02 . text

[systemize]

[The comm tag reads Stormer and is untraceable.]

Someone asked me recently how I'd define moral and immoral, but I think my perspective's a little skewed. How do you define it?


> private to Magicman
I need to ask you for a favor. Do they have you listed as an adult here? I wasn't sure what your official age would be.

> private to Isaac
I think I have your software finished. I can send you the file to download and you can check if it needs troubleshooting.

Comments

[systemize]

Oh, my first teacher was known for viruses. In fact, he went by Dr. Virus, or just Vee. That's why the coding at school always seems so clean to me-- streamlined, like you said. He always took that mentality, too, putting in bits as he needed to. Live net security is all about responsiveness so it's not too surprising.

Well, both. I do like building them and I don't get to too often. [One time he'd dragged home an old, massive monitor a full mile on foot in order to build one, because he'd had extremely limited access otherwise. Then it'd started raining. Cadel was pretty upset that day.] But I don't trust pre-built machines either. It seems crazy, but in my old life I'd have had to check it for bugs, physical and virtual. And Vee can be a lot craftier than me in planting them.

[hypnotherapy]

Well, that certainly is themed naming. [ YOU'RE LITERALLY CALLED MAGICMAN AND YOU LOOK LIKE A WIZARD, MAGICMAN... but then again, he's a netnavi, not a human being. ] The way I approach and interact with viruses may be a little different to what you're used to. One of my powers is the ability to bring them into the physical world - I'll show you some time, if you're interested.

Considering the amount of monitoring you seem to have had in your old lifestyle, that's a reasonable mindset to hold. And not wanting to let it out of your sight is also understandable behaviour. There is no telling what could happen if you're not watching it...that sort of thing.

[systemize]

[Cadel's birth name had been Cadel Darkkon, or Welsh for battle lord. His at-the-time father had been Phineas Darkkon-- dark lord. He thinks the themed names are ridiculous, too.] It is? Wouldn't that be dangerous? I can't imagine how they'd function in a physical world-- their scripted purpose isn't even relevant anymore. They're not like you.

It's just a senseless risk to leave it around. I'm trying to keep Stormer and my real name as separate as I can, in case I need to act online, but if someone got hold of my computer that'd be all the evidence they'd need.

[hypnotherapy]

That's where my knowledge and yours take different paths. They're more like animals with their own unique traits - they have basic instincts to multiply. Survive. Attack and break down entities foreign to them. They have extreme adaptability due to their unstable nature - and if they're fed the right things, they stabilise and grow to a set extent. There's no real script, though they can be used to run different devices depending on their natural capabilities.

Of course, when improperly handled, they're dangerous. But they listen to me, so it's not a problem.

Wise of you. The last thing you'd need would be someone getting hold of compromising data.

[systemize]

That's bizarre. Are you sure that isn't something to do with your universe of origin? Why do they listen to you?

Exactly. I know I'm no good in a fight but that doesn't mean I can't do something while I'm here, and I can't do anything if I'm compromised.

[hypnotherapy]

That's how they've always been. It's normal for a netnavi. [ He lives in a JRPG what more do you want from him. ] As for why they listen to me, well. I can't give away all my secrets, at least not so soon. [ Now that is a sensitive topic. ]

Well, considering how many imPorts seem to have morally grey histories, you might find people more willing to be forgiving, but that's neither here nor there. It's best to keep things private, in the long run.

[systemize]

Oh-- no, no, you don't need to give away secrets. [Although Cadel's certainly drawing some conclusions of his own, including wondering if Magicman weren't part virus himself. There's nothing scintillating about that to Cadel, nothing scandalous. It's just interesting.] I was just curious. That's dead useful. You must be impossible to hack.

[That's not a speculative statement. Cadel thinks it sounds comforting.]

Even if they're forgiving there's still the law to think about. Though I'm glad someone understands. It's not safe to put everything out there for public consumption. It can be used against you!

[hypnotherapy]

[ It's a big deal when you're a hybridized mistake, okay. To Cadel, it's merely interesting - to Magicman, it's something very sensitive. ] Since you've told me so much of the less palatable details of your life [ technically, anyway - Cadel's bad treatment is very transparent ] I do owe you at least a little of mine. But if you could wait a little longer for details, that would be optimal.

Ah, well -hacking an actual netnavi is considered an ethical crime - at least, it has been for years. Tampering with a navi's programming without permission is something people without any boundaries tend to do.

But I'm proud of my firewalls, yes, if you're talking about systems. If you need any extra safeguards, I'd be happy to assist.

