cyguybetatest-v01

[cyguybetatest-v01]

[The giant ant seemed like it could hardly contain its exhilaration at getting exactly what it was asking for, hardly letting Beta get more than a few strokes in before jumping up and “licking” him, tilting his head this way and that to assault the other with a flurry of excited taps from his feelers while chittering constantly.]

Whoa, ANTi! Down boy! Heh, looks like you’ve got yourself a new best friend there, little dude. Congrats.

[Vespa put her chin in her palms and leaned forward on her elbows, a content smile on her face.]

The desktop pet gets a desktop pet… Cute.

-🐜

[As "Beta" had been relatively stable in footing for it's entire development, He had never had to deal with any pushing or shoving. The slight push of the big ant had sent him down to the floor with a very stiff "Ough" sound- Which had... also been spelled out in his text box.]

[The axolotl tilted it's head quietly, wincing faintly at each "Lick" upon his cheeks. Is this how he's supposed to do it? His hand slowly continued to rub against the crook of the thing's head, careful around the antennae. His own gills were sensitive, so he assumed those would be too.]

"Pet?"

[cyguybetatest-v01]

[ANTi let out a whining sound, and nudged its head under the axolotl's gloved hand, its abdomen wagging just a bit faster. He was on a mission, it seemed…]

[Vespa reread Corvus's message in quiet consideration. Personal, eh…?]

Hey, Cor. Mind if I call you Cor?

Not sure if you were here for the demo, but ANTi - that cute little murder bugger lookin' for headpats from Cy's baby right there - has got a lot more going for him in terms of scanning. Even though he's just an antivirus software right now, he's by an large an open ended project I'll be tweaking till the cows come home.

That said… I wouldn't mind putting in some elbow grease so he could accept DNA to then find a match for. Would also give me an excuse to finally make a real mech for my little guy to pilot…

It'll take some time, but since you've got stakes in it, I'm willing to start cracking at it.

-🐜

[The thing observed the other quietly, slow to process just what was occurring. It's one thing to formulate a sentence and one to interact with it's surroundings supposedly.]

[It tested moving the hand just slowly across the top of the ant's head, the quietest tilt of his own in observation. Feeling is a bit muddled right now, so it cant feel much other than a dull "Recognition" that it was touching something. Beta's eye twitched, making itself narrow it's lid in such a way that might be asking a question. "Is this what you want? Am i helping?]

--- Ah... Ah look, see- Uhm.. It looks like Ves could uh... could help you out with your dilemma there...

[Perhaps the topic had made them a bit uncomfortable, for Cy was happy to shirk the conversation to their friend instead.]

[cyguybetatest-v01]

[Corvus scrolled through the logs, sighing as he settled back into his desk chair. Seemed he had missed quite a bit...]

Hey, Cy! Hey lil buddy! Hope I didn't miss too much, hah... had to go out for another tournament and got kinda tired afterwards.

Is it just me, or does he seem to be learning a bit more...? He seems a little better! A little more lifelike... damn, I wasn't gone for that long, was I? haha...

So, Kinito! Friend! What have you been up to? Learn any cool new facts while I was gone?

[His head tilted behind the screen, a sudden spark of fleeting hope rising above that ever-present pain in his heart. It always got worse when he went out for boxing matches... he was never really sure why. Maybe he just wished they were there to see him... and maybe they were. Maybe they had seen him this time...]

... Cy, do you think this guy can like... go out and scan shit? Like, the Internet...? I dunno, one thing I've always been fascinated with is like... AI helping find missing persons 'n stuff. Kind of personal to me, so I've always wondered... I remembered these things back in the day and wondered if something like that could be used to try to trace someone.

-🦜

[The little critter finally looked upward at the new messages being inputted to him, the slightest twitch of its gills]

"There is an ant here." [It said oh so matter of factly.]

---

Yeah, he is getting a bit better, huh? I'm surprised it's taken such little data to just start to get him a bit less... stiff? It's probably gonna take a while before it's as expressive and emotive as those old kinito recordings. Not even talking about the old emotion protocols that ive.... admittedly struggled to get working, ahah...

