Identification
Scrambler
The Identification Scrambler is a fairly complex espionage
tool. There are two aspects:
- The I.D. Scrambler sends out a false impression to
machines, making machines view the object as something
that it is not. This is accomplished through a multitude
of systems, all attempting to give off a different
impression than what is actually there. Most computers
will, after a certain margin of error, go with the data
offered and offer it definitively as the thing it is not.
This is used for espionage, and can be used to hide or to
make one's presence known.
- The I.D. Scrambler can also generate holograms and sound
modifications designed to make common soldiers/infantry
identify the thing as something it's not! This is an
additional, much more expensive system.
The uses for this device are obvious, but far reaching.
- The system can be used as a roundabout form of cloaking.
By basically requiring the machine to give an I.D.
identical to the outside environment, the character is
fully cloaked to machines (and humans, if #2 is also
selected)! However, the environment must be unbroken, for
the I.D. Scrambler computer does not react quick enough,
and if any movement occurs in a broken environment, the
mech will at first be identified as "air" (all
fine and dandy), but will then be identified as a patch
of "air" where air should not be! Also,
physical incongruities will occur to infantry, and
possibly computers; i.e. why the hell is a palm tree on
the water?
- The system can be used to disguise one's mech until a
necessary point, and even during that time. Hypothetical
example: A Gundam breaks into a base with this system, #1
and #2. The Gundam blows the hell out of the enemies.
Now, all of the Leos and Aries coming to the help of
their compatriots identify the attacking Gundam as an
attacking Leo, and might assume the Leo is attacking the
Gundam! This means that the element of surprise can be
carried further.
- The system can be used to make someone overestimate or
underestimate another thing. If this I.D. system is put
on an ordinary or fairly ordinary sword and made to
appear like a rune sword to mystical sensors (this
involves an upgrade, but is nonetheless possible), that
will undoubtedly enhance the appearance of fighting
effectiveness. Likewise, if someone upgrades their fully
repaired Super SAMAS like this and makes computers think
that the mech is a damaged regular SAMAS with no railgun,
then the enemy is likely to attack and perhaps get
slaughtered.
- A specific corellary to the last one: by taking a very
identifiable thing (a Glitter Boy) and making it an
unidentifiable target, an aura of mystery and
intimidation is created.
However, the machine has the following limitations:
- Either the pilot or the computer must have encountered
the imitatee before, and mere sight or computer I.D.
reduces the effiency of the disguise. Preferably full
schematics of the thing desired to be imitated will be
downloaded. The initial system starts out with 100
different I.D.s, always including Unidentified and
Invisible in a few different generic environments
(plains, tundra, taiga, sunset, night, etc.).
- The I.D. system has an initial limit of 3000 things in
it's database. Increased upgrading could increase this
number tenfold, but unless one is almost encylopedic in
their desire to imitate other things (i.e. all possible
variations and models of everything in 5 or 6 armies),
such a limit will likely never be reached.
- The previous note about physical incongruities applies
not only to the Cloaking feature, but also to the very
usage of the device itself, although the first is a
machine overcoming and the second is an OM (operator
malfunction). Quite simply, if someone imitates a Glitter
Boy in a low-tech dimension, even if someone is to know
what it is, it will appear out of place. Also, if one
disguises oneself as a Leo during a mobile doll age, it's
quite obvious that the Leo isn't a current soldier; there
are no Leos left. Thus, someone should watch what they
"transform" into, to avoid appearing as an
anachronism. Also, pretty much all computers will
identify a I.D. Scrambled Gundam attempting to look like
a sword as some sort of weird incongruity. There are
limits to what one can Scramble to be, including things
like size and weight.
- Depending on the quality of the device, certain (usually
high-quality) computers might just refuse to pull up an
answer, answer "Unidentified', or something similar,
or even reveal the I.D. Scrambler as what it truly is!
While two of the first answers might be somewhat
desirable, having what SHOULD be a CS SAMAS identify as
"Unidentified" will certainly raise suspicion.
- There is a certain range of things that can be tricked.
Most I.D. Scramblers will not fool a weight-test scan;
it's just not in their programming. Thus, a Gundam
walking across a weight-tested bridge and registering as
a 10-ton Leo will likely raise some questions. Also,
voice-identification or a physical picture can give
someone away, but this is usually only a concern if the
person is especially notorious.
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