The Background

It is the year 2010. Technology has advanced to the point where Optical Sensory Imaging Systems have made it possible for computer users to interract with their computers on a three dimensional, interractive level. This includes mentally exploring the vast computer network as if it were part of an alternate physical world. Some computer users have begun to live most of their lives online, even become addicted to the strange thrills the network has to offer, and some have staked out territory within the network and made it their own. The most organized and clearly defined development in this electronic world is the land of Cyberia, a loosely defined region within the North American section of the network which has developed its own political identity and a certain degree of autonomy. Cyberia is populated by Wireheads (computer simstim addicts), Jocks (computer operators), Netlords (system operators), Drones (autonomous interractive programs), Zombies (non-OSIS users), Wraiths (electronically preserved intelligences, also known as Ghosts and Evil Brains) and Frankies or as they prefer to be called Promethians (self aware and artificially intelligent computer programs). When in Cyberia the identity created to represent a person is an Interactive Video Image, usually known as a Soma. Remember that when characters are in Cyberia or other parts of the network, the OSIS system will cause them to see everything happening around them through analogous visual images, but these images, even when augmented by imagination, will parallell events and interractions which are actually taking place. For example, when two knights fight in the Cyberian area known as the Realm of Cumbria, if a sword strikes, it probably represents an attack on the security defenses of the opponents computer system, and if a knight falls, his security has probably been breached, forcing a shut down and disconnecting the Jock whose form was that knight from the network. In some cases, depending on the software involved worse things can also happen, including permanent hardware or software damage, and even flatlining (killing) a person through his OSIS link.

While Netlords are building their fantastic kingdoms in Cyberia and Jocks are adventuring through the net, in the real world things are getting grimmer and grimmer. The ecology has been destroyed, new diseases are running wild, limited nuclear strikes damaged a number of areas during the 'Hot Half-Hour', governments are crumbling, giant corporations are expanding their power, the world economy is a collapsing, and hope seems to be fading everywhere. It's not a pretty future, a time of urban violence and institutionalized crime on a grand scale, where the old capitalist powers of the west struggle desparately against the rising giants of the east. With a real world of so many unpleasant possibilities it isn't surprising that young technophiles prefer to build their dreams in the malleable stuff of an interractive computer environment.

The Situation

For this adventure it is assumed that the characters are active on the computer network and familiar with Cyberia itself. Ideally they should be part of a youth gang/group from the eastern seaboard of the United States from one of the giant urban 'plexes', like the Philadelphia-New York-Boston Plex or the smaller Baltimore-DC-Richmond Plex, although in the age of instant telecommunications physical distance is relatively insignificant. Family background and economic background are flexible. Gangs with appropriate characters and interests exist for youths in every segment of society so the possibilities are wide open. Note that the adventure consists mostly of background and setting, and it may be necessary for the GM to fill in some of the technical details.

One evening the characters should be having a gang meeting. It's awfully hard to keep track of these meetings because they are held in Cyberia. Each of the characters is jacked in wherever he lives, but their Somas or Interractive Video Images are all gathered together in a popular spot in Cyberia called Harlequin's Arcade, the Cyberian equivalent of a bar, where psychostims are offered to simulate a variety of effects on the user from alcohol to sex to some of the most popular drugs. Psychostims stimulating the appropriate areas of the person's brain while his Soma participates in activities traditionally associated with that sort of simulation, though for the more twisted this sort of technology allows the mixing of images and effects, such as sexually stimulating drinks, hallucinatory food and the like. Some mild entertainment is going on. A couple of the regulars have gotten hold of a Drone belonging to the Isaki corporation of Japan, a not particularly clever Drone which looks a great deal like a winged, mechanical pig (no one really understands the choices of the conceptual artists who design Drone images), which they have pinned to a table by its wings. They are attempting to reprogram it through the use of an Icicle (security hacking program which looks like its namesake under OSIS).

