The Digital Frontier.

[powersthatbe]

THE DIGITAL FRONTIER
April 5th-May 17th

Welcome to the Grid. Many cycles ago, the Grid was inhabited by Cryptos, a set of programs which lived in isolation, developing their own strange system architecture, rumors of which were the wonder of the Network. But something the Cryptos built took on a life of its own: a digital cancer, a virus which purged the Grid of all recognizable digital life-forms, leaving only ruins and terrifying monsters called Automata. For the good of the Network, the Grid was sealed off, locked away behind many firewalls.

But time went on, and other programs developed more advanced protocols. Curious about the knowledge of the Cryptos, they sent two groups of programs to try and recover any data they could from the Grid. The first group formed The Partition - a secure area, reformatted and isolated from the rest of the Grid by the finest security the Network can offer. The Partition guards all port access to the rest of the Network. If there’s a security risk, the programs there - Defenders - won’t hesitate to purge the whole Grid, no matter what data would be lost.

Outside the Partition, on the edge of the corrupted Waste Lands, are the recovery programs - Miners. They sift the code of the old Grid, looking for valuable data artifacts and reconstructing them, fighting Automata, risking the corrupting of their own data, or even de-resolution, in order to restore what the Cryptos lost.

Every program on the Grid has both Purpose and Priority - a function it’s meant to execute, and the authority to do it. But as the Miners working the Frontier recover more and more code, their Purpose - discovery - and the Defenders’ - protection - come into conflict. And the Defenders have the Priority - their root administrator has Priority 0, where the leader of the Miners has only Priority 1. A program of lower station is unable to deny or resist direct orders from a superior, and that’s where the trouble starts.

The paranoid Defenders have begun to refuse access to the network, except to those programs willing to risk the integrity of their code and show their ability to defend themselves in the ancient Games - lethal gladiatorial combat which tests the parameters of a program to destruction. The Defenders reason that any Miner who can defeat their security could stand firm against Automata intrusions as well… but although this keeps things secure, it also leaves the Miners trapped on the edge of the Waste Lands, and lately, a rebellion has been brewing, low-Priority programs willing to defy authority and take over the Partition themselves. Some say that attitude itself is proof of Automata corruption…

But then, at last, there’s a breakthrough. The Miners have found an intact data structure, unmistakably the system architecture of the Cryptos, hidden beneath loads of random junk data. And when they restored it, they found Cryptos waiting within, waiting in stasis for the chance to reclaim their system for themselves… and another group of programs, mysterious Variables without Purpose or Priority, totally unrecognized by the system. Even the Cryptos aren’t sure what they are…

The Partition claims they’re disguised Automata, and the rebel programs believe the Variables are free algorithms who might be the best hope to liberate the Miners from the Defenders’ restrictions. The future of everything the Miners have worked for hangs in the balance…

Exploration Mechanics | Glossary | Casting Call | Skills | Map | Calendar | Player Resources | Questions | Plotting

Comments

Exploration Mechanics

[powersthatbe]

Miners (or Investigators, Cryptos, or disobedient Defenders) wishing to search the Waste Lands for Crypto code may do so, and what they find may have a significant impact on the plot. A character exploring the Waste Lands is committing 1 millicycle (8 hours) of time every day for 7 days to searching a given square (one Sector of the Grid), and to fully explore a square, 10 people must explore it - that can be one person spending ten weeks, or ten people spending one week! At the end of that time, its color on the map will be changed to blue (if it is empty) or green (if it contains a Crypto find), and adjacent squares will be made available for new searches.

Once per week, please comment here to note what square your character is searching, if they choose to search. When anything new is found, all characters searching that square presently will be informed in a screened comment.

Exploration logs will go up in addition to normal mingles, and weekly reminders and progress updates will be issued.

Characters exploring the Waste Lands may be attacked by Automata - which may appear as humanoid programs, may be gigantic monsters, terrible natural phenomena like earthquakes or hurricanes, swarms of bugs, or even digital diseases that attack the mind. If you choose to explore, you accept these physical and mental risks to your character as the cost of participating in this section of the plot.

