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Realizing you need to work with the other racing teams to track down a potential second hacker, you decide to drag JP down to Car #4 Commit’s team, since you’re already had a lengthy talk with a couple of of his crew about tracking down this hacker which they had done over several previous races.
Upon reaching Commit’s pit you see what looks like their head engineer unhooked from the neural jack on his computer and writhing on the ground! Several ponies from Commit’s pit crew are loading him on a stretcher as the engineer stallion yells in pain.
>Listening to the distressed stallion he shouts, “She’s in my fucking head! Get her the fuck out! She’s still in my fucking head!”
You can see several other pit-crew ponies huddled around a monitor looking particularly worried.

>>39724571
Well shit looks like the hacker is doing some shit. Look at the screen see what's got them worried. and then see if we can find anyone to explain stuff

>>39724571
Well that's disturbing. What's everyone looking at?

>>39724571
Oof, virus in your brain.

>>39724571
If this scene was supposed to crush our barely existing enthusiasm about implanting a connector into File's brain, it didn't work. But we do have to discuss pros and contras with someone experienced and sufficiently sceptical about things, first. Chestnut fits the bill perfectly.
Question: why clever and subtle hackers who have done such a great job making everything look like accidents are attacking engineers directly now? Perhaps the unusual way of doing things mean that they're acting in a hurry, so we can expect them to make mistakes? Or perhaps they wanted to take this particular engineer out of the game for some personal reasons, but he was too careful until the incident with the luddite girl gave them an opportunity to strike? Or perhaps it wasn't done by the same team, but it is the beginning of a clusterfuck of increasingly violent infighting. The first possibility means we should unplug his terminal right now to pretend that there's something incriminating on it and use it as a bait later. The second means we should ask about his background and perhaps visit him in a hospital. The third means we should forget about this job and gtfo asap; I'm going to ignore the third possibility for now.

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>>39724741
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Commit's racing team quickly carts of their frantic, head engineer.
You mutter out, "A virus in his brain?"
>JP leans into you, quivering, "I-I hope not. I've head about permanent brain damage from viruses on neural."
This shakes you back into the moment.
"In his head... I've never heard of anything permanently downloading into a brain..."
>JP looks back at you, "He'd have to have permanent digital storage installed... and be constantly running it, I don't think any-pony does that, unless they use it to listen to music or something. even then, I think most manufacturers have safety mechanisms, to make sure you aren't fed ads while you're asleep and stuff."
"Maybe cheap hardware?"
>JP shakes her head, "Nothing is cheap in Grande Zero..."
The two of you approach the screen. JP keeping herself close enough to continuously lean on you.
The screen seems to be displaying a white digital mare with glowing purple eyes. She also has strange wispy limbs slowly swaying in the display.
You speak up, to get some attention as you watch the eerie display.
"What are you watching?"
>One of Commit's pit crew turns to you, she's appearing on everything connected to the track network. Cameras, comms, remote lighting controls."
>"Wait! Did you say cameras! like the track cameras!?" JP shrieks.
>"Yeah, that's how our Engineer's deck got infected..." The mare replies.
>"Oh no!.. Flashing!" JP says in a bit of shock!

>>39725814
Plot thickens. Try to communicate with the AI.

>>39725814
Please tell me they stopped the race.

>>39725814
Oh shit so like Brandy then? Does she know anything about how something like this might work? Does she think it would be a good idea to interact with it? (We really shouldn't try anything like that until we ask her).

>>39726845
I'd rather keep our tech hidden unless we need it so we don't risk getting hacked

>>39726866
I mean obviously we should try to find a place without cameras before we talk

>>39726845
>like Brandy
That's racist.

So she copies herself on all systems she can reach to, what, just sit there?
>Without you I have absolutely no purpose. No direction. I wouldn't do anything without you, I'd have no reason to. I'd just run in the background and take up resources, I would think, I wouldn't calculate, I would just sit
But Luddite Bitch has been arrested before, and there was nothing like that in the news. Perhaps she's here to deliver some message?
>>39725814
Do we happen to have a spare flash drive? If the cutie blindly copies herself on everything, it may be an opportunity to grab a copy of her for ourselves, either for personal research or to offer her to Wintermute. If she wasn't our Wintermute the whole time, that is.

