Will_GM: --------------- Game Start ------------------- Will_GM: Ed, we'll begin with you. Edward: 'k. Will_GM: It has been about a week since the events with Grace; it is now about October 24th, a week before Hallowe'en. Ed, you've been tinkering with the Identity Analyzer for a bit now. Ellis: Yeah, I'd like a reminder of where we were... or was it just indoctrinating the new folk? Will_GM: Last game, we ran cleanup for the final stages of the events with Grace -- though Jack still owes Elena a writeup of events and a mission to check out Dawn. We also inducted Kata. Jack: GM: Did you get Jack's Halloween column for the City Paper? Will_GM: Yep. Jack: *nod* Edward: Not to mention chatting with Fulmeniel and whoever wrote the program on a regular basis discussing design theory and analysis methods. Will_GM: The program, you find out, was created (as are most Lightning projects) by a fairly large research team. The angel heading it was a fairly old Servitor of Lightning, a Mercurian (these angels being the experts in relationships and social nuances) under an angel named Orc. Will_GM: Ed, you have a few options on how you want to run the Analyzer. In its most passive mode, it will only analyze the files available in the University databases you hand it. In a slightly more expansive mode, it will make VPN contact with Lightning databases and compare its findings with information there, transactions being logged. A further option is to allow it to run unencrypted Internet searches and correlate findings. Edward: *nod* Will_GM: You can also choose where to set the threshold number of flags for the suspect report, though all totals will be logged. Will_GM: Recommended level is about 4 -- up to you, though. Will_GM: What's your choice? Fearless: ironically, I recognize the name Orc from one of the regular IN guides I managed to read; someone from work has IN (not GURPS: IN) manuals I managed to snag Will_GM: Fearless: Same guy. Edward runs it against the system logs and those parts of the student database that are publically available as well as his own files. Ignore treshold, simply sort by flag scoring. Edward: That's where will got it from, Ars. Fearless: yeah... just saying its ironic that I actually recognized it. Edward: Anything above the reccomended treshold, compare to lightning databases. Will_GM: 2 3d6 Dicesuke throws the bones for Will_GM (2 3d6) and gets 8 11. Will_GM: You successfully figure out how to get this result format. Will_GM: One second, allow me to edit the report and toss it to my site... Edward , while it runs, also runs ltrace/strace just in case. Will_GM: You'll have to tell me OOCly what those do. :^) Edward: ltrace when run on a program traces library calls the binary makes to existing library functions (think DLLs). strace does the same for system calls directly to the kernel. Will_GM: Hmmm. Edward: Just checking it doesn't have any setuid calls or leaves anything of itself behind in main memory. Will_GM: Oh. No. Nothing gets installed. Will_GM: The output is at http://earl.of.sandwich.net/AnalyzerSummary.txt Will_GM: (On the assumption that Shad will eventually involve the rest of you in the various threads this is to lead to, everyone may feel free to peruse the report. I'll give everyone a while.) Ellis: "Possible ... demonic, Hellsworn" Oh, gee. ;) Will_GM: :^) Edward reads the report, does a recheck of the Hitch Hiker's Guide to Celestials to look up the terms as far as he didn't recognize them, smirks at the top entry. Ellis: BTW: Age is 36 on mine. Will_GM: Thanks. I'll add that to the saved copy. Jack: suspect #6 has all the indications of a new drug dealer Fearless: yup Jack: GM: very cool Fearless: I'd like to look into suspect #3 sometime, though... "Metaphysical Disturbance at time of arrest"? Edward: Will: I take it Fulmes has a PGP key? Will_GM: Yes... and he wouldn't like being called that. ;^) Edward: Probably not, no, but Ed has serious problems not mentally referring to him as that. Edward: Verbally he'll stick with Fulmeniel or (what was his Role's name again?), of course. Will_GM: If you asked, he'd sing o/~ He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword o/~ and explain that "the swift stroke of God's lightning" is roughly a translation of his name. Will_GM: Role: Walter Munroe. Edward: Heh. Fearless: that first one is definitely way off. ;) Fearless: or is it? ;) Edward takes the results, tacks "Not demonic unless he can walk through a Tether of Stone without anyone present noticing he's a bad guy -- Ed" to Ellis' entry, PGP encrypts the message and mails it off to Fulmeniel. Edward: I'm assuming terminology and basic description for Tethers is in the stuff Ed had access to? If not, s/Tether/'home base'/ Will_GM: No problem there. Ellis: Fearless: Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaybe... ;) Will_GM: You get an automated reply: Fulmeniel is unavailable for some time on mission. Please note, since you know this PGP key, that his Role is on vacation and all accounts are being handled by (other, mundane computer store). If urgent, dispatch message to higher authorities. *BA* I'd hate to see what that prog would say about BA ;) --> BA Datum1: Missing Datum2: Missing Datum3: Missing.... *BA* :) Edward: higher authorities in this case would be--? Will_GM: You don't know. Oops. :^) Fearless oocly notices that subject 7 is "Lambda Beta Kappa", while the othe frat boys are "Kappa Beta Lambda"... Katalina: uhoh ;) Fearless: intentional, or? Edward stares at the monitor for a bit, drumming his fingers. Will_GM: Fearless: Not a typo. Beyond that, I say nutting. You figure it out. :^) Fearless: that's me job. ;) BA: Don't let BA see this. ;) Edward: Hmm. When in doubt, talk to a priest. Fearless: oh, I'd hate to see how BA and Fearless would show on this report. ;) Fearless: esp. BA. ;) Edward checks the rosters/schedules to see where Ellis can normally be found at this time. BA: Data1: Missing Data2: Missing Data3: Missing, etc ;) Ellis: What time is it? Will_GM: It being about 3pm when you get the email back, Ellis is between classes in Dunst Gym. Ellis: Okee. Edward: 'k. *** Will_GM has set the topic on channel #gurps to Hallowe'en in Philly and the Devil's Out to Play Katalina: hehe Fearless: uh-oh Katalina: sounds like fun!!! >:) Jack: Philly will kick the Devil's *ss Edward clears his monitor and stores the program's output in PGP-encrypted format on his comp, then goes "out for a quick break, I'll be back in half an hour or less" and heads to the Gym. BA is out bowling Ellis is probably sitting on the bleachers with a towel around his shoulders. BA: Not a clue Edward walks up to Ellis. "Hey, Greg. 's up?" Ellis looks up. "Hi, Ed. Nothing immediately, though I have a class in..." *checks watch* "an hour or so. How are you?" Edward: "Not too bad... I manage to sleep at nights again. Say, I need some moral guidance on something and you're pretty much the closest thing to a priest that I can discuss this with... Got a couple minutes? I'll buy you lunch." Ellis looks slightly chagrined, then nods. "Sure. Lemme throw on some clean sweats, first." Ellis does so, quickly, and heads out to Nearby Campus Eatery Place Will_GM: Oldest student Union in the nation. :^) Fearless: I thought Harvard had that? Or did they rebuild at some point Edward orders a capucchino for himself. Edward: (and whatever Ellis wants) Will_GM: ---paste--- Will_GM: The Penn campus includes many notable landmarks, including Houston Hall, the nation's first student union; Will_GM: ---paste--- Will_GM: Anyway. Ellis gets a Jones soda and some munchable things. Mmm, vague munchable things. Fearless: Is it crunchy? Is it scrumptuously munchable? Edward sips his coffee and waits for Ellis to dig in a bit... BA: "Bless us and splash us! FOOD for my precious!" Ellis: No, it's *vaguely* munchable. Don't you pay attention? ;) BA: :) Ellis eats some stuff, takes a couple drinks, and looks inquiringly at Ed. Edward: "Anyways. I've been talking to an associate -- The one the guys at the 'Works referred me to, remember?" Ellis: "Right. The person who could help you with artifacts and whatnot." Edward nods. Edward: "He's also got this... 