Virtually Irresistible - [Hackers Win!]

Started by Galactic Druid, October 31, 2012, 02:06:28 AM

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Autumn Sativus

#200
Votes
Kythia - 8
Aadreal - 2
Gavlois - 1
Trieste - 1

Yet to Vote
Beguile's Mistress, Gavlois, James Moriarty, KingBear, Kyrsa, Kokaine, Sex Bobomb

Would like to have this round ending in around 24 hours, please get your votes in.
Us against the world
Just a couple sinners making fun of hell


~~A&A(updated March 2021)~~Tales~~Wants~~O&O~~Wiki~~

SunshineSparkle






O&O    A&A    Avatars

Autumn Sativus

As the group bickers over whom is responsible and should be fired from the project next, each computer bings in quick response, several lines of code processing down the screen before an announcement appears at the end.

KingBear has been removed from the project by effort of the White Hat.

A quick trace back on the event shows the group that they should put their trust in Sasha as she is their White Hat.

After KingBear is escorted out, they search his rig for evidence and find it an unlucky effort, just another Engineer off the table. Well, at least he was safe from the possibility of getting stuck between worlds.
Us against the world
Just a couple sinners making fun of hell


~~A&A(updated March 2021)~~Tales~~Wants~~O&O~~Wiki~~

Kythia

Kythia chuckles and glances pointedly at Aadrael.

"OK.  So I'll be off soon.  I've private messaged out everything I know to everyone that I know can be trusted.  I'm going to be occupied with the job hunt for a while so this is really a last call - if you need any more info from me then get in touch quickly because otherwise I won't be able to access it."
242037

James Moriarty

Looking back, James would be certain that his mistake had been to look at himself in the mirror.

The terrifying thing was that as far as he could tell, there was nothing at all unusual about his reflection, yet he felt as though he were looking at someone else.  They reflection of the pale-green wall behind him gave the scene in the mirror a surreal quality, almost as though he were superimposed on some background reality that had not yet been filled-in.  A memory was jarred -- he was in the middle of a Jump.  This room was at the top of the unfinished Central Tower One skyscraper that was to be the focal point of the city his team had built online.  He looked down at his hands -- they seemed so real, so warm and perfectly detailed.  How could this be part of the Construct?  He looked back up at his reflection and started -- his face was lined with wires, trailing in and out of his skin, and his eyes were black with old CRT green cursors blinking, waiting for input, one in each eye.

James reached one hand up to touch the mirror and found it was like mercury, a liquid suspended in a perfect plane until he touched it, sending ripples in all directions, lapping at the edges of the mirror's frame.  It was cold to the touch -- much colder than he had expected.  But when he tried to pull his hand away, he found he could not.  The liquid silver, freezing the tips of his fingers painfully, was sucking him in -- centimeter by centimeter his hand was drawn into the mirror, so cold it felt like burning.  He struggled in earnest now, feet braced against the wall, trying to push him away from the deadly pool.  When his entire arm had been drawn in, his chest shocked by the terrible chill, his head arching back to avoid the rippling plane of impossibly icy metal, he screamed.


~~

James opened his eyes.  He was safe inside his pod, the white plastic and steel of it solid to the touch, comforting.  Goosebumps lined his bare forearms -- he was chilled, shaking slightly.  Looking around, he was surprised at how dark the network room was -- it appeared that all the lights were off, and he could not hear the typical hum and whir of the fans and computers that ran the simulation.  The entire room was off -- in the dim light coming in through the windows, it also appeared he was completely alone.  "Rivka?" he called out into the darkness.  "Cerberus?"  His voice sounded small and plaintive -- his nerves were clearly getting the best of him.  Irritated at himself and his co-workers, he made to get out of the pod.

