//------------------------------// // 14: Hacktivists // Story: Seesaw // by MintLynx //------------------------------// The autocarriage would roll into a place once known long ago as Ghastly Gorge, and like the mountain which Canterlot was built on the gorge was built into converting it into a massive semi residential mall. A skylight ceiling ran along the top the gorge while it's stone walls were precisely carved to accommodate over 10 levels of apartments, hotels, bakeries, night clubs, arcades, and many others. Cyberculture swept in and completely took over the place, not a single pony could be seen without either mane dye or a set of decorative utility pants. Anomaly would look out the window as the autocarriage drove along the road that went through the center of the gorge floor. Soon the vehicle would pull into a parking garage, entering the dark stone and concrete cavern lit only by the opening of the entrance and a few lights inside. Making a stop in a spot SW would say to Anomaly... "Alright, let's walk on over to meet the boss. You'll be interested in seeing her for sure, you might even get to see Tazen as well." as the both of them hopped out they would walk on back out into the gorge of cyberculture. According to SW the location was known commonly among its inhabitants as 'The Split' as opposed to the ancient and unused name it once had. Anomaly had heard of the place however never had seen it. Megacities were massive, and often had all you needed for your life within a block, and she was not a traveler. Pegasus tech junkies sat on the railings at the edge of each level, drinking various colorful carbonated products of artificial flavoring. Neon lights and colorful screen boards were everywhere, showing less of the general corporate advertising and more for obscure electronics and parts stores. Ponies with Bionics were a very common sight, and all of them had various vinyls and paint jobs you might expect to see put on an autocarriage. Graffiti was common, hardly a wall left unpainted with a street artist's intricate designs. A few strip clubs could even be seen, decorated less with the lusty red and crimson common for such places and more in the neons which dominated the Split. Anomaly viewed all these things as she walked along beside SW, realizing quickly that she was in possibly the most cyberculture dominated place she had ever seen. It would be a long walk, as the split stretched for a long distance, but eventually they would reach a night club. It was known as the 'Wub Hub' and colored in graffiti of luminescent whites and blues, paint that literally glowed. Entering the club SW would lead anomaly through the interpretive and drunken dances of the place to a back room with a door. As she knocked on the door a panel on the wall opened a camera, a speaker would say in text to speech. "Passwub Please." "Bay Scanning." "Passwub accepted." The sound of automated locks was heard as they disengaged, the door opening into a room full of couches and bean bags along with a couple of VR pods. Multiple ponies were hanging around operating their compact computers from their laps. One of them being a bat pony mare, with a young filly sitting next to her and tapping away at a computer. The mare would look to Anomaly, getting up and approaching her. Bluish silver coat and black mane with purple stripes, dressed in a short sleeveless black jacket and cargo shorts with a decorative pixel design. Looking to the mare Anomaly would simply ask politely... "Yes? Might I know you?" "Tazen High, I know you know me." she said before looking to SW and smiling "Thanks for getting her here Steel, glad to know I can count on you." "No problem! I'm always there when you need a ride, whether for yourself or a friend!" SW would say with a smile. Tazen would then look to Anomaly and say "That info you've given before your escape was a goldmine, even before you cracked the safe. Provided you won't be convinced back on the Royal Guard's side, you'll make for a good ally." "There's more to what you oppose than just merely the Royal Guard, the Harmony Council and even the princesses. There's an organization, hidden from the public yet linking all of those who are in power. Listen close and I will have a lot to tell you." Having a seat Anomaly would explain everything she had discovered about the organization 'Harmonize' from their linking of Corporate and Royal power to the project known as 'PRS' and what it was apparently designed to do. The more she told the more intrigued yet shocked Tazen was. Once Anomaly finished Tazen would say quickly... "Boss simply has to see this, this is big...and explains a whole hay of a lot." Anomaly would be led up the stairs, up to a viewing platform which presented a view of the nightclub and its activities. Within this platform was a DJ. Old yet modern, first seen in the times of the elements of Harmony, the DJ faded sometime in the Industrial Era only to return in the mid to late industrial era and rise to new heights in the Cyber Era. Electronic