Virtually Irresistible - [Hackers Win!]

[Autumn Sativus]

Votes
Trieste - 3
Luna - 1

Yet to Vote
Beguile's Mistress, Breathless Intent, James Moriarty, Kyrsa, Starlequin, SunshineSparkle, Valerian

[Ryven]

"On second thought, I change my vote to Luna."

[SunshineSparkle]

Sunshine glanced at the rest of the group. "I'm sorry, Luna"

[Breathless Intent]

Going to go for Luna as well.

[Kye]

"I'm torn between Luna and Trieste..."

[Valerian]

Val hesitated a moment, unsettled by such certainty; but at least this time what everyone was saying agreed with her own feelings.  "Aadreal might have deceived you... but you were just too anxious to defend her, Luna.  Something isn't right there."

And now, she thought with a sigh, there was nothing left to do except fret, and hope that they had made the right choice again.

[Autumn Sativus]

Votes
Luna - 7
Trieste - 2
Starlequin - 1

Yet to Vote
James Moriarty

[Trieste]

Starlequin.

[Beguile's Mistress]

   

One small corner of the garden with a shallow rock-strewn pond at the center was a place of peace and a safe haven of scents to tease the nose and sights to please the eye and contradictions to confuse the brain.  It was carpeted with irises of every hue and variety the favorite flower of the virtual gardener who designed them.

"How then do we pick our foe when it seems we only focus on ourselves.  Hidden code it must be, hidden and clouded from our our eyes.  Hidden behind a cloud."  She smiles and cups a vibrant bloom in both hand and whispers into its heart.  "Luna."

[Starlequin]

"Alright, so maybe you were telling the truth. This time," Starlequin muttered as he passed by Ryven's terminal on the way out of the office. "Still doesn't mean you're not hiding something yourself." With his parting shot Star exited the room and slammed open the stairwell door, his anger threatening to overtake his senses. Aadreal. Conniving little...ugh! Damn traitor. Weakling. Letting herself be blinded by simple greed. And how many others were there still hiding among them, calculating the worth of their lives with the same cold precision with which they ran their OSs?

He stepped out onto the roof, still wet from the rain earlier, and sighed as he glanced up at the cleared night sky. At least the stars were out. Stargazing always seemed to calm his soul, and after the news that Sasha had been picked off by those bastards he definitely needed a little peace. Digging through his back pocket, Star brought out his crumpled softpack of smokes; a grimace crossed his face as he realized he was down to his last one. He sealed his lips around the thin unfiltered roll of paradise and drew it from its cradle, tossed the empty pack off the roof and sparked his trusty Zippo to flaming life. As he inhaled the first glorious puffs of heat and smoke, he studied the intricate etchings on the lighter.

A family heirloom, handed down to Star from his grandfather. The old man who had been his inspiration for so long, and who had been the reason he'd gotten interested in computer science in the first place. The cancer had appeared so suddenly, spread like wildfire and taken his grandda practically in an eyeblink. Star still grieved for the man. So when, as a young man, he learned of the idea of virtual reality and what could be done with it...well, it seemed like fate, offering him a way to bring the old man back. Maybe not completely, of course, but in every way that mattered. Starlequin had thrown himself into his studies, his work, and now. Now it had led him here. To this project. This project that would probably be the...ha...'virtual' death of him, as it had been for so many now.

And all because of greed.

Damn them.

Star's calm dissolved the more he thought about their situation, and he stormed back downstairs and swept into the office without even extinguishing his cigarette. To hell with the electronics, the delicate circuits and the expensive equipment. It was time to start getting some answers.

"Luna! You've got some explaining to do..."

[James Moriarty]

EXCEPTION THROWN: VOTING ANOMALY DETECTED

Code Select Expand


Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "__init__.py", line 34, in <module>
    determine_voting_kernel(kernel_core, patt, randint, vector_votes)
  File "voting.py", line 18, in determine_voting_kernel
    trace_vote_pattern(vector_votes, chi_sq_test)
  File "kernel.py", line 22, in trace_vote_pattern
    iter_votes()
  File "kernel.py", line 31, in iter_votes
    raise AnomalyException()
AnomalyException: PATTERN FOUND, but violates MINIMUM TRUST RULE


RANDOM VOTE ROUTINE ENGAGED; METHOD: DIE ROLL

Kyrsa

[Autumn Sativus]

Votes
Luna - 7
Trieste - 2
Kyrsa - 1
Starlequin - 1

Luna is removed from the project by a significant majority, her attempts to save Aadreal earlier on coming back to bite her in the ass this time around. It seems she may have been an accidental accomplice at most, as they can find no evidence to say she's anything but an engineer.
Stepping into the VR pods is nerve-wracking at best with the knowledge that time was running out and they had not yet found what they were looking for.

