4268/The Digi-Virus

The Digi-Virus
Date of Scene:	01 July 2016
Location:	The Citadel - Research Facilities
Synopsis:	Ferham assists Jedah with the creation of a bioweapon to use against Gaonoir. But what consequences will it have...?
Cast of Characters:	516, 990

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Ferham (516) has posed:
     After hearing of a direct request to head down to the dark holds to report to some research staff, Ferham makes her way down there. Her high-heeled, thigh-high boots click-clack against the utilitarian concrete floors, the sound echoing down the halls. She hadn't been down here very much since Wily had been taken off, she realized, though she had just been down there the other day to assist with No. 9... her thoughts were getting lost a bit, she realized, now was not the time to get wistful. She doubted whoever this was could be someone like the old roboticist, or Taro, necessarily--who while they checked up on her fairly often, they didn't request her assistance with projects very much.

     Now all she had to do was find where this person's labspace /was/--which might be a bit tough, since the complex was sprawling, as a lot of the facility was.

Jedah Dohma (990) has posed:
Jedah's sprite Bko was waiting in the matrix for Ferham. When nearby, Bko will ping her, manifest a physical image, and guide her to Jedah's lab.

Bko says,"Evening, Ensign Ferham. Have you come to help boss with his code problems?" She looks like a chibi with green hair and dressed like a librarian or school marm. She has some kind of device in her hand that is streaming data, which she glances at occasionally. She is a data sprite.

Without objection, Bko will take Ferham to Jedah.

Ferham (516) has posed:
     "Oh hello," Ferham wasn't sure if Bko was a holographic data assistant like the sort found in Mass effect, or what--but she appreciated the assistance no matter. Once at Jedah's lab space, Ferham stepped inside and looked around, the wings attached to her back whirring a little as they adjusted themselves, likely to the stricter confines in this interior. "Hello...?" she looked around, her voice sounding deep feminine and almost purring, it was difficult to tell she was human, unless you looked at all the armor she had and decided it couldn't possibly be a suit. She sounded like a super model, and had the figure of one to match, it seemed like.

     "I got a request to report to here... what exactly is it you're working on?"

Jedah Dohma (990) has posed:
Bko smiles and nods. As they travel to the hallway, she hums a bit to herself.

Jedah smiles as Ferham arrives. "Oh good, they finally got my request. Thank you," he says with a bow. "I am Jedah Dohma, and this is my laboratory."

Looking around, three are three computers, two of which appear to be running calculations with particles in the size range of about 5-12 nanometers. The entire lab is spotted with black boxes. They are tall rectangles. After the door slides slowly closed (no danger here), the lights flip off, and the boxes reveal glowing flowers.

"You can take one of the night lilies home with you if you like, only don't expose it to sunlight or UV light. It will combust, sadly. They're from my version of Makai. I grow them to take my mind off work. I'm working on a few new varieties, but I can't seem to make one that can endure sunlight for more than a few minutes,"

"What am I working on? I'm working on a program that will affect digital avatars. I've been studying technovirology and virology in general."

He shows some diagrams. "Humans have several diseases that are difficult to treat because the viruses mutate. For instance, the virus responsible for hepatitis c replicates its RNA without checking for mistakes. So many of the baby viruses are inert. However, since there are thousands and thousands of viruses and they multiply, they produce what are almost new strains of the same virus entirely, fooling the immune cells. This is what made the human immunodeficiency virus such a problem."

He chuckles,"It was a grad student that suggested multiple drugs instead of a single drug the virus could get around. It took much longer to adapt to three or five drugs than just one."

"So this is my first technovirus. It won't affect anything with a physical frame. Only creatures made entirely out of code. Think of it as my 'Hello World,' Some of the Union have avatars such as these. The virus merely produced symptoms akin to a common code. Then, as it replicates itself, it gradually destroys itself rather than creating fresh strains. It should only last about 72 hours. This is merely the first step in a potential weapon against the Union, and one that is very specific and most likely won't see much attention. That's why I'm doing it rather than another more prominent researcher,"

He opens a mini-cooler and pours himself a glass of something amber-colored. "would you like some tea or something? Then you can look at the code and databases with me and Bko, and we can wrap this up. I'm trying to condense the code as much as possible while leaving enough room for it to last the time frame I want,"

Ferham (516) has posed:
     "Night lilies?" Ferham asked, her green eyes scanning the many glack rectangles and multiple computers running in tandem. Typically, computers working together were how things like complex gene sequencing and other sorts of high calculations were conducted--this seemed to be a legitimate concerted effort.