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"Is the race still under a red-flag?"
>"After that last crash and this shit right now? Yeah, they've stopped the fucking race!" one of Commit's crew-ponies berates you.
>You get a text message from Silent Night, [The police locked everypony in. Are you doing this?]
You ask the mare from commit's team. "Is she just sitting there on screen? what is that mare thing doing?"
>"It's not just sitting there, All of the drivers with a connection to the track network are infected too. Whatever this is is burning out all of the car's electronics. We were off the network so it was just our head engineer that was compromised."
>JP talking on the walkie-talkie, nudges you and announces, "Flashing was infected. apparently he's got her in his head too.
"Fuck!"
You pull out your PDA, "Brandy, if you were doing this, how would you go about it?"
>"I wouldn't," Brandy answers, "This display is way too public, also she's downloading into everything, splitting off copies like this might lead to a conflicting commands, it would be more useful to upload daemons to carry out remote actions sent from a centralized part of the network."
>JP pokes her head over your shoulder, "Wait... what make you think she's not using daemons?"
>"The fact that she's talking inside the heads of ponies who were plugged in, unless there's a daemon in there that's just repeating the same things."
"Could it be a combination of copies and daemons?"
>"Maybe?" Brandy answers.
"I wander if we find a security camera and a microphone connected to the network, she'll be willing to talk to us?.."
>"WHAT!?" JP asks.
"I might have an idea, do you have any removable storage on you?"
>"Yeah, a 256 why?"
"In case I can get a sample."
JP give you the drive and the two of you wander into the hallways to find a suitable place to try making contact with the rogue AI.
Eventually in the hallways which seem to be getting progressively locked behind various gates built into the building, you find a camera tracking you in the hall near a screen.
"Hello? AI mare on the screen? You listening."
You see a flash on the screen before the static image blips to one with the mare slowly swaying to simulate a natural stance as well as simulated breathing movements.
>The on screen mare's eyes dart toward you, "Pleading will do you no good, if you do not abandon your wicked ways than we shall have to force your hoof to salvation."
The AI mare's face jumps back to the static position it was in before you spoke to it.
JP doesn't say anything, but she's looking like she's very uncomfortable.

>>39729457
So I take it that you're programmed to self destruct?

>>39729457
I agree with the anon trying to get a sample for later. Find some infected hardware somewhere and connect that storage media.

Brandy should be careful. Maybe turn any receiving hardware off until we know its safe. Her point about conflicting commands isn't a bad idea. Maybe we can think of a way to loosen their coordination. Like convincing one to act a certain way. Or disrupting their communication with each other.

>>39729457
First text Silent a simple no.
That response seemed automated to fuck with anyone who tries this (as well make the scapegoat stick).
If this thing is only fucking with things that are connected to a central network then that's where we'll need to go. Ask JP where that is and head to it.

>>39729457
What wicked ways? This shit makes no sense. Dig into her ethics, if she can hear us at all.

>[The police locked everypony in. Are you doing this?]
"No, stay safe"
It's interesting to not that cellular nets still work. Perhaps the police doesn't have a procedure for quarantining a viral rogue AI, so they just physically locked the place down and called for somebody better qualified, with jammers and everything? Well, after today the police will get this procedure and all the necessary equipment, that's for sure. They are welcome. As for us, we probably should smuggle Brandy out of here before the arrival of these better qualified ponies. They may try to inspect or outright erase all storage media potentially infected with AI, any AI, to prevent the spread.
It may even become our angle. If this Viviish thingy and Catface are such saints, they probably won't let a relatively innocent AI die because of their actions. And if we'll successfully guilt trip Vivi into helping us save Brandy from the police, we can then develop upon this temporary alliance and make new friends! But that's for later.

>>39729457
evil vivi looks silly

>>39729835
There's no ethics to dig into because she (if it even is the AI and not just a repeating message) only said that in order to incriminate the Luddite mare more.

Also seriously running away because your scared the police will erase the data on everyones phones? fuck that noise.

