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Food Based Basilisk Hacks

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Mon, 2016-01-11 12:24

SquireNed

Food Based Basilisk Hacks

So I know that the majority of food in EP comes from makers and fabbers and stuff, and isn't really necessarily grown, but there's probably a certain amount of branding and manufacture going on outside of the bare necessities print-your-own-food-goop circles. So here's an idea that I had. Food-based basilisk hacks. In particular, flavor packets that are supposed to provide the user with audio accompaniment to their meal. The exact working mechanism is proprietary, and it turns out that the Synthscape packet (the light-blue one that promises futurepop) is actually a little too hardcore. No, this wasn't inspired by a dream. Not at all.

Spoiler: Highlight to view

I have some weird dreams.

Mon, 2016-01-11 20:07

Trappedinwikipedia Trappedinwikipedia's picture

I'm confused. Is the vector

I'm confused. Is the vector for the hack something like the taste of the food (is there even enough throughput in taste to do that?) or an audio accompaniment?

Mon, 2016-01-11 21:05

SquireNed

Trappedinwikipedia wrote:I'm

Trappedinwikipedia wrote:
I'm confused. Is the vector for the hack something like the taste of the food (is there even enough throughput in taste to do that?) or an audio accompaniment?

Yes. Basilisk hacks are themselves sort of reality-warping; the (nano)technology in the food seasoning packets has something that actually functions not entirely dis-similarly to a petal or narcoalgorithm, albeit working on the "taste" spectrum (and firing stuff off through the auditory nerves of the user); the sauce itself doesn't have a "flavor", it merely modulates the food you eat afterward. Because it actually interfaces with nerves, and is not merely a "taste", it has enough bandwidth for a basilisk hack. Or, quite frankly, "nanomachines".

Tue, 2016-01-12 10:23

Tango

Wouldn't that be a more

Wouldn't that be a more traditional (if there is such a thing) body hack since there is physical contact? Afaik basilisk hack happens over a distance through audio & visual channels? And aren't basilisk hacks a Titan-thing? So what is the desired outcome? Killing someone is easy enough, but if its a body snatch, well...I would start by finding out the targets morph model and it's firmware version numbers. look for vulnerabilities in the firmware and then code the nanobots to exploit 'em. The nanobots will infiltrate the body/nerve system without detection and then open a port for a mesh borne attack. So, a tailored weapon for a specific target preceded by an intelligence gathering operation.

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- "Mom's chicken soup, maybe?"

Tue, 2016-01-12 10:44

SquireNed

Tango wrote:Wouldn't that be

Tango wrote:
Wouldn't that be a more traditional (if there is such a thing) body hack since there is physical contact? Afaik basilisk hack happens over a distance through audio & visual channels? And aren't basilisk hacks a Titan-thing? So what is the desired outcome? Killing someone is easy enough, but if its a body snatch, well...I would start by finding out the targets morph model and it's firmware version numbers. look for vulnerabilities in the firmware and then code the nanobots to exploit 'em. The nanobots will infiltrate the body/nerve system without detection and then open a port for a mesh borne attack. So, a tailored weapon for a specific target preceded by an intelligence gathering operation.

The main reason why it's a basilisk hack is because I assume that people monitor stuff closely enouh that true exsurgent virus doesn't get through. Also, it leads to a hook where the players investigate the source: TITAN, terrorist, or corporate scheme? The hack itself is somewhat iffy. Obvious choices would be something memetic, but I don't see it being terribly directed. Maybe some crazed suicide cult or something?

Tue, 2016-01-12 11:19

uwtartarus uwtartarus's picture

Basilisk hacks are not

Basilisk hacks are not reality warping (aside from some anthropocentric/subjective/perception of reality ideas), they are just short circuits in (trans)human intelligence. Our neural architecture was mastered by the TITANs that they were able to make cheat codes to mess up the brain, there is also support in material for the idea that the some sinister organizations have some rudimentary Basilisk Hack technologies. To make food a basilisk hack would require an even more precise control of the perceptions of consumers, way more precise than what is necessary for audio/visual hacks. If nanobots are included, is it even a basilisk hack anymore or just a nanotoxin (defeated by nanophages, unless TITAN derived)...

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Exhuman, and Humanitarian.

Mon, 2016-01-18 00:39

boomzilla

"your mind is software"

Well, if basilisk hacks can come via any sensory input (it seems to mainly be visual attacks, canonically, but there are other senses), it makes sense that the TITANs (or whomever) could concoct a *taste-based* attack. Basilisk hacks are based off the idea that, if the human mind truly is software, it can be crashed like any other software. (Personally, I find basilisk hacks to be a sort of reductio-ad-absurdum *against* the human mind being software IRL, but: 1. making basilisk hacks a thing in-game makes for a fun game, 2. I could very well be wrong about the nature of the human mind :) ) Here is a sort of basilisk attack, but aimed at a *much* simpler software than the human mind (viz, license plate scanning software built using SQL database): [img]https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--9JebkEFT--/c_fill,f...

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[img]http://eclipsephase.com/sites/all/modules/ep-prod/profile_bars/images/ec... [img]http://www.thomasboxall.com/img/argo_userbar.jpg[/img]

Mon, 2016-01-18 00:45

boomzilla

Alternatively, I guess you

Alternatively, I guess you could argue that the human chemo senses (taste and smell) are not nearly as powerful as the human visual sense. So, less information is able to get through on that channel, meaning it's much more difficult to concoct a basilisk hack. [url=https://xkcd.com/327/]Here's another SQL joke for you nerds: [img]https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/exploits_of_a_mom.png[/img][/url]

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[img]http://eclipsephase.com/sites/all/modules/ep-prod/profile_bars/images/ec... [img]http://www.thomasboxall.com/img/argo_userbar.jpg[/img]

Mon, 2016-01-18 01:40

Trappedinwikipedia Trappedinwikipedia's picture

Basilisk hacks already exist

Basilisk hacks already exist in primitive form though, and at least one basilisk hack attack has already been performed. Photosensitive seizure causing images which were intentionally made for that are essentially basilisk hacks which rely on uncommon vulnerabilities. 4chan already raided a forum for people with epilepsy with images like that. Most are pretty simple, just rapidly flashing squares or similar. A more sophisticated attack is potentially possible, especially with ASI involved. Another example of a proto-basilisk hack would be infrasonic emotional effects.

Mon, 2016-01-18 11:14

#10

SquireNed

Also, let's not forget that

Also, let's not forget that there are things that can, say, alter one's color perception over a long-term basis. http://hackaday.com/2016/01/06/hack-your-brain-the-mccollough-effect/ Those are just things we've discovered. Imagine the TITANs, who are able to run evolutionary algorithm basilisk hack searches, not finding many other things that can do various other brain tweaks. Sure, the hack itself probably can't do much directly, but something like hypnosis plus a coded string of information could do the trick. If the TITANs were able to get arbitrary brain activity from a basilisk hack, they could ruin a lot of peoples' days.

Sat, 2016-02-13 18:54

#11

Burnsidhe

"Do not eat the ham, I hear

"Do not eat the ham, I hear it tastes of despair!"

Thu, 2016-02-25 10:24

#12

templariomaster templariomaster's picture

"can come via any sensory

"can come via any sensory input" Oh boy, I'm seeing this coming... "sexual basilisk hacks" something like:

I think that should be somekind of ad for an extropian brothel. "Basilisk attack to your senses","our orgasms are... TITANical!". This also explains the jovian need for the catholic church, celibacy is now a shield against the most insidious enemy humanity can face instead of just a way to keep population focussed on "higher ideals".