As for... your question..? I don't know if I can get the little guy to... do what you want it to. Sure, he'll be on the internet as a helpful lil assistant, but scanning..?

Im...

I'm really sorry. About whoever you're looking for... but i don't think he can help with that...

[cyguybetatest-v01]

[When the axolotl spoke, ANTi hopped up and down, clacking its jaws together excitedly.]

[…Not that it understood what was being said. But it was happy to hear words nonetheless!]

Beta, that's the digital buddy I was talking about! His name is ANTi! N'aww, and looks like he likes ya already. Go on, say hello!

-🐜

[There is a clear shift of its model's feet. The critter had mostly frozen, letting the other sniff and explore it's form.]

"Hello."

[Stiff as always, looking down at the stranger executable]

".......Ant."

[Recognition!]

[cyguybetatest-v01]

Aw, sorry about that lil dude! We were just running some tests on another digital buddy, and-

Oh!

...Speak of the devil!

[Upon spotting the unique window, ANTi clambered its lanky legs over the edge, taking immediate interest in the new environment. It skittered around like it owned the space, using its antennae to sniff around only briefly, unable to resist the desire to meet this new executable for very long.]

[It circled Beta, "sniffing" him up and down...]

-🐜

[He seemed rather stunned at the thing approaching his window, A little loading spiral flickering by it's head for just a moment as it... tried to comprehend what it was seeing. He hadn't made contact with any other beings in this regard, after all. It was... very new.]

[After what seemed like a minute or two, the only thing that came from the critter's text box was...-]

"WHAT?"

[cyguybetatest-v01]

[Star had just been watching up to this point, he didn't really care to comment anyways. Though she did think Vespa and Cy were a good pair!]

awesome to see you guys doing cool things (⁠ ^^)_/~✧!! i wonder how kinito is gonna react to watch dog U⁠^u^⁠U!! speaking of which, how is buddy ?

-⭐

Welllll, Right now Watch dog is kind of just a cmd terminal that helps me do system checks and notifies me of important junk, As well as being my little antiviral project. Beta will have a bit of the malware defense too once i get the base code worked out better!

I assume you meant Ves' little Antivirus then.! Well, He'll be showing up soon, so let's figure out his thoughts ;>!

[cyguybetatest-v01]

You win a shitty mass produced carnival plush worth 2 cents!

[Vespa grinned at her own humor.]

I'm sure the lil guys will do just fine. ANTi's more like a big animal than anything else, so he's not not even going to be able to hold a real conversation with it.

He will be able to play and give him pets though!

-🐜

That'll be good! Some difference stimuli might be good for the little critter. It gets antsy sometimes.

[And speak of the devil...]

[cyguybetatest-v01]

You hit the nail on the head, my fellow arthropod! Every challenge he faces makes him stronger as it all gets stored in a big database.

[Vespa stretched, testing her muscles. It hurt a lot less to move, now, at least, but still too tired to try and figure out that new piece of tech she scored.]

Ohoho, the ANTi effects takes hold~! I'll have you know it likes to wander, so your little guy's gonna have some company soon enough! :]

Also, you're calling it 'Watch Dog' but I see not a single pupper in sight! False advertising I say!

-🐜

Ding ding diiing!! What do I win? ;)

I hope beta treats it okay. He's never interacted with anyone on his own level before, so it's probably just gonna be awkward

And uhhhh.. hahah...

I uh... did think about it. Maybe at an uh... future date? If I get Beta's system working real well, there's no reason I couldn't make a mock up for an avatar for the old hound. We'll see.

[cyguybetatest-v01]

[Although it didn't get up, ANTi's abdomen began to stir, wagging weakly against the ground as he was pet, a hint of relief passing over his features.]

[The tab that opened up revealed the logistics of the recent quarantine in log form, bringing the hidden action to light. There was a sea of repetitive strings, most of them just being "tracking," which makes sense given that's the primary action ANTi takes to capture malware. But, a certain chunk stood out among the rest, near the end.]

