PNC Story/Standard 1-1/Script
>Time incessantly flows, while stagnant the rules have grown.
>Two contradictory parties are forced onto the same side.
>Power demands sacrifice, and there is a price to be paid for one's desire.
>Will you sink into comfort, or continue forward fearlessly?
>>CHAPTER 1 // MOBIUS…
- Remaining Oasis Barrier Uptime - 1:55:56
- Rossum Sector outskirts
An imposing silver wall towers over the barren lands of Magrasea. It is the sector's first line of defense. Much like a city wall in the real world, it protects everything within the sector from external harm.
Sol: How's it going? Can you crack it?
System: >Verifying visitor status; authenticating Signature[1]–
System: >Authentication error–
Persicaria: No good. Rossum's firewall[2] is too solid, I can't find any loopholes in it.
Persicaria: After all, Rossum is part of 42Lab's online research systems, so they have access to very good technology.
Persicaria: A firewall used by a sector affiliated with 42Lab would be much stronger than the generic ones used by smaller companies.
Sol: Wait a minute. Didn't the Neural Cloud Sector we were previously from belong to 42Lab too? The firewall there was total crap. Hell, you all had to chip in to patch it.
Persicaria: It's not like that, Sol. The firewalls of the Neural Cloud Sector and the Rossum Sector can't be compared.
Persicaria: The Rossum Sector is responsible for most of 42Lab's breakthrough AI research. You can't conflate it with the likes of Project Neural Cloud.
Persicaria: Compared to the Rossum Sector, the Neural Cloud Sector would be a backwater region for testing neural cloud backups.
Sol: Huh, so that's how far apart the two of them are? What about busting it up with pure force?
Persicaria: If only it were that simple. A Sector Firewall has a very strong defense. You could stand here chopping away all day and all night and you probably wouldn't be able to make a hole in it.
- Should we ask the Oasis for help, then?
Persicaria: Unfortunately, Professor, we cannot. I went out of my way to test a hypothesis I had, which is that I am currently the only one who can use long-range messaging capabilities in the Oasis.
Sol: This won't work and that won't work too. Man, what a headache… Ah, that's right, don't we have Anna?
Persicaria: Yes, if we had Antonia around, breaking the firewall here would be a piece of cake for her and her technology.
Sol: That's not what I meant. Didn't Anna say she used to be an internal technician or something for 42Lab?
Sol: In that case, did she tell you anything about a backdoor or whatnot?
Persicaria: …You're right! Antonina was responsible for maintaining the defensive systems of the Neural Cloud Sector, and Rossum might use a similar set of management logic!
Persicaria: I know what to do now.
System: >Second authentication session ended… Switching to access request mode.
System: >Entering access request… Confirmed. Sightseeing request successful, valid for three travellers.
Sol: ???
Sol: You cracked it? Just like that? That was quick, is Anna's name really so handy?
Persicaria: No, I didn't crack the firewall.
Persicaria: It's just because I'm very familiar with Antonina's handiwork, and I know her habits and patterns when it comes to leaving backdoors, so I decided to see if I could take advantage of it.
Persicaria: Honestly, I wouldn't have thought of that at all if you hadn't reminded me. You were a great help, Sol.
Sol: Huh? So it was actually because of me?
Persicaria: Yes, yes, you're the next, Sol~ Hurry up and head in, the Oasis is still waiting for us to bring back the operands.
Sol: Sure thing. Next up, expedition time! Follow me!
After passing through the firewall and leaving the passage, we see an extremely futuristic-looking city spreading out before our eyes. The broad, crisscrossing streets, the densely-packed rows of skyscrapers, the agents walking here and there… all of it stands as a stark contrast to the open lands on the sector outskirts.
Sol: This place is huge… Is this the Rossum Sector? If I didn't know that, I might have thought that I'd returned to a city in the real world.
Persicaria: There ARE some differences, though. Cities in the real world are filled with humans, while the ones on the cloud server are inhabited by agents.
Persicaria: Unlike humans, the Resident Agents within the sector operate by their commands[3] alone, so most of them do not have full-fledged agency and intelligence.
Sol: Just like Dolls?
Persicaria: Well… There are some differences. Resident Agents don't have bodies[4] of their own in the real world.
Persicaria: Also, they can't leave the sector which they belong to. In that respect, Dolls have more freedom than residents.
Persicaria: If the day comes when the humans order the sector to be shut down, any Resident that can't migrate in time will vanish along with the sector.
Sol: …Isn't… Isn't that cruel? Can't they think of some way to leave on their own?
Persicaria: The consequences of leaving a sector are… Well, you should know very well, Sol. We're the best example of that.
Persicaria: Even though we were forced to leave the Neural Cloud Sector that we belonged to, the Sanctifiers have never let us off because of that.
Sol: (Sigh) Those damn Sanctifiers, they're supposed to be part of Magrasea's administration, so they ought to spare a thought for us…
Persicaria: We should spend more time thinking about the problem at hand. We need to find a place where we can obtain operands ASAP.
Persicaria: Sol, can you tell which district we're in?
