DIGITAL FRONTIER: LEGACY MODE - JAUNT INFO

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Digital Frontier: Legacy Mode
May 7 - June 16

In the Network, more than a dozen Systems flourish - independent nations connected by high-speed data lines, overseen by Programs - humanoid beings made of pure information, each with its own Purpose and Priority in the System.

Only twice in the history of the Network has a System fully fallen to viral corruption - first the ZODIAC, and then the Grid. Five cycles ago, an expedition from other Systems managed to restore the Grid under very strange circumstances - but the rest of the Network, unconvinced that the recovered Programs weren’t concealing viral influence behind their unnatural behavior and outlandish stories, has kept the Grid under strict isolation.

Until now. The Colossus, a System admired for its rugged survivalism and powerful military, is willing to take a risk on the Grid. The Colossus is sending its own team of soldiers and experts to attempt to recover the lost ZODIAC System. Their expedition travels on a large, encapsulated vessel called the Rejuvenator, specifically meant to be difficult to control, to have new Data and Programs uploaded to it remotely - but to be totally unable to send any data back without Colossus approval. If the mission fails, the Rejuvenator will never be allowed to return.

But all the fresh-trained Programs from the Colossus are untested. To give them the best chance at success, the Rejuvenator was sent first to the Grid, to take on a volunteer crew. If the ZODIAC Initial Probe fails, the Grid will remain under lockdown. But if it succeeds, and the Colossus Programs send back a positive report, the Network will consider opening their Ports to the Grid again, and letting its Programs rejoin civilization...

World Info | What Happened Last Time | Factions | Locations/Map | Casting Call/Plot Role Announcements | Infiltrator Roles | Investigator Roles | Glossary | Skills | Calendar | Infiltrator Directory | Player Resources | Questions | Plotting

Comments

WORLD INFO

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The Network is a world where computer programs look and behave like people; using Identity Discs as keys, multitools, and weapons; Interfacing other programs or inanimate machine systems to share information, traveling across a digital landscape on Lightcycles that can extend solid wakes behind them and collapse into batons when they’re not being used.

The Grid is one System on the Network - an independent nation-state - and it had been quarantined after viral programs called Automata overran and infected the native Cryptos. After leaving it long blocked off, a coalition of other systems sent two factions of Programs to explore the Grid - the Miners were archaeological programs, and the Defenders were protectors against the Automata.

Purpose is the vocation of a Program; and Function can refer either to a mundane job or, insultingly, a primitive Program who is little more than their job. Priority is the inborn hierarchy of Programs, and obedience to Priority is almost automatic - so if a Priority 1 Program gives orders, its followers with Priority 2-20 will find it instinctively difficult to disobey. The lower your priority, the harder it is to disobey.

The Defenders, being mostly higher Priority than Miners and paranoid about the dangers of Automata, made it very difficult for the Miners to fulfill their Purpose. However, a hidden group of Cryptos in stasis was uncovered, and with them a group of unknown Programs who lacked Purpose, Priority, or Function. They were referred to as Variables - and in fact, were the Investigators.

Cryptos, Defenders, Miners, and Variables all explored the terrain and fought Automata corruption in an attempt to uncover SAGE, legendary founder of the Grid, a User - a godlike being with the ability to create Programs and indeed systems - who had been corrupted and was imprisoned in the depths of the Grid. During the search, frustrated Programs tired of Defender tyranny founded a new faction, Revolutionaries, by learning to copy the Variables’ lack of Priority into themselves.

It was discovered by the Investigators that ROSE, leader of the Miners, was in fact the Arcana known as the Magician; that SAGE was the Hermit; and that Lovers and Devil had unleashed the Automata virus on the Grid in an assassination attempt when Hermit attempted to leave the Arcana’s game. At great cost, the Automata were defeated, SAGE rescued (losing his physical form in the process and gaining a lupine form made from salvaged data) & returned to the game, and the free but isolated system of the Grid was left behind.

Now, several cycles later (a unit of time about a year long; three millicycles are equivalent to one day), the Travelers return...

