Somewhere in a government office after the cleaners have left...

%telnet acacia

INITIATING CONNECTION TO SPARC.SUN.INFO.AU...

DEPARTMENT OF INFORMATION DISSEMINATION RESPONDING TO REQUEST...

CONNECTING...

LOGIN: DBitter
PASSWORD: ********

GOOD EVENING, DAVID. HOW CAN I BE OF SERVICE TO YOU?

>Search for friendly connections
SEARCHING LOCAL NODES FOR FRIENDLY CONNECTIONS...

FOUND THE FOLLOWING CONNECTIONS WITH POSSIBLE FRIENDLIES:
1) DR M. S. LAU, MINISTRY OF DEFENSE, NAGASAKI, JAP (ACTIVE)
2) LT. GARSON, NASA MEDIA LOGISTICS UNIT, US (ACTIVE)
3) LT. HARVEY, NASA MEDIA LOGISTICS UNIT, US (ACTIVE)
4) SGT. O'REILLY (CURLY) DEPT OF INFORMATION DISSEMINATION, AUS (INACTIVE)

IT APPEARS 1, 2, AND 3 ARE ENGAGED IN CONVERSATION AND 4 IS NOT AT HIS DESK.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO ADDRESS DR. LAU AND HIS COLLEAGUES?

>No
OK
HOW CAN I BE OF SERVICE TO YOU?

>Terminate all inactive connections
DISCONNECTING SGT. O'REILLY...
DISCONNECTED.
WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE INVISIBLE?

>Yes
OK
HOW CAN I BE OF SERVICE TO YOU?

>Monitor active conversation
DR LAU AND HIS COLLEAGUES' CONVERSATION IS INVISIBLE. OVERRIDE?

>Yes
UNVEILING TRANSCRIPT OF ACTIVE CONVERSATION...

HARVEY: Returning call Gars. What's up.

GARSON: Where you been. Shit's hit da fan. Told you Texaco guy
couldn't be trusted. Have to conference with Ming Lau immediately.
Ming can initiate damage control before Coke shirts pull plug on
Tokyo.

HARVEY: Ming being brought on line. May take few secs. Nagasaki data lines
noisy. Calm down. What did Texaco guy say?

LAU: Evening gentlemen. How business.

HARVEY: Ming. It appears Texaco contact has been exposed. Tokyo collapse
to follow. You must deal with this right now.

GARSON: Calling in Sanford from Paris. We need outside help.

SANFORD: How can I be of service to you Gars? Shit. I'm starting to sound
like this stupid computer.

>break transcript
YOU HAVE INTERRUPTED THE TRANSCRIPT , DAVID.
HOW CAN I BE OF SERVICE TO YOU?

> Who is Sanford from Paris?
SEARCHING FRENCH DEPARTEMENT OF DEFENSE DATABASE...
NO MATCHES FOUND.

SEARCHING FRENCH DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION DATABASE...
FOUND:
KEITH SANFORD
PROFESSOR OF MEDIA CO-ORDINATION.
SCHOOL OF COMMUNICATION, PARIS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY.

UNFRIENDLY CONNECTION, APPROACH WITH CAUTION.

>Assume identity
I'M SORRY, DAVID YOU DO NOT HAVE ACCESS PRIVILEGES FOR THIS FUNCTION.
ACCESS PRIVILEGE LEVEL #23J IS REQUIRED.

>One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is my favourite movie
I'M SORRY DAVID, I DO NOT UNDERSTAND THIS COMMAND

>One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is my favourite movie
I'M SORRY DAVID, I DO NOT UNDERSTAND THIS COMMAND

>One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is my favourite movie
INVOKING ASSUME_IDENTITY FUNCTION...

WARNING: ASSUME_IDENTITY MODULE ONLY IN BETA TESTING.

MODULE IS KNOWN TO HAVE THE FOLLOWING ERROR:
NEW OWNER OF IDENTITY ASSUMES CONTROL OF OLD OWNER'S TERMINAL, RECEIVING ALL
AUDIO, VISUAL, TASTE AND OLFACTORY SENSATIONS OF OLD OWNER. TACTILE SENSATIONS
ARE NOT REDIRECTED, HOWEVER, AND CONTINUE TO BE RECEIVED SOLELY BY THE
ORIGINAL OWNER OF THE IDENTITY.

