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Jack Hacker //
Closing the door embarrassed by her parting comment, Jessie turned his attention to Jack, who seemed to be a bit frightened by the look on his face. "Oh, don't worry, I wont drag you to a cookout in a NEW neighborhood. I know of your phobia."
"At the moment, that's the least of my worries. I'm trying to decide if I should get the twins for you or just run like hell."
"What are you talking about? I said I won't make you go. And the twins are retired, for now, you know that," pointing an accusing finger at Jack.
"I could tell from the voice whatever was at the door was female. Was 'it' some X list assassin from the Cross?"
Jessie furled his brow. "Not that I know of, why?"
"Secret military super solider?"
"No..."
"Evil demon from another plane?"
"NO! What the hell are you going on about? It was just a normal...Feline... Kandar girl, best I can guess." Jessie was beginning to get irritated with Jack.
"In all the things I've seen you go through, deal with, and live through... that's the first time I've ever seen, or more to the point, heard you fumble your words. So tell me, what was 'SHE,' that caused such a reaction from the infamous Blackwolf assassin, founder and head of the assassins guild Children of the Wolf, and personally, the baddest, killin' machine I know on this planet?" Jack was normally on the other end of an audio or visual recording in Jessie's possession, monitoring and advising.
Jessie paused a moment looking at Jack, recalling all he was referring to, and could only whisper one word in response "Beautiful."
Jack noted his response with a nod and took a few moments to suck down a couple of spoon fulls of the cereal he held. He scratched his chin stubble with the handle of the spoon, staring at Jessie. "So, let me get this straight..."
"Should I change my shirt?" Jessie cutting him off suddenly, his mind going in a wholly different direction than Jack's.
"Oh yeah...wear the black one." He was chuckling as he said it, as most of Jessie's wardrobe was black, even if it was different styles. He did have a few pair of plain denim jeans, some sand gear, jungle and snow camo gear, but for daily urban wear, black just about covered it. "I can't wait to tell Kitty about this. The great Blackwolf tripped up by a pretty girl, oh, and a Kandar to boot."
"I was not tripp...leave Kitty out of this."
"I think I'll message her right now."
"You are going to actually type?" Jessie said, peering at him over imaginary glasses. "I know we have not had time to even start setting up your rig yet, and I don't have the oversized lines running to the house yet."
"Well, your 'friend' did us well, with puttin' us in this house and all. They're already running to the house, I found them hidden in the basement, right where I was planning to set up anyway. Really speeds things up. Though, it's a mite strange for the main line to be in the basement. And the fact that it's exactly where I would want it boggles me a bit. Still, I'm not done yet, but I've my new high speed digital transmitter up and running," he revealed, tapping the lump on the back of his head. "I sent Kitty the highlights already, and she is laughing at you right now," he chuckled.
Jack was a "Jack Hacker," a person with 1, 3, or 5 computer "Jacks" going through their skull, to make direct contact with the brain. These "jacks" were surgically placed in the 'Meger' canal, discovered by Doctor Johnathan Meger. This canal in the brain is located just above the cerebellum, going between the two lobes to maximize contact with both halves. A special metal alloy of gold and aluminum was used as a better hypoallergenic conduit while, the texture of the surface was designed to maximize contact with brain cells. At the induction of the 500Thz lines there was a test group to have a 'Jack' installed, to better utilize the new capabilities of the web and new processors that were coming out. At first, the use of this connection had to be learned through extensive practice, like a new muscle or appendage. Later, programs were written to assist in this, as the use of "Head Jacks" exploded on to the market.
Quickly following the success of the "Meger Jack," four other "canals," or hot spots were found in the brain. Even though it was quite an expensive and radical surgery, the people wanted more. The people leading this charge, were mostly gamers, programmers, and the ever present hackers. They pushed for more deregulation, and greater 'citizen use' of this new technology. New virtual worlds and games you could 'Dream' into were being created on a daily basis. As the governments worked to contain the boom, more underground virtual worlds and virtual games popped up. Programmers and hackers alike, went crazy with the new technology. The battle for supremacy of the global web had begun. New computer languages were being invented, new operating systems, and new problems.