Glossary

[powersthatbe]

Automata: a purple-colored viral program, a result of the corruption of code that crashed the Crypto system. Automata may appear as monsters, humanoids, swarms, natural phenomena, parts of the landscape itself, or invisible viruses in contaminated (purple) areas.

Bit: A simple binary function, like a pet, sidekick, or animal.

Calculate: in Program-speak, to think is to calculate.

Code: The underlying physical structure of the digital universe. Code is both the laws of physics and genetics.

Crypto: ancient, secretive programs who pursued wisdom in isolation before their grandiose powers crashed their System.

Cycle: About a year. 3 millicycles is a local day.

Data: code given substance. DNA is code; flesh is data. geology is code; rocks are data.

Defender: a Program sent for the protection of the Network, residing within the Partition.

Deresolution: death.

Disc: The ring-shaped, frisbee-sized multitool and weapon containing a complete record of a program's identity.

End of line: A summary dismissal. Formal and rude.

Firewall: A defensive screen or forcefield capable to interrupting or derezzing Programs trying to access forbidden areas. To protect the Ports, the Partition is surrounded by an immense firewall.

Frontier: any portion of the Grid outside the Partition, reclaimed from the Waste Lands, and not containing Crypto Ruins.

Function: A simple Program, or any action of a Program as it fulfills its Purpose.

Games: gladiatorial combat for the purpose of entertainment and training. The two most common games are Disc Wars and Lightcycle. See the Player Resources header for a quick video tutorial.

Glitch: a swearword. Glitch it! Oh, go and glitch, why don't you? Nothing but a glitch... This code is so glitchy...

Greetings, Program(s)!: Hi. The most common way to begin a conversation.

Grid: This System. 10 Sectors on a side, it is remarkably small, and kept in isolation from all other Systems.

Interface: to share data with a Program or Function.

Lightcycle: a baton capable of expanding into a motorcycle which can project a solid wake. There are other light vehicles but they are rarely used.

Miner: A program sent from elsewhere in the System for the purpose of reclaiming Crypto data. Some Miners are passionate archaeologists, some are more like religious pilgrims, and some are simply hard-working functions, prospecting like human gold miners.

Network: Civilization. All Systems which communicate and trade with one another.

Null Unit: an insult. Idiot.

Partition: the firewall-shrouded fortress-citadel which is home to the Defenders on the Grid.

Port: The communications and travel terminals between the Grid and the rest of the Network. Protected inside the Partition, and forbidden to all programs without Priority 1 or 0 authorization.

Priority: a Program's level of importance within the System. Determines the order of oeprations. Rank. Status. 0 is the highest priority, 21 is the lowest.

Program: a humanoid data entity compiled to perform a Function within a System. In local parlance, people.

Purpose: a Program's vocational role. The reason it exists.

Recognizer: a flying vessel meant to capture rogue programs. The Defenders possess a small fleet of Recognizers, but they do not use them often.

Repurpose: To change the Faction or Purpose of a Bit, Function, or Program.

Sector: 1/100th of the Grid, a space 1638.4 feet on a side.

Sprite: an insult, equivalent to 'Hey Ugly!'

System: The world. Any self-contained computer hard drive such as the Grid. Cryptos are native to this System; Miners and Defenders are not.

Tower: the military-administrative structure within the Partition from which the Prime Defender directs all legal operations on the Grid. A command center. Capable of altering a program's Priority... and maybe its Purpose.

User: unseen deities who created programs. Most Programs here are agnostic and indifferent. They might say "My User made me to ____" or swear "By the Users!" but give no serious thought to their existence as real beings. A Program who could prove that they were a User would be an object of saintly veneration, at minimum. The hallmark ability of a User is the ability to create Programs, or to rewrite functions and reassemble code by force of will alone.