As they chat and try to ignore the rather immature abuse to which the Drone is being subjected, they are among the first to notice a new arrival. This visitor stands out even in a room where many of the occupants have adopted elaborate personae, because its appearance is so unnatural that it is clearly not human. Its body is entirely black and sexually ambiguous. The arms and legs are disproportionately long and not particularly muscular, while the head is a narrow cylinder, the same color as its body, bearing no markings or features whatever. It walks through the door with easy self-assurance and swivels its head to survey the room (presumably). Without hesitation it takes a few loping strides towards the table where our heroes are seated, only to be intercepted by a bar regular who goes by the handle Meathook.

Meathook appears as a huge, muscular man, rather stocky, with arms which end in sharp-looking implements instead of hands. His right hand is a meathook, his left is an icepick. Both are more than images, as they are supported by crude but powerful software which alows them to do considerable damage to other software and systems working through the OSIS network.

Meathook is known for having a real disliking of Frankies, and the stranger is clearly the Soma of some flashy Artificial Intelligence. The reaction is swift when Meathook approaches and tries to get his hooks (literally) into the Frankie. Almost too fast for anyone to see (even with augmented senses), the Frankie's hands become something like vibrating blades (nothing like the somas for any of the standard offensive programs) and in an instant the very surprised Meathook is trisected, and a few moments later the remnants of his soma blink out of existence. The Frankie turns towards our heroes and comments, "Shimmerblade, beta-test version. I can get you a copy, but we need to talk a bit first." He sits at an empty chair. Everyone is impressed.

The Frankie identifies himself as Ace Mojo (AMJ-2/23) and tells them that he has a problem. He wants some information, but doesn't have the time or the liberty to do the leg-work himself. He belongs to an unnamed corporation, but wants some information for himself about the man who programmed him. He will pay them well, in C$ or in pirated software (not from his company, but from their industrial espionage library). What he specifically needs them to do is worth a pretty high price. He wants them to go into New Providence and try to contact the man who designed him, a Wraith named Lars Tormund. Once they find him, all Ace Mojo wants them to do is ask him three questions. He refuses to divulge the nature of the questions, but if they accept the job he will give them a packet with the questions contained as a compact drone program which will actually ask the questions for them. The job is merely to get the drone there. The soma of the sealed drone is an old-style express mail envelope.

The catch in this relatively simple mission is that New Providence, also known as the Cemetery, is one of the most unpleasant and most secure areas in the net. It is a giant databank maintained off the coast of New England on a Bahamian island called New Providence. It is the repository for an international foundation called Eternal Resource Limited, which has preserved the minds of great thinkers of the past by reading their memories and personalities into a databank where each of them has a discreet identity and can carry on the thoughts that they had when alive, but at the service of ERL's customers. ERL makes money on both ends, from fees paid before the death of their 'Clients' (or as others call them, wraiths) and also from a commission on consulting fees charged by the Wraiths. Note that many wraiths, like Tormund, are there under the sponsorship of the company which employed them in life, and not necessarily willing participants. The problem with New Providence is that it is an oligarchy run by the wealthiest and oldest wraiths, some of whom are on the board of directors of ERL, and all of whom are paranoid and obsessed with security. New Providence does offer a form of immortality, but at the price of eternal bondage. Note that if allowed, wraiths can operate within the net almost exactly like living people. New Providence has been breached before, and some trade is carried on between New Providence and Cyberia, but relations are by no means congenial.

The Mission

Ace Mojo wants to know as little as possible about how they get the information he needs, but he wants results relatively fast. He will show up for half an hour every night at Harlequin's Arcade for the next week. After that he'll assume they gave up.

The best strategy for this mission is probably to get together a small, well equipped group and approach New Providence through Cyberia. This will require passing through several unusual Cyberian domains, but will allow them to approach relatively well concealed from New Providence's scouts and defenses. It will also assure that if their somas are captured they cannot be traced to their origin. Those who make the attempt should be armed with the best equipment they can get, in the form of the most deadly and subtle interractive software to breach the defenses and eliminate any guardians. In preparation they can check around for rumors about New Providence, and will learn that there are both standard security defenses and relatively powerful drone guards as well.

