ReBoot stagger - notes and fragments

[robkelk]

Pulled out of the current Nano-Steps thread...

Time unknown. Date unknown. Location unknown.

I woke up in an alleyway. As alleyways went, this one wasn't too bad - it was clean, and there didn't seem to be any surveillance cameras in the area. Which might just mean I couldn't see them, of course.

Then my bike started shaking. It took me a moment to realize that it was the back pannier that was shaking. I opened it... and Eimi climbed out. Not the laptop computer, but a jumpsuit-clad teenaged girl who looked just like Eimi would if she was human. Well, except for the blue skin. "This is new," she said while looking at her hands.

Then she looked over my shoulder and gasped. I turned around to see an unusual building dominating the skyline - it looked like a cross between an office tower and a hooded cobra ready to strike.

Eimi pulled me down behind the bike. "Doug, we've got to get you some face paint, quickly." Then she added to herself, "This is bad. Very bad."

Eimi's format: Guardian - to mend and defend... Doug. (Her laptop body has become her keytool. Considering it's an IBM laptop, "Watson" would make a good name for it...)

Doug's format: User. Don't let anyone know.

A quick snippet that popped into my head when I read Rob's post up above. Don't know if it's any good, but here it is.
===
I dropped behind the smashed aircar. The CPU's were taking a ferocious beating from the virals. It didn't help that this computer system's only real defender was what looked like a 14 year old kid. They were losing on all fronts, and it was everything I could do to keep pushing them back.
Mouse's idea for a firewall had been a good one, and Eimi had shared a few pointers about how to set it up so that it was self-reinforcing. But she'd taken a few too many hits from the Viral assault, and had been medevacked back to the Principal Office. Leaving me to coordinate the defense, prop up the remaining CPU's, and try to hold the Virals back while their leader made a push on the building behind me.
What sounded like some kind of energy weapon charging up in the distance was all the cue I needed. Diving over the bridge, I caught a reinforcing rod and hung just over the bridge as a massive bolt destroyed what was left of that car. I waited as most of it flew overhead, and down into the depths under the Principal Office. Flipping back up, I straightened my outfit, and waited on the far side of the flaming debris. The CPU's were badly mauled, but if I presented just the right amount of casual moxie, maybe I could make the Virals hang back. But against all the people rushing the bridge, I'd need an edge. ""
As the smoke cleared, I could see their leader. Megabyte looked like something out of a KISS concert. The dark blued-metal body, the evil green death's head icon covering most of his chest, and the metallic red highlights. He had a terminator-esque head, with what looked like an expression of satanic pleasure permanently etched on it. His eyes narrowed as he pointed at me.
"You're very persistent, Sangnoir!"
I grinned, and tossed back, "I'm also better than you!" I stepped through the remaining embers of the wrecked car and casually brushed my jacket, as the light blinked in my helmet visor.
Megabyte just chuckled. It didn't sound very friendly. "I've played that game, Sangnoir. I also won." He raised his arm again, the three claws extending one at a time. "I'm only going to offer you this chance one more time, Sangnoir. Serve me, or die!" Behind him, several Viral cars rose up, leveling rocket launchers, beam cannons, and other various items of mass destruction, while troops around him pointed rocket launchers at me.
I just grinned back, putting as much attitude as I could in the act, while actually hoping I could avoid all that firepower. "Let's ."
The helmet is designed so that competing audio doesn't affect my metagift. I can do this because the earpieces are capable of isolating me from outside sound while the music is playing. This can sometimes leave me unaware of sounds around me. But even the audio protection in my helmet couldn't hide what happened next.
As the first strains of the music poured into me, awakening my gift and creating the first of many metal balls in my hand, the whole system shook. The sky flickered several colors, and with no warning at all, music began to play from the sky above, pouring into the whole System.
I paused as what I'd done just sunk in. I'd just told the System to play my song. And since I was a User, the system did just that.
Megabyte looked around in surprise. The various Viral forces, also shocked by the event spent a few moments staring up at the sky in confusion. Not one to look a gift neohorse in the mouth (don't ask...) I attacked.
Megabyte responded with surprising speed. He smacked one of the balls aside and lunged forward, ignoring the damage the metal spheres were causing in the Viral ranks. Enemy soldiers were knocked around, weapons firing in all directions. Cars were hit and exploded in bright, video-game colors. Other vehicles, knocked off center by the metal madness, fired into the Viral forces, or into the shields protecting the Principal Office. The devastation wrought in the first few moments was impressive, to say the least.
Their leader didn't spare a moment's thought for his troops, however. He charged me, metal claws swiping, Wolverine-style, at me as he closed. I dodged, wove, and flowed around him, waiting for the moments. When I had a clear shot, I struck hard, polykev armored gauntlets smashing into the blue metal body of the Virus.
It was like punching a metal statue. I ducked a return swipe and put some distance between us, shaking my hand out. "Not as much fun as advertised." I'd barely had a moment to register the even before he was on me again. I pulled a metal ball back, but he sliced it into four pieces, and struck me hard as I tried to dodge past him.
The impact hurt, sending me flying back into the debris of that wrecked CPU car. Shaking my head at the sudden dizziness, I was treated to the business end of the claws as he held them just above my face. I almost rolled my eyes at the theatrics, but this really wasn't the time. Besides, Pinball Wizard had some nice defensive options.
Megabyte gave me a really evil grin. "Any last words?"
Before I could deliver the double-fisted can of industrial grade ass-kicking I was prepping, a blast of energy struck Megabyte in the chest, sending him flying back fifteen feet, to land in a sprawl. His claws struck the roadway, drawing sparks as he slid to a stop and surged to his feet, eyes narrow.
Eimi landed in front of me as I stood up slowly. She wore some kind of flight harness, and her 'keytool' device glowed with renewed power. She looked at me and grinned. "Back... And fully charged."

