Information is power. How you distribute that power, how you use that power, how you protect your power - that is up to you. But protect it you must, because all hunger for power, and all will be coming for it.
Unless you keep them away.
SerƎN.54
Personal LifeLog Motoko Kusanagi - 2189
This has to be one of the closest calls of my life, Kusanagi reflected as she came out of the combat trance, and oriented herself inside the vault. Behind her, the door closed shut, and sealed with a hiss of hydraulics.
The blueprints had indicated the datavault was split into three parts: a support section way in the back, housing independent cooling and power supply, then came the climate-controlled, cooled and atmosphere-deprived server section, and in the front where she stood now was the interface and retrieval point.
It was luxuriously outfitted - more wooden paneling, cut in 60° and 30° angles and arranged to present a moulded yet harmonic texture, with complex OLED light fixtures mounted into 3D-printed figures, all angles and folds, held off the wall via effector suspension. Four GreenBands ran up the walls, their plants engineered with blue-orange-red bioluminescence. The direct interface was a suspended holographic screen, and a moulded console of white plastic, its interface surface a shining polished touchscreen running a custom UI interface.
[What's the status of the door?] she asked her muse, approaching the console carefully.
[Locked down.] A window on her ARO opened, showing a capture from her helmets surround imaging system. [For half an hour at least.]
[Okay. Pull the specs on the security system.]
"Unrecognized user. Access denied" A harsh voice said in her face, and the interface near her darkened with black dots. "Please authenticate" it said then, a margin more friendly.
Kusanagi let her face smile, and settled down on the chair. "Call me Mirage" she whispered with a french accent, and dropped her hand on the console.
There was a port open, and she transferred the "ID" package that had been part of the mission package from the AIS.
"Authen-en-en-eeeeeee-"
She smiled just a little as more ports opened under her hand, the attack package opening up Adriens' datavault piece by piece. Once the trojan was through the firewall, it compiled and installed itself aggressively, dropping a list of access exemptions that opened up the system for Kusanagi's reach.
The LAI caught on onto what was happening, and revoked the first list of access rights - only for the ports to blast wide open when a second trojan flipped some values deeper down. In answer, it tried rebooting the interface. Kusanagi intercepted and nullified that command, and returned the favor with a shotgun of attack programs.
The Artificial Intelligence deflected most of them - save for one particular attack package spread out over hundreds of system reports from its breach front. The next assault trojan snapped itself together inside the AI root code, then generated another breach. Successively, Kusanagi widened it with one more complex assault program after the next, until she was in far enough to attack the LAI itself.
++ Violation. Cyberassault. Critical breach. Violation. Repel. Danger. Danger. Existential Danger.++
You don't say. She deployed and executed the Arajun rooter, and watched as the algorithm excised pieces of the Sailen Cognitive Systems VZ-600 LAI. New pieces of operative code were inserted, booted and tested, and she intervened with her own adjustments, completing the lobotomy of the artificial intellect.
As she suspected, the AI housed the neural network that completed part of the encryption system - just shredding the AI into dysfunctional pieces, or deleting it entirely, would have made any retrieval of data on the server impossible. A botched lobotomy would have had the same result.
[ Datavault Index Search: execute =2 ]
[ Trawling now ]
While the software was looking for the copy of the code Adriens hopefully had not erased, she took a detour into the rest of the datavault. Finances, Personal Records, Transactions, Surveillance Footage; she spliced as much awareness threads as her encephalon would permit, tipping, trawling and copying what looked useful.
The "Wares" section however was the most interesting section, and the one her trawl for NOVUM SPIRITUS was working within too. Terabyte after terabyte of executables, and too many of them were very familiar.
This is almost the entire Systems Alliance tactical cyberwarfare arsenal from 2195 to 2228. Including Special Forces code that was never on the wider net. It was all there. Blackbird-9. SixTwelfFourty. CRASHlockM.
And this… okay, that are Ego files… oh no Adriens, you did not. She opened one of the attached files of one Ego.
++ Ego 4322/45. Modified Systems Alliance Army Bioroid Combat Ego. Modified for general use. Loyalty Modules available separate.++
Then and there she decided that Adriens' time was over. Her physical hand grabbed a freshly fabricated remote proxy NFC-stick off her omnitool's fab-space, and placed it on the desk. [Pull everything, document the rest. Adriens is going down, one way or another.]
[On it. I also located NOVUM SPIRITUS. Downloading the package and then shredding it.] Her muse voice was ice-cold. She was as pissed as Kusanagi, if not moreso.