[ BOY, DARK CHIPS SURE WERE SOMETHING ]

Sharing everything is a naive sentiment at best. Very dangerous, at worst. If you don't let information out, you can't kick yourself when it gets into the wrong hands.

[systemize]

[He's still not used to the idea of AIs being well established enough to have laws about them, but he's adjusting quickly. He certainly would understand why being a mistake would be sensitive.]

That was risky of me, I know. I'm lucky it was you and Hiro I opened up to. [Not that Cadel is bowled over with trust, but he has the tentative formings of it, which is pretty significant for him.] But it's not a matter of owing. I don't need to know your weak spot so I feel safe that you know mine. It's okay.

I didn't even think of hacking your programming. Of course it's a crime! I meant your systems, yeah. I'd love to look at the code but I'd rather learn it and implement it myself, if that's alright.

It's stupid to give away all your advantages. Occasionally it's strategic to give up one but doing it blindly is asking for it. [Like Cadel's strategic honesty. Desperate as he'd been for connections, there's no way he'd have taken any chances if he hadn't rationalized to himself first that they were necessary.]

[hypnotherapy]

It's a trade of information, that's all. [ At least, it helps if he thinks about it that way. It's safer if he just handles it that way - in this world, it's not nearly as devastating a reveal. ] You're friends with Hiro? That's good. He needs more friends around his age - and intelligence level, too. [ HE'S SUCH A PARENT... ]

Of course.

I can show you how viruses from my own world work in their natural environment, if you're interested in that - I have the virus breeder set up now.

Everything that's out in public is one more thing that can be used against you...or something like that. Anything can be a weapon if wielded with sufficient intent and force, so arming potential enemies unnecessarily is a bad idea. I've never understood people who are transparent about everything, but perhaps they have the luxury of not needing suspicion. Good for them. [ Good luck, he's behind 7000 aliases. At least in hacking circles. Though anyone who knows him will probably connect the dots, the amount of people he'd allow to know about his less than legal activities is a very, very small pool. ]

If you release information correctly, you can lure people into thinking one way or another...but even that's risky. [ He has experience in baiting, though. One of his favourite hobbies. ]

[systemize]

If that's what you want to do. Yeah, we've been working on a couple projects together. I can't say I don't know what that's like, needing friends of my age and intelligence.

I wouldn't say no.

You can't take it back once it's out, either. You can only play that card once. And we don't know what the intentions are of everyone here-- there's records of malicious people as well as benevolent ones. If they think they don't need suspicion, it just means they've never lost something from it before.

[Luring people-- in other words, manipulating them-- is Cadel's foremost talent. He just tries not to use it unless absolutely necessary, these days.]

[hypnotherapy]

Oh, you've been working on things together? Now that is something I look forward to seeing the results of. Hiro seems to attract all types of technology. [ Including his.... ]

We seem to be getting quite the mix of people. At least you weren't here for the Hornet data leak. My, that caused quite the stir. It would have been bad if you'd gotten caught up in that.

[systemize]

At first I was just teaching him how to do DNA wiring so he could do things on the micron scale instead of nano scale, but we had a few ideas.

I read about that. Do you know anything about it that wasn't public on the network?

[hypnotherapy]

Whatever you come up with is going to be very interesting, I'm sure.

It was caused by Hornets attempting to spread some kind of virus to the imPort population, but that was just conjecture. I don't know if it was confirmed. The affected imPorts were made more violent and destructive, which manifested in different ways, but you've likely read about that already...the data smearing was an attempt to 'prove' that imPorts were dangerous or otherwise unfit for combat due to past trauma, and needed total control to be managed.

That got quite a few people angry.

[systemize]

It was a mess. I don't know why they'd have thought the government would listen to that-- they have files on all of us already. They know how dangerous everyone is. If they intended us to be managed further they'd have done it already.

As an incendiary tactic, though, it was effective at uniting everyone to finally take out the Hornets.

[hypnotherapy]

Their intention was to release the information to the general public, I believe. A fine way to get mobs on your hands. But the Hornet who was responsible seemed to have been wavering in their beliefs, so who can tell what they thought they were doing.

It certainly succeeded in getting everyone angry! A few friendships got a little broken up, I saw. [ Not his problem tho. ]

[systemize]

Just because you're wavering doesn't mean you're willing to act against them. It's all useless speculation at this point, though.

That's not difficult to do. Sowing discord is one of the easiest things to pull off but it's not as useful as you might think. It's hard to direct. There's always unanticipated outcomes.