#identity fraud and impersonation

[donaldtrumpsexcrimesagainst]

GAMES PROVIDED FALSE DATA VIA COMMUNICATION OR DATA INJECTION ATTACKS THAT SUGGESTS SOMEONE WAS ALREADY ON THEM OR JUST JOINED OR JUST LEFT

[dailyroguefort]

Today's Roguefort is: Puzzle world render

Puzzle world is adorable btw

[handleerz]

[tourismplanetearthanalrape]

THEFT OF BODIES

IMPERSONATION OF IDENTITIES

IDENTITY FRAUD

[townpostin]

Cricketer Saurabh Tiwary's Identity Used in Online Cricket Scam

Fake Facebook account solicits registration fees for bogus league opportunities A fraudulent Facebook account impersonating former cricketer Saurabh Tiwary has been used to deceive aspiring cricketers in Jamshedpur. JAMSHEDPUR – Former cricketer Saurabh Tiwary, a resident of Vijay Garden Baridih, has fallen victim to identity theft in an online cricket scam targeting young athletes. The scammers…

[unsurebazookacore]

bish take an off from school, this is god

well I don’t believe in god so HAH

[closedrop]

I saw someone use this template earlier so I thought I’d give it a go

Here’s 3 of my little guys I think they meet enough of the criteria idk

They’re little gremlins tho

[scarystickers]

AU where the tma really is just an office comedy/ soap opera and Annabelle Cane is your host/narrator.

S1: Worm infestation so they have to work remote for a bit, Sasha gets her identity stolen but sorts it out with her bank. Martin temporarily lives in the archives because his apartment is filled with asbestos.

S2: Sasha’s identity is revealed to have been stolen by her secret twin sister after she attempts to impersonate her. Sasha then resolves this but quits to go and pursue other passions (contract with show ended). Jon seeks therapy. That S2 finale that every sitcom has where the protagonist finally starts realizing his feelings for love interest.

S3: Tensions rise due to an unresolved argument between Tim and Jon about which circus they should go see. Elias gets arrested for committing tax fraud (contract ended). Season ends on Jon and Tim getting in a car crash on their way to the circus (emotional climax, Tim dies because his contract ended).

S4: Martin gets transferred (significant impact on the romance subplot). Wacky adventures include: Jon and Daisy investigating a cemetery because she needs help with a case, The branch that Martin got transferred to falls apart and he ends up back at the archives where the two lovebirds finally get together. The season that everyone only acknowledges the finale of because the love interests are mostly separated and the problematic but loveable boss got replaced.

S5: Jon and Martin move to Scotland into their little cottage with the highland cows in the season finale and nothing bad ever happens and only good things and nobody dies ever, the end.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

The surveillance advertising to financial fraud pipeline

Monday (October 2), I'll be in Boise to host an event with VE Schwab. On October 7–8, I'm in Milan to keynote Wired Nextfest.

Being watched sucks. Of all the parenting mistakes I've made, none haunt me more than the times my daughter caught me watching her while she was learning to do something, discovered she was being observed in a vulnerable moment, and abandoned her attempt:

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/blog/2014/may/09/cybersecurity-begins-with-integrity-not-surveillance

It's hard to be your authentic self while you're under surveillance. For that reason alone, the rise and rise of the surveillance industry – an unholy public-private partnership between cops, spooks, and ad-tech scum – is a plague on humanity and a scourge on the Earth:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/08/16/the-second-best-time-is-now/#the-point-of-a-system-is-what-it-does

But beyond the psychic damage surveillance metes out, there are immediate, concrete ways in which surveillance brings us to harm. Ad-tech follows us into abortion clinics and then sells the info to the cops back home in the forced birth states run by Handmaid's Tale LARPers:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/06/29/no-i-in-uter-us/#egged-on

And even if you have the good fortune to live in a state whose motto isn't "There's no 'I" in uter-US," ad-tech also lets anti-abortion propagandists trick you into visiting fake "clinics" who defraud you into giving birth by running out the clock on terminating your pregnancy:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/06/15/paid-medical-disinformation/#crisis-pregnancy-centers

The commercial surveillance industry fuels SWATting, where sociopaths who don't like your internet opinions or are steamed because you beat them at Call of Duty trick the cops into thinking that there's an "active shooter" at your house, provoking the kind of American policing autoimmune reaction that can get you killed:

https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/14/us/swatting-sentence-casey-viner/index.html

