The Connection Manager

The Connection Manager is the screen where every hack begins and ends. It is where you route a bounce chain across the world map, dial the last machine in the chain, and — once you are in — work inside the target's gateway from a remote session. You open it from the Connection icon in the left navigation rail.

The screen has two phases. Before you connect it is the bounce manager: the chain on one side, your address book on the other, and the world map a key-press away. After the connection lands it becomes the remote session: the target's login prompt, its files and logs, and the tools you can run against it.

Bounce Manager The Bounce Manager (before you connect)

The pre-connect screen is split into two panels. On one side sits the bounce chain — the route your connection will travel. On the other is the address book: every IP you have bookmarked or connected to before, with a search field to filter it by name or address.

  • Bounce Chain — the numbered hop list. The last hop is the target the connection dials; every hop before it only relays your traffic. A pip row and a n/max counter show how much of your hop budget is used.
  • Address Book — your stored IPs. Tap a row to add it to the chain, copy the IP, or drop the bookmark (dropping asks for confirmation, because the note and last-connect history go with it).
  • Firewall Log — opens your own gateway's log: every incoming connection attempt, with the source IP, the time, and the visitor's comment. From here you can copy an IP, run a Whois, bookmark it, or delete the entry. See Finding IP Addresses.
  • Bookmark IP — add a new address to the book by typing or pasting it. A Whois card opens so you can see what you are about to save.
  • Where do I find IPs? — the info key, a short reminder of your IP sources.
  • Connection map — the map key, which opens the world map over the panels (see below).

Building a Chain Building a Bounce Chain

A chain is walked in order and only its last address is knocked on — that machine is the target. Add hops from the address book, or build the chain directly on the map. To point the chain at a hop that is already in it, use the row's target key: the hop moves to the end of the chain and becomes the target.

How long your chain may be is your hop budget, granted by the Network Bounce stat on your RAM and Network hardware. With none installed you still get a single hop. The manager refuses a hop — and always says why — when:

  • the chain is already at its budget (chain full — pull a hop first),
  • the IP is already in the chain (no loops),
  • the target blacklisted you and the block has not expired yet,
  • the IP belongs to your own alliance's subnet — you cannot target your own.

The Connection Map The Connection Map

The map key replaces the panels with a pannable, zoomable world picture. Every gateway you have bookmarked and placed appears as a pin with its gateway-type icon; your own gateway pulses as Main Gateway, and the chain's current target wears a contracting red ring. Edge callouts keep both labelled even when the pins scroll off-screen.

  • Set Home — appears until your gateway has a place on the picture. Arm it, then tap the map: that spot becomes your home position.
  • Drag to link — drag from your home pin to a node to add the first hop; drag from a node already in the chain to thread the next machine in or extend the chain.
  • Double-tap a pin — pulls that node back out of the chain.
  • Tap a pin — opens the node card: the gateway's name, address and coordinates, with Drop (remove the bookmark), Chain (add to the chain) and Target (re-aim the chain at it) keys.
  • Zoom keys — +, − and ⊙ (fit the whole world) sit in the bottom-right corner; pinch and drag work too.
  • Search — the magnifier in the top-right filters the picture to gateways whose name or IP match.
  • Legend — the ▲ legend key in the bottom-left corner lists every gateway type icon.

A blacklisted gateway is crossed out with a red X for exactly as long as its blacklist has left, counting down live. When the chain has no links yet, the map coaches you with a one-time hint on how to drag the first one.

Connecting Connecting

Press ▶ Connect (or Establish Connection on the map). Your modem dials, the request walks the chain, and the last machine answers. If the gateway refuses the chain, a Connection Failed dialog quotes why and offers Retry and a Whois lookup on the target. If the answer is a blacklist, the dialog says so and offers nothing but Dismiss — retrying a target that just locked you out cannot work.

Risk: Backtrace
The moment you are inside, two clocks run: your CRACK timer and the target's TRACE timer. If the trace wins, the target traces the connection back to your IP, drops the session and blacklists you for 24 hours — and its logs keep the record of the visit. See Password Cracking & Backtracing for which stats decide the race.

The Remote Session The Remote Session (after you connect)

A successful connection opens the target's own screen: a strip with the target address and both countdown chips, the target's login page in the main window, and a command rail on the right.

  • Login — the target introduces itself (guild, name, reputation, its message) behind an ordinary sign-in form. There is nothing to type: pressing Login is the password crack. While it runs, the password line shows what the crack has pulled off the wire, and the menu appears when access is granted.
  • Cracker — starts or resumes the crack (CRACK chip shows the time left; it reads ready when access is granted).
  • Scanner — sweeps the target and streams what it answers, line by line, into a terminal overlay.
  • Logs — the target gateway's log: the last hundred connections, including blacklists. Entries can be erased from the machine — useful for covering your visit before the trace lands.
  • Files — the target's file system: browse directories down from root, open folders, and download what you find.
  • Crypto Miner — appears only when the target actually runs one, and shows its installed miner software.
  • Disconnect — hangs up on your own terms. A disconnect you asked for is silent; one the target forces is not.

A tool that is still running dims its key and says running, and refuses a second press until it answers — crack and scan take seconds, and a double tap is a second command you did not mean to send.

Tip: Leave the Chain Connected
Your bounce chain is kept when the session ends — win or lose — so you can reconnect with the same route, or read your own firewall log to trace the hops you used. Swapping to another screen and back returns the session exactly as you left it.
Tip: Chain for Time
Every extra hop slows the target's backtrace and buys your crack more time — the hop budget you get from RAM and Network hardware is a defensive stat as much as a routing one. Longer chains cost nothing but hardware; see Password Cracking & Backtracing.
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