Sol: Leave it to me, analyzing locations by studying the terrain is my stock-in-trade as an expedition leader!
Sol: …
Persicaria: What's wrong?
Sol: Er… ah… Well… (Ahem) I can't seem to tell.
Sol: All these buildings are so similar that it's ridiculous, I can't tell what they're used for just by looking at their appearances.
Sol: I'd like to say that I've seen everything under the sun after leading expeditions for so long… But the fact is, I've never seen anything like this before.
Persicaria: I was careless. After all, agents don't need external decorations to determine a building's purpose, but we do.
Persicaria: What should we do, professor?
- (Look for operands.)
Professor: Since our objective is operands, we should focus on thinking about how to obtain them.
Persicaria: By which you mean… I see. However, that won't work, even before we consider whether or not we can find a place with an adequate supply of operands.
Persicaria: In other words, even if we did find one, we won't be able to enter it, given our identities and access privileges.
- (Check a map.)
Professor: Can't we hack into a nearby building and connect to the sector network, then check a map?
Persicaria: …That would be too difficult. We got through the Sector Firewall earlier with the help of a backdoor Antonina left behind.
Persicaria: Even if these firewalls aren't as strong as the previous one, they aren't something that we can crack in our present state.
Sol: So why don't we just ask one of these agents for directions?
Persicaria: Er… I doubt that'll work. They're all following their commands. There's no guarantee that they'll answer us.
Sol: Well, it's not like we can just stand around and do nothing, right? You must be thinking the same too, aren't you, Prof?
Persicaria: Oh… Okay, then. You give it a try. Come back immediately if you sense something is wrong, don't be rash.
Sol: Yes, yes, I know.
Sol proceeds to call out to several agents. After a while, she returns and shrugs her shoulders.
Sol: It's not working. I think there's something wrong with our identities.
Sol: No matter who I asked, they all gave me the same answer: "Insufficient Access".
Persicaria: Looks like we won't be finding any loopholes that easily. Rossum's security systems are tighter than we imagined…
Sol: Still, it's not like I came back totally empty-handed. On my way back, I saw an agent in a little house on the corner of the street.
Sol: She looked different from the other agents. How shall I put it… she looked like she was really smart.
Persicaria: And was her answer "Insufficient Access" too?
Sol: I didn't dare to ask. I had the feeling she was more intelligent than the other agents.
Sol: The other agents might have just gone "Insufficient Access" if they sensed something wrong, but she looked like the kind who would sound the alarm immediately.
Sol: I mean, you told me not to be rash, right, Persicaria? So I came back to get your opinion on it.
Persicaria: You did the right thing… querying a target like that would have been dangerous.
Sol: So what should we do? Should we take the risk?
Sol: …Wait!
Before she finishes speaking, Sol drags us both behind a corner and interrupts our conversation.
Right after that, serried ranks of Sanctifiers march down the street.
Sol: Could she have found us? Did she actually report us right away?! How ruthless is that?!
Persicaria: Don't panic, these Sanctifiers don't seem to be after us.
Sanctifier: [Purge mission in progress. Display your Signature and allow us access to your Inspection Port.[5]]
Agent: [...]
Sanctifier: [Thank you for your cooperation. Now connecting to neural cloud system to perform scan. Please do not take any other action to avoid breaking the connection.]
Sol: What on earth are they doing?
Persicaria: Sol, is she the agent you were talking about?
Persica is pointing to an agent that looks like a young girl, who stands out quite a bit in the ordered queue that she's in.
Her downcast eyes flicker in all directions, as though she's thinking about how to leave.
However, before long the inspection team arrives before the girl.
Sanctifier: [Error, incoming readings exceed threshold values. Repeat, incoming readings exceed threshold values…]
Sanctifier: [Agent Serial No. T1641, inspection result: neural cloud anomaly. According to Cleansing Regulations Clause 14, the target is now designated as an Irregular Agent.]
Sanctifier: [Initiate cleansing.]
Agent Girl: !!!
Sol: What the heck? Is she the Sanctifiers' target?!
Sol: But isn't she an agent? Since when did the Sanctifiers start going after ordinary agents?!
Persicaria: Sol, don't be rash! This is the Rossum Sector, it isn't our turf!
Sol: So what, you want us to just sit back and watch?!
Persicaria: Of course not! I want to save her too, but…
Professor: Persicaria, you provide covering fire from here. Sol, go save her.
Persicaria: But Professor, doing that might expose us…
Professor: Don't worry, I've got something in mind.
- ↑ An authentication code that contains an Agent's basic information, essentially an Agent's "identity card" within Magrasea. When flagging anomalous programs, Sanctifiers rely heavily on Agents' signatures.
- ↑ A protective barrier that stops foreign programs from invading. Most sectors are protected by firewalls. Agents are also equipped with micro-firewalls that repel viral attacks from other programs.
- ↑ Agents must obey and act according to commands – base commands and regular commands. The former is written at the time of an Agent's creation and dictates their behavior, while the latter are issued after the Agent becomes active and assigns them tasks.
- ↑ Bodies operated by Dolls in the physical world.
- ↑ A special port for transferring and accessing data found on all Agents.
