Net Space: Programs & ICE
The DIVE as a walkable wireframe world – with programs instead of ammo.
In the DIVE you enter the net space: a mirror of your real surroundings as a neon-blue wireframe world (radius about 120–250 m). Buildings are grids, people are invisible (offline), machines appear as red signatures, digital devices glow colour-coded. Your real body stays still and vulnerable – hits abort the dive.
Movement
Run, sprint, jump – and ride data lines to zip to connected devices in an instant. Air-gapped devices are unreachable islands.
Programs (level 1)
Programs are your virtual inventory (at most 8 on the bar). They need RAM (building PC 16, laptop 12, hacking kit 10, tablet 8, +4 with a neuro interface). Levels 1–3 improve damage, duration and loading time.
| Program | Effect | RAM | Load time |
|---|---|---|---|
| SPIKE | rapid shot, 12 damage | 2 | 0.28 s |
| SCATTER | 5 shards of 7 | 3 | 1.1 s |
| FREEZE | paralyses for 4 s | 3 | 5 s |
| WORM | jumps 3–5×, 30 damage, ×3 vs. firewalls | 5 | 9 s |
| SHIELD | blocks all hits for 5 s | 3 | 18 s |
| CLOAK | invisible for 6 s, shakes off tracers | 4 | 22 s |
| PATCH | +35 integrity | 2 | 1.5 s |
| SPRINT | 18 m/s for 3.5 s | 1 | 10 s |
| ECHO | decoy avatar for 8 s | 3 | 16 s |
| PING | reveals devices and ICE (140 m) | 1 | 12 s |
| TRACE-KILL | resets your trace to 0 once | 4 | – |
Plus device programs (LOOP, OPENER, HONK, IGNITION, BLACKOUT, DECOY, KEYSPOOF, OVERRIDE) that trigger a panel action without a menu.
ICE (defences)
| ICE | Behaviour |
|---|---|
| Sentinel | patrols with a scan cone; if it sees you, your trace rises and it calls hunters |
| Hunter | chases you and fires data packets |
| Firewall | blocks line and path – passable with KEYSPOOF, WORM or a detour |
| Tracer | runs your trace back to your real body |
| Black ICE | rare; neural feedback costs real health |
| Patcher | repairs hacked devices after a short time |
| Worm nest | spawns small worms (swarm) |
| Honeypot | fake data core – a trap with a big trace |
Trace, integrity, dumpshock
Your trace rises with time, detection and actions. At 100% your location is roughly pinpointed and you are thrown out. Integrity is your avatar's life. A forced exit (dumpshock) costs 5–25 real health plus stamina. The higher a facility's security level (house → data centre), the shorter the time limit and the more ICE.
Loot
Data cores contain fragments of the nine minutes, passwords for TEXT, network maps, programs and DATA – the currency used to upgrade programs at the exit node.