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The Not-Too Distant Future Next Sunday One of the admins of InfiniNet has died. John Rutherford, better known as JonTheBon online, was the admin of the ToonTown RP worlds, which were a nicely non-specific cartoon-themed world where younger members of the community can engage in fun activities and such. There was an in-world funeral for him and his character, as such communities are wont to do. Attendance was high. You don't have the luxury of attending funerals, real or pretend. You have the job of cleaning out his account. An admin account is like diamonds to a hacker, and any moment that it remains unguarded is a moment that it can be taken and exploited. The admins have access to core functions on the server that, if changed, could be catastrophic. Thankfully, the admin of a child's play server doesn't have much they can do that would be truly disastrous, but it's better to be safe than sorry.  The house in front of you represents his personal account and secure files. It's on a spooky hillside, with thunder rolling and rain pounding. It's probably heard of pathetic fallacy. You're all rendered in the classic cartoon style - you'd be great hanging out with Steamboat Willy. There's a job to be done. Get to it. --- OOC thread. Please add your character sheets to the first post so we can have an overview of who's who!
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Aug 31, 2015 21:51
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| # ? Apr 25, 2024 21:10 |
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Mister Genesis (real name: Lawford Grey Helms III) --------------Avatar---------------------------------IRL   Mister Genesis was a shadow, barely visible through the monochrome rain. His suit rippled as each drop of inky water joined with it, and his crisp shirt crackled with blinding lightning. His briefcase was a drab slab of stone, taken from the walk beneath his semi-liquid oxfords, and his umbrella a thundery stormcloud, as smokey as the sky. He wasn't there for security purposes; that wasn't his forte, but InfiniNet remembered it's loyal employees and the customers who loved them. Once scrubbed of anything sensitive or private, this bit of digital real estate would be turned into a memorial, and yet another attraction for ToonTown. Lawford had fond memories of sneaking off from lessons onto the then primitive InfiniNet to explore the this wacky Zone, and remembered JonTheBon as a highlight. Hopefully, Lawford thought, he could do the man some justice here. Mister Genesis opened his newspaper. Best to check for unauthorized access now then find out too late. fool_of_sound posted:Skills: Data Search/Processing, Firewalls/Encryption, AR Construction/Editting, Health and Exercise, Super-Rich (the first two are flavored as being conducted by minor 'summoned' autonomous programs, rather than with Lawford's own skill; this may affect their use when appropriate)
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Aug 31, 2015 23:03
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null-hawk "Alright guys, I haven't heard anything on the wire about an attack on this house, but you all know that doesn't mean much. Admin on a system even as pitiful as this could mean access to other critical systems, so we need to get in and out quick. Lets do it." Walking up to the front door, null-hawk pulls out a pouch, and unrolls a set of fine locksmith tools. "Lets get to cracking, anybody have anything that could help with this decryption?" Using my trick: Gaining Entry to attempt to open the door.
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Sep 1, 2015 04:22
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Mister Genesis (real name: Lawford Grey Helms III) --------------Avatar---------------------------------IRL "Yessi- sure. I'll get a a bot on it," Mister Genesis said with a bit of a start. It wasn't the environment, which would hardly be spooky even to a kid, but acting like a hacker always made him a bit nervous. The invisible man waved and invisible hand in the general direction of the wall, and the wood began to crack as splinter just a bit, as a tiny manikin of spiky wood and splinters pried itself from the wall. It stalked over to null-hawk, extending long, needle-like fingers into the lock as decryption scripts on Lawford's high end machine began their work. Assist null-hawk with Decryption: 1d6 1 (Mustache Ride: tricks cost an action point, which you may not want to spend just yet. You probably just want to roll Infiltration with my Decryption assistance. My assistance isn't helping, but whatever.)
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Sep 1, 2015 04:36
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null-hawk "Right, that helps a lot. Lets see if I can finish this job with some skilled hands rather than some brute force. " Walking up to the front door, null-hawk pulls out a pouch, and unrolls a set of fine locksmith tools. Whoops, got it. Lets forget the trick then and just use Infiltrate: 1d6 6 Nice! As the door quietly opens from null-hawk's deft fingers, he quickly slips his hand inside and unhooks the alarm tripwire cartoon string that he knows would be there. "Can't let anyone know we're coming, now can we", null-hawk seems to smile at the others beneath his hoodie as he shows them the eccentric red string in this otherwise dull grey world.
