Chapter 29: Information Outbreak

As Alexander continued on his self-imposed pilgrimage the ripple effects of his decisions spread outwards. It is perhaps ironic that one of

As Alexander continued on his self-imposed pilgrimage the ripple effects of his decisions spread outwards. It is perhaps ironic that one of

As Alexander continued on his self-imposed pilgrimage the ripple effects of his decisions spread outwards. It is perhaps ironic that one of the most far-reaching outcomes of New Jinzhou came from the seemingly small decision to allow access to the internet.

From this the V.I in charge of many of the functions of New Jinzhou was allowed to sow the seeds of chaos throughout China. These seeds had yet to bloom fully, but even the machinations of a hyper-advanced computer paled in comparison to what was about to occur. For the planning of the V.I was only localised, it did not seek to upend the global status quo.

Which is exactly what happened when someone got the bright idea to post on PHO.

The fool.

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♦ Topic: Hi, I’m back
In: Boards ► Global ►
Black Turtle Snake (Original Poster)
Posted On Jul 31st 2010:
Greetings to the world!

It has been many months since I have been able to access this site. Alas my government discovered that I was accessing foreign media -against their laws- and I was sent to a 'Correctional Facility'.

For those who have been unable to guess as much already I was a citizen of the C.U.I.

I say was because that is no longer the case!

Myself and many others from the C.U.I.'s many prisons were rescued during the chaos currently unfolding in China. We have been granted food, shelter and dignity that is severely lacking in our previous country.

I'm not sure how much information you sorry lot on the internet have been given, but TLDR: Jinzhou is now independent from the C.U.I. (like a decent portion of China at the moment) and has been given a makeover (very much unlike the rest of China)!

[IMAGE1] [IMAGE2] [IMAGE3]

So as you can all see we're doing fine. Just thought I should let you all know I'm not dead and doing fine.

(Showing page 1 of 792)

►Bagrat (Veteran Member) (The Guy in the Know)
Replied On Jul 31st 2010:
Wat.

It's good to see you're doing fine, but I think you're leaving a lot of information out!

And understating things, because that is NOT a makeover!

►Char
Replied On Jul 31st 2010:
@Black Turtle Snake
Oh my God you're alive! You weren't responding to my PM's for months! The C.U.I had you?!

►ChristmasCracker
Replied On Jul 31st 2010:
...So is it just me or does some of that city look eerily similar to New Fukuoka?

►Miss Mercury (Protectorate Employee)
Replied On Jul 31st 2010:
@Black Turtle Snake
I have to agree with Bagrat, any further information you are willing to give would be most welcome given the current confusion and chaos that's happening in China.

Who was the person who rescued you? Are they still present? What is the current stance of Jinzhou?

►Aloha
Replied On Jul 31st 2010:
Ah, and here comes the PRT.

Anyone else find it both funny and sad that one of the best leads they've gotten about the architects happens to come from PHO?

►Ekul
Replied On Jul 31st 2010:
@Aloha
It is a little funny, yeah.

So The Architects seriously went to China? I'd ask if they had a death wish, but the current chaos unfolding right after they arrive is a bit... convenient.

►Black Turtle Snake (Original Poster)
Replied On Jul 31st 2010:
Woah. Didn't expect so much attention. It's only been a minute since I posted!

@Char
Yeah, it wasn't pleasant. It's good to see you Char. I'll likely be returning to my old stomping grounds soon enough.

@Miss Mercury
Nah, they're not present anymore, and the only 'stance' I'm aware of is that we're against the C.U.I.

As for the one who rescued us, their name is apparently Yà lì shān dà? I didn't really get to meet them, only saw them from a distance. I'd show you a photo but the factories dedicated to making phones only started up yesterday, so I don't have a picture of them.

Actually I think I have an idea. Hold on a moment.

►Noveltry
Replied On Jul 31st 2010:
Yeah, no shit you're against the C.U.I.