     "Ah, I see, technovirology?" she seemed curious about that, for more than one reason--she was a robot herself, and no one that came from her world didn't know about the maverick virus--which was like an insane, sinister parody of the Y2k virus that caused world world devestation. "Correct, bacteria mutates, sometimes, this is beneficial, such as a lethal or life-threatning strain mutating to become less so," she nods, heels clicking as she stepped over to study one of the monitors and the particles on it.

     "10 Print Hello World 20 End?" she smiled a little, phonetically reciting that bit of code as if it were normal speech. Robot humor, ha ha. "Creatures made out of code, you mean like living programs such as Digimon? AI like that?" she turned to him and shook her head. "No that's fine, unless you have a spare E-can or the like," she shook her head, crossing her arms. "So what did you need from me, exactly? Did you want me to stand next to one of your computers and fall in to do some extra processing?" she smirked. She /was/ a computer herself, technically, after all. Overgrown calculator that had sprouted legs, but what legs those were, ohoho.

Jedah Dohma (990) has posed:
Jedah nods and chuckles at the joke. He shakes his head,"Sorry, you'd have to check the Researcher's Union for something like that. If they don't have it though, they can probably replicate it from the database.

He snaps his fingers "Yes, like the digimon I've heard about, or perhaps gaming avatars. I actually need your help with a simulation. I've created a basic AI. Now we need to fine tune the virus. It can't be lethal, because I haven't been authorized to do that. I want it to develop three annoying symptoms, such as a cough, runny nose, nausea, fever, delirium, or stigmata," Jedah smirks. Is she paying attention?

There appears to be a game on the computer nearest Ferham. "Bko turned it into a game. She and her sister do what I tell them, but they're very childlike. She's spent a lot more time on it than I have, relatively. I had to use the Primer, my own superscience textbook, heavily as well. My expertise is xenobiology and biochemistry, not software engineering.

Jedah gestures to the chair. "It's pretty simple. Pick some good symptoms, we'll accelerate the run time, and watch it get over the virus. Then I'll have to think of an object to insert it into. Perhaps some kind of digital consumable. Later on, we'll test it on someone, preferably someone from the Union.

Ferham (516) has posed:
     "It was a joke," Ferham said sounding as if she was a little good-naturedly cheesed he didn't get her joke, not that she didn't expect he wouldn't. Robot humor, after all. "Ah, I see, so you're much more a classical bioweapons engineer, I'd take it?" Ferham turned from the computer back to Jedah, peering at him. "Gaming avatar? like those ones used by the virtual world players? Hrm..." she nodded. "I've run into Gaonoir before, and also several other digimon--they're a curious fully sort of AI that mimic organic functions and some behaviors, depending on the type," she nodded. "It depends what data they're comprised of, actually--some imitate robots and follow more base AI functions, others are based on mythological concepts such as monsters or religious figures," she leaned over the computer, making a few test lines of code as she tapped at the keys, remarkably fast.

     "If you're looking to disable something like those creatures I suppose I could help you in your lab work, it only makes sense really, I have field experience with them," she nodded.

Jedah Dohma (990) has posed:
Jedah considers capturing one of these creature and experimenting on it. ((Too bad I'd need permission from the theme)). Gaonoir? He makes a mental note of that name. He listens intently.

"I would be most grateful for whatever help you can give," he says happily. He thinks about testing it on a real AI. Bko is too useful, and for the moment, so is Ferham. If she volunteers for that, it's fine. What if it appeared to be a lab accident? All this with a calm, friendly demeanor. The evil gears in his head are turning almost as fast as she's typing. Almost.

