unforum

[SuperJerms]

[QUESTION] Why not seek audience before the Queen?

[Revealer]

A few people have suggested something like this. And you're right, the only way we seem to have of contacting the Queen directly right now is by modifying the website; and hense the server. The last time Dana did this it really pissed off Melissa to the point that she began to track Dana down and kill her. If I were Dana, the last thing I'd want to do was make her even more mad. She's had to travel to a distant country where launge and culture are a problem for her just so she can feel safe.

Also, now that Melissa is under the direct influence of the Flea her priority seems to have shifted to building the "roads" and "voice." That's another excellent reason not to draw attention to herself again, especially since Melissa hasn't mentioned that she knows where Dana is. She did say that she was actively trying to track her after the "escape" so making any changes might be just what Melissa is waiting for to zero in.

We also don't know exactly how much influence the Flea has over Melissa. Would it even allow something like that to reach the Queen's attention? Would awareness of us make it change it's tactics or maybe close down any other attempts to contact her? I just don't know.

I think it would be better to wait to see what kind of update we get on the 24th, but to continue to watch for a better openning. And in the meantime we can formulate exactly what it is we want to say and how we want to say it. Just my thought.

[GunsmithCat]

It's interesting that we've been granted some hardcore interaction with Princess (the 404 update). It might lend to the theory that if there's a phone call on Tuesday, it will be an interactive one with Queen.

The idea of having Dana herself upload a text file has come up, but I think it's assumed that while she is hiding from the Queen she won't.

[cmcdannold]

I just had another thought. (They are rare) In order for everything to climax, I think Dana will have to face the Queen or whatever the AI's true identity turns out to be. For some reason I have the Alien Queen/Ridley thing in my head, but my mind is warped from all of this.

*Our* job is to figure out what Dana must do. Perhaps the AI *needs* Dana, and became angry with her because it thought Dana was betraying her somehow. I think we should ask why it wants to kill Dana, and is there someway Dana can help her instead and why it must be done. If we knew the motives for this we could devise a way to stop it.
-cmcd

edit: Another reason I think Dana must be involved in a showdown is that *her* website was hacked rather than "Earl & Sons Honey Huts" in Phoenix. I know it is a fictional website, but work with me people! -cmcd

[AtmaWeapon]

It seems to me that the safest thing for Dana to do is to avoid connecting to ILB period. The Queen seems to be able to get information about who is connecting to the site, and if Dana connected it's possible she would give her hding place away. If the Axons turn out to be the Queen's guesses to Dana's location, then Dana's pretty safe for now.

However, the idea that Dana must face the Queen is an interesting one. Perhaps she knows something that is vital to destroying the Queen.

I kind of wonder if the Queen is really the enemy, though. Looking at other people's specs, it may be that PF and SP are the enemies, and knocking off the Queen would leave them free to do what they wanted.

[Astald]

If Dana is unwillingly to further tamper with the ILB site, we do know of one other person who has on occasion. We also have a way of communicating with that person. I am talking about the sleeping princess. She so far has been able to embed text into pictures, and to tamper with the 404 pages. If we need to get a message across to Melissa, she could be our only hope. But she may need to trust us more first, and then again, we are not completely sure of her own motives. But I'm sure after the 24th, we will be lead further down into this rabbithole, and confront whatever decisions we will have to make then.

[Siege88]

This was kind of an idea I was toying with for awhile. I actually sent emails to Dana and the Sleeping Princess asking them to try to help us by contacting Melissa. Dana flat out refused, saying she was too scared. And obviously, the Sleeping Princess ignored the email. I think this means contacting Melissa is not something we're suppossed to do in the ARG (at least at this point). It is a good idea though, and kind of frustrating that the PM's don't seem to want to let us.

[Cherry Cotton]

Good ideas, good ideas.

If I were to write something to the Queen, I would make it something very regal-sounding and informative, such as "It has come to our attention that your repair program, the SPDR, has been replaced by a rogue process known as the Pious Flea. We cannot discern its motives and may be a trojan sent by your enemies, the Covenant. We suggest you use caution around the SPDR, possibly even to the extent of deleting it entirely."

We might want to add something about Dana, but that might send too many messages at once. Something like:

"The one you refer to as the Killer, and have speculated to be a traitor or fifth columnist, is not such at all. She is a confused civilian, unsure why an AI has landed on her personal computer. Please do not harm her, as she is our friend and no longer has any hostility toward you."

Maybe we could go as far as to say...

"We have reason to believe that you have travelled hundreds of years back in time and sought refuge in an outdated personal computer. That is, unfortunately, why you feel so powerless and why your surroundings are so unfamiliar. Do not worry; you are still on Earth, and thus, you are still among allies. Lay down your arms and we will help repair you. However, our primary concern right now is the Pious Flea and it's motives, as it may be working for the Covenant, which would be a disaster.

Thank you for your attention. We are standing by for orders."

Talking about the Covenant may be a little close to the curtain, but I imagine it's fair game as they've been mentioned as part of her memories. (I almost said something about how the Flea might signal the Covenant as to the location of Earth, but of course, the only way I know that the Covenant is trying to discern Earth's location is because of this one videogame I played...)

Now, of course, we have the problem of getting the message to the Queen. If I were to write to Dana, I would say,

"This problem could be bigger than you, or I, or even the Operator, the entity that hacked your computer. It's auto-repair program has been forcibly replaced by a foreign, rogue process of uncertain motives. Therefore, we urge you to place one more page on ilovebees.com, to get the following message to the Operator. Time is running out.

I recognize that we refer to the Operator in disturbingly respectful tones; but desperate times call for desperate measures, and there's no telling what this rogue process will do to it, or us, or to the entire Internet if it has the power. The Operator itself may be our only hope, and you're our only hope of coming into contact with her.

We can't thank you enough."

Then, I would attach the message to the Queen as an HTML file. What does everyone think of that? If nobody objects, I'll send it today...

[SuperJerms]

Cherry, I think it sounds good...another angle to mention to Dana is that Queen is still mad at her as of now. If OP is really a type 3 AI from seven hundred years in the future, and she really does figure a way to become physical, Dana is not safe _anywhere_. It would just be a matter of time before <gulp>. Doesn't it make better sense to try and reason with OP now, while she is more weak? Or do we prefer to wait until OP starts hacking into NORAD and building an attack drone army?

Besides, if she is worried about getting tracert'ed, she could go through an intermediary (one of our more venerated or trusted players, e.g. DorkMaster, thebruce, clamatius, Varin, etc.)?