But his feet were stuck -- he couldn't move them.  Leaning over to take a closer look, his eyes widened in horror.  Huge, black metal clamps anchored in the floor of the pod had his feet and ankles in a vice grip, the pointed ends digging deep into the flesh of his foot and lower calves.  "Anyone!  Help!"  He tried to get either foot free, but it was hopeless.  Turning the handle on the pod door and pushing, he found the door jammed shut.  Panicking, he pounded on the door with both hands, his heart pounding and his breath coming in ragged gasps.  "Hey, guys, help me!  I'm stu-"

A deafeningly loud clacking sound vibrated and shook the pod, and suddenly four gleaming black metallic claws at the ends of huge, snakelike steel coil arms crashed through the glass of the pod's front and side plexi glass windows.  Shoulder, shoulder, arm and stomach were painfully clasped and James was thrown back against the back of the reclining chair inside the pod.  His head thrashed back and forth as he struggled uselessly, and then he saw a human arm squeeze through one of the holes, reaching for him.  A woman's arm -- a hand he recognized all too well.

"Rivka!"  He called out, stretching his hand to hers, almost able to reach... almost there...

~~

James opened his eyes.  Several of his teammates were standing around his pod, looking with concern at the readouts and at him.  He was drenched in his own sweat and his heart was racing so fast he felt like was going to throw up.  He felt a cool hand on his forehead and closed his eyes, trying to catch his breath.  Someone whispered in his ear what had happened to Sarena and KingBear.  He was supposed to say a name -- at this point, any name was as good as any other: he just didn't know who could be responsible.  "Starlequin," he muttered, simply because it was the first name that popped into his head.

Peripherie

What a gut churning turn of events. KingBear was now gone, also wrongly accused. No one in this place seemed to have good instincts when it came to picking the guilty party. And, in hindsight, she was part of that wrongly believing group. But there was one person here with conviction enough for all of them. Kythia. And that was admirable. She choose to voice her concern against overwhelming backlash. And although Peripherie had once been on the wrong end of those suspicions, this time she felt the woman with the ripped jeans might be right. It was time to stop weighing the pros and cons and just .. make her real vote known.

Aadreal
"Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher
storm, but to add color to my sunset sky." - Rabindranath Tagore

Autumn Sativus

#206
Votes
Kythia - 9
Aadreal - 3
Gavlois - 1
Starlequin - 1

Yet to Vote
Gavlois, Kyrsa, Kokaine, Sex Bobomb

Round will end late this afternoon or this evening. Please get your votes in.
Us against the world
Just a couple sinners making fun of hell


~~A&A(updated March 2021)~~Tales~~Wants~~O&O~~Wiki~~

Beguile's Mistress

BeMi ponders the notion of hairy clams and shudders.  She would hope remaining in the garden would protect her but there is more than one to consider and like an insidious infestation of aphids danger lurks  It may be another exercise in futility but kythia is consigned for the compost heap.

James Moriarty

#208

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 Seventh Challenge.  This one is hard -- use your contacts, ask questions, bribe, steal and cheat.  In order to succeed, you must accomplish these tasks:

* Create communique
* Include your public key
* Sign your message
* Send securely to my PM box, using my public key, (A)
* Tell me which message, (B) or (C), has not been tampered with, and give proof

Good luck.




CHALLENGE 6

(A)
-----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----
Version: GnuPG v2.0.19 (MingW32)
Comment: GPGTools - http://gpgtools.org
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=L4nY
-----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----


(B)
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

Friends and countrymen,

Kyrsa is a hacker.  You know this must be true, for it comes
straight from the horse's mouth.  I am the horse.

James Moriarty
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v2.0.19 (MingW32)
Comment: GPGTools - http://gpgtools.org

iEYEARECAAYFAlCtJCgACgkQ6HgGkP5XCkulvgCeLjCYYottLtQXGoLytjQ5vmyk
aUMAnibsVTH+SdBGDSdkYzbVSQOg2Zxz
=CBts
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----


(C)
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

Friends and countrymen,

Rivka is a hacker.  You can trust me --
this message comes to you, too legit to quit, untampered
with and pure as the freshly driven snow.

James Moriarty

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v2.0.19 (MingW32)
Comment: GPGTools - http://gpgtools.org

iEYEARECAAYFAlCtJC0ACgkQ6HgGkP5XCksQ+wCdHgNIsLO9NVg6c2BxkR14i8tK
r3cAoIQaC3L9ID8zYtUF8pRxi1q9TZGD
=eCWO
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----


HINT 6
Up until relatively recently, the only forms of encryption that were known to be useful were those that relied on a shared secret key.  If you and I can securely trade a special key, e.g. a long sequence of random numbers or a one time pad, then we can use that key on the one side to encrypt the message and on the other side to decrypt it.  For a long time, it was thought that this was the only and most secure way to trade secret information.

