The night was always loud here. Didn\u2019t matter which part of the week, because the cube gave people reasons to show up. It wasn\u2019t as big as the multi-tier concourse a few blocks away. That\u2019s why people rushed to it even before the doors opened. Only so many could fit inside. Once it hit capacity, the doors were shut right behind the last person in. There wasn\u2019t any point in waiting in a line outside. No one wanted to leave until after the event was over. By that time, there was no reason to enter the cube. Had to wait until the next night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For now, Caleb strolled along a sidewalk of a street five blocks away. He wasn\u2019t in a hurry. Couldn\u2019t be with so many people brushing against his shoulders when they passed by. He was aware of those random bumps that were intentional. It was okay, though, because the deck he was carrying was installed into his torso armor. Carbon fiber material, three layers, tiny bearings scattered throughout the joints making it flex along with his skin. Not hard enough to stop a bullet, but that wasn\u2019t why he was wearing it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His deck was like angel hair noodles lacing throughout the middle layer, which was filled with charged gel. Battery and hardware merged into one. Those transparent wires plugged into the nodes fastened like hot spots along the outer layer\u2026which he was covering with his jacket.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some of those intentionally bumping into him might have suspected he was protected, but they couldn\u2019t help themselves. The only way to find out was to commit. The beauty of it was he didn\u2019t even have to give a command. Any hacking attempt passing from their shoulder to his would meet those nodes, which recognized an attack when it came. Yet, any probe or virus or bot would be met with a reflexive trip from the node, kicking in a simple counter attack from the deck. The result was a pop of electricity sent into the intruder\u2019s muscle. The amount of volts sent was always random. The intruder would feel something like a needle piercing them and was suddenly plagued with what might have been put into their bloodstream, or an annoying spasm would take control, forcing them to find a chance to leave the sidewalk before they accidentally smacked the wrong person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To add to their dilemma, their own deck or chip insert would start feeding them a bunch of glitches. Depending on which sense they were using to keep up with their programs, they\u2019d hear static or see it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Caleb was wondering what static would smell like. He\u2019d heard of operating systems programmed that way, but they weren\u2019t his style. Anyway, he could have inflicted worse consequences, but he hadn\u2019t put on his other decks fixed with lethal outputs. There was something else he had to accomplish. The gel could last for hours if all he wanted to do was shove in the face would-be hackers their attempts at stealing his personal data or alter his mood with some static-based enzyme programmed to go after the right part of his brain. No, he needed every bit of his gel\u2019s charge to catch and release some files, and even though they were going to arrive in compressed form, they were still going to be huge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite the surrounding murmurs and conversations, he was still aware of the roar of the crowd from inside the cube. Its walls were several layers thick. He didn\u2019t care about the specs at the moment. After all, who hadn\u2019t passed that info along? Anyone with plans to do something with it were limited. More than likely, they would sell it to someone who quickly found out their strategy to breech the cube\u2019s walls never had a chance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Apparently, though, his contact was convinced she had found a way. In order to find out if she was someone a whole lot of people will soon try to locate or just another poor soul with a strategy doomed to fail from before the concept stages, he had to stand in the right spot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cShe said five blocks out,\u201d he muttered to himself, blending in with just about everyone along the sidewalk, \u201cand near any hub.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was why he was walking toward a popular avenue known for its food trucks and little hole-in-the-wall pubs. He knew what she meant about a hub. It wasn\u2019t because a lot of people passed through there out of convenience, but when he looked up, he grinned at the gobs of wires that produced a constant fog along the second and third floors of the buildings walling this area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Creating their own routes and paths through the air, sometimes attaching to the outer walls of any nearby building, even choosing to climb higher to reach the roof, they all would find their way to a central line that grew the more they bonded with it. He knew where they were the thickest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yes, he knew things like that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Which was why he was choosing to leave the sidewalk before he reached the corner of the intersection ahead. Dashing to the left, pushing through an old iron gate that whined on its hinges, he entered a stairwell. The wooden risers creaked and sounded hollow with every hurried step he took, having to keep his eyes trained on a painfully bright bluish neon light fixture attached to the wall at the top. The smudgy metal of the elevator doors to his immediate right absorbed the glow as a splattered fuzz. Putting a long dark hallway to his back, he pressed the button which slid the doors open. He stepped inside the faded interior before they finished parting. Jabbing the button to close them, he faced the hallway, thinking he might have seen someone slumped against one of the doors before the view was cut off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