The military of the three big Human empires had already delved into it quietly behind the scene. Pouring funds into research, they led the hardware technology, but the hackers of the world dominated the software and language. The Kandar put some work in to it as well, to keep up with any possible threat, but the Kandar as a race loved the natural world and nature itself to much to live in a virtual world of any kind.
Every thing was going well, when, out of nowhere, a virus appeared that seemed to sever the jackers 'thread' back to themselves. Emaciated bodies still 'Jacked in,' were found for months on end. People were scared and began to have the Head Jacks removed. The global community stepped in, under the guise of public safety, and made "Jacker," later called "Jack Hackers," illegal. Those that did not die in the web or turn themselves in were arrested on site. Many blamed the government for the virus, stating that they were scared of the people learning too much, or that they were afraid of the hackers of the world.
Jack was a 5 port "Wizard" level Jack Hacker, one of the best. He refused to just give up his love and obessission of the web, so was forcefully arrested, or so he thought. When Jessie rescued him, and the 29 others imprisoned with him, it was from a secret, "think tank" prison designed just for "Jack Hackers," owned not by any government, but the Cross.
"It's not that funny, you two." Jack followed Jessie back to the master bedroom. Jessie began to rummage through his closet intently, though only a few things were hung in there as of yet.
Jack opened a metal case to pull out a black, short sleeve, button down, collared shirt. "Here, wear this one."
"It's just a cook out, not a mission, and do I need to keep reminding you that I am retired from that...almost," he muttered the last word under his breath. "I am just a writer now. I don't need you watching and listening through a button."
"You are only 23, I'm much older than you. You should listen to me. We ARE on a mission, and YOU still run the guild, so you can't be fully retired," he groaned with a voice full of contempt. "I will make sure you're safe, and that your 'friend,' out there in the desert, didn't set us up. There could be any number of hunters, or assassins, lurking anywhere, or have you forgotten that there is a, rather hefty, price on your head."
"Number one: Blackwolf is dead. That old Kandar set the whole facade up for me. Number two: If he wanted me dead, he could have done it numerous times already. Number three: he is the one that sold me this house and set up our new identities. That's a lot of work just to have someone else kill me and claim the rewards." Jessie pulled out a shirt that looked just like the one Jack was holding. "Normal shirt it is."
"At least you're wearing Nanotech clothing." Nanotech was a company that use Carbon Nanotubes as fibers to make their clothes. Even light clothing from them would resist cutting and small ballistic fire. It was not much, but made Jack feel better.
"I would feel naked in anything less."
Closing the door embarrassed by her parting comment, Jessie turned his attention to Jack, who seemed to be a bit frightened by the look on his face. "Oh, don't worry, I wont drag you to a cookout in a NEW neighborhood. I know of your phobia."
"At the moment, that's the least of my worries. I'm trying to decide if I should get the twins for you or just run like hell."
"What are you talking about? I said I won't make you go. And the twins are retired, for now, you know that," pointing an accusing finger at Jack.
"I could tell from the voice whatever was at the door was female. Was 'it' some X list assassin from the Cross?"
Jessie furled his brow. "Not that I know of, why?"
"Secret military super solider?"
"No..."
"Evil demon from another plane?"
"NO! What the hell are you going on about? It was just a normal...Feline... Kandar girl, best I can guess." Jessie was beginning to get irritated with Jack.
"In all the things I've seen you go through, deal with, and live through... that's the first time I've ever seen, or more to the point, heard you fumble your words. So tell me, what was 'SHE,' that caused such a reaction from the infamous Blackwolf assassin, founder and head of the assassins guild Children of the Wolf, and personally, the baddest, killin' machine I know on this planet?" Jack was normally on the other end of an audio or visual recording in Jessie's possession, monitoring and advising.
