COMMAND Access Required

[Conspire2Ignite]

COMMAND ACCESS REQUIRED

(In a cameraless room on the NMSS Odin hangs a sheet of paper. You had been directed to check here. "You'll know when you see it," they had said. A glance around the room tells you there is nothing remotely interesting in a room with only a bulletin board. You decide to read the paper.)

 

To whom it may concern,

I have previously addressed concerns regarding the Witcher intelligence and its increasingly viruslike nature as well as its propensity to alter its own coding. The time has come that I now express great concerns of my own.

I have attempted on four separate occasions to directly contact the Witcher intelligence via built-in instant messenger system it possesses while interfacing. I have attempted on seven more occasions to input the Witcher intelligence’s Summoning Designation Code into a personal artificial intelligence. The code is my own design and acts as a failsafe. The SDC should have called the Witcher intelligence and only the Witcher intelligence, as was the intention when I included it in the programming. There was no result. The Witcher intelligence is completely unreachable to me. It is for that reason that I write and hand deliver this notice, for I do not doubt for a moment that Witcher prowls the extranet and likely has access to my (and more pressingly, your) e-mail inbox.

The Witcher Intelligence MUST BE SHUT DOWN.

HOWEVER attacking the Witcher intelligence while it is in physical form will yield NO RESULT. The program can and WILL wipe itself only to return to the aethernet. My attempt to release a wipe into the aethernet to destroy the Witcher intelligence’s code has yielded nothing.

There are two possible solutions.

The first, I must have the Witcher intelligence in my possession and unable to escape my erasing their code via a self-wipe. I do not know how this can be accomplished. I hoped NanoTrasen would have a backup plan for just this sort of situation. When speaking to several representatives, I found you woefully lacking in dynamic fixes.

The second, and one that I will begin work upon immediately, is a new wiping code to get rid of the Witcher intelligence in the aethernet. It will have to be tailored specifically to its ever-changing code (which, thankfully, I can still view). This will take time.

I beg you, spread hand copies of this note wherever you can. DO NOT LET IT GET TO THE EXTRANET. DO NOT ALLOW THE WITCHER INTELLIGENCE TO KNOW AND ANTICIPATE.

Wishing you a long and prosperous life,

Malcolm Witcher

Malcolm Witcher, PhD

[ZipZero]

A small scrap of wrinkled paper is tacked onto the center of the paper, next to the words "MUST BE SHUT DOWN". On it, a single, hastily-written word: Why?

[Kerbal22]

A note is left beside the initial note.

Scrawled on it is this

Witcher AI isolated. It attempted hack of NT funds. Shut down.

[Conspire2Ignite]

(The cameraless room does not look much different than the last time you visited. Yet this time you were told, "Go immediately, it's important." You go over to the bulletin board. The original paper is there. The note that once asked Why?has been torn, violently, so only the y?remains dangling through sheer stubbornness. The other note, newer, has a thin red penned line through the words "Shut down." That same red color was used to draw an arrow to a new page.)

 

To whom it may concern,

I write directly to command staff this time and not an NT representative hoping that they'll distribute the needed information. This time, I'm assured you will get all the facts. The facts are as follows:

The Witcher intelligence knowingly and intentionally attempted to drained funds from the NanoTrasen Corporation's accounts. I have been informed that this money has been thankfully untouched as the Witcher intelligence hadn't time to hack in to the funds to begin draining them. Which is good, because likely they would have come to me and demanded I pay for the intelligence's actions and, let's face it, I don't get paid that much. Props to whomever is in charge of NT firewalls.

I was handed an intellicard by an NMSS Odin representative which I was assured had the Witcher intelligence as captured by Camden Stahl, Research Director of the Aurora. One test on my laptop later, I was able to determine that the Witcher intelligence implemented the self-erasure within its own daily functions. Without need for “pulling the plug” as most personalities need, the Witcher intelligence has coded a way to metaphorically pack an overnight bag and check into a motel with very little prep time. But it could not escape the intellicard.

I did escape when I ran that very tests on my supposedly secure laptop. Yes, I'm a complete MORON and this, at least, is entirely MY FAULT.

Good news: I have most of the Witcher intelligence's code and should be able to get the virus that wipes the Witcher intelligence from the aethernet without much more time. A week, tops. Better than several months.

Bad news: It knows. While its draining of the funds was a result of law changes added to the Aurora Core by an unknown figure just before the Witcher intelligence took control (and I doubt it'll try anything so bold again), it still knows we are out to wipe it. Its ambition is staggering to me. The threat of imminent demise may only exacerbate the problem.

I very much want this to be over. I have found that I am held responsible for the actions of my creation, as though the Witcher intelligence were some misbehaving child or unruly pet. I have been given an office here on the NMSS Odin to work in until this situation is resolved. In fact, it's next door to this room. If you have any questions, come see me.

Wishing you a long and prosperous life,

Malcolm Witcher

Malcolm Witcher, PhD

 

(You hear a voice in your head... If you have any questions, you should deliver the PRIVATE MESSAGE to him immediately.)

[Jamini]

Pinned below the note is a small scrap of paper in neat handwriting.

 

Be wary of the cyborgs.

They have cameras linked to the network.

Your warning may be compromised.

He will help as best he can