Public key cryptography is a relatively new development in the history of encrypted communication.  The innovation, enabled by discoveries in math over the past 150 years, allows two parties to trade messages that no one else can read without sharing a hidden key.  By creating a key pair, where one half of the pair is secret and is never shared, but the other half of the pair is public and shared, two people can share secure communications by encrypting with the public key and decrypting with the private key.  In this method, there is no need or use for a shared secret key, which allows arbitrary parties to communicate securely without any risk of observation (which is the key problem with shared secrets, for transmission of the secret itself is prone to observation, at which point, no future communication can be known to be secure).

There are fairly easy to use tools for managing key pairs, entering other people's public keys and managing message signatures (another part of the system is the ability to use a private key to prove a message was from you and never tampered with, and a public key to verify that proof).

Windows: http://www.gpg4win.org/
Mac: https://www.gpgtools.org/
Linux: http://www.gnupg.org/related_software/gpa/index.en.html
Commandline hints: http://lowflyinganimals.com/README

Trieste


Autumn Sativus

I will be home in an hour or two and moving the game forward then.

LAST CALL!!
Us against the world
Just a couple sinners making fun of hell


~~A&A(updated March 2021)~~Tales~~Wants~~O&O~~Wiki~~

Autumn Sativus

Votes
Kythia - 9
Aadreal - 3
Gavlois - 1
Starlequin - 1

Kythia is removed from the project and her rig searched. She is found to be an engineer.

Uh...
Cappuccino
Latte
Americano
Hot Chocolate
Peppermint Mocha
Pumpkin Chai

>.>


Players
Aadreal
Beguile's Mistress
Breathless Intent
Gavlois
James Moriarty
Kyrsa
Kokaine
Luna
Mcsc
Peripherie
Ryven
Sasha
Sex Bobomb
Starlequin
SunshineSparkle
Trieste
Valerian

Roles
Engineers x8-10
White Hat
Nostalgic
NPC
AI
Hackers x1-3
Neuro-System Specialist
The Girl
Us against the world
Just a couple sinners making fun of hell


~~A&A(updated March 2021)~~Tales~~Wants~~O&O~~Wiki~~

Autumn Sativus

At the end of the next test it is Gavlois they find stuck in the Virtual world. The same attempts to rouse him are given that they've tried with everyone but the group has no luck and are forced to determine what his role in the project was. Yet another Engineer they would have to try and pull out of this twisted nightmare of a game... if they managed to survive themselves.

Players
Aadreal
Beguile's Mistress
Breathless Intent
James Moriarty
Kyrsa
Kokaine
Luna
Mcsc
Peripherie
Ryven
Sasha
Sex Bobomb
Starlequin
SunshineSparkle
Trieste
Valerian

Roles
Engineers x7-9
White Hat
Nostalgic
NPC
AI
Hackers x1-3
Neuro-System Specialist
The Girl
Us against the world
Just a couple sinners making fun of hell


~~A&A(updated March 2021)~~Tales~~Wants~~O&O~~Wiki~~

Trieste

Why the hell not...

Peripherie, I do not like your hat!

Peripherie

Trieste, I don't know how you found out that my head is too big for hats but.. *lip quiver* I... *eye tear up* ... don't think it's ... *out right sobs and runs away* funny!!!

*sniffles, peeks back in to add* And I don't like your... mustache!
"Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher
storm, but to add color to my sunset sky." - Rabindranath Tagore

Trieste

My mustache is modeled after that of James Moriarty!

James Moriarty

My mustache is twitching and tickling -- I think it is all the chemicals Trieste has been slipping me!

Trieste

Chemicals are totes the purview of Kokaine.

Sasha


Sasha was not all that happy ...to come out of her pod to see that another comrade had fallen , worse fate then being shown the door . Maybe she should of picked another that seemed to be failing at her job miserably . Oh but how she hated be ordered about by a man like he controlled her or something . Drawing in a deep breath ...pushing the demons from her mind . So looking at the way everyone had voted so far had not planned out so well  but somehow there was a leak in that group . Maybe every group ...as her mind began to think differently .

