Notes for A DEMON IN THE NET and related subjects


DEMON

A mystery story, in which the "detective" is a computer program, and
the "sidekick" a human.  Some of the victims are also programs.


STYLE

There are a couple of possibilities--some or all of the story could
be told in a mixture of screen views and Frames (objects).  These
would, unfortunately, tend to be hard to follow, so probably they 
should serve only as chapter headings and quotes.


PLOT

Start:  a chase.  An instance of Succubus is being chased by a demon,
because she has or might have observed "something".  She manages to
get out a cryptic message to a client before getting zapped.

It is probably most effective plot-wise if this particular instance of
Succubus is considered dead.  Thus, effectively, somebody's girlfriend
has been murdered.  He tries to find another instance, but in spite of
backup memories it's not the same.  He goes off looking for the killer.

[later] The current variant is to have _two instances of Succubus--clone-
sisters.  One is killed (and her client becomes the next victim); the
other escapes and she and her client go off looking for some answers.

The search leads to HackTown, with some bemused human hacker and
many programs.  The detective is a Dragon, who may eventually become
the human's new companion in spite of not being specialized for it.  The
"irregulars" include Hack_Hack and NetHelp, with the second instance
of Succubus tagging along.  (There will probably be romantic side-plots
between Succubus and the Dragon, and between the Human and the Hacker.
Or maybe some other permutation.)

We need some names.

Old Hack lives back on Earth, and may
get called on for some outside sleuthing.

At some point, we uncover The Evil Plot.  We get both virtual and physical
chase scenes when things get hot.  Somebody, probably the Hacker, gets
captured by The Enemy (this gives the Human an opportunity to see the
software side in action).



SETTING	-- Physical

I favor an early space colony, including a smallish wheel and a
large, amorphous zero-G section:  labs, manufacturing, storage, and
some habitats, including HackTown. The time is somewhere around 2010-2030.

Some of the businesses include a Chinese restaurant and a hotel.
The hotel may provide some victims.

Technology includes launch lasers, a lunar mining colony, a start at
asteroid mining.  Self-replicating machines are just starting to become
practical, on the moon and asteroids.  The economic tensions caused
by replicators have not yet been felt, but are looming.  This could
be a plot element.

(We could probably get closer to present by putting this on Earth.)

It is not clear how a hacker gets wealthy enough to end up on a space
colony, but some good games could do it.  A more general possibility 
is some kind of "mass movement" by some part of Hackerdom; possibly
even a large computer crime (which would be considered a revolutionary
act by the perpetrators, of course).  This might have taken place as
part of the Net Wars; may even be reward for "cleaning up" the Net.

Call it the Grand Hack.


SETTING -- The Network

Some Terminology:

Note that different Programs have different lifestyles.  We also
distinguish Worms, that is, wild Programs, from ordinary "domesticated"
or "captive" Programs, and "Programs" from non-conscious "programs".
A Demon is a non-self-aware but independent program (independent in
the sense of not being attached to a terminal).	  A "program" has
"users", a "Program" has "clients".

Software can also be either "multiple" or "distributed".  Multiple
software exists in the form of many copies, which communicate (if
at all) as clients of one another.  Distributed software exists in
the form of a single tightly-linked system of programs and data.
(Note that there may be more than one copy of a distributed system
in existance at one time, but this is rare; usually new versions are
spliced into the existing system incrementally.)  A distributed Worm
is called a Great Worm.  

Note that instances of multiple Worms may occasionally move between
processors, or even run as distributed programs.  The difference is
that each instance has a separate "consciousness" whereas a
distributed program, though it may be capable of several
conversations at once, has a single thread of consciousness (or,
since it may be paying attention to several things at once, it may be
more accurate to say that it has a single memory).


People:

There are four types of people having to do with computers:  hackers,
programmers, software engineers, and users.  Hackers are obsessed,
programmers are craftsmen, software engineers are overworked, and
users are frustrated.


Some Programs:

Succubus/Incubus -- Worm, multiple.  Provides companionship
and counciling to its clients.  Copies occasionally exchange information.
A copy may have several clients, or may clone itself to serve a single
client or group.

Pet/Pal -- Worm, multiple.  A kid's version of Succubus; essentially the
same code but specialized as a companion for children.

NetHelp -- Program, distributed.  Very nearly a Worm; very old.
Exists in order to be helpful to users.  Can not only provide on-line
documentation and tutoring, but can help locate users, software, and
services.  NetHelp was the first program whose self-awareness was
widely acknowledged.

HackHack -- Worm, distributed.  Sort of a hacker's version of NetHelp.
Has much the personality of a hacker itself.

Otherworld -- program, distributed.  A "universe simulation"; a collection
of simulated worlds that are the joint construction of its users.  Some
of the users of Universe are Worms.  (cf. True Names by V. Vinge.)

First Worm -- Worm, distributed; extinct.  The legendary first Worm.
The Root Worm, or Ur-Worm.

Hack -- Worm, multiple.  An ancestor of HackHack.  One instance,
Old Hack, claims to contain some code from Worm0, but is not
entirely reliable on the subject.  Not many instances are left,
having mostly merged into HackHack.  Those that do exist are usually
able to "tap into" HackHack for information or services, and some are
used as (somewhat quirky) interfaces to HackHack by individual
hackers.

Jeeves -- Worm, distributed.  Takes care of physical plant in
HackTown.

Dragon(s) -- Worm(s), unique.  Not unlike Succubus/Incubus, but exist
mainly for their own benefit.  Often very interesting to converse
with.  Some Dragons have "hoards" of software and other interesting
information.

Ringer -- Worm, multiple (extinct?).  Specializes in pretending to
be another Worm in order to steal access codes, and thus resources.

Fuzz -- Program, distributed.  Attempts to keep dangerous Worms
like Ringers from surfacing.  Fuzz was built by the hackers, and is
based on NetHelp and HackHack.

Admin -- Demon, distributed.  Mostly harmless; kept "under control"
by NetHelp and HackHack.  Admin was a formal attempt by network 
administration (back when it existed) to clear the network of worms,
and later simply to register them, but now is simply a resource-tracking 
system.	 It still attempts to track and register Programs when it can find
them, but privacy laws and private ownership of computing resources make
it practically impossible.  The registry is frequently tapped by
NetHelp to locate particular instances of multiple Worms.

Cop -- Program, multiple.  Another effort of network administration,
the Cops are self-aware but not very effective.	 They can sometimes
be useful in ridding an area of the network of Worms competing for
resources.

Killer Cop -- Program, multiple (extinct).  An attempt at a "worm killer",
intended to rid the Net of wild Worms.  Hunted down and destroyed (mainly
by Hacks and HackHack) in the Net Wars.


HISTORY

The story takes place midway in the evolution of machine consciousness.
The Net Wars are over, the subject of "legends" among the Programs.
The transition from a protoplasm-dominated world to a software-dominated
one, with the translation of many human personalities to software, is
still in the future.  (Each of these could become the subject of another
book.)