'virus' scanner he and his co-workers are testing, and he asked me to give it a try here..." Ellis nods Will_GM gets out the popcorn, munches a handful and eyes Edward. Edward: "It's pretty sophisticated, actually. I won't go into the details, but it's impressive. Anyways, I ran it over some of the public files to give it a test run, and it came back with a couple of hits." Ellis frowns. "I thought virus scanning software just checked computers for problems." Edward looks at Ellis. "Well, when I say 'virus'..." Ellis thinks for a second, visibly Gets It. "Ah." Edward glances at the surroundings from the corners of his eyes. Ellis: "So... you found something interesting?" Will_GM: Ed: no one seems to be paying attention. There is, of course, plenty of traffic on a fall afternoon in the student union. Edward: Actually, the glancing was more to hint at Ellis than to see if anyone's listening in. Edward: "You could say that. At least one of 'em is a false positive, though, but a couple others look accurate and could be trouble." Ellis: *nod* Edward: "Prob is, Walt is out of town, and I'm not entirely sure what to do with this..." Ellis: "None of the... folk at the Works can help?" Ellis: "Or do you want to just leave them out of it?" Edward: "They could, but that's more or less the moral issue." Ellis nods Ellis: "Sorry. I assumed that when you meant 'virus', you meant something that they'd have to deal with..." Edward: "There's rules about computerised information and what I may and may not do with it. Some of those are in my contract, others are self-imposed, but both types bind me equally strongly, and I'm skating the edge of that envelope as is..." Edward: "They may have to, yeah. If it's accurate." Ellis: "But you don't know that yet, and you can't involve the authorities on a nonissue. I see." Edward nods. "Plus, it might be a far more.. mundane.. issue in the first place." Ellis: "Right." Ellis rests his elbows on the table and thinks Ellis: "You say you know this information isn't infallible... that you've already recieved a false positive?" Edward nods again. "Yeah, a pretty blatant one, although the only reason I know it's false is because I know something the program didn't" Ellis: "Heh, all right." Edward smirks. "In fact, the false positive that I'm aware of came from your system, funnily enough." Ellis: *blink* "Huh?" Ellis acquires food, brb Will_GM: In fact, Ellis acquires food ICly, as his order rings up. He goes to pick it up. Just at this time, Nicole rolls up. "Hi guys." Will_GM: (Ed, she's at the table.) Edward waves at Nicole. "Heya 'cole. How's life?" Will_GM: "Keeps on rollin'. You guys having a snack? Or..." she looks around. "...other stuff?" Ellis: b Will_GM: Elllis returns from the counter with order. Edward: "*deadpan* Yes." Will_GM: Nicole's eyebrows go up, and she scoots in a little closer. Edward grins. "I'd say pick up a seat but you're sitting already. Can I get you anything?" Ellis: "Hi, Nicole. Share the munchies." Will_GM: "I'll mooch off Ellis, if he doesn't mind." *grabs a munchy* Ellis: "You're welcome." Ellis makes an inquiring face in Ed's direction Edward fills in Nicole on what was discussed so far. "... So I'm sort of wondering how to proceed from here." Will_GM: Nicole munches thoughtfully. Ellis shakes his head. "I don't see how we could go to a temporal authority with this information. I think it would be best to observe any information you found that's possibly dangerous, and get more information that we can use, here." Will_GM: "You don't want to go to the authorities... your 'higher' contact is out of play... you don't want to expose the Works guys to possible false positives. I think Ellis has the only viable solution, then." Edward nods thoughtfully. "Mmm. Prob is, if it's accurate, at least one of the hits falls in the 'very bad' category." Edward nods. Will_GM: "Could help if we knew more about it. Would you be as reluctant to divulge details to us, too?" Edward: "Not quite as, if you'll promise to keep confidential." Will_GM: Nicole looks over at Ellis. Ellis nods. "I'm willing." Will_GM: Nicole nods. "Likewise." Jack: The midnight hour has fallen upon the east coast. Good night all. Will_GM: 'Night Jack. Edward nods, then finishes his coffee. "Excellent. Let's go to Ops." Fearless: cya,Jack Will_GM: "I have a class in a bit -- will this take long?" BA: Later Jack Edward: "Not very." Will_GM: "'k." Ellis nods. "Ditto Nicole, but I'm interested." *** Signoff: Jack (Quit: "I left parts of myself everywhere / The way absent minded people leave / gloves" Charles Simic) Edward gets up and leads you to the elevators, then punches