All the way at the top, he stepped out onto the roof, aware of the sound of an acoustic guitar somewhere nearby. Glimpsing a group of people directly ahead, all of them gathering around what looked like a bunch of junk that was just set on fire, or those flames were coming out of some small container, he turned to circle around the top of the elevator shaft and headed for the edge of the building.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The popular avenue was below, but there would never be a seamless view of it from here. Not with the jumbles of cables and wires creating some sort of mid-air grid. So many of them were routing from the surrounding buildings to meet right next to Caleb. At his left was a box someone established whenever. It housed all the cables and wires that facilitated this block and several more beyond. Since then, the new arrivals had to just wrap around the box or lay on top of it. Together, they worked to get their feed to matter with those inside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He wasn\u2019t the first to come up here and tap into the mess. A laptop lay next to the base, still open, the screen dark and cracked, the letters on the keys all but vanished, every surface discolored or scratched. No doubt it was emptied by the person using it to be left as a decoy while they got away. The cable they had used to connect it to the hub was still attached. There was even a handheld reader lying useless next to the laptop. Someone else had tied it into the laptop\u2019s cable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He didn\u2019t have to connect with wires.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Facing the hub, he spotted the cube at a distance. Its walls vibrated with the crowds inside, and those frequencies road the air like old radio waves, effecting his eardrums. He sat down and crossed his legs, letting the hub of wires encompass his vision. He placed himself close enough that he didn\u2019t have to reach far with his right hand. Resting his palm against the nearest wire, he gripped it and let the node on the inside of his carbon fiber glove open a way for his deck to connect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He grinned before he said, \u201cI\u2019m in.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s the password?\u201d<\/em> she responded. Her voice was translated through the deck, resonated in the gel, and wirelessly broadcast to his earpiece.<\/p>\n\n\n\n His grin stretched, more out of being a little surprised that she told the truth about being there than having to give the password. \u201cYour favorite racer. Sir Splatter.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhy are you laughing?\u201d<\/em> she snickered, \u201cThink it\u2019s a cheesy name?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWould you call this whole thing off if I said yes?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHey, everyone has their favorite.\u201d<\/em> She said. \u201cBesides, you aren\u2019t even into the races, as I recall. So I won\u2019t hold it against you.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut you are,\u201d he said, \u201cand that\u2019s why you\u2019re doing this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat\u2019s definitely why I\u2019m doing this!\u201d<\/em> She cheered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHave you even started penetrating the cube\u2019s defensive layers yet?\u201d he asked \u201cOr were you waiting on me?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m actually in the middle of doing that right now.\u201d<\/em> She said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n His grin shrank some. \u201cAs in, you\u2019ve breached the outer perimeter already?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWould you believe me if I said yes?\u201d<\/em> she asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNo way.\u201d He responded. \u201cI\u2019d definitely want to see proof. And that\u2019s not me trying to snoop or get you to give your location away. That\u2019s just something anyone would want to see. The outer perimeter alone is a maze that, at best, throws the person back out. At worst, it holds them in place until the authorities arrive.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOh, I had to fight through that numbing web agent,\u201d<\/em> she huffed, \u201cbut instead of trying to cut it like I\u2019ve heard so many others do\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cGetting themselves further entangled.\u201d He stated and then chuckled, \u201cEven sleepier.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cRight, but I fooled the web.\u201d<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFooled it.\u201d he said, curious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou see, there\u2019s a small window of time right as the agent engages before a person gets trapped.\u201d<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYeah, but,\u201d he said, his smile gone now, \u201cfrom what I\u2019ve heard, this window you talk about can\u2019t be, what\u2026like\u2026?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cA quarter of a second.\u201d<\/em> She giggled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou timed it?\u201d he gasped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNo<\/em>. I had to glance back at my logs after I was past the outer perimeter.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n He blinked, \u201cOkaaaay, so\u2026you said you fooled it?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYep!\u201d<\/em> she squeaked, \u201cI let it catch me, but as soon as it did, I counteracted the sleepy part and just let myself fall under the perimeter.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWait,\u201d he said, \u201ccounteracted. What do you mean? Surely not sedatives. You\u2019d have to go in with them already in your system.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYeah, and I\u2019d be too drowsy to do anything.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSo, instead of accidentally giving yourself away\u2026\u201d he began, and then paused for her to finish his sentence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI threw myself off the top of a building right as I attacked the outer wall.\u201d<\/em> She laughed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n His brow furrowed, \u201cBut instead of falling to your death, you\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOh, I had it all planned out.\u201d<\/em> She explained. \u201cI didn\u2019t even fall far. The idea was to hang up-side-down just long enough for all the blood to go to my head. You know what I\u2019m talking about, right? You get all dizzy and stuff?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n His eyebrows went up, \u201cAre you telling me that just a little bit of dizziness\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWas enough to trick the web into thinking I was already hit with the agent,\u201d <\/em>she snickered, \u201cso it wasn\u2019t triggered. And, like I fell physically, I fell underneath the web and landed on top of the middle layer.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cUnbelievable.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut true!\u201d <\/em>she cheered. \u201cAnd to keep it convinced, I\u2019m still hanging up-side-down. So, let\u2019s get this over with, huh? I don\u2019t want a headache.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cRiiiiight.\u201d He sighed. \u201cWell, it\u2019s all on you still. You gotta get past that middle layer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd I think I\u2019m almost through.\u201d<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n He paused to think, \u201cSo\u2026if the agent hasn\u2019t been triggered\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou\u2019re a fast learner!\u201d <\/em>she said. \u201cThat\u2019s right! A false alarm means the second layer isn\u2019t on high alert!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd so\u2026\u201d he ventured, \u201c\u2026you think the third layer is gonna act the same way?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m hoping I can sit right there just inside the third layer, actually.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut wait,\u201d he began, \u201chow are you going to connect with your racer?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m gonna make it think I\u2019m an advertisement.\u201d<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n He squinted, \u201cYou\u2019re serious.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAlready got the sensorium mask in place.\u201d<\/em> She said. \u201cJust waiting till I get to that third layer.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI hope you don\u2019t hold it against me for asking how you\u2019re managing to do that.\u201d He chuckled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m only going to tell you because we\u2019re partners for this gig.\u201d<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHow noble of you.\u201d He said, grinning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She giggled. \u201cWell, it\u2019s kind of like a dance.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cA dance.\u201d He echoed, waiting for her to explain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI picture the defenses as a set of bracelets.\u201d <\/em>She explained. \u201cOr like rotating gears with teeth. There are gaps or little extensions on each one.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cLike teeth?\u201d he offered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYeah! Like teeth!\u201d<\/em> she said, \u201cSo there are combinations depending on where they are next to one another while the gears or bracelets turn. But I figured out they have a rhythm. Something you could actually dance to! So, that\u2019s what I\u2019m doing.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cUh huh.\u201d He said. Then after a pause, he asked, \u201cThat mean you can dance in real life or are you limited to digital?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHeh. It might be fun for you to find out one day.\u201d<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n He laughed back, \u201cYeah right. Chances are, we\u2019ll never hear from each other again after this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTrue.\u201d<\/em> She said, \u201cSo, in light of that, why don\u2019t I paint a picture for you.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cA picture?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOf me dancing.\u201d<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n He smiled, \u201cOh yeah? How are you gonna do that?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBy sending you the feed in real time.\u201d<\/em> She answered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n His eyebrows went up again, \u201cWait. For real?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou got your goggles on?\u201d <\/em>she asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He looked down and slipped his hand inside his coat. \u201cMight as well put them on now, huh?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cGotta be ready to verify the data, right?