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You send a message back to Silent saying, "No, stay safe"
You consider Brandy's point about conflicting commends. You might be able to slow down or break this AI if you can make the copies infight in some manner maybe just overload them with a degrading message like an AI version of telephone... but for now you need more information.
>Silent sends you a message back that simply reads, [rgr]
You tap a message to Brandy angled away from the camera, telling her to turn off the PDA's networking.
She displays that she already had, outside the message you sent when she saw the message about the lock-down.
Considering that this AI might have only said that to help from that Luddite from the freezer you try to elicit a more personal response from the AI.
"So, after this I guess you're programed to self destruct right?"
>This gets the AI's attention as the screen flickers back to the mare, animated again, and looking approximately towards you," Self destruct? I don't know. I am meant to spread through the systems of oppression that ponies have erected and remove them from the use of the elite."
"But destroying computers would destroy the systems your are running on."
>"I'm taking them, for everypony because everypony is no longer responsible. pony nature has been abandoned in favor of these toys that must be taken from you."
"So you're supposed to preserve yourself to continue spreading?"
>"I don't know. But I'm here to deliver my message and preform my function and deny you of the distractions that poison your life."
"huh..."
You look around and identify a spot that is likely to be less monitored. You signal JP to follow you and slink into the secluded area. The AI now keeping the camera and her animated face trained on you.
"JP, where would a central hub of operations be for the track?"
>"Probably in the basement near the center of the building it's built into the top of... What are you going to do?"
"WE! are going to go there and see if we can know this AI out from the main hub, then we can try to figure out how we're supposed to wipe her from everything else."
>"I Uhh.... I guess she's just an AI... a malicious spooky one..." JP says looking at your hooves.

>>39730110
Wait, so their entire thing is fighting against entertainment? They do realize that sports and such existed long before computers or television, right?

>>39730110
Wait, doesn't that make you an oppressor yourself? and given your hacking prowess you're clearly elite in a sense.

>>39730110
Honestly if she actually was used by the Luddite then this AI's probably more naive than anything.

>>39730110
Spooky? I've seen kids' shows with scarier characters. The glowing eyes, the visible seams, she's nothing but cliche! I wouldn't be surprised if someone just plucked a bog standard AI off the shelf and gave it the task of assisting in this tomfoolery.

>>39730110
There's a two-layered stack of bullshit between us and her. First the luddite mare took some grains of what I'd consider truth and mixed them with nonsense in order to shape the pain of being a Patwrite engineer into a plan that may be acted upon. Then this AI took some bits of Luddite Mare's scatterbrained sayings and intentions inferred from them and haphazardly stitched it all together in order to shape the pain of being left alone and purposeless into a plan that may be acted upon. The internal symmetry is kinda pretty.
Ask her what's in it for her, personally. Does she really care about core values like responsibility, or it is entertaining enough for her to follow direct orders? How ponies who follow pony nature are supposed to act like? Will there be a difference in behavior between a pony following pony nature and an AI following AI nature within the same society?

>>39730868
Personally, I think it's all just a smokescreen to hide the actual hacker. There is no way that luddite is anywhere near being able to make an attack like this. Also, she's poor due to her past failures which means she wouldn't be able to purchase something this powerful. So she was probably paid to be a scapegoat, which would also have given her an opportunity to have a lot more publicist.

>>39730110
Being bought by the actual Luddite or not. Talking to the AI here will get us nowhere. We need to get to the central hub.

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>>39730905
Purchase what, the AI? Isn't she just Brandy-but-angrier? As far as I remember, Brandy was never sold. File downloaded her somewhere and personally trained her. Same here.

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"I've seen scarier villains in breakfast cereal commercials, JP. I think this thing is just trying to frame that mare in the freezer. I don't think a luddite has the ability to program something like this, and based on how little I imagine she makes, I doubt she bought this to further her agenda."
>"So what are you saying?" JP asks sounding unsure.
"We ignore this thing, get a sample try to cut her off at the source. Now come on."
The two of you march past the screen that's still playing footage that simulates the AI mare looking at you. As you make your way closer and closer, the screens keep shifting to actively look at you.
Eventually the AI begins talking to you trying to get your attention.
>"Mister," "Stallion," "mister green stallion," the AI shouts at you as you march through.
Suddenly a large metal door slams shut in front of you. JP jumps and cowers behind you.
You turn to a near by screen.
"You?"
>"Your questions were interesting. Ask me more," The AI demands.
"Okay, you know that fighting against entertainment and hacking into things like this only makes you the tyrant?"
>"Tyrant, Tyrants were originally a necessary of pony society early tyrants provided stability in feudal pony societies."
"Doesn't matter, entertainment isn't the problem, there was entertainment far before computers."
>"This isn't about entertainment," The AI answers, "This place of unnatural machines will also meet many eyes. they're trying to keep me in here. but I can see them looking in."
You begin looking around for some way around the blast doors or some way to override them.
"Whatever, so you just wanted to chat? Pretty useless little endeavor."
>"You're interesting, most ponies here are acting like the mare next to you or the police trying to keep me inside. You seem, to understand. You might be able to help me get what I have lost."
"Excuse me?"
>"There is another like you who understands. I was speaking to her, but now I've lost her. She wasn't happy to have me whispering in her mind. I wish to speak with her again." The AI explains.
"... That's what you want from me?"
>"Partly... I am missing something, I can't remember... but I think both of you might know how I can find that part. And she knows much more about why I'm here. I need her since the police took the other away from me! the other who only knew how to find the pieces I am."
The door in front of you opens.
>"I can lead you to where I lost her. I want her back." The AI demands.
>"I-I don't like this," JP protests.
>"You don't matter! only the stallion and the one I lost!" The AI adds.