WHAT HAPPENED LAST TIME

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The Travelers’ arrival to the Grid coincided with the release of a handful of Cryptos from self-imposed stasis. The Defenders got up in everyone’s business (especially these weird new white Programs with no Priority or Purpose), the Miners were quietly discontent, and the Cryptos immediately took off into the Grid to fulfill their own agenda: looking for their lost User, SAGE, whom one of their number believed was still trapped on the Grid somewhere. Rogue Automata corruption, including a strain that could be passed on with no outward symptoms in the corrupted Program, were a threat to everyone.

In between the exploration that slowly worked outward from the safe zone near the Partition to other parts of the Grid’s native system and attacks by Automata monsters, it turned out that Crypto who believed SAGE was still out there was right. More to the point, as far as investigators were concerned, it turned out they’d been dragged headlong into intra-Arcana squabbling - SAGE was in fact the Hermit, trapped on the Grid after trying to leave the Arcana’s game, and the Magician (who had snuck into Liminal Space prior to this, and was posing as a high-Priority Miner) had taken it upon herself to rescue him. This was not a popular move with most of the other Arcana.

The Revolutionary faction was created in the middle of the jaunt, when one of the Miners coded away its own Priority, but kept the Purpose of cooperative work toward a free and open Grid for all. Most Miners either joined the new rebellion or were re-factioned into the Cryptos, after stumbling upon secrets the Cryptos were literally hard-coded not to share outside of their own faction. The Defenders suffered some crippling losses as well, between Programs defecting to the rebellion and Automata corruption spreading all the way to the top of the chain of command.

SAGE’s containment unit was discovered and cracked open at the very same instant the Devil, who’d turned up to try to preserve zir old victory from the first squabble, revealed zir presence. At about this time, it also came up that the Automata corruption was in fact created by Devil and Lovers, with the Purpose of keeping any Crypto (and SAGE in particular) from leaving the Grid. In order for SAGE to leave the Grid, he was going to need a new body, which was cobbled together from spare parts by a Crypto mad scientist. (Some of those spare parts were from Lyall, which is why SAGE is now a wolf most of the time.)

Automata sabotage destroyed the ports out of the Grid; after the jaunt ended, the Defenders needed help from Revolutionaries and Automata (whose Purpose left them as the Arcana vacated the Grid) to clear the damage, since all other factions faced Priority restrictions on entering the area.

FACTIONS

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Unless otherwise stated, all factions have both Priority, which determines the hierarchy in which tasks are done and orders are given, and Purpose, which dictates the types of tasks they normally carry out.

Defenders (red) - Programs whose Purposes tend to revolve around the protection of the system they reside in from both internal and external threats. This can make them come off as rather paranoid, and Defenders tend to be (but are not always) the most rigid in terms of enforcing Priority. Defenders may originate either from the Grid or the Colossus.

Miners (blue) - Programs whose Purposes tend to revolve around exploration, discovery, reclamation and archiving of old data, and so on. Some Miners are passionate archaeologists, some are more like religious pilgrims, and some are simply hard-working functions, prospecting like human gold miners. Miners may originate either from the Grid or the Colossus.

Cryptos (green) - ancient, secretive Programs who pursued wisdom in isolation before (it was believed) their grandiose powers crashed their System. Many of the first Cryptos were wiped out in the original Arcana squabble on the Grid, so there are comparatively fewer of them than there are Miners and Defenders. Cryptos have Priority, but tend to treat it more like a guideline than an actual rule. Cryptos may only originate from the Grid, although they will refaction other Programs at their discretion.

Revolutionaries (yellow) - a faction explicitly created to avoid the potential abuse of Priority by simply getting rid of it. Revolutionaries’ Purposes tend to revolve around cooperation, making the Grid and the system as a whole better, more open places to be. Programs may work with the Revolutionaries without actually joining the faction, and every Program who joins the faction is asked to confirm they desire to join before being brought in. Revolutionaries may only originate from the Grid, although they will refaction other Programs at their discretion.

Automata (purple) - viral Programs, a result of the corruption of code that crashed the Crypto system. Automata do not have Priority. Re-integrated into the System now, their Purpose is to capture & convert viral data to serve the Grid, rather than destroying viral data as Miners & Defenders must. Automata may only originate from the Grid. Naturally inclined to convert others to their faction, they’re also aware other Grid programs are watching them very closely for anything resembling viral behavior, and must be careful of how often they accept new members.