\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n For this job, he packed his smaller goggles. They were basically two lenses embedded into separate carbon fiber sockets attached to a thin rubber strap. He stretched it just enough to slip the sockets over his eyes and then tapped the unseen button on the side of the left one. His momentary blindness was replaced by a dim green screen. He chose this setting so it would be pleasant on his eyes. The readout scrawling in the middle was moving so fast he couldn\u2019t read it, but he knew all that was happening was a connection was being made with the sockets and his deck. Once that was established, the menu for his deck\u2019s OS was laid out before his eyes: icons and labels he custom made and arranged for his convenience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOkay.\u201d He said. \u201cI\u2019m ready. Guess this will be our test run for the route.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIndeed.\u201d<\/em> She said. \u201cI\u2019m sending the feed now. Just look for my icon to pop up.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYour icon, huh?\u201d he snickered lightly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The folder that held the software working his connection through the hub was already highlighted. It flashed, and he heard a ding from his earpiece. Tapping the outside of the left lens where the folder sat on the green screen, it opened and spread rows upon rows of files across his vision. There at the top left corner, he saw a depiction of an anime girl\u2019s head with cat ears. Snorting through his nose, he reached up to tap his lens again and asked, \u201cGuess I should attach it to the video streamer, huh?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou\u2019re a good guesser.\u201d<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n Pressing his finger to the outside of the lens, the catgirl icon was highlighted. He moved his finger across the lens, placing the icon over the one for his streaming program. Pulling his finger away, the catgirl icon disappeared. The streaming player opened to spread across his vision. At first, all he saw was the menu bar at the bottom. A second later, the black screen flashed, and he jerked back, placing a hand along the rooftop to brace himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He wasn\u2019t looking at a set of rings like she described. There were multiple lines stretching horizontally across the screen. They were designated from one another by different colors, and they were moving to the left. Not all at once. He didn\u2019t bother trying to count how many lines there were, but if he had to guess, there were over fifteen. The only way he could tell they were moving was by watching the gaps between them shifting to the left.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These were the spaces between the teeth. All of varying sizes. They would move several paces and then stop while others moved. It was so much to keep up with, but he watched her do it. There she was in the very center of the screen. A transparent outline of a girl with cat ears and even a tail. To make herself contrast against the collage of colors moving behind her, she was a pale white shade. The only details he was given of her were the contours of her figure. The face of the icon he saw before wasn\u2019t there. He wasn\u2019t even given simple facial features.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There was no time for that anyway. She was moving. Back and forth. Side to side. Her hips kept a steady tempo that he was surprised to find out was in perfect step with the moving lines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSo, you figured it out.\u201d He whispered a gasp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cLook at me go!\u201d <\/em>she cheered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not only were her hips moving, but her feet would lift from the bottom of the screen and stomp back down, landing inside one of the gaps. From there, she would hop to the other side of the screen, her arm stretching out so she could latch onto a gap along one of the upper lines. She would pause sometimes, but her hips never stopped moving. Never lost the beat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He watched this, trying to find a pattern. When he thought he did, he voiced his findings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSo, you\u2019re\u2026the gaps you\u2019re accessing, they\u2019re all the same size. In every line. What\u2019s up? The others are no good?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNot one gap is the same size in all the lines,\u201d <\/em>she explained, \u201cexcept for the ones I go for.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHuh! How long did it take you to figure that out?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou really wanna know?\u201d<\/em> she asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He slumped, \u201cEh, not really. But, wow, just this feed alone, do you realize how much you could sell this for?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI might consider it.\u201d<\/em> she said, her figure hopping to the right side of the screen to place her foot into one of the specific gaps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He noticed, too, that she was going for those gaps right as the lines were about to stop. Thus, her tempo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou\u2019re totally recording this.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTotally,\u201d <\/em>She said, \u201cbut the big fish is why we\u2019re here.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cRight.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBesides,\u201d <\/em>she continued, \u201ceven if this layer looks complicated, in the end, it\u2019s just formatted like an old-fashioned combination lock. Instead of rolling the right numbers in place or having the right key, I\u2019m just passing through the right holes when they line up just right.