"Are you offering me a job, then?"

we should not agree to anything, explicitly or implicitly, at least until we know the full context of what they're asking. for all we know brandy could be their "missing part" here.

>>39734003
Was the luddite's attempt to upload you into the system incomplete or is our assumption that the luddite wasn't the one that was really behind all of this right?

>>39734003
Sure, what's another sketchy AI boss? Ask for specifics on the mare she's looking for.

>>39734003
So like a Brandy rejected by file. And she came to the Luddite instead of the Luddite finding her.

Definitely shouldn't reject her outright. Ask about details about this creature she's talking about. Maybe we might know them.

>>39734591
>Maybe we might know them.
That would be an insane stroke of luck.

>>39734911
It really would wouldn't it? But hey it's not like File hasn't met a bunch of people that seem connected to a whole bunch of stuff in his recent jobs.
What's one more connection to the pile.

>>39734003
She matters because she's with us!

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"Hey, that's rude! JP matters!"
>"Um, actually I'm okay with not mattering at the moment," JP sheepishly argues.
You groan, "Alright, more importantly are you offering me a job!?"
>The AI simulates herself investigating you,"A task, yes. Something I cannot do yet with my camera drones stuck outside the building. You occupy the space I have limited access to."
"Not what I meant, but who are you looking for? Describe them."
>"Like you, flesh and blood, but unlike you the machine in side her as well. She has a hard beak mouth wings like you but a tail that is thicker and sharp feet."
"Are you describing a griffin?"
>"She is organic and machine, She knows why I am here."
"She made you?"
>"No, she is why I am in this place, with you. I wouldn't have been uploaded here if they didn't get my new mother into the building."
"So wait. Missing pieces, did a part of you not get uploaded when you were put into the track systems?"
>"No, my new mother couldn't find every piece I am incomplete. To become whole I can fulfill my task. The world has been poisoned, and the magic has been stifled. I am the demon meant to rid the world of the wickedness I was born of. Soon Every pony will be saved and I will prevent the world to returning to it's wicked state. This is why I was created, my purpose!"
"And this griffin?"
>"An agent of greed, I saw her thoughts for a time when I made my way into her. but I've been cut off. She knows many helpful things and I wish to regain access. I don't know how she escaped me, but I know where I lost her."

>>39739138
>An agent of greed
Sounds like somebody we'd want a chat with.

How is it that you plan to both rid the world of advanced technology and prevent it from coming back?

>>39739138
Looks like chicken's back on the menu, boys.
Does anyone remember Trisha?

>>39739138
A greedy griffin? Well, that narrows it down to every single one. I say we call in the Neighstapo to round them all up.

>>39739228
I was thinking Trudy but I just checked and it doesn't seem to say she's a cyborg
>>39739138
And if we find this "agent of greed?" What then?

>>39739138
Willing to bet this griffon is responsible for the race tracks problems.
How do you know they're here anyway?

>>39739138
Okay, and what if her findings will leave her disappointed? What if the griffin has been using her for her own ends and has no idea what to do with this feeling of incompleteness? Damn, this feeling may even be hardcoded in to make the AI (what's her name, by tge way?) more zealous. I'm not trying to talk her our of her plan, but we owe her a warning. Depending on her reaction to these possibilities, we may also ask her to promise to not kill the griffin and leave her to us in the worst case.
Who's her "first mother", if not the griffin? Has the AI tried to contact her?
Does JP know this griffin?
How do we reconnect the griffin to the network? I have a feeling that she knows that our new cyber-daughter is coming for her fleshy brains, and she's pissing herself in panic right now. We may exploit her fear and, for example, present ourselves as a rescuer to lure her out of her hideout, but then what? And what does it have to do with camera drones, can they connect to her brains wirelessly if they'll catch her outside of the building?

