Also, in case you want to write your own RP surrounding hacking and enjoyed the visual representation of it, please consider the "Janus" program to be freely available and easy to find.
The door to the dimly-lit little cybercafe dinged as it opened, admitting the slight form of Cassandra Grigori. The air that rushed past her face into the cool evening smelled of sweat and junk food, badly covered up with those air fresheners that plug into open power outlets here and there. Her brown eyes twinkled as she gave the cafe's occupants a quick once-over, noticing a face or two she knew as well as several she didn't. Long brown skirts swirled about her ankles as she ambled over to an open terminal and pulled a chair up to it. She rummaged in one pocket, pulling out a tiny portable drive and slotting it into one of the available ports on the front of the computer in front of her. She settled into the chair, flexing her fingers once or twice before resting them on the keys. She had little cause to worry about carpal tunnel with the virus swirling in her veins, but...there were worse habits to have.
She selected the option in the lower left of her screen that would bring up the gateway that the city's occupants used for hacking. It wasn't advertised or condoned, but almost everyone knew where it was and how to bring it up. If not, a simple query to any passing citizen would glean the information - it was no secret.
Next, she brought up something of her own design, a Graphic User Interface (GUI) called "Janus" that translated the text commands and system responses into a visual environment. It really didn't give her any advantage whatsoever, it was just an aesthetic addition that fed her senses. She'd written it about a month prior, and had made it available as freeware on CrowNet. The interface took up the screen as the machine found a random system to enter, and Cassandra became absorbed in the virtual environment.
. . .
A diminuitive figure in a deep-hooded robe sat on a huge floating book in the middle of a room, a dark nimbus surrounding its head. This was Cassandra's Persona, a figure representing her presence and actions in the network. It coalesced quickly, de-pixelating and gaining resolution over the course of a half-second, and she turned from one side to the other, taking in the space. The room was spacious, with its name/location and the system's security level emblazoned upon the wall - "10_10_Gateway -- Security: 9". Useful information, that.
"Gateway" meant the type of node that she was occupying, in this case a Gateway node that allowed users to enter the system. The first section reading "10_10" was its location on a grid of possible nodes in the system. Every time she had entered a system so far, she always came to the same type of node in the same grid location. Some consistency was a good thing, right? Security level was a different thing altogether. A system with a high security level was harder to hack, sometimes with more resilient or more numerous countermeasures, but the system was also larger and potentially more rewarding.
The room's walls were a faint purple color, pulsing on a barely-noticeable level like a dying fluorescent lamp. She looked up to the corner of the room near the ceiling, and a light there glowed a strong green. That was good - the light symbolized the system's Alert Level, and if it turned red, she'd be kicked out. Same thing if she ran out of Movement points, the system would just drop her connection in the middle of whatever she was doing. Fortunately, she'd been training at this quite a while, and could keep moving for quite a while without getting exhausted.
The only other thing of immediate notice in the barren room was a basketball-sized orb patrolling the walls. As it turned the corner, it became obvious that it was a disembodied eyeball, the representation of a Sentinel program. Sentinel was one of the standard IC (Intrusion Countermeasure, sometimes called "ice" for short) programs that most systems came pre-installed with. This wasn't unexpected - Cass had yet to enter a system that didn't have that or an Authorization program guarding passage to the rest of the place. Reaching into the folds of the robe, Cassandra's Persona tossed a fine black web into the air over its head, shrouding itself from casual observation.
>> RUN STEALTH V4(SENTINEL)
+ sentinel app denied command and raised the alert level.
No success. The Sentinel program spotted the movement, eye swiveling to examine her, and the light in the corner shifted from green to yellow. If she continued failing, it would shift to amber, then red, and terminate the connection. The Persona grabbed another handful of web. Make it count this time, Cass thought to herself.
>> RUN STEALTH V4(SENTINEL)
+ sentinel app pacified by stealth program.
Success! The light remained yellow, but the Sentinel wandered on its way, no longer taking notice of the Persona in the middle of the room. Cass smiled and waved a hand, drawing a symbol in the air. Business here was taken care of, time to move on.
>> DSP NODES_CONNECTING
+ Surrounding nodes are:
+ 10_9_security
+
In response to the movement, the outline of a door blazed to life directly ahead of the Persona, marked with a "10_9_Security". Cass nodded to herself, mentally checking the system maps she'd memorized - there were only two types of systems on the market right now, the T-Type system and the N-Type system. The T-Type was limited to two File nodes at this security level, but the N-Type had three. More possible file nodes meant more possible files, which meant more potential profit. From looking at the maps, Cass knew that a Gateway node with only one exit meant this was an N-Type system, so it was a good idea to proceed. She placed her hand on the door.
>> CONNECT (10_9_SECURITY)
++ Security program "warrior" has executed command "Kick", attempting to destabilize your connection.
The Persona dematerialized, reappearing in a new room. Cautiously, she began to peer around the node before a heavy blow from behind caught her by surprise, knocking her for a loop. Regaining her balance, she looked behind her, and saw a figure dressed in a suit of old English armor, complete with gauntlets. It was illuminated from behind by the yellow light in the corner. Crud, a Warrior program. It would continue to attack, trying to destabilize her connection, until it was dealt with. The Persona drifted backward defensively as Cassandra quickly pondered her next move.
The Warrior program was only after her because the system's alert level was elevated to yellow. If it were still green, the program would be standing in the corner, completely oblivious to her passage. It was just bad luck that she'd had the mishap with the Sentinel a moment ago. These mishaps had been getting more and more seldom since she had upgraded her V1 programs to V4, which were more powerful and capable of dealing with the menaces they were designed for. They were expensive, though: three thousand dollars each, compared to the five hundred of a V1 program.
She'd picked up a few programs, but hadn't yet completed her entire portfolio. She was missing the specific countermeasure to the Warrior program, which was called Armor. With Armor successfully activated, the Warrior could attack all it wanted to, the previously-harmful salvos bouncing harmlessly off of the protection it afforded. Without that program, though, Cassandra was left with only one option: Delete. Delete was a very generalized tool for dealing with countermeasures, usable on any of them, but with a lower success rate. Fortunately, she'd upgraded that to V4 as well, so she stood a fighting chance. The Persona lifted one hand, a sparking ball of destructive energy forming in its open palm, and it cast the bolt toward the Warrior program.
>> RUN DELETE V4(WARRIOR)
+ Application sabotaged.
The projectile flew across the room and impacted the Warrior, seeping between cracks in its armor like high-voltage acid. A hissing sound came from within, and the countermeasure burst into pixels, twinkling into nothingness. Up in the corner, the Alert Level light clicked back to a cool green. One of Delete's unique quirks was that it had a chance of lowering the system's alert level when it succeeded, though failing with it ran the risk of raising it more than one level. In this moment the odds were in Cassandra's favor, and she became more secure for the gamble.
Without skipping a beat, the Persona drifted over the last few pixels rolling across the floor to the opposite wall, and stretched a hand toward it. If this wasn't actually a valid path to a different node, nothing would happen and she would have wasted valuable time, but Cassandra had studied the maps well and was fairly certain that this was a valid one. Checking the doors as she had in the previous node would have confirmed it for sure, but it would have also wasted valuable time she might need later.
>> CONNECT (10_8_FILES)
File nodes appeared as a much more messy room, littered with all sorts of miscellaneous objects. They represented data that was present in the node, everything from cast-off cookie bits waiting for deletion, to immensely valuable spreadsheets containing data that could be sold for a hefty price. It was impossible at first glance to tell which ones were even downloadable data, so the Persona waved its hand across the heap of junk, spreading what looked like a fine golden dust.
>> CHECK(FILES)
+ File names in this node:
+ 2524.exe
+ 5015.exe
+ writing95.doc
+ 2371.exe
+ cctv42.avi (encrypted)
+ schedule84.ics
The dust passed right through certain objects and clung to others, signalling that these were files that could be downloaded. One in particular, a cassette tape labelled "CCTV42.AVI", glowed a bright shade of silver instead of gold. With the quick motion of one of the Persona's fingers, the tape rose into the air, hovering in front of her. The silver coating meant that this file was "encrypted", and would be more difficult to download than the rest. There was several things that Cassandra could do at this point, and her mind went down the list, quickly eliminating possibilities before settling on the most direct one.
To figure out whether the file was worth downloading at all, Cassandra could run a program called Evaluate on it. While it was an easy matter to glance at the file once it was downloaded and determine its value, performing that task while it still existed on another system was much more difficult. Evaluate made it possible, but it was not always successful - and even when it was, sometimes it overestimated or underestimated the value. No, better not to waste the time on that.
She could run a program called Decrypt on it, which would remove the decryption and make it as easy to download as any other file. If she knew it would be successful AND knew that it was worth a decent amount of money, that might be a smart move. Especially since if she failed to download a file, it would raise the system alert just as much as failing against that Sentinel program. Being just a bit brash when it came to her actions on the web, though, Cass usually avoided this option.
Instead, she chose simply to Transfer it whole-parcel to her drive. She had invested in the V4 version of Transfer, and it was doing its job FANTASTICALLY - even with encrypted files like this. Settling on this option, Cass had the Persona open a pouch at its side, which issued a tiny whirlwind the size of a submarine sandwich, the lower tip of which remained anchored in the pouch as its mouth stretched toward the file, growing as it went. Gracefully, the cybernetic wind tugged at the inertia holding the file in place.
>> RUN TRANSFER V4(CCTV42.AVI)
+ File "cctv42.avi" has been downloaded.
After a moment, the cassette gave in to the gentle pull of the whirlwind, and was sucked into the obsidian depths of the Persona's pouch. The upgraded Transfer program certainly seemed worth the money. Cass ached to check her home directory and see if the file was actually worth something now that it was out of the system, but if she did so, it would log her out and the run would be over. Furthermore, her software ID would be on notice for the rest of the day throughout both N-Type and T-Type systems, so she couldn't get into another one to hack until the codes recycled the next morning. Instead, Cass focused on her task, aiming the tornado at each golden file in turn until each was downloaded. Task completed in this node, she touched a wall to move on to the next.
