✦Event Drop #1【SxC'26】

Inoki Nako
Apr 10
3 min read

Updated: Apr 13

CYBERSEC NODE ACTIVE

FIREWALL STATUS: COMPROMISED (5KY SECTOR)

initiating containment protocol...

protocol overridden

ACCESSOR IDENTIFIED: EYE.RIS

STATUS: HOSTILE INTELLIGENCE

In the illuminated cityscape, a single screen flickers once, then twice, and then to black as if giving up on life entirely. And in its resuscitation, vivid ultraviolet flashes with one message running across all screens throughout 5KY SECTOR:

THIS IS A DREAM. NOTHING IS REAL. WAKE UP!

That was the inception of the EYE.RIS NETWORK.

An ear-piercing, constant ringing, humming monitors sprayed in glitches and fractured pixels. The irregular yet continuous beats of scratched audio like a heart struggling against an invasive species. All devices that run electricity have been compromised in the fifth sector. It started with that first message, followed by a sector-wide live transmission from a group that identified itself as the EYE.RIS NETWORK. Its speaker, known as "the Puppeteer", claimed that life on the Cradle as we know it is all an illusion. They spouted conspiracy theories about the Earth and Sun being fully functional, that the Ark has been lying to all and that "no ship was boarded, for the only record we have of doing so was written by the Ark themselves"—that the "ship" civilisation boarded was actually an "onboarding program" in the literal sense. Our minds, our data, our being have been collected in a simulation we know as the Ark's "Cradle".

Could such nonsense ever be regarded as true?

But in this city of chaos, anything can be convincing.

With crime rate at an all time high, the citizens of 5KY SECTOR act out irrationally with one goal in mind: to “wake up”.

5KY SECTOR under the control of the EYE.RIS NETWORK, a cult and terrorist group that claims the Cradle is a simulation.

The Situation:

The influence of EYE.RIS NETWORK does not stop there. For when they hacked the system, they set down their roots, injecting their viruses into any electronics, robotics, etc. that were plugged in at the time of notice. Androids, cyborgs and the like are reluctant to take to their charging stations at the risk of being corrupted and taken over, for many have had their systems overridden. With lights turned purple, their new commands are to…
- Capture and detain catalysts
- Infect other devices to spread the network's influence
- Combat all those who resist and oppose their commands
Individuals with the latest updates to their augmented chip installations are not safe either, as being online creates risk when connected to a shared server—most of which EYE.RIS has dominated. Those with digital augmentations are given the same aforementioned commands and find their decisions aren't quite their own.
What EYE.RIS wants with catalysts is unclear, just as their motives, but rumour has it that catalysts under their custody are never the same as they once were. Their new appearances suggest drastic changes in personality and behaviour—signs of brainwashing among involuntary augmentations.
Medical and research institutions are being held hostage; life support operations and confidential data are at the hands of EYE.RIS. Meanwhile, faculties and higher security scramble to find who's responsible for providing the EYE.RIS NETWORK with the technology and resources they possess.
The Ark has requested that Scarlet Zenith and Astral Ciel band together to combat the EYE.RIS NETWORK and prevent anymore catalysts from falling into their grasp.
A call for talented hackers and anyone who has a means to trounce the EYE.RIS NETWORK's influence has been put out.
The city is effectively offline unless running on private systems/generators/sources but those are at risk from hacking attacks at any time.

Food-for-thought Questions:

How does your OC feel about the EYE.RIS NETWORK and the development of events? Are they affected in any way?
Will they escape to another sector? Or off the Cradle entirely?
Or will they stand and fight? Perhaps join forces?
...Alternatively, will they "wake up"? Fall to the hands of the EYE.RIS NETWORK?

Let us know with #skycross!