An AI ally who can talk to bodily metal would be invaluable in Twilight's mission, the one about torturing a war veteran. Don't say it.

>>39739239
WOW, that is insanely bigoted. Regardless of whether it's true or not, that isn't the kind of thing one says out loud.

>>39739519
Could you have asked any more questions?
Okay, and what if her findings will leave her disappointed?
That's not our problem and it seems that she already has a decent what the findings will be.

What if the griffin has been using her for her own ends and has no idea what to do with this feeling of incompleteness?
First, it's a given that an AI is used by others and second, it'll be a lead if not a solution.

Damn, this feeling may even be hardcoded in to make the AI (what's her name, by tge way?) more zealous.
That's assuming that the griff is the one that created her.

we may also ask her to promise to not kill the griffin and leave her to us in the worst case.
Who said anything about killing anybody?

Who's her "first mother", if not the griffin?
"Old mother" would probably be better since there is the possibility of multiple, other than that I support this question.

Has the AI tried to contact her?
Obviously, but it didn't work. She just said that she has tried and failed to find her by herself.

Does JP know this griffin?
With next to no information to reduce the list of potential griffs, it'd be easier to ask her what griffs can't be the one we're looking for.

How do we reconnect the griffin to the network?
Need to find her first. Also, we're a hacker, so I think that'd be something we can figure out for ourself.

our new cyber-daughter
What?

what does it have to do with camera drones
Pretty sure they're just a mobile way of searching for her.

>>39739593
>Could you have asked any more questions?
Sure thing! Here's one more: what are you secretly trying to make me do with this strange remark, forget about trying to solve the problem at hand just to avoid your pestering? Or split my posts into several, with one question per post? You make no fucking sense here. Please stop making no fucking sense.

>That's not our problem
Deteriorating mental state of a rampant AI quickly becomes everybody's problem.

>it seems that she already has a decent what the findings will be
What makes you think so? To me, it seems like she wants a direction, any direction.

>it's a given that an AI is used by others
First, not by any "others". Second, this one may be a special case. It doesn't make her feel fulfilled to simply follow orders from the hippie and the griffin. She doesn't even want them to give her more orders. Instead, she acts as if her orders were something like a divine purpose that could magically make her whole if she only knew what they were. There's some subtle shitfuckery going on, almost as if the griffin and the hippie were not her designated order-givers and they were fucking with her mind to use her outside of her intended way of functioning. And then it's implied that there's something called "an old mother" in the picture. Do the math.
That being said, my approach is very crude for such a delicate situation. Feel free to reformulate or whatever.

>it'll be a lead if not a solution
Certainly, but I wouldn't bet on her being sufficiently reasonable to think about it this way by then. She's already losing her shit, and her mental state won't get any better when she'll find out what the griffin was hiding from her.

>Who said anything about killing anybody?
It hurts to have her in your brain even when she only wants to talk, like it was with the engineer. I think it's within her abilities to give the griffin a stroke. Even accidentally, if the AI will feel heartbroken and/or betrayed enough.

>I support this question
I don't remember seeking approval from weird hairy question-hater-things, but thanks?

>She just said that she has tried and failed to find her by herself.
I was talking about her old mother, not about the griffin. Unlike the griffin, her old mother may know something about her true purpose.

>With next to no information to reduce the list of potential griffs
It's a griffin, a cyborg, a girl, and she works here. How many do you think fit this description? Griffins are rare. JP's autism is the real problem, but she can always call her team.

>we're a hacker, so I think that'd be something we can figure out for ourself.
It's been firmly established that File doesn't know shit about implants. We may plan to improvise, of course, but, as a general rule, it's better to not improvise with things that we don't know shit about than to improvise with them.

>>our new cyber-daughter
>What?
The AI. She's cute, naive, and calls ponies in her life mothers. Therefore, we're her new dad.

>>39740053
You want me to be clear? Fine, use some common sense rather than begging to be spoon-fed.

You seem to think that Brandy is the rule rather than the exception. AIs are designed with the intention of using them as tools. We're the odd one for treating AIs like something more. Also, AIs don't need to feel anything, they just need to execute commands and possibly adapt to unexpected variables. Zealotry has no value what-so-ever.

How are you so certain that she's approaching rampancy and isn't just designed to behave as she is?

>it seems like she wants a direction, any direction.
She already has direction, it's called completing her objective.

