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BEYOND BELIEF
Ep. 409—Original Airdate: 29 Oct. 2069
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Emil Dacheroi: "Welcome to our show, True Believers! Tonight’s show will shed some light on one of the most elusive and intriguing mysteries of our time, the so-called "virtuakinetics," "Otaku 2," or my personal favorite, "technomancers." But, before we delve into the surprises we have in store, let’s roll back time and address the idea of the "otaku" for those of you who didn’t catch our Matrix Mysteries Pay-Per-View Special last year.
By the mid-Fifties, rumors of strange and mischievous "Children of the Matrix" became quite widespread among Matrix users. According to urban legend, these street urchins were able to manipulate the Matrix directly with their minds, without resorting to simsense interfaces and cyberdeck technology. What really topped that chestnut was the claim that the children mysteriously lost their amazing ability upon hitting puberty—as if growing up wasn’t hard enough.
For years, such reports were treated as fanciful urban legends—like a Bigfoot or Loch Ness sighting— but they quickly became worrisome when anecdotal evidence surfaced that these children truly did exist and were gathering in hacker tribes, some of which were engaged in criminal activity. Ex Pacis, one such group, even made the FBI’s Matrix Crime watchlist. Shortly before the Crash of ’64, some sort of gang war seems to have fl ared between otaku tribes, leading to several situations where young otaku children were mass-murdered. Ironically, the infamous Winternight cult seems to have played a role in some attacks on otaku tribes. Given the unique nature of the viral attack involved in the Crash of ’64, however, some government sources consider that a faction of otaku must have conspired with Winternight to bring it about. The truth may never be known, since in the aſt ermath of the Crash, reports of otaku activity petered out. For a while.
It’s been four years now since new and baffling reports emerged of people developing strange psychic abilities following the Second Crash. Incredible though it may seem, such claims remain unsubstantiated and unproven—until today!
If we’re to believe the rumor mill, ladies and gentlemen, Nessie has grown wings. Across the globe, reports are filtering in of encounters with a second generation of otaku. These new otaku—these technomancers if you will—have become the skunk apes of cyberspace. Were this a hundred years ago, we’d have blurry photographs and scratchy lo-fi video recordings, I’m sure. But this is a new age, where all too oſt en proof is trumped by public belief; where consensus beats validity.
Many claims regarding technomancers are disregarded as outrageous rumors. Our research, however, indicates that many of these reports come from credible, upstanding eyewitnesses with no incentive to distort the facts. According to these sources, each vetted by our investigative staff , technomancers can:
• tap wireless communications with their minds.
• manipulate the Matrix and command machines with mere thought.
• disrupt power grids at will.
• dematerialize their physical body and travel along streams of electronic data.
• program computers with spontaneously generated code.
• emit and modify radio waves intuitively.
• duplicate themselves electronically into autonomous digital personas.
• summon and command spirits of the machine to do their bidding.
Unbelievable, you say? The discerning mind will deduce there’s a grain of truth to every tall tale! While linking to the Matrix with an unaugmented brain might seem implausible at first sight, are these abilities truly impossible? Beyond Belief has dug up some surprising answers, tune in to the second half of this special next week [click for your local trid schedule].
And now we’d like to introduce our special guest, Mr. William Armstrong. [applause] Welcome to our show William.
William Armstrong: Pleased to be here, Emil.
Emil Dacheroi: Mr. Armstrong is a clerk at the Snohomish central Post Office right here in Seattle, and he claims to be able to do some pretty amazing stuff with the power of his mind. Before Mr. Armstrong answers some questions from the Beyond Belief panel of consultants, he has volunteered to demonstrate his abilities for us. [applause]. I’ve had the good fortune of seeing William in action and I can only say this will blow your mind.
For his first trick, Mr. Armstrong needs a volunteer from the audience. Anyone with a commlink will do. I think … yes … the elven lady in the fifth row … yes … with the red sweater. Thank you for volunteering. Please take the microphone … don’t give us your name quite yet though, just raise your commlink above your head. Thank you. Before we start I’d just like to ensure you that our technicians and staff magician have thoroughly examined William to ensure he has no computer, implants, or magic to aid him. William will you do the honors?"
William Armstrong: Thank you Emil, and thank you, Miss. Now let me focus … just a few seconds … there. I’m accessing your profile. Your name is Julia Marie Delaney, you are 27-years old, you currently reside in the Oakley Condos in Renton, you work at Macy’s Electronics … and your online nickname is Lea therMinx275.[applause]
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