[ParanoiaLexicon] [TitleIndex] [WordIndex] 

Excitement! Danger! Termination!

These are the words that come to mind when one thinks of the Legion of Ultraviolence. Headed by the famous Peter-G-UNN-5, the LoU was, perhaps, the most famous of the Emergency_Disaster_Response_Teams. Through many a daring exploit, the carved a swath through Commies, mutants, and crises, culminating in their takedown of the dreaded Batclone following the ToothpasteRebellion.

The LoU was notable for their singularly aggressive approach to their work. "If shooting a traitor is good, shooting him fifty times, stomping on him, blowing him up, and then burning what's left is better!" went their motto. Never a bunch to use a grenade when a TacNuke could really make sure of things, the LoU still holds the Complex-wide All-Time Fatality Record (Opposition)1, with more than 1,368 official deaths attributable to their actions in the line of duty. The Legion consisted of the following citzens:

However, there is bad news. As noted by Knock-U-OUT-6, his predecessor was attempting to find the COMIC (cf. ItemsInQuestion, footnote 3) pertinent to the LoU's involvement in apprehending the Batclone following the ToothpasteRebellion. I've done some checking, and this document is gone. Totally. No record of it even exists. Troubled, I checked into the current status of the LoU. It doesn't exist anymore, either. The group itself is not disbanded, per se: the clones themselves are gone. Their templates have been erased, all record of their existence has been systematically deleted. I was only able to compile this report because I had obtained copies of their service records several days before this. I was able to ascertain that these alterations occurred within the last two daycycles, but now even that evidence has vanished.

I am convinced that, despite Knock-U-OUT-6's curious behavior, his suspicions are more accurate than otherwise. I now fear that I am a target, due to my research into this subject. I am backing up my brain imprint prior to posting this, and making arrangements for the event of my untoward demise, just in case. Knock-U is right. Someone on this board is up to no good. Well, just you wait...I've got a lot of favors to call in, and whoever you are, your anonymity isn't safe forever.

Refs: Batclone, Emergency_Disaster_Response_Teams, ItemsInQuestion, ToothpasteRebellion

  1. As opposed to the Complex-wide All-Time Fatality Record (Team), held by Troubleshooter Squad ZZZ-59/a. (1)

-- Servs-U-RIT-7

Damn! More evidence vanishing... Is it possible that the Legion of Ultraviolence has been made to vanish-- not because they were eliminated, but because someone has taken them out of the system to use for a more nefarious purpose... such as the elimination of those who have gotten too close to the truth? Did they drop the hammer on "Five", on Flo-U, maybe on other members of this board who have not been heard from recently? If the Legion has been subverted... I don't even want to think about it.

As a side note, I appreciate the vote of confidence, Servs-U. I hope that you're one of the Good Guys, and that someday we'll be able to kick back and enjoy a refreshing B4 together (when the, you know, formula is all figured out and stabilized eventually) and look back on all of this with a laugh and a smile, or at least something less than nervous tension turning into paranoid terror.

-- Knok-U-OUT-6

They can't have systematically deleted all records. I could believe it if you were just talking about some other Service Group with inferior methodologies, like Armed Forces or Power Services. But it doesn't work that way in PLC. We keep dozens of backups on file in the PLC Operational Depot Universal Network Keystone and on all of the Backup of Operational Network Items Expert Systems. It's highly improbable that the conspirators could have thoroughly purged all traces of the relevant files from PODUNK and the BoONIES.

-- Jan-U-ARY-31

What a pity. Seems Servs-U-RIT-7 must have contracted some sort of virus. And I quote "Through many a daring exploit, the carved a swath" which only makes me ask... "Y" or "why" he might go about destroying evidence in the first place. Not to mention, "A stalwart in the face of danger"... a stalwart what in the face of danger? Either Servs-U-RIT-7 is saying his personal home isn't secure, or his lines to The Computer have been compromised, I still think the lack of proper filing procedures and security are a clear violation of protocols. Nobody but this board is researching anything else about this disaster, and this clone's strutting about with printed copies of our reports! Something needs to be done about this blatant leak of information. And don't try to re-edit this report and claim everything's fine, either. I have secure backups.

-- Screwz-U-BAD-3

That's it; I've had enough.