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Sep 1, 2015 07:11
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cloudseven "ooh, well done," whispers cloudseven, peering over null-hawk's shoulder. She glances across the hallway beyond, appreciating the cell-shaded lightning flashes. It's been a long time since she visited ToonTown, since she's not eight years old, but JonTheBon was well known for his dedication to the whole cartoon aesthetic. Her own avatar showed up covered in polka-dots, and the extra arms got turned into white gloves on springs -- John's theming software continuing his work. "poor guy," she says to no one in particular. "all right, let's see what we've got in here." cloudseven pokes her head through the doorway, taking a quick scan of the room beyond. Investigate the front room: 1d6 5 quote:Mary Levant, a.k.a. cloudseven
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Sep 1, 2015 19:35
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Mr. Genesis' Newspaper reveals the access logs with no trouble. They instantly reveal something unusual - whilst JonTheBon maintained a bi-weekly log-on routine to stay up-to-date on things, the frequency of his log-ons increased to almost twice or three times a day last month. There's also been a considerable number of files downloaded, edited in and moved from his personal workspace. The change notes are confusing without context - you will have to probe a bit further or ask your allies for their findings. Thankfully, there's been no unauthorized access in recent years., so that concern is out of the way. null-hawk enters the house without any trouble! The door leads directly into the living room, a digital representation of his front page and general info. It sticks with the haunted cartoon house aesthetic - the sofas look battered, the television is straight from 1954 and the log fire that shows whether or not he would be online lies unlit. There's also a skeleton in the corner, but it's just a dumb AI that runs a few lines of code. Probably a cheap interactive thing for the children. cloudseven notices that there's a bookshelf in here - public documents JonTheBon had up to share to other admins. Usually these would be ban logs and communications that weren't personal or private. The shelf is in complete disarray, however, and there's a lot of empty spaces where there shouldn't be.
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Sep 2, 2015 11:44
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Mister Genesis (real name: Lawford Grey Helms III) --------------Avatar---------------------------------IRL "Hmm..." Mister Genesis said to nobody in particular, his watery suit beginning to shift into tattered cloth and splinted wood, trimmed with tarnished metal, "It's probably nothing, but does anyone know how Jon died? it wasn't sudden, or anything, right?" (Mustache Ride: when you roll a Success with Bonus, you get to define the bonus that you get within reason. Maybe something like 'I got in and broke his encryption scheme, so I get Advantage on any other rolls to break his security.') fool of sound fucked around with this message at 17:01 on Sep 2, 2015 |
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Sep 2, 2015 15:34
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SilverHat "I don't recall the cause of death was every mentioned" Silverhat says with a slight yawn. They notice the mess of the bookshelf and decides to nudge their way to it. "Well this is strange, isn't it?" I'm going to use Street Hacker to see if I can determine the missing files 1d6 1 ...apparently not.
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Sep 2, 2015 21:27
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null-hawk "Hmm, cause of death, cause of death, lesse if its in my notes somewhere..." null-hawk pull out a large leatherbound book out of a suspiciously small pocket and whips out a cartoonishly large feather pen as he starts flipping pages and looking at the strange writing on the pages. Research: 1d6 5 "Ah yes, here's the entry I have for him..., John Rutherford, aka JonTheBon. Admin of ToonTown since .5AR. A reliable admin in a fairly kid friendly area of InfiniNet. Hmm, most of this is general background stuff. Ah, here it is. Death." I thought the "not tripping the alarm" was my bonus? Is it a mechanical bonus, or can it be narrative as well?
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Sep 3, 2015 20:32
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Mustache Ride posted:I thought the "not tripping the alarm" was my bonus? Is it a mechanical bonus, or can it be narrative as well? Oh, I thought that was just part of getting in. But yeah, it can be narrative.