Variable: an Investigator - a Program whose Faction, Priority, and Purpose cannot be determined. Effectively, to other programs, a people who seem to lack religion, culture, hierarchy, law, and ethnicity - not to mention having no idea how the world works! You'd be alarmed by people like that, too.

Waste Land: The Automata-corrupted desert of warped code and cancerous data, randomized and sometimes weaponized. Any area outside both the Partition and Frontier. Also, a poem by T.S. Eliot.

If you need a term defined that isn't listed here, please comment under the Questions header and let us know!

Casting Call

[powersthatbe]

As always, we need more members of every faction! But there are also a few roles with special significance to the plot. If you want to be cast in one of the following roles, make a comment here and your character will be considered for the part!

Revived Crypto- A mysterious, secretive figure, this Priority I Crypto is a placid, thoughtful figure possessed of incredible coding abilities. Even other Cryptos may not know their agenda fully.

Rebel Miner- Fed up with the oppression of Defender Priority, this program is carving a stronghold out of the Wasteland and looking for ways to return to the rest of the Network. They'll rewrite any code, and overthrow the whole System if necessary to liberate their fellow programs from the tyranny of the Partition's rules.

Games Celebrity- A Miner or Defender who has competed in Disc Wars and Light Cycle races for a very long time, and become obsessed with Games victory, obscuring their initial purpose. Treated like a rock star or a terrifying warrior wherever they go, this program is universally recognized, and feared or respected regardless of Priority.

Viral Vector- A sneaky Automata with a sinister directive and insidious abilities.

Passionate Archaeologist- this Miner doesn't care for politics, but only for understanding the Cryptos - perhaps even becoming Cryptos. Every week, they'll be exhorting others to explore the Waste Lands, regardless of the risks.

Paranoid Patroller- this Defender sees Automata in every shadow. A Priority 2 program, their authority allows them to question, test, or detain almost anyone at almost any time for almost any reason, and they exercise that privilege freely, in defense of the Partition, for the good of the System.

Skills

[powersthatbe]

All infiltrator programs have ID Dics & the Interface ability, as well as the appropriate faction skill, for the duration of the Jaunt, and other abilities as appropriate to their Purpose.

Skills Anyone Can Take:
Bit: A single-bit companion. Bits may only communicate in Yes or No fashion, follow simple instructions, and change one bit of any function or algorithm they encounter. They are adorable.

Control Panel: The ability to call up a screen that displays the current status of a 128-foot hex and all beings and effects active within it.

ID Disc: A disc usable as weapon or multitool, this ring of plastic and ceramic packed with circuitry also contains every memory and skill a person has, and permits every fact about their past or present condition to be called up for visual review, or in some cases(with mod approval), copied and transmitted to another disc.

Interface: The ability to physically link to a computer program, function, or algorithm, determining its abilities and function and uploading or downloading data it has archived.

Lightcycle: a baton that expands into a motorcycle capable of projecting a solid wake.

Perfect Timing: The ability to measure and react to events to the utmost precision (for a human mind and body, 10 to 30 milliseconds).

Redirect Energy: The ability to take unformed energy, usually electricity, and act as a channel for it, changing its path or removing it from one place or function and placing it in another. Energy may not be stored for personal use without instantaneous near-fatal damage.

Faction Skills
Defender: Interrogate - once per week, ask one humanoid subject one question and compel an honest answer. The subject must speak, and must not make any untrue statement, but may lie by omission or implication, or speculate on the unknown, if the question is insufficiently specific.

Miner: Sift - once per week, find patterns in randomized data using advanced pattern-recognition algorithms. Outside of the Grid, this could help locate an invisible opponent by the noise they make, decode an encrypted message, find a needle in a haystack, etc.

Crypto: Constructive Enlightenment - once per week, gain one artistic, scientific, or architectural skill, granting you savant-level ability in that field. For as long as you choose to exercise that skill, you may not eat, drink, sleep, or communicate directly or clearly with others.