There's just a lot of ways that compiling deep, nonconsensual, population-scale surveillance dossiers can bring safety and financial harm to the unwilling subjects of our experiment in digital spying. The wave of "business email compromises" (the infosec term for impersonating your boss to you and tricking you into cleaning out the company bank accounts)? They start with spear phishing, a phishing attack that uses personal information – bought from commercial sources or ganked from leaks – to craft a virtual Big Store con:

https://www.fbi.gov/how-we-can-help-you/safety-resources/scams-and-safety/common-scams-and-crimes/business-email-compromise

It's not just spear-phishers. There are plenty of financial predators who run petty grifts – stock swindles, identity theft, and other petty cons. These scams depend on commercial surveillance, both to target victims (e.g. buying Facebook ads targeting people struggling with medical debt and worried about losing their homes) and to run the con itself (by getting the information needed to pull of a successful identity theft).

In "Consumer Surveillance and Financial Fraud," a new National Bureau of Academic Research paper, a trio of business-school profs – Bo Bian (UBC), Michaela Pagel (WUSTL) and Huan Tang (Wharton) quantify the commercial surveillance industry's relationship to finance crimes:

https://www.nber.org/papers/w31692

The authors take advantage of a time-series of ZIP-code-accurate fraud complaint data from the Consumer Finance Protection Board, supplemented by complaints from the FTC, along with Apple's rollout of App Tracking Transparency, a change to app-based tracking on Apple mobile devices that turned of third-party commercial surveillance unless users explicitly opted into being spied on. More than 96% of Apple users blocked spying:

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/05/96-of-us-users-opt-out-of-app-tracking-in-ios-14-5-analytics-find/

In other words, they were able to see, neighborhood by neighborhood, what happened to financial fraud when users were able to block commercial surveillance.

What happened is, fraud plunged. Deprived of the raw material for committing fraud, criminals were substantially hampered in their ability to steal from internet users.

While this is something that security professionals have understood for years, this study puts some empirical spine into the large corpus of qualitative accounts of the surveillance-to-fraud pipeline.

As the authors note in their conclusion, this analysis is timely. Google has just rolled out a new surveillance system, the deceptively named "Privacy Sandbox," that every Chrome user is being opted in to unless they find and untick three separate preference tickboxes. You should find and untick these boxes:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/09/how-turn-googles-privacy-sandbox-ad-tracking-and-why-you-should

Google has spun, lied and bullied Privacy Sandbox into existence; whenever this program draws enough fire, they rename it (it used to be called FLoC). But as the Apple example showed, no one wants to be spied on – that's why Google makes you find and untick three boxes to opt out of this new form of surveillance.

There is no consensual basis for mass commercial surveillance. The story that "people don't mind ads so long as they're relevant" is a lie. But even if it was true, it wouldn't be enough, because beyond the harms to being our authentic selves that come from the knowledge that we're being observed, surveillance data is a crucial ingredient for all kinds of crime, harassment, and deception.

We can't rely on companies to spy on us responsibly. Apple may have blocked third-party app spying, but they effect nonconsensual, continuous surveillance of every Apple mobile device user, and lie about it:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/11/14/luxury-surveillance/#liar-liar

That's why we should ban commercial surveillance. We should outlaw surveillance advertising. Period:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/03/ban-online-behavioral-advertising

Contrary to the claims of surveillance profiteers, this wouldn't reduce the income to ad-supported news and other media – it would increase their revenues, by letting them place ads without relying on the surveillance troves assembled by the Google/Meta ad-tech duopoly, who take the majority of ad-revenue:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/05/save-news-we-must-ban-surveillance-advertising

We're 30 years into the commercial surveillance pandemic and Congress still hasn't passed a federal privacy law with a private right of action. But other agencies aren't waiting for Congress. The FTC and DoJ Antitrust Divsision have proposed new merger guidelines that allow regulators to consider privacy harms when companies merge:

https://www.regulations.gov/comment/FTC-2023-0043-1569

Think here of how Google devoured Fitbit and claimed massive troves of extremely personal data, much of which was collected because employers required workers to wear biometric trackers to get the best deal on health care:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/04/google-fitbit-merger-would-cement-googles-data-empire

Companies can't be trusted to collect, retain or use our personal data wisely. The right "balance" here is to simply ban that collection, without an explicit opt-in. The way this should work is that companies can't collect private data unless users hunt down and untick three "don't spy on me" boxes. After all, that's the standard that Google has set.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/29/ban-surveillance-ads/#sucker-funnel