Jessie paused a moment looking at Jack, recalling all he was referring to, and could only whisper one word in response "Beautiful."
Jack noted his response with a nod and took a few moments to suck down a couple of spoon fulls of the cereal he held. He scratched his chin stubble with the handle of the spoon, staring at Jessie. "So, let me get this straight..."
"Should I change my shirt?" Jessie cutting him off suddenly, his mind going in a wholly different direction than Jack's.
"Oh yeah...wear the black one." He was chuckling as he said it, as most of Jessie's wardrobe was black, even if it was different styles. He did have a few pair of plain denim jeans, some sand gear, jungle and snow camo gear, but for daily urban wear, black just about covered it. "I can't wait to tell Kitty about this. The great Blackwolf tripped up by a pretty girl, oh, and a Kandar to boot."
"I was not tripp...leave Kitty out of this."
"I think I'll message her right now."
"You are going to actually type?" Jessie said, peering at him over imaginary glasses. "I know we have not had time to even start setting up your rig yet, and I don't have the oversized lines running to the house yet."
"Well, your 'friend' did us well, with puttin' us in this house and all. They're already running to the house, I found them hidden in the basement, right where I was planning to set up anyway. Really speeds things up. Though, it's a mite strange for the main line to be in the basement. And the fact that it's exactly where I would want it boggles me a bit. Still, I'm not done yet, but I've my new high speed digital transmitter up and running," he revealed, tapping the lump on the back of his head. "I sent Kitty the highlights already, and she is laughing at you right now," he chuckled.
Jack was a "Jack Hacker," a person with 1, 3, or 5 computer "Jacks" going through their skull, to make direct contact with the brain. These "jacks" were surgically placed in the 'Meger' canal, discovered by Doctor Johnathan Meger. This canal in the brain is located just above the cerebellum, going between the two lobes to maximize contact with both halves. A special metal alloy of gold and aluminum was used as a better hypoallergenic conduit while, the texture of the surface was designed to maximize contact with brain cells. At the induction of the 500Thz lines there was a test group to have a 'Jack' installed, to better utilize the new capabilities of the web and new processors that were coming out. At first, the use of this connection had to be learned through extensive practice, like a new muscle or appendage. Later, programs were written to assist in this, as the use of "Head Jacks" exploded on to the market.
Quickly following the success of the "Meger Jack," four other "canals," or hot spots were found in the brain. Even though it was quite an expensive and radical surgery, the people wanted more. The people leading this charge, were mostly gamers, programmers, and the ever present hackers. They pushed for more deregulation, and greater 'citizen use' of this new technology. New virtual worlds and games you could 'Dream' into were being created on a daily basis. As the governments worked to contain the boom, more underground virtual worlds and virtual games popped up. Programmers and hackers alike, went crazy with the new technology. The battle for supremacy of the global web had begun. New computer languages were being invented, new operating systems, and new problems.
The military of the three big Human empires had already delved into it quietly behind the scene. Pouring funds into research, they led the hardware technology, but the hackers of the world dominated the software and language. The Kandar put some work in to it as well, to keep up with any possible threat, but the Kandar as a race loved the natural world and nature itself to much to live in a virtual world of any kind.
Every thing was going well, when, out of nowhere, a virus appeared that seemed to sever the jackers 'thread' back to themselves. Emaciated bodies still 'Jacked in,' were found for months on end. People were scared and began to have the Head Jacks removed. The global community stepped in, under the guise of public safety, and made "Jacker," later called "Jack Hackers," illegal. Those that did not die in the web or turn themselves in were arrested on site. Many blamed the government for the virus, stating that they were scared of the people learning too much, or that they were afraid of the hackers of the world.
