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 Forum index » Archive » Archive: Perplex City » PXC: General/Updates
[UPDATE] The Path of Least Time-20th February
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ryandrew
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Joined: 21 Jan 2005
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 		[UPDATE] The Path of Least Time-20th February
Quote:
The Clean Rooms
Monday, February 20 2006, 06:06 PM

There's a place in Perplex City which everyone says is ideal for clandestine meetings. It's down in the Old Town, not too far from the Academy and near Camblin Park. Back in the old days, the area used to be the seat of Perplex City's government, and you can still see the dignified, aloof buildings there; of course, now, they've been converted into public galleries and bars to serve the trendy new Caldera Street folk. It's said that all sorts of power-broking goes on there, between brilliant Academicians and the gerontocratic elite of the business world.

All of this is why I met Detective Helena Frye at a cheap cafe on Alchemy Bay last week. The people who go to Camblin Park want to be seen; it's an exercise in image. I didn't.

Helena didn't seem particularly surprised when I insisted on a public meeting. Just as I didn't want to see her in a private place where she might attempt... something..., she probably didn't want to attract too much attention to her police activities. According to the deep data-mining that I've been doing over the past couple of weeks, Helena's secret police are not officially sanctioned by the council, and given their apparent lack of results, I can't imagine that whoever is sponsoring them is happy with what they're achieving.

I arrived at the cafe a few minutes early and ordered some sweet tea, settling back in a old crushed sofa. There was some sort of run going on outside, along the coast. I sipped from my mug and watched the young people bound past the window, wondering whether any of them knew who I was, or who Helena was. Most of them probably didn't.

Helena strolled in, right on time. She looked completely at home in her brown jacket and jeans - a big difference from the riot gear outfit I first saw her in - and after getting a coffee, greeted me like an old friend. We sat in silence for a minute as I relaxed. I was happy enough. I'd done my job, she was going to have her information, why not be happy and drink tea?

Finally, I pulled out my key from my pocket and gestured at her with it. She unclasped her key from around her wrist - non-military, I noticed with interest - and we tapped them together. Reams of information flowed across the electrical contacts in the time it took for a runner to draw breath.

"It's all there," I said. "I hacked into the Hesh Intranet and got the files you'll need. The guy who put the message on the album went by the name of Cyrus Quinton. He set both of us up, and now he's long gone. You'll want to listen to them."

She looked doubtful, but took some headphones from a bag and listened intently. I watched her as she listened, a frown growing on her forehead. When she'd finished, she shook her head.

"Don't look so worried, Kurt. I believe you. I'm just annoyed that this Cyrus - or V, or whatever his name is - managed to play us so well. I can understand him being able to manipulate the people on Earth, but we shouldn't be so careless. For your part, you fell for a totally ridiculous trick by blithely going to Gillit Road with no proof. And for my part, he knew exactly when I was going to raid that place. He's smart," she said, irritated.

"He's insane," I replied.

"He's very intelligent, and he believes in something. He believe so much that he'd do anything in its service, and that makes him more dangerous, because he's willing to sacrifice anything," said Helena. "Maybe that makes him insane. Although I imagine others in his organisation might consider him a hero."

I digested this for a second. "I suppose you've found the killer of Monica Grand now," I said.

She snorted. "Yes, I suppose so. You know what happened when we went to her apartment? There were two traces of blood there. Most was from Monica. The rest was from someone who didn't exist; it didn't match up to any individual we have on record, which is impossible. We have every single person in the city on our records. In other words, either this person is not from the city, or he's hacked our records."

"You seem to be having a serious problem in that regard," I smiled.

She gave me a warning look over her coffee. I decided not to press the matter, and watched the less agile runners half jog, half walk past the window.

"What about the tunnels?" I asked, thinking about to their unnatural cleanliness.

"They're all sealed up now. We've posted surveillance drones there and in all branches. I don't think it'll do any good though, they've obviously been scared off," she said, deliberately misunderstanding me.

"That's not what I meant. You told me you knew why they were so clean," I said.

Helena drank the remains of her coffee and set it down on her table. "Kurt, you really don't know what you're getting into. But we had an agreement, so I'll tell you. They were building something. Something big, something that required a clean room. And it may have involved the technology that's been going missing from the Academy. Beyond that, I don't know anything and I would strongly suggest you don't look into it. Whoever was behind it in the Academy has become very careful ever since Holyoke's death."

She gathered up her jacket and before leaving, looked at me and said "I'm sure we'll be seeing each other again soon."

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Caine: I need very urgently to be far more drunk than this.
Anna: Noo! Violet, please don't hit me with that lead pipe! Arrghhhh.........

PostPosted: Mon Feb 20, 2006 8:09 pm
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GasparLewis
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Helena Frye wrote:
I can understand him being able to manipulate the people on Earth, but we shouldn't be so careless. For your part, you fell for a totally ridiculous trick by blithely going to Gillit Road with no proof.


HEY! Evil or Very Mad

Hm, so the cleanliness was a setup for something involving the ionizers and plates, then. Perhaps a venture to cross over and get it back before we do? (Of course, how to do those with 3-D hologram measuring tools and ionizers is beyond me [unless of course they were only minor pieces in a much larger setup already existing].)

And I still think we have the identities right... something's just wrong about it; there's nto enough information, nor has there been since Day 1, to conclusively say much of anything that hasn't been revealed already. I say we keep playing the side we're on now, to be sure, but be ready to switch in an instant should new revelations present themselves.