There are only a limited number of links to New Providence. This will require that they pass through several regions of Cyberia which may not be totally supportive of their mission, some of them even satellite states of New Providence. Access to New Providence is possible through either Junkyard Baltimore (a region controlled by a gang from Baltimore which specializes in hardware salvage and fencing), Chateau Descartes (a university controlled clearinghouse for data and software) or Wally's Waremart (a discount software trading cooperative). To get to these it will be necessary to pass through at least one other domain, most likely the Nuzulu Nation (run by a Philadelphia street gang), Pandemonium Palace (run by a pirate programmer on a hellish theme, though not as elaborate as the Seven Circles located elsewhere in Cyberia), the Black Forest (a medieval style environment), the Gates of Tuat (based on the twelve regions of the Egyptian afterlife) or the Realm of Faerie (an extended interractive game for soma players with all sorts of fantastic creatures and magic). All of these are strange, but relatively open, although not without their dangers.

Chances are that they will run into some interference, in the form of concrete obstacles or people who are curious about what they are doing or where they are going. The specifics of these encounters are up to the individual GMs, but some suggestions can be offered. The Nuzulu Nation is guided by lion-headed giants armed with huge, hooked swords. The Black Forest abounds with robber knights looking for a joust. The Realm of Faerie is known for its evil wizards, somas of jocks who specialize in virus-like 'magic' which will effect nasty alterations in other somas. The Gates of Tuat are inhabited by all sorts of supernatural creatures, the most fearsome of which is Sebek, a gigantic crocodile which devours everything it encounters. Note that the Gates of Tuat is divided into twelve separate realms, each ruled over by an Egyptian god, all connected together by an endless circular river, which is the only means of transportation between the realms. Pandemonium Palace is a recreation of the inner circle of hell, guarded by all manner of devils and demons, under the guidance of the Head Torturer, the demon Malebroche. They should be able to get through these areas by intimidation, bribery or conning. Remember that behind every soma is a nerdy little jock with something on his mind, and remember that fearsome though some of the drones are, they are inherently predictable and ultimately responsible to whoever created or manages them.

Once they get through these outer realms they will have to deal with at least one of the satellites of New Providence, all of which are a lot more businesslike and less recreational or creative. The management of Junkyard Baltimore are the least under the control of New Providence, but have a healthy respect for the power of the Wraiths. Wally's Waremart is closely linked to New Providence, but Wally can be bribed. Unfortunately he is also totally unscrupulous and is likely to sell them out. Chateau Descartes is run by the cold intellects of the Demosthenes Foundation and North Delaware University, but it's day to day management is in the hands of graduate assistants who are often bored, frustrated jocks in their own right, and might be willing to help in a covert jab at New Providence. As far as interractive appearance, Junkyard Baltimore seems like an endless terrain of rusted computers centered around a boxy iron 'club-house'. Wally's Waremart resembles a giant shopping mall and Wally himself is a huge man dressed in clashing patterns of polyester plaid. Chateau Descartes is a huge, gothic castle which is filled wall to wall with books. If they try to break through by violence each of these realms is well defended with some of the latest drone programming.

With help or by stealth they will presumably get through one of these realms. It is quite possible that New Providence will be warned and that will make their way much more difficult once they get there. New Providence itself is a forbidding area, surrounded by a 100ft high, extremely smoothe wall. Within the wall there are constant storms and lightning. The nature of the interior terrain is invisible from outside the wall. There is a single gate, very heavily guarded, both by several very advanced security drones and also by at least one Wraith commander at all times. The only ways in are over the wall or through the gate. To get through the gate they will almost have to have the assistance of someone from one of the adjacent areas. Going over the wall is more difficult, unless they are equipped for it, but less likely to excite attention. If they go over the wall they will discover that the clouds over the walls are actually very simple drones which will fire powerful blasts of lightning at anyone trying to climb or breach the walls. But they are relatively slow, though anyone hit will almost certainly lose connection with his soma and will have to make a resistence roll to keep from being flatlined (killed).

