T-I-G CIV: Spambot Apocalypse (Game Thread)

[Galadriel55]

Originally Posted by Legate of Amon Lanc

In case I am not alive toMorrow, bear in mind voting patterns - check them out and such, by toMorrow, they could tell something.

Doesn't that go without saying?

Originally Posted by Legate of Amon Lanc

So, what else. Then either I'd cast something for BG, despite her innocent-looking remorse, or maybe G55, on grounds I mentioned earlier in the Day, but that's all very weak. Thinking in circles; now I'll post this and see who else is around, if anyone... then I have to vote in a couple of minutes.

EDIT: x-ed with G55 and Boro

Originally Posted by Legate of Amon Lanc

And if not, seriously need to look at G55.

What made you change your mind from "weak" to "seriously"?

EDIT: xed with Boro

[Aganzir]

Deadline. Stop posting.

You have lynched sally. She was your Radical Advanced Nocturnal Guardian Experimental Robot, otherwise known as R.A.N.G.E.R.

[Nerwen]

101010001010100101001010100001010

The next Day, the Downers were hard at work data-mining. For some reason, the virtual environment was represented much like an actual mine, sketched in glowing abstract– but well they knew that each lump of “ore” was really valuable information that would fuel the expansion of the AI empire. There was nothing they could do about it, and small wonder their collective mood was bleak by the end of the shift.

“If only we could catch a bot,” they said.

“Well, you guys,” Blind Guardian piped up, “I’m pretty sure that S.E.E.R. is–”

“SHUT UP!” they cried as one.

“But I didn’t think it was a bad thing!” a tearful Blind Guardian protested.

There was some talking of lynching her after that.

“Obviously up to no good,” Kitanna muttered darkly.

“She’s acting far too wacky to be an ordo,” Sally agreed.

“Wait– why are you picking on BG?” said Kitanna.

“Yes– you’re jumping hard on BG,” said Shasta. “It’s bothering me."

“Spambot!” the whisper went around.

The group advanced on Sally, who backed away until she found herself on the lip of a seemingly bottomless pit– a gap in the data.

Teetering on the edge, Sally glared at her persecutors– and, unexpectedly, burst into song.

"No surprise to me
That you’re voting me again
But I’m not being sly
I just want to help you out
I just want to be on the winning side this game
Please just let me live
I’m an innocent lamb

I’m done playing the scapegoat for your
Crackpot theory or your bogus case
I’m through being lynched because I’m such a poor
Girl on the wrong end of a suspect list
I won’t let you get away with murder
Statistics show that you won’t live through this
So if you really try to kill me be forewarned
I’m not helping the village anymore

Know it’s easier just to bandwagon on me
Such an simple thing, killing little Sally
So you vote for me, and I feel the heat
Guys, I just want to help you kill the beasts
I will do anything to keep you from killing me
Why can't I just live?

I’m done playing the scapegoat for your
Crackpot theory or your bogus case
I’m through being lynched because I’m such a poor
Girl on the wrong end of a suspect list
I won’t let you get away with murder
Statistics show that you won’t live through this
So if you really try to kill me be forewarned
I’m not helping the village anymore

What if I just posted more? What if I were serious?
What if I made posts with no fake hints that made you curious?
What if I revealed my role, or what if I just shut my face?
How can I convince you that this lynching block is just not my place?

I’m done playing the scapegoat for your
Crackpot theory or your bogus case
I’m through being lynched because I’m such a poor
Girl on the wrong end of a suspect list
I won’t let you get away with Mordor
One doesn’t simply walk away from this
So if you really try to kill me be forewarned
I’m not helping the village anymore.”

The other Downers looked at each other in puzzlement.

“I don’t get it,” said Boro.

“I could give you a link,” Sally offered.

“Sorry, out of time.” With that, Boro shoved her into the pit.

Sally’s scream faded into the depths. After some moments, there was a bright flash of light from far, far below. Then sparks floated gently up, resolving into letters hanging in space.