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Sep 3, 2015 20:34
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cloudseven "yeah, the really weird part is, he's an admin, he'd know not to leave his stuff all messed up like this," she replies to SilverHat, poking at the skeleton uncertainly. "uh, are we sure we're the first ones to get in here?"
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Sep 3, 2015 20:57
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Mister Genesis --------------Avatar---------------------------------IRL "I'm not showing unauthorized access, but there was a big jump in activity starting about a month ago. That's what's worrying me."
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Sep 4, 2015 00:59
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null-hawk finds that Jon's cause of death was a stress-induced heart attack. There's a clipping from the local newspaper, using pretty much every cliche line. He left behind a wife and daughter. Unfortunately, Silverhat can't seem to trace exactly what the missing files are. You know stuff's missing, and judging by the surrounding content, it's all innocuous stuff. Nothing seems incriminating. Furthermore, the basic access logs don't give enough detail about what's there. It's not a dead-end - you might be able to figure out where they've gone if you put some work in. Silverhat has received a Flaw in their information - they can't tell what the missing files are, and doesn't think they might be noteworthy. When dealing with the information, they have Disadvantage. Alternatively, they may use the Flaw to recieve a Twist, but gain an Action Point from it. The skeleton's basic code comes triggers, and it makes a spooky laugh at cloudseven. So spooky.
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Sep 4, 2015 11:27
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SilverHat "Bah!" Quinn exclaims while slamming a fist on their desk. The eye in the cent of Silverhat becomes noticeably annoyed. Yeah I think I'll take the twist in favor of an action point.
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Sep 5, 2015 13:56
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null-hawk "So stress related death, missing files, and increased activity leading up to his death. What do you think the odds of him being compromised or blackmailed are?" null-hawk pulls out his book again and sees if he can get the local system files. "Why don't we try to access the node logs and find out the metadata for the files that were took, filenames, creation dates, anything that can help us figure out what it was?"
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Sep 8, 2015 00:25
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Mister Genesis --------------Avatar---------------------------------IRL "It... it could just be a coincidence too, right? I mean, unhealthy people do just have heart attacks, after all... Anyway, we're going to have to go deeper if you want more in-depth info. My script can't pull it from here. Let me see if I can get us a map. Mapping the Area (AR Architecture): 1d6 1
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Sep 8, 2015 00:57
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Mr Genesis' map pulls up a map of the house. It's pretty simplistic - upstairs is a Master Bedroom, which appears to be a way to lo into the deactivated account from here. There's a library, which is the personal file storage of Jon in more detail, and the Basement represents the connection to the user server Jon's info is stored on. However, as your programs map the area, they alert you to the fact that there's extra protection on the account - nonstandard, from the look of the glowing red doors that slam shut as they try to access the library. Maybe Jon added it himself? You're not familiar with the program, but maybe you know who does... Flaw! You didn't anticipate the extra security, and will be at Disadvantage when attempting to access those areas. The skeleton keeps laughing, and suddenly gets up from the chair it lounges in and shambles towards SilverHat's avatar. It's not supposed to do that, right?
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Sep 8, 2015 15:53
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SilverHat Ahh Spooky Skeleton. So I have an extra action point from earlier right? I think it's time to use my trick "Machine Puppeteer" then since I was planning on seeing if this skeleton AI may know something. You don't have to roll for tricks right? The eye-like ball of SilverHat contorts into a puzzled express at the laughing skeleton. They raise a finger and ask dryly "You know what's really funny?" Thin strings attach to the skeleton. Originally I was going to have SilverHat use the logs of skeleton AI to see who else has been here before us, and that could still happen, but first we should stop it.
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Sep 9, 2015 16:48
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The skeleton is halted. It's not a very good AI, but it does have some logs that show who triggered it! And there's not just Jon's name here - there's three other users in recent times. There's RaphAel34, a name that cloudseven might find familiar from various bannings of Lightworks members. Was he ever trouble for you before? There's Red Admiral, whom D-W might easily identify as a member of the Butterfly Brigade. Why is it surprising to his their name here? And finally, there's a name Lawford recognizes. Who is it, and what did they last do to get one up on you? And what the hell did they all do in Jon's house? Planning to change scenes soon based on your answers.