Image: Cryteria (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HAL9000.svg

CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en

[bibibbon]

me: they’re my baby girls!!

the ‘baby girls’ list of crimes:

General Crimes

Terrorism, Stalking, Kidnapping, Mass murder, Vandalism, Mutilation, Torture, Unethical experimentation, Jailbreaking, Theft, Propaganda, Arson, Blackmail, Conspiracy, Torture, Psychological abuse, Incrimination, Sabotage, Assault & Battery, Mass destruction, Grave robbing, Enslavement, Impersonation, Abuse of power, Corruption

Member Specific Crimes

Shigaraki: Mass property damage, Terrorism, Assault & Battery, Kidnapping, Torture, Theft, Mutilation, Conspiracy, Vandalism, Sabotage, Familicide, Manslaughter, Animal cruelty, False imprisonment, Psychological abuse

Dabi: Attempted familicide, Torture, Arson, Psychological abuse, Destruction of property, Kidnapping, Terrorism, Vandalism, Incrimination, Public endangerment, Conspiracy, Blackmail, Stalking

Himiko: Serial Murder, Animal cruelty, Kidnapping, Identity theft, Burglary, Stalking, Assault, Mutilation, Fraud, Terrorism, Possibly cannibalism

Mr. Compress: Conspiracy, Kidnapping, Mutilation, Terrorism, Theft, Murder, Stalking, Vandalism, Burglary

Spinner: Kidnapping, Assault, Terrorism

Twice: Terrorism, Murder, Theft, Kidnapping

they were just feeling silly ok it’s no biggie

You know what Iam much more impressed that you managed to list out all of their crimes in general and specifically.

Yikes thats a long list but I do see some of the league members being able to receive a redemption or at least face a better ending than the one canon gave them.

At the end even though they did all of this I still like their characters however I do hate when people don't acknowledge these actions and babyify them only focusing on them as victims and not giving them the complexity they deserve to have.

Now that I think about it Iam quite surprised that twices list of personal crimes is so low. It makes me remember when @doodlegirl1998 was talking about how he is probably the most redeemable one in there and that the story would benefit much more if he and toga narratively switched roles

[factkin-tntduo]

Isofact

Isofact is a term like isofic (created by @gam8ligant) but for factfolk ("factkin"). This definition won't be as long (since a lot of it is addressed in isofic), but here are what it stands for:

Factfolk are who they say they are. A factfolk who says they're Josh Hutcherson is no less truthful than Josh Hutcherson saying he's Josh Hutcherson, as an example.

Factfolk and factives both deserve equal treatment. If a factfolk says they're someone, that is just as truthful and valid as a factive saying they're someone.

Factfolk claiming to be people is not impersonation or identity fraud. You cannot impersonate yourself, and you cannot be impersonating someone else if you say you aren't your ringers (other people who id as the same person). You cannot commit identity fraud if you aren't stealing people's personal information such as credit card number or social security number (which is, obviously, not okay).

Factfolk are not "promoting delusions", "anti-recovery", or "crossing boundaries" by being themselves.

Being factfolk is not voluntary, factfolk cannot control who they are any more than non-factfolk can. If people have a problem with factfolk or are made uncomfortable by factfolk of themselves, they can block and ignore them.

If a factfolk says they did/didn't do anything that any of their ringers didn't/did do, they are telling the truth because they have the authority on what they did. For example, my boyfriend Wilbur did not abuse anyone, despite his ringer being an abuser, because they have different lives and just happen to be the same base person. Both of them are still William Gold, however.

Anyways. I don't know how to end this, have fun or whatever

[spopsalt]

Ik Rick and BoJack are random but I wanted to add on some well written characters :)

context for the character and list of some of their crimes under the cut!

Catra Applesauce Meow Meow

Definitely my most controversial pick for this list! Catra was an abused child soldier and abused her sister Adora, she was redeemed buttt her arc wasn't really...good. Her crimes: War crimes Abuse of power Corruption Reckless endangerment Psychological abuse Assault Terrorism Attempted regicide Attempted mass murder Attempted world domination Attempted cataclysm Conspiracy Mass destruction Abduction & kidnapping Unlawful imprisonment Brainwashing Theft Torture Treason Usurpation Coercion Stalking Mutilation Aiding and abetting Illegal use of weapons Espionage Crimes against peace Crimes against Etheria Altering reality (unintentional)

Next up my personal least favorite out of this list, Stolas!

