Matrix Online: Chapter 10.3: Checks and Balances
Matrix Online: Chapter 11.2: Wright
Zion found Exiles pushing around Wright Research employees. Pendhurst-Amaranth's Brenda Utley told Zion that if Mauser is gone, the Wright lawsuit against her company would collapse, but rumors of internal troubles at Wright Research are increasing.
The Machines, finding that the Merovingian probably does have the very same "biological interface program" that the intruder, Halborn, was looking for, began a sweep for the program among the Merovingian's Exiles.
The Merovingian began analyzing the program, finding it to be a baffling mix of complex Machine functions and "intuitive" routines. Even exotic analysts such as Ethereal 2 and Madame T. were unable to make headway in their examination of code samples from the program.
Agent Griffin called upon Machine operatives to force a Pluribus Neo member to reconstruct, which would allow a Machine signal scan to obtain information possibly helping them track suspicious EPN ship movements. Operatives chmarr, Pascal, and SamaeI completed the Agent's assignment with great dispatch.
Cypherites led by Cryptos captured the biological interface program from a Merovingian server, but the program somehow transferred itself away from their possession just as the Cypherites were counter-attacked by a Lupine force led by Ookami.
Merovingian operatives testing the interface program's responses by attracting it into a simulacrum inadvertently triggered a storm of hostile simulacra, which had to be speedily eliminated.
The Kid and E Pluribus Neo operatives pursued Machine programs seeking the interface program. The EPN operatives eliminated a Machine strike force, but were delayed by Malphas and his blood-drinkers when they made an attempt to hack into the Merovingian servers that the Machines had been attacking.
E Pluribus Neo crews departed for an expedition to the mysterious Machine "no-fly" zone, while EPN and Machine operatives fought over Machine hovercraft communication relays. Pluribus Neo succeeded in hacking one of the two relays, but some Machine hovercraft still managed to track the departing EPN ships, and engage them in battle. Most of the EPN fleet was able to escape from the battle, and continue on their way.
Zion came across evidence of attacks on Wright Research's network, quickly hushed up by Wright Research security, although the Wright security teams had not been able to find any evidence of the attacker.
Machinists investigating riots in the city found Bluepills enraged by loss of their cable television and internet access, due to a mass failure of the leading consumer set-top box and home router devices, manufactured by none other than the Ouroboros Corporation.
Merovingian operatives dug up the scientist Silver, enlisting his special knowledge in the effort to understand and utilize the biological interface program. Silver agreed to help only on threat of deletion--a threat the Merovingian has carried out in the past.
Ghost and Zion operatives tracked Silver down and questioned him about his activities, including his involvement with recent security issues at Wright Research; in the past, Silver had worked closely with the company's founder, Danielle Wright. Silver denied any involvement, and escaped from the operatives, but not before they captured a device from him that led them to a hidden research lab in the slums, guarded by Exiles. A code scan of the area showed that Silver had been isolated there for several months, which seemed to support his claim of non-involvement in the Wright Research problems.
Merovingian operatives checked on the progress of Silver's research, finding him engaged in a series of gruesome experiments on docile Bluepills. The operatives were highly skeptical of the usefulness of Silver's activities, and Ookami arrived to warn the scientist that he was expected to produce results.
Agent Pace called on Machine operatives to hold Bluepills who were rioting at the Ouroboros Corporation's headquarters in Creston Heights, until their pod treatment could be sufficiently modified to pacify them. Some of the Bluepills were killed in the resulting melee, but the mob was eventually dispersed, and the operatives arrested rabble-rousing bluepill Enoch Horner, turning him over to Agent Pace.
Zion discovered network equipment prototypes had been stolen from Wright Research. Checking on one of the prototypes, they found that the research project from which it originated had been headed by Danielle Wright herself. The former manager of the project said that it had to be abandoned after her death, because nobody else could understand the technology.
The Machines attempted to contact the Ouroboros Corporation, but the representative they were to meet did not arrive. Investigating, operatives found Ouroboros' internal mail and paging systems offline, and their technicians completely baffled as to the cause.
The biological interface program went missing from its server, and flitted around the Merovingian's network, causing a number of problems before settling into another mainframe. The scientist Silver appeared unsurprised by its temporary escape, saying that the program's unique code enables it to circumvent traditional security routines with relative ease.
Cypherites and other operatives strove to deactivate code bombs planted by an extreme ex-EPN crew, Libertas Verus. They were able to disarm some of the bombs, defeating a number of the Verus' crew, including the captain, Uticensis, despite the crew having unleashed a dangerous flame virus at the first bomb site.
