@abel.navigator

[adsero]

Hello everyone,

Unless I’ve missed something in the past hour or so, it seems like our network hasn’t been compromised by whatever has caused this massive security failure. I have at least five messages in my inbox that I’m certain aren’t for me, but everything seems clean here.

I think, as the group of people with the (apparently) only properly functioning network (and various talents, in a manner of speaking), we’re obligated to use it to organize ourselves and assist. The entire city is facing more problems as a result of this breach than I’ve ever seen before from one event. If you’re not particularly interested in helping those that could be trapped in cars or victims of accidents right now, consider that the external temperature has been rising. I don’t know about everyone else, but I’m personally certain that once it gets around 55C I’m going to start dying.

The network has apparently been used before to coordinate teams of Displaced, let everyone know what’s needed and who to meet with, and I suggest we do it again. I’ll keep an eye on this and provide hotlinks to pertinent discussions, so anyone with particular skills or interests can volunteer themselves.

Stay safe everyone. Don’t spend too much time in the heat without decent protection, you can only help so much if you pass out in the middle of it.

Comments

@markus.manfred

[saviorexe]

The numbers after the date might indicate a specific time within that day. Other than that, 11-11 was Veteran’s Day in the United States.

[Likely... not a thing anymore. Possibly coincidence with no meaning.]

I agree that reaching should be made a priority. Do you have any ideas on that front?

[No need to remark on personal reasons why Markus would want to say “hello, what the heck are you doing” to an AI, not in a post prioritizing logistics at the moment.]

@margaret.carter

[revlon]

I agree that it's a time stamp. If the date is an anniversary, then the time isn't a coincidence either — although I suspect its significance, if it held any, is lost to history: particularly if it pertains to the AI War. We know that conflict was resolved with an EMP. That may be the time it detonated.

[ The precise times and dates of the nuclear bombs on Japan are etched into her memory, as they are with anyone in the military who was privy to that fateful decision in 1945. ]

[saviorexe]

If there’s significance to the date and time, especially if this is an AI, than the detonation of the EMP blast is the most likely candidate.

Worth a try digging that far back to see if anything crops up.

[revlon]

Records about the AI War are vague at best, but even the people determined to erase history can't eradicate all traces of it. There must be something.

[saviorexe]

Yes. The issue being that “something” will be hard to dig up with the state of things as they are now.

[revlon]

I admit I'm having a hard time focusing on the past when the present is going up in flames. But the past informs the present and especially so in this case; and if we're to try and put a stop to this, we have to understand who's behind it. AI or no.

@leo.fitz

[retravel]

[ good thing u got nerds who def memorised their fake history around these parts ]

The year is prior to the dates of the war officially on record (2095-2101), though we know the nature of this world's history-keeping to be unreliable. Under normal circumstances, I'd suggest you search AI War or Xelkoven War for further detail, but public databases appear to be on the fritz. Better bet is what myself, [Bad username or site: connor @ resnik], or others have committed to memory.

Also: If we accept that timeline and if "DAWN" is an AI (and I'm not convinced they are), the date could be their activation date.

[ ♫ throwing plot spaghetti at the wall oh yeah ♫ ]

[revlon]

Then I'll defer to your expertise as well as Mr Resnik's. I trust you've memorised the finer details of the conflict by now. But to your next point —

"If" DAWN is an AI. You're not as convinced as the masses, then?

[retravel]

If you were one of the last of your kind, destroyed in a war sanitised to make the victors look just, would you describe yourself as a mere "blemish," invoking the pre-existing fear of artificial intelligence, only to issues a specific challenge to powerful individuals — with a cryptic question and riddle ⁠— that's seemingly unrelated to the history of AI?

And would you use the weapon that resulted in the mass destruction of your fellows just for the dramatic irony? It's a high-risk move. The AI themselves would have to somewhere safe to use it. Out of range or within a Faraday cage. Not impossible, to be sure, but not too compelling, either.

It strikes me as someone capitalising on humanity's piss poor decision-making, especially when their use of EMPs caused significant collateral damage to any human communities within the dropzones.

@markus.manfred

[saviorexe]

The point doesn’t solely have to be “revenge”, though it’s the easiest assumption to make. It might be an underpinning beneath a larger goal, which does seem to be getting the attention of the Displaced. To light a fire beneath us, for some reason benefiting them.

That being said, yes. I think dramatic irony and high-risk actions are not out of the realm of possibility, especially if you feel like you haven’t much else to lose.

[Like most of your kind being destroyed and dead.]

[retravel]

I wouldn't say the motive has to be revenge, but why invoke the AI concept and then diverge so quickly? Just for the added attention?