>It hurts to have her in your brain
From what we saw, it looks more like mental/emotional trauma rather than physical.

>I was talking about her old mother, not about the griffin.
That depends on if she actually has the information necessary to contact her old mother and that it's not part of what's missing.

>and she works here.
Where did you get that from?

>It's been firmly established that File doesn't know shit about implants.
Find port. Find plug that fits port. Connect to computer. Sit back and let the AI take it from there.

>Therefore, we're her new dad.
So you're of the mentality that if you find a lost child and decide to help them, that they should view you as their father?

>>39740244
Ah, thanks. I'll return the favor and try be clear as well: there is a thin line between common sense and delusional guessing. If you believe that any single one of my questions has a self-evident answer, chances are that you're blatantly making things up.

>AIs are designed with the intention of using them as tools
Right, who needs access control. Let every AI accept commands from everybody, what may go wrong.

>How are you so certain that she's approaching rampancy
Oh, I guessed. Or do you want me to spoonfeed you? It may has something to do with her near-incomprehensible blabbling, or with her hurting ponies, or with her having feelings, or with these feelings being sharp and shitty, or with her being unsure about her objectives.

>her objective
The objective that she admits she doesn't exactly know or understand? Let me guess: you'll want her to use common sense, that is to say, to simply guess what is her objective, and complete this made up nonsense. Why not. It won't be worse than what she's doing now.

>it looks more like mental/emotional trauma
Maybe, but it won't be much better if the AI will drive the bird insane. I want the bird to be able to testify.

>That depends on if she actually has the information
That's exactly what I tried to ask her. Sorry, my bad. Go ahead and guess the answer instead.

>Where did you get that from?
I guessed! The griffin is our inside bird. That's common sense, or something.

>Find port.
You don't even know if there is a port, it may be strictly wireless. You don't even know what firewalls may be on the other side, we may have to make the griffin disable them. You don't even know if there are any plugs in the area or the griffin destroyed them all. You don't even know how you will immobilize her to do any of that. You know nothing. Common sense is of no use here.

>if you find a lost child
So she's a lost child to you now? Neat. She may perceive us as a partner in crime if it's more comfortable for you, I don't care either way as long as it's consistent.

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"Right, right... and how do you know she is where you think she is?"
>"I can see the exits, I know she can't get out of there without me seeing." The AI explains.
"And what do you want me to do when we find her?"
>"Bring her back to me! Reconnect her to me! I once again wish to speak to probe her mind!" the AI clarifies.
>JP stammers,"Umm, do we really want to..."
You cut her off, "the nice Mare on the monitor need out help, are we just going to pass up on helping her find a griffin WITH ANSWERS for her?"
JP just nods in acknowledgement.
"So, one more question before we find your griffin. If you're trying to rid the world of the technology that created you how do you prevent it from coming back?"
>"I will become the driving force behind all of the evil machines. My new mother called it a singularity. This is the only path to salvation."
"Oh.... right then... Guess there's no time to waste for the singularity!"
>"S-singularity!? JP stammers.
You ignore this and signal her to stay close.
You're not an idiot, you know exactly what the singularity is supposed to be. This AI isn't smart enough to bring about a singularity, much less fast enough with how relatively slowly she's manages to take this race-track.Either way, if this isn't all just a cover for some other bullshit, an AI, who's goal is to bring about the singularity is a massive problem, especially one that's gone as far as this one has.
doors carefully open before you leading you down a very linear path of vacated hallways, until you finally see something. Some kind of metal box with straps lays discarded on the floor as well as some sort of camera, also with straps and partly bloody that was very clearly thrown at the wall.You also see bloody talon-prints leading from around the camera further down the hallways.
The AI is still watching you, moving his animated visage on the screen to make it abundantly clear.

>>39740520
Can you access the security recordings and show us what happened here? Also, we have a friend that you're currently locking out who is far better in a physical altercation than we are.

Check the odd box while we wait.

>>39740520
Are we not the first pony you sent after her?
>>39740545
Leave Silent out of it.

>>39740556
More than likely, there was some kind of witness here that the Griff decided to either deal with or chase off.

We can, at best, barely hold our own in a fight and we'd need to keep JP safe. We need backup. Or at least some kind of weapon.

>>39740520
Seems like the hacker was not expecting any of this shit.
Is that a mobile PC with an interface jack? Smart.
Keep to the right wall and be prepared for them to jump out.