for the top floor. Edward: I'm modeling my mental image of the campus and the location of the sysadmin's office on my experiences at the KUN here, btw. Will_GM: Feel free. There's a map of the UPenn campus but it's not that detailed. Fearless: ESU had the sysadmin's office on the second to top floor of the main building... *shrug* Edward leads the two of you into Mission Control, waves at the assistant admin on duty, then seats himself at his comp and calls up the file. Edward points at the top entry. "Here's that false positive I mentioned." Will_GM: Nicole assimilates the information, then giggles. Ellis blinks a couple times. Ellis: "Um." Will_GM: Nicole pokes Ellis in the side. "Grow horns." Ellis: "Sorry, I left the brimstone in my other sweatpants." Will_GM: I should have added "(1) Instructor, sword techniques" to that. Ellis: "Well. Ahem. If I *was* a deep-cover infiltrator, I was a pretty bad one." Will_GM: Ellis: Carver is in your afternoon class coming up. He's a discipline problem (and he hits too hard in practice), but he's never broken any rules outright. Just the occasional equipment. Ellis: "Carver... I know that kid." Edward: "Oh? *inquiring look*" Ellis: "Yeah. He's in my next class." Ellis: "Calabite, hmm?" Will_GM: "What's a Calabite?" Edward switches text shells and opens up the Guide entry for Calabites in another window. Ellis: "I was going to ask that... hmmm." Ellis reads Will_GM: *whispers* "Entropy incarnate. Ow." Ellis: "Well. He's violent... but he's never hurt anyone, in class at least." Fearless: got a digital copy of that to send to people? Edward: "*ditto* Mmm. Although I'm less worried by that than by the implications of these guys. *pulls up entry for Shedim*" Edward: Yeah. Will_GM: Nicole also recognizes the name of Bill Handel, from her Linear Algebra for Programmers class. Seems like a normal guy. Bit snobby, but that occasionally happens at Penn. Edward: You have the G:IN book? Ellis: Yeah Edward: 'k Will_GM: Ellis: clock's ticking on your class... Ellis checks his watch, winces. "I need to get to class. I'll keep an eye on Carver today. Call you tonight?" Edward: "Sounds like a plan." Will_GM: "I don't have class with Bill until tomorrow, but I'll do the same." Edward: "Remember, it could just as well be nothing." Ellis: "All right. And yes, I'll keep that in mind." Edward nods. "Thanks. Take care. I'll see what I can do as well." Ellis heads out Will_GM: The camera follows Ellis... Ellis: Pthbbt. I need to get this food out of my room. Edward: I'm assuming you mean the game scene view rather than the security camera in the hallway? Will_GM: Of course. Will_GM: While Nicole is rolling off to class, and Ellis' player is out getting rid of food waste, though, have you more that you're thinking of at the moment? Fearless oocly clears his throat in Ed's direction... you know an investigative reporter to follow some of the more obscure leads. Edward: Actually, yeah. Will_GM: Go for it. Edward: Checking error logs of various services. Ellis: back Will_GM: Hm? Edward: He's thought of it, Ars, and he's going to give you a call from home tonight. Fearless: 'k BA: Later folx Will_GM: Unmoo UL. Fearless: cya, UL *** BA has left channel [sysadmin voodoo stuff in /msg snipped] Will_GM: At any rate, the camera proceeds to track Ellis. Ellis waves. "Hi, mom." Will_GM: Invisible GM's camera... Ellis heads back to class, gets there in time(?) Will_GM: Ellis: yep -- and Carver's there. Ellis: Okee. What level class is this? *** Signoff: Fearless (Ping timeout) Will_GM: Advanced. The students need either prerequisites, or instructor evaluation. Carver came in for a duel with you, and demonstrated sufficient ability. He'd apparently had some practice, though now that you think of it he didn't say where from. Ellis: Okee. I lead warmups, then break the class into pairs and have them practice with each other. Will_GM: There's an odd man out, whom you usually choose and duel with, spreading it through the class. Will_GM: At least when an even number of students are absent. Ellis: Will... I'm tired, okay? I was up until 1:30 or later, woke up at 7:30, and had a three hour drive home from Pinecrest. I'm trying my best to run on autopilot. Edward: issok, dwagin. Will_GM: Oh, okay. You pick a random