Race to the server by Josefina Runnquist
You have been given the location and adress of the server in the Matrix and seem to have reached it. Before you enter the server node you have to choose which programs you wish to be able to use.
You can only chose two programs to load into your avatar, but there are more than two programs to choose from. The programs that you can choose from are Attack, Defend, Trace and Spoof.
Attack is a given as you might need to tear down firewalls or attack hostile programs but the other choice is less obvious.
If you choose Defend, you will be able to block attacks from hostiles.
If you choose Trace, you will be able to get a glimpse of locations before you enter them.
If you choose Spoof, you will be able to remove all traces you might leave of your presence.
[[Choose Attack and Defend->Loadup Complete 1]]
[[Choose Attack and Trace->Loadup Complete 2]]
[[Choose Attack and Spoof->Loadup Complete 3]]
You enter the server proper and arrive in what looks to be the middle of a courtyard. You stand on a path leading between two areas of carefully rakes sand, forming geometric shapes. There are walls surrounding the courtyard and the path seems to lead to a gate in front of you.
(set: $Programs to 1)
[[Begin walking the path towards the Gate]]
[[Take a look at your surroundings]]You enter the server proper and arrive in what looks to be the middle of a courtyard. You stand on a path leading between two areas of carefully rakes sand, forming geometric shapes. There are walls surrounding the courtyard and the path seems to lead to a gate in front of you.
(set: $Programs to 2)
[[Begin walking the path towards the Gate]]
[[Take a look at your surroundings]]You enter the server proper and arrive in what looks to be the middle of a courtyard. You stand on a path leading between two areas of carefully rakes sand, forming geometric shapes. There are walls surrounding the courtyard and the path seems to lead to a gate in front of you.
(set: $Programs to 3)
[[Begin walking the path towards the Gate]]
[[Take a look at your surroundings]]The path is narrow and you have to walk carefully lest you step on the raked sands. You can of course disturb the sands if you so wish.
[[Go through the gate]]
[[Disturb the sands]]The walls are tall and made from polished wood, here and there you see what looks to be more modern inlays of synthsteel glittering in the sun. The raked sand to the left and right of you forms geometric shapes and your eyes swim for a moment as the shapes twist and turn in front of you. You get the feeling that if you spend a few more moments watching the shapes you might begin to see a pattern.
[[Begin walking the path towards the Gate]]
[[Take a closer look at the shapes]]You look closely at the shapes, at first you see only the same shapes; twisting and turning out of focus. But then you see it! A pattern forms right before your eyes and you commit it to memory.
(set: $Sawpattern to "true")
[[Go through the gate]] You walk through the gate and the path continues on in front of you towards what looks like a Shinto Shrine. The gate closes behind you as you walk through it and you feel that you can not go back that way. The Shrine is made from panels of a light colored wood and has light grey borders and corners. The door to the shrine is open and through the door you can see a statue. The Statue depicts a samurai in full armor with a katana strapped around its waist.
[[Approach the statue]]
[[Look around the shrine]]You walk towards the sands, disturbing the shapes in whatever way you see fit. For a second you almost see a pattern, but it disappears before it even has a chance to form. Dark lines form out from under your feet and soon all of the sand has turned black, like burnt wood.
[[Go through the gate]]
[[Jump in the destroyed sands, gleefully disturbing it further. What can go wrong?]]
You jump around in the blackened, charred, remains of the formerly nicely raked sands. Dust swirls up around you and sand is scattered everywhere. You feel like you have accomplished....nothing
(set: $Destroyer to "true")
[[Go through the gate]] The statue gleams in the light, it looks to be made out of a steel and is polished to a sheen. There looks to be dark green lines running all along the statue, and light travels through them at random intervals. You sense that this is a portal to some other part of the server.
[[Touch the statue]]
(if: $Programs is 2)[[Attempt to see where the statue leads]]You look around the shrine and see that it is mostly empty, except for the statue. There is a faint wind blowing through the shrine and you shiver for a second, in imagined cold.
