Shonin Shards Daily Updates – Intro

It is quite amazing that something so simple as an in-game item that jumps between portals can create so many adventures, stories and tears of joy and pain. To be honest, the shards aren’t really that simple. For most newer agents that have never seen them before, there is a lot of mystery around what they actually are, and with each iteration of artifacts or shards having difficult rules, it can even confuse the most experienced agents.

The 31 Devera shards appeared Friday 6th of March and began to move around the world in 6 hour intervals leaving a trail of amazing stories that we are going to share with you here every day. We will also have a daily recap of major shard movements in the previous 24 hours, so be sure to tune in everyday and we’ll keep you up to date.

To date, the shards have traveled a combined 237,334.9 kms, equivalent to almost 6 laps around the equator. Here are some reports from fellow agents around the world.

Shard #20, #24 – Recap: Aus Shard Update
Shard #22, #18, #9 – Recap: Dominican Shardnomaly
Shard #13 – Recap: The Turk
Shard #11 – Recap: Fried chicken shard
Shard #19 – Recap: God of poverty

Shard #4 – Story (Enl): The story of Felicia
Shard #31 – Story (Res): Bob

If you would like your report to be published in our daily updates, please submit it to this form.


Shard #20 #24 – Recap

By Thomas Sounness

Aus Shard Update

thong sculptureAnd the shards arrived in Australia – two of them – numbered #20 and #24 respectively. They were sudden arrivals to many, speculated by some, and to the general rank-and-file player, they were of no interest whatsoever.  But for those who took an interest, or even decided to participate, the shards were excitement – positively dripping with excitement.

Melbourne’s Shard (#20) arrived atop a science based portal (The Art of Chemistry ) and travelled through the city in spluttering leaps of blue or green, was briefly quarantined atop a non-existent pillar of thongs in the Melbourne Zoo & made a memorable escape to the Mornington Peninsula.

There were times where players were storming off in all directions of the compass late at night to clear paths to all manner of locations – across populated Melbourne to reach Lord Howe island was one very memorable link achieved by the Resistance, then blocked by the Enlightened. I  recall 24 Resistance players with 8 Enlightened players with fierce expressions all lit by their Smartphone firing out Bursters and Shields to the portal at 11pm in the night both pretending they were not blocking the other’s chances to link out … and at 11.05, everyone were friendly and chortling with each other.  Comradery in conflict. Eventually this shard escaped the population of Victoria’s largest city to travel through New Zealand before being transported through New Caledonia to eventually arrive at the North American Mainland.

perthPerth’s shard (#24) arrived at the University of Western Australia and moved through some pubs, signs, fruit boxes, the Serpentine Dam and a koala park before being taken by a blue link by the eventual winners of the contest of control, the Resistance, to their Stronghold of New Caledonia – this being major step towards their target – the Washington Monument.   When you follow it, you see the shard moved as jittery and as fizzed as a soft drink in it’s journey. On the ground sometimes there were 20 or so agents mashing their fingers into their smartphone as the various sides tried to impede or direct the shard’s journey.

Both Enlightenment and Resistance had many sleepless nights plotting, planning and thwarting each other – wise heads got tired planning late at night and early in the morning. It ended up being the longest battle between the teams at once city & people often had to step back into real life, to recharge, before returning to the competition. Players were very very tired, and so very very over being thwarted.

Since then, the shard has moved to via Hawaii to North America by Blue Link. However, it appears that control has been wrested away from the Resistance, and the shard is now in control of the Enlightened having been sent from Canada to the far north of Norway via a VRLA.

The shards have left, and will not be returning, but they were exciting for all involved within Australia, they were watched avidly – perplexed and inspired – by many agents of the competition between the Enlightened and the Resistance.


Shard #22 #18 #9 – Recap

By Halil Salomon/ @halilyankee

Dominican Shardnomaly

#22: Shard #22 was known as ‘Alexia’ by the Enlightened and ‘Tango’ by the Resistance. This one is kind of funny, because everybody loves it and hates it at the same time, this guy is like that perfectionist boss that we all had at least one time in life, he was the first to come and the last to leave.

