forum ENCOM OS-12 | OxO | Closed unless you're a fellow Program/User/ISO | Stalkers get a free Light Runner

Started March 25, 2021 by @murphysgirl

tune

"Yes. I don't know if they've found anything yet." Nora watched the medics down below, who were examining discs.

Cor nodded, not really expecting a diagnosis from them so soon… If they were able to get one at all. “Since this is your club… do you think they'll let me stay when they tell you what they find?” he wondered after just watching the crowd silently for a moment. Officially he didn't belong here. He was just a messenger program and a customer at the club. The medics would have every right to ask to check his disc then ask him to leave before they told Nora anything.

(Hi! Sorry I've been kinda inactive lately, I've been drowning in homework and I went away for the weekend.)

"I'll tell them you're assisting me," Nora said. And it was true: with him here, she felt more stable, had a clearer head. "Besides, we know it's something in the drinks. It's not contagious. And we drank from an unopened bottle."

(No worries.)

“Thank you.” Cor smiled a little, sincerely grateful that she would let him stay. Obviously, he wouldn't be able to undo anything but knowing what was going on would help him in finding a way to stop Cyrus.

"I won't have to go, will I?" Markus asked, his eyebrows furrowing, nervous.
"You can leave if you want," Nora said. "As long as you didn't drink anything, I think you should be okay." In all honesty, part of her was hoping he could leave so she could be alone with Cor.
Her thoughts of how to urge Markus to leave without making it blatantly obvious were interrupted by a medic climbing the stairs to the office. "You're Nora, right?"
"I am. Did you find something?"
The medic smiled nervously. "We did. You need to see this." Turning around, he made his way back down the stairs. Nora followed.

Cor was a little surprised that Markus wanted to stay as well but figured he just wanted to know what was going on. His eyes snapped over to the medic when he spoke to Nora. Apparently, he was more wound up over this whole thing than he thought. He sighed softly to try to calm down before joining Nora and the medic.

Nora followed the medic over to a couple of programs. The medic took a disc off a program's back and held it up, navigating through the various code, until a large padlock icon appeared on the screen.
The medic gestured to it. "This is the code that controls personality. As you can see, it's locked. The code is some of the most complex I've ever seen. I doubt even Flynn himself could crack it."
Nora stared at the padlock, her mind spinning. "The programs aren't able to access it?"
The medic shook his head. "Personality and memory are both locked. It's a similar process to what happens when one becomes a stray."

Cor raised a brow at the sight and the explanation. “And this happened just from having a couple of drinks?” he asked, both very concerned and a little impressed.

"It's not like anything I've ever seen," the medic confessed. "I don't know much about energy, but I'm still surprised something this complex could be put into a drink."
"Cyrus," Nora whispered under her breath. It had to be.

Cor nodded. It was the only explanation for how this happened… “But, why? If memory and personality are locked then these programs become the same as Strays, right? What does that do?” he asked, trying to figure out what kind of sick game Cyrus was playing.

"Eventually, their memory will deteriorate so much that they won't be able to function," the medic said.
"How many Strays have you met?" Nora asked Cor. In her Siren days, she had seen a lot of them. They were always confused and weary, and they never lasted long in the Games.

“Not many.” Cor admitted. “And never at… that stage.” he added, looking at the medic. “But basically, this is the same as derezzing them just dragging it out and without being present for it.”

"From what I've heard about Cyrus," Nora said, "he seems to… enjoy watching his victims suffer."
The medic nodded. "I'd say he was planning some sort of disc harvesting, as well."

Cor nodded at Nora’s comment, agreeing that Cyrus was a very disturbed program but froze for a moment at the mention of disc harvesting. “Why would… To what purpose?” he forced himself to ask, though he had a suspicion… and the thought caused a cold ball of code to settle in his stomach.

"Discs can make very effective weapons," Nora said. "They could be used for building an arsenal. They also sell for enormous amounts on the black market, though I doubt Cyrus needs the bits." She, too, was nervous. She knew that there had been secretive studies about discs, to look at code that a User had written, to try to replicate it.

Cor nodded, knowing all of those options and hearing Nora list them didn't make him feel any better. “Yeah… I don't think that he’d go to the black market.” he nodded. “But if he just wanted the discs, it would be easier to just take them. Why this whole… issue of locking a program's memory just to get the disc?” he asked, more thinking aloud than anything. “There’s got to be something else. Something we're missing…”

"If a disc is separated from its program for long enough, the disc loses its memories, as well," the medic said. "It's the closest you can get to wiping it."
Nora's spine went cold. Wiping it?

Cor closed his eyes and sucked in a pained breath, feeling like someone had just landed sucker-punch to his stomach, at the medic’s words. That sounded a lot more like Cyrus and with so many wiped discs… His earlier suspicion seemed more likely. “Is there anything we can do to help?” he finally managed to ask weakly.