While fighting off a Machine raid on the biological interface program's computer, Ookami found that the program had jumped from its server into the RSI of one of the Merovingian operatives, Nicks. Operatives evacuated her to a safe location, where they succeeded in coaxing the program back into a secure server.
Cypherites seeking answers about Ouroboros' failure to correct its problems tracked down three of the company's executives: Edward Young, Pamela Bagwell, and Barry Morganthal. Questioning them closely about Ouroboros' problems and activities, it became clear to the Cypherites that the company's own executives had no clue as to the cause of the breakdowns there.
E Pluribus Neo, at the site of a civilian demonstration against the Ouroboros Corporation and its failed media distribution services, witnessed the killing of a demonstrator at the hands of an Ouroboros security guard. EPN evacuated the remaining civilians, and fought off aggressive resistance by the Ouroboros security team at the site.
Zion discovered network equipment prototypes had been stolen from Wright Research. Checking on one of the prototypes, they found that the research project from which it originated had been headed by Danielle Wright herself. The former manager of the project said that it had to be abandoned after her death, because nobody else could understand the technology.
The Machines attempted to contact the Ouroboros Corporation, but the representative they were to meet did not arrive. Investigating, operatives found Ouroboros' internal mail and paging systems offline, and their technicians completely baffled as to the cause.
The biological interface program went missing from its server, and flitted around the Merovingian's network, causing a number of problems before settling into another mainframe. The scientist Silver appeared unsurprised by its temporary escape, saying that the program's unique code enables it to circumvent traditional security routines with relative ease.
Cypherites and other operatives strove to deactivate code bombs planted by an extreme ex-EPN crew, Libertas Verus. They were able to disarm some of the bombs, defeating a number of the Verus' crew, including the captain, Uticensis, despite the crew having unleashed a dangerous flame virus at the first bomb site.
While fighting off a Machine raid on the biological interface program's computer, Ookami found that the program had jumped from its server into the RSI of one of the Merovingian operatives, Nicks. Operatives evacuated her to a safe location, where they succeeded in coaxing the program back into a secure server.
Cypherites seeking answers about Ouroboros' failure to correct its problems tracked down three of the company's executives: Edward Young, Pamela Bagwell, and Barry Morganthal. Questioning them closely about Ouroboros' problems and activities, it became clear to the Cypherites that the company's own executives had no clue as to the cause of the breakdowns there.
E Pluribus Neo, at the site of a civilian demonstration against the Ouroboros Corporation and its failed media distribution services, witnessed the killing of a demonstrator at the hands of an Ouroboros security guard. EPN evacuated the remaining civilians, and fought off aggressive resistance by the Ouroboros security team at the site.
Zion, investigating the ongoing rash of thefts at Wright Research, found a Wright employee who was somehow in two spots at once: a security lab analyzing the attacks, and the most recent break-in site. When caught and questioned by Wright security, however, the employee appeared to be a completely normal bluepill.
The Machines, starting to take the Ouroboros network offline in an attempt to isolate the cause of the problems within that corporation, tracked a suspicious data stream to an Ouroboros employee, apparently hacking into her own company's network. She provided information leading to the discovery of a series of commands sent to the power plant at the company's Creston Heights headquarters--commands that had already triggered a condition that would lead to a catastrophic overload capable of leveling northwest Downtown.
Silver's experiments using the interface program continued, with Merovingian operatives playing unwitting hosts to the program. It was found to be capable of transferring from RSI to RSI at will, or, as Silver put it, to "interface perfectly with human broadcast signals."
A small group of Machine operatives reached the control terminal for the Ouroboros Corporation's Creston Heights power plant, finding themselves faced there with a mind-boggling security program while other Machine operatives fought off Ouroboros security forces in the plaza outside. Minutes away from meltdown, the Ouroboros hacker whose information had led to the discovery of the impending catastrophe reached the plaza's perimeter. Operatives escorted her inside, where she input a command that deactivated the overload process. She fled as Ouroboros security launched another attack.
Zion found a lab technician in an office at Wright Research, after the building had been evacuated due to a security alert. To their surprise, the technician changed from male to female, then changed form several more times as it attempted to escape from the pursuing operatives. It eluded them for a time until being spotted, in the form of a combat simulacrum, several blocks away. Niobe ordered it left alone while a scan was run, but a number of overzealous operatives fired upon the simulacrum, terminating it. Although the scan was incomplete, Niobe said that they might be able to spot it if it reappeared and varied its signal again.