[No shredding, sorry. Much as I would love to to ruin this asshole's day, I cannot leave any traces of what exactly we were doing. But… feel free to crash the interface.]
She clicked away the conversation with Raven she had held on the wayside and looked at the door. She had a hunch what Raven was planning, and she could add her own part to it.
Not five seconds into overriding the security console of the door, it started warning about someone cutting away the large security bolts. Offhandedly, she waved one of her arms across the doors surface, and nodded at the edge fields that were visualized by the dark energy sensors.
Someone, likely Aetheis, was using warpfire to cut the vault open. Just as planned.
A single thin spot appeared in the door, spewing plasma for a moment. Her Coms to the outside world re-synchronized with a chirp.
[Major, you there?]
She smiled at Raven's tone of voice. [Affirmative, and I have everything. Prepare for egress.]
Weapons fire sounded in the corridor, mixed with barrier impacts. A chain of Overload charges crackled in the tight space. [Oh, with pleasure.]
=[ Chapter 9 - Arrivederci! ]=
-| May 20th, 2232 |-
[Six, Three-Four here, I got at least a reinforced squad of mixed infantry preparing at the northern end of the private estate.]
Bau was in Kaelus Saqara camera feed a moment later, seeing what his turian Specter contractor could see. His muse automatically selected the relevant ARO feeds, and the smoke and dirt-obstructed view was sliced into clarity by colored outlines of the house and enemy figures. [Recon drone on that] he ordered his digital assistants on the general channel, and re-focused elsewhere, letting his muse acknowledge the verbal report.
The lawn around the public estate had become a battleground between his platoon of merc-playing operators, and Deep Six Solutions 3rd Company, which had been on guard rotation at the time. The opening strike of subverted robotics, sniper fire and the opening assault of Ares 2 and Ares 3 had taken roughly half of that out of action for the day, and wounded more with need for field casultry treatment. Then another squad had ground itself up in peace-a-meal assaults, either blasted at long range by Artemis or neutralized through a heavy machine gun or three, courtesy of Borma and the two Quadpeds.
By that point DS6 had crashed and burned their own net, and thus ripped out the corrupted backbone the Section 9 hackers had used to sow chaos, forcing them to re-connected and re-establish over what JTF had in the field. With most of his eyes down, Bau had re-deployed to cover the likely routes of assault, in time to intercept a singular Quadped pushing with Infantry, easily repulsed and turned into a pretty bonfire through Fury-Bs Anti-Armor missiles. Maniacal cackling, hooting and trilling over the com net had ensued.
With their first automated armor push taken out, and sniper fire raking their position too, Deep Six Solutions was obviously reconsidering their options, while a firefight from cover raged across the lawn. Then, the amount of pressure had steadily escalated, cut back in bits and pieces through the application of sufficient Gun to Issue.
Two minutes onward, Adriens' personal mercs had finally gained the cohesion to make things difficult. Just in time for Bekenstein PD to get a call. Two minutes after that, Bau had been forced to blast two Aerodyne drones of the transhuman police out of the sky, and then it had only taken one more minute for ESWAT to get a scramble alert.
Now the noose was closing, and he had to hope Motoko Kusanagi could fulfill her end of the plan. Meanwhile, he had to ensure there was something left for Heliades to rendezvous and exfiltrate.
[2, shift your focus left. We got a push coming towards the south end. If they try to flank through the building proper, call down missiles and grenades on them. Artemis, interdiction as they cross. 3, watch the right.]
[Anti-Armor missile, second floor!] A priority call-out appeared, and a fusillade of fire concentrated on the spot. Something exploded on the second floor. [1 ATGM up, one down!]
He broke into a short sprint, artificial muscles working around his augmented frame to move the battlesuit, repositioning on the slope. "Not good" he murmured to himself, unconsciously.
[Ares 4, come in.]
Silence answered his call, and worry shot across his mind. The small unit had been supposed to cut off a possible escape to the estate and collapse the underground tunnel between the two - neither of which had happened.
If the two transhumans from Team X-Ray-1 had failed, Bau faced a possible breach of infosec and a potential loss of an HVT. And they needed the turians, just one of them, to close the information loop.
He watched the gathering charge at the left side again. But if the tunnel is still up… he checked visible force distribution, and keyed his com.
[Artemis, check your six. OpFor is doing something, and I suspect they plan to flank you.]
[Artemis-1 here. They can try. Over.] Saito fired three times, and an enemy contact was marked CKIA.