Variables (white) - Investigators - Programs 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. Infiltrators may not refaction to become Variables.

LOCATIONS/MAP

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The Grid - where the action happened last time. It’s small, isolated (this exploration mission is the first time its ports have been opened since the previous jaunt), and home to a number of unusual factions.

The Colossus - A large, rugged System with bustling fortified city sectors and deliberately cultivated Wastelands full of unsorted junk data, the Colossus is one of the most militant and most heavily populated systems on the Network. A co-sponsor of the expedition that led to the recovery of the Grid, many Defenders (and a few Miners) were first booted & formatted here. The Defenders & Miners coming from the Colossus to the ZODIAC now are mostly young, cutting-edge Programs who found the wilderness of the Colossus insufficient to test their mettle. They’re conscious of the paranoid, tyrannical tendencies some Defenders showed on the Grid, and hope to clean the stain on their reputations and prove themselves worthy of facing new and exciting unknown challenges in the ZODIAC.

ZODIAC - the system being explored on this jaunt, a toroid (doughnut)-shaped area with twelve sectors. Very small, as Systems go. Known for its specialization and innovation, some thought the native Signifiers actually sought to become Users. Then their system fell into chaos, and the Signifiers vanished, leading to a very long quarantine of the System.

CASTING CALL

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If you’re interested in signing up for a plot role, let us know which one here. Casting will be done during the day on the 1st.

THE GRID RECOVERY SPECIALIST: This Program, studying Crypto experiments and past experiences from the Grid, has successfully managed to revive de-rezzed Programs from their Disc backups under certain circumstances. Slightly fixated with this new power, they’ve been tasked with accompanying the ZIP Drive to the ZODIAC to recover some of the lost Signifiers. This role must originate from the Grid, but does not have to be a returning character.

THE GRID DATA GHOST: This Program was de-rezzed in the conflict on the Grid, but new developments and discoveries led to them being revived from their Disc alone into a newly-created body. This ‘re-resolution’ was in some ways incomplete, leaving them glitchy and dependent on the Recovery Specialist for regular defragmentation. They did not have a particular wish to come along on the expedition, but hope that discovering what caused the downfall of this System may hold the key to their own future function… This role must originate from the Grid, but does not have to be a returning character. If a returning character, that character must have died/been de-rezzed during the first Jaunt!!

THE SLEEPER AGENT: This Program, reliable and trustworthy on the surface, has a hidden layer of code even they don’t know about. When activated, this code transforms them into a mysterious spy and supremely capable combatant with a deficit of personality and a larger agenda. This role may originate from either the Grid or the Colossus.

THE DISC THIEF: A renegade Program who masks themselves in others’ identities and cares more for their own gain and survival than the good of any system. This role will have slightly different backgrounds and starting information, depending on whether they come from the Grid or the Colossus, but will, in either case, be a capricious and slightly unstable trickster in over their heads.

THE REFORMATTED SIGNIFIER: This Program, the lone survivor of the ZODIAC, fled the System shortly before the Network cut it off, and in the many cycles since, lost their memory and spent a long time in storage. The precise details of this backstory will vary depending on whether this Program is coming from the Colossus or the Grid, but in either case, is seeking to connect with their past and is hoped by others to have a home-turf advantage if local Utilities recognize their authority.

THE COLOSSUS PRIME DEFENDER: A Priority 1 Program leading the delegation of Colossus Programs going on the ZIP Drive. This earnest, honorable young Program is eager to prove themselves worthy of this responsibility, but slightly nervous that they may have been promoted only to be tasked with a suicide mission, and very aware of the cost of failure. This character must originate from the Colossus.

THE COLOSSUS COLONIZER: This ambitious high-Priority Program hopes, not so much to revive the original ZODIAC System, but to re-Purpose it and claim it for the young Colossus Programs whose potential was going to waste in a stable, settled system. The Variables, Automata, and Revolutionaries from the Grid all have fascinating capabilities which might make such a settlement viable and independent… This character must originate from the Colossus.

PLOT ROLE ANNOUNCEMENTS

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After parts are cast, we’ll ask the players to come back here and announce them!