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThey line up when they stop, don\u2019t they?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat\u2019s it!\u201d<\/em> she cheered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He snickered, \u201cAnd I bet you\u2019re not even working up a sweat.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNah,\u201d <\/em>she said, \u201cjust sick of hanging up-side-down.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDon\u2019t want to risk righting yourself?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCan\u2019t.\u201d<\/em> she said. \u201cToo focused on this.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Understandable, he thought. At the same time, he figured she was just as distracted by the visuals as he was. For him, at least, it was entertaining.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWonder how long the combination is.\u201d He muttered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI can see the end.\u201d<\/em> She said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cReally?!\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIn the meantime,\u201d<\/em> she continued, \u201chave your deck space open. Once I\u2019m on the third layer, it\u2019ll only be a few moments until I\u2019m connected to Sir Splatter.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n He started tapping the outside of the left lens again when he asked, \u201cSo, you must\u2019ve done some actual recon while watching the races.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHad to.\u201d <\/em>She said. \u201cNothing replaces actually being there, but for those of us who can only pay for bottom tier tickets, we get what we can see from where we\u2019re sitting. Those top tier tickets\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSo, you found a way to hack into those first-person feeds.\u201d He said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis will be my first time seeing the race through the eyes of Sir Splatter himself!\u201d <\/em>she squealed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd you want to share the experience with others.\u201d He chuckled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFor a price, yeah!\u201d<\/em> she laughed. \u201cOkay! Only two more gaps! You ready?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cReady on my end.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI bet once you see the feed yourself, you\u2019ll become a fan.\u201d<\/em> She offered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHeh. I\u2019ll admit.\u201d He said. \u201cIt\u2019ll feel high class.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHa!\u201d<\/em> she barked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The number of lines hadn\u2019t changed on the screen, and they were still moving to the left. Her hips were still bouncing from side to side. She leaped from the left side of the screen to place her foot in one of the gaps along a lower line. A beat later, she stretched her body and reached upward to touch a gap sliding into place right above her head. With both extremities in place, her figure flashed and then faded away. All the lines paused and then swept out of view.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What replaced them was a moving puzzle of ads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bots boasting of their product. Taglines from several brands. Recorded commercial segments. Flashing icons wanting someone to click them. Posters of rock bands. Contests to win tickets to the next race. Then there was an animation of a familiar catgirl icon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou see me?\u201d<\/em> she asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The icon looped a quick segment of the catgirl\u2019s ears twitching out and in while her nose moved upward and back down. At the same time, her eyes squinted and then relaxed. Yet, when his contact spoke, he saw the catgirl\u2019s mouth move.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Grinning, he answered, \u201cYeah. I see you. What does MuttofDeeta mean? That\u2019s not your actual handle, is it? I thought you were a cat.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNo way!\u201d <\/em>she laughed. \u201cIt\u2019s just gibberish.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cGotcha.\u201d he chuckled. \u201cFigured you wouldn\u2019t give yourself away like that, but I had to make sure.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNaturally.\u201d<\/em> She responded. \u201cJust pretend I\u2019m promoting dog food.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSure.\u201d He snickered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOkay! Eeeeee! Are you ready?\u201d<\/em> she squealed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He chuckled again. \u201cAlready told you I was. The question is, are you? Think you\u2019ll be able to stop yourself from fangirling once you tap into the feed?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cGotta be honest!\u201d <\/em>she answered, \u201cI might not be able to control myself! If you hear a lot of squealing, that\u2019s definitely all me!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd not the crowd.\u201d He said. \u201cI gotcha.\u201d Then he paused before asking, \u201cOne thing: you\u2019ve heard the rumors, right?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAbout what?\u201d<\/em> she asked, her voice still energized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAbout how people have gotten this far before,\u201d he began, \u201cbut as soon as they try to connect, they get trapped in a whole other feed. It\u2019s twofold. Not a numbing agent like the first layer. It\u2019s a stimulant plus a visual feed to basically wrap your mind up until your physical location is pinpointed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOh I\u2019ve heard.