student and do your teaching, keeping an eye on Carver. Ellis: Yeah, I'm just warning our friendly GM that if he makes me do much more work than this I'm going to cut out and go to sleep, because it's not working. %P Ellis: Sorry. Will_GM: Nothing astonishing happens during this class, the only event being that Carver rips a bit of his opponents' uniform. But this is not a terribly uncommon event. Will_GM: That is, it's nothing to stand out in any class. Ellis: Okee. Will_GM: The hour passes, and the class breaks up. Ellis: I give him a(nother?) warning about not being too vicious with his touches, but leave it be. Ellis: (Not a warning, really, a comment.) Will_GM: Allright. Let's pan back to Edward. Edward: *clicketyclicketyclick* Edward checks the logs from the IDS and the honeypots. Will_GM: Ed, about those error logs: Identity Analyzer seemed to know what it was doing. There are a few calls to files which you recognize at the program checking which versions of Unix were running on your system -- it then settles in and seems to flow smoothly with the OS. Will_GM: 3d6 Dicesuke throws the bones for Will_GM (3d6) and gets 6. Edward: .oO(... which'd also mean that if it were trying to do something unauthorized it'd have a reasonable chance of doing it stealthily. Ah well. I didn't run it as root so no reason to dwell on it now) Will_GM: And, if I understand your latest statement correctly, no unauthorized activity was caught by your setup. *** Arsenal (arsenal@dyn19.nas6.vegas.viawest.net) has joined channel #gurps Edward: *nod* *** Arsenal is now known as Fearless Ellis: Reyars Fearless: 're Will_GM: Re, Ars. Edward: Will: well, that and I was looking globally, not just for what the program did. Normally I only give these logs a cursory glance, only checking the honeypot accesses that get past first base. Edward: this time I'm correllating the login times and comps of the 'suspects' to the low-level logs to see if they've made more than their fair share of attempts. *** Signoff: Wizard (Ping timeout) Will_GM: Laura doesn't have an account... *Edward* IDS - Intrusion Detection System. Will_GM: ...I presume you're skipping Ellis... Edward: yeah Will_GM: ...Carver makes very little use of the account he has... Will_GM: ...Bill Handel uses the biochemistry department's computing systems a fair amount, never doing anything which catches the attention of the IDS... Will_GM: ...and the other suspects display quite mundane activity among the software they used from the server, mostly email and web browsing. Edward: Oh, and I check that part of Lightning's files that I have access to on info about that 'True Connectedness' society. Will_GM: This is in the Local Infernal and Demonic Activity Record: Edward: Lightning *and* Google, for that matter. Will_GM: (typing) Will_GM: The True Connectedness Society is a recent addendum to the Philadelphia New Age scene, about five years old. The Lightning database merely indicates that the group is suspected of being influenced by the Media, and no hard evidence has as yet linked it to any solid infernal activity; reports of any such, from Philadelphia operatives, are desired. Will_GM: Googling gets you the group's Web site. Will_GM: I wanted to make a Web site for this, but I couldn't get tacky enough. Edward: (check crossref on The Media if I hadn't already read up on the 'major players' from the Guide) Fearless finds "Digital Culture - Is Cyberspace Destroying Society?" Fearless: http://www.theatlantic.com/unbound/aandc/trnscrpt/birkerts.htm Edward: *snrk* Fearless: and a few others Edward: internet 'culture' died stillborn when AOL flooded in. Will_GM: There are anigifs of twinkling stars and phasing moons. Flashing titles ask if you want: love? fortune? power??!? These come from Spiritual Connectedness!! All beings are connected to each other -- let Swami Alashka ben Li show you the way... Will_GM: Meeting place address, copies of meditation chants, Paypal link for donations... Edward closes the page before he has an epileptic seizure or saccharin shock. Will_GM: You close the page just as a sitar MIDI loads ands tries to start playing. Will_GM: I trust you have on-exit popups disabled? Edward: You don't seriously think Ed didn't physically rip out the midi plugin from the