The most common depiction of Adira was an anonymous masked and hooded figure with CV dazzle patterns and a glowing eye.
Adira was believed to be a hacker or hacking collective with unfettered access to the networks in use by G6 and the purported ability to brainjack people through their neural colloids. The existence of Adira was first revealed in 2045, when a breach of Zhupao‘s internal network indicated that the company has been using G6 to aid authorities in tracking Adira’s movements and actions as early as 2041.
In October 2049, the investigation into the assassination of Xu Shaoyong and Yuri Golitsyn produced strong evidence that the attack was carried out by Adira, with charges brought against Spencer Hagen for carrying out the cyberattack and having manufactured Adira to cover for his abuse of G6. A possible connection to Efua Amankwah-Crouse remains under investigation.
Table of contents
Origin
On October 10th 2045, Zhupao suffered a massive breach to its corporate network, resulting in the leak of a data cache containing technical information related to G6. [1] A crowdsourced investigation into the leaked files uncovered a partial list of key words and phrases that were active in G6’s search engines, entered either by G6 members or Zhupao itself. A single search term named adira was ticked as active for all data mined and stored by G6, overriding national and regional data sharing agreements or restrictions.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) charter for Zhupao’s deployment of the network, this G6-wide search option may only be used in the event of a global alert issued by the WHO. This led to rampant speculation as to the meaning of adira, whether it was an entity in itself or an index term for a subset of related searches, and on whose behalf Zhupao would keep it active in violation of the WHO charter.
Xu Shaoyong, pictured in 2049.
On October 13th 2045, Xu Shaoyong released a statement that explained the adira search term as part of an ongoing investigation into an individual or group named Adira with the capability of bypassing G6’s quantum cryptographic security, which he described as “an extraordinary feat that requires an extraordinary use of G6 in response.” Xu claimed that Zhupao was working “in the strictest of confidence to aid Chinese and international authorities in the hunt for an actor or actors with the potential to threaten the cohesion of the network we need for our continued survival.” An internal Zhupao investigation concluded that the data breach of October 10th 2045 was likely the work of Adira to thwart the company’s efforts to track them.
Following Xu’s statement, many unclaimed and previously unknown cyberattacks were attributed to Adira, and a string of surveillance operations and police actions was linked to the international effort to track their movements. This contributed to their public status as a prolific and elusive hacker, with numerous theories of widely varying plausibility proposed by investigators, reporters, and amateur enthusiasts to determine the identity and motivations of Adira. [2]
2049 cyberattack
Spencer Hagen has been charged with fabricating the existence of Adira as part of a false flag operation.
On October 2nd 2049, an investigation into the assassination of Xu and Yuri Golitsyn produced strong evidence that the attack was carried out by Adira. This led to the arrest and subsequent release of Hong Lian, an Omnius contractor who was briefly suspected of being Adira when her work terminal was identified as a possible origin of the cyberattack. [3]
On October 4th 2049, the investigation uncovered a direct link between the attack and Efua Amankwah-Crouse, which had renewed accusations that she was Adira. With confirmation that she had gone into hiding, Interpol served a Red Notice for the arrest of Amankwah-Crouse. [4] on October 7th 2049, with Zhupao extending a formal invitation to assist Interpol with the hunt for Amankwah-Crouse “by any means necessary.”
On October 8th 2049, Amankwah-Crouse issued a livestream from a rental flat in Dharwad, India, during which she denied any involvement in the assassination or association with Adira. Amankwah-Crouse was arrested by local police and has been transported to Mumbai, where she is being processed by an Interpol response team.
On October 10th 2049, the investigation into the assassination charged Spencer Hagen with carrying out the cyberattack and having “masterminded the fiction of Adira to make everyone chase a ghost.” A possible connection to Amankwah-Crouse remains under investigation. [5]
See also
References
- Egler, L. (October 2045). “Zhupao data leak reveals inner workings and undisclosed quantum tech of G6.” Wired. ↩
- Hon, A; Hon, D. (December 2045). “ARG players are throwing themselves on the search for Adira.” MSSV. ↩
- Liu, K. (October 2049). “Assassination suspect released from custody after Chinese inquest.” China Daily. ↩
- Czerny, G. (October 2049). “Efua Amankwah-Crouse wanted by Interpol.” Reuters. ↩
- Huang, Y. (October 2049). “Breaking: Zhupao CTO charged with murder of Xu Shaoyong, creation of Adira.” Xinhua. ↩