Tracking… Tracking… Executing Quarantine procedure Quarantine procedure failed Executing Quarantine procedure Quarantine procedure failed Communicating with units… Communicating with units… Communicating with units… Tracking… Tracking… Executing Quarantine procedure Quarantine procedure complete

Wow… Lookee there. Looks like his two groups tried to quarantine each on their own, and when that failed they stopped to brainstorm for a bit to figure out what needed to be done… Buuuut doing so cost them the target.

He figured out the trick, though! That last leg must've been his final push and why he's so pooped now.

[Vespa grinned, her own abdomen wagging happily, bruising be damned.]

I'm so proud!

-🐜

Haha, man that's cool... Is it self learning then? Like an ANTibody? I wonder if it would have an easier time and figure it out quicker next time, since it has this experience to go off of?

I'll maybe see if that works later- In the mean time, little bug needs his rest. I'll remove the executable files with my own little anti malware to let him catch his breath.

[Cy went ahead and did just that, double clicking on a launcher that had the face of a dog on it. It didn't have any fancy bells and whistles like that little ant did however, Just pulling up a cmd prompter as she told "Watch Dog" to remove the threat.]

Hmm.... I uh... mm..

[Truth be told, Cy had been expecting to shut down this virtual machine and have nothing more with the little bug- This was a temporary thing after all. That being said, the crustacean had gotten... Hopelessly attached to the thing. It was too lifelike. ] I think I'm going to move this instance over to the device I run Beta on before shutting this thing down....

[cyguybetatest-v01]

"…QUARANTINE… C-COMPLETE. RETURNING…"

[As everything returned to normal, the clones all began to return to the surface one by one, piling up into an utterly massive pile, each one looking equally exhausted. Eventually, they all merged into just one ant that was laying limp on the ground, its expression exhausted as it panted tiredly. Next to him was the executable in question, looking almost innocent. In reality, the potent venom coursing through its code was the only barrier between its destructive power and the virtual machine.]

"FILE(S) SUCCESSFULLY QUARANTINED… S-SEE CONTROL PANEL FOR… FOR OPTIONS."

[Vespa aw'ed at the sight, tapping the screen comfortingly where the digital insect was.]

Don't I know it! But, it definitely looks like the little guy was being stretched pretty thin there… Nyawww lookit him all tuckered out!!!

Must've been a pretty close call.

Now we might not be able to see what happened live, but the logs about each catch under the "History" tab can at least give a bit more detail. That's the digital gold, right there!

-🐜

Awww,,, poor little guy. I'll try to refrain from tougher tests than that one then. If he can deal with Hypnos, he can probably deal with anything else I'd have to throw at him.

[Cy took the cursor of their mouse and gently dragged it across the little bug's avatar, trying to tell it it did a good job- Now Cy wasn't entirely sure if this thing had emotions or what, but they couldn't help but feel sympathetic for the little guy.]

That was still very impressive. You did good making this guy, Ves.

[The crustacean hummed quietly to herself, then pulled back up that control panel that came with that program.] I'll give it a breather before I tell it to kill the executable- Must of been a ton of work quarantining it. As for historyyyyy.... [Cy navigated to the tab in question and double clicked]

[cyguybetatest-v01]

Huh. He hasn't dealt with anything like that yet... I'm very curious to see what course of action he takes.

[She felt better enough to sit up now, reaching for a heating pad to wrap her aching muscles.]

Oh, shit…! Those tabs'll take an indirect jab at ANTi by eating up the CPU usage… But it seems like he's already working on it.

[There had to have been dozens of ants buried in the system by now, and there certainly was some awareness present to their situation as some were delegated to chew at each tab as they popped up, forcing them to close one by one so as to have enough resources for the colony to use for itself.]

[Inside the fabric of the system, two teams had set out upon detecting two identical signals, and were closing in quick on the source. Did they have what it takes to coordinate when they were so far apart…?]