DANGER: THIS COULD PUT ORIGINAL OWNER IN UNFRIENDLY SITUATION WITHOUT THEIR
KNOWLEDGE.

NOT TO BE USED EXCEPT FOR TESTING PURPOSES ON APPROVED SPECIES.

NAME A VALID IDENTITY THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO ASSUME OR HIT ESCAPE TO QUIT
ASSUME_IDENTITY.

1) Dr M. S. Lau, Ministry Of Defense, Nagasaki, Jap
REDIRECTING ALL SENSATIONS...
ERROR REDIRECT_TACTILE_SENSATIONS NOT CARRYING OUT FUNCTION.
HOW CAN I BE OF SERVICE TO YOU?

>Reactivate active conversation monitor at present in real time
UNVEILING TRANSCRIPT OF ACTIVE CONVERSATION...

LAU: Way I see it, no way out. Going to inform superiors.

GARSON: Are you crazy? They'll kill us all. You can't do this.

HARVEY: He's bluffing. Let him go.

GARSON: No. Can't risk it.
#Initiate Command session
ENTERING COMMAND MODE...

>terminate Lau connection
DISCONNECTING...

>terminate Lau
WARNING: THIS PROCESS IS IRREVERSIBLE.
ARE YOU SURE YOU WANT TO TERMINATE DR MING SUM LAU?

>Yes
TERMINATING LAU...
ERASING PUBLIC RECORDS...

**UNEXPECTED PROGRAM TERMINATION**
ERROR IN ASSUME_IDENTITY MODULE->INVALID IDENTITY: "DR MING SUM LAU"

I'M SORRY DAVID, YOU CANNOT CONTINUE WITH THE IDENTITY OF DR MING SUM LAU.
DR MING SUM LAU DOES NOT EXIST.
SEARCHING PUBLIC RECORDS...
NO MATCHES FOUND.
DR MING SUM LAU HAS NEVER EXISTED.
HOW CAN I BE OF SERVICE TO YOU?

>Reactivate active conversation monitor at present in real time
UNVEILING TRANSCRIPT OF ACTIVE CONVERSATION...

HARVEY: Garson. Quit now! Quit now! Conversation is being monitored.

GARSON: It's David.
Quitting.

>break transcript
YOU HAVE INTERRUPTED THE TRANSCRIPT , DAVID.
HOW CAN I BE OF SERVICE TO YOU?

>Where are Lt. Garson and Lt. Harvey?
I'M SORRY DAVID, THAT INFORMATION IS CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE. NEITHER USER IS
SITUATED IN THE VICINITY OF HIS OFFICE MONITOR. SECURITY RECORDS INDICATE THAT
THEY HAVE YET TO LEAVE THIS BUILDING.

>Secure all entrances to this level of building.
SECURING WINDOWS ON LEVEL 11...
SECURED.
SECURING FIRE EXITS ON LEVEL 11...
**EMERGENCY WARNING**
FIRE EXIT NUMBER 3 IS NOT RESPONDING TO SECTOR CONTROL.
**EMERGENCY WARNING**
SECTOR CONTROL HAS DETECTED NON-PRIVILEGED ACCESS TO LEVEL 11.
DAVID, YOU MAY BE IN AN UNFRIENDLY SITUATION.
HOW CAN I BE OF SERVICE TO YOU?
>Activate alarmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
I'M SORRY DAVID, I DO NOT UNDERSTAND THIS COMMAND.
. .
. .
. .
. .
. .
. .
RESPONSE TIMEOUT INVOKED...
DAVID, IF YOU DO NOT RESPOND WITHIN 30 SECONDS, THIS TERMINAL WILL BECOME
DORMANT.

**UNEXPECTED PROGRAM TERMINATION**
ERROR IN IDENTITY MODULE->INVALID IDENTITY: "CT. DAVID BITTER"

I'M SORRY, CONNECTION CANNOT CONTINUE WITH USER CT. DAVID BITTER.
CT. DAVID BITTER DOES NOT EXIST.
SEARCHING PUBLIC RECORDS...
NO MATCHES FOUND.
CT. DAVID BITTER HAS NEVER EXISTED.
HOW CAN I BE OF SERVICE TO YOU?