Betrayal of Society, The
Known to have been a deciding factor in ending the Blogosphere Offensive, the Betrayal of Society is a matter of great contention among historians today.
Seen from two very different perspectives by the descendents of those lost / arrested during this time and those directly affected by the Offensive itself, it is often the case that brawls result from loose conversations about this period in history. Usually triggered by conversations about the shadowy figure of Society (whose true identity is still much debated), these debates are often detrimental to the truth of the matter which is commonly lost on those who seek not to know themselves and punish others for the same lack of knowledge.
Society came to Generaland in October 2011 from the far reaches of the Inter-Net, bringing word from Indranet that Spam-bots had assaulted and destroyed the town. He was the sole survivor of his militant unit, which acted in the interests of city protection. It was while pinned down protecting his city that Society was exposed to atrocities not yet fully known to historians and thankfully prevented from occurring in Generaland as a byproduct of Zach the Magnificent initialising the Blogosphere Offensive.
Joining up with the Saturday Militia, Society was installed in Charlie Company with his rank of 2nd Lieutenant restored in recognition of his service to the now destroyed Indranet.
It was while on a standard drilling exercise that 2nd Lieutenant Society overheard his superiors discussing results from the preliminary assaults on various web servers using the reprogrammed Spam-bots. The atrocities witnessed were still too fresh for 2nd Lieutenant Society to let this go, and so decided to address his concerns to General Malaise directly.
Though disciplined for eavesdropping on his superiors, 2nd Lieutenant Society was heavily questioned about his involvement with the assault and battle for Indranet; how he survived, why he came to Generaland, what his plan was in the Generaland Military, revenge is not an option, etc. His answers helped Gen. Malaise formulate a plan of attack, which was approved and initialised by Zach the Magnificent himself.
Again concern gnawed at 2nd Lieutenant Society and it is said he had befriended a fellow new recruit in Bravo Company, one Edminster, and confessed to him his fears that something was amiss with the projected ease that the upcoming assaults were going to be won.
In late December 2011, some two weeks before Gen. Malaise’s plans were to be put in place, 2nd Lieutenant Society volunteered for a reconnaissance mission (of his own devising) to survey the battlefield terrain and the enemy’s fortifications. It was towards the end of this mission that 2nd Lieutenant Society discovered the paddocks that housed the vast number of Spam-bots that were provided to Zach the Magnificent.
The mental wounds caused by Indranet still fresh, Society feared for the citizens on both sides of the impending battle, having witnessed Spam-bots turn on the soldiers they fought with.
It was around this time that Edminster took an opportunity to pass communiqué to General Malaise reporting the conversation he’d had with Society prior to his departure. When questioned Edminster said he’d not had a chance to report the conversation sooner as he’d departed on drills immediately after he and Society had spoken and his company had no communication with Generaland whilst in the field.
Estimating the result of this upcoming battle based upon his first-hand experience, 2nd Lieutenant Society saw a potential loss of life that would far outweigh the destruction of Indranet. Knowing that he was too far from base without any form of communication and would be stuck in debriefing for days before getting to see the General, Society knew it was impossible to stop the attacks.
Seeking to circumvent a major disaster, Society defected from duty and made contact with the closest web-host in Canadia, explaining who he was and imploring them to send word to all other web-hosts in Canadia that a planned, broad-spectrum attack was set for all hosts and was coming within days.
While Society was getting set to return to Generaland and the impending battle, he was gunned down from a great distance by sharp-shooter <<Lethal Interjection>>, under orders by Zach the Magnificent himself. Words of gratitude for a warning had reached Zach from an allied Canadian web hosting provider, claiming that they’d been contacted by a soldier in his own military.
Despite the fact they were not going to be attacked, their thanks contained a veiled threat that if the attacks occurred on their fellow providers in Canadia, swift retaliation would occur.
News of the <<Death of General Malaise>> and a handful of others reached Generaland just as the waves of assault forces streamed out onto the battlefields to engage with surprisingly prepared and fortified web servers. The Spam-bots were all but destroyed, with a good number of soldiers captured in their wake.
More deaths had been confirmed and dozens of reports came streaming in to Generaland of entire units and battalions of soldiers being seized and arrested. The actions of 2nd Lieutenant Society contributed to at least 500 of the total 700 hundred arrests that resulted from these planned assaults, thus effectively rendering Generaland’s military crippled and ending the Blogosphere Offensive.
Reports later revealed that defences on several highly populated web servers had not been activated until hearing word from Society, thus his actions may have saved several hundred-thousand lives.
Author’s Commentary:
Though it has been said that 2nd Lieutenant Society’s actions could have been a major contributing factor to the lives saved during the Blogosphere Offensive, he is viewed by many descendents of the original citizens of Generaland (at least those at the time of the Offensive) to have been a traitor and coward.
While it has been said that Edminster could have extended his effort to report the conversation, his apparent initial thought was that Society would not act on his concerns. According to a scrap of journal reported to have belonged to Edminster himself, he chose to report the conversation upon returning to Generaland and discovering Society’s volunteered misson. The journal entry is as follows:
The veracity of this scrap is debated, as it lacks the tell-tale linguistic style of the questionably sane scientist-turned-soldier. However, because Edminster was the only person known to have kept a journal who also had contact with Society, the claim that it is authentic cannot be dismissed out of hand.Edminster – 28th December 2011 wrote:…stupid enough to do something. I’ve spoken briefly with General Malaise regarding my conversation with Society. The General wanted to know first hand what Society had said, and the only thing that really caught his attention was how I described Society’s eyes which were darting all around the place as he spoke. I said that he looked haunted, which seemed to meant something to the Gen…
Indranet was a small web hosting service based in Canadia that never made a splash in any major markets and its destruction could have been one of several casualties-of-war between two larger corporations vying for extra space and power in the Inter-Net.