The medic shook his head. "I'm at just as much of a loss as you. I don't even know what to do with them." He gestured around to the dopey programs. "We can hardly send out a bunch of Strays on the streets. It's a good thing the Games aren't still around, or they'd all be massacred."
"Maybe that's the point," Nora said, as a thought hit her. "Maybe Cyrus wants them to be killed…"

Cor tensed his jaw and rubbed the back of his neck. “That wouldn't surprise me.” he admitted. He looked out at the crowd of soon-to-be-lost programs. If this keeps up, Cyrus could get enough discs… Especially if it's not just this club he’s hit. he sighed thoughtfully. “They need to be kept somewhere safe.” he pointed out, giving Nora an uncertain glance.

Nora had been thinking along those lines. Cor's Recogniser hideout had briefly crossed her mind, but trying to herd a bunch of mindless programmes across the Outlands was too daunting a prospect for her.
"We could keep them in the old Games arena," she said. "It's big, and we can get them there easily."

“That’s a good idea. And we can check on them every once in a while, make sure they're ok.” Cor smiled softly, grateful for her alternative. Besides getting them to his Recognizer, there was also the issue of the natural dangers that came with being off-grid… and those were hard enough to handle for any sane program, even if they were prepared. “What do you think?” he asked, looking at the medic.

"I think that's a great idea," the medic said, bestowing a rare smile on them and sticking out his hand. "I'm Achilles."
"Nora," Nora said, reaching out and shaking his hand somewhat awkwardly; it was a rare gesture for her, one of almost too much formality.

Cor smiled faintly and nodded, a little relieved that so far things were going smoothly as far as handling the situation. “I’m Cor and that's Markus.” he added, gesturing towards the bartender.

"Hi!" Markus said with a little smile.
Nora, meanwhile, was looking around, wondering how on earth she was going to get all these programmes to the Games arena. She could always call… but no, she didn't want to, couldn't. But it was her only choice, wasn't it?
"I'm going to have to ping someone," she said, a pained expression coming over her face. "I'll be right back." Let's get this over with.

Cor raised a brow at Nora’s tone, noticing her strong reluctance to go through with her statement. He waited until she was out of earshot and gently nudged Markus. “What was that about?” he almost whispered. A part of him was hoping that she was just going to ping Astra but something in her expression said Nora disliked this program more than she disliked her.

Markus shrugged. "She's probably pinging one of Zuse's old contacts."
Nora, meanwhile, had climbed the stairs to her office. Closing the door, she went to her desk and took a deep breath, hefting a smile onto her lips. Please let this go well, oh please let this go well…
She pressed the button with the name Edison on it, and the screen started pinging. If Nora wasn't so desperate for help, she would have half-wished he wouldn't pick up.
But he did. The screen brightened into a face, dark and handsome with pronounced cheekbones. His black hair was upswept as usual, his eyes a bright neon green, like poison. There was a smile on his face.
"Nora, my darling!" he said, his smile growing wider. "You need to call me more. We don't talk as often as I'd like."
"Hello, Edison," Nora said.
Edison was one of Zuse's former clients; from his seat in Purgos, he ran a shipping business that was as efficient as it was shady, trading in arms, fake discs, and smuggled energy, to name a few. Nora fervently despised him as much as he adored her. If he wasn't in Purgos, she'd have taken him down as Aurora a long time ago.

“Ah.” Cor nodded. “Well, I hope they will help.” he said, looking up towards Nora’s office. If not… Well, they would just have to figure something else out. Unfortunately, I don't have any large transportation equipment in the Recognizer.

"I need your… assistance with something," Nora said carefully, the words falling tightly from her lips, small bites of sound.
"But of course!" Edison said.
Nora took a deep breath. How much should she tell him?
"I need to… ship something," she said. "Could you send three empty trucks to the Silver Tower?"
Edison's smile grew more poisonous. "Yes, of course, darling. Do you want me to throw in any surprises?"
Nora shook her head. She didn't want to be any more in Edison's debt than she had to be.
"I can have them there in two microcycles," Edison said, sipping a glass of energy he had on his desk. "And don't worry about anything in return, Nora darling, seeing your face is all the reward I need!"
Suspicious, Nora thought. People like Edison always needed something in return, be it in one cycle or fifty. He'd pull up this debt one day; she could feel it in her disc.
"Anyway, I've things to do! Call again soon, Nora, I really do miss talking with you." With that, Edison hung up, and what felt like fifty pounds of tension relaxed from Nora's shoulders. Thank Flynn…

"I hope they'll help too," Markus said, glancing up at Nora.

Cor sighed a little and pulled up a seat nearby. This whole night had just been pretty overwhelming. And he’d already had some wild nights, both as Black Light and as himself… though the second was some that he didn't think much about.