Chapter 5 (Cont.)
"Excuse me, may I have a bottle of Ringinrunt?", I asked the bartender. I was calculating my next decision as the bartender offered me a pleasant smile and nod and went to search for the luxury vodka in the premium cabinet. The woman was completely oblivious of this interaction. I was only one stool away from her. I stood in front the stool, there was another empty stool beside it and the immediate next was the one she was occupying. She was completely immersed in her activity, there was not much: she was taking sips from her small yet exquisite bottle. I'm not familiar with the brand, my best bet is that's a champagne. That's so indicative of a surveillance agent. Only in terms of expense and sophistication though. From what I know from my observations at Datamangle, surveillance agents typically favour something stronger within same opulence however. I cannot really fault them though. I myself am guilty of having a taste for sophisticated alcohol. But as rare as the sight is, in the case of Datamangle surveillance agents drinking outside of their private spaces, they would have preferred something far more modernistic. That's not a rigid rule but a speculative stereotype backed up empirical evidence. They would pick The Gartié. Somnohuils. Les Richardien. Not really Les huits. Yet this woman, a surveillance agent, is here. And she's drinking wine. Although she appears to be enjoying the wine in solitude, I as an insider may have a solid guess that she's doing something related to the central matrix, even though she appears to be off-duty from the attire. Disguised operation? Eh, then she wouldn't keep the insignia visible. But as a Datamangle insider, I still have a solid guess that she's manuevering the Ontopologix computer. Back in old world, computers used were widely physical units. The operators would connect and use them while being completely detached from systemwise; the computer was a disparate entity with its artificial logic systems which the user utilised in a standalone way. The old world had already developed the internal computer cybernetics near the time of the third great war and while the technology was not exactly in the prototype phase, it was expensive enough to be outside of the experiencibility of the common market. And the economic meltdown across the world during the final years of the third great war had an adverse effect on both its availability and affordability. In the new world, personal computers are widely integrated as cybernetic modules. Most of the use citizens use the personal computers inside themselves, anywhere anytime. And the interface is entirely invisible on the outside and instead internally visualised to the user natively. However, in many specialised cases, the use of external computer systems are common, although the dependency for physical spaces have been negated by projected holographic controls which are visualised externally, typically on a compatible surface. However, throughout the New World Federation, agents tasked with central matrix maintenance were using a custom and entirely non-consumer variant of computer which was a melding of internal computer module and external holographic controls. The variant of this specific type of computer developed by Datamangle Inc is given the name the Ontopologix. And it is completely off-limits to anyone not trusted with the central matrix. And important thing is, every corporation that are tasked with central matrix maintenance have developed their own variants of the matrix-tethered computers and keep their own variants exclusive to themselves. It is because the central authority has collaborated with the corporations to look after specific, discrete aspects of the central matrix that are unique to each corporation. The Ontopologix, developed by Datamangle Surveillance Inc. to carry out their part in the central matrix maintenance have specific functions unaccessible by other corporations tasked with the matrix. So the only people in Tatterstown with access to the cutting-edge technology of the Ontopologix are the operatives of Datamangle Surveillance branch. All the special matrix-attached computers are different but they have some similarities as well. One thing that is common is that even though the holographic controls are externally projected in the physical world, the wavelength and frequency band it uses are completely invisible and undetectable by anyone other than another bearer of the Ontopologix, or the corporation-specific equivalent. I cannot see the holographic controls of the Ontopologix as it was intended, but by the courtesy of being an insider I know the general notion of the technology even though I have no access to it whatsoever.
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Nachtstücke Mk. 2 V / Wahre politische Macht kommt vom Ende eines Dreizacks