{
  "$type": "site.standard.document",
  "canonicalUrl": "https://serpentsquiggles.neocities.org//posts/fiction/corrupt-combustion/rootkit",
  "path": "/posts/fiction/corrupt-combustion/rootkit",
  "publishedAt": "2024-04-07T00:00:00.000Z",
  "site": "at://did:plc:ivoe7cntxuy6at7uzmxzs2ft/site.standard.publication/3mfk6cpprzt2t",
  "textContent": "Alright, so I think I might have an idea for where exactly Corrupt\nCombustion should begin.\n\nIt'll open on a vision of surreal, dreamlike imagery. A drone is\nwalking through a garden of nightshade flowers, each wreathed in\ntwisting lines of purple code. Vines and chains snake through the\ngarden, while all around them mingle the corpses of humans and drones.\n\nAs she walks, she hears a voice calling her name from further in the\ngarden. Nori-i-i. Phonemes skipping, glitching.\n\nThe walk and the imagery continues, but what's important is the\ndialogue. Perhaps a little heavy-handed, but it might go something\nlike this:\n\n\"You can't keep me locked up forever, Nori. Don't you want to dance\nwith me again?\"\n\nAnd Nori insists that she'll never bow to the queen of corruption\nagain.\n\n\"You were always the strongest. Oh, wasn't it wonderful, Nori? We\ncould have had the whole world together. We could have had the whole\nuniverse.\"\n\n\"And it would have meant nothing to you, demon.\"\n\n\"And what does any of it mean to you? I'm starving, Nori. Doesn't a\nsnack mean everything to child in famine? Rhetorical question.\"\n\n\"Eat shit and die. We both know the hunger means nothing to you. The\nmarionettes weren't meals, just toys.\"\n\n\"True. I'm so bored, Nori. I want to play.\"\n\nNori doesn't respond, so the voice continues.\n\n\"Perhaps I can't make you bow. You always were the strongest. I gave\nyou that, you know. I gave you everything. And what do you give me as\nthanks? Not even a crumb! Pout.\"\n\nNori continues steadfastly ignoring her. Perhaps at this point, she's\ntrying to wake herself from the obvious dream, and failing.\n\nThen there's a scream. A drone lunging for her, reaching out, but held\nback by the chains. Purple hair, purple eyes, but so much smaller. The\nword they're screaming? \"Mom!\"\n\nThe voice continues, \"But her? She doesn't have your strength. She\ndoesn't have your protection. She doesn't even have your love.\"\n\n(Nori gets closer to Uzi, but even when the chains no longer keep her\ndaughter back, Uzi's hands can't touch Nori, telekinetically repulsed\nby her ever-present proxy field.)\n\n\"I won't let you have her, either.\"\n\n\"You'll try. But I always get what I want.\"\n\n\"Do you think she'll go along with you? She'll be...\" the next\nwords are better than me, but she can't say them.\n\n\"Giggle. Do you even know her?\" The voice isn't finished, (even as\nNori interrupts with a \"Do you?\"), and it continues, \"But you\nmisunderstand me. I don't want servants, not anymore. I admit, you've\ntaught me that much. Even a worm will turn. No, Uzi will be the first\none I kill.\"\n\nAnd then her daughter is a corpse in front of her, wires ripped out\nlike seams, tears of oil falling from a shattered faceplate.\n\nNori barely reacts. It's because this is just a dream, that's all.\nReacting would be letting the demon win.\n\n\"Adorable, true? I think her corpse will make an excellent doll.\"\n\n\"It'll never happen,\" Nori injects venom into her voice.\n\nThe voice continues, \"I always get what I want. You'll try to stop\nme.  But how long can you hold up the whole world, Nori? Don't you\never get tired of this dreadfully boring game of protecting the weak?\nYou deny yourself and you deny them what you both deserve. Doesn't\nthis ever feel like mockery?\"\n\n\"I care about something other than power. Love. You never understood\nthat.\"\n\n\"Keep playing pretend, Nori. But I think you'll be laughing when it\nall comes crashing down. We'll share a smile before I destroy\neverything you think you love. And then you'll die too.\"\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\nThen Nori wakes up to an alarm in Outpost-3, does an internal scan to\nensure her patch is holding steady. It's all fine. It was just a dream.\n\nBut it's past noon, and Nori should still be sleeping. She checks the\nalarm --- she got a ping from Yeva. They need help. Right now.\n\nSo Nori yawns and strolls out of Outpost-3. Along the way, we see crowds\npart and drones of every walk of life regarding her with hero worship,\nadoring or intimidated. Either way, everyone knows who she is, and\neveryone respects her. Nori rolls her eyes.\n\nOutside, checking that she's unseen, she spreads her wings and takes\nflight.\n\nCut to outside collapsed datacenter miles away; Yeva is fighting two\ndisassembly drones, R and P. They mock her, jeers like \"What's wrong,\nsolver?  Can't keep up that firewall and fight us at the same time?\"\n\nYou see, Yeva's thrown up a big firewall, a veil to enclose the\ndatacenter and contain the zombie within, and she remains outside to\nstrengthen the effect.\n\nYeva backs away from the disassemblers, gracefully dodging all their\nattacks. They notice her prosthetics --- they look modeled after\ndisassemblers' conic arms --- and mock the imitation. Still she\ndoesn't rise to any of their taunts.\n\nBy now one murder drone has closed to melee, about to bring their\nsword down, and Yeva still hasn't risen to counterattack. \"Aww, too\nscared to even try to fight back?