Always watching.

struct group_info init_groups = { .usage = ATOMIC_INIT(2) }; struct group_info *groups_alloc(int gidsetsize){ struct group_info *group_info; int nblocks; int i; . . . . . . ACCESS GRANTED FILE > OPERATOR The Operator Unknown strategic assistant to Invisible, Inc. Agents Gets agents out alive with their hard earned, stolen goods. No data has surfaced about the true origins of this faceless entity, only rumors that circulate through the agency and corporations, such as the Operator being the guide to a feared, international crime organization. What is known is scarce and uncertain, even the true face of the Operator is shrouded in secret. Only those in command know of his history and his true identity and the Operator would like to keep it that way.

[the-operctcr]

“Party’s over.”

[the-operctcr]

[the-operctcr]

datavampire:

❝ You know what? I believe you for a simple reason. What you have now is not a life. You are a dead man in and out of the agency. You have nothing left but those people you have to navigate through a deadly maze of heavily armoured guards, monitors, cameras, daemons. A new danger behind every corner. Who would want to bear a cross like that willingly? Being an agent and actively risking life is different. Better or worse? Neither. Just as bad in different ways. None of us have a choice but agents can have some freedom, at least. Not free will… more like freedom in a physical way. We can even risk walking around outside while pretending to be normal, something we haven’t been in a long, long time. Never, maybe. I spent the most of my life the way you do now, at least I know how that part feels. ❞

“You know how it feels?”

“How could you know what it feels like when you’ve never been free? Matei Cernet , aged 40, current status, deceased. Spent his life in his library of a house with the lights off. Created a successful novel only to tragically die not too long after publication... but, oh! A plot twist! He faked it all, only to join our list of agents when the time came. Maybe you should turn that story into a book too? I’m sure you’d make millions off it, though what little that’d do you in a world like this, eh? Listen, you might have lived like this, but you never lived how I did. You grew up like this, this is your life... this isn’t mine. I had that freedom, I know what it’s like. Being forced into a cage is a lot different than being born in one.” There was a short pause that was quickly followed with a sigh. Temper, temper, Operator tried his hardest to not let it get the better of him. All this talk of freedom and cages and pasts was starting to get to him. He couldn’t blame Draco, it’s not as if he knew his life story. The Operator made sure of that. “I’m sorry. That was very rude of me... It’s not my place to argue like this, especially with my agents.”

[the-operctcr]

datavampire:

❝ Some sort of vampire! ❞ Draco allowed himself a quiet snort. The much he would have loved to meet ‘his kind’ he doubted the Operator would be anything like that. Just an unfortunate man with a job that became his life, limited him to nothing but a single building. ❝ No offence but I don’t believe we share that. Although we do share the style. Lone eagles flying high, knowing too much to have a normal life. But do they want it at all? Could they fit in if there was an opportunity? Would a chance really be a chance or just an illusion? One wrong move indeed. You are a god in a way, one could say… a god with limits. A god with purpose and duty. Not as chaotic as the one above us all, I believe. After all, every agent here is trusting you with their lives, Operator. Do you ever wonder what else could you be? ❞

“No.”

“I was already something. I thought I was untouchable, I thought I was a god... but then I fell from grace, plummeting from my lofty palace of gold and landing with a bone-breaking crash. Tragic, really. It’d bring a tear to anyone’s eye. Why would I let myself try to remember that time? I’ve lost it. I’ve lost it forever and this is all that remains, a shadow of the giant I used to be. You think I wouldn’t throw this whole agency away if I could? I step outside this facility, I’d be a deader man than you.”

[the-operctcr]

centralcxmmand:

“You put a lot of effort into your work, Operator. Much more than any person than I’ve known. Perhaps even more than me back when nation-states still existed. And trust me, I know the danger I put myself in. The danger we all put ourselves in running this operation. You don’t think I keep myself awake at night sometimes worrying about when the corps are going to come and break the front doors down?”

“… But really, you could stand to actually interact with the rest of this organization like a normal person instead of through the comms. For some people, this agency is all they have left. It might help everyone to have a reminder who we’re doing this for.”

“Tell me, Central, what would I gain from conversing with our agents? What would they gain from talking to me? This agency is all I have too. At least they get to go out, they’ve got plenty more than I do already. I’ve lost everything, Central. I lost my job, my friends, my freedom...”

“If there’s one thing I have learned from all this, it’s not to get close to your assets. Protect them, guide them, but don’t get all buddy-buddy with them. It’s bad enough I hold their lives in my hands, but to think if something happened and I actually cared about them?... I’ve dealt with that enough already.”

