[jaunt] three nights into the grey-lit Program's shenanigans

[leftbehindagain]

Something very, very weird is going on with Jean's overlay. I'm not sure what, just that Bonds shouldn't blink out entirely only to reappear the next morning like nothing ever happened. This is the third day in a row. It's too fast to be leaving the jaunt, and he's infiltrating in any case.

Eren-san, he's your friend - I know that doesn't always help when infiltrating's involved, but do you have any insight into this? Has anyone else been working closely with him?

Comments

[vrepit_no]

He keeps vanishing on me. [Someone is not best pleased about this.] I can't track him on my Control Panel sometimes - and I'd bet dollars to GAC that such times would match with when you're missing him.

[leftbehindagain]

Eight hours out of every twenty-four? [He... may have stayed up all night to track it, last night. Or whatever passes for 'night' when you're inside a computer.]

[vrepit_no]

Almost certainly. [It's something between shame and anger, but the primary overtone is worry.] He's noticed that Variables need to sleep, and he waits till I do, or until he can sneak off out of sight. I thought he was just off Interfacing more things without telling me, but he's done it often enough that I made a point of checking and trying to track him down. No luck.

[leftbehindagain]

Even regular Programs need some kind of rest. Does he seem tired at all when he comes back?

[vrepit_no]

That's the thing - he really doesn't. He seems as well-rested as if he'd spent the entire time recharging. And he goes into a recharging station the same as everyone else.

[leftbehindagain]

...What the hell. [That sure is a thing that's not adding up.]

[vrepit_no]

Yeah, I know. I can manage without a lot of sleep. I'm going to try and track him from the beginning the next time he does this, but I'm the first to admit that I'm not the best at stealth. If it's not his specialty, then I'll be fine, but if he's a scout-type program, then this could get messy. I'm not going to hurt him if I can possibly help it.

[leftbehindagain]

['Can manage' is not the same as 'should manage,' but considering Naoki stayed up all night just to time how long the Bond was quiet, he doesn't exactly have much room to talk.]

My next thought is 'has he shown any sign when he comes back that he knows something weird's happening.' If he has, he might be willing to help try to stop whatever's happening. If not.. then we get into whether it's worth trying to explain it.

[vrepit_no]

No. He has no clue. [It's frustrating.]

Let me try to track him first. He might not need helping at all, depending on what this is. Just to know that he doesn't have to hide it. If I can't keep line of sight, then I'll call for backup. Do we have any tracking beacons at all? Something I could plant on him?

[leftbehindagain]

I wish Helena-san was here. This sounds more and more like it's something closer to her expertise than mine.

I don't know of anything like a tracking beacon, but that doesn't mean they don't exist. Maybe start with the Colossus crew for that?

[vrepit_no]

I think I saw one of the Cryptos working on something like that. I'm sure I can ask for one or two. I think I ought to be able to send the signal thingie to a couple of different people, or link you into my signal or something. I'll ask Pidge. Do you want to be able to track the beacon for Jean as well?

[Look, he's not a programmer.]

[leftbehindagain]

I have a control panel. I should be all right.

[vrepit_no]

Sounds good. I'll let you know what I find out.

[leftbehindagain]

Thanks. Be careful.

[bite_the_hand]

...Shit. I was hoping it was just me.

[There's an edge to the thoughts that comes across as something close to an angry growl. Anger that Naoki might realize is just Eren's way of trying to deal with how worried he actually is.]

At first I thought he'd just Interfaced something he shouldn't have, but this is happening too much for that. This shouldn't happen! We got stuck with one of those stupid Pogemon-Slammer Bonds, and you can't just turn those off! We've tried!

[leftbehindagain]

It may be bad news, but at least it's confirmation there's something to watch for.

Those are even more intense than the Questing Country variety, aren't they?

[bite_the_hand]

I don't know if all of them are, but our's sure is. There's no way to make the feelings less intense the way you can with the Questing Country kind, and I can feel it every time he so much as stubs his damn toe!

[Which probably says something about their friendship considering Eren and Jean didn't exactly start punching each other any less after the Jaunt to Pogtopia.]

[leftbehindagain]

THen anything strong enough to disrupt that connection is especially worrisome.

[portinari]

If you were to show me his recharging station, I could feign sleep there, and when he disappeared, make myself invisible to his senses to follow him. I would be undetectable for a quarter hour.

[leftbehindagain]

You'd have to ask Shiro-san or Eren-san about that - I'm not sure where he's been exploring, so that probably determines where he's going to recharge. That's not a bad idea, though.

[portinari]

I will wait until the location is more certain, at least.

A few days later ; Private to Naoki

[verdeleonessa]

It's no longer just him. First Matt and then Shiro. Neither of them have any memory of doing anything different, but the bond I have with them keeps blinking out.

consider it double-protected

[leftbehindagain]

...Oh, that bodes well.

[verdeleonessa]

I know Shiro tried this earlier, but... I'm going to follow after them when they think I should be recharging, but I won't approach either no matter what. Instead, I'll record what I find on my Control Panel.

Though it would be easier if I could show images on the network. That way, I could record live image.

[leftbehindagain]

It sounds like... maybe not a viral corruption, certainly not the same thing as the Automata have, but definitely not normal behavior regardless. Be careful.

Streaming to the network's pretty simple - just pretend you're looking through a camera.

[verdeleonessa]

Yeah, it doesn't sound good, but not like a disaster either. If I find something relevant, we should think about telling the Defenders or, perhaps, SHIRO?

It's that easy? Wow. Let me try...

[Yep. That would be a view of the city in front of her.]

[leftbehindagain]

I'm already planning to ask SHIRO if it's heard of anything like this before, but I'm not hopeful. Not with the Grid having been so isolated, and this system having been closed off for so long.

It's that easy. See, you already got the hang of it.

[verdeleonessa]

Maybe ask someone from the Colossus as well? They might have a better chance of knowing what's up.

Huh. I always thought it would be harder... but this works. Thanks for the tip. Once I track down Shiro or Matt when they disappear, I'll make sure to stream it.

[leftbehindagain]

That's not a bad idea. [Not that he knows who to ask.]

You're welcome.

[verdeleonessa]

[It's not like Pidge knows any of the Colossus programs either.]

We'll figure what's going on and help your friend out. And everyone else too.

[leftbehindagain]

I hope so. I mean, at least the Automata know who they are and what they're doing.

[verdeleonessa]

What can you tell me about the Automata? I haven't managed to gather much information on that.

[leftbehindagain]

Not as much as some people, since I only ever had an outside view of the faction. Their code was created by Lovers and Devil during their original spat with Hermit - I think their original Purpose was to keep the Cryptos, and Hermit in particular, from leaving the Grid by any means necessary.

I'm not sure what their Purpose is now, but it doesn't seem to be as overtly hostile, given that some of every faction's turned out for this expedition.

[verdeleonessa]

That's interesting.

One of Shiro's arms is purple, like the automata. It seems it's no spreading otherwise, but could there be some reason for that other than purely aesthetic reasons?

[leftbehindagain]

...It suggests to me, though I didn't want to speculate about it in public on the check-in, that the prosthetic was an unwelcome gift from a hostile entity. Considering he showed up like that, it could have just as much to do with how he thinks about it as anything else.

[verdeleonessa]

Well, you're not wrong about that. So the program coded that as Automata since it was an invading virus. That makes sense.

[leftbehindagain]

[He almost wishes he was wrong, really, but it was the explanation that made the most sense.]

But he's still a Variable otherwise, give or take this grey business right?

[verdeleonessa]

Yes, definitely. His code is no different from mine or Matt's, other than the arm.