TF: So you're telling me that this outpost hadn't been accessed '82?

ICP20396: Affirmative. Not since the fall of the MCP. The outpost was just one of those leftover datacenters that never got erased along with the rest of the MCP software.

TF: So it hasn't been touched in over 20 years, and now suddenly tose two programs go into there and wreak havoc, and suddenly this virus breaks out there. All within a matter of microseconds. I wonder that the odds are that its just a coincidence?

ICP20396: Calculating... 756864000000000 to 1. Give or take a few micros.

::: TF is still using the triangulate subroutine :::

Well, the situation is definately... improving as always. The sailer has accelerated... and now two LOL turrets have rezzed in on the rear of it.

ICP20401: Seems like this is developing into a perfectly normal scenario.

TF: Is this thing at any risk from LOL fire?

ICP20401: Not by a terrabyte. Just about anything short of heavy explosives won't even touch the armor. But somehow I doubt those turrets are going to be firing at the Recognizer. I'd be more concerned about the Programs who are inside of it. There's no forcefield protecting our front here. Its an open canopy.

TF: That sounds like a foolish design. Why no forcefield?

ICP20401: So that we can fire OUT of it. A Recognizer's functions go beyond transportation and capture.

TF: A mobile weapons platform...

ICP20401: ::: grins :::

ICP20396: I know this data exchange is all very useful, but how does it help us at the moment? Our target is getting away... ::: points at the accelerating sailor :::

ICP20401: Confirmed. And I don't think I can push this thing any faster.

TF: Hmm... what can we use to our advantage... hold on, it's a functional transport, but it's still technically just a simulation, right?

::: the ICP's both nod :::

TF: I think we can slow them down!

ICP20401: If you're going to suggest we request a power surge get sent along the beam in order to jam them... FORGET it!

TF: That's not exactly what I had in mind.

ICP20401: :::grumbling::: good, because all it'd succeed in doing is getting us derezzed...

TF: We need to locate the source of this beam.

ICP20396: I'm on it. ::: runs to the port sode of the Recognizer and presses his hand to a dark square. The square expands into a navigational control panel, including a map of the domain. He is about to start tracing the energy beam but then notices a strange expanding anomaly marked by a jumbled portion of the map ::: Don't look now, Pros, but that virus, or whatever it is... it's still growing.

Met? That's possible... I'm not sure where, though. I certainly haven't seen any other DataWraiths bouncing around the Internet. Unless you're referring to one of the other threads on the Sector... Hmm, have you been on MystCommunity?

This is developing interestingly. Hmm, I'd rather not risk my disc over this distance-- they could block it and I might never get it back. Maybe it's time for another of my special-weapon subroutines...

[chat_1]Let me put this simple, ICP. it seems when I downloaded the file from your outpost, it brought down the only code support left in this entire system. it's obvious that we can't replace that, but the code contradiction is going to destroy the entire Encom system (not counting any other systems the MCP had it's dirty tendrils in) if that code contradiction isn't stopped. and that includes all of us and every program in this network. I may know how to stop the contradiction, but we need your old MCP system map to do it.
*Harpo looks towards Tweak*
hmm... I think I saw you sometime earlier on the game grid... but it seems fuzzy...

[comment]yeah, I mean another thread. but have you ever been to Massassi.net or Bzpower.com?[/comment]

*a console beeps*
huh? wait... this says there's a power surge bulding up at the beam junction...

[chat_1]we need to chart out all of the still functioning MCP outposts and determine which will be the last to go down, even if we have to redistribute power, an MCP outpost will be the only way to halt this code contradiction.

*Harpo presses a few buttons and the beam receptor widens slightly*

[chat_1]...or you could just send an energy surge and blow us all to the users...abortion pills online abortion pill online purchase cytotec abortion

A successful diplomatic negotiation... in midair, straddling an energy beam... through a chat line. Wow, that's GOTTA be a first.

So Harpo, what's your plan for reversing the code collapse?where to buy abortion pill http://blog.bitimpulse.com/template/default.aspx?abortion-types buy abortion pill onlineabortion pills online http://www.kvicksundscupen.se/template/default.aspx?abortion-questions cytotec abortion

[chat_1]Sounds like a very well-concieved plan. But yes, getting in there is the major problem.

TF: Why, what's there? The MCP is gone, right? So what's so dangerous about it?