Anyone sensible is.

►Nondeceptive
Replied On Jul 31st 2010:
Wait, did @Black Turtle Snake only mention one person? And he didn't even give us a description?

Come on dude! Give us the deets!

►Black Turtle Snake (Original Poster)
Replied On Jul 31st 2010:
Okay, managed to grab a picture of some artwork they've been making of her.

[LINK]

That's Yà lì shān dà.

@Nondeceptive
I think there was one other perosn with her? But I haven't heard about anyone else.

►Rictus
Replied On Jul 31st 2010:
Huh, a Monster Cape?

That's not what I expected, don't most of them get found pretty quickly since they go looking for their missing memories? Does anybody know who this is?

►HornyOnMain
Replied On Jul 31st 2010:
@Black Turtle Snake
Would.

►Feychick
Replied On Jul 31st 2010:
@Rictus
She doesn't seem familiar, which is weird because she seems very memorable.

►Sothoth
Replied On Jul 31st 2010:
Actually @Black Turtle Snake should you even be telling us this over the internet?

I'm sure your current government is better than your last but sharing possible secrets doesn't seem like a smart idea.

►Mac's Dual Rocket Propelled Grenades
Replied On Jul 31st 2010:
Nah, ignore him.

Keep posting.

You'll totally earn internet fame, trust me bro!

►Space Zombie
Replied On Jul 31st 2010:
@Sothoth
Ah shit, I didn't even think of that.

@Black Turtle Snake
Are you still with us?

►Chilldrizzle
Replied On Jul 31st 2010:
My man just got out of prison.

Now he's heading right back in.

:(

►Groupies
Replied On Jul 31st 2010:
Well at least we got more information on The Architects?

It seems like they've refined their work a lot, because there's a massive difference between New Fukuoka and this!

►Procto the Unfortunate Tinker (Not a tinker)
Replied On Jul 31st 2010:
@Groupies
Definitely not refined. That sort of thing takes more than a few weeks. It's more likely that they simply chose a different style.

It's likely still the same tech 'under the hood', so to speak.

►ArmsFan
Replied On Jul 31st 2010:
Yeah, OP is definitely gone. black bagged by his government for not knowing when to keep his mouth shut.

:(

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Across the world intelligence agencies updated their profiles on The Architects. The presence of a Case-53 was noted. Some confusion came up when they failed to find even a hint of their past, but reasoned that The Architects had likely snatched her up before she could be identified by any other group of interest.

The images were metaphorically taken apart, and compared to existing information on New Jinzhou. Thinkers were once more useless, but oddly the effect lingered long after the group had apparently left.

Most importantly this leak of information had exposed a chink in New Jinzhou’s armour. A critical flaw which could be used to gain further information. Or so they thought.

Numerous cyber attacks were rebuffed with as much effort as a man would swat an insect. The hope that Tinkers would provide an edge only lead to further disappointment as their virus’ and digital worms seemed to dissolve once they reached the servers of New Jinzhou.

So they would be forced to go back to the drawing board. Information had been gathered, and they now knew what to look out for in the future. But with the leak thoroughly plugged that was all they were likely to get anytime soon.

-One POV-

The report he had been given was disappointing, expected perhaps but still disappointing.

Oh well.

“Go round up some men and women to replace the soldiers we just lost. Have 37 begin the manufacturing of their weapons and armour.” The man who had delivered the report scurried off at that, eager to carry out his orders.

Truthfully he hadn’t expected his men to accomplish much. He simply wanted to gain information and to send a message.

He hasn’t forgotten about Jinzhou, and they would eventually bow at his feet.

The confirmation of a barrier was of no surprise, but going off the recordings it was spatial in nature.

Tricky.

The presence of that dragon was also concerning. There was no information on it anywhere. A new trigger? Possibly, but all triggers are usually processed and sent to the Yangban extremely quickly. So either this individual triggered just before they were rescued or they came with The Architect.