The shard was born in Arecibo and was sent to Altos de Chavon, Dominican Republic by the Enl, then to Trinidad and Tobago by the local Res with the OP #balaazul. After a few local jumps, it went back by itself to DR where it went from Chavon to Pedernales then to the portal Capilla Heminway before being linked out to Puerto Rico and back to DR by the local Enl. After a few bounces in DR it ended up in a church in Manoguayabo, Santo Domingo. The hours that it was in Manoguayabo were the hottest and most intense hours for it until now. Agents from local Enl and Res battled for the Shard gathering more than 16 agents per faction (we hope it wasn’t too scary for the people of that neighborhood). The battles continued through Saturday every 6 hours making it impossible to move the shard for either faction. Finally it was sent to Jamaica by a Res link at 2:00 pm as part of the OP “Forever 22” and 6 hours after that, it landed in the NASA tower in texas.

#18: Shard 18 came to us on the first Friday of March from Miami, Florida to Montecristi, DR by a green link, then it was linked to Puerto Plata with a blue link where it stayed the night as both factions planned its destiny. The next day (First Saturday), agents from both factions traveled from Santo Domingo to Sabana de la Mar where a battle between them took place ending with the Resistance sending the Shard to the portal Surf Zone Mural in Puerto rico then on to Miami 6 hours later.

#9: A.K.A. Bravo by the Resistance. This shard got its foot in Dominican ground the same way that #18 did, except this one came from Texas. A few hours later it was sent to Haiti by the local Res and ended up in Pedernales where the local Enl took it back and sent it to Chavon to the same portal that Shard #22 was in a failed attempt to fuse them together. Then it was linked to the Surf Zone Mural in Puerto Rico by the Res and them kicked out to Miami.

All the shards gave a hard time to both factions, when a shard comes in, you and your team have only 6 hours to plan a strategy, gather resources and make a field team to travel at any time to anywhere to make sure that your faction rides back home victorious. So yeah, it is hard to deal with the artifacts, but we are proud of what we have done here in Dominican Republic, and maybe some agents don’t want any shard to come around right now, but you can be sure that if the duty calls, we are all ready to answer.

 


Shard #13 – Recap

By Thomas Sounness

The Turk

Arriving on the morning within the Faculty of Science, the shard nicknamed ‘the Turk’ appeared in the scanners above the sky of Ankara – the Capital City of the Republic of Turkey.  Established in 1946, Ankara University this was the first time a shard had been hosted at the portal titled “Gunes Heykeli” (the Statue of Gunes).  This event was welcomed by the teams of Ankara. Swiftly the shard was moved by the quick minded agents of Enlightened and Resistance within the city over the next 24 hours. It is unclear which team took the shard from the Turkish capital to it’s first long leap across land to the plateau city of Yogzat – a settlement annexed by the Ottoman Empire in 1398, before moving almost the length of Turkey within 6 hours to the near coastal airport of Aydin – a stones throw from the Mediterranean. From this point, the Resistance again took the shard with ease to it’s next destination, the Republic of Georgia – again travelling the length of Turkey – all blocking links removed and given a graceful passage to the portal “Nigvziani”.

Turkey

Having stayed at Nigvziani for 30 hours (amongst the longest times a shard has stayed in one location) it bounced once before leaping to Amenia – to the portal named ‘Lord Berg’,  again through the Resistance network of Blue Links.  At this point, things change – it is unclear how, but it appears that using more than one Very Rare Link Amp, Shard #13 ‘The Turk’ was taken by the Enlightened and moved to a portal in Taldykorgan, the administrative center of the Almaty Province, Kazakhstan.  It then leapt through to what is now a very familiar location, the Selsky International Airport (rumors swirling through the internet suggest this may be a major part of Enlightened’s shard freeway) via Milny, a location modestly famous for it’s former diamond mine & an airport serving parts of the very large Sakha province. A series of VRLA was used to fling the shard a distance of almost 4900km over the north pole (an event surprising Kris Kringle / Santa Claus perhaps?) to Norway’s repeatedly safe destination of “Wooden Pyramid” – at Vadsø – a municipality in Finnmark county, Norway.  Here the shard loitered quietly before, using mere Rare Link Amps, was taken to the west coast of Norway, possibly by the Enlightened, to find itself under fierce battle for control with the local Resistance who have protectively fielded and shielded the shard from the Enlightened. (NOTE: some poetic license taken with this report, the Author has no idea as to the details on the ground as without an agent source available)


