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"...being predictive, being right about the future, is not the point of any given story or novel. The point is about exploring as wide a range of possibilities as possible."
- Peter Watts
 |
| Virtual World Theft | ||
| A method of stealing or reassigning ownership to items of value in virtual worlds. |
Sergeant Sue Smith, of Meadowplace Road Station, is called in to investigate a rather unusual robbery. She quizzes Wayne Richardson, the Marketing Director for Hayek Associates.
| "...Linda called me out - she's in derivatives and border controls - because there was something flaky going down in one of the realms we manage for Kensu International. It's in the prestige-level central bank for Avalon Four. There was a guild of Orcs - in a no-PvP area - and a goddamn dragon, and they cleaned out the bank. So we figured we'd call you.
[Sue] stares at Wayne Richardson, Marketing Director, in mild disbelief. |
| Technovelgy from Halting State,
by Charles Stross. Published by Ace in 2007 Additional resources -
|
So, you take a look at the bank security virtual "camera" footage, looking for clues:
In through the smoke marches a formation of monstrous soldiers. They're larger than life and twice as gnarly, prognathous green-skinned jaws featuring tusks capped in gold...
"You're looking at an Orcish war band... The thing behind them is a dragon. They seem to have brought him along for fire support...
Over the space of a minute they denude the floor of the bank, snatching up the treasures that are inexplicably popping into view from the ethereal vaults...
The doors are three times as high as a tall man, carved from giant ebony beams clasped in a frame of some silvery metal... But they're not silvery now - they're glowing dull red, then a bright, rosy pulse of heat lights them up from the outside, and the doors begin to collapse inwards...
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Tech news articles related to Halting State
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Virtual World Theft-related
news articles:
- Virtual Theft From Habbo Hotel
- $200K In Bitcoins Stolen
| Is Agentic AI The Wrong Kind Of Smartness? |
| Jetson Orin Nano Super 70 Just $249 |
| Automatic Bot Traffic Is 38 Percent Of HTTP Requests |
| Neuroplatform Human Brain Organoid Bioprocessor Uses Less Electricity |
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'The observation vehicle was of that peculiar variety used in conveying a large number of people across rough terrain.'
'The real border was defended by... a swarm of quasi-independent aerostats.'
'I ... set my automatic astronomical instruments to searching for a habitable planet.'
'...haven't you a section of the factory where only robot labor is employed?'
'... oblongs were all over the floor and surfaces.'
