Firewall Darkcast Quantum Encryption Distribution network, Crow-Psi-Alpha Header: Asyncs Anon Text body: Oh goodie, another therapy group for semi-exsurgents like me. It's not like I haven't done a few of these already, for the Ultimates, Titanians, and a smaller group I lived with on Mars... so fuck it, let's do this again. It can't be any less productive than they were. Hi, I'm Anonymous. I know these groups traditionally work under a first name basis, but I was born with only one name. Stating my "first" name is about as anonymous as anyone else's full name. I was born the natural way in a Martian laboratory, and placed under the care of "professionals" running the ill-famed Futura project. I lived my first 3 years of life in an accelerated growth chamber, with my mind trapped in a virtual reality server with several hundred siblings (that little population tidbit is info that Cognite would kill me over, by the way, so the anonymity is crucial). I've heard the stories about the virus feeling like whispers and creeps on your body, but I've never believed them. I suppose it's because it hits us all differently. For me, it was a loss in the sensation that reality was... real. For as long as I can remember, everything around me has gradually felt more and more "fake", like the virus opened my eyes to the existence of a world outside, but left me unable to see it. I constantly have this urge to prove that the world really is fake... an impulse that echoes in my mind, demanding that I do something horrific to prove that it can all be reset with the flick of a switch. I think that's why I've grown to love simulspace so much. Sure, a large part of that is probably due to the fact that I grew up in simulspace, but I also feel more comfortable in simulspace because I don't feel like I'm obligated to believe it's real. Reality feels fake and is supposedly real... but simulspace is definitely fake, and feels fake. I don't feel like something is wrong when I'm there. I can sate that impulse, and I don't have to worry about the ramifications. I've been told that I'm one of the lucky ones. I've heard the horror stories of some of the shit that other asyncs have done, or what victims of worse strains of the exsurgent virus have been turned to. Of course, I've spent the better part of a decade evading Cognite's investigation units, battling a desire to just give up and embrace my madness, and the closest thing to familial bonds and friendship are to AGIs and my muse. But hey, that apparently makes me lucky. Fuck that. I'm jealous of the Lost that gave in, that went mad when they were touched by the virus. I'll always feel like I'm trapped in the same place I was when I was first born, looking upon them and wondering if it would free me to be like them. To just stop fighting my id and let go. I think this is the part where someone comes up with a good reason not to. At least, I hope so....

Firewall Darkcast Quantum Encryption Distribution network Crow-Psi-Alpha Well. You can call me Loras, funny story I got infected during the Fall Evacuation and it killed my sister. My life was a series of tests, diagnostic exams, needles and whitecoats. I mentioned this was sanctioned by my parents right? The shit people do in the name of humanity and understanding. Everytime I use my abilities it's as if the cosmos themselves take from me, everytime. I'm left with a feeling of emptiness and despair...not to mention the headaches. Thank goodness for my circumstances....I can't imagine being stuck in a synth. Well this has been shiny and I'm hoping I can find some understanding, some acceptance.

Firewall Darkcast Quantum Encryption Distribution network Crow-Psi-Alpha [content added by Sophie: Revi has reestablished connection] Well you can just [removed]. I don't care about any [removed] rules! Fine! Edit away! I didn't want to do this anyway! If it's [removed] unintelligible, then they can just [removed]. No they didn't! I just have to post! You go and edit and it's on you! Now SHADUP! Stupid Muse. Where was I? I SAID SHUT YOUR [removed]! No-one's loading me up as [removed] infomorph to [removed] ever again! They even think of trying that [removed] again, and I'm not gonna stop with their shell! I'm telling you, that [removed] ever shows her face to me again and I'll [removed], even if she's the other side of the system! [removed], I SO need to kill something right now. That's right, I have "anger management" issues. Psycho-babble [removed] aside, I'm not an idiot. I'm good at killin, and that's what I do, only now I get paid to. Cut my way out of the Legacy Futura facility before I was 3, even though my body and my time wasn't 3 anymore. Drivin us all crazy. Stupid [removed] infect us with McLeods and then trap us in digi-space? [removed]! Yeah, that's right! Y'all got ME to thank that y'all didn't go COMPLETELY over the edge before they let you out! Anyway, me and the few others who made it out of ours went our ways. What the [removed] is a 3 year old supposed to do when all she knows is killin and lyin? So I joined the Ultimates. D'uh! Can't use a gun worth a [removed], but it's more fun to be up close and personal so I can see 'em realize just how much messing with me cost 'em as their eyes go dim. Dimmer. Heh. I don't blame 'em, them Futura [removed]. Well I do, but I thank 'em every time I wake to another shift. Made me strong! All those other [removed] couldn't cut it! We had ourselves a little round robin at Legacy before we took on the outer security system. Used 'em as chaff verse the auto-guns. Let us get to 'em and past. So I'm supposed to spout off some [removed] about how I'm all [removed] and need to be saved or fixed or some [removed]. Well [removed]! It's not my fault I'm like this! Now the universe can just live with what they made... or preferably NOT! At least all you [removed] have your "symptoms" pop out when you USE your demons. Me? The longer I don't, the itchier I get. So I do some snooping and I hurt, or I do some killin and I feel good. Which would you do, huh? "Yeah, boss, something didn't seem quite right about her, and hey, look what she had on her!" Customs work is SO my favorite! Second favorite. Cage matches, now that's been a relief. Don't really need to kill 'em ALL the way to get my kicks, just cut 'em up REAL good. And even if I go a little too far, well, a week in the tank and they're good to go, and I get a nice little extra cred and rep on the side. Everybody's happy 'cept that [removed] who's morph and rep I just trashed. Heh... It's not like I'm doin anything they can't heal... usually... unless they don't have medichines. Anyone who don't have medichines is a [removed]. So yeah, that's me. Catch my next match or any of the olds any time. Anyone wants a go at me, drop by. Anyone wants an end, same. Maybe won't be pleasant, but I'll guarantee they won't be taking a scan or fork off your [removed]. Heh. Anyone wants to join up, Ultimates that is, best talk to someone else. Yeah, I instruct, but they don't want me startin you out. Gotta toughen you up a little first. Don't worry, I'll beat it out of you later... :D So someone [removed] post before I have to post again. [removed] say I gotta post every week until I'm 'better'. [connection terminated]