Awww poor guy, forcing someone into having sex with you with holding what they need for their job over their head, his crimes took me a bit longer considering he's considered just a poor guy buttt here's a list I thought of from the top of my head: Child Neglect, Abuse of power (unsure if that's a crime) harrasment, r*pe

Next up Bojack the Horseman, Bojack the horse don't act like you don't know!

One of the more sympathetic ones, he's still an asshole but he does try to change and he is well written. He's egotistical and has a huge ego, we do get a positive implied outcome in the series finale, but it's still unclear. Here's a list of his crimes: Murder via inaction Assault Attempted murder Theft Drugging Breaking and entering Harassment Stalking Drug dealing and possession Driving under the influence Supplying alcohol to minors Corruption Sabotage Fraud Identity theft Trespassing Child endangerment Bullying Destruction of property Arson Sexual misconduct with a minor Psychological abuse

Next up my favorite, but still an awful person, Rick Sanchez!

Again, he's one of the more sympathetic ones given his past, and he is actively trying to change and does really love his grandson,the rest of his family and friends even sacrificing himself for his grandson but he is still a horrible person with a longgg list of crimes, also disclaimer ripped most of these from the villains wiki so if any info is missing or inaccurate that's why. List of crimes: Unethical experimentation Negligence Mass murder Mass genocide Mass enslavement Mass torture Mass mundicide Mass property damage Mass manslaughter Mass theoricideMass omnicide (heavily implied)Terrorism Treason Theft Trespassing Death threats Hijacking Assault and battery Psychological abuse Human trafficking Vandalism Regicide Arson Deicide Piracy Possession Hacking Kidnapping Blackmail Con artistry Drug dealing Mutilation Brainwashing Smuggling Corruption Defilement Heresy Vigilantism False imprisonment Jailbreak Sabotage Incrimination Reckless endangerment Indecent exposure Impersonation Cannibalism Aiding and abetting Disturbing the peace Child abuse Substance abuse Abuse of power Burglary War crimes Animal cruelty Forced transmutations Corpse desecrations Grand theft DUI Pollution Attempted infanticideIllicit dealings Weapons dealing Graverobbery Usurpation Public intoxication Child endangerment Evading arrest Perjury Illegal weapons development

[gretahayes]

soo obviously tim would never kill, but what crimes do you think he *would* commit

I think he’s committed or would commit (under the right circumstances) a lot. Here's a list;

Assault with a Deadly Weapon

Assaulting or Killing Federal Officer

Assisting or Instigating Escape

Aggravated Assault/Battery

Aggravated Identity Theft

Bankruptcy Fraud/Embezzlement

Blackmail

Coercion

Concealing Escaped Prisoner

Concealing Person from Arrest

Conspiracy to Impede or Injure an Officer

Conveying False Information

Credit/Debit Card Fraud

Cyber Crimes

Damage to Religious Property

Destruction of Records in Federal Investigations and Bankruptcy

Destruction of Corporate Audit Records

Disclosure of Confidential Information

Domestic Terrorism

Embezzlement

Extortion

False Information and Hoaxes

False Pretenses

False Statements Relating to Health Care Matters

Falsely Claiming Citizenship

False Declarations before Grand Jury or Court

Fraud Against the Government

Hacking Crimes

Harboring Terrorists

Hostage Taking

Identity Theft

Illegal Possession of Firearms

Impersonator Making Arrest or Search

Injuring Officer

Insurance Fraud

Interference with the Operation of a Satellite

International Terrorism

Larceny

Mailing Threatening Communications

Motor Vehicle Theft

Narcotics Violations

Obstructing Examination of Financial Institution

Obstruction of Court Orders

Obstruction of Federal audit

Obstruction of Justice

Obstruction of Criminal Investigations

Perjury

Pirating

Possession of Narcotics

Private Correspondence with Foreign Government

Racketeering

Receiving the Proceeds of Extortion

Recording or Listening to Grand or Petit Juries While Deliberating

Retaliating Against a Federal Judge by False Claim or Slander of Title

Retaliating Against a Witness, Victim, or an Informant

Robbery

Sabotage

Sale of Stolen Vehicles

Searches Without Warrant

Shoplifting

Smuggling

Stalking (In Violation of Restraining Order)

