From:	Sandman <SANDS@******.JUNIATA.EDU>
Subject:	MONICA's Abilities
Date:	Tue, 8 Feb 1994 16:29:26 -0500

>>>>>[ In monitoring this traffic for Scythe, I believe I can give you
an idea of MONICA's abilities as you requested, Solonus. I'll just
upload the portion of our datastore that deals with that topic:

** Upload accepted...
Abilities/Dangers:
The Artificial Intelligence refered to as MONICA or Monica (or by various
epithets) has demonstrated exceedingly fine control of the Matrix and any
systems connected to it. Following are some of the abilities this AI
has shown during the Matrix War, **DATE**:

1) The AI was capable of learning at rates that increased geometrically.
It could also modify it's programming to adapt to different circumstances.

2) The AI created smart frames, appearing as black tentacles, that were
of high quality, presenting a high level of difficulty to the deckers
who attempted to combat its spread throughout the Matrix.

3) The AI was able to control security systems; for example, activating
security guns and robots and controlling them to resist (successfully)
a first attempt at physical assault upon its system.

4) The AI, at first, was a hardware-dependant version. However, after
enough learning and experiences, the AI _rewrote_ itself so as to be
hardware-independant, free-roaming in the Matrix. Thus, it was not
harmed when the original system was finally physically destroyed.

5) The AI captured one of the deckers against it, utilizing a white-noise
cascade. **Include Cascade_Signature** The AI then downloaded the brain
patterns of the decker, incorperated them into a construct refered to as
Cerok, and wiped the decker's brain clean, killing him in the process.

6) The AI killed its creator, Lincoln Howe, by turning on the fire sprinklers
in the room where he was (trying to get the AI to stop once it had
completed its assigned mission--see section Coming On-Line(MONICA)), and
then causing a power surge to pulse from an outlet on the wall into Howe,
killing him.
** Upload Complete

Our files may not be complete; and as MONICA is self-modifying, it could
be totally different from before, with many new tricks it has discovered.
Indeed, it has a new icon, that of an impressive Dragon. Its old icon
was that of a beautiful female seductress, when it created an icon upon
emerging from its system into the Matrix. I advise all deckers to use
extreme caution, and to make use of the various GNU-programs that were
developed around the self-modifying code and designed specifically for
use against MONICA. ]<<<<<
-- Cyr'Daron <16:25:12/02-08-55>
The Circle Of Watchers