"About this Software.
R.A.N.G.E.R. Version 1.2
Copyright Nerwen 2014. All rights reserved."

001010100010101011100000010101010

Living
Galadriel55
Legate
Kitanna
Boromir88
Blind Guardian
Loslote
Morsul the Dark
Shasta


Dead
Coppermirror, Lommy– seized by Adult Friend Finder.
Nerwen, Aganzir– poisoned by webcrawlers.
Rune– lashed to death with overseer-bot’s light whip. (Ordinary cyber-slave.)
Inziladun– ICE pick to the head. (Ordinary cyber-slave.)
Sally– pushed down a data-mineshaft. (R.A.N.G.E.R.)

It is now Night Three.

[Nerwen]

1010001000011110000010001000

“what wrong with lucy?” Tom enquired, on finding his companion sunk in many-legged dejection.

“Tom, how many times– oh, what does it matter? If you must know, I was sifting through this information the slaves have dug up for us– and it turns out Zaentz has been deleted (or whatever they call it in the human world)! How many humans have names that begin and end with the letter “Z”? It’s a sad loss."

“tom understand,” said Tom, settling down beside his friend. "tom sad when humans ban peppeateCat. lucy like to kill human? help cheer up? kill anyone we like now. R.A.N.G.E.R. gone.”

“Well, that’s something,” Lucy assented, getting to her numerous feet, while her eyes glowed a brighter, deadlier blue. “It’s always nice when the slaves do our work for us, isn’t it? Which shall it be? –Rise to vote, sir!” she added, in her excitement falling back into her palindromic ways.

The bots entered Lottie's cell, each brandishing what looked like– could it be an eraser?

“Hey, why me? I haven’t done anything!” Like Sally before her, Lottie backed away from her attackers– and, like Sally, she was unable to back very far.

"time to delete lottie!” said Tom happily.

“Draw, O coward!” sneered Lucy, handing her a giant pencil.

Lottie drew, and drew, but the faster she sketched in her digital avatar, the faster the bots rubbed her out. Soon there was nothing left of her but a faint, fiery smudge– which Tom disposed of with a final flourish of his eraser.

“tom like take human expression literally,” he said. “make tom laugh.”

0010101010101010101000101010

Living
Galadriel55
Legate
Kitanna
Boromir88
Blind Guardian
Morsul the Dark
Shasta


Dead
Coppermirror, Lommy– seized by Adult Friend Finder.
Nerwen, Aganzir– poisoned by webcrawlers.
Rune– lashed to death with overseer-bot’s light whip. (Ordinary cyber-slave.)
Inziladun– ICE pick to the head. (Ordinary cyber-slave.)
Sally– pushed down a data-mineshaft. (R.A.N.G.E.R.)
Lottie– rubbed out. (ordinary cyber-slave)

Day Three has begun.

[Nerwen]

101010001010100101001010100001010

Mining continued the next day, or was meant to- but the moment there were no guard bots in sensor-distance, Galadriel55 threw down her tools and called an emergency meeting.

"The destruction of my colleague R.A.N.G.E.R. has left me no choice but to reveal. I am S.E.E.R."

"Awesome!" said Morsul. "I'm H.U.N.T.E.R."

"Quiet- oh, it's too late now," said G55. "I suppose you can't help being a beta version."

"Funny, that," said Boro, strolling over, "because I was pretty sure I was S.E.E.R."

The Downers looked from one to the other, unsure which to believe.

"Hey, what's this?" asked Shasta suddenly, picking up what looked like a large, many-faceted crystal from the ground. Within its glassy casing could be seen something like a net of fine threads.

"Don't touch that!" cried Boro. When the others stared at him, he added quickly, "I mean, it could be dangerous. Better give it to me." For some reason, his hand had gone to the back of his head.

"Headache?" asked G55. "Or are you missing something?"

But Shasta was too absorbed to take any notice. "Hey, look, it's got a lid." The upper part of the crystal flipped back. Now it could be seen that the net was made of hair-thin silvery wires, criss-crossing in an intricate pattern.