[ he's curious mr robot ]

[revlon]

[ She's keeping a curious eye on the chat with Markus because they have a better working knowledge of the nuance that comes with AI debate. ]

I agree; every aspect of this message from the ID, word choice, date, and assault have been carefully chosen to carry some manner of significance or double-meaning. The fact it seems addressed to us specifically stood out to me as well.

You know I don't ascribe to the belief that everything has to do with the Displaced, either. But I have to admit it read to me as someone (or several someones) daring us to show ourselves. We still have no information as to why we're here or were given abilities, but sometimes I can't shake the theory that these events could be tests — and New Amsterdam is the playing field. Why would the AI care if our arrival is well after their time? Why now?

@jon.snow

[998]

It could be a reference to Morningstar, using the name of the Dawn AI. Or having them be the ones sending the message.

It sounds to me like they want us to go north, following the stars.

[retravel]

Even DAWN is evocative of imagery relevant to Morningstar and Elysian (the AI whose rogue actions are said to have triggered the war, if you're playing along at home) both. They got the style memo, it seems.

To play devil's (or Markus' :) advocate, perhaps they believe we're crucial to a paradigm shift that could work to the benefit of the remnants of their people or the cause they've seemingly joined (that seems overtly interested in us). Our profile has elevated in the wake of the dreams and a series of indiscretions as well.

@jon.snow

[998]

I don't know what the old AI were like or what they wanted, but this person wants us to use our eyes for navigation instead of tools like a compass. Why would an artificial intelligence care about something like that? It seems to me they'd want us to think made things were just as good as what we're born with.

Perhaps whoever sent this hates machines, and wants us to hate them too.

[retravel]

I agree that there's an interplay here between the reputation of AI and the rest of the message.

It's certainly a highly figurative approach, but the AI of the time would have been advanced enough to wield metaphor and codes capably. Can't rule out that they'd make an elementary cipher just for the dramatics, either. And you're quite right, Jon, we're being addressed and asked to act, so it's safe to say this isn't strictly about the AI cause.

Given the firepower of this technological shutdown, I have to wonder if they're working in tandem with other forces or on behalf of a group.

So perhaps we stop asking why and start asking who?

[crisised]

i think you underestimate what someone who is the last of their kind would do
i'm not saying i'm 100% convinced DAWN is an ai, but...

@simon.jarrett

[theseuschip]

I’m not convinced, either. It doesn’t sound like any A.I. overlord I’ve heard of, and I got this weird message from an ID that was all numbers. Looks like some kind of conspiracy theory?
Can’t figure out what it has to do with any of this, but it feels like a tech-savvy troll. Maybe somebody else could make some sense of it.

[retravel]

[ !!! ]

Exactly. I know we're anomalies with an apparent purpose of some sort, but that doesn't mean everyone's bloody obsessed with us.

[ no offense everyone but why should the robots care. ]

Can you walk me through the message?

[theseuschip]

[ good thing simon got this and not absolutely anyone else but anyway time to try to describe it to the smart science guy ]

It’s a post from a forum called New Amsterdam Living Urban Legends by somebody who’s... I think they’re saying they’re from an alternate universe. People have been seeing these 15 scientists in New Amsterdam Square, and this person has a newspaper about them from a New Amsterdam with a different governor. And actual newspapers, apparently.
There are pictures of the scientists, not that I recognize them.

This is kind of your thing, right? I could try to send it to you.

@angel.fortran

[girlcorrupted]

An activation date...maybe what follws it is a serial number? It may be beneficial to try and figure out what this AI's original purpose was, and if this message is part of it'soriginal programming, or of it has gone rogue.

[retravel]

Good shout, actually. Occam's razor would dictate that the date is followed by the time, but then you've got that ".750Z" and things go tricky. When tacked on to the end of a number, Z could denote Zetta, a decimal unit prefix in the metric system, meaning a factor of 10^21.

But I don't know why that would be the case, if it is, so: A serial number's as good a guess as any, though you'll be hard-pressed to find a list of them.

[revlon]

Zetta is also suggestive of septem. Seven, if your Latin is rusty. Z also denotes the value of 7 when used as a numeral, doesn't it? In Greek.

[ She'd attribute this to her years as a codebreaker but her time at boarding school seems more likely for this realisation. Thank you, Headmaster Portley. ]

[girlcorrupted]

What about a list of models? Less precise than a serial number, but it's generalization may yeild better results, especially when paired with what may be it's activation date.

@connor.resnik

[cyberlife]

Overall, it's as Fitz says. The war lasted 6 years from 2095 to 2011, but took 6 months to begin after the catalytic events of the Elysian incident. This is my understanding, gathered from the New Amsterdam Archives shortly after my arrival with the first of the Displaced.

Everything seemed to point towards the AI being inspired by the initial attack and resulting scorn their species received. So it could be their activation date, to celebrate a life of one of their comrades.

Alternatively, it could be a deactivation date.