Episode 6: Encoded Truth / QR Code

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Slipstream
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Episode 6: Encoded Truth / QR Code

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EPISODE 6
An American Aircraft Carrier a safe distance away from Japan. Admiral Campbell lectures Colonel Holden from behind a desk. The Colonel is defending his actions.

“I am in charge here. All authority ends with me. I am the King of this Hill.” The Colonel says.

“This is exactly the reason why you are here, Colonel. We let greedy, self-absorbed people like you dictate rules to others who lack the power you flaunt. This is more important than any man, corporation, or country.”

“You’re getting a little on edge for a supposed security leak.”

“You’re telling me you did not prompt that reporter?”

“Prompt what…I didn’t know what crashed there? You, Admiral, decide which events are worthy of history.”

“You understand the situation we’re in right now. The AE cannot be caught this early into another conflict right in the middle of reopening negotiations with Japan. Now China thinks we knew something or that Japan told us what they did.”

“What did they do?”

“Do act smart, Colonel. Whatever game is being played with China will not result in China playing fair, kicking the sand, and walking away…”

“I never expected they would—“

“What were you trying to accomplish with that statement?”

“I told a story…”

“Do you have any information as to why a reporter would ask that?”

“Ask him?”

“We would…if he hadn’t had the last month of his life erased…”

“Really…”

“We’re through here, Colonel…personally…I know you’re holding something back…I just can’t figure out why?”

Outside, the Colonel mutters to himself, “People like him ignore the thousands of men killed in service for this country for the sake of war but mourn the losses of a handful of civilians caught in the crossfire. I fight wars for honor and righteousness. They fight them for money, greed, and ego. “

ENCODED TRUTH / QR CODE
<A complex episode>

Ben wakes up in confinement at section 9’s HQ in Newport. Togusa interrogates him. Ben knows little. He doesn’t know where the other members are. Togusa explains that Section 9 understands the situation but it’s imperative that the other members are brought in willingly and without violence. Ben helps them craft a message to leak onto the net.

Greg stumbles on the encrypted message from Section 9 and realizes what needs to be done. Sharron receives a similar message. This time, he sees Aramaki on Television, mouthing instructions in the background of a news broadcast. Sharron reads his lips and understands the message.

Greg arrives first at Newport. Sharron arrives later. They both enter Section 9 HQ.

…And they are immediately apprehended. They begin to think this might not have been a good idea. They meet with Ben in a long conference room…alone. The door opens and Section 9 enters. Togusa, Batou, Kusanagi, Ishikawa, Boma, Pazu…and Saito, with an arm brace and a sprained knee. Sharron apologizes to Saito for hurting him during the Shinjuku incident.

Aramaki finally enters…and welcomes them to Section 9.
He explains that Motoko first realized this rival group were Ghost hacks when the MO of their operations matched those of Public Security. They tried to tap into them a few times but Greg was too good a Hacker, and the one controlling them was even better.

Aramaki recaps what has occurred.

Their six months of training for Section 10 never occurred. In fact, Section 9 is still technically disbanded. They don’t have a budget…the side effect of that is that they can squeeze in other projects under side budgets. Section 10 was a way to siphon funds from the Defense Budget towards Public Security. It was a paperwork-only concept conceived by Aramaki and Kobotai. Someone must have found the file and used it as a backdrop for fictionalizing a real Section 10. In fact, they had planned on a small one or two man team to operate from Etorufu to maintain an office. Roy Sharron was brought in for that exact purpose. However, after meeting Aramaki, he never showed up for training.

The other members seemed have been brought in from locations in Etorufu. Both Ben and Greg have police records in Bertarve. Sagawa wants Ben for breaking a prosthetic contract. Greg is under suspicion from Section 6 for several breaches in public security. Unlike the Ghost hacks done to the fake Orthus members last week, the hack-jobs for Section 10 have legitimate skills. Whoever hacked Section 10 used backdoors to maintain contact, and created Katana to keep an eye on them. The memory of 6 months training was fabricated…the more they think about it, they realize that they have no specific memories of training. They probably first really met prepping for the Megatech/HLF incident. The pieces start coming together as the fake Section 10 and the real Section 9 compare information.

Incident 1: Megatech/HLF incident. This group (which they will call Mark 13 until they have a better name) need Prosthetic Bodies. Why? A few weeks later, Section 10 would steal the GOLEM Program, allowing slave control of Ghostless Prosthetic Bodies. With that, one could remote control dozens of blank Prosthetic Bodies from a master. A few master androids could each control dozens of slave units, making an army. Fylfot (whose identity is still not known), contacts the New World Brigade and leaks them the information. Fylfot also supplies them with the Sagawa Cyberbrain and the virus to overload the Geofront’s nuclear reactor.

The HLF were actually doing something one could consider…noble. However, Section 9 reveals that the Mark 13 succeeded in already retrieving almost 3-dozen bodies before their operation was stopped by the HLF. Obviously Mark 13 got Section 10 to investigate and wipe out the HLF group that were committing these actions. Section 10 turned into an assassination squad. Section 9 reveals very little info on Fylfot…except he or she is probably Chinese as some of the hacks were tracked through Chinese satellites.

Incident 2: The Kirishima/Military Cyberbrain Incident. This one is obvious. Mark 13 stumbled across the report and found this golden opportunity to steal a military class cyberbrain. By collecting this, Mark 13 gains access to encryption command keys and military deployment and locations. Even though the information was being altered almost immediately by the JSDF, there is no telling how much damage Mark 13 accomplished before the security holes were filled.

Incident 3: The Golem/Orthus incident. Mark 13 hacks into Sagawa to steal the GOLEM AI. However, Fylfot infiltrates it and attempts to stop it. It also sends the AI rogue. Section 10 is brought it to retrieve it. During that, Fylfot gets desperate and hacks into a think tank nearby to stop the group at all costs.

Orthus seems to have been a plant by Mark 13…a lead up for the Shinjuku incident. By believing Orthus had infiltrated Japan, Section 10 would not suspect and an alternate identity when they clash with Section 9 a week later. This would mean that Mark 13 was aware and most likely planned the Satellite incident weeks, if not months, in advance. This leads us to Shinjuku.

Incident 4: The Shinjuku/Nuclear incident. The satellite. Its location and time was planned. Section 9 moves in but not fast enough. Section 10 steals the warheads before Section 9 could properly mobilize. Mark 13 also hacked a NEST team to retrieve the nukes from Section 10 after the mission was a success. Its doubtful Mark 13 had plans for the group beyond that incident…but now, no one will know.

Something is going down…and it involves fracturing already strained relationships with China. Aramaki knows that Section 10 was not aware of their actions. After a total clean up of their fabricated memories, and a security check on their cyberbrains is finished, throwing Section 10 in jail would be a pointless act. Then Aramaki introduces Vincent Moreno. He enters with a pressed suit and thin black tie. He was hired to be the second member of the Section 10 office in Etorufu. He was not hacked, though, and had been imperative in investigating the purpose of the Section 10 incidents. Since now there is something going down in Etorufu, some budget shifting was accomplished to improve the real Section 10’s status from a two-person office, to a full-fledged Security department based in Bertarve. Section 9 has been involved with the remnants of the Laughing Man incident, including investigating the assassination of Ernst Serano a few months ago.

Kobotai has volunteered to run the new Public Security Section out of Bertarve, knowing perfectly well, when the incident dealing with Mark 13 resolves (one way or another) or when Section 9’s budget is finalized, Section 10 will vanish behind the curtains, never having existed in the first place.

Now Section 10 can exist for real. No point drafting and training outside members…since they have 4 well trained personnel who know how to work together already. However, before anything can go down, Section 9 personnel need to know, for themselves, if these folks are for real.

Togusa wants to give them a chance. Batou thinks it’s a waste of time. Motoko agrees but believes these boys should prove themselves…but Section 9 will not be easy on them.

The training can begin. The group are let loose in a busy area in downtown Newport. They have been given one mission: Track, but not contact, the Major. Greg hacks into the IR system while Sharron impersonates a homeless man. Motoko first hacks into the IR system blanking her presense. Greg leaves his café cover and works to the Bank Motoko enters. Sharron switches his disguise to a business suit and follows her in. Greg hacks into the public records to get the blueprints of the building. He also drops into the sewers, in hopes of hacking into the Banks AI. Sharron looses Motoko in the Bank. He approaches a secretary and manages to discover she had gotten up to the higher levels.

Greg fails to crack the Bank’s AI but manages to open a rear entrance for Ben, who runs up the building. Sharron discovers from the Secretary that Motoko is one the 50th floor. Ben moves there instantly. He picks up her trail and sees her entering a bathroom. Greg, checking the blueprints, knows there is no way out of that room. No one is aware that Kusanagi had altered the public records and removed the presence of a window. Sharron manages to stealth into the hallway and rendezvous with Ben. They sneak into the Men’s bathroom next door. Greg still cannot crack the Bank’s AI. However, two police officers see the open manhole cover and Greg is forced to bolt before he is discovered.

Sharron sneaks over to the women’s washroom, and notices the window…open. Greg tracks back into the IR system and sees Motoko jumping to the roof of the Bank. Ben runs up to intercept her, but she ambushes him as he enters the roof. Within seconds, Ben is out cold. Motoko jumps to the other building and disappears with therm-optics. When Sharron reaches the roof, he finds Ben out. Greg cannot locate her either. They can the other building but find nothing.

They have gone further than anyone else had. They pass the test.

That evening, Section 9 and now the real Section 10 share drinks at a bar, celebrating the training. After this, in the morning, Section 10 will hop on a plane back to Bertarve, where their HQ is located. Kobotai has already left. Now, for the last day in Newport, everyone is drinking hard.

Batou has warmed up to the group more. Motoko remains quiet throughout. Ben enjoys a meal he cannot digest. Some business is discussed. Then a realization washes over Greg as Togusa mentions the investigation in Mark 13…given the recent religious terms spouted out, Mark 13 may refer to the book of Mark…

“…If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.” – Mark 3

“Do you see all these great buildings? Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down…

“… When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.” – Mark 13.

Mark 13 deals with the end of the world…but unlike the other books of the bible that deal with the apocalypse (there are more than a few), Mark 13 deals with how man would destroy himself before God’s hand finishes the job.

This was just the beginning. Mark 13 will reveal itself again…
Last edited by Slipstream on Tue Jan 03, 2006 9:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Gillsing
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Re: Episode 6: Encoded Truth / QR Code

Post by Gillsing »

Slipstream wrote:Incident 2: The Kirishima/Military Cyberbrain Incident. This one is obvious. Mark 13 stumbled across the report and found this golden opportunity to steal a military class cyberbrain.
Stumbled upon a golden opportunity, huh? Kind of makes me wonder if everything has been staged to make it look like an outside group rather than an inside group. You know, making sure that the required resources become availible for an outside group to accomplish things that would ordinarily require someone on the inside, and thus not focus too much attention on the possibility of an inside job. But I'm too lazy to back it up with 'real' data. ;)
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Slipstream
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Post by Slipstream »

Yeah well, there is still more to the mystery to come...
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Slipstream
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Post by Slipstream »

It should be noted that ths name XX is not real. I just forgot the new PC's name. Its Vincent Moreno, an ex European mercenary--skilled in driving and aircraft.
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