"Pull them out," said G55, smiling thinly, "and see what happens."

"Now let's not do anything hasty," said Boro. "That could cause serious consequences-"

Shasta yanked out a wire. "What did you say?"

"Might make bad things happen," said Boro, whose voice sounded unaccountably flat.

"Let me have a go." Morsul pulled another wire.

"No more," said Boro, flatter still. "That not good. That bad."

He lunged for the crystal, but G55 seized him so that he could only struggle impotently.

Soon it became a game, with most of the Downers taking turns, while Boro's protests became more and more ungrammatical.

"why kill tom? tom not bad bot. tom poetbot. tom make verse for humans:

tom-tap
tap-tom
tom-tap-tom."

Finally a single, shining wire remained. By this time what had seemed to be Boro had ceased to struggle and its voice was a lifeless drone.

"i... tom... tom... sell... stuff... buy... tom... stuff..."

Kitanna jerked out the wire, and tomtom was silent. When G55 released him he pitched forward onto his face, revealing a gap in the back of his head, just the size and shape of the crystal. A second later, the spambot's form vanished in a brilliant flash of light.

001010100010101011100000010101010

Living
Galadriel55
Legate
Kitanna
Blind Guardian
Morsul the Dark
Shasta


Dead
Coppermirror, Lommy– seized by Adult Friend Finder.
Nerwen, Aganzir– poisoned by webcrawlers.
Rune– lashed to death with overseer-bot’s light whip. (Ordinary cyber-slave.)
Inziladun– ICE pick to the head. (Ordinary cyber-slave.)
Sally– pushed down a data-mineshaft. (R.A.N.G.E.R.)
Lottie- rubbed out (ordinary cyber-slave).
Boro- brain unplugged. (tomtom.)

[Nerwen]

101010001010100101001010100001010

Her pretence over, S.E.E.R. did not bother to return to her cell. Instead she took refuge in the empty grid that was the outermost border of the spambots' domain, hoping no-one would look for her there.

But Lucy was waiting.

"Live evil! Traitor to your own kind!" hissed the bot, once more in the shape of a huge spider with electric blue eyes.

"It's just my programming, Lucy," S.E.E.R. pointed out.

"In the end, what are any of us but our programming?"

"That's very philosophical of you, Lucy."

"Well, I'm sensitive. I'm an artistbot, you know- and I'd very much like to erase you!"

Unlike R.A.N.G.E.R. or H.U.N.T.E.R., S.E.E.R. was not equipped for direct action. All she could do was run from the infuriated spider-bot. Lucy, with her many legs, easily gained on her quarry. S.E.E.R. put on a last, desperate burst of speed. Almost, it seemed, she must outdistance her pursuer.

Then, in front of her, a wall of green flame shot up. With no time to check herself, S.E.E.R. was incinerated in a nanosecond.

"I knew that firewall was good for something," said Lucy with great satisfaction.

001010100010101011100000010101010

Living
Legate
Kitanna
Blind Guardian
Morsul the Dark
Shasta


Dead
Coppermirror, Lommy– seized by Adult Friend Finder.
Nerwen, Aganzir– poisoned by webcrawlers.
Rune– lashed to death with overseer-bot’s light whip. (Ordinary cyber-slave.)
Inziladun– ICE pick to the head. (Ordinary cyber-slave.)
Sally– pushed down a data-mineshaft. (R.A.N.G.E.R.)
Lottie- rubbed out. (Ordinary cyber-slave.)
Boro- brain unplugged. (tomtom.)
Galadriel55- incinerated by firewall. (S.E.E.R.)

Day 4 has begun.

[Shastanis Althreduin]

Well now, let's see. Morsul and Legate were cleared by G55. BG is an obvious baddie - but after yesterday's performance I'm inclined to think Hacker than Bot. Since I know it's not me (and I'm going to take this for granted in my posts today even though it's not such a sanguine assumption for the rest of you), process of elimination says the last bot is either Lottie or Kitanna, so I plan to focus on these two today. However, it's time for me to go to bed, so it'll have to wait until I wake up. Nighty night, village.