Some High Programmers seem to be confused over whether it is possible to "delete all traces" of something, insofar as evidence of its existence in Alpha Complex. This is actually a rather complicated issue, as different people mean different things by the statement. They might mean that:

  1. A simple information request at ULTRAVIOLET clearance finds nothing on the topic.
  2. An actual data-search and simple hardcopy check backed by UV clearance finds nothing on the topic. Obvious misspellings and misfilings are accounted for.
  3. An in-depth data, hardcopy, and archived hardcopy search backed by UV clearance finds nothing on the topic. All likely permutations of misspelling and misfiling are accounted for, as are common bureaucratic screwups and treasonous activities.
  4. An excruciating data, isolated system, image/video, hardcopy, archived hardcopy, double-archived hardcopy, and landfill search backed by UV clearance finds nothing on the topic. All reasonable permutations of misspelling and misfiling are accounted for, and heuristic matching is done on seemingly unrelated documents to see if they were grievously misspelled or misfiled. Any reasonably likely bureaucratic screwup and treasonous activity is considered as a possibility.

  5. - 8. As per 1 - 4, but finding nothing even related to the topic.

    (The astute will note that no mention is made of interrogation of individual citizens. This is generally considered a parallel track for information retrieval, as it is more in IntSec's domain than CPU's, even though it feeds into the same analysis track. IntSec is touchy about their perogatives.)

These are very broad categories, but suffice to illustrate the vast differences possible: even the simplest Class Four research efforts will take immensely longer to complete than any Class One or Two, and almost certainly longer than we have to finish this report. In order to absolutely conclude that "all traces of this thing have been deleted", one would have to finish a Class Eight research effort on the topic. Most Class Eight research efforts never end - they're just too immense. So really, it's a matter of "after a certain amount of effort, no evidence of this thing's existence can be found."

Now, frequently, things which have been "excised from all records" (by incompetence, treason, and/or High Programmers wielding their security clearance like an axe) are more easily traced indirectly, by using Class Five+ searches. (Usually Class Six, occasionally Seven.) Anyone can do this - though admittedly, those of us who make a career of it tend to get faster, better results. But some of us seem to be neglecting this avenue of research, and as a result, the overall quality of our data suffers.

For instance: While all direct record of Peter-G-UNN-5 has, indeed, been deleted, one can determine what sorts of items he tended to requisition at the local PLC by combining individual requisition data for all individuals in his housing block and comparing to a reconstruction of the unmodified aggregate records derived from the trend analysis logs. Fortunately, it's a fairly distinctive set, and there are several sets of PLC documents recording the date, time, and location of distributions that were likely made to him. One of the PLC facilities at which this occurred is a rather modern one in regards to data logging - though following the DNA sweep logs is futile due to record purges, the relatively recent Thermal Imaging Profiler System is not hooked into the main datastores yet. (While the technology has been out of R&D for long enough to be reliable, the data migration operation is bogged down.) A bit of work with the TIPS staff gets the Thermal Image Profile of someone who is likely to be Peter-G. Similar work yields a TIP for two of the other members of the Legion, which in turn allows the placing of the Legion itself at several more TIPS locations over the last monthcycle...including one where records indicate the requisition of equipment with a fairly distinctive radiation signature, which then can be further traced, and so forth. During all of this, cross-correlations crop up that verify the inductive assumptions, and you end up with some fairly solid data.

How difficult is that?

-- Err-U-DYT-9

Well, Mister Smartyreflec! I guess you're just about to tell us where the Legion of Ultraviolence went, then!

-- Knok-U

I had planned on concentrating my efforts on efforts that seemed more central to the center of the issue at hand.

...

That is...oh, never mind. Fine. Since you asked so nicely, and since I opened my big mouth, I'll do a chunk of Servs-U-RIT's work for him.

Serves me right, I suppose.

-- Err-U

I can only pop up briefly, because I've had to fend off no less than 3 assaults on my person in the last daycycle, but I will answer to Screwz-U briefly: clearly, there was a typographical error in the missing "y", but apparently my colleague failed to consult a dictionary regarding "stalwart", because he would then have discovered that it is also a noun, indicating one who is strong or steadfast in support of something. So cease your accusations of improper filing. As for the security of my personal home and communication lines, well, perhaps you know something about that after all, Screwz-U. Somebody is behind these attacks. As for you, Err-U: you make it very clear that a full-spectrum investigation would take longer than this commission even has. If it is your opinion that I should spend all that time ignoring the myriad other threads of this conspiracy, I must question what it is you're trying to conceal. I'm on to something, and it may cost me like it cost Knock-U before me. If I don't show up again within a day, expect to see Servs-U 8 here shortly thereafter. You bastards.

-- Servs-U

LexiconKL

2013-06-13 13:58