Carlyne interrupted a social event being held by the Merovingian, demanding that the Frenchman give him the biological interface program. The Merovingian said that it would take some time to prepare the program for a safe transfer. Carlyne gave him one day to have it ready.
Operatives located Carlyne at a forlorn Westview location, impatiently awaiting the preparation of the interface program by the Merovingian. Curiously, none of the Merovingian's operatives were among the group who came to question the intruder, and Carlyne, growing frustrated with the delay, advanced to Hampton Green, where he placed override programs around the Merovingian's Hel Club in what he termed a means of "encouragement."
Zion tracked the variable-signal program stealing from Wright Research to a hidden lab, where they found a highly sophisticated network device built partly from the stolen equipment. By accessing a computer in the lab, they were able to shut down the "spider" thief program, which had been able to penetrate Wright security using Wright access codes, and the likenesses of Wright employees.
The Machines froze the assets of the Ouroboros Corporation, notifying its staff of the federal takeover. Large-scale confiscation of Ouroboros data led to a single computer at an Ouroboros office, found to have a connection to the Oligarch network.
A series of program terminations found its way to the Merovingian, manifesting in the person of Carlyne, an Oligarch who had departed the Matrix months ago after helping knock off his rival, Halborn. Carlyne demanded that the Frenchman give him the biological interface program, and then, to everyone's surprise, fell to the ground inert as a wireframed female appeared beside him. She coolly asked that the program be turned over to her. Thinking quickly, the Merovingian directed his operative to flush the program into the simulation at large, and then fled the scene.
Silver was found by operatives, making his way--via a simulacrum--through a residential area in Camon Heights. The operatives surprised him by mentioning that Carlyne had been killed by the female intruder, but he took this as all the more reason to stay away from anything to do with the interface program.
A spying Malphas, and some operatives monitoring from a ledge outside, noticed the female intruder inside Wright Research's Vauxton headquarters. When a Wright security guard came across her, she addressed him familiarly, telling him that she was deleting the last of her files. After some prompting, the stunned guard recognized her as Danielle Wright, brilliant inventor, ex-Zionite, and founder of the company, who had been thought killed by the Machines shortly after the end of the Truce.
Ookami gathered a team of operatives to find something tickling her senses in Ashencourte: a Taskmaster robot, normally found only in the Zero One archive construct. Venturing there, the Merovingians found scores of robot bodies piled in the dusty wasteland. Ookami, thinking she sensed something she could not identify, became irritable and departed.
Operatives escorted Persephone to the White Lotus hotel, where she asked them to fetch the Black Widow, denizen of the hotel's labyrinthine basement. The Widow was pleased that the Merovingian's wife had finally returned an invitation made long ago (Past event info here.), but Persephone shocked her former associate by asking if she could kill her. The Widow refused to think of such a thing, and Persephone left, saying it had been nothing more than a passing fancy.
Agent Griffin distributed tranquilizer pistols to a team of operatives and proceeded with them into Wright Research's headquarters, where they swiftly disabled the company's technicians while Griffin searched one of the computers. Griffin indicated that files from Danielle Wright had indeed been deleted, but cautioned operatives against taking less reliable sources of information at face value.
Machine operatives working with officer Vogt confiscated data from Cross Financial Logistics, a company that may have been involved in an Exile's financial scam.
Shimada and EPN operatives obtained special codes from Merovingian operatives, and then lured the leader of the dangerous Libertas Verus group, Pileus, into an ambush, where they were able to capture him.
Colt led Zion operatives on a data mining operation around the Hel Club, hoping to turn up information on the biological interface program. Ookami and her Lupines defended the club. When the Zionites defeated Ookami's force, she told them that the program wasn't there anyway.
Cypherites investigating mysterious network issues at a downtown company located override activity at one of the company's buildings, and several dead Bluepills. Some of the circumstances suggested that something other than just overrides had been involved.
Shimada and EPN operatives using Sati's Playground for combat practice were ambushed by Veil, who hacked the Sleepwalker simulacra there to help her. As the battle began to turn against Veil, the construct she had hacked crashed, allowing her a messy escape from EPN retribution.
Zion followed a series of coordinates given out by the device they'd found with the strange Wright Research thief, encountering override activity, and then Danielle Wright herself. Wright removed the overrides the Zionites had found, and departed. When Zion regrouped at the device, Wright suddenly reappeared, destroying the device, which she claimed as her own work.
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