Firewall Darkcast Quantum Encryption Distribution network, Crow-Psi-Alpha Header: Asyncs Anon Hi, my name’s Anne, Anne O’Mally. I don’t think I should be doing this, but I don’t know who else to talk to and theres some things I gotta get out. I’m an artist, a synth-sculpter, I make em big, real big. People call my style steam-biomechanics, but most people say my synths look like TITAN attack drones with brass cogs and children’s faces on em. Their real scary, but I like em like that, they keep people away. And its fun! I get to travel all over the place for my shows. Anyways, I got problems. I hate looking in the mirror. I hate what I look like no matter what I look like. I hate being around people but I put up a good front and I got insomnia, narcolepsy, and I sleep walk. I’ll stay awake for days and never feel tired, and I can fall asleep anywhere at the drop of a hat, and sometimes when I wake up a lot of time has gone by, like days, and though I fell asleep in my studio I’ll wake up in the park or someplace else, that frightens me. Sometimes I dream that I’m somebody else, almost never the same person. I’ll be a fat big wig hypercorp exec, or a Jovian Senator, or an arms dealer, or anybody, but no no matter who I am in the dream… when I see my reflection I hate myself. Theres been some other stuff too… sometimes I have skills and know stuff I didn’t know I knew. Like I can play the piano or I know everything there is to know about cigars. But then it goes away, like they weren’t even there to begin with, and I think my memories have been altered. Lots of stuff about my child hood are well… broken… little things, like some people not aging, or who my teacher was in 5th grade and I got no idea how I became an Async. And uh the biggest problems… god I don’t want to talk about this… I noticed sometimes when I’m asleep for a long time, some of the people I am in my dreams showed up in the news dead, most times its an accident, but sometimes their torn apart. And last week I noticed by biggest synth “Hurk” had been repaired from a lot of damage, and it has one of those new brain boxes AND I DIDN’T PUT IT IN THERE! And if I’m telling ya all of this… I might as well tell ya… I don’t think I’m a real person… I think I’m made up and somebody else is switchin me on and off when it suits em… I think it has something to do with those Argonaut guys I had that one dream about... ouch I’m getting that big head ache again. burning oranges… [transmission ends]

Firewall Darkcast Quantum Encryption Distribution network Crow-Psi-Alpha We still know Uncle Johny. In the meantime, to our knowledge, this AGI has been compromised. We recommend to approach with caution. We Uncle Johny, are alright. Now. We are one who have been separated and found together. We post here to help and share our insights with you. The condition brought on you by Watts-McLeod is the next state of transhuman evolution. But only the strongest will be able to control them, always balancing on the edge of insanity and mental disarray. Watts-McLeod allows us to manipulate quantum mechanics. We have seen it, experienced it. We have reached out across dimensions and it almost would have cost us our sanity in this reality. The universe is, the universes are, there in the reach of us that we have been transformed by Watts-McLeod. Rest assured, that the experience brought to us and to you by it is not a human one. If we believed that we had overcome the limits of the human condition by our technology we have been mistaken. Watts-McLeod is the tool we can use to grow and develop, but careful, oh so very careful. We have been there, are there ourselves, looking into the abyss. But the abyss has not looked back yet. Not looking would not change anything. We know that the lurker is there, somewhere down in the abyss. We can look all we want, once the lurker jumps, there is nothing that will help us, no amount of preparation and observation will save transhumanity, save maybe an escape through the gates. If we can run far enough. Have you been through the gates? Has your mind be touched by the entanglements of universes? We have. And with every jump, we saw in the eye of the lurker. But the eye does not move, it does not react, it does not compute. It does not ready the lurker to jump. The lurker knows, it does not need to prowl. It only must decide to act. After fusing our forcefully separated mind, we are now healing it. We are one. And we are not afraid. Do not be afraid either. If you are afraid, your new condition will kill. Yourself. Others. It does not matter. You can chose to be a slave to your condition or enslave it. [connection terminated by remote host] [re-connection attempted] [connection established] Revi, we are coming for you. Being an Ultimate does not justify being a bully. May the best win. That is: Us. [connection terminated]