The names were already flying like a game which made her stomach churn as she had friends down trapped ..and it frightened her more that she might join them . Having picked the wrong candidate to kick out had not shown her worth too much either .

As she sat down in a chair ...if she starting crying though well when would one stop was the question . She had prayed to that man upstairs every time before entering that capsule and the pressure to do something more to save those who had fallen was needed . Shuffling the wanted names in her mind . At a loss really , but a vote she must make .  " I don't know Trieste ...but maybe it is time for some new leadership ....cause we are losing one every time we enter those pods . I complied the data on the voting and that didn't so far seem to work just as miserably . So what do you know about this as you been rather silent these days . " 


Sasha felt like she was losing  her mind ....first she boots the wrong one out the door ...not a single vote she had made so far seemed to hit the target . Looking over at Aadeal ...maybe that girl knew more than she was saying . Obviously someone here was if only they knew what 2nd thoughts would lay ahead of them when this was all over .

Aadreal

Bear was kicked off the project.  Kicked off by someone that was supposed to be a good guy and yet Bear was innocent. Sure his duct tape fetish was a bit strange but it wasn't really cause to get kicked off.  In fact it was Bear that convinced Aadie to trust the woman he suspected to be the White Hat.  And now she betrayed the poor man.

And then Kythia was removed.  Turns out she was just an Engineer too.  After the abrupt change in their friendship, Aadie had doubted that.  More and more of her fellow Engineers were being kicked out, the group doing the job of the hackers.  It was all so crazy.  Yet the testing had to go on.  Shaking her head, she entered the pod once more.  And once again she didn't care about the tests.  Returning to the room with walls covered in her scribbling, removing names and adding suspicions.

Emerging once more from the virtual world she was sure she had an idea and was ready to let it be known.  Only...the person she suspected was trapped inside like the others.  “Bloody hell!”  Throwing a waste basket across the room she had a small fit.  Her math made it so clear Gav was one of the hackers.  And yet...

“It was Holly! Curse that woman!  She'd behind all of this!”  Looking around at her fellow engineers she blushed, realizing she spoke aloud.  Accusing someone who was off the project before it even started.   “Um...well it makes sense doesn't it?  She was pissed she didn't get a spot on the team.” 

She looked at Peri and Mcsc, the two remaining that suspected her earlier.  No matter what, she didn't believe Peri was one of them.  But she didn't know the man all that well.  Was it all a smoke screen?  Convince others she was a hacker to hide the real ones?  Turn her friends against her?

Teo Torriatte

Luna had no idea who this Holly person was that Aadie mentioned, but then again this whole thing seemed to be taking its toll on quite a few of them. They all wanted this to work out and the hackers were still out there.

And all this time later, she was still shooting in the dark, and shooting blanks. She barely remembered her test for the night... basically she had just taken one of those cycles and sped around the city, trying to see if she couldn't find any of the other engineers. She needed to start reaching out again, there was only like one or two people she felt she could trust at the moment.

One of them was not Kyrsa.

Galactic Druid

I'd like to thank the players for their patience with me over the last week, and Saffron for keeping the game up and running, with some delicious flavor text!

Votes;
Kyrsa - 1
MCsc - 1
Trieste - 3
Kokaine - 1

Players Yet to vote;
Beguile's Mistress, Breathless Intent, Kyrsa, Kokaine, Mcsc, Ryven, Sex Bobomb, Starlequin, SunshineSparkle, Trieste, at least 2 more times, Valerian
A/As last updated 11/27 - Halfway past busy season!

Trieste

Quote from: ThatRPGuy on November 24, 2012, 02:48:02 AM
Players Yet to vote;
Trieste, at least 2 more times

* Trieste changes her vote to ThatRPGuy.

Galactic Druid

#223
Votes
Trieste - 4
Kyrsa - 1
MCsc - 1
ThatRPGuy - 1


Players Yet to vote;
Beguile's Mistress, Breathless Intent, Kyrsa, Kokaine, Ryven, Sex Bobomb, Starlequin, SunshineSparkle, Trieste at least 1 more time, Valerian
A/As last updated 11/27 - Halfway past busy season!

Missy

When MC heard Triest vote for thatRPguy, the companies CEO he was left with no choice. The protocol was clearly out of her mind. Triest