Stolen Property; Buying, Receiving, or Possessing

Tampering with a Witness, Victim, or Informant

Tampering with Vessels

Torture

Transportation of Stolen Vehicles

Transportation of Terrorists

Trespassing

Treason

Unauthorized Removal of Classified Documents

Use of Fire or Explosives to Destroy Property

Use of Weapons of Mass Destruction

Vandalism

Violence at International airports

Violent Crimes in Aid of Racketeering Activity

And possibly more! Hope this helps

[clownandout]

Arkhamverse Joker's Crimes As listed by Arkham VR:

Kidnapping

Torture

Extortion

Racketeering

Fraud

Grave Robbing

Unlicensed Dentistry

Counterfeiting

Bullying

Cyberbullying

Badger-Bating

Bear-Baiting

Duck-Baiting

Wildlife Smuggling

Monkey-Baiting

Iguana-Baiting

Rhino-Baiting

Failure to Adequately Restrain a Rhino

 Identity Theft

Malicious Mischief 

Trespassing

Arson

Assault

Larceny

Grand Larceny

Spectacular Larceny

Vandalism

Forgery 

Impersonating a Police Officer

Impersonating a Doctor

Impersonating an Airline Pilot

Unlicensed Cabaret Entertainment

Theft of Livestock

Unlicensed Taxidermy

Involuntary Manslaughter 

Voluntary Manslaughter

Enthusiastic Manslaughter

Desecration of a Corpse

Improper Disposition of a Body

Improper Labeling of Meat Products

Cannibalism

Homicide

Regicide

Attempted Omnicide

Littering

[mariacallous]

The United States Department of Justice on Wednesday announced charges against a 35-year-old Chinese national, Yunhe Wang, accused of operating a massive botnet allegedly linked to billions of dollars in fraud, child exploitation, and bomb threats, among other crimes.

Wang, identified by numerous pseudonyms—Tom Long and Jack Wan, among others—was arrested on May 24 and is accused of distributing malware through various pop-up VPN services, such as “ProxyGate” and “MaskVPN,” and by embedding viruses in internet files distributed via peer-to-peer networks known as torrents.

The malware is said to have compromised computers located in nearly every country in the world, turning them into proxies through which criminals were able to hide their identities while committing countless crimes. According to prosecutors in the US, this included the theft of billions of dollars slated for Covid-19 pandemic relief—funds allegedly stolen by foreign actors posing as unemployed US citizens.

According to an indictment, the infected computers allegedly provided Wang’s customers with a persistent backdoor, allowing them to disguise themselves as any one of the victims of Wang’s malware. This illicit proxy service, known as “911 S5,” launched as early as 2014, the US government says.

“The 911 S5 Botnet infected computers in nearly 200 countries and facilitated a whole host of computer-enabled crimes, including financial frauds, identity theft, and child exploitation,” says FBI director Christopher Wray, who described the illicit service as “likely the world’s largest botnet ever.”

The US Treasury Department has also sanctioned Wang and two other individuals allegedly tied to 911 S5.

Wang is said to have amassed access to nearly 614,000 IP addresses in the US and more than 18 million others worldwide—collectively forming the botnet. 911 S5’s customers were able to filter the IPs geographically to choose where they’d like to appear to be located, down to a specific US zip code, the DOJ claims.

The indictment states that of the 150 dedicated servers used to manage the botnet, as many as 76 were leased by US-based service providers, including the one hosting 911 S5’s client interface, which allowed criminals overseas to purchase goods using stolen credit cards, in many cases for the alleged purpose of circumventing US export laws.

More than half a million fraudulent claims lodged with pandemic relief programs in the United States are allegedly tied to 911 S5. According to the indictment, nearly $6 billion in losses have been linked to IP addresses captured by 911 S5. Many of the IP addresses have been reportedly tied to more insidious crimes, including bomb threats and the trafficking of child sexual abuse material, or CSAM.

“Proxy services like 911 S5 are pervasive threats that shield criminals behind the compromised IP addresses of residential computers worldwide,” says Damien Diggs, the US attorney for the Eastern District of Texas, where the charges against Wang were brought by a grand jury earlier this month.

Adds Nicole Argentieri, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division: “These criminals used the hijacked computers to conceal their identities and commit a host of crimes, from fraud to cyberstalking.”

At the time of writing, it is unclear whether these virtual impersonations resulted in any criminal investigations or charges against US-based victims whose IP addresses were hijacked as part of the 911 S5 botnet. WIRED is awaiting a response from the Department of Justice regarding this concern.

