. If it was codeborn it would be more...concise. Algorithmic. There's no pattern-algorithm here. It's all deductive. Which means we're dealing with a someone. I think."
"Its all filled up with psychological terms about fear and horror, especially with references to various fictional genres that evoke such feelings, Rufus," Vic says. "What ever is in the two that haven't been scouted we need to expect more of the same I think."