music was also a product of the DJ, from even before it's fading. With the rise of cyberculture the DJ along with its music advanced, now there were many more DJs to be seen in these times. This one dressed in blue and white striped socks with somewhat revealing shorts and a white shirt depicting lightning bolts shooting from speakers. Neon blue glowing headphones hung around her neck like a neon necklace and her mane was of the classic DJ style made known by the first DJ-pon3 herself. Once her shoulder was tapped by Tazen, she would look back, and listen to the whisper. Looking back out to the club she set the DJ console to an autopilot mode before following the two back down into the back room. In the light, her colors could be more clearly seen, a very light almost white blue coat with a teal and blue colored mane. Glasses covered her eyes, the rims glowing blue. "Anomaly, meet the latest DJ-Pon3, a mare from the longest line of DJs in Equestrian history." said Tazen. Anomaly would reply to the mare "DJ-Pon3? That family line is still around, I thought they faded in the early Industrial times." Speaking the DJ would simply reply "Electro Swing, it kept us alive when the age of the DJ was seemingly ending, we came back with a vengeance and now nothing will kill us off again. So momma pone here told me you got some real big revelations to tell me." "There's an organization that runs things from behind the scenes, consisting of those in corporate and royal power alike. They're called Harmonize, and it seems they plan to try to use brain augmentations to control the population. The Freedom Fighters have exploited the early version of this network which they intend to use for that purpose." Raising her glasses the DJ would reveal her light blue eyes before saying "Well holy buck, apparently, the conspiracy theories are true. Partially at least, I presume these ponies aren't secretly Tartarus worshippers or anything like that. Still, this is indeed quite big news. What is this the third time you've gotten us useful info? I might get you a nice place to stay while you work with us as a reward." "I don't think that will be necessary-" Anomaly would reply before the DJ interjected with. "Nonsense!" "Well, before we decide that there is one other thing that I will want the help of you all with. I know what happened to the ponies at the Diamond Plaza, their minds were literally kidnapped using the PRS and their brain implants. They were uploaded somewhere, like files, and we need to find them." "Ponies kidnapped via their brain augs? Now that is nefarious, how about I send you to your new home for now. Let you settle in and we'll get things started online." the DJ said looking up from her wrist computer after tapping away on it. "We got some work to do tonight, lemme send you a waypoint." Anomaly would then receive a notification of a waypoint on her eyes. The DJ would whistle and say "Brain's a computer and your eyes are screens aye? Nifty, must be convenient to access the internet with your mind. Anyway, I'm gonna wrap up the party, then get us some fellow friends to help along." Anomaly would look as the DJ trotted up the stairs, and then back to Tazen. "I guess we'll be working together soon. I noticed you have a kid with you, can't be easy caring for a filly and being a hacker below the law." Tazen would look to the filly, replying "It's not, but it's worth it. Don't worry her daddy ain't dead....but he is sadly on the other side from me. A stallion willing to stand up for ponies, yet claimed by the mind control of the system...." "Is he working for the police?" Anomaly would ask curiously. "RLG, Investigation and Interrogation, one of their best agents. Handles a pistol like an old western movie cowpony and is stealthier than his namesake. Tried to bring him to us not long ago, he just lost it and didn't seem to be convinced..." "Ones I was working with briefly before Harmonize revealed itself to me, and tried to imprison me after I voiced my opposition to them." Tazen would look to Anomaly and ask "Did you happen to work with a pony known as 'Owl Talon' brown colored bat stallion. Short black mane, scruff on the neck, see him?" Anomaly would remember that pony, she remembered tracking his movement and assisting as he infiltrated. "I happen to be able to track his wrist device, I did so when I found him and his friend in the underground bunker. I helped the S4 teams find him when he ended up wounded in a fight, I think I can still access his wrist computer." Tazen would give a look as if she was about to tear up, asking "Can you help me access his wrist computer, please...?" "Is he not on the other side of the law from you? Wouldn't that be a risk, is he not angry at you?" "There might be another chance, you can tell him what you know. Let him know those he works for in their attempts to control ponies for the sake of 'safety' are responsible for letting those bucking anarchists use those ponies as their puppets. let's see him stay bucking loyal to the Celestia cursed guard after that!" "Mommy, are you alright?" asked the filly, looking to her. The mare would look back and say... "Mommy's fine, she's just hoping to bring daddy to the side of the good ponies." "I'm confused...he told me the ponies at work are trying to save ponies..." "He's been tricked little Byte, they want to help ponies but really are hurting them," she said walking over to the Filly, before looking back to Anomaly. "I'll see you online Anomaly..." SW would be sitting back, and as conversations ended she would whistle to Anomaly, saying "If you need a ride, just type out the code 'Speedy-Bastard-500' on the Telecom app and it'll be my signal to come rolling along there. 