Automata: Convert - once per week, use sustained physical contact (30 seconds at minimum) to make another being loyal to a cause you are loyal to, or to perceive a situation the way you see it. This process may do lasting psychological damage to you and your target, preventable by Psychic Protection and subject to Psychic Healing.

Rebel: Assist - boost any other Program skill in use by 120%. While a Rebel cannot begin a Sift, Interrogation, or Constructive Enlightenment, they are skilled at collaborating & lending energy to others, indicating their desire for a cooperative Grid where each faction may pursue its own goals. Assisting may increase the aptitude of non-Program skills as well, but not 120%, or even to any great degree: it simply allows them to contribute where otherwise they could not.

Map (week 2)

[powersthatbe]

One square or Sector of the Grid is 1638.4 feet on a side.

The Partition is a fortress, surrounded by a crimson energy field simulating walls with battlements and a transparent dome. The Tower, the control structure within it, is twice as tall as the walls.

The Games Hex is likewise enclosed, but in cyan, and on 1/4th the scale. Bridges can be extended from the Partition walls to allow access to and from it without entering the frontier. Stadium seating surrounds the competition areas, which are modular and reconfigured between games.

The Frontier resembles a digital folly of a gold-mining operation, with programs using their discs to sift rubble or energy streams for data.

The Crypto Ruins are only partially assembled, 128-bit classical Greek architecture with advanced data structures inside capable of advanced technological simulations.

The Waste Lands are digital desert/badlands, full of unusual fractal structures that defy the physical laws of the System.

Light purple squares have been partially explored.

Calendar

[powersthatbe]

April 5th: the Jaunt begins! The Miners resume operations for the first time after uncovering the Crypto Ruins, and let the Cryptos and Variables (aka, Investigators) out of quarantine.

April 12th: The Games resume!

April 19th: Automata Attack?

(timing of later events to be decided by exploration results)

Player Resources

[powersthatbe]

As many concepts, themes, and images in this Jaunt stem from the movie TRON: Legacy, watching the movie will hopefully give extra depth and understanding to players! However, it shares no plot, setting, or characters with the film, and changes elements of the movie to suit the online RP format, so it isn't necessary.

That said, for a good idea of the games, watch this and this for sure. Under ten minutes of action and badass special effects - we promise you won't regret it!

A basic soundtrack is here.

More pending soon.

Questions

[powersthatbe]

Ask 'em here! This is one of our more complex plots and settings, if nobody has any questions or feels any confusion, we are confused and would like to ask why.

Seriously. Any and every little question. Someone else wants to know, too. Throw 'em at us!

Plotting!

[powersthatbe]

Planning, speculation, and description of your infiltrators goes here!

If you are infiltrating, you must choose a Faction, Priority, and Purpose and include that information in your comment.

Factions: A player perspective
Defenders will live in the Partition and rarely venture out except to patrol the frontier & play or watch games. That said, in the event of an automata attack, Defenders are best armed and prepared to respond. You will have things to do as the plot progresses, even if the role looks insular & boring at the start. Defenders have red lights on their suits.

Miners live in the Frontier, under harsh conditions, constant privation, & regular risk, struggling for their ideals. If you don't know what faction you want to be, you probably want to be a Miner, as the plot centers around their struggles. Their color scheme is blue.

Cryptos are secretive, powerful, and very reserved. They've been out of touch for a long time and may be confused. Some information in this plot will be made available to Crypto characters before anyone else. That said, there should only be a few of them - if there are too many, mods may ask players to choose other factions. Cryptos have a green color scheme. But most of them wear more clothes than that.

Investigators, locally called Variables, have white lights on their suits.

Automata are not immediately available for infiltrator roles. They have a dark purple glow, almost like a blacklight.

Priority
All Defenders, Miners, and Cryptos have a Priority. Priorities range from 0 to 21. The higher a Priority number, the lower its order of operation in the Grid - the less improtants its job and authority. Programs must obey clear, direct orders from lower-numbered Programs, although programs generally only issue orders relating to their own purpose, or determining things like who goes first in line, or to stop another program from interfering with them.