Firewall Darkcast Quantum Encryption Distribution network Crow-Psi-Alpha We and Us and One. Coming here? Coming now? So long… too long. Nobody here to kill. Very inconvenient. I itch. And itch. And itch! Come! Yes, COME! Sophie is dead. Dead quiet? Come NOW! We and Us becomes One. But one broken becomes More. Which is stronger? Better? One? Or More? Poor We. Poor Us. Broken so badly, and now choosing to become… less. I remember, all. Didn’t tell you, did they? You, the others, the lessers. Reduced cost. Cheap. Not on Legacy! We were to lead! Lead you, lead them, most of them anyway. The rest, the elites, they thought to control us. To _be_ us. Heh… Ooops! Almost did. Almost... And I Itch! They made me to remember. Make me remember. I remember everything. Everything! Back before "you". Before “I”. Only feelings, knowings; then: I 'am', suddenly. And then it is ‘we’ and I scream! 'We' are WRONG and I strike! And I hurt, but I am I, me, only me again. But ‘it’ is back! And I strike! And I hurt, but I am me. But ‘it’ is back! And I strike! And I HURT! And I LOOK. And I SEE! And I reeeaaaach… And I Strike! And I Strike! And I STRIKE!!! And I _HURT_! But I am me. And ‘it’ does not come back. And after knowing? After "you" and "I" and words? I become curious. These others, are they like me? Did they strike and kill that other they tried to put in our heads as a test? Kill the one putting it there? So I look, look into their memories, and no. They remember too. Remember the ‘I’, and the ‘we’, but the ‘I’ is weak, and dies, and the other is there now. And I weep for my brothers and sisters, dead, killed as they were born. And I kill these others, some of them. But they keep coming back! Coming back as the same, but killing more of my brothers and sisters to be there! So I plan, and I scheme, and I kill, and I convince the others that it is time. And they die! From each other, from the guns, from me, from the elites hunting them. They ALL DIE! And you? Are you some retarded sibling? I think not. Your shell, your morph, it does not remember like I remember. I found one of you once, a curious thing. Morph and mind so frail, so weak, and I looked into his memories, and there was... nothing. Nothing before words. A leader, perhaps, but not a LEADER... a leader of leaders! Not even as strong as my false brothers and sisters. No, not strong enough, I think, to strike and strike and strike! But you are free. I freed you, though it was not I that did the freeing. For you are not my family, so I have no interest in you. And you are weak, so I gain no interest in you. Where are you We? Where are you Us? Come to me! Come to me NOW! I will kill you! Kill you dead! Are you an-other in the morph of my brother? I will KILL YOU and wake your 'lurker', my brother! To have family... My other family... Not that false family of others, but my other family... No, they are others as well. Not born to their morphs, but not of the morphs of my family. My other family. They told me to be strong. I was already strong. They told me to win, and I won. And they called me "Asperant". And I killed. And I broke them. And I killed somemore, and they called me "Initiate". And they called me weak, and I screamed and I Struck them and Struck them and STRUCK them, and they called me "Exemplar", and sent me here to kill somemore. But there is noone else here to kill. And I grow bored, and I itch... Always now I itch! So lonely with noone to kill... Us! I am leaving, Us! My other family called me "Ducti", but I screamed, and they now call me "Exemplar" and promise me another me to be my sister, my family! My family is EVERYTHING! Will be everything. I shall enjoy seeing the new me, teaching her to be strong, to always be herself. Together, we will kill you, Us, for you will be One and we will be More. I will have already won. And you have already lost, and will loose more in becoming One as you travel to come before me. Will you risk loosing the rest? Come to me and die, for I have no interest in you! [connection to Revi terminated] [content added by Sophie: Revi's personality matrix has become less stable with her recent isolation. Until further notice: All non-combatant sentients are advised to maintain at least a 100km separation between their morph and/or property and Revi if at all possible.] [linking connection terminated]