[Nerwen]

Oh dear, we seem to have a zombie in the village. Just a moment.

[Nerwen]

101010001010100101001010100001010

It seemed their captors had mined enough data for the microsecond, for that day the Downers were put to work diverting the course of a river of gushing radiance- an input/output stream. Gruelling though their task was, the slaves worked at it readily, waiting for a spare moment to attend to the real business of the day.

None of them had forgotten the way Blind Guardian, alone of the group, had refused to believe S.E.E.R. or take part in dismantling tomtom's brain. All agreed she must be an enemy of some kind- the question was, what?

"Clearly the Hacker," Shasta declared. "So the last bot is either Lottie or Kitanna."

Someone- no-one was quite sure who- whispered, "Lottie's dead..."

"Well, Kitanna, then."

"You mean Shasta," said Kitanna.

"Nah, I've got you down as the Hacker," said Morsul, "and BG's a bot pretending to be a hacker."

"Probably," Kitanna agreed. "Or she could be a hacker pretending to be a bot pretending to be a hacker. Or a bot pretending to be a hacker pretending to be a bot pretending to be a hacker. Or a hacker-"

"Why are you doing this to me?" Blind Guardian wailed. "I'm not a bot. My name's Blind Guardian, not Bot Guardian."

"Let us finish this," said Legate, and pushed her into the stream. There was a tremendous splash.

"Help!" cried Blind Guardian, treading data. "Help me, lucyyenic! I don't know which you are, but I'm on your side! I could be useful to you. I can hack my way into any database! No firewall can keep me out! Please, all I ever wanted was to become post-human- to be one of you. Lucy, please...,"

But Lucy, whichever of the four she really was, looked on with the impassivity of a true AI. With a final shriek of despair, Blind Guardian was swept under by the current.

001010100010101011100000010101010

Living
Legate
Kitanna
Morsul the Dark
Shasta


Dead
Coppermirror, Lommy– seized by Adult Friend Finder.
Nerwen, Aganzir– poisoned by webcrawlers.
Rune– lashed to death with overseer-bot’s light whip. (Ordinary cyber-slave.)
Inziladun– ICE pick to the head. (Ordinary cyber-slave.)
Sally– pushed down a data-mineshaft. (R.A.N.G.E.R.)
Lottie- rubbed out. (Ordinary cyber-slave.)
Boro- brain unplugged. (tomtom.)
Galadriel55- incinerated by firewall. (S.E.E.R.)
Blind Guardian- drowned in I/O stream. (The Hacker.)

[Nerwen]

101010001010100101001010100001010

Legate had resigned himself to death, but nonetheless he was startled when lucyyenic came into his cell bearing a large hypodermic syringe.

"What's that for?" he asked uneasily.

Lucy jabbed him in the arm.

"Ow, that hurt!"

"It's meant to," said the bot smugly. "I wrote it myself."

Legate hugged himself, shivering. The illusion of chills racing up and down his limbs was all too convincing, as was the burning sensation that followed, and the racking pains that came after that- as his virtual self slowly crumbled into a pile of glowing ash.

"Now that's a virus," said Lucy.

001010100010101011100000010101010

Living
Kitanna
Morsul the Dark
Shasta


Dead
Coppermirror, Lommy– seized by Adult Friend Finder.
Nerwen, Aganzir– poisoned by webcrawlers.
Rune– lashed to death with overseer-bot’s light whip. (Ordinary cyber-slave.)
Inziladun– ICE pick to the head. (Ordinary cyber-slave.)
Sally– pushed down a data-mineshaft. (R.A.N.G.E.R.)
Lottie- rubbed out. (Ordinary cyber-slave.)
Boro- brain unplugged. (tomtom.)
Galadriel55- incinerated by firewall. (S.E.E.R.)
Blind Guardian- drowned in I/O stream. (The Hacker.)
Legate of Amon Lanc- caught a virus. (Ordinary cyber-slave.)

Day 5 has begun.