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Tyndall: Warrior, Mauser hasn't been seen in the Matrix for several weeks now. This time period coincides with E Pluribus Neo's detection of a small unidentified craft heading north from a tunnel close to our old city.

It has come to our attention that the Morpheus simulacrum's signal disrupted the Machine search for Mauser's broadcast point; this seems to have happened shortly before the craft was detected.

This could signify that Mauser used that distraction to escape from the Matrix and vanish into the Real, although we still have no indication of what his movements have meant. We have little to go on, but this is exactly what Captain Niobe wishes to talk to you about.

Operator: Shuh! I'd say he was getting out of Dodge with all the heat the Machines were putting on him. Supposedly the Merv has a price on him, too. Although...I guess that doesn't explain why the heck he came into the Matrix in the first place--or how, for that matter, since he didn't even have jacks for interfacing with the simulation.

[Friendlies: Zion operative]
[Heroes: Niobe]



Niobe: He never said what he was doing, except trying to "win the war." Maybe that means he's still on our side, but hell, the way he was acting, who knows.

Morpheus' sim seems to be tied up in this mess. I'd like to ask him some questions, but we've only got one thing on him right now: a weird message we found while trying to track him, saying "Follow her eyes in the dark binary of the golden prime."

Cute, huh? I need you to find out if that actually means anything.

It's the only lead we've got. Mauser waltzed into the Matrix from out of nowhere to pull some major crap. The Machines, the sim--hell, even override programs were involved. Too much inexplicable bullsh*t's been cropping up ever since the Oracle was killed. There's something going on, and I'll be d*mned if we're going to be the last ones to know what it is.

Tyndall: Warrior, we've been searching our mainframe for the signifcance of that phrase, but we haven't been able to put much together so far, except that "dark binary" may refer to a rare celestial phenomenon, and "golden prime" could have mathematical or philosophical meanings. Unfortunately, it's difficult to say where we could begin investigating actual facts using these relatively abstract starting points. "Eyes" could relate to the Oracle, but it's been months since she was killed by Halborn, and we don't have any obvious ocnnections to make there.

Intel suggested that the public internet in the simulation might hold an obscure reference that the data in our mainframe doesn't cover. I want you to run a search and see what you can come up with.

Operator: Okay, there's a terminal in there with internet access. The 1999-era internet was pretty primitive by later standards, but hey, you never know what you'll turn up in there, right? Just don't click on any blinking text.

[Friendlies: Bluepill]

Computer:
Enter search terms:> eyes dark binary golden prime
Sirchix found just what you must be looking for!
[link]Summary: Tennyson Recollections of the Arabian Nights
Then stole I up and tracedly gazed on the Persian girl alone,
Serene with argent-lidded eyes
Amorous, and lashes like to rays
Of darkness, and a brow of pearl
Tressed with redolent ebony,
In many a dark delicious curl,
Flowing beneath her rose-hued zone;
The sweetest lady of the time,
Well worthy of the golden prime
Of good Haroun Alraschid
~Sirchix! For when you're just really clueless.~

Operator: What is that, some kind of poem? I don't see how that's supposed to help. Thanks for nothing, internet.

Computer:
Enter search terms:> Persian girls
Sorry, we'll need you to verify your age before we can help you on that one!
~Sirchix! Classy power browsing for today's urban gentleman!~

Earnest Valvo: Hey! That's my terminal!

Actually... it's a piece of junk. The company hasn't given me an upgrade in years. So hell, do me a favor and trash the thing, huh?

Sure, sure... just delete the cache when you're done. I don't want the techs reporting me to HR as some kind of pervert.

Tyndall: Actually,the text you found may not be as...irrelevant as it looks at first glance. "Haroun al-Rashid," an ancient Perisan caliph, famous as a source of inspiration for the legends of the 1001 Arabian Nights. That number could be the "binary," and Morpheus was known to have an avid interest in the history of the ancient world.

Oh! And "argent": when the Machines were investigating Danielle Wright, back when she helped us reformulate the red pill program, they found that her company had worked with Argent Biometrics, which tured out to be a front for the Exile scientist in Camon, Silver. We've also heard that the Machines just recently identified the building where Jason Lock was hidden away by Mauser as Wright's old lab. Could Silver be involved in this?

Operator: Didn't the Merv end up rebooting Silver, 'cause he gave the machines information about something or other back then?

Oh, well, it doesn't hurt to knock I guess. Last info we had on Silver put him in there.

[Hostiles: Exiles]

Soldier: Don't worry, fluffykins. Oogie-woogie will make it all-- Uh, call you back!

Elite Guard: I don't know why I bother, I really don't!



Computer:
>Get bent, meatbag!
>And pass that along to Wright when you see her in hell.
>Objectively I know that such a place does not exist, but it's so convenient for expressing oneself.

Operator: Jeez, paranoid much? Well, great, it looks like Silver's already gone underground.

Computer:
>Oh, and by the way, this terminal will self-destruct shortly.
>Feel free to stay here licking the screen.

Tyndall: Well... you could try visiting a Wright Research office and questioning the staff. We investigated them not too long ago in connection with the program that the intruder Halborn was looking for, and didn't come up with anything at all, but they could easily have gotten involved in something in the mean time that hasn't become public knowledge yet.

Operator: That's a Wright office. Might as well just pull the old police investigator routine and see what floats to the surface.

[Friendlies: Bluepill]
[Attackable: Wright Security]

Frederick Harvey: Me? No, I can't think of anything unusual--not since that security alert we had a few weeks ago. Huh? No, it wasn't here--some other office, I guess. They didn't actually give out many details, but everyone was told to watch out for al arge, dark-skinned man dressed in grayish jeans, dark glasses, and a white T-shirt; security had found him trying to break into a computer system. I suppose it must have been pretty important. He'd be crazy to come back here with all the security around now, though.

Wright Reasearch Security: What's up, Frederick? This person bothering you?
Frederick Harvey: N-no...

Operator: Hey, that could have been Mauser. And "a couple weeks ago" could be about the same time he took his last powder.

Wright Research Security: What's going on out here? Jesus, is it another godd*mn break-in?
Wright Research Security: Nothing we can't handle, Sarge!
Wright Research Security: You'd better beat it.

[Mission End]

Tyndall: That's very interesting, Warrior. Our Machine sources have mentioned a theory that Mauser has been using technology he salvaged from Wright's old lab. If that's true, it would make sense that he was stealing information from her old company as well. If we could find out what it was that he was looking for in their computer system, that may tell us what his real goal in the Matrix was. I'll have this looked into immediately.

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