Silicon Nightmares Arc
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Silicon Nightmares
This is the overview and timeline page for the Silicon Nightmares Arc which began on January 7th, 2024 and pertains largely to IPC and Konyang lore.
It is centred around a mysterious condition popping up in the synthetics of Konyang, and the Horizon's investigation into it.
Below is a summary of the arc's applicable news articles, and additions.
 The Missing IPCs of SuwonNews Article Publisher : BITBYTE Writer : THE LANCER Suwon, Konyang A series of strange disappearances across cities like Point Verdant, New Hong Kong, but primarily Suwon has sparked concern amongst families, coworkers and the police. What is strange though, is the fact that this wave is only affecting positronic people, in a city where IPC violence and abductions remain the lowest in the country. IPCs from all backgrounds have been reported to have not shown up at work, returned home or answer any calls, with relatives and friends unable to find them. BitByte reporter Pak Ki-young has taken to the streets to investigate this odd phenomenon. A video is attached. It is a 48 minute documentary featuring Ki-young, walking the streets of Suwon and conversing with various figures on the street, presenting police statistics and explaining the situation. In this instance, she is walking down a narrow alleyway on her way to an interview location. “We are now in Hyanggyo-dong, headed to interview an associate of 5-Cheung, Suwon’s and perhaps the country’s largest criminal association, who has historically been alleged to have deep ties to the ransom and positronic-running business in the city.” Ki-young stops before a large metal door, appearing to lead to a shop’s backroom or something similar. She rings a buzzer, waiting and looking at the cameraman before nodding at something inaudible that he tells her. Soon after, a baseline IPC dressed in a Konyanger translucent rain-tracksuit answers the door, letting them in. A pistol is wedged in its waistband, and its chassis paint has been blurred out in editing. The scene cuts to the IPC and Ki-young ascending some stairs and greeting a seated human figure who is wearing a balaclava and sunglasses. Their voice has been heavily altered as it cuts to the interview. “Hello, thank you for agreeing to meet with us. Do you know what is causing the disappearances?” “Disappearances of synthetics are not new in Suwon, but uh… totally not at these numbers. I heard the police saying something about 13 reported missing in one day, this is too much for it to be related to abductions.” “So you are saying you don’t believe they were taken for parts?” “No. The cops have really cracked down on that, and besides, these guys were from all sorts of backgrounds. I heard one of them worked as a bank manager- that’s a high profile face, these guys aren’t touched.” “So what could it be? “I really couldn’t say. There’s all sorts of junk flooding the streets every day, wouldn’t surprise me if that caused it.” “You are referring to malware?” “Yeah. Cracked overloaders and the like, but it’s still strange, I’d have known if there was something new. You need permission first to sell anything on the streets.” “Can it be possible that some other group did this?” “No.” “No?” “No. I don’t know what to tell you, 5-Cheung runs a tight ship, got eyes everywhere. If something like that happened it would instantly be known.” The video transitions to a drone shot from over Suwon, taking footage while gaining height. Whether it is rival gangs or another surge of overloader malware, one thing that’s clear is that the rate of disappearances will continue to go up in the next days, with whatever this means for the positronic people of Konyang. Date: 07/01/2466 IPC Violence Spikes, Missing Persons DiscoveredNews Article Publisher : BITBYTE Writer : THE LANCER A rapidly escalating number of violent incidents is being reported all across major cities and Prefectures, from Suwon to Ganzaodeng, with National Police statistics claiming that the assailants are overwhelmingly Positronic persons. This new and still largely unexplained surge in attacks has been categorized as separate in nature to those of “regular violent crime”, as the assailants seemingly present no motive or reasoning for the act. Surprisingly, many of the perpetrators were discovered to be among the names of missing persons linked to the similar spike in strange disappearances affecting Suwon and Aoyama. BitByte has reached out to local communities and first-hand witnesses. The familiar face of Pak Ki-young comes up on the screen in the following clips. She appears to be interviewing a number of people including a young man dressed in a business suit, a woman dressed in a red jumpsuit and a white hard hat who appears to be a maintenance worker, and another person dressed in the neon colors of Konyanger city jackets. The interviews have been cut in such a way to appear back to back. “They were not normal, I am telling you. These people who did it weren’t normal.” “What exactly happened?” “They came out into the street, it was two baselines. Their clothes looked wretched, as if they had been living in a dumpster for days. They seemed lost, and one of them walked on the road and smashed a guy’s windscreen with its fist. They were stopped at a red light, it happened in broad daylight.” “The cops came, but uh.. that G2 was completely out of control. It kept chasing people around, it even beat up an old man before they shot it with a disabler. Now that poor guy is in the hospital.” “Was there a reason?” “Nope. At least it didn’t seem like it, it looked like it was drugged, it was malfunctioning. Later I learned that it was one of the so-called “missing persons” that everyone’s been talking about.” “It was at the KRC repair shop… my friend, she had just gotten her shell and was very excited, so it came as a complete… a complete shock. She just started staring blankly at me for a long time when she came out into the hallway. I thought it was a glitch or some incompatibility issue with her new chassis, but then she started coming towards me with her arms flailing and she was just shouting incomprehensible things. Thankfully some of the staff managed to grab her.” Date: 11/01/2466 Police, Ministry Joint Press ConferenceNews Article Publisher : BITBYTE Writer : THE LANCER Suwon, Konyang The planned press conference has taken place with representatives of the National Police, the Ministry of National Police and the Ministry of Health and Positronic Affairs addressing the newly dubbed “Rampancy Virus”. A video follows, showing a seated panel of police and civic officials. Of those assembled, Sam-Pi-Ri, the Bishop minister of health and only IPC cabinet member is at the forefront, addressing a packed room of journalists and cameras. “This health crisis is national, there must be no confusion in this matter. Prime Minister Myeong Myung-Dae and the government are all working around the clock to unearth the causes of this phenomenon that has so upset the life of our country. So far, cases of this illness are solely between our positronic population, and it appears that our planet is the only place where this is documented. This, as well as a series of tests, has made us rule out the possibility of a widespread manufacturing fault, meaning that it is entirely exogenic. I repeat, whatever the cause is, nobody was created with it, so there is no reason for panic. Common symptoms of this rampancy include minor optical, auditory, augment malfunctions, temporary memory loss, lessened limp responsiveness, inexplicable operating system errors, minor and major pathfinding errors, and more. You should seek immediate help if you experience unknown signal link interferences, a rapidly declining cognitive state, as well as a reshuffling of core behavioral directives that may entice you to violence, destruction, or any manner of harm. We Positronic citizens must all be responsible and practice electronic hygiene, even though contact with infected persons does not seem to actively spread the malware. Further investigation is underway at full speed, and robust clinical trials are being conducted as we speak. Furthermore, Einstein Engines and the Konyang Robotic Corporation have offered themselves at our full disposal, and are actively researching the source and potential countermeasures to the disease.” Following the minister’s statement, several police officials take the floor to present statistics about their prefectures. Everyone urges calm and that public order be maintained. Despite the announcement, panic continues to spread across Konyang with members of the public calling on the government for stronger measures to restore order in the affected cities. Date: 14/01/2466 |
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