(if: $Programs is 2)[A faint glimmer catches your attention, you see a small, almost invisible mark on one of the walls. You sense that this is a portal to some other part of the server]
(if: $Sawpattern is "true")[You notice that the wind is dragging in sand through the door and that the particles are slowly forming the patterns that you saw earlier, you sense that the patterns are forming a portal to another part of the server that you could enter if you walked into one of them]
[[Approach the statue]]
(if: $Programs is 2)[[Touch the portal on the wall]]
(if: $Sawpattern is "true")[[Walk into the patterns]]You whirl through the Matrix, connecting to another, hidden part of the server. You appear in what appears to be a study. The walls are made out of thin wooden panels and the borders are painted red. The walls have etchings that depict samurai fighting dragons.
You have barely had time to look at the room further when one of the etchings come to life. A huge samurai walks out of the panel, brandishing a katana and jumps towards you! It seems like this part of the server is guarded! You have no choice but to defend yourself and deal with the threat head on.
[[Attack the guardian]]
You trace the statue and realize that it leads to another part of this same server node. Probably to the part of the server where the information you seek is stored. There seems to be a program set to guard the entrance to this other part, but you feel that if you are just careful you can hopefully avoid attracting it's attention.
[[Touch the statue -> Touch the statue forewarned]](set: $Traced to "true")You touch the portal and are instantly whirled through the Matrix to another part of the server. You arrive in a small room covered in panels depicting business men talking around a long table, the tables are covered in cyberdecks and commlinks.
(unless: $Destroyer is "true")[The room seems to be devoid of anything but the panels and you spend some time looking over each of them in turn. After a while you notice that one of the panels have small etchings that upon closer inspection turn out to be text!]
(if: $Destroyer is "true")[You notice that there does not seem to be anything but the panels in this room, but you realize that you can probably smash the panels. The prospect of permanently destroying things have not stopped you before]
(unless: $Destroyer is "true)[[Walk towards the wall with text]]
(if: $Destroyer is "true")[[It's smashing time!]]You walk into the patterns and are instantly whirled through the Matrix to another part of the server. You arrive in a small room covered in panels depicting business men talking around a long table, the tables are covered in cyberdecks and commlinks.
The room seems to be devoid of anything but the panels and you spend some time looking over each of them in turn. After a while you notice that one of the panels have small etchings that upon closer inspection turn out to be text!
(if: $Programs is 2)[You realize that there is a thin line running across the floor a few steps in front of the wall, walking on the line will probably trigger some form of defense response]
[[Walk towards the wall with text]]
(if: $Programs is 2)[[Walk towards the wall with text, avoiding the line]]The huge samurai runs towards you and you barely have time to think before it is right in front of you. You know that a hit from the guardian will probably be something that you will feel in the physical world.
(if: $Programs is 1)[Luckily you loaded up a defence program, so you can choose to defend yourself against the attack]
[[Guardian manages to hit with an attack]]
(if: $Programs is 1)[[Defend against the attack]]You whirl through the Matrix, connecting to another, hidden part of the server. You appear in what appears to be a study. The walls are made out of thin wooden panels and the borders are painted red. Everywhere you see etchings of samurai fighting dragons.
To your left you can see the etching of a samurai gleaming slightly and a small, barely visible line going from it across the entrance to the room. You gingerly step over it and nothing seems to happen.
Aside from the etchings on the wall there appears to be nothing of note except for a desk and a chair, both carved from a dark wood. On the desk you can see a book lying open.
[[Read the book]]You walk towards the wall and when you are a few steps away you hear a clicking sound and a tall samurai falls out through a gap that opens up in the ceiling. The samurai has a katana in its hand and you hear a static shriek as it runs towards you!
(if: $Programs is 1)[Fortunately you have a defense program loaded and you can defend yourself against the guardian.]
(unless: $Programs is 1)[[Guardian manages to hit you]]
(if: $Programs is 1)[[Defend against the guardian]]You walk towards the wall with text, avoiding the line and avoid having to fight whatever program guards this place.
[[Read the wall with text]]You walk towards one of the panels, intent on smashing it. When you are a few steps away you hear a clicking sound and a tall samurai falls out through a gap that opens up in the ceiling. The samurai has a katana in its hand and you hear a static shriek as it runs towards you!
(if: $Programs is 1)[Fortunately you have a defense program loaded and you can defend yourself against the guardian.]