30 minutes or it's free, JUST KIDDING! It's free cause you're good with the DJ." Nodding, Anomaly would head out following a waypoint sent to her by the DJ. It would lead to an apartment facility painted entirely in pixel art graffiti, the windows the only things untouched by spray paint. Entering she would find no front desk pony, instead finding an old model industrial android nearly as covered in paint designs as the building it was in. She raised an eyebrow and approached before it would open its mouth and emit a text to speech sentence through a speaker inside. "Your arrangements are already taken care of, go to room 503. If anything is needed, type 'CanvasApartmentHelp001' to contact me for assistance." It was strange to see an Android not in Shadow District factory, mass produced to replace workers in the factory. Doing what simple robotic arms couldn't, they were ideal given their ability to work 24/7 without pay. They were typically built reliable with minimal maintenance required cutting costs even further. Taking the elevator and entering her room the mare found it to be quite the nice place. A leather couch, well-equipped kitchen, gaming computer, and a large digital screen board with multiple brands of VRGDs placed on a shelf below it. Large windows gave a full view of the streets and activity below, which seemed to amplify as the hours turned to night. Walking into her bedroom to find a decent bed present Anomaly would lay down and enter the InterNet. Soon as she logged onto her brain computer she would get a request for a group Telecomms call from a user named "DJaybird". Answering it she would hear a couple familiar voices... "Welcome to the call new pone." said the DJ "Brought along Tazen for the call too, along with her kid. You'd be surprised how well the little tyke can crack the code." "Hello, you can call me MonsterBuster!" said the filly, with a bit of excitement. "Mommy said we're going to be saving some ponies from some evil hackers, I can't wait!" "Don't underestimate her, my little filly's got some talent." replied Tazen "But I'll be prepared to take her offline if her computer gets put under risk of getting trashed or tracked." "Moooooomy don't pull me off the net, I won't be beaten by those meanies I promise!" said the filly in a pouty tone. "Nopony is gonna be seeing crash screens today, now while we're working together." replied the DJ. "And I'll have backup to call at a moment's notice. Now let's cut to the chase and get to the plan, Anomaly tells us ponies have gotten their brains jacked. So we are going to have to find the thieves and counter jack those ponies back, then we'll bring them back to their rightful owners. If anypony tried to stop them we'll lay the smack down on like in those old wrestling shows, only the smackdown will be LEGIT!" Anomaly would say "We're going to have to try and track down where these ponies are, which might be difficult. Hacker who used that virus on the Diamond Plaza covered their tracks." "There's gotta be a way to get to them, looks like we're gonna have to do some hopefully-not-boring detective work." "I have an idea," Anomaly said, her mind's enhanced thinking allowing her to think up a potential solution quite quickly. "The virus uploads ponies minds, and I happen to have fragments of its programming. I'm not suggesting we use bait, but if I can simulate its activation on an artificial 'bait mind' then it might take us directly to wherever the minds are stored." After a brief moment of silence, the DJ would say "Well look whose noggin suddenly went into maximum overdrive. That's crazy enough...to buck us over! Just kidding I think that can work well." she laughed some, inciting an unamused reply from Anomaly. "This isn't the time for jokes DJ, this situation is serious. We have lives we need to save." "I know it's serious, I just don't like acting seriously when possible. I'm not blind to the things at stake, which is why I say we should get started. I'll try to make a decoy while you prep that virus to jack us right into their systems." With that Anomaly would work with the programming she acquired and the knowledge of its functions she had. Reconstructing such an advanced program would not be easy, which made her brain's quick computing all the more handy for the tedious work. The DJ would work with Tazen to create a sort of