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Sep 11, 2015 16:33
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couldseven Oh, that guy. "hey, i remember that RaphAel dude. he... yeah, his handle keeps popping up -- when lightworks knocks a server over, we'll look at the logs from a few days before and there he is. suspicious logon times, high cpu loads, etc. i'm guessing his job is to case places ahead of time, check out the ice, install backdoors, that sort of thing. but he keeps his hands clean, so nothing ever sticks." That means LW are probably intending to hit Jon's account -- or they already have. Why would they be interested in this poor guy? Did they know we'd be here? Creepy. "i vote we check out the upstairs. maybe null-hawk can get us into jon's account?"
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Sep 11, 2015 17:31
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Mister Genesis --------------Avatar---------------------------------IRL "KnotABot? I... I think I remember that name. I worked with him when I was interning with CityTech, I think his name was David... something -owitz. I'm pretty sure he was leaking proprietary code, and tried to blame it on the other interns and I. He was in hot water when I left; I wonder if he ever got fired."
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Sep 11, 2015 18:24
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SilverHat "Huh? It can't be the same..." Quinn whispers to themself when seeing "The Red Admiral" on the list. The last time they saw that name was 5 years ago. They were helping the Butterfly Brigade with a money laundering scheme but Red and few others decided to take it all for themselves then disappear. Quinn heard rumors that Red went to Singapore, but also heard she were dead after messing with the wrong people. Silverhat let out a bit of a chuckle. "Well, it seems we all have friends involved, doesn't it?"
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Sep 13, 2015 16:35
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cloudseven's exploration upstairs reveals a few rooms of note. The library is locked, but the master bedroom - Jon's central account details - is open. There's also a bathroom, but that doesn't do anything except have a ghost pop out of the sink. On closer inspection, the red door protecting the library isn't as impenetrable as it appears, and someone could probably make a good attempt at opening it. The master bedroom has something more waiting for you. When you enter, you find a text file, dated the day before Jon's death. Opening it, it reads as follows: lastwords.txt posted:dont have much time That's a pretty unusual catchphrase at the end, there. When did you last read it, null-hawk?
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Sep 13, 2015 23:22
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null-hawk "Don't trust Mickey Mouse? Why does that sound familiar...?" Pulling out his notebook again, hawk flips through page after page, looking back. "Ah, here we go. Looks like Mickey Mouse was the name of an advanced piece of malware that was almost able to pass the turing test. Near AI quality intelligence. It was supposed to be able to take over a cluster, back when those things were more plentiful, and use that processing power to infect others. I think it was designed by some grad kid who wanted to make an AI. Why would it be here though? That was a few decades or more ago." Walking over to the red door, null-hawk knocks on it. The door seems to shudder as he does so. "Wow, this might be above my skill level at cracking, but I can give it a go, I guess" Infiltrate: 1d6 2
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Sep 14, 2015 00:25
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null-hawk's attempt to open the door goes well... up until the final moments. The door breaks down, but you trip a security line and a red line flashes of to a distant remote server. You have access, but you don't have a lot of time before whoever is at the other end comes back...
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Sep 16, 2015 13:26
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cloudseven Oh, dang! Mary sighs and rubs her forehead; this is going to be a messy operation. "welp, i was worried this was gonna be too boring. taking bets that they're just coming to bring us cake and tell us we did a good job? anybody?" Nothing for it but to move quickly and get out fast. ...not exactly her strong point. cloudseven wanders back and froth around the library, while Mary exasperatedly squints at the cryptic file names on the spines of the books and tries to identify anything useful or out-of-place. Search: 1d6 1
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Sep 17, 2015 03:59
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| # ? Apr 25, 2024 21:10 |
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cloudseven manages to find a few useful-looking files that seem... unusual for someone running a fun cartoon sever. Things about AI research, history of various corporations, and what appears to be an encyrpted transaction log. But you don't know much about Ai research beyond what's in video games! Someone from your clan might know more - if you've grabbed enough information, that is. The clock's against you, and you've grabbed anything that looks suspicious without much checking. Flaw - your information is numerous but will need some sifting to find anything relevant.
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Sep 21, 2015 09:29
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