So much for nobody finding out...

In some ReBoot fanfic, there are specific kinds of Virus, based on powers and temperament. Megabyte is a Control Virus: he has powers specialized for brainwashing and seizing control, and corresponding megalomania. Hexadecimal is a Chaos Virus: her powers are vast, diverse, and unpredictable; her moods and thoughts are mercurial, but she helps as much as she harms. I don't like the idea of Doug being a User (judging by what little we learn about them, Users are everything Doug hates about Celestials), but I think it might be appropriate for Doug to look to Mainframe and its residents like a much weaker (and correspondingly saner) Chaos Virus. (I said "look", and not "Doug is a Virus", because my assumption is that Doug's person is invariant in transit: he can't be transformed by a Gate. On the other hand, a biological being doesn't fit into ReBoot's world very well, so Systems have to treat him as if he were a digital entity.)
On the other hand, if Doug isn't a User, there isn't really any reason why he shouldn't be treated as a Guardian himself. Bob (Guardian 452) merged with Glitch by giving it the instruction "Download". Doug and his Keytool were never separate, though he still needs to instruct his Keytool powers.
On the gripping hand, I'm not the one writing it, am I?

That bit about Hex is canon. (Daemon was a Cron Virus, by the way.) The bit about Megabyte isn't canon, but it makes sense.

As for Users being the everything Doug hates about Celestials - we never see an actual User in the entire series. (We see some of their game-sprite avatars, but that's not the same thing.) They might not know what their games do to the binomes and sprites. Celestials are fully aware of the impact of their actions.

Heh. The angle I was going with the snippet really wasn't thought out as in-depth as all that. I was just considering what would happen if a human (User) showed up with what amounts to his own portable computing world with him. I mean, if you assume that inside every computer is a microverse filled with self-aware programs, then inside Doug's helmet is the exact same thing.
So what happens when he gives the helmet an order? the Mainframe system essentially misunderstands the instruction, and assumes Doug is addressing it directly. It's like how Bob can give direct network commands, which he does on a few occasions in the series, because he has a higher level of access rights. (One of the reasons Megabyte tries to recruit him early in the series.)
I wasn't going with the angle that Doug knew it would happen. Instead, he issues an order to his helmet, but because certain people with the right level of access can issue verbal commands to Mainframe itself, when he addresses a "System" command, Mainframe assumes he's addressing it, and it responds appropriately.
Edit: That said, I may look at what I can work out of that. I'd probably write it as a half-hour episode, and see where that takes me. ...

And this only works if Doug's a User.

This bit's new:

"Where are you people from?" asked the one who looked like a toaster with a spindly head.

Eimi stepped on my toes before I could reply. "We come from the multiverse - through systems, peoples, and cities - to this place," she said.

"Mainframe," the green-skinned woman with the glasses volunteered.

"My format: Guardian. To mend and defend - to defend my friend Doug, his hopes and dreams, and to defend him from his enemies."

"Really?"

She grinned at me. "Now that I'm like this, yes."
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[Proginoskes]

OK, Eimi wins hard for quoting the intro voiceover.

And I'll grant that Mainframe's User could just be a clueless chainik, though I insist that whoever he's getting his Games from is actively malicious. The consequences of a User win are so rampantly destructive, I can't imagine that being a normal state of affairs.

Anyway, the real reason I don't really like the idea of Doug as a User is precisely because we know so little about them. I tend to think that beings of that class are restricted to their "alien, unknowable overspace", as (looking for source... ah!) Evil Midnight Lurker put it. Nevertheless, I wouldn't put it past the forum (primarily you and DF) to make it work anyway.