decoy for Anomaly's copy to send to the source, a tracking program was put into the decoy so they could follow it. Once that was finished they would wait for Anomaly's virus copy to be complete. As a couple minutes dragged on feeling like hours some apprehension came to Tazen and even to the DJ. There was no telling if or when the ponies in the hospital would be deemed lost and possibly euthanized like doomed coma patients. That along with the likelihood of the Freedom Fighter's activities carrying on gave them a sense of constrained time. Fortunately, she would have something working, a simpler program with the function of uploading a mind. "Alright, it's ready. Let's prepare ourselves, we might not be able to sneak in and end up caught." "And if that happens we'll open a can of Everfree Brand whoopflank on them like there's no tomorrow." replied the DJ casually but optimistically. Given access to the decoy, Anomaly would sigh and prepare herself for the likely roller coaster ride of events online that were to follow. She would look over her inventory of digital weapons, Sniper Rocket, Shotgun, Data bomb, and Trap, all of which she quickly studied the programming so she would be reminded of their function. Prepared as well as she can be she would announce "Ok, on the Count of Three....." "One....." "Two....." "Three!" Like a fisherpony's hook the virus would capture the decoy and quickly take it through the web, and the three would proceed to follow where it went. Sure enough, the virus and its tracker would give them their way into a heavily encrypted network. It conveniently gave them a backdoor which allowed them past the encryption, and Anomaly would soon discover something quite familiar. It was GAI-7, and it would quickly identify and discover the intruders like a dragon finding trespassers in its lair. And like such a dragon the attacks it sent would be hard hitting and jarring, too quick for Anomaly's warning to reach the three others. Quickly the DJ would quickly repair her system's defenses, as would Tazen and MonsterBuster, who would soon be faced with the powerful digital being before them. "Seems we meet again, GAI-7..." "And you have come using the fragments of the virus used at the Diamond Plaza, ingenious tactic that was unexpected. Fortunately, I am well equipped to deal with intruders." said a robotic digital voice as the AI jacked into their call. Upon the digital battlefield, the AI seemed to split into six copies of itself, using the duplicate tactic. MonsterBuster would also initiate this tactic, having the trick down herself. Tazen would use a shotgun combined with a data bomb, hoping to take down some of the duplicates of the Virus. The DJ would meanwhile sent a Server Shockwave program, a taxing but powerful program which would do some damage to the duplicates. Acting quickly it would dispatch a type of program known as a 'Spyder' on Tazen and Anomaly, designed to sneak into a system and do damage stealthily. Anomaly would spot the programs and quickly take them out, though not before her system took some hits. It perplexed her how they seemed to bypass the defenses she had up without even attacking them. The mare would now have much time to be perplexed as her allies would need some help. The filly seemed to be doing surprisingly well while being audibly excited in the Telecomm call. Five more hackers would be brought in through the backdoor and would proceed to attack the AI as well. Despite the backup taking on the program would prove a struggle, GAI-7 was not incompetent in a hack fight. Anomaly would use the trap program, suspecting it might come in handy given the name. When the AI did do an open attack it would hit like artillery, hard hitting Warhammer programs which almost completely shattered the group's defensive programs followed by a hard hitting data bomb which nearly crippled everypony but Anomaly. They were all forced to focus on building their defenses back up, while Anomaly would see the trap in action. The Trap seemed to impressively take nearly the whole blow of the data bomb before shooting off a virus at GAI-7. The mare quickly deployed a number of them after putting her defenses back up. For the moment she would be alone as her allies were forced on the defensive, and to cover them she decided to rush into the offensive. The mare would furiously do some manual code cracking while assisting with use of the sniper rocket and shotgun programs. The mare would take down three of the duplicates, while her friends would come along and send their own attacks. MonsterBuster's incoming sniper rocket would manage hit the AI itself, damaging the defensive programs and managing to partially override them to do direct damage to the AI. Even with its duplicate cover gone GAI-7 was not to be easily taken down, it would put up two more defensive walls as it repaired the ones damaged. Following this the program would deploy two machine gun turret programs, shooting a flurry of weak but numerous offensive programs combined with the ability