\u201d<\/em> She said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He waited a moment, and then asked, \u201cAnd you\u2019re confident you\u2019ll succeed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cVery confident.\u201d<\/em> She said. \u201cJust you watch. Like you mentioned before: I did some recon.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n He started to object, \u201cJust one time isn\u2019t\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cEvery time I went.\u201d<\/em> She stopped him. \u201cI didn\u2019t miss a chance. I know how to do this.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n He slouched and let a smile settle over his face, \u201cWell. It\u2019s good you\u2019re giving me the real-time feed. This I gotta see.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cJust make sure you\u2019re ready.\u201d<\/em> She said, \u201cI\u2019ll start sending it just as I\u2019m receiving it.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cRoger that.\u201d He said. \u201cHas the race already started?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt just started.\u201d<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n He didn\u2019t see any of it, yet, of course. He might have heard a roar of the crowd from this distance, or that could be some combination of a few of the many automations moving throughout this district. What he had now was a sea of ads floating against each other, hardly having any room to go anywhere. Yet, her mock-up was moving through them, like a sheet of paper slipping between spaces nothing else could. He watched her, sometimes behind a group of the ads, sometimes in the forefront, not going in a straight line but zigzagging her way. Almost like she was having to choose her route carefully. Perhaps the layers meant something. Something like a cue. Those in the background were basically first in line while those in the forefront were last. He had to remind himself that he was looking at the outer surface of the third layer. Going deeper meant reaching the bottom. On the other side was the cube\u2019s interior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat are you looking for?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou could tell, huh?\u201d<\/em> she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cKind of.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis collection of ads is a database.\u201d<\/em> She explained. \u201cYou might not see them, I mean, the boundaries aren\u2019t exactly blatant, but these are actually segregated into groups.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n He snorted, \u201cNope. Can\u2019t see them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s part of the security.\u201d<\/em> She said, her icon slowing down. \u201cBut the ads are grouped together based on which terminal they\u2019ll be sent to.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou mean to which racer. Their live feed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cExactly.\u201d<\/em> She said. \u201cAnd I just found the group designated for Sir Splatter\u2019s terminal!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n He was glad she could, because all he saw was her icon stopping at a random point among the layers of ads. His attention was jerked back to the left when he thought he saw some other movement, but when he focused on where it should have taken place, he saw nothing but ads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAh!\u201d <\/em>she gasped. \u201cThey\u2019re already starting!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat is?\u201d he asked, and then noticed more movement. This time, however, there were several places he witnessed change. \u201cWait. The ads. They\u2019re\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou don\u2019t see them anymore, right?\u201d<\/em> she asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou mean ones that were there have disappeared.\u201d He said, wanting to make sure. \u201cThey\u2019re being sent to the terminals.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat\u2019s right!\u201d<\/em> she cheered. \u201cAnd I\u2019m about to piggyback on one of them.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n He smirked, \u201cThat how you\u2019re going to connect to the terminal?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou all set to record?\u201d <\/em>she asked. \u201cWe won\u2019t want to miss any of it! We\u2019ve already missed several minutes of the race already!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cGood thing they waste no time in displaying the ads early on.\u201d He snickered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cLucky for us!\u201d she cheered.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n His focus locked on her icon, a portion of it transparent because she had merged into one of the ads, he asked, \u201cOne last time. You know about the attack barrier you could trigger if you slip up, right? The web was one thing, but this far in, you don\u2019t\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOh!\u201d<\/em> she gasped, stopping him. \u201cI\u2019m going in! For real, this is happening!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n His eyes never left her icon, so he saw the moment it and the ad she was attached to shrank into nothing. Then the sea of ads rushed at him, disappearing, and he was seeing a black screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHey.\u201d He said. \u201cYou there?