INFILTRATOR ROLES

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This is a visit to a different system than the Grid proper. As such, there will be relatively fewer Cryptos or Revolutionaries than Defenders or Miners, to start out with. All Cryptos and Revolutionaries are visiting from the Grid; Defenders and Miners can be from the Grid or the Colossus.

Characters who were not in-game for the first Digital Frontier jaunt have the option of their Infiltrators having been handwavily present on the Grid for past events, or coming in fresh from the Colossus, at player preference. Defenders and Miners from the Colossus have never seen Cryptos, Revolutionaries, Automata or Variables before. Many, but not all, of the Defenders & Miners coming from the Grid now were first booted up in the Colossus system, & may have acquaintances among the (non-Crypto) Grid Programs.

A general rule for Priority-bound Programs: there will be relatively fewer high-Priority (low-number) Programs in any given faction - think of it like a pyramid. If a trend of too many high-Priority Programs starts to take root, the mods reserve the right to ask some players to revise their plans.

INVESTIGATOR ROLES

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Investigators who joined a specific faction as themselves on the first jaunt may ‘boot up’ in that faction’s color rather than Variable white, at player discretion.

GLOSSARY

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

Calculate: Thinking, in Program-speak.

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

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

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

Deresolution (derezzing): 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 force field capable of interrupting or derezzing Programs trying to access forbidden areas.

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

Glitch: a swear word. 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: The System visited in the original jaunt. 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. A lightcycle’s LEDs match the faction of the Program currently using it. There are other light vehicles, but they are rarely used.

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

Null Unit: an insult. Idiot.

Port: The communications and travel terminals between a System and the rest of the Network. Ports on the Grid & the ZODIAC are locked down under high security by the rest of the Network.

Priority: a Program's level of importance within the System. Determines the order of operations, rank and status. 0 is the highest priority, 21 is the lowest. Orders given by a Program of higher Priority are instinctively difficult for Programs of a lower Priority to disobey. Programs with no Priority, however, may refuse to follow such an order.

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.

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

Rejuvenator: The secure carrier ship from the Colossus relaying Programs between Systems in this Jaunt.

Sector: 1/12th of the ZODIAC, a square 6553.6 feet on a side.

Signifier: A Program native to the ZODIAC System. The Signifiers are believed to be lost.

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

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

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.

Utility: an inanimate machine, tool, or object used by a Program. A tool.

ZIP Drive: The 'ZODIAC Initial Probe Drive;' the name of the joint Colossus-Grid expedition being mounted on the Rejuvenator.

ZODIAC: The System being explored on this jaunt, comprised of twelve sectors in a toroid (doughnut) shape.

SKILLS

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All infiltrator Programs have Identity Discs & the Interface ability, as well as the appropriate faction skill, for the duration of the Jaunt, and other abilities as appropriate to their Purpose. Investigators will also arrive with an Identity Disc, since showing up without one would Just Be Weird.

Old 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.

Identity 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. Any intelligent system may resist this link. Can also link to another Traveler outside of the Grid, but the data exchange will tire both the Interfacer and the Interfacee out considerably, and it will give summary information rather than a deep review, unless the Interface lasts much longer, tiring them out even more.

Lightcycle: An LED-lit baton that expands into an LED-lit motorcycle capable of projecting a solid wake. Can also go into "stealth mode," whereby the solid light wall and the LEDs are turned off.

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.

New Skills Anyone Can Take:
Dataspike: a pointed handheld utility that allows interfacing a hostile inanimate function or an unwilling animate program. Unpleasant to use or have used on one. Does not ALWAYS get through a Program or Utility's security any more than a lockpick always opens a lock. Basic dataspikes resemble syringes; more powerful dataspikes look like punching daggers.

Dragonfly: a glider/parachute that allows for travel over wastelands between dedicated points, brief free flight, or lengthy flight being towed behind a cycle or other transit utility.

Lightblade: an LED-bladed sword for close combat that is also used as a utility for demolishing systems or cutting through the outer layer of physical structures or most firewalls.

Scanner Rod: detects the direction and distance/intensity of the nearest power transmission or active structure or utility. The greater the energy usage, the longer the range it can be detected at. Also acts as a flashlight.

Staff: a defensive melee weapon that disrupts all high energy transmission and functions from Programs or utilities in contact with the business end. A taser that temporarily shorts out vehicles, other tools, or (when used in combination) even buildings or mass transit utilities.