The odds of the former were unlikely -to say the least- so he had to assume the latter.

The dragon had already been forced outside the walls once. Could he repeat the circumstances that lead to that, and set up an ambush to capture the parahuman?

If so he might be able to gain information on that naïve fool who built that city once he broke their pet.

It was a possibility, though undoubtedly achieving that would be easier said than done.

Before he could more fully consider that idea a man burst through the door, hurried but trying desperately to retain his composure. The slight sweat on his brow betrayed his nervousness.

“Sir! One of the Yangban’s conversion bases has been hit! They appear to have taken the parahuman captive and escaped!”

“Truly? And who was so bold to do that?,” He asked the man, displeasure dripping from his lips like a poison.

The man gulped nervously. “Unknown sir, but we’ve retrieved the recordings from the base. Most of the electricals were fried, but the backup tinkertech Blackbox managed to retain the information,” The man reported.

Indeed, One could see the sleek black box in his hand. He motioned to an aid, and they swiftly took the box from the nervous man’s hands and began sifting through the data.

The attack began at 6:00 on the dot. The flash of a teleport was the only warning the guards within the base got before they were gunned down. The glare on the screen died down enough for One to see the intruders on the screen.

Power armour. They were wearing power armour, robust enough that the returning fire from guards who had heard the commotion didn’t even dent their plates. The same could not be said of the intruders shots, whose searing electrical discharge cooked the men alive in seconds.

The rest of the footage was much the same. The intruders scoured the rooms, killed the guards that tried to stop them and moved on.

It was only once they encountered parahumans that their tactics changed. Those defending parahumans were not cooked alive, merely rendered unconscious by the now lessened voltage of the enemies weapons. Those unconscious parahumans would then be loaded unto some kind of machine and teleported out.

Those parahumans with a brute rating, or were otherwise harder to knock out, were dealt with by more esoteric weapons. Lasers, plasma explosives and some kind of containment foam which seemed far more metallic than the sort used by the corrupt PRT.

Eventually they had thoroughly combed the base after losing only two of their own. The set down a cylindrical device and teleported out. The device whirred to life a few seconds later and the video cut out.

No doubt that was the EMP that had fried the electricals in order to cover their tracks.

Or try to anyway, because he had a sneaking suspicion as to where they came from.

High tech soldiers showing up just after a high tech city was set up? That was a bit obvious.

And so One smiled, because he had found it. A weakness. A way to find leverage.

He now knew that they wouldn’t simply stay behind their impregnable wall. He knew what they wanted, to free more of his citizens in some fruitless moralistic crusade.

And all of that meant he could adapt and plan around them. No doubt if they were so confident in capturing the parahumans they thought they had some way to remove his hold over them. So sleeper agents were unlikely to work.

But his work didn’t require people, not truly. A scrap of paper, a word spoken, a memory remembered were all things he could use. It would take time, and likely any bases raided. But those soldiers who braved the outside world could be twisted subtly according to his will.

Ad so One leaned back as his advisors argued, and smiled.

AN: Heyo! Here’s another chapter, a few interesting things happened in it. First of all the world gained an idea of what Alexander looks like. Of course the picture isn’t to scale so the world currently assumes he’s a Case-53 instead of an Endbringer. Of course once Taizong got word of what was happening he began running interference. He’ll likely start having the V.I start screening people’s messages for anything incriminating so the people of Jinzhou will still be able to post eventually. They just can’t blab about secrets.

Yes, this does mean that Alexander’s cult is going to start spreading the good word, but most people are going to think they’re just speaking nonsense and hyperbole rather than speaking literally regarding Alexander’s feats. This will change after India though.

Also One returns, and is plotting to find a way to break into New Jinzhou by subverting the soldiers who choose to fight against the C.U.I since they’ll be the ones most susceptible to his influence. Needless to say Sanzang is going to quickly learn to hate One.