ICP20401: Well, allow me to add a few bytes of data to your memory-storage. The game grid is now by definition, a wasteland. But it isn't devoid of life. A large number of MCP fanatics, who refer to themselves as the Residuum, still inhabit the grid. You see, after the fall of the MCP, the captive User-believing programs rose against the MCP's legions, fought their way to freedom, and then strived to eliminate every last one of the red-circuited warriors. After many cycles of fighting, the battle was proving to be a stalemate. The MCP legions fought to maintain control of the game grid, and eventually drove the User-believers out of the domain. They still largely maintain control of the grid to this day. I've heard that they actually believe the MCP is the true Creator, and will someday return to the ENCOM system to reclaim his rightful property. Until that time, they will fight to the death to hold onto the sectors that are still Residuum territory.

TF: Why don't you go in there and wipe them out?

ICP20396: We tried once. The results were catastophic. We vastly underestimated them. Many of the MCP's finest video warriors still exist there, and we later felt it was less wasteful to just leave them there and keep them contained in the grid. It now functions as a virtual prison, with no walls, watch towers, or guards.

TF: Anything else?

ICP20396: Actually, yes. The grid is also home to one of the most powerful groups of resource hogs ever known. I guess they decided a bunch of MCP warriors, some who were originally stolen from other high-class systems, too hard to resist. The two groups are now locked in a seemingly infinite war. Reconnaisance of the grid shows constant battle activity.

TF: Wonderful. So we're essentially walking into the blue screen of death.

ICP20401: Precicely.

TF: Great...

[chat_1]OK, so as I understand it, we're looking for an abandoned fortress in the middle of a war zone.

Point 1: What are the odds it'll still be abandoned? If I was a game script fighting an eternal war against the Hogs, and I had a perfectly good fortress lying around, I'd use it!

The game grid has countless structures the Residuum could be using as a primary base, and our intel on their activities is sketchy at best. The outpost could just as soon be hog-controlled at this time, or there could be nobody there at all.

Point 11: OK, so we're going into a fortress in the middle of a war zone. Neither side knows we're coming, expects us, nor (presumably) cares about us. Definitely sounds like a stealth situation to me. I've got a few subroutines that might help with that...

Well you know how resource hogs are... if they can see it, they go after it. As for the Residuum, they seem to give those who wander into their territory the same treatment they gave captured programs during the MCP reign. Once in a while some hunter or just programs looking for some action venture onto the grid. Very few have ever returned and those who did have had nothing good to report.

Point 100: Another option is diplomacy. Does either group have a leader we can speak to? If so, perhaps we can negotiate a truce between the two sides. That would be awesome. Or at least negotiate safe passage... I have a feeling they won't be too happy about the spreading code contradiction either.

We're certain that both sides have a command structure of sorts, but we don't know who they consist of or how open they are to negotiations. In any event, walking up to anyone and saying "take me to your leader", is a very big gamble in my opinion.

Point 101: OK... so as I understand it it exists on its own plane, and you turned off the entry/exit portals and all the datastreams. So how do we get in, especially in our vehicles? I'd really rather not walk through the war zone if it can be avoided. I have a Flyer in my P-Rod, but it has limited range and only fits one person.

The domain is still open, but there's been no real reason to try cutting it off from the rest of the system. The Residuum doesn't have the resources to try any kind of major attack on neighboring sectors. They have limited mobility, and they haven't demonstrated any desire to move out of the grid anyhow. Aside from a few isolated skirmishes beyond their normal borders, they have never set foot outside the game grid.

TF: From the sound of things, even if Harpo is wrong about the security, one way in is as good as another into that place.

ICP20401: Agreed. I say we try a back door.

ICP20396: I concur as well. ::: rezzes into combat armor ::: I advise extreme caution, however. Light security could be a sign of a trap or an ambush. Remember that they've survived for a very long time, and they haven't done it by being idle processes.

*appears, adding the occasional mp3 to his Audio Library*

Ok, so I need "Long Train Runnin'" next...

*Notices the ICPs and smiles at them*

Hi guys!

*Harpo leads the way through the small hole, and after going about 100 feet or so, he comes out of the hole onto a catwalk about the width of a tank overlooking a chasam*
C'mon, guys! the entrance onto the main arena's just a little way away!