Episode 3 -- Random Acts of Defiance / Golem

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Episode 3 -- Random Acts of Defiance / Golem

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EPISODE 3

“Sagawa Electronics Geofront”

An assembly plant for prosthetic bodies. The plant is offline. Fluid tanks are empty. The machinery is new and unused.

A light comes on. Then another. Robotic arms go to work, grabbing limbs from suspended liquid. A suspension tank starts filling up.

MicroMachine injectors flow. A female prosthetic torso is lowered into the tank, all latches open, wires hanging out. The control room is empty. The lights are still off. Limbs are attached. The wires retract and the hatches close on the back of the naked body. Micro Machines go to work, creating the skin and hair. Eyes are inserted as the skin grows overtop. A cyberbrain is lowered into the back of the head.

The Tank drains out. Wet, matted hair sticks to her neck. The suspension liquid drips off. She opens her eyes.


Elsewhere, while the blurry image of the naked body walks out of the tank…in the control room, a screen is lit. The image shows the status of the construction. Suddenly all the files start deleting. Before the last file finishes, an error message appears, stopping the deletion. Then, overtop of the whole monitor, a digital image “paints” itself onto the screen. The beginning of the Fylfot image.

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RANDOM ACTS OF DEFIANCE / GOLEM


Section 10 had a few days since the last incident. Military personnel picked up the AI a few days ago.

Aramaki calls then again.

“I do promise to take a flight down there, sometime next week. Your installation is dire need of an overhaul. The funds appropriation committee is meeting in a month. Right now, we are on a blank check as technically we don’t have a budget since technically, Section 9 is disbanded and Section 10 doesn’t exist. I will try to acquire some Operator Androids and maybe even a Think Tank or two. By the way, good job in Egypt. Here, the end does justify the means.

“Now, I am going to take you all back a step and do some simple jobs. Call them, fall cleanup.

“The first deals with a new group that infiltrated from Etorufu from the North. They are an elite mercenary unit from Russia. Their unofficial name is Orthus—the two-headed beast, clubbed my Heracles…we do our research to. We’re not sure why they are here…but their presence is not wanted. By the time Section 9 makes it up there, they could already go to ground, and be armed. They arrived by chartered boat on the north side. Find them…and send them packing.

“The other point is, alas, back at Sagawa electronics. Suffice to say, I could explain everything…but I think I could not give it justice. Head to the Sagawa Geofront. The security chief, Yoshimana Mizuo will be waiting for you. I appreciate the I-I-I….Aramaki cuts out…his image freezes. An image starts to appear. It looks like someone is hand painting an image. What is that…what’s is going on?

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The image gets pushed out and vanished…Aramaki reappears.

“Well…that’s three things you need to do.”

1…Orthus

Orthus no longer exists and all data on them as been manufactured. Good hacking jobs will discover this. The video has also been doctored to show one woman and five well-armed men leaving a small commercial passenger ship.

Sharon checks his contacts and discovers from his Russian source that Orthus was a mercenary group like Umibouzo except on the other side. They worked with the Chinese government during the Meguro recapture operation. However, they are based from Russia. Since China and Russian were enemies during the war, when Orthus was defeated and pulled out of Meguro, Russian branded them as traitors and the elite Spetznaz unit hunted down the remaining five members and wiped them out (assassin’s bullet, car bomb, etc.). Sharon’s contacts confirm…they should all be dead.

The passenger list has been doctored as well, and names of five people that all bought tickets together. Obviously, this group has a local handle that will supply them with weapons.

Alas, this small group of ghost hacks have no skills and prove no match for Section 10. The set up an ambush for Section 10 but it fails. When Section 10 captures them, it is obviously they have all been hacked. If Orthus was here, they just employed decoys to get away. Sharon’s contact reaffirms, however. Orthus has been dead for over six years.

2…Sagawa and the case of the errant Android.

Mizuo informs the group upon their arrival that, for some unknown reason, their manufacturing plant went online and produced one class A cyborg body…which then promptly walked away without anyone noticing.

A virus was initiated that started the construction procedure. A cyberbrain was implanted. Mizuo is shocked to realize it is The Mark 5 Betaden AI, codenamed “GOLEM”. It is a prototype model. It was designed by Sagawa on spec (meaning it was not commissioned). It was an experiment on seeing if an AI cyberbrain could simultaneously Slave several Ghostless Prosthetic Bodies while fully functioning itself. It was meant to be built into the manufacturing facility and was never meant to be implanted in a prosthetic body itself…although it is very possible. It was in the lab, being given agent access the night before. It is a very advanced AI…It had not been copied so it is unique.

The construction yard was hacked to build the machine and the virus is the same MO as the one that created the false order at Megatech a few weeks ago. The virus is still present, having been blocked from deleting itself.

However, something unexpected happened. The virus is still there. It crashed and is frozen trying to delete itself and all the instructions it was giving to make the body. It was not the fault of the virus.

Something stopped the virus. Further investigation discovers another virus, implemented to crash the first one. This one is altogether new. It bares similar features though.

Studying the two viruses discovers that they are related. Either these two Hackers trained together or were taught by the same teacher…or one taught the other. There are too many common techniques for them to be unconnected.

When Greg decompiles the new virus, an image attachment appears. The moment he opens it, a Multifaceted HA-1 Toy Bomb Virus attempts to hack him. Greg defeats it before its Memory Fabrication goes into effect.

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The image is the completed Fylfot, which Sharon incorrectly belives to be a Swastika. Nazis? Seems unlikely. Greg realizes the cross is bent the wrong way and the way its painted indicates this is not the work of skinheads. In fact the swastika image predates Nazi Germany by thousands of years and is one of the oldest markings of mankind.

The android has escaped and is trying to get out of the country. Fylfot has hacked into the production line to create the model and made it escape. The original files were deleted and the now the prototype is trying to escape. They track it the best they can using traffic cameras and the like. Apparently, the Golem hacked the android companion of a passing car and made the driver stop. It forces the driver out and drives the Golem away. It looks to be heading north. Tracking the car shows it going to an open electronic market. The group leaves to try and intercept it. It will be hard enough for tracking, now it’s entering a shopping district with thousands of people.

It is crowded…and when Section 10 comes close to apprehending the unit. It hacks into all the androids around it to help. It attempts to leave but is eventually captured with a timed shock punch

The droid is recovered.

However, that is not the end of it. As they are leaving, a megatech vehicle passes and a Think tank tears itself away. Katana spins the BMW around and attempts to get away. The tank is being hacked from the outside. Greg hacks through the military barrier and kicks out the hacker, and taking control of the tank. They bring everything back to HQ.

There, both the tank and Golem Android are confiscated.

Greg checks on the swastika image again. It matches the Manji, the swastika used in Buddhist art and scripture, which represents Dharma, universal harmony, and the balance of opposites. It is derived from the Hindu religious swastika, but it is not identical in meaning. Why did this hacker chose this image…maybe it’s a message indicating things are not always as they seem…[
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