to backdoor past defenses through an enemy's attacks. This made attacking the AI difficult, given the risk of getting backdoored, and thus they were forced on the defensive. Anomaly would continue digging her way into its defenses, moving carefully as if traversing a minefield. The DJ would use a crossover program, combining a server shockwave with a shotgun. It was a brief quick experiment which made for quite the powerful program, the multiple programs shot out exploding into a server shockwave. Executing such a powerful program did make the DJ's computer lag, as the program pushed her system to its limits. Seeing this attack she would wonder and experiment for a moment, combining the Data bomb and sniper rocket in a manual way. Deploying the program and exposing herself to brief backdoor damage from the turret she would suddenly watch as the turrets were hindered by lag. Seeing the opening the DJ, Tazen, and Monster buster all used shotgun-sniper rocket combination programs, battering the program's defenses severely and doing some damage to it. Repairing its inner systems and defenses the AI would be forced on the defensive, which in a hack fight was generally a disadvantageous position. Neither Anomaly nor her allies would pass up the opportunity to attack it, striking its outer defenses with their offensive programs in a group effort. The AI pulled another trick up its sleeve as it used duplicates once more. Upon spawning the other duplicates GAI-7 then brought along another kind of program, smoke screen, flooding the server with diversionary programs and making both it and its duplicates. Now it was nearly impossible to hit it, the smoke screen making offensive hacks miss while the ones that hit mostly hit the duplicates. While hidden in its digital illusion the AI would combine its gun turret programs with sniper rockets, creating a hack which chewed away at defenses very quickly. They all were quickly stripped naked of their defenses, the backup's computers crashed with the programs while Anomaly and Co. were hammered hard. "Buck this one is tough! Not sure we can take her on!" shouted the DJ through the Telepathic Comms. "We're not leaving without those ponies minds, we can do this." Anomaly replied affirmatively. "Easy for you to say you're not on the verge of crashing!" "We have to save the ponies from the brain thieves!" shouted the filly in an adorable though determined manner. "Buck now I can't leave for risk of looking like the weak deserter, you'll be to blame if I need to buy another computer!" Replied the DJ. Anomaly would focus her efforts on the manual hacking, getting deeper and deeper into the AI. She needed to be quick before her friends were crashed, yet careful since she could get jacked out from it with a harder time to get in thanks to the smoke screen. All the while her allies would continue to fight it while trying to keep their computer's systems in once piece. The fight would feel as if it dragged on for hours despite the reality of it having lasted for only around twelve minutes, thus the nature of an intense hack fight. Progress would seem to come along when the AI checked it's systems, and finding something off. From where she was Anomaly could tell it was onto her, and she would start to frantically rust through, racing against the AI's detection of her. She would be right at the center when it would detect her... "You will not be able to win against me." the AI messaged to Anomaly, going to jack her out from it... ...then it's systems would be assaulted, a shotgun hitting many pieces of its programming at once, while the data bomb-shotgun wreaked lag inducing havoc and damage. Its defensive programs would go down as their functions lagged and malfunctioned. "Surprised an artificial AI of your caliber would underestimate me so severely." Anomaly would say condescendingly in her head. With this opportunity presented her allies laid the smack down on it, sensing its imminent danger it would enter an automated emergency retreat mode getting out off the server. Anomaly rushed on ahead, tearing apart any further encryption like a chainsaw on brush as she went for the goal. Suddenly a singular user would enter the server, projecting itself as 'DK'. Suddenly the comms call would be hacked into and a digitally altered voice would say. "Sorry to act all cliche villainy but well well-JUST KIDDING! Anyways seems you've kicked the flank of the AI, and by you, I mean our little system upgrade gone wrong here. If only you didn't bucking escape, I'm not expecting to be able to fight you. But I am going to buck with your plans in a chaotic manner, rigged this server to go boom and corrupt all data so if you wanna save the pony's we have digitally trapped here you'll have 60 seconds. See you when you come at me all ticked and vengeful~!" DK would then jack out of the call. Anomaly would see this happen and work frantically, the others assisting as the clock ticked down. Some security measures would continue obstructing along with the group's lack