(unless: $Programs is 1)[[Guardian manages to hit you]]
(if: $Programs is 1)[[Defend against the guardian]]The katana slices through your shoulder and you can feel a searing pain in you head, you will surely feel that when you jack out.
(unless $Destroyer is "true")[Fortunately you are not a complete newbie when it comes to fighting over the Matrix and you manage to defeat the program before it manages to hurt you further. The room seems to be devoid of anything but the panels and you spend some time looking over each of them in turn. Finally you notice that one of the panels have small etchings that upon closer inspection turn out to be text!]
(if: $Destroyer is "true")[The program seems to be particularly malicious and the programs pulls out it's sword and stabs you a second time, this time though your head]
(unless: $Destroyer is "true")[[Read the wall with text]](set: $Hurt to "true")
(if: $Destroyer is "true")[[You black out and are ejected from the server]](unless: $Destroyer is "true")[You activate your defense program and your chosen form of defense activates and blocks the katana. You are not a complete newbie when it comes to fighting over the Matrix and you manage to defeat the program without giving it any further chances to attack.
The room seems to be devoid of anything but the panels and you spend some time looking over each of them in turn. Finally you notice that one of the panels have small etchings that upon closer inspection turn out to be text!]
(if: $Destroyer is "true")[You activate your defensive program but it seems to do nothing and you are unable to block the katana. The katana goes straight through your head and you feel a searing pain before you black out]
(unless: $Destroyer is "true")[[Read the wall with text]]
(if: $Destroyer is "true")[[You black out and are ejected from the server]]You approach the panel so that you can read the text properly and when you have read it you memorize the code.
You feel like you have gotten what you came for, and that it might be time to leave the server. (if: $Programs is 3)[Beacuse you loaded up a spoofing program you know that you can spoof to remove all traces of your presence on the server, making sure you can't easily be traced]
[[Leave the server]]
(if: $Programs is 3)[[Spoof to make sure you can't be traced]]Give the following text to Decker Arr:
OmegaGive the following text to Decker Arr
{
(if: $Hurt is "true")[alfa]
(if: $Spoof is "true")[lambda]
(if: $Tricked is "true")[gamma]
beta
}You erase all traces of your entry into the server
[[Leave the server]](set: $Spoof to "true")
The katana of the samurai slices through your shoulder and you can feel a searing pain in you head, you will surely feel that when you jack out.
(unless: $Destroyer is "true")[Fortunately you are not a complete newbie when it comes to fighting over the Matrix and you manage to defeat the program before it manages to hurt you further.
Aside from the etchings on the wall there appears to be nothing of note in the room except for a desk and a chair, both carved from a dark wood. On the desk you can see a book lying open.]
(if: $Destroyer is "true")[The program seems to be particularly malicious and the programs pulls out it's sword and stabs you a second time, this time though your head]
(unless: $Destroyer is "true")[[Read the book]](set: $Hurt to "true")
(if: $Destroyer is "true")[[You black out and are ejected from the server]](unless: $Destroyer is "true")[You activate your defense program and your chosen form of defense activates and blocks the katana. You are not a complete newbie when it comes to fighting over the Matrix and you manage to defeat the program without giving it any further chances to attack. The room seems to be devoid of anything but the panels and you spend some time looking over each of them in turn. Finally you notice that one of the panels have small etchings that upon closer inspection turn out to be text!]
(if: $Destroyer is "true")[You activate your defensive program but it seems to do nothing and you are unable to block the katana. The katana goes straight through your head and you feel a searing pain before you black out]
(unless: $Destroyer is "true")[[Read the book]]
(if: $Destroyer is "true")[[You black out and are ejected from the server]]You approach the desk and take a closer look at the book lying on the table. You sift through several pages of images of tortured metahumans before chancing upon a page with a code written on it. You memorize the code and close the book. You feel like you have gotten what you came for, and that it might be time to leave the server. (if: $Programs is 3)[Beacuse you loaded up a spoofing program you know that you can spoof to remove all traces of your presence on the server, making sure you can't easily be traced]
(set: $Tricked to "true")
(if: $Programs is 3)[[Spoof to make sure you can't be traced]]
[[Leave the server]]