[LynnInDenver]

Anyway, the real reason I don't really like the idea of Doug as a User is precisely because we know so little about them. I tend to think that beings of that class are restricted to their "alien, unknowable overspace", as (looking for source... ah!) Evil Midnight Lurker put it. Nevertheless, I wouldn't put it past the forum (primarily you and DF) to make it work anyway.

There is one level in there that could be used. Stronger than any security program, but not truly a digitized User... his permissions happen to be set as root.
--

"You know how parents tell you everything's going to fine, but you know they're lying to make you feel better? Everything's going to be fine." - The Doctor

[robkelk]

There is one level in there that could be used. Stronger than any security program, but not truly a digitized User... his permissions happen to be set as root.

Also known as "superuser"... or, in Doug's case, "metauser." (His world has the term "metahuman" instead of "superhuman," after all. )
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[Jorlem]

Well, given how heavily Reboot is inspired by Tron, I don't think it would be too much a stretch to draw on that for ideas of what a User could do while inside the computer. Also, Tron himself is likely a legend among the Guardians.
-----
Stand between the Silver Crystal and the Golden Sea.
"Youngsters these days just have no appreciation for the magnificence of the legendary cucumber."  --Krityan Elder, Tales of Vesperia.

[robkelk]

Another snippet...

---

They were roughly triangular, with cartoon-style heads at the middle of the flat edge at the top of their bodies. One was red, the other blue.

"Oh, great," Eimi groaned. "Tweeldedumb and Tweeldedumber."

"Those are not our names!" Whichever one said that, he sounded upset.

"It's bad enough that Megabyte gets our names wrong; you don't need to make it worse!"

"Well, he doesn't actually get our names wrong."

"True. He does know what our names are."

"He just calls us by each other's names."

"And that really annoys me."

"I was just about to say that."

"Well, I did just say that."

"Hey, the funny-looking sprite might be new here."

"So he might not know what our names are?"

"That was what I was thinking, yes."

"Then we had better tell him."

"You start."

"Why do I have to start all the time?"

"All right. I will start." The blue one turned toward me and announced, "I am Slash."

I raised an eyebrow. "You don't really look like him. Is your friend named Axl?"

Eimi facepalmed.
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[Bob Schroeck]

Heh. Either that, or he'll end up calling them Fred and George if this takes place after DW8...
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

[robkelk]

Eimi is present - this has to take place after DW10...
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[robkelk]

And I'll grant that Mainframe's User could just be a clueless chainik, though I insist that whoever he's getting his Games from is actively malicious. The consequences of a User win are so rampantly destructive, I can't imagine that being a normal state of affairs.

I've been re-watching the series...

"The User does what he can to make our lives easier." - Phong, season 2 episode 1.
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[Jorlem]

And I'll grant that Mainframe's User could just be a clueless chainik, though I insist that whoever he's getting his Games from is actively malicious. The consequences of a User win are so rampantly destructive, I can't imagine that being a normal state of affairs.

I've been re-watching the series...

"The User does what he can to make our lives easier." - Phong, season 2 episode 1.

You know how they used to say you are supposed to reboot your computer regularly, for stability reasons? (Haven't heard that in a while, though.) And remember how the entire system is completely restored at the end of the series, when the User reboots the computer?  Yeah.
 
Though, given how sprites are able to travel from system to system via the games, the games are obviously being shared around quite a bit.
-----
Stand between the Silver Crystal and the Golden Sea.
"Youngsters these days just have no appreciation for the magnificence of the legendary cucumber."  --Krityan Elder, Tales of Vesperia.

[Proginoskes]

Yeah, that's major kudos for Mainframe's User: he's clearly hypervigilant about keeping backups. Guess he learned from the destruction of Twin City.

[ECSNorway]

And I'll grant that Mainframe's User could just be a clueless chainik, though I insist that whoever he's getting his Games from is actively malicious. The consequences of a User win are so rampantly destructive, I can't imagine that being a normal state of affairs.

I've been re-watching the series...

"The User does what he can to make our lives easier." - Phong, season 2 episode 1.

You know how they used to say you are supposed to reboot your computer regularly, for stability reasons? (Haven't heard that in a while, though.) And remember how the entire system is completely restored at the end of the series, when the User reboots the computer?  Yeah.
 
Though, given how sprites are able to travel from system to system via the games, the games are obviously being shared around quite a bit.

Clearly, the games are MMORPGs.
--
Sucrose Octanitrate.
Proof positive that with sufficient motivation, you can make anything explode.

[robkelk]

"Megabyte, you magnificent bastard! I read your man page!"
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[robkelk]

And remember how the entire system is completely restored at the end of the series, when the User reboots the computer?

