comStar Firewall alert - PhaseThrough

attuning to a particular part of the overall composition, I can whistle
myself into the node.
> Otaku-Zuku
Improvising
Being a technomancer does not make me a better hacker or
a hacker at all. This is a point the media often fails to make when
it paints us the bad guys. The Matrix is an environment we feel a
connection to, but not all technomancers are node raiders. They
are just good with code.
I, however, consider myself a hacking technomancer, which is
how I ended up here on Jackpoint. I made myself a reputation for
being able to intrude and explore even the most secure nodes. As a
normal hacker, I was lousy, but hacking as a technomancer is quite
different. A hacker depends on his warez while a technomancer
possess the ability to improvise and shape code into a form (something
that you would call a program) to manipulate information,
something we refer to as threading. It still requires skill, but it is by
far less technical. It is more artistic, like texturing or throwing pottery,
only digital. It is something that gives us an edge over hackers
in terms of adaptability, though it isn’t a task that is accomplished
lightly, and it can in fact be quite exhausting.
Sprites
Most people seem to view sprites as spontaneously generated
software constructs or agents, which is not giving them the credit
for what they truly are and what they are capable of, even if it is a
correct designation. Sprites are far more intelligent and sophisticated
than any mook I have ever seen. They might possibly be on
the same scale as an artificial intelligence, though you can never be
sure. The first time I encountered one, compiled subconsciously by
my own ability to create them, it scared the shit out of me. While I
know that some technomancers view them as pets, companions, or
even digital friends, I am cautious when dealing with them. They
are a useful bunch nevertheless.
> Don’t ever underestimate sprites. I’ve seen a sprite rip a node apart
and kick serious ass. They have some nasty tricks up their sleeves
that cannot be copied by any program I am aware of.
> Pistons
> From what I have gathered, the relationship between sprites and
technomancers seems very similar to that between spirits and magicians.
I have even heard some technomancers refer to sprites as
the true spirits of the Matrix, which makes we wonder how close
technomancers and magicians truly are.
> Ethernaut
> It may not surprise you that there are also wild and free sprites
that dwell in the Matrix. They are rarely encountered, even scarcer
than technomancers themselves, but they do exist, roaming the
deep virtual spaces. It seems that the virtual landscapes and sculpts
have become quite populated since Crash 2.0—as if some gates have
been opened, that were closed before.
> Puck
> Pandora’s Box, anyone?
> Clockwork
Unwired
riding tHe StreaM
> To pour some oil into the fire of the discussion, here is an interesting
report I came across from a neuronal research centre in
Geneva, where scientists of the recently formed UNIDS (United
Nations Initiative on Digital Sapience) study the technomancer
phenomenon on a small group of (voluntary) subjects. I am just
adding the highlights.
> Sunshine
// begin attachment //
From “The Diversity of the Virtuakinetics Phenomenon,”
UNIDS (Draft Report)
Tests have proven that the four volunteers are truly technomancers.
While they seem to possess the same general abilities, there
seems to be surprising differences in how they view their abilities,
the origin of their powers, and how they make use of them.
Volunteer 1 is a 45-year-old male Caucasian human. His
psychological profile incorporates a strong faith in God and the
conviction that his actions are guided by a higher force, which is
why he wanted to volunteer for the program. During his examination,
he explained that he acquired his powers via the will of God,
whom he claims to have plans for him. In his theistic view, the
Matrix is a manifestation of God in the world—in other words,
God is the source of his abilities. Volunteer 1 claims to use those
abilities in a way that is determined by God’s plan. Neuronal imaging
of Volunteer 1 while using his technomancer abilities detected
activities in cerebral areas normally associated with social interactions.
When observed online, he appears to exchange information
with computer systems in a very unconventional way. Unlike an
ordinary user, he does not actively “use” programs, but rather
“asks” or “persuades” computer systems or sprites. This behavioral
pattern seems to be innate to his personality and his personal view
of his abilities and their origin. Whether educational or age-related
factors also play a role here remains to be seen.
Volunteer 2 is a 15-year-old female Asian human. Her
psychological profile shows a moderate escapism, iatrogenic by
a long-term reconstruction gene therapy. During her initial examination,
she repeatedly stated that she wanted to go home. She
did not refer to her parents’ home, however, but the Matrix. She
considers the (fully-immersive) Matrix to be her natural habitat,
which is quite unusual even among technomancers. From what we
could gather during the talk and during interview with the girl’s
parents, she lives most of her life in a virtual room. She attends
school via telepresence, spends all of her time with friends and
sprites online, and only leaves virtuality sporadically to eat food
and eliminate waste—to the point that she has developed an eating
disorder. In regards to her special abilities, neuronal imaging
detected no further anomalies. However, her Matrix creations
were hyper-realistic in quality and much more detailed than those
created by the other volunteers.
Volunteer 3 is a 35-year-old male Caucasian elf. He was
arrested for tampering with the systems of the drone factory in
which he was employed as a janitor and transferred to us from
corporate authorities to participate in our program. Despite some
sort of fetishism for anthroform robots and drones, Volunteer 3
can be considered harmless. Interestingly, his new abilities seem to
have deepened his relationship to drones. Judging from data that
we received from the authorities, Volunteer 3 owned a plethora
Simon Wentworth (order #1132857) 9
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technoMancers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .