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Are Exsurgents common knowledge?

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Wed, 2010-08-18 14:09
#1
Rhyx Rhyx's picture
Are Exsurgents common knowledge?
I was wondering, with the the trouble firewall goes through to be invisible how much does the common man or woman know about the exsurgents? Do they scan for TITAN viruses when you go through customs? I was lead to believe that most people think the threat is over since the Titans left and there were just quarantine zone but it was "out of sight out of mind". Is it more like Post 9/11 earth with exsurgents taking on the part of terrorists as bogeymen for security clamp downs or more like McCarthyism where everyone that doesn't toe the party line could be an exsurgent in disguise? I really thought that exsurgents were more like near mythological monsters hidden in the midst of civilians like wolf in sheep's clothing, a bit like how some fiction treats vampires, as quiet threats that need to be taken out just as quietly.
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Wed, 2010-08-18 15:07
nezumi.hebereke nezumi.hebereke's picture
Re: Are Exsurgents common knowledge?
The Lunar section of Sunward says they scan you for nanoplagues (specifically for nanomachines infesting you to make you into a double agent) every time you enter a habitat, so the answer would seem to be yes, however the details of what insurgents can become are probably better concealed.
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Wed, 2010-08-18 15:21
Extrasolar Angel Extrasolar Angel's picture
Re: Are Exsurgents common knowledge?
Quote:
I was lead to believe that most people think the threat is over since the Titans left and there were just quarantine zone but it was "out of sight out of mind".
I believe that there isn't a public knowledge that TITAN's "left"-rather they went silent, I would guess even the top level powerbrokers aren't sure completely what happened. As to the "danger is over"-even if TITAN's are not active, they left a lot of machines so there is definetely awareness that certain dangers still lurk out there.
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[I]Raise your hands to the sky and break the chains. With transhumanism we can smash the matriarchy together.[/i]
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Wed, 2010-08-18 17:25
TBRMInsanity TBRMInsanity's picture
Re: Are Exsurgents common knowledge?
While exsergents may or may not be common knowledge, what is known is that there isn't as much direct TITAN activity as there was 10 years ago. I would think that most stations (as pointed out on Luna) would have a basic check to look for nanoplagues. Places like the Jovian Republic would be more strict of course.
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Jovian Motto: Your mind is original. Preserve it. Your body is a temple. Maintain it. Immortality is an illusion. Forget it.
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Wed, 2010-08-18 23:37
OneTrikPony OneTrikPony's picture
Re: Are Exsurgents common knowledge?
ten years is not a long time. The Fall was not just a Pearl Harbor, or 911 WTC attack. There are TITAN containment zones that pose a real threat on two of the inhabited worlds in 10PF. Specific breeds of Exsurgeants may not be common knowledge but the Exurgeant Virus in it's various vectors is popularly known and feared. I expect legitimate fear and paranoia of the TITANS is quite high. This is kept at the front of public perception by several things; Fear and Bias against AGI and info morph, the Reclaimer movement lobbying to end the interdiction of the Earth and the PC refusal to do so, and probably also by the fearmongering politicians who need an emotinal lever to move the populous.
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Thu, 2010-08-19 00:15
Rhyx Rhyx's picture
Re: Are Exsurgents common knowledge?
So in short, those in the know are informed of the Exsurgent virus and there's enough public consciousness for it to be used as political leverage but not enough for formal nomenclature. So then why does firewall go through the trouble of making exsurgent attacks look like something else and their retalliation and erasure squads look like terrorist attacks? In other words, why the cloak and dagger if everyone of importance already knows the secret?
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[img]http://i.imgur.com/AT25J.jpg[/img]

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Thu, 2010-08-19 00:45
OneTrikPony OneTrikPony's picture
Re: Are Exsurgents common knowledge?
I wasn't aware that firewall was in the business of hiding exurgeant activity. Are you *sure* you were working for firewall?! How much do we really know about firewall's agenda? ;)
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Mea Culpa: My mode of speech can make others feel uninvited to argue or participate. This is the EXACT opposite of what I intend when I post.

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Thu, 2010-08-19 01:30
Rhyx Rhyx's picture
Re: Are Exsurgents common knowledge?
A Ha! It was Project Ozma! dun-Dun-DUN! All kidding aside, I guess I might have mistaken the sentinel's supposed soft touch with a covert ops agenda. It's true that I don't see any sign of hiding Exsurgents other than keeping it quiet. Then again leaving all that TITAN Tech laying around for anyone to find and investigate is just asking for trouble. So firewall agents should clean up after themselves just in order not to have to come back at a later date. But I still have to admit that no where in the book is it written exactly how much people know about the Exsurgents. At this point I'm trying ot figure if it's 6 o'clock news material or Area 51 material. I'm thinking the latter, but I'm just going on personal bias.
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[img]http://i.imgur.com/qtBZ9.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/AT25J.jpg[/img]

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Thu, 2010-08-19 09:10
nezumi.hebereke nezumi.hebereke's picture
Re: Are Exsurgents common knowledge?
Agents do indeed use 'the gentle touch', and for a number of reasons. One of the big one is, during the op, making themselves known makes the situation suddenly very volatile as other parties aggressively pursue their own agendas (such as 'flee in terror' or 'acquire TITAN tech' or 'crash infected ship into enemy station'). After everything is said and done it's the job of other Firewall people to do the PR work. This is just like any big organization - you don't let the guy on the shop floor say stuff to the reporters about the new model. You let the PR team do that, so they say exactly what they do and do not want to say and just to the right people to reduce stress on the system, increase future success, protect the innocent, and avoid self-incrimination.
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Thu, 2010-08-19 18:21
It that must no... It that must not be named's picture
Re: Are Exsurgents common knowledge?
Common sense in the EP world would dictate the public know about exsurgents and that the powers that be make sure they do. It's the only way to make sure that if an exsurgent outbreak occurs in an area, someone knows what it is and reports it quick. During WW2 civilians were issues papers with silhouettes of enemy aircraft and u boats to make them capable of reporting them if they were seen.It resulted in false alarms, but better some of those than an unreported real sighting.
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"I learned the hard way that if you take a stand on any issue, no matter how insignificant, people will line up around the block to kick your ass over it." -Jesse "the mind" Ventura.

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Fri, 2010-08-20 03:58
root root's picture
Re: Are Exsurgents common knowledge?
root@Are Exsurgents common knowledge? One detail about the TITANs to keep in mind is basilisk hacks. You don't really want to make a big educational noise about the Exsurgent virus, as the very knowledge of it creates a sociological pattern the Exsurgent virus might exploit. Is that previous paragraph anything other than the basest paranoia? How willing are the powers-that-be to find out?
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