\u201d Her squeal had cut off when his visuals changed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They were still changing. Splotches of faded colors stumbled across the black, along with hints at audio frequencies. His deck was already open. The connection she threw out to him was secured. He was already recording.<\/p>\n\n\n\n More glitching graphics. Sputtering audio. And then he was heading into a sharp turn, steel barbs pointing inward from a concrete wall curving to the right. Something slid in from his peripheral on the left. A person or\u2026machine\u2026or perhaps that was just a lot of armor. Whatever it was, it was mangled now and tumbling along a sleek film below. The foundation rushing underneath the visuals glistened with the help from several light sources above, but that didn\u2019t matter, because that mangled body was crashing into all of those barbs, exploding into more pieces. The perspective turned more to the right to peer down the next stretch which was walled on either side by tall barricades. At their tops were security wiring angled inward, aiming to keep those below from getting out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The audio, surprisingly, was late to catch up, but as soon as it did, he flinched from the crashing metal, the whine of rubber against Teflon, the roar of a crowd, and the huffing and panting of someone close.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Very close.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The perspective jerked further to the right, marking some mechanical monstrosity so close its upper portions were out of frame. Before he could register much of its makeup, the perspective dashed to the left, marking a smaller framework of arms and legs, a head, and he figured that curved apparatus in the middle of it all was a torso of some sort. The head, a disk-shaped thing with what might have been a large protruding jaw, turned to look at him. The panting voice expelled a winded chuckle, and then looked ahead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI did it!\u201d<\/em> came a familiar voice. \u201cI\u2019m in! I\u2019m totally in! Sir Splatter up close and personal like nothing else!\u201d <\/em>She was laughing now. \u201cYou\u2019re totally getting this, right? Tell me you\u2019re getting this!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n He sighed, \u201cOh, I\u2019m getting it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She might have heard him, but she was too busy squealing and gasping at what she was seeing\u2026and feeling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAre you?\u201d he asked, but she didn\u2019t respond. So he listened for a few more seconds, confirming her gasps and exhalations were actually matching the rhythm of the feed. \u201cI guess that means you are.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Reaching up, he pulled the goggles off. Not like he actually needed them. The feed was blank on his end. \u201cSo, I\u2019m guessing you found her the moment she connected her live feed, huh?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n A feminine chuckle came through his earpiece. \u201cYeah. Wasn\u2019t a problem at all.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCool.\u201d He said, leaning back and placing both his hands along the rooftop to brace himself. Tilting his head at an upward angle, he continued, \u201cConfirming on my end she\u2019s trapped. Got her in an autonomous lock feed. Broadcasting from my deck.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOh, I know. I\u2019m seeing it right now, actually.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPsh. Not like you really have to confirm it, Shell.\u201d He scoffed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTrue. I\u2019ve seen it before, just not with her mixed in.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n He lowered his head and shook it, \u201cReally? You can stomach that?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhy should you be embarrassed? She\u2019s having a good time.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n He leveled his gaze, squinting at what she just said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Since he didn\u2019t respond, she continued in a playful tone, \u201cYou\u2019re thinking of recruiting her, aren\u2019t you? Why else would you have your face on the guy\u2019s body? Very clever.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cUg.\u201d He groaned, letting his chin drop to his chest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s all about how someone makes you feel, right? Even after she finds out it\u2019s not real, she\u2019s gonna remember that face. So, you lied about never meeting her again after this so-called gig.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n He brought his knees up, leaned forward and rested his forearms across them. \u201cKind of figured you\u2019d want some revenge, too. After all, she got through your first two barrier mazes. How many hackers have you heard of that have been able to see the combination sequence of the second layer? The only time she had to figure it out was when she reached it. Plus, she figured out she could piggyback from the third layer into any of the terminals. Had to have put things together after her recon from inside the cube. All those rumors, too. That\u2019s how she found out about the ads popping up in the lower lefthand corner of the feeds.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOkay, fine. But I\u2019m not jealous about that.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n She chuckled, \u201cYou know full well I\u2019ve had to look at your attack barriers just so I could match its lines to the system.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYeah, yeah,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou ignored the first part of what I said.\u201d <\/em>Shell scolded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHuh? What part?