"Fractured from Within" - Reboot.Exe - S2 Chapter 22

## Fractured from Within

Jenn

"Fractured from Within" is the twenty-second episode of the second season in Reboot.exe. It was released on 18 March 2023 and is narrated by Dave.

## Episode Synopsis

*\*In this episode of Reboot, the crew announced that this was Rob’s last day working at the studio. Rob will continue out Reboot, and will possibly return for other RP one shots / mini campaigns. From the bottom of my heart, I would like to thank Rob for all of his time, effort, and talent that he has shared not only with TableTop Time, but all of the other channels. He has left an irreplaceable mark in the communities and on the channels. I wish him nothing but the best forward in his new career and future endeavors.*

*All my love:*

*YellHeahTris\**

~~~

Throughout the day, Eve has noticed that Incongruent has been leaving and coming back their place in the slums. She approaches him, wanting to talk about their past conversation, and apologize for how abruptly it ended. Eve begins explaining that when Pr0 died, she felt alone for the first time since she’s met him, but that Incongruent was one of the first people aside from him that brought her in. Incongruent offers a separate theory that she is more bound to her programming than she may realize. That she’s been so used to broken and shattered families, that the comfort of familiarity of taking care of a broken human was gone.

Eve and Incongruent come around to the fact that they will never really be free in a world built for humans. They agree with one another and want to move forward with their plans of Mars colonization. Eve says that she needs to go talk to Peter, and see if he’s interested in joining them on this mission. Incongruent would be happy to accept Peter with their mission, but states that if he disagrees to coming, that he’ll remain a tool, as he always has been.

Eve walks up to a much more put together Peter than she’s used to. Peter confides that he’s still not feeling all there, especially with being ostracized. Eve sits with him, and tells him how much she relates to him. Never being enough, and not even being unique enough to be considered a person by most people’s standards. Peter admires how far she’s come since the first time he found her, cradling a fake baby in a dirty alleyway. Eve then broaches the topic of Incongruent’s plan with him, gauging his reaction and interest. Peter tells her that he and Pr0 will always be linked and in one way or another, linked. He refers to the people that he’s destroyed in his past, especially Riley, and tells her that he has too much business on Earth to leave with satisfaction. Eve sees, and agrees with his point. They share a moment of sentimental hugging before departing for their own activities.

Seb gets a phone call from his mother. She tells him that there is a quickly approaching “in” to the AI. A company called “Nippon Neuroscetics,” (spelling unconfirmed.) They are a Japanese based company, and provide the pharmaceuticals used in neurological transfer, which is something outside the scope of Amben Pharm. Nyla tells him that there is a delegation arriving in Melbourne and they will be touring the inside of Reboot Corp. She encourages him to get information on their pharmaceuticals and information going forward, assuring them that if he can get his crew to agree to this plan, that she will be able to set up a meeting with them for him. She warns him that he will need around 10 minutes of interactivity with the AI in order to download anything from it, and that there is really only one chance to do so. Seb says that he’ll get in contact with his crew, and let her know.

As Peter has been left to his own devices, he is able to create a network of people that frequently appear in and around his area. He notices one person in particular that parks just within the bounds of his surveillance state who sits at a café every day at 5pm, with a table that is pointed at their housing.

Peter presents this information to Xiang, who mostly brushes him off, but tells him to go figure things out. She hands him a small lapel camera so that their interactions can be recorded. The next day, Peter heads to the café, dressed in Ugly’s tight fitting clothes to see if he can spot this person. Almost as if on schedule, a white news van with no markings, but a satellite on top rolls up. Peter watches them, and gets a proper look at her. A heavy woman with long brown hair, and disarmingly soft features starts walking toward the café. She is wearing a brown jacket, fairly casual loose fitting clothes, but is cradling a very expensive and obvious camera that is cybernetically attached to her arm. Peter watches as she orders an expensive Melbourne coffee, a muffin to go along with it, and begins a crossword at her table. As she settles, she gets out her camera, and points it at the building Peter has been staying in.

Peter, seeing that she ahs been spying on them, walks out of the café, and starts obviously walking towards her news van, and begins attempting to break the lock. He successfully gets in, and finds a bunch of tabloids, paperwork, food wrappers and generic things one would find in someone’s every day car. Peter also spots a hand drawn map of the Northern Slums, where they all used to be.

Peter, not trying to hide the fact that he was breaking into her van, is quickly approached by her, wondering what the hell he’s doing. He retaliates, saying that since its free to spy on them, why can’t he do it back? She immediately holds up her camera, aiming it at Peter, who is able to hear it before it is fully raised. He grabs her wrist quickly, camera attached, and smushes a cheeseburger into the lens to block its view. She is shocked and surprised at his violence. She glares at him, explaining that she’s a reporter, covering Amben Pharma and other large scale corporations she believes to be corrupt. She speaks with an honest tone of not knowing who Peter is, and has simply been sent here on investigative journalism against Amben and has found Seb to be there. Peter lets go of her arm, and also claims to be an investigative journalist.