Shard #11 – Recap

By Masahiro Kiura @wasabi0522

Fried chicken shard

Artifact #11 first appeared at “Hipokuratesu-no-ki (the Tree of Hippocrates)” portal in Tokyo University at 3am Mar 6th (UTC +9). Soon after the appearance of #11, RES successfully moved it to the portal of a fried chicken store. However, ENL fought back against RES. As many agents from both factions went to this portal and bought fried chicken before or after the fierce battles, the store had happily sold out of fried chicken while #11 was lying in this portal. But in spite of almost all-out war between RES and ENL, the fight over #11 did not end; it jumped randomly to the next portal.

The next location where the #11 chose for the battle was Chiba, right next to Tokyo. Sometimes ENL succeeded in controlling the shard and sometimes RES won the battle. The shard moved toward the sea step by step, using portals found in “Lawson”, where fried chicken was available as well. Despite the interference by ENL, RES finally transferred #11 to Hawaii at 03:00 am on Mar.18 (UTC +9).

Agents from both factions, including on-site fighters and remote assistants, must be exhausted due to these battles. However, agents in Tokyo will never forget about this Fried Chicken Shard, I suppose. Well, anyway, let me express my admiration for the agents of both factions who fought for the artifact #11.


Shard #19 – Recap

By Aco Tjno

God of poverty

Shard #19 spawned at 0300 on Mar. 6 (UTC+9), in the middle of Fukuoka City, Japan. After 24 hours’ fierce battle between Resistance and Enlightened, #19 jumped to the portal laying in the narrow peninsula across the Hakata bay from the central Fukuoka. Resistance and Enlightened had kept fighting for about 3 days with almost all strength: but finally Enlightened took control over #19, and transferred it to Korea at 0900 on Mar. 9 (UTC+9). #19 was just like a god of poverty, which empties every agent’s inventory of rare items.

God of Poverty


Shard #4 – Story (Enl)

By Rémy Chaix

The story of Felicia

Felicia, a little offspring from the CDC, in Atlanta. Escaped disease having to be contained in the Rotterdam facility, for safekeeping. #Felicia , aka #Devrartifact #Calvinball #4.

Hidden in Charleston by the Enlightened forces, French Enlightened team #TEHS dug out the sniper rifle, and shot the longest link fired (as of today) to go snatch it, and drag it back to France, far away from the Resistance.

Having landed nearby Toulouse, local Resistance was quick on their feet to gather on it, and attempt to steal it. Which they did, 24 hours after landing, #Felicia was gone out of reach from Toulouse. Or was it ?

French Resistance hid the artifact on an island, near Cap d’Agde. Funny enough, a couple days before, the same french Resistance stole an artifact from an island, claiming it was too easy, and shouldn’t have been left there without being watched over.

feliciaTwo Enlightened agents, filled with pride, went to fetch that artifact back. With just a key leftover from the wonderful #Darsana #Toulouse December victory, and a boat, they steal #4 back for Toulouse. What to do with it ? Use that key. Fire it. Straight into Toulouse’s city center. Yep, right in the very center of the town.

Wait, what ?! Toulouse’s Resistance sighs filled the air. It’s back, 18 hours after having left Toulouse. That’s when the crazy started. Lockdown issued. Urban guerilla warfare started.

A full week of constant daily fights. Sleep-deprived days, long-awaited meetings with fellow resistance that used to be invisible, unbelievable moral (and ground) support from Enlightened all over the place, that made us keep fighting, and cheered for us, made this day possible.

