Reality is obsolete and in desperate need of redesign. The Digital Age shows the way, and men like Bartholomew "Bat" McArthur embrace that path with his considerable talents put to use for all mankind. To enact changes in the current, humdrum universe, Bat knows it has to be re-programmed with the technology and science that understands it best -- computers. With computer calculation, the infinite realm of the Internet was possible. With computer calculation, constants shift and the unexpected becomes obvious.
The future is clearly the World Wide Web, but most people take it for granted. It's a maze of complex coding that a few brilliant people designed, and even smarter people perpetually improve upon and upgrade. Bat is one of those people. It's a matter of understanding the code beyond its simplistic mathematical definitions. It demands an innovative eye for how the coding does and must always evolve. With such understanding, such evolution can be guided and harnessed -- not checked and held back, as the Technocracy wants! Data and information needs to be free, and through virtual reality that is happening. And Bat is a liberator.
Everything is part of the Net now, and the Net is part of everything. Its coding flows through the air, the water, people, trees, and rocks. Bat knows that some of his allies in the Nine Traditions call this coding "Quintessence" when it is in this basic state. Whatever. Because this coding is so much more prevalent than it ever was, the energies are far more widespread and thus harder to pin down -- and more valuable. Conversely, Bat recognizes an antithesis to free code that those kooky merlins call "Paradox". It's not some bogyman to fear, it's just the rigid Consensus that the Technocracy is forcing down the world's throat. Break down the Consensus, and Paradox goes away. The correlation is real and tested, and Bat loves to re-test it everyday.
He does so with a variety of programs and coding he introduces into the world via his computer. The Sphere of Correspondence is the primary tool of that methodology. Space is irrelevant, after all, when data transfer is everywhere and at all times. Addressing such spatial congruency only requires access to the Internet so he can plug in the appropriate code and broadcast it universally. That said, Bat is enlightened enough to realize that the Net is truly worldwide, and the code is already out there, evolving on its own. So, in a pinch he can work without immediate Internet access. He just has to be in the right place at the right time. The Internet is not necessary.
Number crunching might seem like an accountant's bag. But understanding mathematics and calculus on a level beyond common arithmetic enables Bat to apply such statistical data to the Net. Such programming allows Bat to introduce variables and stability -- or anomalies and instability -- into any facet of reality. Both the Spheres of Entropy and Time are manipulated with such statistic programs. To Bat, the science beyond both Spheres differ only in intent. Entropy covers what could be, Time covers what was, is, and will be. And together, conditional reality has no bounds. The statistical programming is vital and necessary to both Entropy and Time.
Affecting the Mind is no different than any other force or element of nature, Bat has found. It just requires the right coding released into the universal river of information. However, people's minds, including his own, are far more complex than even their living bodies. It demands direct intervention with a manipulation or breakdown of existing code: that is, hacking. Such computer hacking is necessary for the Sphere of Mind.
As mentioned earlier, Bat doesn't consider the liberated airwaves of infinite streams of data to be some mythical force of "Quintessence". Nonetheless, the data in question is definitely comprised of an unusual electrical, atomic charge that modern Sleeper science has yet to identify. Bat is aware of it, and studies it vigorously, but finds he cannot normally tap into this fundamental coding as he can with other forces of the universe. He has to wire it all through the Primal battery of his Micron Systems "Mighty Mo" Fairuzelyne 12Z super-computer. His talisman computer is both unique and necessary for Prime.
Avatar
"The grid" is a throwback to Tron-like visions of perfect computer orderliness. With the advent of the Internet, the idea of a grid-like software infrastructure is now known to be an impossible myth. Instead, cyberspace is a complex and ever-changing mass of data packets and electrical transmissions that self-perpetuates in its own boundless subspace of reality. Yet, Bat's enlightened approach to reality and its secret places derives from an understanding of cyberspace in a grid-like format. But it is not an unchanging place of stasis. The grids themselves constantly change. Infinite permutations present a nigh-incomprehensible smorgasbord of people, places, things, and concepts. Hackers don’t want to break "the grid" down. They want to make it open and free. So, every time Bat stares at his screen and some strange coding befuddles his sharp mind, he closes his eyes and re-envisions the data in a brand-new innovative format. Though his views probably won’t incorporate a "grid" and have light-bikes and girls clad in skintight neon outfits. Well, maybe the girls...
Resonance
Dynamic (Breaking)
Bat McArthur is an innovator of unusual character: he creates new ways to view the world, and then eagerly breaks them down in order to make way for an even better way. This reflects in his often belligerent and energetic attitude, inflicting a +3 difficulty penalty on all Social interactions that requires him to demonstrate that he's a reliable and dependable worker and member of society. Conversely, he gains a –3 difficulty bonus to Social rolls whenever he relating his newest ideas, such as convincing others of the ideas' merits.
This Resonance affects Bat’s Spheres, too. He gains a –1 difficulty bonus to Arete rolls that involve him breaking down or penetrating a barrier, ward, or firewall. Raising or maintaining such barriers, however, are harder for this rebel – he suffers a +1 difficulty to erect such protections.
Talismans
Micron Systems "Mighty Mo" Fairuzelyne 12Z
Level: 3
Arete: 3
Quintessece: 15 Origin: The Fairuzelyne laptop computers designed by the small Virtual Adept-operated computer company, Micron, attracted Bat's attention when he first got started. He earned his special hypercomputer during his initial hazing. He soon nicknamed his baby "Mighty Mo" after the famous battleship. Description: Like all Fairuzelyne models, Bat’s laptop is sleek in look yet powerful and efficient in design and function. It is a portable computer designed for advanced hackers, complete with an internal Quintessence battery. Bat's never without it, and it's always powered up (draining a bit of Quintessence for its daily power), ready to go at a moment's notice. Effects: 1) Halve the time for all hacking-related activities; 2) Disrupt any nearby electronic systems; 3) Predict and triangulate the nearest and most available source of unclaimed cash assets Quintessence Costs: Talisman: 1; Effect #1: 0; Effect #2: 1; Effect #3: 1 Activation: All of its primary effects, as well as standard Internet and computer programs, are activated with the correct command sequencing on the keyboard.