She suggests that they take this conversation inside “Bean Juice,” the name of the café they just came from. Peter says that he’s busy at the moment, but tells her to give him her card, and they can set up a meeting. He also says that he doesn’t want to see her around here anymore unless its to meet. She looks him dead, and says that he isn’t going to silence her with threats, and that he isn’t the first one to try and strong arm her as she’s been in this business a long time. Peter agrees to talk for a while longer. She introduces herself as Ivy. Ivy opens the back of her news van, that has facing seats for them to continue their conversation.

Ivy suggests that this is just a conversation between the two of them, and takes a moment to carefully undo the camera attachment from her arm, and Peter puts down his. Ivy addresses him by Peter, and then Pr0digy, then immediately smiles and says that she was lying about not knowing who he was. She reveals that she has been watching him, but wasn’t lying about the other things. She thinks that they can help each other. Ivy says that she is incredibly adept at locating and finding out information about powerful people. Peter asks her to prove it, and she begins by telling him about Seb, which she says “the less you know about him and his family, the better” then goes on to reference the eugenics that Amben uses to create Bespoke. Peter asks how she found him, and she reveals that it was through “an agent” that she hired a while ago, referring to Riley. Ivy tells him that she has her contact information, but not readily. She also tells Peter that there isn’t any information that he could give her that she would want, and instead wants to know why they’re in the city in the first place, and what the AI has to do with everything. She tells him that she believes Amben and Reboot are going to team up to do horrible things with that AI, but she believes that it can be used to do great things.

Ivy tells Peter that she needs secrets, and dirt that they can’t hide from. Information that will bring them down. She tells him that she can get in touch with her contacts in Amben to get him easily infiltrated in return for Riley’s location, that she will have to go track down as she’s gone off of their grid. Peter records a message for Ivy to hand to Riley when she finds her, and they give each other their contact information in order to exchange help. Peter lets himself out.

On that same day, Incongruent approaches Eve to tell them Nile, the previous delivery company, has a defunct space program that has been out of operation since the ‘30s, but is still operational, and happens to be located in southern Australia. He explains that that’s where he previously sent ‘Tilda and Macca to get information and codes for the company. Incongruent tells Eve that they also appear too often in human trafficking cases, and have very strong connections with Reboot. He explains that he has located the home address of someone who will be able to give them information and access to the AI. His name is Ellias, and that Incongruent can only do this if the entire team is onboard, but is unaware of their true intentions.

Peter returns to Xiang, telling her that the information he found out was only influential to himself. He apologizes for “not proving himself this time.” Xiang stiffens up, and says “Maybe next time.”

Around supper time that evening, Ugly gathers them all for a meeting, discussing their plans of action moving forward. Seb, having told the crew about the offer from his mother, reminds them of that option they have moving forward. Peter suggests the option of getting a job with Isaac in Reboot to get closer access to it. Eve brings up the Nile company, saying that they know where the head of security is. They reconsider their options, and Ugly tells them that they need to have a decision by the morning, otherwise they will be at huge risk of not being able to get to the AI before Amben or Reboot do first.

After supper, Peter approaches Seb, and asks him what his plan is. Seb says that he doesn’t know what he wants, and doesn’t know what he wants most in the world. Peter tells him about all the people that he’s hurt in the past with his involvement in the Circle, and tells him that he has the time to save Maya, even though it might not be what it was that she could still be out there. Peter stands for his idea that Reboot is going to be the best option to save his friends. Seb, still not giving in one way or the other, immediately receives a slap across his face from Peter. All heads snap in their direction.

Seb says that he doesn’t believe that rebooting people is the answer, as its just turning them from sheep into cattle. Peter argues that if enough of them are changed into more functional humans, that they can build up an army to take down the corps. Peter than suggests rebooting everyone, and then shutting down all of the city tech and protective measures so that they see the slums and everyone is on the same playing field.

Peter pushes Seb to tell him his plans and his ideas. Seb finally tells Pr0 that he’s been thinking about a “reset.” Finding the worst of humanity, and wiping them out. Taking away the greed, filth, and evil to bring up a new, scarred, but healthy humanity. Peter, with tears in his eyes remembering all the horrible people that destroyed his life, nods along with him. He tells Seb that this is a good starting point, but that he needs Peter to be a bit of the light in the darkness, and that there needs to be more humanity behind the complete genocide, worrying about wiping out everyone, and Seb not being able to tell the difference anymore.

Incongruent leans back from a computer where he and Eve were listening in to the surveillance after the loud slap caught their attention. He reaches out a hand and places it on her shoulder, asking her if genocide could work within their plans. Eve smiles, “Perhaps.”

-YHTris