According to the Justice Department, law enforcement agencies in Singapore, Thailand, and Germany collaborated with US authorities to effect Wang’s arrest.

Wang faces charges of conspiracy, computer fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and conspiracy to money laundering, with a maximum penalty of 65 years in prison. The US is also seeking to seize a mountain of luxury cars and goods allegedly owned by Wang, including a 2022 Ferrari Spider valued at roughly half a million dollars as well as a Patek Philippe watch worth potentially several times that amount.

[sassenashsworld]

A little bit of Overthinking Nick in a univers where he would pounder something

Not really in the Path, not really in the Heartbeat, just some fun...

A little bit more of overthinking Nick (part 2)

Again an overthinking Nick (part 3)

It's a lot of stuff and nothing. It is intangible and incomprehensible. It's similar to a shock in the circuits, yet nothing physical produces it. It is impalpable and elusive.

It's well beyond him.

So much beyond him.

One day, he awoke from a mound of junk, his head in such disarray that it would have taken him three years of university to sort out right from left. Even the worst drunkenness had never left him in such confusion. Even more so when he realized that the "I" to which he referred didn't exist.

The "I" he believed to be did not existed.

No longer existed.

Memories have been embedded in a machine. However, a machine capable of thinking. Able to think for herself. Trying in vain to figure out who could be her true "I".

“I think, therefore, I am,” said a philosopher—his fiancée Jenny had made him read—but Jenny is not "his" fiancée, and he doesn’t recall either the philosopher or the book.

Just this sentence.

"I think, so I am."

He's sure as hell he think. To think, he thinks. He doesn't stop thinking. He doesn't even have the luxury of stopping thinking when sleeping; he never sleeps.

So, he thinks.

And his thoughts can roam as far as they want, yet they always go in circle.

First, this "I".

Obviously, when you have a personality and a name based on memories—of a man who died so long ago that you wouldn’t find his bones—implanted in a module, it is difficult to determine the "I".

However, since then, things have changed.

"She".

She concluded that things had changed.

Nick, entangled in his ill-living and desire to live, his desire to bring back life, and his desire to make other people’s lives better, hadn't even noticed how stagnant he was.

Not physically or vitally, but psychologically.

Still at the edge of his empty heap, wondering who this "I" was.

"But you have friends, an agency, a little corner of your own that belongs to you."

She was right. Truth be told, as irritating it may appear, she is usually always right. And when she's wrong, she confesses it so swiftly that it's difficult to prove her wrong. But, on that issue, she was right.

"Well, that's true…"

That was true. For the machine coming out of the empty pile of trash, the synth, the creature unable to determine the "I", he had however already quite a bit to call his own now.

Him…

Him, the man's memory-based synth.

But these people—friends, clients, and relationships—had no idea who the other—Nick the Cop—was. They know Nick the Synth and Nick the Detective. People came to visit Nick, the Detective.

Nora presented it to him with all of the tenderness and humour that is characteristic of her personality.

She put the first stake, allowing the foundations of his inquiries to finally move forward rather than going around in circles.

Nick the Synth.

Nick the Synth is a synth.

Nick the Synth is an artificial intelligence system.

Someone inserted the memory of a man who died before the war into Nick the Synth.

Or perhaps no. Maybe he is not dead. Maybe he is a ghoul or another Vault-Tex experiment, somewhere... However, the poor fellow never came up to contest the fraud. But Nick didn’t impersonate him.

His personality, yes; his memories, yes; his name, yes.

As if John Smith from Nevada met John Smith from Michigan, both of whom were looking for adventure.

"Not the same date, not the same address, not the same relationships, not the same life."

Nick the Synth did not steal Nick Valentine's identity. Nick the Synth is known as Nick Valentine, yes. It came from Nick Valentine’s memories, yes. But it was like rebuilding a house with a roof and windows in the new world during colonization in memory of a house on the old continent. But this is not the same house. Even if you consider it home. Even if you make it the same shape.

Not the same house, not the same life.

"You've got your own life. A little confused, your mind confuses it further by building a thousand too many thoughts around, but that's your life."

He has earned what he has, what he has gleaned by gradually ascending through the ranks of others' and society's trust. Nick Valentine the Cop knows nothing about Nick Valentine the Synth's life. Nick Valentine the Synth didn’t get the cop job, didn’t get the cop’s house, and didn’t get the cop’s girlfriend—dead—back.