browser he uses? Edward: yes. Will_GM: Good. Edward: .oO(If they really are members of that society, there's a Crimes Against Humanity trial waiting for them around the corner...) Will_GM: 3d6 Dicesuke throws the bones for Will_GM (3d6) and gets 11. Will_GM: You crosscheck the Media and get the impression that this, well, smells like them, at least. Edward checks if Lightning's report on the Society mentions their webpage at all, and if not, bashes up a quick review of it and his opinions. Edward: ... including the Crimes Against Humanity bit. Will_GM: It does not, and you mail off the report to the LIDAR submissions address. Edward appends a warning to anyone who wants to check the site to disable popups, javascript, midi, flash and custom fonts before hitting the site. Will_GM: Next? Edward: *fingerdrum* *standardjobduties* *backgroundponder* Will_GM: Okay. If you're doing standard job duties, your shift ends without further incident, unless Ellis recontacts you (Nicole does not). Ellis: Not yet. I have other class stuff to do, admin duties, etc. I busy with that. Edward opens the page again in lynx (text-only browser) and copies down the address. Will_GM: Check. It's north of the University, in a storefront, as are a fair number of small organizations these days. Edward: .oO(Should check into this, I guess. But I'm not too good at physical sneaky. Who do I know who i-- ahh.) Will_GM: Okay. I think Ed is cuing Fearless here... Edward performs the change-of-guard ceremony, signs off, gets up, stretches, pops his knuckles, and wonders where Fearless would be hanging out around now. Fearless: in the office, typing up a story, and watching the spell-checker bleed all over it Edward makes Fearless' phone ring. Fearless looks at the name/number on the phone's display before answering. "What's up, Ed?" Edward: "Heya Fearless. I was wondering if you're doing anything specific tonight. I might have something interesting." Fearless: "Well, the Chief's breathing down my neck for tomorrow's headliner, but I'm almost done. Don't worry, he's not in earshot." Fearless: "What's up?" Edward: "Well, an associate of our mutual friends at the Works pointed me at a couple possible problems, and one of 'em bears some looking into." *** Signoff: Ellis (Client closed connection) Fearless: "What've you got?" Edward: "I'd rather not get into detail on the phone. Could be perfectly mundane, could be a lot less so..." Fearless: "I understand." *runs spell-check, fixes 23 misspelled words*emails to Chief* "Where do you want to talk?" Edward: "Well, I haven't had dinner yet... How about you?" Fearless: "Not yet. I know this one place, I can almost taste their cooking at times." Fearless: that should be enough to scare Ed. ;) Edward: "*mildly wary* Going in or going out?" Fearless: "Going in. I've never had it come out." Fearless: "Unless you have another place in mind?" Edward: "... That sounds painful. Have you tried laxatives?" Edward: "No, sounds good. Where and when?" Fearless: "Well, the Chief's intern should be bleeding over the story now, fixing any misspellings I may have missed, so I'm free now." Fearless: "Unless I'm stopped on my way out." Edward: "Cool, ditto." Fearless: *relays the address* Edward: *memorizes it* Will_GM: Neither of you is stopped on the way out. Edward heads for the address Fearless drives over to the place, a hole-in-the-wall Indian restaurant Will_GM: The waitress seats you, puts some naan and menus on the table, then bustles off to another table for a few minutes. Fearless actually takes off the hat as he enters, and nods to the waitress/co-owner, and repeats a Hindu greeting she told him ages ago that he has no idea what it means. Will_GM: Ed? Katalina: dwagon went sweepy ;) Edward enters, takes a seat at the same table as Fearless. Edward: minor crisis in #linux. Will_GM: Ah, okee. Katalina: ( cool :D he's still awake ) Edward: "So, how's life?" Fearless: "Same as before, mostly. Dealing with the special problems best I can." Edward: "Mmm. Same here. Sort of." Fearless: "So far, no sign of Them in any of the standard stuff." Edward: "I've been talking to the guy the folks at the 'Works referred me to. Remember, for that artifact?" Fearless nods Edward: "Anyways, his folks came up with what amounts to a virus scanner that detects 'Their' influences, or at least twigs on patterns that suggests the same." Fearless: "Interesting." Edward: "Mmm. I was asked to give it a test run on the univ files. 