[TEXT] [LOCKED TO NEW HIRES ONLY]

[bringinghopewithme]

[After doing everything he can to verify he's locked this correctly, i.e. asking Stacia to check if he did it right, Bunny presses forth with testing Lonestar's claims.]

Well I haven't been interrogated or tortured any more than usual. Do we trust this thing or not?

[EDITED The next day comes an additional video message -]

I realized two things. Some of you rightly guessed I lied about stealing keys from Jorgmund. Some of you pointed out Jorgmund might somehow be smart enough not to take obvious bait. Well -

[He holds up one paw, and twirls a keyring around one digit.]

It's not a lie anymore.

It got me into a closet and now we have - [He re-angles the camera to show: a metal hammer, multi-bit screwdrivers with a wide range of interchangeable bits, an adjustable wrench, a tiny screwdriver set for delicate work, and a small soldering iron.]

Anyone thinks they can do something useful with any of this, come see me. I'm keeping them hidden and I'm not telling any of you where until I know for sure who talks too much and who doesn't.

Comments

[xrater]

So you do understand why people wouldn't want to trust a mysterious anonymous network that just happens to show up on the same day we're finally pulling our heads together. I was wondering.

If you were fine with the Bunny potentially getting electrocuted to prove that your system wasn't something Jorgmund could break into, you should be fine revealing your identity instead of playing masquerades. And don't tell me that you don't know who to trust. If others can put their names on this thing and risk punishment, then you shouldn't hesitate to show the same faith that you want people to have in this. Instead, you hide.

That is why I have a hard time trusting you and this. I'll admit this program is cleverly done, but I cannot put my full faith in a system that even the creator doesn't.

[pathkin]

The system could be even safer if some of you chipped in some extra layers of encryption, but it's close to as safe as I could make it alone. However, there are people here that think we can negotiate with terrorists by unionizing because "it's the law" (??) The greatest threat to Bunny wasn't an encryption break, or me personally, it was the potential malice - or stupidity - of his fellow New Hires and the fact that someone might sell him out to Jorgmund for one snack cake.

Which means posting logged in proves nothing. We're all strangers to each other. Everyone's motives are suspect. Everyone's motives will continue to be suspect for some time, even after we start getting to know each other. For all you know I'm a New Hire who's been promised freedom in exchange for turning any troublemakers over.

For all I know, you are. A cryptographer doesn't scream that they are one in a crowded room in enemy territory. You seem awful keen on getting me to.

Some of you can maybe replace me, but while some of you were good at prying at my code, you were equally good at covering your tracks so I couldn't tell how good. I want to find out how disposable I am first before needlessly painting a big fat target on my back. Because I'm not scared of dying, I'm scared of not being easily replaceable. I'm praying this is as much of a plug and play situation as it seems on first glance. I'm a big fan of redundancies, as anyone that was prodding at my code can attest to.

[He will step forward right away if someone else gets blamed for his work and is about to get punished, though, but he's not just giving someone the idea.]

[bringinghopewithme]

You think Jorgmund would just electrocute them for this?

I've got my shortlist of people I suspect would rat me out, but in any case, I'd rather find out who they are by being hurt than by seeing one of us die.

[pathkin]

My assumption was that actively fomenting full scale rebellion = summary execution.

I'm ready to face that but not if the cause is Union Mac thinking a good "union leader" tells the execs everything.

You need to not push it too hard, though. Appreciating someone jumping on a grenade that one time unasked, with something possibly nonfatal, doesn't mean I want to see you make it a bad habit. Especially since it's only "possibly."

An old friend of mine used to call that kind of thing "having a compulsive ass-risking problem."

[bringinghopewithme]

I don't have a compulsive tail-risking problem.

I have a real strong urge to see this done as fast as possible, and more time than anyone here of going up against people who think enslaving anyone is a good idea.

[he might not remember . . . However much of it happened more than a century ago, but enough people got bright ideas in the last century about things like "child soldiers" that he can at least reference that.]

Don't you worry about me. I wouldn't have survived being a rabbit this long without survival instincts.

[pathkin]

I will worry about you but if you need it in terms other than self-preservation fine: also don't forget how demoralizing it would be for some people here to see you die.

Despair is just as much an enemy as our enemy. And a weapon Jorgmund will likely not hesitate on wielding. There's testing your reality to see what's safe or not and there's becoming an unnecessary sacrificial lamb. Don't conflate the two.

[bringinghopewithme]

I have no intention of dying. Ever.

I realize that's gonna be a fine line here, but I bring hope, not despair.

anon text: Quaestor

[wheyoftheadept]

Bunny isn't pushing it any more than anyone else posting here is, anon or not. We need intel and this is life or death to be blunt; slaves aren't really people, they're tools, and sometimes tools break which is sad but you just get a new one.

If the operators here want to risk themselves, let us. This is what we're good at.

[bringinghopewithme]

See? You get it.

anon text: Quaestor

[wheyoftheadept]

And quite aside from that, I know that my actual world is at stake - me and my friends, we got caught up in some apocalyptic shit and I can't be the only person here needing to get home as a matter of just like, having a home to go back to. Or something equally dire.

Safe, yes. Smart, always. But fast matters too. That's why Lonestar put up this network right away, they say right above.

anon

[greatlyexaggerated]

[It takes an incredibly long time for Ciaphas to figure out how to turn himself anonymous. There's a lot of sweaty-palmed praying and jabbing at buttons involved until he finally gets it.]

On the topic of unions, someone seems to be interested in directing Mac towards less dangerous diversions on that network post. Perhaps he's a risk that can be managed.

[bringinghopewithme]

Anybody figure out what he's good at yet?

Anon text: Quaestor

[wheyoftheadept]

Bait

[bringinghopewithme]

No.

anon text: Quaestor

[wheyoftheadept]

That was a joke. On principle Jorg takes no one.

But that dude is gonna test my principles

[tarnishedavenger]

Quaestor has a point.

Our mutual friend is loud, obnoxious, and thinks he's one of the smartest, most useful people around. If we can point that energy in a direction, Jorgmund will be looking at him rather than in the shadows. This doesn't mean we suggest anything... dangerous. Just exciting and attention getting.

[pathkin]

I believe the word we're really looking for is "diversion."

[bringinghopewithme]

That's the one.

[pathkin]

It's immoral to use him as one without at least communicating the consequences of angering Jorgmund. He's an idiot, but a grounding in "you have to be careful or they'll fry your organs" is the bare minimum someone should do.

anon: FERDINAND VON AEGIR

[gautiheir]

i'm not sure communicating the consequences is possible, to be honest.
for all that a lot of people were trying very hard in his...post/
is post the word we like for these things/
he seemed remarkably willing to close his ears to common sense and continue on his woefully misguided way.
does anyone speak fluent idiot because i think we're not talking to him in a language he understands.