Well, the end of Season 3... Season 4 ends on a cliffhanger.
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[Norgarth]

And I'll grant that Mainframe's User could just be a clueless chainik, though I insist that whoever he's getting his Games from is actively malicious. The consequences of a User win are so rampantly destructive, I can't imagine that being a normal state of affairs.

I've been re-watching the series...

"The User does what he can to make our lives easier." - Phong, season 2 episode 1.

You know how they used to say you are supposed to reboot your computer regularly, for stability reasons? (Haven't heard that in a while, though.) And remember how the entire system is completely restored at the end of the series, when the User reboots the computer?  Yeah.
 
Though, given how sprites are able to travel from system to system via the games, the games are obviously being shared around quite a bit.

Perhaps they are online games.
  
___________________________
"I've always wanted to be somebody, but I should have been more specific." - George Carlin

[Jorlem]

And remember how the entire system is completely restored at the end of the series, when the User reboots the computer?

Well, the end of Season 3... Season 4 ends on a cliffhanger.

Wait...  I thought the series ended with that system reboot... 
There was more?  Where can I find this?
-----
Stand between the Silver Crystal and the Golden Sea.
"Youngsters these days just have no appreciation for the magnificence of the legendary cucumber."  --Krityan Elder, Tales of Vesperia.

[robkelk]

And remember how the entire system is completely restored at the end of the series, when the User reboots the computer?

Well, the end of Season 3... Season 4 ends on a cliffhanger.

Wait...  I thought the series ended with that system reboot... 
There was more?  Where can I find this?

http://www.shoutfactorystore.com/prod.aspx?pfid=5257354]Here, or at any decent DVD shop in North America.

(Edit: The collection is now sold out, but the two 2-season packs are still available http://www.shoutfactory.com/?q=node/176036]here and http://www.shoutfactory.com/?q=node/175079]here.)

Season 4 has two arcs, although it's obvious there was supposed to be at least one more. You may recall a throwaway reference to "Daemon" when Matrix and Turbo met in Season 3 - the first arc is all about that particular virus. (Daemon is scary, in a way that Megabyte could never match.) The second arc is... oh, but that would be telling.
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[robkelk]

I just sent this bit to Ian...

---

If I didn't already know this world was unusual from Eimi climbing out of my luggage, the appearance of two youngsters at the mouth of the alleyway would have tipped me off. The boy - who had green skin - was wearing what looked to be some sort of uniform, and seemed to be getting into some sort of attack stance. The girl - who had orange skin and pointed ears - was looking at us in awe.

(Which worried me slightly. After a century, even I could figure out that the women I met liked me more often than the statistical average... but she was a pre-teen girl.)

The boy opened his mouth to say something, noticed how she was reacting, then turned to her and asked, "What *is* it with you and bikes, Andrea?"

(That's different. I stopped worrying so much.)

---

Yes, I know I misspelled AndrAIa's name. See the "Fox/Fawkes" bit in the Harry Potter step for why.
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[Proginoskes]

Interestingly, Young AndrAIa's VA was Andrea Libman.
So Doug and Eimi are meddling in the Web War, are they? Excellent.
Incidentally, I've decided that because Doug carries his homeline's rules wherever he goes, his best fit for program type is emulator, or possibly compatibility layer. He is, of course, running with root permissions (or whatever the DOS/Windows equivalent is).

[robkelk]

Doug is very good at computer security... from the outside. Let's see how well he does at fighting malware from the inside...
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[Bob Schroeck]

He'll just punch it in the face until it goes down.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

[Proginoskes]

I imagine headshot KOs might be easier if the creature is all head the way Web Creatures are. (They're basically giant malevolent flying cephalopods.)

I don't know how Doug's Field interacts with mental attacks, but I had the image of Daemon attempting to infect and compel Doug… and her commands being warped into nonsensical compulsions like speaking exclusively in Pig Latin, or doing the Time Warp.

On an unrelated note, I don't get the "Slash and Axl" reference. Elucidate?

[Inquisitive Raven]

Quick elucidation. Are you really surprised that that it has something to do with music? Also, according to that Wikipedia article, Slash is no longer with the band, but considering when Doug left his homeline, that might not have been the case at the time.

[robkelk]

Quick elucidation. Are you really surprised that that it has something to do with music? Also, according to that Wikipedia article, Slash is no longer with the band, but considering when Doug left his homeline, that might not have been the case at the time.

Slash left G'n'R in 1996... but his guitar riff on the G'n'R song "Sweet Child of Mine" is legendary. Thus, he'll always be associated with the group, just like McCartney will always be a Beatle.
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[Bob Schroeck]

I don't know how Doug's Field interacts with mental attacks

Exactly as it works with everything else; the original Heightened Defense power doesn't care about the origin of the incoming attack, it just applies a minus to hit to it.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.