Bau bit back a reply to not get reckless. Applying salarian STG ops expectations to everything wasn't healthy, and he had to trust these people. He could trust these people, he was reminded with a subtle implant nudge. Their combat records at large were exemplary, excluding Christian Togusa. And even he did well.
Skill Software and virtual training was scary, in that regard. Take a mind, and plug in neural wiring and assistant systems that integrated like extensions of one's mind, and turn that mind into a soldier. Bau had made himself better through augmentation. Togusa had made himself someone new.
Will have to investigate how scalable such tech is.
He moved the thought aside, and concentrated on the rest of the picture. Heliades was extracting shortly with the package. That was that issue solved. If nothing else, they had the foundation for a Vaccine. Good.
[Ares 4… buffering OpFeed {EMCON in effect}]
The guard came into view below, carbine lowered and one hand at his helmet. The faceplate was raised, the man talking loudly for the benefit for someone not in on the network.
"-firmative, Kingfish is secure and with us. No pursuers, no wounded. Sent back-up… yes Ma'am, we're holding here. Yes Ma'am." His omnitool flickered to live, the framework of a small spherical drone shell assembling itself in the fabspace. She watched as long panels of glittering strips were printed on carefully, and identified the drone the same moment her ARO did: A ComSphere, designed for trigraphic remote presence.
Then a black-haired man in a scorched, dusted and overall abused-looking party suit stepped into her field of view. "Where is she?", he asked the man. The merc raised his arm: "She'll be here in a bit."
"Oh that's just great!"
"Sir, we are in effective enemy territory, because we don't control this position effectively. Outside and one level up, a platoon of enemy combatants is busy binding everything down and they have at least two Quadpeds, one of which is armed with missiles. If Commander Inneov comes through the tunnel, chances are they might track her command nexus and bombard the position."
Adriens waved his arm in disgust, then pointed at the ComSphere, finishing its fab process: "But that is fine?"
The guard waved distinctively at the wall. "NFC, rest of the connection comes hard-line over our MilNet. And she'll be running Avatar, not Teligraphics. Lower bandwidth."
"Don't lecture me!"
"Sorry Sir."
"Also, you! Get down to the vault, keep these assholes infiltrating my estate in place. I want Akawa's team there, and I want it now! Bring me their stacks!"
"Yes sir." Another guard stepped past in her field of view. "You all, with me. Shields up, packs in place. Bots up front. Let's go."
More feet hammered on the ground. "Get the VIPs further in back!" someone said, and now the turians appeared too.
Arash-147 tensed her muscles. She hung overhead, feet and hands almost literally glued to the wall with Gecko surfaces, her shape shrouded by thermoptic camouflage. Her armor was lightweight, flexible plating and catomic nanotube polymer joints, moulded with the kinetic barrier skeleton. Sensors in the back of her head allowed her to see what was happening below.
She send a transmission over the nano hardline that was invisible chain-linked across the ceiling to her partner, Kalin-209. [Viable HVT in reach. Grab and extract?]
The reply took a subjective second. [Gather intel. Then grab. HVTs unlikely to extract.]
She disagreed. [Debatable.]
In that moment, piped sound started below, a woman's voice, usually melodious but abused by dust and shouting: "Sir, it's good to see you are safe, as are your guests." The ComSphere had disengaged and floated, projecting a humanoid avatar in a medium combat hardsuit, helmet removed to reveal a tightly pressed face and a short, economic ponytail.
"Yes, yes" Adriens waved her off. "Are you repelling the outside assault?"
"Positioning to do that as we speak. They played a rough opening move. My command center was downed by a hacked robot assault, the armory and combat machine shop almost got wrecked by suborned systems, I have at least three dozen hard casualties and two of my Quadpeds were destroyed already, while the enemy machines remain at large."
"Look, I care about two things. And the most important one is that you get whomever is in the vault. Stack intact, and all packages secured."
"We're working on that."
"You send Akawa?"
"Sir, she's part of your core protection detail. The enemy has planted ruse after ruse. Exposing you may be unwi-"
"I. Don't. Care. Get it done Commander, it's what I pay you for. And if your men die… that's why they have stacks. Shells are arranged for."
The conversation was cutting to a close. An enemy elite unit was likely closing in.
[Execute.]
She fired off the smoke and overload grenades on the rig on her back, and disengaged the Gecko surfaces. Plunged like a spider spliced with a tiger that she was, muscles tensed and CM generators ramping up. And she watched carefully as the smoke pellets detonated, as sensory overloads blinded baseline Mk.I sensory organs and Mk.X sensor chips.