'course, there's some ethical problems with that, so I kept it confined to the public ones and kept the results mainly to myself..." Fearless nods knowingly Edward: "Big-ass false positive hit in the results didn't help build confidence, although it might be understandable in that occasion..." Fearless cocks an eyebrow, puts the pieces together in his head. "We know the false positive?" Edward nods. Fearless: "And the other hits?" Edward: "Couple worrying ones if they're accurate, couple less so." Fearless nods. Edward: "It's actually the less worrisome I was thinking about. According to our associates' files, they're part of a society they're investigating for Their influence..." Will_GM: 3d6 Dicesuke throws the bones for Will_GM (3d6) and gets 10. Fearless: "Interesting..." Will_GM: Fearless makes the IQ roll necessary to parse this sentence verbally.... ;^) Fearless: *heh* My own natural IQ sufficed. ;) Edward nods. "Checked a crossref, but they're short on hard info on the society in this area -- of any kind. I checked the website and nearly went blind, though." Edward: AFK, core dumping. Fearless smirks. "That bad?" Edward: "Picture a pack of epileptic chameleons on LSD in a disco." Fearless nearly laughs. Fearless feels that old reporter's intinct start to kick in. "If you don't mind, I'd like to see the list." Edward: back. Edward: "You understand there's a measure of confidentiality involved here." Fearless: "Implicitly." Fearless: "A reporter protects his sources, naturally." Edward: "Not yours, mine. Granted, all the information on that list is garnered from public records, but still. It's normally my job to keep people who have no business with that info from getting at it." Edward: "I don't have it on hardcopy, and the only copy of the list I have is encrypted on a computer I can only get at from two physical locations." Fearless: "I understand that. But if Their influence is on any of these people..." Edward nods. Fearless: "Well, let's start with what we know... what's this organization whose website blinded you?" Edward: "My place isn't too far from here. I can show it to you there." Edward: "They're called the 'True Connectedness Society'. Make of that what you will." Fearless: "That will work. And it sounds like one of those new age hippy outfits." Edward: "They're offering all the usual goodies, available only on this one-time offer with extra spiritual enlightenment if you call now, etc etc yadda yadda..." Edward: Yes, Ed is capable of *pronouncing* "etc" Will_GM: The waitress comes up and asks for your orders. Fearless orders a mutton dish, with some of the more exotic side dishes. Edward fast-reads the menu, orders mutton vindaloo. Will_GM: She nods and bustles off. Will_GM: You are relatively alone again. Fearless: "Other than the false positive, did anything really stand out about any of the other contacts... residences, items that may have linked a few of them to anything other than this 'True Connectedness' thing?" Edward: "Anyways, other than the two possible members of that org, there's a couple hits that the program thinks might be Them in disguise roles... Including one or two that I'm wondering about myself..." Edward: "Nicole and Greg recognized a couple guys. they're checking 'em out." Fearless nods. Edward: "Problem is that almost all of the twigs could have perfectly mundane causes..." Fearless: "Which is where I come in, right? To look into them to see if it is a false alarm or not. Right?" Edward: "Basically, yeah. More precisely, to help me check out that Society. I utterly suck at snooping around physically." Fearless: "Sure, no problem. Do you have their address?" Fearless: "Web or physical, that is?" Edward: "Yes. *recites both*" Fearless commits them to memory. Edward: "Don't use the web adress with IE, though, and disable popups, javascript and sound at the very least before entering." Fearless nods Will_GM: ...aaand, it's 2am here. Shall we continue next session? Fearless: sure... Fearless: 11pm here... Will_GM: Very well then. Will_GM: ----------------- Session End --------------------