#Felicia is the artifact of the crazy. Link world record. Crazy re-entry in the city center after a recovery by the Arsene Lupins of the shards. Week-long fights. All that led to the day Toulouse waved goodbye to #Felicia …

Today, 7 am. Agents from all over the country helped us move to the next step. Get #4 closer to Rotterdam… Going against the odds, and jumping straight in the crazy. Toulouse’s trademark … A link straight into Paris’ city center. Deja-vu …… We did it once ( #H2H ) , we can do it again, and we did. #Felicia made it to Notre-Dame-de-Paris ! First words that came to the mind of some people that witnessed the move … “How the f*** ?”

Amazing job to all the agents involved, you are far too many to be quoted, and I would hate to forget someone … You know who you are, and Toulouse can’t thank you enough for your support, and your help.

Toulouse, and the #TEHS , did their part. Good luck with #Felicia , Paris !

Video by Scan Gentil : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYaaqKVqvM0


Shard #31 – Story (Res)

By Alan Talkington

Bob

This is the story of Bob. For those that don’t know, Bob is a Devra shard #31. Now much of this story is like other reports about shards.

We worked with Michael Finley​ and others that were in Quincy, Il. The shard had a great battle, but they were able to get it to us by 1am Thursday morning. Sir David, K Treasures and Chet Nachtmann were on site to help build a nice little nest for the shard to move around in so we had time to work out our next move.

Jon Davis, Jason Frank, Holly Henry and Raven Nacht were able to watch it at the 1pm checkpoint. Finally, at the 7pm checkpoint with additional help from Jason Renfrow and Amanda Nachtmann, the shard was moved.

However this where the story really takes a whole new meaning, and reminds me why I love to do this.

Our shard was linked from Missouri to Iowa. However, the link was thrown by the daughter of Chet and Amanda, named Lena. Lena is blind. Obviously, I don’t know about every place in the world, but I have never heard of a blind person playing the game, let alone linking. Not to mention that she is very young, and also its a shard, so there was some added pressure.

Chet and Amanda work with Lena on her iPad and Ingress is one fun way that they can teach her how to use technology in a world that is becoming such that you HAVE to use technology, but yet can also have fun doing it. They use braille on top of the outer case so she can know where to press. They have used apps and software that read things back on the screen. They have used hand in hand motion to show her where things are at on the screen

To give you some perspective (at the permission, and behest of Chet and Amanda), Lena and her sister were adopted from Ukraine 2 years ago. Struggling daily with these issues, Ingress has become a way for the girls to learn, and bond, with their parents.

Seeing all the congratulatory comm bombs from people across the country made Lena feel quite special. The day ended with a fly over from the stealth bombers close by (totally planned). This game certainly has its flaws. Those of us that watch closely, see them all over. Its hard to go a while without reading something here and there…and many times they are right.

But where this games succeeds is the community it has the potential to build. Kansas City Resistance has been so very lucky to have had such a great community for so long. We arent without our flaws, but its days like today that remind me of the great things a game like this can give us.

A young blind girl was able to move a shard today. And now, thanks to many nice people, she feels very special. And our community came together, even in a small fashion, to allow it to happen. It also made for a moment that she and her family could have fun and she could just be a kid playing a game, and not have to think about everything else she deals with.

So next time you are bickering about why you don’t have a farm, or why this portal didn’t get destroyed, or any number of things that you may fight over, take a moment and remember the good it can do. Find a way to be good. Use the power of your community to help someone that has real needs.

An additional thanks to Andrew Buter, James Skivers, Kain Banfordand, Just D for the intel. Thanks to David Dellsperger for helping with keys. Thanks to Jerry Heiselman Jenn Ferson, Matt Urich, Aaron Vose​ and others.


If you’d like your report to be added to tomorrow’s update, submit it to this form.

Thanks to Thrakazog for the Shard tracking map and Marwan Sbitani for collecting the data for the map.