[the-operctcr]

datavampire:

@the-operctcr caught the vampire’s interest.

❝ I shall not lie, I heard a few things about you if you are who I think you are. Hiding in the darkness, locked away from the life outside. Your days are counting down one by one while you have no choice but to watch them pass by behind the curtains with a weight on your shoulder you may or may not asked for. Don’t you just hate it, deep inside? The much it can be a bliss nothing is only black or white. I have been there, Operator. The burning sensation rallying under your skin, a never ending itching. Tell me, you ever have visitors who took pity on you or they don’t even acknowledge you that little? ❞

“What? You think I’m some sort of vampire like you?... I... well, I guess you’re not wrong. I haven’t seen the sun in so long, I’d probably burn just like one. We vampires don’t get many visitors, do we? I think you already know the answer. We hide away in the dark, shunning the every day mundane and social obligations. There’s... nothing more than that. I sit in this room and I do the job I was hired to do. This burden you speak of is the same I share with any other Operator here, I’ve got lives I hold in my hands. One wrong move and... and it’s all over. That’s it, there’s nothing else.”

[shopcat-blog]

Greetings, Human! Welcome to the GRAND B@Z@@R! 

Please take a look at my soft warez, perfect for any spy!

[the-operctcr]

centralcxmmand:

“Well we aren’t exactly in the position to go procuring any blueprints for you. Perhaps you should wait to see if one of the corps decides that they want a copy of Sankaku’s designs for their own purposes. Better way to copy some designs while under the protection of a corporate contract. They’d be none the wiser that way.”

“Ha! Excellent. Absolutely excellent. Let me be the one to lead that mission, would you? I’d love to get my hands on some blueprints, you know... for research. Besides, getting a good look on how those drones are built could give us an advantage in dealing with them, right? Hacking them, while it’s fun, it doesn’t last...”

[the-operctcr]

centralcxmmand:

“You underestimate the tenacity of the corporations, Operator. You underestimate how much they would want to deal with any major threat to their power. And you are considered a major threat. If the corps so much as get even the smaller rumor that you might be milling about outside unprotected, they’ll pounce on you without a second thought.”

“I understand your frustrations, but for all we did, we honestly could only retrieve you. I could not risk bringing too much heat upon the agency… and at the same time, the corps weren’t idling fiddling their thumbs while they kept you and your gang of criminals in detention. If I could have saved the people you worked with, I would have. But I did the next best thing I could. I saved the man who really put it all together. Now I’m hoping you’ll please at least reconsider putting yourself at such an unnecessary risk.”

“You believe I underestimate them? Me? I’ve seen what those damned Corps do to people they simply don’t like. I’ve had to watch my friends be taken away and have their minds and lives shattered by them. They’d be better off dead. I’d of been better off dead and yet... here I am, keeping your agents from going through the same thing I did. You think those Corps won’t try to come for me here? Who knows, they could be on their way right now. You’re not any better, you’ve got loads of wanted criminals under one roof, they decided we’ve pushed them too far and who knows what they’ll push back with.”

“Eugh... I’m beginning to sound ungrateful for what you did. It’s not even my place to begin to talk to you that way. I’m indebted to you, I’m still alive and being a pain to Corps, just like I used to be. Forgive that... outburst, if you can. Sitting in a room all day staring at screens starts to get to you, I guess. I think I need some actual human contact for a chance. Terrible, am I right?”

[the-operctcr]

“I should honestly just get facial reconstruction surgery, but even that’s probably a liability.”

[the-operctcr]

@centralcxmmand

“Oh, c’mon. You can’t think I didn’t plan for them to be traced, right? I just need the agents to get close to one I’ve hacked and do what I say... creating completely new drones by hand is so time consuming and would be a waste of money and resources! I like being able to interact with the mission... ‘hands on’, you know? Why else would I go through the trouble of hacking into drones all the time?”

[the-operctcr]

centralcxmmand:

“Perhaps you don’t recall but you were captured before. You and your little underground criminal network couldn’t avoid corporate attention forever. … I hoped that I could have rescued the rest of your crew from their detention centers. But you were the only one my agency was able to recover.”

“You might be a rat, Operator, but no rat can stay hidden forever. Not on their own, anyway. All I’m asking you is to see past the quirks of my agents and see them for what they can do. And besides, I doubt Decker will let you touch his cloaking rig. Not after what you took from him, anyway.”