>> CONNECT (11_8_FILES)
Cass materialized next to a large pile of nearly-identical castoff objects. The GUI wasn't incredibly complex, so it often used the same schematic over and over as long as there was nothing new to display. She repeated the same process, filling the Persona's bag with files that could be worth anywhere from pocket change up to another month's rent. Not one of them was glowing silver, so there was less of a risk in that department. As far as Cass could tell, there was no advantage to downloading an encrypted file - it was never worth more than an unencrypted one. She teleported again.
>> CONNECT (12_8_ADMINISTRATION)
The node Cassandra's Persona appeared in looked like a dusty office with a bank of security monitors at one end, scrolling lines of code instead of displaying camera feeds. She jumped at her keyboard as a dim armored form came into view - another Warrior program. It stood in the corner, inactive, the luster gone from its steel plates. For some reason she hadn't figured out yet, these Administration nodes always seemed to have a deactivated countermeasure program sitting around in them. They read as an actual file when her Persona shook the dust at them, but they couldn't seem to be downloaded or deleted. She shrugged. Nothing that could be done. She hopped to the next node.
>> CONNECT (12_9_SECURITY)
++ Security program "authentication" has pinged you, awaiting clearence authentication.
Another bare-walls room awaited her, and she noticed the countermeasure immediately. Steel bars blocked all four walls against egress, humming softly with power. A few feet in front of her, a slender silver podium, no more than six inches in diameter, towered from the floor to eye-height. A green lens at the top pulsed gently, awaiting a user's optical scan. It didn't actually scan her cornea, of course, it was just a representation of the validation any user in the system actually had to undergo when attempting to pass a node with Authentication installed. And like all other ice, it had its own tool for defeat.
The seated figure removed a long object from the folds of its robe - what appeared to be a silvery, reflective masquerade-ball mask on the end of a slender wand. It was the representation of the Mask program, which could fake Authentication into believing the user was authorized to be there if used successfully. The form put the mask up to its shadowed face, and leaned into the scanner.
>> RUN MASK V4(AUTHENTICATION)
+ Authentication accepted.
The podium disappeared into the floor, and the bars retracted into near-invisible holes in the walls and ceiling, leaving Cassandra's Persona free to do whatever she wished. She wished to move on, of course. One node was left between her and the end of today's journey. She cast one last glance around the room before touching a wall and teleporting again.
>> CONNECT (12_10_SECURITY)
+ Security program "tracer" is present in this node. Your location is being triangulated. Silence "tracer" to end triangulation.
The tiny drone zipped from the other end of the room to orbit Cassandra's Persona lazily. It wasn't much, just a pyramid the size of her Persona's palm, with a small radar dish extending from the top and rotating quickly. She waved a virtual hand at it, but of course it didn't go away, just swooped out of reach before resuming its usual antics. It didn't actually prevent her from doing anything, but the transmissions emanating from the tiny construct put her on edge, paranoid of where they were going. One day she would find out, she was certain, and she probably wouldn't like it. Until then, though, it was simply a nuisance that would follow her from node to node. She ignored it, moving on.
>> CONNECT (12_11_FILES)
Ah, finally. Cass looked around the room. Somewhere along the way, the walls had shifted from pulsing violet to blue, signalling that she had entered part of the system that didn't exist in lower-security versions. The Alert light was still green, she still had a bit of time and energy to move around, and...well, that annoying Tracer was still maintaining its orbit around chest-height, but she didn't feel like endangering the Alert level by attempting to run Delete on it, and she hadn't bothered purchasing Silence yet. So, she ignored it for now, and turned to the object of her quest.
She scattered dust across the floor, and a single gold box appeared. For some reason, in these deeper nodes, the files dropped their pretense of being anything less than treasure to a passing hacker. It was more likely than not to find a single file in this node, and Cass didn't want to bother with the footwork and wasted movements it would take to clear the system of all danger and reassure herself that there was more than one file in the last node. Even that one file was potentially worth hundreds of dollars, so she happily appropriated it into the bag with the rest.
Cass noticed she still had just a bit of time and energy left. Quirking an eyebrow, she raised her hand and drew the same mystic symbols as before on the charged air of the node.
>> DSP NODES_CONNECTING
+ Surrounding nodes are:
+ 12_10_security
+
She nodded dutifully as the only door which appeared led back where she'd come from. There was nothing further to explore, but she always liked to check just in case. Sooner or later, either they'd come out with a different system, or expand the current ones, and she'd have to map those out as well. For now, though, she was finished. As Cassandra logged out of the network at her terminal in the flesh world, her Persona dematerialized and fell to pieces, escaping the system.
Back in the cafe, Cassandra grinned broadly, perusing the files she'd acquired now that she was in no danger of losing the connection. Not a bad haul. A short trip to the shop should clear the drive and fill her pocket with cash. She gathered her things, tucking a very large, very real book that looked suspiciously like the one her Persona was sitting on underneath one arm. She hummed a tune as she ambled out the door, waving to the counter attendant. Just another day - she'd be back tomorrow.