Jedah checks on the calculations, and then pauses one of them to work on another part of the code. His work isn't very imaginative, but it is meticulous, although much slower than Ferham's. He finds his errors almost immediately, and turning pages in his Primer of Dark Science, draws from its sinister pages the tools he needs. If he can engineer it to be ingested, or on contact. Air born is too much at this point. Probably something injested. Yes, that would be best. He would need, what, a digital.. steak?

Ferham (516) has posed:
     "Gaonoir is an independantly working digimon that has attacked techno urbania before, there are some logged reports of my experiences with the creature, it's power is immense and should be considered highly dangerous--which is largely why I'm keen on working with you," Ferham smiled a little. Gentleman or not, Jedah was weapons with what he discovered, she was aware of this. She briefly looked over at him as he worked while she was bent over and working on another console, the two apparently working together fine. She's able to type quite quickly, even with those clawed claws--one must wonder how Jedah is able to go at the speed he works at--especially with those long tapering nails of his.

     "Delivery method... I'd assume some sort of spore or perhaps a mobile drone or maybe an artificial creature to seek out and infect, maybe, something that can move on it's own, but could also be controlled, if need be," she gnaws her lower lip just a bit in thought, something she did as she worked.

Jedah Dohma (990) has posed:
Jedah is almost done with his part. "Now how do we make code something physical?" He spends a few minutes in the book.

"Heisenberg..Higgs-Boson..Himmelcraft. Here we go." He pulls out something akin to a 3d printer, and makes a small silver cube. "This is inert manifested code. It doesn't have the virus in it, but this substance will be what we put the virus in. If we have spores, we can grow fungus on the block, then whatever spores it emits will have the virus. We can probably make a binary solution for transmission for some kind of mechanical mosquito. As for consumables, that's the easiest."

"Have you picked your symptoms yet? Aches and pains might not be bad, but preferably a sneeze, cough, or something vexing. Still, I leave it to you."

Ferham (516) has posed:
     "Simple, find something that can transmit the code, the code itself not only has the task of self-replicating and infecting the target but also to find a vector in the digimon's body, so it might need to pierce their skin or find some way to embed themselves into their bodies or cores," Ferham has a funny feeling they possess something like a core, which was a physical manifestation of not only physical heart and mind but likely also of their intelligence and personalities. Much like Reploids do, which also, unbeknownst to her, makes her a prime guinea pig.

     "If it's spores or a USB drive it doesn't necessarily matter, but last I checked Digimon don't seem to have a problem with organic bacteria, so this would need to be synthetic, even a swarm of nanites could work," she nodded. "However there would need to be precautions to make sure it didn't get out of control, so there will need to be multiple levels of redundant safe-guards, among other things," she looked over at the core.

     "Mosquito, hmm? taken from your vampiric background?" she grinned a little, still leaned over the computer, but stood up now. "We'll give it a cough to test at first, something less likely to happen unless they're exposed to allergens, particularly, could work better as field test--as far as I know digimon eat, sneeze and perform other biological functions," she nodded.

Jedah Dohma (990) has posed:
Jedah quickly turns some pages in the book and types a few commands into the computer. A black box similar to a printer, produces a hologram of a sprite, which then solidifies.

"We should be able to test it on this sprite. Don't worry, it's mindless. Also, I'll have Bko and Ako leave the immediate area just to be sure,"

He rubs his eyes. Maybe he's in need of glasses? He must do a lot of up close work. "Go back home, girls, I'll see you tonight," He says.

He also constructs a barrier around the sprite, translucent, but should safeguard the virus from running rampant in the laboratory.

"What do you think?" He asks Ferham, keen on listening to her ideas.

Ferham (516) has posed:
     "Looks a little too cute for a bioweapon, maybe," Ferham peers at the small cartoonish figure that was trapped within the barrier, shrugging. "Nobody said it had to look dangerous, either, I guess--could be useful as camouflage, can it infect digital beings yet?" Ferham approached the barrier and peered down at it, scrutinizing it before stepping back. "It looks sort of like those little figures kids draw on their school notebooks," she comments, before shrugging.