## TL;DR

* Eve and Incongruent come around to the fact that they will never really be free in a world built for humans. They agree with one another and want to move forward with their plans of Mars colonization.

* Eve walks up to a much more put together Peter than she’s used to. Peter confides that he’s still not feeling all there, especially with being ostracized. Eve sits with him, and tells him how much she relates to him.

* Eve then broaches the topic of Incongruent’s plan with him, gauging his reaction and interest. Peter tells her that he has too much business on Earth to leave with satisfaction. Eve sees and agrees with his point.

* Seb gets a phone call from his mother. She tells him that there is a quickly approaching “in” to the AI. A company called “Nippon Neuroscetics,” (spelling unconfirmed.) They are a Japanese based company, and provide the pharmaceuticals used in neurological transfer, which is something outside the scope of Amben Pharm. Seb says that he’ll get in contact with his crew, and let her know.

* As Peter has been left to his own devices, he is able to create a network of people that frequently appear in and around his area. He notices one person that parks just within the bounds of his surveillance state who sits at a café every day at 5pm, with a table that is pointed at their housing.

* The next day, Peter heads to the café, dressed in Ugly’s tight fitting clothes to see if he can spot this person. Almost as if on schedule, a white news van with no markings, but a satellite on top rolls up.

* A heavy woman with long brown hair, and disarmingly soft features starts walking toward the café. She is cradling a very expensive and obvious camera that is cybernetically attached to her arm. Peter watches as she settles, she gets out her camera, and points it at the building Peter has been staying in.

* Peter, seeing that she has been spying on them, walks out of the café, and starts obviously walking towards her news van. He successfully gets in, and spots a hand drawn map of the Northern Slums, where they all used to be.

* Peter, not trying to hide the fact that he was breaking into her van, is quickly approached by her, wondering what the hell he’s doing. He retaliates, saying that since its free to spy on them, why can’t he do it back? She is shocked and surprised at his violence. She glares at him, explaining that she’s a reporter, covering Amben Pharma and other large-scale corporations she believes to be corrupt. She speaks with an honest tone of not knowing who Peter is, and has simply been sent here to investigate.

* She introduces herself as Ivy. She opens the back of her news van, that has facing seats for them to continue their conversation.

* Ivy addresses him by Peter, and then Pr0digy, then immediately smiles and says that she was lying about not knowing who he was. She reveals that she has been watching him but wasn’t lying about the other things. She thinks that they can help each other.

* Ivy says that she is incredibly adept at locating and finding out information about powerful people. Peter asks her to prove it, and she begins by telling him about Seb, which she says “the less you know about him and his family, the better.”

* Peter asks how she found him, and she reveals that it was through “an agent” that she hired a while ago, referring to Riley. She also tells Peter that she wants to know why they’re in the city in the first place, and what the AI has to do with everything. She tells him that she believes Amben and Reboot are going to team up to do horrible things with that AI, but she believes that it can be used to do great things.

* Ivy tells Peter that she needs secrets, and dirt that they can’t hide from. Information that will bring them down. She tells him that she can get in touch with her contacts in Amben to get him easily infiltrated in return for Riley’s location. Peter records a message for Ivy to hand to Riley when she finds her, and they give each other their contact information to exchange help. Peter lets himself out.

* On that same day, Incongruent approaches Eve to tell them Nile, the previous delivery company, has a defunct space program that has been out of operation since the ‘30s, but is still operational, and happens to be located in southern Australia. He explains that he has located the home address of someone who will be able to give them information and access to the AI. His name is Ellias, and Incongruent can only do this if the entire team is onboard, but is unaware of their true intentions.

* Around supper time that evening, Ugly gathers them all for a meeting, discussing their plans of action moving forward. Ugly tells them that they need to have a decision by the morning, otherwise they will be at huge risk of not being able to get to the AI before Amben or Reboot do first.

* After supper, Peter approaches Seb, and asks him what his plan is. Seb says that he doesn’t know what he wants, and doesn’t know what he wants most in the world. Peter stands for his idea that Reboot is going to be the best option to save his friends. Seb, still not giving in one way or the other, receives a slap across his face from Peter. All heads snap in their direction.

* Peter pushes Seb to tell him his plans and his ideas. Seb finally tells Pr0 that he’s been thinking about a “reset.” Finding the worst of humanity and wiping them out. Taking away the greed, filth, and evil to bring up a new, scarred, but healthy humanity.

* Peter, with tears in his eyes remembering all the horrible people that destroyed his life, nods along with him. He tells Seb that this is a good starting point, but that he needs Peter to be a bit of the light in the darkness, and that there needs to be more humanity behind the complete genocide, worrying about wiping out everyone, and Seb not being able to tell the difference anymore.

* Incongruent leans back from a computer where he and Eve were listening in to the surveillance after the loud slap caught their attention. He reaches out a hand and places it on her shoulder, asking her if genocide could work within their plans. Eve smiles, “Perhaps.”

YHT