Jack was a 5 port "Wizard" level Jack Hacker, one of the best. He refused to just give up his love and obessission of the web, so was forcefully arrested, or so he thought. When Jessie rescued him, and the 29 others imprisoned with him, it was from a secret, "think tank" prison designed just for "Jack Hackers," owned not by any government, but the Cross.
"It's not that funny, you two." Jack followed Jessie back to the master bedroom. Jessie began to rummage through his closet intently, though only a few things were hung in there as of yet.
Jack opened a metal case to pull out a black, short sleeve, button down, collared shirt. "Here, wear this one."
"It's just a cook out, not a mission, and do I need to keep reminding you that I am retired from that...almost," he muttered the last word under his breath. "I am just a writer now. I don't need you watching and listening through a button."
"You are only 23, I'm much older than you. You should listen to me. We ARE on a mission, and YOU still run the guild, so you can't be fully retired," he groaned with a voice full of contempt. "I will make sure you're safe, and that your 'friend,' out there in the desert, didn't set us up. There could be any number of hunters, or assassins, lurking anywhere, or have you forgotten that there is a, rather hefty, price on your head."
"Number one: Blackwolf is dead. That old Kandar set the whole facade up for me. Number two: If he wanted me dead, he could have done it numerous times already. Number three: he is the one that sold me this house and set up our new identities. That's a lot of work just to have someone else kill me and claim the rewards." Jessie pulled out a shirt that looked just like the one Jack was holding. "Normal shirt it is."
"At least you're wearing Nanotech clothing." Nanotech was a company that use Carbon Nanotubes as fibers to make their clothes. Even light clothing from them would resist cutting and small ballistic fire. It was not much, but made Jack feel better.
"I would feel naked in anything less."
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Jack is disturbed by Jessie's reaction to the visitor and Jessie is smitten with her and, out of character for him, want to go to this cookout she invited him to.
Again many thanks to chikara-redwing.deviantart.com… for all her help in editing this.
the beginning here darkmoonwolf70.deviantart.com/…
the next part here darkmoonwolf70.deviantart.com/…
Again many thanks to chikara-redwing.deviantart.com… for all her help in editing this.
the beginning here darkmoonwolf70.deviantart.com/…
the next part here darkmoonwolf70.deviantart.com/…
© 2015 - 2024 DarkMoonWolf70
Comments10
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Long comment is ridiculously long. And I missed the reply button again. That's always a sign that I am writing too much.
The thing about the matrix is that the movie explains nothing; it shows you thea least amount necessarily to make you believe that the matrix is feasible. The key to fictional advanced/magic technology is explaining it well enough that the reader believes it, but not so much that you're giving away how improbable and impossible it is.
You can actually insert things into the brain in lots of places while causing minimal damage, you just have to use very thin needles. A really good example of that is in the treatment of epileptic seizures that don't respond to drugs and in Parkinson's disease. In both cases, you have to insert electrodes very deeply and very precisely into various brain regions (whatever section is responsible for the seizures and the substantial nigra respectively). Not saying that making them quirky is a bad idea; they probably do think very differently than other people, because they interface with a different level of reality than the rest of us. But they don't necessarily have to become quirky in response to damage.
Hm. Why do you need the metal tube? Do you mean the plug of the jack? that should be extremely small. Check out the following. There's an audio visual jack in the bottom center: i.stack.imgur.com/LctVT.jpg
So they are designed as a little piece of metal that hooks into a chip. You make it sound as though, in your design, the surgeon is inserting an extended metal rod (let's say 5 inches just as a size comparison to the small plugs) into the brain with no chip, and then that's connected to the socket which is going to send raw information to the plug and its wires. You're going to need a microchip to convert the brain signals into computer-ese before you can transmit it through the plug half of the jack, in which case why not just avoid the metal rod, and use tiny wires connecting the brain to the chip instead? Sure it would make the surgery more difficult, but this is an advanced society so that's not a problem.
