In the 21st century the NET is the new worldwide computer network. It regroups everything from antique copper wire networks to high speed gigabit satellite networks. Every corporation in the world, every military organization, every university, every library, and even every home is now wired-in 24 hours a day. This almost infinite information world is inhabited by hordes of agents in the service of humanity. These agents are expert applications that collect and filter information as well as conduct electronic transactions for their masters. It is rumored that certain high-level agents have escaped from military sites in the early phases of the NET and were never recovered. Beware! These agents may still be around and are evolving. They may even become sentient soon and claim the NET as their own.

Since the advent of ultra fast Virtual Reality engines in the late 20th century, the incredible advances in processors and memory, and the invention of the first direct neural connection system at MIT in the late 2050's cybernauts have been able to directly project into the NET and control their agents through this more direct interface. Their representations in that electronic world are called avatars. Jason Skinner said it best when he exclaimed after his first try "Damn, it's like being there!" The advent of those technologies has created serious social, psychological and medical problems. An intense addiction to the NET has been cited more than once has the cause of divorces, bankruptcies, etc. From a medical standpoint, in the beginning it seemed that whenever an avatar was destroyed, the cyberstations would overload the person's brain with a high-energy electrical burst thus killing them. Cyberstations were quickly modified to safeguard against this. However, it is said that the interaction with the NET is less direct because of these modifications. "A lot of cyberhackers have disabled these safeguards and are at risk," said Bruno Gaza from Turing, the NET police. It's like the Wild West, but a whole lot more dangerous!

Here are some excerpts from a posting on the venerable ALT.2600 news group by famous rogue hacker Scion of Lucas describing the NET to a newbie:

Barbari: How do we get around this place?
Scion: Agents navigate in the NET via an infinite maze of data pathways and gateway nodes, connecting different systems, much like a spider web. To enter separate systems, agents use the various transportation nodes which can be accessed via gateways or ISPs.
Barbari: Can I move around safely once I am in a system and do you know of places where I can buy stuff ;-)
Scion: Each system has public areas in which any agent or avatar can stay and explore. There are also virtual markets where you can buy or sell every day items such as food and clothes as well as more exotic elements. I have also heard that black markets exist hidden from normal view where untold technological marvels can be bought :-))

Barbari: So what kindda critters are out there?
Scion: Well there's me! No but seriously...you'll find many types of agents in the NET. Some agents whose primary purpose is to gather data look like spiders. These little retrievers hunt down any datablock on the NET and bring that information back to their owners. These agents are easy to attack. The best part is that when a netcrawler dies, it is possible to recuperate the datablock that it was carrying!!!

Scion (Contd): Unfortunately, there are also undesirable creatures that prey on them, agents, and even us if they are in sufficient numbers and feel they have the advantage. These malevolent creatures look like bugs, tarantulas and black widows spiders. Nasty. All of these are lethal and use viral infections, bugs or even IRC attacks. I remember a hacker named Lith who got cornered by two bugs. Not pretty because they can literally cause a bug in the system for a short period of time. Poor Lith ended up wandering off, started banging against a wall, and even started to circle a fixed point. I hate to lose control, don't you? That's why I'm equipped to fight off this kind of attack. These viruses are also intelligent and some even work in teams against their intended target or targets.

Barbari: OK, thanks for the info ! What about normal systems? I mean...what kind of protection can I expect?
Scion: Ah! A meat and potatoes kind of question...grin...Here is a quote directly from the Turing Police Orange Book:

"To protect systems from intrusions or to eliminate creatures that are unwelcome, highly intelligent doorways have been developed. These are called Warden I.C.E. (the latter stands for Intrusion Countermeasure Electronics). To pass a Warden, the agent must have a valid password. Any use of the Crack software to break the code can be detected over time. If a Warden detects this action or if a user tries more than 3 times to use the wrong passwords, then the Warden will block the door and initiate an alarm. This will cause Exterminator and Black I.C.E. to come and attack the intruder."

Barbari: OK, I'll stay well away from those for now. What about the cores?
Scion: Don't you hate those vampire newbies...just sucking the knowledge away ;-)
Barbari: Maybe someday I can be of service to you...
Scion: True, and since we have to watch our backs here...Ok, as if these agents where not enough to contend with, each system also keeps track of hackers in a hackerlog and will launch preemptive attacks against a known hacker at first sight. In order to stay off the hackerlog, you must use the passwords in your collection to open doors. You can also crack Warden I.C.E. doors before your masquerade software runs out or you can place a backdoor in a system's core and erase the current hackerlog. There are also many secret, hidden, areas in the systems, usually close to the core. These areas are called datastores and contain boundless datablocks with cash accounts, research plans, software code, hardware manufacturing schematics, etc. To get to these areas you must hack your way past all of the system's safeguards.

Barbari: Thanks, Scion of Lucas, I will remember this help when we meet.

Scion: Welcome to AIWars...