Infiltrators must have a Priority of 3+. Characters who specifically want to play authority figures may request a Priority of 2 from the mods.

Purpose
Every Program has a function! Generally, Defenders are security programs - virus checkers, guards, or the like. They also have their share of administration and communication utilities, however. Miners tend to be search functions, trace utilities, or logic probes, meant to diagnose and repair systems. Your purpose, basically, is your job. Players are free to be as vague or specific, technical or tech-illiterate as they like in describing a purpose for their Infiltrators, but they must describe one.

[detectivewonder]

Remy is Investigating.

Tim, or for purposes of this jaunt, Drake; will be infiltrating as a Miner who spends most of his time competing on the Games Grid, a Priority 9 program whose original purpose was synchronizing clock functions. i'm going to see if I can make him the Games Celebrity, but if demand is high for that role I will bow out.

Joscelin is a Crypto, part of a counterpart-pair along with Leo, and a Priority 8 security program. Keeping Leonardo secure is his only function.

Souji is a Priority 3 Defender whose purpose is data verification - doublechecking function integrity, being the second factor in two-factor security.

[rosewater_path]

Hello, everyone! Greetings, Programs!

Rose is infiltrating (actually, Rose is a native of the Network) - with mod permission, aka this was planned with Matt before she was even brought in, she's the Priority 1 Miner, in charge of organizing and administrating the Frontier (which means she doesn't get out into the field as often as she'd like). She's an onboard logic analyzer driver, which means she's imported heavy excavation equipment, namely a logic analyzer, which probably looks like a huge black and blue backhoe or other construction vehicle... and she drives it.

Because that's hilarious, right?

[combattente_auditore]

Can Investigators get into the Factions or do they have to stay Variables for the Jaunt? If yes on the Factions, what about determining their priority figures?

[gitanes]

lila is infiltrating! a miner, priority 3, a searcher and deeply impressed by the rebel miner. hoping to ally herself with this program, she is working tirelessly to make the wasteland safe for other programs.

[powersthatbe]

An Investigator could join the Miners or the Cryptos with little difficulty, as long as they could find a Miner or Crypto to interface with them and accept them in. They would not, in advance, have any idea of whether or not this would give them a Priority figure or if they would be obliged to obey it.

Generally, when a Program is inducted into a new system, it begins at Priority 21, although the Program bringing it in may assign a higher Priority that does not equal or exceed its own. Also generally, any Program with a Priority bigger than 3 or 4 is going to be a little bit leery about inducting a strange program, for fear they might get in trouble - but Miners are free-spirited and Cryptos are weird.

Joining the Defenders is not totally inconceivable, but they would be a lot harder to convince.

[shiroganeheir]

A plotting question. Are the Programs connected to each other in any way? For example, I know it is a different canon-base, but in Reboot, the characters have family units of a sort. Is there anything similar to that here?

[solvethepuzzle]

Hitsugaya is Investigating.

Near will be Infiltrating. I've put in for a couple of potential plot roles for him, so I don't want to get too specific, but. If he doesn't end up with either one, he will be a Priority 3 Defender. Virus-checking/security what-have-you. Identifying potential threats, and the like. I am not tech-savvy enough to be much more specific about anything, honestly.

[powersthatbe]

Not families per se, unless they shared a User, but they do have interpersonal relationships and home lives, so to speak.

FAMILIAR FACES

[powersthatbe]

There are two NPC roles this plot that would just not be viable for players, so they'll be occupied by familiar faces.

Jordi - this guy here - will be the Prime Defender, the only Priority 0 Program on the Grid, a grizzled warrior who helped carve out the Partition, and who lost his eye to an Automata. Grim and uncompromising, he will do anything he must to protect the Network.

[powersthatbe]

Trey, last seen as the gatekeeper at La Tour Ivoire, is going to be a Miner, responsible for orientation of new programs. If you have an IC question about how something works on the Grid, whether socially or mechanically, this Priority 3 program will be there to help you out.