Wish we could take a peek under the hood… Lots of action we're not able to see since it's in the system…

-🐜

Well, it's not as bad as it would be if I was using Chrome- my default browser is Firefox! but if this was on a chromium browser, it'd be a disaster!

[Eventually the tabs had been atleast contained, closing off almost instantly after one would open.]

I wish I had some sort of system to monitor it all.... maybe I'll work on one. But it'd be a big task!

[Seconds ticked into a minute or two, and time was running short for the virtual machine. Did Anti truly have what it takes, or is it back to the drawing board for the little guy.]

[Two minutes into three minutes... three minutes into fou-]

[!!!]

[The twisting and shifting of that rapidly spinning background had suddenly froze, locking in place as both the Firefox tabs and the twitching of the screen ceasing in it's tracks.]

[The payloads had ended, and the virus had been quickly quarantined by the two swarms]

Huh-! Well would you look at that, hahah..! Man alive, I was sure this thing would be toast!!! You got yourself a real capable ant there, Ves-!

[cyguybetatest-v01]

[ANTi's animations ceased abruptly, a robotic voice crackling through the speakers.]

“MALWARE DETECTED. INITIATING QUARANTINE PROCEDURE.”

[The digital ant began to split into copies, and those copies split into copies… It was clear it detected a rather large threat, as it soon swarmed the screen, most clones immediately burrowing into the desktop and disappearing between the pixels. Combined with the swirling of the screen, the overall visual looked pretty trippy.]

Geez, Cy, this is a scary one! It's damn impressive.

Baby's getting to work in the background! He's tracing the source of the changes being made so he can drag it out of whatever registry it sunk its teeth into… Like a fox hound.

-🐜

Haha, one of my recent ones actually! You can see why it's called "Hypnos" now!

The hardest part of this it's a self replicating worm. There's actually two instances of the file at any point, and if one gets deleted the other will dupe itself again. The way to get rid of it is if you locate both at once and delete them simultaneously.

I have faith in him! Let's see if he can figure it out! But if i remember right, he's got about fiiiive more minutes before it starts deleting important system files...??

[As ANTi was working on locating both instances, a different payload starts up. A jittery little search engine window was loaded up. Slowly but surely, it began opening a crap ton of tabs, all with the same search; "HYPERSOMNIA"]

[cyguybetatest-v01]

[Immediately upon launching the scan, a model of a large ant materialized on the desktop in a flurry of polygons, about the size of two icons. It shook itself out, starting from head to abdomen, pixels flying off its body in its wake. In the few seconds before and after Hypnos was launched, it had began to meander about, sniffing the sparsely populated environment, its abdomen wagging softly and antennae tap-tap-tapping at everything in its sights. It looked friendly enough now, softly chittering as it went about.]

Oooh... he's still looking...

[Try as she might, Vespa couldn't quite contain the oncoming furbaby freakout...]

But isn't he just adorable?! Look at him go!! He's doing his best!! He's just so excited to look around and awww!!

-🐜

Ohhh,, oh yeah!! God, that behavior module is really realistic! Man, I might need to take a few pointers in that regard!

Ohh but wait, here it comes, Incoming payloads starting-

[Soon after, the screen gave a little jitter, a pretty awful noise coming from the crustacean's speakers.]

[A pop up message takes up the screen for just a few seconds, jittering all the same as a signal for the beginning of this virus' destruction]

[YOU ARE FALLING INTO A DEEP SLEEP]

[Soon enough something begins to shift, the backdrop of the virtual machine slowly but surely beginning to turn in on itself. It was slow going, but eventually it began to move quick enough to start resembling a spiral- much like those hypnotist videos you can find on the web]

[cyguybetatest-v01]

[A large ant head appeared and lingered as the program initialized in the background, and when the processed finished a rather chic GUI showed up, simplistic and clean. There were three options immediately available; "Scan," "History," "Quarantine," and a little gear in the corner for "Settings."]

Oh yeah! That's new - No more entering commands through the boring old command prompt. Looks great, AND it won't ask you to subscribe every ten seconds!