Plus, that would make it clear how the system is getting the info: each wire can be picking up info from one neuron or synapse. The chip then processes all that into code a computer can understand. Finally, the recoded data gets sent out via the jack. If we're dealing with wires, you also can avoid a lot of the issues of coming up with "canals," because you can use the wires to get into anything since they are tiny and take up almost no space, and then place the jack in a convenient place (note that in the matrix, the main plug was in the neck, not in the skull). Instead you could focus on each new jack integrating into a specific brain region that is important for controlling something useful and it took time to figure out how to integrate each piece correctly.
Your primary canal still confuses me though. It sounds like your tube is going where the anterior commissure is (the tissue that bridges the left and right hemispheres). Unfortunately, this is all axon tracts, meaning zero synapses. Again, if you're using a recording electrode, you can pick up the signals from there, but there's no other way to get info out of them. Axons are insulated from electrical loss by myelin, and there's no NTs, since there's no synapses. One more thing to keep in mind: even if you're focusing on the area of cortex between the two hemispheres, the outermost layer of the brain (layer 1) has almost no neurons. They are there only during development to help the rest of the cortical neurons migrate to the right place. After that, they die. So nothing on the surface of the brain will be very useful. I mean you can take functional recordings from the surface of the outermost layers of cortex if you've seen the set ups like these: photos.uc.wisc.edu/photos/1237… where you place a huge series of electrodes on the head, but they get those recordings by summing large areas of activity, and they can only do surface structures. That's not precise enough for what you want, since you cannot get single synapse records that way. You really do want to be inside the brain structures to get the power you're thinking about.
If you want to take your analogy of "learning to use new muscle" literally, the motor cortex is what we use to control muscles (point at the center of the top of your head and then go left or right and that's about where the motor cortex is) [maybe jack 2?]. For seeing the virtual words, you probably want to think about the occipital lobes which process visual information (at the very back of the cortex, and about where you have your first canal. They're very large) [maybe jack 3?]. For really controlling what's going on, the pre-frontal cortex is the premier section (forehead) [jack 1 and maybe further investment in it with jacks 4 and 5?]. You might also want to look at broca and Wernicke's area, both involved in various aspects of language (about where your temples are and you ears respectively, both are cortex structures) [could also be jack 1, since programming is a language, and maybe they learn to "speak computer" before they can control the virtual word?]. For "dreaming" in, again if you want to be literal, the pons on the brain stem are important for that [jacks 2 or 3 or 4?]. The brain stem also has a number of very important functions ranging from maintaining your heartbeat and breathing as well as controlling how awake you are [probably jack 1 if anything].
You don't need to put a full on data dump in the second chapter, and I would not encourage it. But, in the long run, if you know exactly what each of the 5 jacks are hooking into, and what they are adding, it'll be more clear what Jack (the character) has and can do that lower class jackers don't have and can't do. It'll make more sense why you need all 5 of them. Because right now, calling him a wizard sounds cool, but tells me nothing about Jack's real capabilities. Plus, this'll help you really define the strengths and limitations of the jackers if you know what each jack is capable of and it's limitations. Thus far, it sounds like Jack can do everything, and that does make him a computer god, and it will ruin a lot of plot devices related to technology, because he can just fix everything.
The thing about the matrix is that the movie explains nothing; it shows you thea least amount necessarily to make you believe that the matrix is feasible. The key to fictional advanced/magic technology is explaining it well enough that the reader believes it, but not so much that you're giving away how improbable and impossible it is.
You can actually insert things into the brain in lots of places while causing minimal damage, you just have to use very thin needles. A really good example of that is in the treatment of epileptic seizures that don't respond to drugs and in Parkinson's disease. In both cases, you have to insert electrodes very deeply and very precisely into various brain regions (whatever section is responsible for the seizures and the substantial nigra respectively). Not saying that making them quirky is a bad idea; they probably do think very differently than other people, because they interface with a different level of reality than the rest of us. But they don't necessarily have to become quirky in response to damage.