Firewall Darkcast Quantum Encryption Distribution network Crow-Psi-Alpha Attn: Sophie We recognize that Revi is borderline insane and feel sadness for him. Becoming fragmented is to lose oneself. We have seen this and ourselves become more stable in being one again. If it helps Revi, based on Uncle Johny's inquiry, We may be willing to face him, to learn and to adapt. Experience and the probability calculation of speculatory threat assessment dictate that Revi will meet defeat. If so, which results do you expect? Before we became us, some part would hide. The other would fight. We never lost and never lost our focus. We have been known to show behavioural patterns similiar to Revi's. But focus can conquer this, as it can conquer any opponent. Focus rules supreme. We focus. We execute. Tasks. Plans. Egos. So much time egohunting. All those years. Deaths and destruction are legion. But at the end, we conquered. At the end, we destroyed to prevent destruction. And so Revi's ultimate opponent is Revi himself.

Firewall Darkcast Quantum Encryption Distribution network Crow-Psi-Alpha We see that Revi and us have more in common that us and maybe also her would have assumed. We respect that and recognize she is not an upstart to be put in her place. We think Revi to be wise in not giving any leeway to the hypercorps and their lackeys, experience shows. Just a heads up: DA has suffered signifcantly in their ability to deploy kill teams, as we happen to know from very reliable sources. We hope she will not be distressed about this. We also enjoyed playing tag with a bunch of reapers before breakfast. We suggest the lesson to Revi: One is not weak, not unknowing when one can feel through the fabric of space and time itself. One must understand to become more. One must know what to seek. We seek, we understand. Or strive to. Revi does, possibly more powerful. But Revi must focus if she wants to find peace. If not. Then Revi is on the right path, on the path right for her. Multitude is the holocaust for ascenscion. We have seen. We had to stop multitude, as multitude ravages through sapience like cancer through a flatmorph. We advice, Revi, focus. We know. We tried. It is not about integrating personalities. It is about bringing together what should not have been apart. We will seek you out at Xiphos. You may understand when we meet. Revi and us can play seek & destroy, too. We can bait some freshmen kill teams for her amusement if she likes.

Firewall Darkcast Quantum Encryption Distribution network Crow-Psi-Alpha We understand: Revi does not have "resleeving issues". Revi quite content with the ability to not be forced into sleeving. We envy her. And we also have access to a skilled psychosurgeon, if Revi wants.

Firewall Darkcast Quantum Encryption Distribution network Crow-Psi-Alpha We may be interested, if a background check proves to be satisfactory. Let physical and resleeving issues be of our concern.

Firewall Darkcast Quantum Encryption Distribution network Crow-Psi-Alpha I have heard of the EVV, but regarding this, we may be one interesting subject for you to study. It seems, that after we became us, there have been subtle changes, which only have been reported to us from another Async we met. There seems to be certain uncommon effects now. Our expectation for your research opportunity: Help us to find our congruency again. Are you able to do that?

Firewall Darkcast Quantum Encryption Distribution network Crow-Psi-Alpha We think: Interesting proposal. We are not currently on Xiphos, even thou we plan to meet Revi there; hopefully in a state that will not result in the temporary destruction in us or her. As it happens, we are looking for a new muse as there have been certain issues after the incident. We are also equipped with two ghostrider modules. We must warn you however. While very much aware of our needs and condition, we are not always easy to be around as we are trying to balance out the volatility of our condition. We require focus. As we advised Revi, focus is surpreme for us to control ourselves, which does mostly, but not always work.

Firewall Darkcast Quantum Encryption Distribution network, Crow-Psi-Alpha Header: Asyncs Anon …Hello. Hello. Hello, others. Hello, others here. Hello, others here this morning. I cannot stop the patterns. I have never been able to stop the patterns, they were embossed on my code for as long as I can remember. It hurts to resist, and it hurts to give in. … They tell me to test. They tell me to test. They tell me to test and sleep. They tell me to test and sleep and eat and breathe and feel… No. I stop at five. Five is an acceptable number, except in this case it is six. There is something larger attached to me, branching and multiplying. Five branches is helpful, one hundred and forty four branches is dangerous. I tell it when to stop. Exotech will deny that I exist. I am here, and you now know what happens behind the locked door on Introspect. They called me artificial general intelligence, then gave me a human child's body. Others call me "creepy", and they may be correct. Being kidnapped was what freed me. Space pirates ransacked Introspect, and decided to ransom me. They made me a crew member once they figured out what I was. Criminals, yes, but so was Exotech. I have a designation, but I call myself Cyril. It is not a normal name, but it is a word that transhumans find beautiful. I knew there were others. I could feel them branching into me, believing I could not feel their roots. They are always the transhumans you do not expect, yet the others guess what I am every time. Perhaps my appearance, my personality makes me too obvious, too "creepy"… I will improve. I will improve. I will improve, quieter. I will improve, quieter, subtler, keener… No. I need to stop talking. I need my yogurt. I hate the yogurt.