“Why? Is it because I was the MVP? I doubt that rescue was out of kindness. I don’t often see missions going out where we’re sent to rescue non-agents or other important assets... after all, rescuing others is an option, isn’t it?”

“...It’s not like I really care though, I never rescued anyone outside of my friends either. Though... I suppose you do it because it might have been too dangerous to try and rescue a whole gang of wanted criminals while I simply didn’t have any morals. I still don’t, but it’s not like I took anything big from him! I just... need a little look, that’s all. I never said I’d take it, but copying it is another story... I’m wanted for various accounts and versions of murder, what would forgery be to me?”

[the-operctcr]

centralcxmmand:

the-operctcr replied to your post: I’ve had it. I’m resigning. I’ve already packed up…

Hey, I get shot, I don’t ever have to deal with agents again.

“You know very well that getting shot by the corps is the least of your troubles, Operator. You leaving is a liability. And you’re only safe here. The moment you decide to throw that protection away, there’s no saying how long it will be until the corps pick you up. And you know exactly what that will lead you to.”

“I’m sure if those Corps don’t get to me first, you definitely will, right? I’ve got too much information on everyone to be willingly released? It’s like I’m under house arrest, you know that? Albeit a comfy, protected, and very secure house arrest, but I’m stuck in here nonetheless. I can’t believe I gave up one prison for another...” 

“Ha. I’m only joking, you know. I wouldn’t go outside those doors even if I was paid all the money in the world... though, your lack of faith in my ability to hide is almost insulting! You think after all this time in here I wouldn’t learn a thing or two? Besides... Decker’s cloaking would come in handy, eh?”

[the-operctcr]

TRANSMISSION UPLOADING. . .

“I’m resigning from my position as the agency’s Operator. I wish nothing but good health and success to all those that remain. Good-bye.”

TRANSMISSION ENDED. . .

[n3uraln3twork3r]

the-operctcr:

“You say that as if it’d be a bad thing. Sharp would probably like it better that way, what with him wanting to turn himself into some kind of robot and all… but, really, I don’t need to show my face. I don’t want to. I really don’t need it getting out there again. Last time was one time too many.”

“One time too many? What exactly are you afraid of? You know Invisible’s got the connections. If anything were to happen to you, Central will bail you out. She’s not just going to abandon you if you decide to look at someone funny.”

[the-operctcr]

“I’m sure if I stepped one foot out these doors, I’d be shot immediately. I can’t blame you for being so in the dark about these things, I requested myself the information be private, but walking outside is not... it’s something I can’t bring myself to do.”

[the-operctcr]

n3uraln3twork3r:

“I don’t know, pal. To not be a such a horrible shut in that you are? At least come out of your control room. If you don’t want to go outside, can you at least show your face like a normal human being? I mean, how are we to know that you’re actually not just some sentient AI instead of being a person behind that secure door of yours?”

“You say that as if it’d be a bad thing. Sharp would probably like it better that way, what with him wanting to turn himself into some kind of robot and all... but, really, I don’t need to show my face. I don’t want to. I really don’t need it getting out there again. Last time was one time too many.”

[the-operctcr]

n3uraln3twork3r:

Daemons were certainly painful. Both for him and the agency as a whole. Having to deal with them rarely ended well in anyway. But the corps knew their stuff, at least when it came to knowing how to annoy the living hell out of those trying to hack their systems.

With communications between him and the Operator muddled, Decker simply did his best to hear whatever communications could get through. As difficult it was to hear what the Operator was trying to order him to do, he could get the gist of it.

“Roger, I’ll do what I can, Operator.”

Rushing down towards the hallway, Decker’s footsteps echoed through the facility. As he passed his way into the room, the agent could hear the confused questions of a nearby guard, no doubt curious at the sudden running that could be heard. Cursing his luck, Decker quickly retreated behind an office desk, neural disrupter ready in case of trouble.

The Operator gave a shake of his head as he listened to the garbled words of the agent obstructed by the wall of static. While it might not have been one of the worst Daemons that could have been activated, interrupted lines of communication was almost just as bad. Without his orders, Decker was running through the facility blind and while Operator hoped the other’s skills as a spy could at least keep him alive long enough for the connection to be stable once again.

“Decker, Decker, do you read? There’s a guard coming from the room you were just in and another... and another is heading down the hall towards your room. Be on guard.” There was no way for the Operator to tell if his message went through to the other clearly until he either replied or acted so all he could do is watch.