What Nick the Synth have is his own. The job, the house—

Not the girlfriend.

But once the "I" has been determined, Nick cannot stop there.

Nick the Synth is a synth.

What kind of being is Nick if he is a synth?

"You're giving me a headache."

He raises his own head and glances at his companion. She grins gently, but squints. He have no doubt that he actually gives her a headache.

"Doll, you should sleep. Tomorrow, we'll have a long journey ahead of us.

"If I could program you to do the same thing, I'm confident I'd be doing the world a favour. If you could at least think in your head..."

"In what? My processor? My hard drive? My motherboard? What component of myself can pounder?"

"I don't know, but I know it's connected to your mouth, and I'd like to take a break."

Nick blinkes several times.

Again.

Again, this odd, ethereal, and unexplainable sensation.

Sensation…

"Again…"

Nora gets up from her mattress and sits on its edge, looking at him while resting her hands on her knees.

"Again? Do you want me to see if a wire is being grilled?”

"It would smell roasted."

"Maybe... unless it's your olfactory module that's grilling."

He wants to object, but instead smiles as he sees the lovely green pupils sparkle with malice.

"That's the problem; it's not physical."

This is not something tangible.

Because a synth is physical. It is mechanical. A synth will not see a doctor, much less a psychologist. It needs an engineer. His body is not a body per se. It includes wires, modules, motors, and components. Everything happens on the physical level. If he get shoot in the leg, his sensors will get the information and broadcast it to his processor via a wire relay, which will then send the signal to Nick to move in such a manner that he no longer receives lead.

But the scientists at the Institute were a little more vicious. They discovered a way to "neurologically" link sensory information to Old Nick the human's memories. So, Nick the Synth understands EXACTLY what pain is. So, as it had to, come with; anger, annoyance…

"Oh…"

Synth is more than simply a machine.

"What?"

Nora moves her legs closer to the side of the bed. She seemed to be both intrigued and worried.

"I think I just figured something out."

The young woman tilts her head sideways, as she sometimes does, a perfect imitation of her dog when intrigued. Nick can't help but smile whenever he sees her doing that. And the sensation reappears. As if a current was flowing through his system instead of his wires. As if someone was tickling him.

"A tickle. It feels like a tickle."

"Oh, I see! We're moving forward!"

At the same time, she realizes.

"Oh!"

"You see!"

"Yes, I do understand. And it tickles you where? Perhaps a radroach has entered your circuits."

She stands up and heads towards her bag, preparing to pull out a screwdriver. He extends his hand to stop her.

"No, not that kind of tickling."

She cocks her head again, this time with greater interest.

"And it really never happened to you…before?"

He shakes his head, having realized something else.

He should not have told her.

It wasn't entirely intended. He couldn't hide his surprise when he felt it for the first time. And Nora is so concerned about everything going on about him that he couldn't keep it from her, even if he wanted to. Then, out of habit, he used the honesty card with her.

In full innocence.

In complete idiocy.

Now that the information has been absorbed and placed in its right place, he realizes how he acted like a child lost in a world without landmarks, only to discover that he is a man. His sole assistance and reference being a little girl who is lost in a world without a sole assistance and references and who had no idea what a woman was.

Nora approaches, her expression plainly showing worriedness.

"Nick, you don't look well at all. Are you sure you don't want me to check?" 

"No!"

He suddenly pushes back the young woman's hand, which was already clutching his shirt. By habit. Because Nora is generally in charge of the mechanics when Tinker Tom or Sturges are not there.

In all innocence, in all impunity.

But now.

Now that he understands the cause of his mechanical-sensory distortion, he feels extremely self-conscious.

The young woman's attitude altered in turn abruptly, as if the illumination that had just light in his mind could now lighten Nora's lamp.

"Wait… you mean..."

"I do not want to mean whatever," he let out with bitterness. "I will not say whatever. The subject is now closed."

He spins his chair to clearly emphasize that the exchange of ideas has ended for the night.

It should even not have started.

His friend is silent since a long time. Without moving. So much so that he wonders if he simply missed the moment she turned and returned to the mattress.

But when he turns slowly to face her, she is still there.

And her expression speaks a lot more than he would have like to read.

But, contrary to his expectations, as he looks up to meet the young woman's gazes, he sees no pity.

Worse… It's so much worse.

It far worse than anything he could have imagined reading in that radioactive glare.

Nora looks at him with hope.