Noise is a Runner whose ability states:
Whenever you install a virus program, the Corp trashes the top card of R&D.
Can the Corp and/or the runner look at that card? Is the card trashed face up or face down?
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1Title makes it look like this belongs on Serverfault. :)– Gordon GustafsonCommented Apr 7, 2013 at 1:19
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Any corp card that is trashed (outside of access) is trashed in the same condition it was in. If it was inactive (face-down) it is in archives face down.– AndrewCommented Jan 8, 2018 at 16:36
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2 Answers
I'll start by saying that Fantasy Flight Games has never officially commented on this, but there are a few threads on both their forums and Board Game Geek that come to the same conclusion.
The top card of the R&D gets trashed face down. This thread on Board Game Geek comes to this conclusion based on a few sections of the rules:
Page 6 talks about cards going into the Archives face up or face down. Notice this also addresses whether the Corp can look at face-down cards in their Archives.
Some cards enter Archives faceup, and some cards enter Archives facedown. Facedown cards in Archives should be oriented horizontally so that the Runner can easily see them. Both the Corporation and Runner may look through the faceup cards stored in Archives at any time, and do not need to maintain the order of its cards while doing so. The Corporation can also look at the facedown cards in Archives at any time; the Runner cannot.
On page 13:
When installing a card in a server, the Corporation can first trash any cards already installed in that server. Trashed cards go to Archives faceup if they are rezzed, and facedown if they are unrezzed.
User Mat Nowak concludes
[A]s you can see from all this, cards trashed by Noise's ability enter the Archives face down in a horizontally oriented pile. (This is because the card in question enters the Archives from an unrezzed state).
Other users in that BGG thread tend to agree with him. This is also discussed at the Fantasy Flight Games forum here, and users tend to agree that although there's no actual rule for this, it is the logical way to handle the Noise virus.
The way it looks like it should be handled in all situations based on the page 13 rule: If the runner knows what the card is when it goes to the Archives, it goes in face up; otherwise it is face down. Also remember that cards that are face down in the Archives are turned horizontal so the Runners knows if there are cards they haven't seen in there.
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The general rule surfaced after recent discussion about Keyhole, but it doesn't seem to have made it into the FAQ yet. Cards trashed by the Corp go facedown, while cards trashed by the runner go faceup. Noise's ability states "the Corp trashes", so cards trashed in this way go facedown. Commented Mar 4, 2014 at 5:44
The effect does not reveal the card to the Runner, so the Runner does not see it. Because the Runner does not see it, it is trashed face-down.
The Corp is always allowed to look at all cards in Archives, whether they are face-up or face-down. Because this includes immediately after the card is trashed, the Corp player may as well look at it as they move it to Archives.