One of the security measures for pretty much every Matrix node is “Trigger or cancel an alert.” I’m having a little difficulty wrapping my head around this one.
Alerts are referenced elsewhere in the Matrix moves section. For the Login move, an alert specifically advances a clock, but in the Compromise Security move it leaves the effects of an alert undefined. The section on alerts and traces basically says that alerts are alerts and will get something’s attention.
It sounds to me more like the soft move of announcing that something is on its way to the hacker. So just play it by ear and just do what sounds good at the time?
Also, under specialised ICE the Code Wall is listed as a blue ICE that just spams sever a connection over and over. It’s a blue ICE, so it only executes one routine at a time. However under alerts and traces, a successful trace is given as a requirement for executing the sever connection routine. Is a trace needed to sever or not?
I usually have alerts raise a relevant clock, but you’re right that it might depend on the fiction and sometime a softer move might be appropriate.
A successful trace is required for severing a connection, but they need not happen as a result of the same roll. Once the Code Wall (for example) knows where you live, it doesn’t stop knowing where you live until something changes (like you move, or you take some action to reboot the ICE or confuse the server). When the Blue ICE next has a chance to choose a routine, it can sever your connection then… or do something nastier.