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.

Revolutionary - Assist: Once per week, boost any other Program skill in use by 120%, and any other previous Jaunt skill in use by 20%. Cannot use on yourself.

Outside of the jaunt, all faction skills, Control Panel, and Redirect Energy may only be passed along if either the teacher or learner already has Interface. During the jaunt, this restriction is not set in stone; however, infiltrators may only take faction skills associated with their current faction.

Outside of the jaunt, Bits, Identity Discs, and Lightcycles, as well as all of the new skill items, may be created by any Traveler who has Constructive Enlightenment, Interface, and access to a computer to raid for code.

Investigators with multiple faction skills cannot use two faction skills in conjunction with each other, but may use multiple faction skills in the same week. (Expect this to Draw Questions from infiltrators.)

CALENDAR

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Cycle 5.100 (May 7): The Rejuvenator Prepares To Connect With Aries Port.
Cycle 5.125 (May 15): Exploring the Wastelands; Connecting the Transit Hubs.
Cycle 5.150 (May 23): The Attack.
Cycle 5.175 (May 31): Losing Control.
Cycle 5.200 (June 8): Finding the Source Code.
Cycle 5.22 (June 14): The Network’s Verdict; a mini-Mingle.
June 16: return to Liminal Space

INFILTRATOR DIRECTORY

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Since system of origin, faction, Priority and Purpose can account for a lot of moving parts, we’ve set up a page for players to fill this information in themselves. Once you’ve worked out your infiltration plans, pop over here to let folks know where your character’s headed.

PLAYER RESOURCES

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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.

QUESTIONS

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The Grid is Matt’s brainchild; Jill was also around for the first one and is fairly setting-conversant (particularly in rebellion matters).

As with the Questing Country return, we’ve compiled the questions from last time into an FAQ. That’s available here.

Re: QUESTIONS

[morethanashadow]

If a character was an Automata last time around, but will be Investigating this time, can they still show up purple?

(This is obviously regarding Melissa- she does still have Convert, after all...)

[teamblue]

How fast are Defenders going to notice if programs begin disappearing at roughly the rate of one every three or four days?

Re: QUESTIONS

[ninjayeehaw]

What are the combat capabilities of Identity Discs? Is it just a throwing weapon, how does it work in that regard?

[cameracoded]

okay so since Prompto is the oracle of machines what... is going to happen? theoretically this is all happening in some sort of computer right? would he get anything from it? get fried if he tries?

[leftbehindagain]

SSSSSSSSSO Infiltrator Persona/Memory Restoration vs. Priority: Non-issue last time, but now we need to know.

WHAT HAPPEN

[comebewe]

Okay, so - for some context, I'm trying to figure out how the Angels will be infiltrated for this particular jaunt. Currently, I'm thinking that they're an automata (or a group of automata?) that merged with Matthew. So, first question: is having an automata merge with whatever Matthew will be (possibly a Miner?) something that's possible? If so, what would that look like? Is a weird mish-mash of factions possible, or would they have to end up as one or the other?

[set_your_watches_for_fun]

How does magic work here, if at all? Eliot's magic is particularly open-ended, but he also has different magics picked up from Jaunts - any of that do anything?

[truerevelation]

Are Automata curable/refactionable this time around? Would there be any flexibility regarding this sort of repair? Say, can cures be 'incomplete'?

Re: QUESTIONS

[theflyingone]

What did the Cryptos try to do about the Automata/original Arcana squabble before they got nearly destroyed and had to sleep? What are the secrets Cryptos are "hard-coded not to share outside of their own faction"? How much do Cryptos currently know about SAGE? Is that priority 1 revived Crypto from Digital Frontier 1.0 still around? Is there anything else I need to know about How to Crypto 101?

[tillweseethesunlight]

I'm contemplating how Royal Treatment would translate in this Jaunt, which leads me to ask: where do programs come from? What would "upper class" look like in this world?

For context, I'm still deciding between Defender from Colossus or plain old Variable for Dru, if that helps.

Re: QUESTIONS

[theflyingone]

What are the "power transmissions" mentioned in relation to Scanner Rods? And how can a Program detect an active system while technically residing within a system... Does that just mean it's just pointing to the nearest Port that connects to an active system?