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAbout me getting jealous.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cUm\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She cut him off, \u201cI didn\u2019t watch your generic feed, you know. That one\u2019s plugged straight into the cube. But don\u2019t think you can hide your autonomous versions from me.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Uh oh, he thought.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Shell laughed, \u201cYeah, you\u2019re not the only one who has it. If I wanted to, I could alter the program right now. It wouldn\u2019t be your face she would see.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI uh\u2026\u201d he tried again, but she cut him off once more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cShe\u2019s made it to the part where she\u2019s looking back at you while she\u2019s grabbing onto your wrist. I think it\u2019s cute how she has to follow along with your script. She won\u2019t be embarrassed until after it\u2019s over. Your generic attacks are for those you want to put away, but this one\u2026admit it. You\u2019re gonna recruit her.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n He sighed, \u201cI\u2019ve still got some questions for her.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd I bet with the lingering effects on her senses,\u201d <\/em>Shell said, \u201cand the residue of the feed acting like a personal memory? She\u2019d be willing to cooperate.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cEither that or I let the feed go viral.\u201d He said. \u201cShe\u2019ll only have the embarrassment in her hacker communities to deal with. It\u2019ll be harder for her to get another job for a while. Her only real option is to work for me now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou thinking I might blackmail you the same way?\u201d <\/em>Shell asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPsh! Please.\u201d He chuckled, \u201cLike the rest of the staff would actually care what\u2019s on the feed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m not so sure.\u201d<\/em> Shell warned playfully, \u201cAfter all. I was interested.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n He huffed, \u201cYeah, you totally sound like you\u2019re trying to blackmail me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOoooh, don\u2019t be like that.\u201d<\/em> She cooed. \u201cI only have a copy, and it\u2019s not like I\u2019m gonna share it with anybody else. It\u2019s aaaaall mine.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cGonna wipe her memory then?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHmmmm.\u201d <\/em>Shell hummed, \u201cMaybe after you recruit her.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNot sure you\u2019d be doing me a favor there.\u201d He said, getting to his feet. \u201cI need her to stay compliant.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Shell laughed, \u201cWell, our guys are on location. They\u2019re pulling her up from the side of a building now.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHow close is she?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTo you or the cube?\u201d<\/em> Shell asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe cube.\u201d He said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSector SU.\u201d<\/em> Shell answered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe stacks?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYep.\u201d <\/em>Shell said. \u201cThey got the van below.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cRoger that.\u201d He said. \u201cI\u2019m heading back to the cube, then.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tobey Truestory is a speculative fantasy and sci fi storyteller. Always writing. Can’t stop writing.\u00a0 Lover of manga and anime. Always listening to electronic music because it keeps him daydreaming.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The night was always loud here. Didn\u2019t matter which part of the week, because the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":74,"featured_media":100043044,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,3292],"tags":[6,227,539],"class_list":["post-100043042","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-fiction","tag-cyberpunk","tag-fiction","tag-hacker"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.neondystopia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100043042","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.neondystopia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.neondystopia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neondystopia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/74"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neondystopia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=100043042"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.neondystopia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100043042\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":100043052,"href":"https:\/\/www.neondystopia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100043042\/revisions\/100043052"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neondystopia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/100043044"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.neondystopia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=100043042"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neondystopia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=100043042"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neondystopia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=100043042"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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