I like cookies. Razz

PostPosted: Mon Feb 20, 2006 8:38 pm
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Sentinel
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 		Well Kurt made it through the weekend then! phew Surprised

Helena Frye said:
Quote:
They were building something. Something big, something that required a clean room. And it may have involved the technology that's been going missing from the Academy.


so that may include the technology found just after the theft of the cube then?

Helena also said:
Quote:
I'm sure we'll be seeing each other again soon.


Is it just me or does that sound slightly ominous? Confused
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 20, 2006 8:41 pm
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locqust
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 		Problem with "clean room" it could be any number of things from computer equipment right up to space probes and nuclear stuff. So really it doesn't help much, did we ever work out what reynolds ionisers were?
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 20, 2006 8:58 pm
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Mikeyj
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Helena wrote:
"He's very intelligent, and he believes in something. He believe so much that he'd do anything in its service, and that makes him more dangerous, because he's willing to sacrifice anything," said Helena. "Maybe that makes him insane. Although I imagine others in his organisation might consider him a hero."


Not sure how to read this. Is it a little too detailed to be purely speculation on her part? Or am I being paranoid?
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 20, 2006 9:01 pm
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Jotacon
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Mikeyj wrote:
Helena wrote:
"He's very intelligent, and he believes in something. He believe so much that he'd do anything in its service, and that makes him more dangerous, because he's willing to sacrifice anything," said Helena. "Maybe that makes him insane. Although I imagine others in his organisation might consider him a hero."


Not sure how to read this. Is it a little too detailed to be purely speculation on her part? Or am I being paranoid?


You could be onto something there. He sounds like a classic religious zealot to me. His devotion is to the cube and he would do anything for it. Is Helena perhaps the same way? Or does she know for a fact he is this way because she knows him?
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 20, 2006 9:07 pm
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tanner
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GasparLewis wrote:

I say we keep playing the side we're on now, to be sure, but be ready to switch in an instant should new revelations present themselves.



what side are we on now?-- i thought we were still trying to get at the facts -- no sides chosen as yet
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 20, 2006 9:26 pm
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angelsk
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Mikeyj wrote:
Helena wrote:
"He's very intelligent, and he believes in something. He believe so much that he'd do anything in its service, and that makes him more dangerous, because he's willing to sacrifice anything," said Helena. "Maybe that makes him insane. Although I imagine others in his organisation might consider him a hero."


Not sure how to read this. Is it a little too detailed to be purely speculation on her part? Or am I being paranoid?


Sounds like a criminal profile, maybe she's a psychologist as well?
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 20, 2006 9:59 pm
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noodrez
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GasparLewis wrote:
Of course, how to do those with 3-D hologram measuring tools and ionizers is beyond me


Well, I can see at least the hologram measuring stuff being part of some kind of targetting array for a larger system. With ionizers thrown in as well, I guess that they need some specific kind of gas or substance ionised, and the clean room is then required for limiting the amount of pollutants into it.

On the other stuff there. If cyrus was able to get himself off the city records, then that makes it (to me) easier for him to fool the perplexians. They have more technology than us and rely on it more. If something goes wrong with it then they are more seriously effected than us, especially when they dont know its happened. Helena does seem to have made a couple too many sweeping statements about cyrus from the limited amount we know about him, perhaps a bit suspicious.

The 'seeing you soon' bit is fairly obvious though. Kurt has been running around over there following clues for us. Hes crossed paths with the police before, and is more likely to do so again as the stakes get higher and higher. Its just logical to expect that he and helena will cross paths the next time we have a hair brained scheme to find the cube that kurt runs off to fulfill for us Smile

One other surprising thing there: Why did they have to touch their keys to transfer info? Even here we have stopped using actual contact for mobile devices. Secure wireless transfers make more sense surely? Limited range with something similar to bluetooth that is activated on demand would surely mean that its secure enough for anything. Especially if you then use a key agreed on on the spot with the person in a private key cypher. etc etc etc. There are plenty of ways to make short distance wireless transfer possible that it just seems a bit archaic to me Smile

PostPosted: Tue Feb 21, 2006 12:02 am
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Jotacon
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noodrez wrote:
There are plenty of ways to make short distance wireless transfer possible that it just seems a bit archaic to me


There isn't really any margin for error in actual contact. The only way someone could see it is by actually reading it off the key. That's why I prefer wired to wireless connections. Wireless can be cracked very easily. I personally know more than 1 way to do it.

Wait. I mean...I totally don't know anything cracking wireless...
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 21, 2006 5:55 am
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chichiri
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 		Just a though, but what if the cube is a targeting device for a enormously hefty apocalyptic death-star style cannon that they plan to blast the jesus out of earth with for our heathenish, spherical ways?
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 21, 2006 12:30 pm
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noodrez
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 		Considering that they already do so much without wires, and kurts key was compromised wirelessly at one point, its just surprising.

PostPosted: Tue Feb 21, 2006 12:30 pm
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Mikeyj
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noodrez wrote:
and the clean room is then required for limiting the amount of pollutants into it.


Or, if it were the location that the cube was posted from, you'd want to make sure that it was scrubbed and shiny so you don't accidentally introduce a harmless PXC virus that might, on earth, cause 'flu in, for example, birds or something...

... Shocked
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 21, 2006 2:00 pm
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ryandrew
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 		Of course! How could we forget? "Receda" is Anjsbourgian for bird flu!
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Caine: I need very urgently to be far more drunk than this.
Anna: Noo! Violet, please don't hit me with that lead pipe! Arrghhhh.........

PostPosted: Tue Feb 21, 2006 2:21 pm
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Muffin
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 		You may just have ruined an entire storyline, or just started one...

Or, TINAG, its all true, and the government are keeping all hush hush...

Back to the anti-3P hideout!
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 21, 2006 2:22 pm
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