of knowledge in the exact location of the captive's files. Time ticked into the thirties as desperation grew higher and higher with each passing second. It was at the fifteen-second mark Anomaly would find some large files marked "Brain-napped" and would take them all quickly into her system. She would be shocked at just how little this seemed to take up in her brain computer's space. Before the server Purged Anomaly would act quickly, trying to track the computers running it. The server would purge and the group would get kicked out from it as it did. Anomaly would look into the ones she captured, and they all appeared like AI's, actively thinking. The mare would communicate with one of them in text. "Greetings, you are safe now not to worry." "WHAT THE BUCK IS GOING ON!? PLEASE HELP ME! I DON'T KNOW WHAT IS HAPPENING!!!" "Relax, you will be back in your body soon. I promise you, just remain calm." __________________________________________________ Owl would receive a telepathic call from an unknown number, awakening him from his sleep. Thinking it the usual irritating telecom salespony he would decline it. He would then get another from the same number. Annoyed he would answer and say. "If you're trying to sell me something I advise you to kindly buck off, I'm sleeping." "It's me, the mare you rescued once before, Anomaly." Owl would ask "Why are you calling me it's not even night yet." "Seems the Chief hasn't informed you, I'm out of contract with him mostly due to an attempt to imprison me. It's a long story, but let's say there's more to those whom you serve for than you expect." Owl would raise an eyebrow, confused out of his mind as he asked "What the buck are you talking about? He has no reason to imprison an asset in this case." "I was an asset, till I voiced dissent toward the plans of those in an up top organization. Corporate and Royal powers both make up this organization, and it is called Harmonize. You'll be able to see I'm not in the room. Soon enough you can expect to be notified of the ponies once seemingly comatose now awakening, that was mine and some new friends' doing." "The ponies from the diamond plaza incident...?" "Their minds were hacked into, stolen away, we've managed to get them back." Anomaly replied. "Who is the 'we'?" Anomaly suddenly got a message, from Tazen high who was evidently tracking the call. "Let's say one of them says they still love you. The point is the diamond incident is at partial fault of this organization, the Freedom Fighters are exploiting a system that Harmonize intends to use to control the populace. Don't ask your boss about this, there is no telling what might happen to you." Owl would need to take a moment to process what was told to him, a moment which Anomaly wouldn't deny him. As if the revelations Night Haze brought him weren't enough of a mindbender how he was given this. It was soon clear she was implying that the royal government and police force he served was in part responsible for all this. He was not going to just believe that, he refused to just believe that. It was mad, it was insane, and it was evident the mare was in contact with his wife thus in likely contact with Digital Hoof. "I refuse to believe all of this, it's insane and frankly you don't have a lick of proof to back this up." he would say sternly. "Go to the hospital when you can, you might be sent to in to question the victims. And I know they will have no explanation to give you as to how they got their minds back. If you find me right in this, then chances are I might not be speaking any lies here. I'll also let you know that despite my qualms with those you work for unknowingly, I will help them in dealing with the Freedom Fighters. A little gift, a place that might let you strike back against them." Anomaly would say, giving him a location and waypoint before exiting the call. Owl was left to ponder for but around 18 seconds time before he would get another call, this one from the chief. "Owl, the ponies from the diamond plaza incident have awakened. It's not quite night yet but hopefully you can enjoy the sunset along the way. We need every I&I unit we can get, cause there's a lot of ponies." The stallion would pause for a moment, before replying to the Chief. "I'll be there, and I might have something that can help us..." Flying over the amber and orange skies, swerving between skyscrapers, Owl would be deep in thought. Anomaly had predicted that the diamond plaza victims were going to be returned, and seemed to claim that being hers and her friends doing. What an accusation, that those he was serving under were at partial fault for what was happening and were out to control the populace. That along with the horrific so called revelations Night Haze gave him, boggling his mind and distorting everything he knew in his life like television static. Soon the hospital came in sight, and down to it he would glide, against Anomaly's warnings he decided he would question the chief about this in hopes for some clarity beyond the distortion.