     "If not, it's fine, it's a good start, was there anything else you wanted me to work on in the meantime?" she put her hand on her hip, turning to face the bat man--well, Jedah.

Jedah Dohma (990) has posed:
Jedah nods. "Yes, very simple. Perhaps if I saw enough examples of digimon, I could modify it to look like them. Then it could sneeze or cough or whatever and infect them."

He smiles at the cartoonishness thought. "Yes, I suppose it does.^t^t"No, I think that'll do it for now. We'll probably go with the usual vectors for colds. Coughs, sneezes, and the like. Perhaps we could go to the digital world soon and test it out."

Jedah thinks if there's anything else. He triggers the virus, and the link to the box flows like blood, from blue to red into the box. Within a few minutes, a cough, a sneeze, and then the general symptoms of the cold.

"That's odd. It's almost like the book amplified the program. I didn't intend this many symptoms. I'd better observe him for a while,"

Ferham (516) has posed:
     "Huh, I was expecting you to go for something like a mosquito--you know, they inject their saliva when inserting their proboscis through the tissue of another creature--it's what creates that itching sensation, the enzymes in their saliva reacts with the victim's antibodies," Ferham goes into some brief national geographics-esque lesson for a second, trying to do her part with the research and development of this no doubt hazardous plague.

     "I'm only helping with this because Digimon could be a threat to our organization, not all of them work for the union or independantly attack us," she narrowed her eyes as she watched the little thing begin to go through the flu-like symptons. "I'll want to see an anti-body developed as well that's effective in treating it, I don't want the death of an entire species on my hands," she looked towards Jedah with seriousness.

Jedah Dohma (990) has posed:
Jedah nods. "Don't worry, I'll develop not only antibodies, but vaccines for digimon not on the Union's side. If I were a bit more ambitious, we could infect the digital world, then offer a cure, saving it and improving our standing with digimon. But that is not my intention," he says. He seems to be considering something, but shakes his head. "No, that is beyond my expertise, and I would need approval from higher up. Baby steps, only babys teps." he says. He washes his hands and then drinks an amber liquid from a transparent thermos.

"Thank you for your help. Remember, the virus is designed to degrade. It only lasts 72 hours, and then the immune response will develop antibodies anyway, but I will do as you ask. It should prove.. interesting."

"As is typical of my kind, I feel I owe you a favor. Feel free to cash it in. As long as it go Confederate interests, I'm okay with it,"

He offers the typical "Let's make a deal" handshake, playing up his stereotype.

Ferham (516) has posed:
     "Hmm, true, propaganda, I suppose?" Ferham thought about that. It was nefarious, but it was also quite intelligent. Still she didn't seem to be a fan of the idea. She watches Jedah as he drank that amber fluid. Alcohol? Embalming fluid? Who could tell? She was fairly sure Jedah /was/ made of blood, after all. He only looked like he was wearing a suit.

     "I might have to hold you to your agreement sooner than later," Ferham grinned a little, then reached over to clasp her black-gloved hand around Jedah's. Her glove was made of something like spandex, though it did have black talons extending from the fingertips. She shook the vampire's hand back, a few good shakes before stepping back.

     "If you weren't a mad scientist bent on sowing chaos and destruction I might ask to hang out sometime," she smirked a little. She likely meant it as a joke.

Jedah Dohma (990) has posed:
Jedah nods and shakes Ferham's hand. Claws not bothering him. Firm shake, not too hard, but there's strength behind it.

"Yes, yes, if only I weren't a mad scientst. Ha ha," He said with a toothy grin, "But I plan on producing helpful dark science for a long time,"

He gets the joke. "Well, I'll get back to work. I'm also a fair combatant, so if you should need assistance in that area, let me know," he says.
5rHe gives her a sliver of chip with his radio frequency. "Unil next time,"

Ferham (516) has posed:
     "I'll check back soon," Ferham's wing joints whirred as she turned and got ready to leave. She turned to take the chip from him and looked at it for a moment before stowing it away. "Sure, until then..." she left still somehow feeling like she had made some sort of grevious error. Only time would tell...