Once inside the wall they only have to worry about random patrols of individual, very powerful drones, equipped with capture devices which look like hooks, but which will immobilize a soma and allow it to be dragged in for questioning. These security drones look like huge, overly muscular men with little, bullet-like heads. The terrain inside the walls is bleak, no vegetation, just a single, huge, multi-tiered building with no windows. This building is more or less circular, with 12 levels of 360 rooms each and six entrances on the bottom level. All of these rooms are identical. Everything is gray. They are numbered 1-1 through 12-360, for a total of 4320 rooms. There's no way to tell them apart. This makes finding Lars Tormund extremely difficult, as there is no directory or any way to locate him. Each of the rooms seems like a small apartment, considerably larger and nicer on the inside than on the outside, each equipped with the analog of a console/computer for receiving news and entering the net. Remember that each of the Wraiths essentially lives his entire existence as a soma, so none of this stuff is real, except the computer interface equipment, which is only real in the sense that the master computer of New Providence maintains it itself.

If they can get into a room and access the master computer, which will require some sort of spike program if they don't have the right access codes, they can find Lars Tormund's room (he is in 8-233). Of course, since all of the Wraiths are essentially somas, if they break into a room the Wraith there can instantly warn the New Providence master computer. However, some Wraiths may not do this, depending on how unhappy they are with their situation or how bored they are. There are also about 80 empty rooms on the 12th floor, so if this is where they choose to break in, they can have free access to a computer console if they get lucky (23% chance).

If they manage to locate Tormund without being intercepted he will seem disoriented and not very happy, living a spartan existence in a room which seems to have been laid out as a three dimensional representation of a tesseract. He will let them stick around while he answers the questions. Basically they come down to asking what Tormund's original intention was in designing Ace Mojo who wants to know whether the current intentions of his owners fit within the spirit as well as the letter of what Tormund designed him for. Clearly Ace Mojo has moral problems with what his owners are doing and as an artificial intelligence he has the liberty to seek a legitimate way out, and feels that Tormund can justify his disobedience.

After getting the authorization they need from Tomund, they need to get out. Tormund will give them the answer Ace Mojo is looking for, that he should deny the orders his owners are giving him. The problem they face after this is getting the message out to Ace Mojo. You might think that they could leave instantly by just disconnecting from the network, but things are not that easy in Cyberia. The nature of OSIS is such that the mind of the user is intimately linked through his soma with whatever environment he interracts with, so the soma must physically leave the environment in order for him to return home and disconnect.

This means that they have to escape New Providence and face all the security they faced on the way in, but what they may not be prepared for is that most of these security measures exist primarily to keep the Wraiths from leaving without permission, so on the way out there will be more patrols and more security to deal with. To make matters worse, as they are getting ready to make their escape, Tormund declares that he wants to escape with them, and if they don't like the idea, he threatens to tell the Oligarchs and have them arrested before they can leave. He seems pretty desperate. There is an ultimate technical problem with this. It will require even more care in escaping, because the New Providence authorities could terminate Tormund at any point remotely until they can get him somewhere and, using his soma as a link, leech his file out of the New Providence computer and set it up somewhere else. Having Tormund with them, if his disappearance is noted, will also allow New Providence to send their best drones and even some killer Wraiths after them to hunt them down. This could add a nice little aftermath to the adventure.

Conclusion

There are lots of possible outcomes for this adventure. Probably the best is to have the characters escape, either with or without Tormund, after which they will be on a list of people wanted by New Providence, which may result in pursuit by some bounty-hunter types in Cyberia and even in the real world. Alternatively, if you want to get them in even deeper, you can have them captured and then develop another adventure to get them rescued or for them to effect their own escape. In such an escape they could probably get hold of lots of useful and valuable information or wares from New Providence which might set them up rather well if peddled in the marketplaces of Cyberia.

Here you have the basics of an adventure, and a pretty good introduction to the world of Cyberia. There are many directions in which you can take this basic situation and lots of fun detail that you can develop. Go with it, and remember that grim though the setting may be, it should still be exciting and sometimes even fun.