The way the turians reacted told her enough. Training turned against their targets, they had revealed two clearly important individuals. Now make your choice.
The Halo was cold in her right lower hand. Her eyes locked in onto Furina Enninus, Turian Separatist, and she reached out.
The turian shouted in alarm as strong hands landed on her shoulders, silenced as the transducer headset settled on her head and activated. The turian's posture wavered, her eyes flickering and de-focusing; then she slumped over.
Arash gripper her by the waist, and pulled her over her shoulder easily with strong cybernetic arms, her lower pair reaching for the carbine. [HVT secure. Exfiltrate.]
They moved, shouldering still-reorienting guards aside with the repulsor settings of their barriers. Behind them, the sounds of surprise turned to anguish, and shots rang out, before they were silenced and replaced by feet running. [Pursuers], Kalin reported and flipped two devices away with his lower arms.
They rounded a corner, towards the Vault and the position of Heliades. Behind them, the trip mines detonated.
[Ares 4, breaking ENCOM. One Beta Group HVT secured. Exfiltrating towards Heliades. Pursued. Be advised, enemy elite unit is incoming on Heliades. Enemy outside is marshaling for counterassault. Brace for contact.]
Technology/Neurotech
Neural Transduction Incapacitation Device ("Halo")
NTIDs were developed as derivatives of sleep induction systems and alternatives to chemical pain blockers and full-term anesthesia. Using contactless neural transducer technology, NTIDs target specific nerve clusters in the brain of the person they are applied to, and induce rapid loss of consciousness motor control, body perception, pain registration and finally induce a state of deep sleep, transitioning into unconsciousness. Due to their form, an expanding headset cradling the rim of the skull, transhumans nicknamed these devices "Halos".
At first, NTIDs were tested in battlefield applications. Special Forces began using them as means of restraining targets they wished to extract, spy agencies hot on their heels. Eventually, police forces began using NTIDs as means of restraining those equipped with somatic performance augmentations, but no cyberbrains or extensive DNI suites that could be ghost-locked.
The use of NTIDs in law enforcement remains controversial. Like Nano-Robotic Crowd Control, ARSpace chaff, Ghost Lock Virus Bombs and Gobber Foam, NTIDs have been used in arrests and also several cases of riot control. The fact that slavers also use NTIDs to restraint their "ware", sometimes even as Mini-robotic aeromotile units, has further tainted their reputation.
Nonetheless, NTIDs remain in use in the entirety of Citadel space, and beyond. Officialy, the Citadel Alliance's Talesis Act of 2108 A.D. limits NITD use in Citadel space to violent arrest cases, restraint of heavily augmented sophonts (and Krogan) and for safeguarding of suicide-probable arrestees.
Glossary:
Ajarun rooter: A type of subversive attack package for LAI "lobotomy" and the subversion of neural network executables in general. The modern design was popularized off a code by the transhuman hacker AjarunMTK, written in the 2150s.
ARSpace Chaff: A form of digital spam and/or Kaos attack, filling ARSpaces hit by it with any kind of obstructive or deliberating AR content. Given that modern AR can not only access audio-visual channels, but also other bodily senses, this makes ARSpace Chaff a potent tool in civilian environments. Also called "being an arse" by Hackers and Cyberwarfare specialist.
Arrivederci, (italian): Goodbye!
EMCON: Emission Control, the military act of restricting active and passive emissions to minimize the generated signature footprint that could be detected by an enemy. Transmission silence is a standard EMCON measure.
Encephalon: Cybernetic neural exocortex augmentation designed to enable perception multithreading and multitasking. Includes extensive neurotronic components and on-demand mirrored neuronal networks in order to "outsource" thinking tasks from its user, enabling attention to be split between many tasks at once or in very short intervals.
Gecko Surface: Bionic nanomaterial surface imitating the attachment ability of Gecko feet. Used for both civilian and military purposes.
Ghost Lock: Ghost Locks are activity inhibitor software tools designed to inhibit an Ego or connected Shell systems (especially implants) in some capacity. Most common Ghost Locks are designed to "freeze" Egos when inserted into neck ports, pacifying the target completely and rendering them unable to take any action, physical or mentally, without causing trauma.
Mirage: Fictional personna of transhuman popular culture, popularized through her vivant XP casts. Mirage is a supposedly european-born transhuman thief who has lived for centuries, famous for breaking any security.
Teligraphics: Portmone of "Telepresence (Tri)graphics". Life audio-visual transmission.