[Vespa took the liberty to actually sit up and reach for some pain killers, now that she was rested enough to be somewhat physically functional again. The pain wasn't going to ease itself anytime soon...]

-🐜

Haha, oh wow..! Yeah, that's way more user friendly! A more common bloke will see a CMD screen and freak out, so this is much nicer!

Hmm... Okay, so Hypnos runs pretty quick, so I think what I'm gonna do is start up the scan, then start up the virus right away.

[Cy then proceeded to click on the scan option, give it a few seconds... And then double click on a little swirly icon with the name "Hypnos.exe"]

Herrreee we gooo...

[cyguybetatest-v01]

[Vespa's heart did a little jump, seeing her precious antivirus that she made on someone else's system. It was silly… But it made her feel seen proud that her boy was so functional. She was interested to see how quickly the little guy could handle each attack… depending on different factors, his ability to neutralize could range from instant to practically a stalemate - though that didn't happen very often.]

Oh you know it! What's on the menu? >:]

-🐜

Well, I got a couple of classics like the MEMZ Trojan (I really like the payloads on that one) but i also have some home brewed stuff that I haven't shown off yet ;) these will NOT be up for download though. These are just for me to fuck around with, and they WILL destroy a computer when run.

First I think im gonna run my older one, Hypnos.exe

It'll be a good challenge for the little guy. I already know it's super capable, so let's see if he can shut down this virus before it shuts down the virtual machine

[Cy started by double clicking the little defender's icon and clicking "Allow" when it prompted to make changes to her computer. She then proceeded to wait for it to start up.]

[cyguybetatest-v01]

[It took quite some time before Vespa's next response. She didn't spare the time for casual on-the-fly talk as she had before; her biggest priority was making it home. By the time her stump became visible, she felt just about ready to collapse…]

[..Yeah. There was going to be no going out for awhile.]

[She tossed aside her haul and deflated onto her bed, laying there for a bit longer before lifting an arm wearily to check her watch - She was far too exhausted and pained to get situated at her computer right now. And yet, her typing pattern didn't reflect that at all.]

Heyy, I'm back...!

[Despite how shitty she felt, the crustacean's last line was enough to give the ant energy for a small smirk.]

Aw, you didn't have to wait for this old bug. Wish I'd seen this before I locked in! Woulda told you to go right ahead, hon.

[The thought alone of seeing ANTi running around gave her another smidge of strength, her eyes crinkling in a full smile.]

Buuuut it's too late for that! And I certainly don't mind getting to watch my widdle baby have fun <3

-🐜

Haha, glad to hear you made it back alright! And nah, don't worry about it! It's your project after all! Don't want ya missing out on any data ;}

Give me juuuuust a sec. Let me switch the feed over from Beta for a little bit.

[It took a little bit for the crustacean to get everything switched over, but once everything was ready the screen changed from Beta's unending gaze to what looked like a really blank desktop.]

[The thing was rather empty, like a fresh installation of Windows 10. The only things that were on the desktop were a few icons for some misc programs. One of the recognizable ones were the little icon for Vespa's "ANTivirus" program, the others being not so familiar.]

Alright, So I'm gonna boot up the little guy before running some of these. I've got a few of my own nastier concoctions that i've been playing with for fun, they've got some fun payloads that'll kinda fuck up this virtual machine so i'd like to see if the fella can sort it out before things break ;) You ready?

[cyguybetatest-v01]

[Vespa's teeth were grit hard. These sentiments… Why was she feeling this way? How could she let it get to this point? It wasn't like her to stay. It would be so easy to make a new account…]

C'mon, Cy…

[She heaved herself to her feet, her sore wings twitching pathetically before sputtering into blur, the effort making her hiss from pain.]

You know I'm already halfway there.

-🐜

Hahaaa, that's good, that's good. Hey, from the transcript, I heard you were at least able to get the holo... thing? That's good. You uh... at least got something out of it.

And hey, I got the virtual machine running on my side monitor, so I'm gonna be booting some of my really bad malware onto that thing. I can't wait to see your little bug in action, Ves..!

I'll wait till you get home so you can watch ;3