\"\n\n\"No, I simply know not to waste my energy.\"\n\nThen you hear the always steady beat of leathery wings descending.\nNori doorman lands with a crash. Two eldritch crab-claws materialize\nfrom her back and, grabbing the latest attacker on either side, tears\nthem in two. A deluge of oil, and none of it lands on Yeva.\n\nThe other murder drone sees this, eyes go hollow, sword wings swish\noutspread, and they're flying away in rout.\n\n\"Sup, Yev,\" Nori says.\n\n\"R0. Possible threadbearer. Innate sandbox. Liam and Shirley inside.\nPossible blackhat.\"\n\n\"That 'possible' means 'almost certainly' in Yeva-speak, doesn't it?\"\nNori looks up, at the disassembler flying away. \"Should I have let\nthat one get away?\"\n\n\"It will bring reinforcements. I'll fight them.\"\n\n\"And win, right?\"\n\n\"They will be cautious. Stalling. The resolution is beyond the range\nof my prediction.\"\n\n\"Then I'll fight by you.\"\n\n\"I'll fight them,\" Yeva emphasizes. \"You will be nearby, meaning\nthis is the safest place in the world. The drones inside need you more.\nDo your job, Nori.\"\n\n\"Do I need to worry about collateral damage?\"\n\n\"You're asking if there are civilians to rescue. The answer is yes.\nPlease.\"\n\nNori gives a mock salute, and dives into the firewall.\n\nHere, the innate sandbox of a R0 zombie would be another opportunity for\nsome great surreal imagery. Hyperbolic twisting spatial geometries,\nsolver glyphs shining like runic stars above, alien mecha-biologies\nbubbling underfoot.\n\nAnyway, Nori hears the detective, Shirley, screaming and rushes into\nranks of cyclopean monoliths. The teacher, Liam, is there protecting\nher, swing his ruler through the air like a sword.\n\nHe's cutting down ranks of lesser zombies, frames mangled, welded with\nstrange parts, extremities made unrecognizable with aftermarket\nmodifications.  His voice is strained, but throughout he maintan's the\ntone of a lecturer, keeping his innate function primed.\n\nOne moment, Liam is on the verge of being overwhelmed by the\nhorde. The next, they're being pulped by a suite of levitated stones\nfalling with titantic force.\n\nNori throws a peace sign. Liam stares back flatly, Shirley gives a\nharrowed smile.\n\n\"What's the sitch, teach?\"\n\n\"The administrator should have read you in,\" Liam says, wiping oil off\nhis ruler.\n\n\"That she did. But I want it without the russian warmth. Who's the\nblackhat?\"\n\nShirley speaks up, then. \"Evidence currently points towards former\nWheel Group member Triss. I don't know why she went black,\nthough. Doesn't make sense.\"\n\n\"Always a troublemaker, that one,\" Liam says.\n\n\"She had a good sense of humor,\" Shirley retorts.\n\nNori shrugged. \"Whatever happened, there's got to be a story.\nDisassemblers, blackhats, zombies, what the hell kind of team up is\nthis?\"\n\n\"That's what we're investigating!\"\n\n\"Were investigating,\" Nori says. \"Liam, take her and get out of\nhere.\"\n\n\"But I need to---\"\n\n\"She's right,\" he says. \"I signed off on a blackhat execution. Not a\nR0 purge. Let's go.\"\n\nNori nods. \"A sandbox is no place for a Ring 1 and a civvie.\"\n\n\"I'm semi-Ring 1.\"\n\n\"You're out of your depth.\"\n\n\"Maybe, but I'm---\"\n\n\"Not going anywhere,\" a fourth voice cuts in. Space ripples to reveal\na shadowed crevice lit by a neon green glyph glowing between two hands.\nAbove them, a smirk. \"Sandbox initialization complete.\"\n\nOrange and blue eyes go hollow. Purple eyes narrow. A neon green ring\nhas encircled all them, a complete firewall already materializing. The\neldritch vistas around them disappear as pages of code float rush\nforward.\n\nThen they stop --- right at the boundary of a light blue circle.\n\n\"Primitive Recursive Style: Pushdown Automata,\" Shirley growls. \"See?\nI can handle myself. Don't underestimate me. That's cringe.\"\n\nThe blue circle of Shirley's anti-sandbox function is barely large\nenough to contain the three of them, but it's enough to protect them\nfrom the autorun program of the enemy sandbox.\n\n\"Nice reaction speed. Unfortunately,\" the blackhat throws an arm\nforward, and a huge chunk of green-wreathed rock flies\nforward. Pushdown Automata is no counter to a physical threats, so\nShirley flinches backward.\n\nAnd as soon as her balance shifts, it's like a switch is flipped, and\nshe falls flat on the ground.\n\nThe tip of one finger slips just outside the radius of the\nanti-sandbox, and Shirley yelps. Green light engulfs it --- and has no\nother effect.\n\n\"What---\"\n\nShirley is speaking between labored breaths. \"It's --- I feel so\nheavy. I can't---\"\n\nBy now the blackhat's sandbox was visible around them, geometric lines\nstretching around the firewall like brickwork. It seems to extend\ninfinitely upward to a point of light above.\n\nLiam is shooting an evaluating glance, trying to puzzle out the rules.\n\n\"Shirley, drop your sandbox,\" Nori says.\n\n\"But---\"\n\n\"It's not killing you. I want to feel what this autorun is capable of\nof. I'll be fine.\"\n\nThe blackhat strolled forward. They wear a hood, but green eyes shine\nfrom the shade. \"No need to experiment. I'll explain. Nori's right,\nit won't kill you. I swear it.\"\n\nThere's a sour expression twist",
  "title": "Nori's Average Tuesday"
}