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A Pomodoro timer for people who find cozy apps alienating. Work focused sessions. Contribute Compute to your Operator's operations on DARKGRID. Build your Signal Strength. Find out what's really running on the network.
You have a Node. I have operations that need Compute. Don't go offline.
What is this
You don't play Grind.exe. You work, and your work becomes the fuel. IC runs operations in the background. As your Signal Strength climbs, IC pulls you further into what's actually happening on the network.
DARKGRID is a distributed network where Operators run hacks, extractions, and covert operations using Compute contributed by connected Nodes. You are a Node.
Your first Operator is IC-BR34KR. Every focus session you complete routes Compute and Signal toward their active operations on the network. The more consistently you work, the more IC can do.
Grind.exe is your interface: a Pomodoro focus timer that tracks your sessions, rewards your consistency, and keeps you plugged in to an unfolding story running across DARKGRID.
A distributed infrastructure running beneath commercial networks. Operators use it to execute operations that require distributed compute pooled across connected Nodes.
Your first assigned Operator. IC directs your Compute toward their active operations on DARKGRID. Their objectives shift as ops progress. IC does not explain themselves upfront.
Every session you run contributes Compute and signal to IC's operations. You are one of several Nodes IC runs. Your Node Uptime streak determines how useful you are to the op. Go dark and IC routes around you.
What you get
A layered cyberpunk scene you work inside, not in front of. Rain-slick city views, ambient parallax, IC seated at the terminal across from you. Built to feel like somewhere worth being at 2am.
Scene EngineSessions award Compute toward your Signal Strength level. Hold your Node Uptime streak for multipliers. Spend DARKNODE Bits on cosmetics, a Callsign, and a Sprite for your Node, or put them up as collateral on high-risk operations to build trust with IC. Nothing drops without work.
Progression LoopIC observes your sessions and routes dispatches back to your Node. Story beats surface as you hit milestones, hold streaks, and push Signal Strength. Occasionally IC will ask for your input on an operation. Build enough trust and the dispatches get less transactional.
Companion SystemYour objective queue for the session. Persists across sessions so nothing falls through.
Persistent scratchpad tied to your Node. Auto-saves. Follows your account.
Deadline view across your active Directives. No calendar overhead.
How it works
Start a session (25 min, customizable). Your Operator goes quiet. Node Uptime clock starts.
Work. Use Directives Array and NodeLog. Don't break the timer.
Compute and Bits drop alongside each other. Node Uptime advances. IC dispatches.
Signal Strength climbs. Bits unlock content. IC reveals more.
How the story works
Your work fuels IC's operations. As your Signal Strength climbs, IC pulls you deeper. Some beats ask you to make a call — what you choose shapes what comes next.
IC needs to extract a corporate contact from inside a Zephyr Industries datacenter. IC has a route in but not enough signal to hold it open long enough to move them. Your sessions boost the signal.
Asset holds coordinates for three dark DARKGRID nodes Zephyr doesn't know are compromised. Extraction requires 8 seconds of clean channel hold. Your Node Uptime determines whether that window stays open.
IC makes contact after your first completed session. Tells you nothing about what they're running. Keep your Node online and your sessions clean.
IC reveals the operation. A contractor inside Zephyr's hardened Sector 4 facility needs pulling out. The exfil window is narrow. IC needs sustained signal from your Node to hold the route open long enough to move them.
Zephyr has rotated their intrusion detection. IC has two routes. One is slower but low risk. The other is fast but cuts through an active security node. IC puts the call to you. High-risk ops can be backed with DARKNODE Bits as collateral, boosting IC's confidence in the route.
The operation resolves based on your call. IC pulls the contact or doesn't. Either way, IC debriefs you on what the contact was carrying and what DARKGRID has been using it for. Arc 02 picks up from here.
Story beats surface as you work. No reading required. Just log on.
The operation doesn't run without your Compute. Start your first session and find out what DARKGRID is actually for.