By Eric VanDycke (nimbus@telenet.net)

Prelude

The location: A scummy little apartment on the "Poor" side of the city.

The time: Mid Morning

The who: Mr. Jimmy Bob Smith who is just sitting down to watch his favorite show; The Price is Right^TM.

* * * * *

"Caroline Diaz, come on down! You're the next contestant on the Price is Right^TM!"

Jimmy sits there in his ragged underwear eating coca-puffs^TM> straight from the box, half of the crunchy delicious cereal strewn across his official Spam^TM tee-shirt. Staring mindlessly into the T.V. (which stands for Total Viewer-control, BTW) in a state of bliss that can be tapped into with the flip of a switch. Not blinking and certainly not thinking Jimmy starts to drool.

"Tell her what she has won Rod!" says Bob with a wide grin.

"She has won . . . an all expense's paid trip to Bermuda! That's right, 2 round trip tickets to the lovely island of Bermuda, You and your guest will stay in the lovely --"

The infuriating sound of static

"Shit! The cable must be out -- again. What the hell is going on here. Why can't the Television just work right once in a while?" sputters Jimmy, "Why --"

Suddenly as though a wish had come true for him, the resolution snaps back to the clarity that it once was. A shabby looking man in his 40's stares out from the set. Jimmy begins to feel a pain in his temples -- headache -- and a bad one at that. 'What is happening' thought Jimmy as he began to make out the words that the man was speaking as they came through the static.

"Do not turn this off. We are broadcasting over the station's signal to inform you of matters that are affecting you at this very moment. You are being duped, the victims in a larger plot to control reality as we know it. The Powers That Be are using these devices, your Television, your V.C.R, and your radio to keep your minds lulled almost asleep. Free thought and creativity are at an all time low within our species. People are turning to barbarism; children raised in front of these things rampage through the streets raping a killing to the point that would put Atilla the Hun to shame. Turn off your sets, get out of your houses; always remember that the government is in on this. They are watching, listening, and controlling everything that happens in this nation --"

Suddenly the T.V. crashed into static once more, which was then replaced by the stations identification symbol above a series of familiar words 'PLEASE STAND BY. WE ARE EXPERIENCING TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES. REGULARLY SCHEDULED PROGRAMIMNG WILL COMMENCE AS SOON AS THE PROBLEM IS ALLEVIATED.'

Somewhere out there, lurking in the darker corners of the city are the Remote Controls, Information Hackers, and masters of Underground Communications Technology.

Description

Television is good clean entertainment, right? Wrong! welcome to the World of Darkness baby! In every home in every First World nation there is a television, a V.C.R. or a radio. They have become a very prominent part of the American landscape. We live by the television, baby sit with the television, use it as an escape from the rigors of the modern world, etc. It is our friend that is always there for us. At least this is the way that the Technocracy has made it. The New World Order uses it to disseminate the reality that they want us to perceive, and the $yndicate uses it to drive the masses and make them more susceptible to their own manipulations of our greed, pride, and envy. With each show that a person watches he is being manipulated. Endless strings of talk-shows with a nearly bottomless pool of clean-cut All-American hosts that show the 'dregs' of society and what evil and repulsive people that they are. Cop Drama's that make the average American trust the officers of order and peace even more. Cartoons that make children more violent or on the other hand kiddie shows that force huge stupid looking pink and purple dinosaurs idols into the minds of their audience, brainwashing them with subliminal messages. Commercials that drive our base emotions of anger and greed. Sit-coms that show perfect families that are far from the reality that is at hand. You soon get the picture so to speak. The masses are being lulled into a state that the Technocracy can manipulate and control easily. And for the most part the traditions have over-looked this wide-spread manipulation. So who is fighting for the side of the free and clear mind? It is not the Virtual Adepts as you might guess, but a group of crafty and creative Sleepers that have learned first hand of what is going on. They are 'The Remote Controls,' Channel Hackers Extraordinaire.

No one knows who these people are. They seem to be an underground group of Hackers and rogue acolytes of the Technocracy that know their former employers methods and technology. They move from place to place, interrupting television broadcasts, and spreading their information to the masses, trying to free them from the mental strangle hold that the Technocracy has them in. They have no records (as if anyone knew their names) and they have never been seen (except for their spokesman Dr. Venger, who is like the rest of the group, an enigma).

They are believed to have 5-8 main members that do all of the intel work and the tech work. They also have several hundred others that are sympathetic to their cause. History is up to you to do with as you see fit. The individual members are also up to you to do what as you need or want to use. In my chronicle they are anonymous and very secretive, an enigma in the widest sense. They come and go with little trace like some sort of techno-communications ninja.

Their methods include:

• When a news show is on, they will interrupt the video feeds to the show, and substitute their own tapes of what really happened. (Used when they know that the Techno's are spreading false info)

• They will infiltrate television studios and replace all of their back-up tapes with their own copies of broadcasts (which melt after one playing so that they cannot be examined)

• They raid uplink stations of cable companies and place equipment that makes the signal tampering all the harder.

• They begin grass-roots anti-television movements around the nation.

• They hack signals to broadcast their own short broadcasts telling the masses the truth.

• They help those that are also on the run from the Technocracy, always looking for others that are into the cause.

• They assassinate known technomancers when and if they get the chance. They have killed 4 to this date; this is a harsh method, but realize that they are fighting a war, a war that if they don't win, will result in the brain-washing of the entire nation.

• They seem to have spies in all major television networks that get them info and video clips and such.

• They hack into The networks' computer systems and do damage as well as planting their own information. This can be anything from re-arranging television shows, to cutting off the last 10 minutes of a much-awaited television show. They can hack into the computers that are connected to the tele-type machines during a live broadcast and get their info out that way, etc.

Story Ideas

The Remote Controls can be in with anyone that you wish them to be with. They could be pawns of the Virtual Adepts, or they could be Sleepers that have indeed begun to fight back. The call is up to you; make them in with the Marauders for all I care. Here are some ways that you can use the R.C.'s

Background Color: Whenever the players pass by a television, have the R.C.'s bust in and begin to spout their talk. Or from time to time have the players witness a raid on some warehouse or other building that they overhear was for the sole purpose of finding the 'damn T.V. Hackers'. Make sure to have a few MIB's there just to get the point across.

Adventure Hook: The RC's interrupt a news broadcast's video feed with a video clip of one of the Player's loved ones or Acolytes being captured by the NWO. Or they can get in contact with the players and offer to work with them on a case by case basis.

NPC's (Friendly): They can work with the players, be acolytes, etc, or they can be contacts, or a "Weapon" that the players have access to.

NPC's (Enemy): Perhaps they are against all mages, not just the Technocracy. Have a player that is a little too violent with their magick? Have his face show up on the local news as wanted by the police for questioning, or have him show up on COP's or even America's Most Wanted. I mean: "Whatcha' gonna do when they come for you? huh mage boy?"

Random Element: Use them to throw the players off guard, just as another weird element of street culture or weirdness in the life of a will-worker.

Movies, Books and Idea Sources

They Live (Great film, major influence, just substitute the technocracy for the aliens, and you have one messed up chronicle!)

Snow Crash (Great Book)

Postman's Technopoly (Read it!)

Johnny Mnemonic (The T.V. hacker parts)