Players
Beguile's Mistress
Breathless Intent
James Moriarty
Kyrsa
Ryven
Sex Bobomb
Starlequin
SunshineSparkle
Trieste
Valerian

Roles
Engineers x3-5
Nostalgic
NPC
AI
Hackers x0-2
Neuro-System Specialist
The Girl

[Autumn Sativus]

Ryven is disabled during the VR phase and found upon returning to the world. Another Engineer gone from their ranks, leading them closer and closer to the end of it all.

Choose Wisely.

Players
Beguile's Mistress
Breathless Intent
James Moriarty
Kyrsa
Sex Bobomb
Starlequin
SunshineSparkle
Trieste
Valerian

Roles
Engineers x2-4
Nostalgic
NPC
AI
Hackers x0-2
Neuro-System Specialist
The Girl

It would be awesome if this round could last 24 hours or less like the last one. ;D

[James Moriarty]

James suddenly sits bolt upright in his chair.  His eyes are flitting back and forth quickly, scanning something -- the room?  an unseen readout? -- and then he begins to speak.

Hello.  Here is your Eighth Challenge.  In order to succeed, you must accomplish these tasks:

* Identify programming languages
* Determine whether the code will run
* If so, give the result
* If not, give the exception

Good luck.


CHALLENGE 7

Code Select Expand


var BLOCK_PARSE_REGEX = /\$\{(\w+)\}/igm;
String.prototype.parse_vars = function(dataDict)
{
        return this.replace(BLOCK_PARSE_REGEX, function(match, param, offset, orig)
        {
                if (!dataDict) { return ""; }
                return (dataDict[param] || (dataDict[param] == 0)) ? (dataDict[param]) : ("");
        });
};
var x = "Hello, ${name}!  How are you!";
alert(x.parse_vars({'name': 'James Moriarty'}));


Code Select Expand


@P=split//,".URRUU\c8R";@d=split//,"\nrekcah xinU / lreP rehtona tsuJ";sub p{
@p{"r$p","u$p"}=(P,P);pipe"r$p","u$p";++$p;($q*=2)+=$f=!fork;map{$P=$P[$f^ord
($p{$_})&6];$p{$_}=/ ^$P/ix?$P:close$_}keys%p}p;p;p;p;p;map{$p{$_}=~/^[P.]/&&
close$_}%p;wait until$?;map{/^r/&&<$_>}%p;$_=$d[$q];sleep rand(2)if/\S/;print


Code Select Expand


2010 CLS
2030 ARRAY F
2040 LET F[0] = 0
2050 LET F[1] = 1
2060 LET N = 1
2080 LET F[N+1] = F[N] + F[N-1]
2090 LET N = N + 1
2100 PRINT F[N];", ";
2120 IF N < 50 THEN GOTO 2080


HINT 7
There is no hint.

[Sex Bobomb]

Trieste

[Trieste]

And on my birthday, too!  :'(

Starlequin

[Breathless Intent]

Happy Birthday, Trieste!

*offers lemony sweetness*

[Trieste]

*laughing* Goddamnit, BI. <3

[SunshineSparkle]

Trieste.

[Autumn Sativus]

Votes
Trieste - 4
Starlequin - 2

Yet to Vote
Kyrsa, Starlequin, Valerian

Please get your votes in as soon as possible.

[Beguile's Mistress]

BI stole my line!!! ;D

Happy Birthday and many happy returns of the day, Trieste!

[James Moriarty]

Starlequin

[Autumn Sativus]

Votes
Trieste - 4
Starlequin - 3
Valerian - 1

Yet to Vote
Kyrsa

LAST CALL!

[Starlequin]

Valerian.

(Also: Happy B-Day, Trie!)

[Valerian]

Starlequin.