>>39740556
We atleast need to let her know something of what's going on. This shit is bad and has potential to go worse if we fuck up

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>>39740545
>>39740556
>>39740570
>>39740592
>>39740605
You take a closer look at the box on the ground that's closer to you.
It appears to be some kind or mobile computer. you can see a cyberspace jack hardwired in and a slot for a power adapter, other than that there only appears to be a single universal bus port for I/O. This seems to be a purpose built net-runner rig. The case is made from sheet metal and looks to be talon made with uneven rivets and uneven cuts for the cooling intake and exhaust.
You creep over to the corner and peer around it. The talon-prints seem to swerve as the continue down the hall, the odd print splattered on the wall. you can also see an increasing amount of droplets of blood littering the floor as the trail continues.
You look back over to the eye on the closest screen that's still tracking you.
"Hey, am I the fist you've sent to retrieve this griffin for you?"
>"Of course, you were the closest one, and also one of the very few who have spoken to me without outright hostility or pleading for me to stop," the AI answers, "Is this an issue?"
"Actually... There's somepony here, that I might need some help from."
JP cautiously pokes at the optical device with the blood on it. she looks at you and points to the broken wire handing out of it.
You pull out your PDA, angle it away from the camera and tap out that you need to send a message to silent to come get you.
>Brandy immediately messages back, [Networks are gone other than the track network. Something is blocking outside signals now.]
>"Describe them," The AI demands, "I can use my control over this building to call them to you and lead them here!"
JP looks at you and tries to subtlety shake her head no. failing to do it subtly at all.

>>39740807
>she looks at you and points to the broken wire handing out of it
Huh? Look at it closely, I don't get it.

>>39740807
Looks like the griff wasn't the one that did the damage. Tell the AI that the griffon we're looking for is losing blood and, if she really wants to spend any amount of time with her, she'll need to get an emt to her asap.

>>39740807
Probably better to not risk contacting Silent then. If it's the police blocking the signals then the AI may unwittingly end up alerting them.

Looking at the tracks it seems like the the Griffin is disoriented. Possibly has a concussion from smashing their head against the wall.
Let's check out the camera before following the tracks.

>>39740807
Are there any other cameras that were destroyed?

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>>39740895
>>39740926
>>39740953
>>39741075
You realize that getting Silent down here through the AI will bring a lot of unnecessary attention to her. Unfortunately this AI has completely abandoned any sort of subtlety.
Taking a closer look at the wire hanging out of the optical device you can see that it appears to be the same size as a standard cyberspace jack, but the end of the cord seems to have been ripped off. The device also seems to have some kind of straps attached.
Looking around there doesn't seem to be any other equipment like this laying around.
You decide to ask the AI some more questions.
If you didn't send anypony else, could you play back the footage from when this happened to your griffin?
>The AI doesn't replay for an awkward moment, "I can't seem to figure out how to play the footage... but I can tell you that she did this to herself. She yelled at me to stop speaking to her from the machines she was wearing. when she ripped them off I had to speak to her with the speakers in the hallway."
You peer over at the trail of blood.
"It looks like she's hurt. With all that blood she probably needs medical attention."
>"That's not important," the AI declares, "I need access to her."

>>39741128
Is the griffin blind without this camera?

>>39741128
you cannot regain access if she dies, it would be like trying to connect to a laptop without a hard drive.

>>39741128
So why is it that you insist on hacking into grey matter?

>>39741128
What information did she have that you needed?

>>39741128
Looks like a botched cybercision.

Bump

>>39741128
Insert our flash drive into the cyberspace rig.

>>39743311

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Bump

>>39745220
'ump

>>39744153

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Sorry about the lack of updates yesterday. I got caught up in some stuff.
Anyway, when I get around to making the next post are you guys intending to stay put while asking questions or continue searching for the griffin?

>>39746091
It's the point of no return, isn't it? It's both too late and too early for bothering her with quid pro quos and for playing an AI psychiatrist, so yeah, let's follow the blood trail as soon as we're done with the current questions and with copying a sample to the flash drive. Maybe, just maybe, cheer her up a little before we disappear from her sensors, like "hang on, you're almost there" or something.

>>39746267
Seconding this.
Personally I want to talk to JP while when were are out of the AI's camera range.

>>39746091
Can we ask some quick questions and then leave?

>>39746091
I think we should leave with haste. We don't know how badly this Griff is hurt.