Hm. Why do you need the metal tube? Do you mean the plug of the jack? that should be extremely small. Check out the following. There's an audio visual jack in the bottom center: i.stack.imgur.com/LctVT.jpg
So they are designed as a little piece of metal that hooks into a chip. You make it sound as though, in your design, the surgeon is inserting an extended metal rod (let's say 5 inches just as a size comparison to the small plugs) into the brain with no chip, and then that's connected to the socket which is going to send raw information to the plug and its wires. You're going to need a microchip to convert the brain signals into computer-ese before you can transmit it through the plug half of the jack, in which case why not just avoid the metal rod, and use tiny wires connecting the brain to the chip instead? Sure it would make the surgery more difficult, but this is an advanced society so that's not a problem.
Plus, that would make it clear how the system is getting the info: each wire can be picking up info from one neuron or synapse. The chip then processes all that into code a computer can understand. Finally, the recoded data gets sent out via the jack. If we're dealing with wires, you also can avoid a lot of the issues of coming up with "canals," because you can use the wires to get into anything since they are tiny and take up almost no space, and then place the jack in a convenient place (note that in the matrix, the main plug was in the neck, not in the skull). Instead you could focus on each new jack integrating into a specific brain region that is important for controlling something useful and it took time to figure out how to integrate each piece correctly.Your primary canal still confuses me though. It sounds like your tube is going where the anterior commissure is (the tissue that bridges the left and right hemispheres). Unfortunately, this is all axon tracts, meaning zero synapses. Again, if you're using a recording electrode, you can pick up the signals from there, but there's no other way to get info out of them. Axons are insulated from electrical loss by myelin, and there's no NTs, since there's no synapses. One more thing to keep in mind: even if you're focusing on the area of cortex between the two hemispheres, the outermost layer of the brain (layer 1) has almost no neurons. They are there only during development to help the rest of the cortical neurons migrate to the right place. After that, they die. So nothing on the surface of the brain will be very useful. I mean you can take functional recordings from the surface of the outermost layers of cortex if you've seen the set ups like these: photos.uc.wisc.edu/photos/1237… where you place a huge series of electrodes on the head, but they get those recordings by summing large areas of activity, and they can only do surface structures. That's not precise enough for what you want, since you cannot get single synapse records that way. You really do want to be inside the brain structures to get the power you're thinking about.
If you want to take your analogy of "learning to use new muscle" literally, the motor cortex is what we use to control muscles (point at the center of the top of your head and then go left or right and that's about where the motor cortex is) [maybe jack 2?]. For seeing the virtual words, you probably want to think about the occipital lobes which process visual information (at the very back of the cortex, and about where you have your first canal. They're very large) [maybe jack 3?]. For really controlling what's going on, the pre-frontal cortex is the premier section (forehead) [jack 1 and maybe further investment in it with jacks 4 and 5?]. You might also want to look at broca and Wernicke's area, both involved in various aspects of language (about where your temples are and you ears respectively, both are cortex structures) [could also be jack 1, since programming is a language, and maybe they learn to "speak computer" before they can control the virtual word?]. For "dreaming" in, again if you want to be literal, the pons on the brain stem are important for that [jacks 2 or 3 or 4?]. The brain stem also has a number of very important functions ranging from maintaining your heartbeat and breathing as well as controlling how awake you are [probably jack 1 if anything].
You don't need to put a full on data dump in the second chapter, and I would not encourage it. But, in the long run, if you know exactly what each of the 5 jacks are hooking into, and what they are adding, it'll be more clear what Jack (the character) has and can do that lower class jackers don't have and can't do. It'll make more sense why you need all 5 of them. Because right now, calling him a wizard sounds cool, but tells me nothing about Jack's real capabilities. Plus, this'll help you really define the strengths and limitations of the jackers if you know what each jack is capable of and it's limitations. Thus far, it sounds like Jack can do everything, and that does make him a computer god, and it will ruin a lot of plot devices related to technology, because he can just fix everything.