[shiroganeheir]

Naoto will be infiltrating. A Priority 6 logic-probe Miner, she is the one who is called when things are getting sticky. She is well-known as the one who goes in when things are complicated to set things right. Sometimes, if things get really sticky, people will bring issues to her, and she'll work on them from wherever she is. She's also good in a fight, and can defend herself well against any attack.

However, things are not well. She has seen Things out there, things that do not fit the way they ought, and it is frustrating, as everything ought have a Purpose and a Function. She's beginning to be uncomfortable with the entire situation, and she has Questions.

She also has a baton that turns into a persona gyrocopter that she uses to get from place to place. It is necessary for the tiny, but powerful program!

I'd love to coordinate with other Infiltrators, if anyone wants to!

[combattente_auditore]

Could you give an example as to how a Variable might be able to join the Defenders?

[thirdarrow]

Takakage will be Infiltrating under the name Mintaka, one of the three ORION administrative programs. I signed him up for some plot roles, but in case he doesn't make it, I have an alternative. He didn't make it, so alternative it is.

In this Jaunt, he will be a Priority 2 Miner. As a Miner, he will be a program assigned to oversee the well-being of the other Miners and manage the lower Priority ones and settling disputes. However, he can see that the Miners certainly aren't being treated well, and he isn't happy about it. He will be one of the more 'radical' Miners, but his careful nature and kindness is enough to camouflage that.

He will also have sustained injuries from Automaton attacks and relies on a wheelchair to get around. In less-accessible areas he will use crutches, and is accompanied by a Bit helper.

[capital_asset]

Minako is Investigating and hoping like hell Mothman can stay out of trouble.

Raidou is a Crypto whose Purpose involves researching ways to subdue, rehabilitate, and/or tame Automata. He is a Priority 4, largely because other Programs do not generally want to be around Automata the way he frequently is. For this Jaunt, he will be going by the appellation IOUHEI: Independent Observational Unit and Holistic Evaluation Interface.

IOUHEI normally relies on functions rather than other Programs for assistance while he's working. I'm still hashing out which function(s) he may have, although the most likely suspects are GDN-Ω (GuarDiaN-Omega), INU-GMI (Intelligent Noncombat Unit - General Medic Instance), or possibly (and rarely) ALICE (Aggressively Lethal Intercept-Class Entity).

[leftbehindagain]

Now that I can officially make plans:

Naoki here will be Investigating. How upset he'll be about this depends on what Sleepy decides to do with Kanji, but if both the people he usually turns to when it's time to make plans (the other being Naoto) are unavailable, he's just gonna have to buck up and deal. XD

He can probably be talked into helping explore some of the Waste Land sectors pretty easily - it's better than anything else going on. (Unlike Hanamura, he has no problem admitting when that's his motivation.) Otherwise, it'll depend on what they uncover!

(...dat control panel tho. Puts Rise-chan's scanning to shame!)

[stopinthenameofawe]

Melissa is now the Viral Vector; however, she used to be a Priority 7 Miner who dissected corrupt codes in the isolation of the Parition (which as you can imagine makes Defenders not all that fond of her). She still appears to be that Program, but has an altered Purpose that she will be attempting to carry out, partly done by corrupting other programs. She does have her own agenda (which I will keep quiet for now), but if anyone is interested in joining the ranks of the Automata ping me and we'll see if corrupting them aligns with her goals. (Also her program name is LISA- Lockdown Internal System Application.)

And because I'm crazy, Phillip will also be infiltrating as a Crypto, who is the pseudo-child of Jos and Leo. He's a Priority 9, but he's still in Alpha so he's basically bouncing around between different functions trying to figure out what his programming is. He's in that experimental stage. /shot He will be very curious about all the Variables, though he will be a little bit more reserved than normal because all of these other Programs are new and different. But he will still be making friends because of course he will. His new program name will be PHLP - Philial Lazarus Prototype.