Ch 13 How not to woo a hacker
On another side of the Playground, a woman in a breathing mask stomped and stumbled around the new area, spewing cusses like a broken faucet. “ What the fuck, what the fuck?”, screamed Angie as she slipped on the mud near a puddle. “What the fuck is this green shit everywhere?! Why is it so soft?!”
Every turn she took was like a trapeze challenge, trying to walk straight had become an arduous task. Tiny flying creatures buzzed her ear and the miner’s attention slowly cracked under the immense world shift she just experienced. Whatever they prepared for her at the research station, it wasn’t this
To add insult to injury, her C.T.D disappeared into the weird scenery the second the two landed and left her to deal with the shift on her own.
-” Ok, OK, let’s try to make sense ofthi-”, Angie tried to piece together, but it was clear that something was missing. “The arena was supposed to be canyon filled millions of stalagmites- that what they always showed during the broadcasts-”
What Angie wasn’t aware of was that the live editing team did more than censor discussion- they could also modify details, backgrounds and other effects. Anything deemed by Brands as unnecessary for the public was removed and replaced with easier to understand elements. Plants and trees with weirdly shaped stone constructs, thrown away cables and destroyed parts of ancient objects.
-” Didn’t it look like the Underlevel? Am I going crazy or something?” Angie cursed, whined, and screamed internally, with her insults slowly turning toward her benefactor who chose the entry point to be ”this prebuild place- yeah, it must be some new, weird, testing area they finished for this R.O.C. It still sucks though! Do you hear me, Priya?! You suck at this whole thing; even gave me a defected C.T.D!”
Her rage was palpable enough to feed an actual fire and her first day was ruined, or at least that’s how she felt. It took her a few minutes of landscape re-decorating by thrashing around, and after a while she calmed down enough to swallow some soothing air through her mask.
Agiluf, her metallic companion,in fact kept an eye on her from a distance but ignored her cries for vengeance as it had another preoccupation. Ever since they landed, it scouted the area,frantically moving around and double-checking every corner, searching for something or someone. Only once they caught a weird signal did it return back to the miner to leave her even more in the dark about the situation.
Agiluf -” Patient Angie, please stay here and secure the area.” Before she could ask any questions, the little bot was already deep into the bushes, fleeing using a set of wheels that Angie wasn’t even aware that it was capable of.
Angie -” What?”, she asked, stupefied by the whole engagement.
Whatever signal the bot caught, it was weak and very easy to lose track of; both because of the surroundings and probably because whatever the source was didn’t want to be found. It went in a zig-zag for quite some time, as the thick brushes and slippery soil weren’t the best of friends to a small robot with city wheels. After a third stop, though, something weird made it halt before it could take another spin. A flurry of bullets pierced the ground near it, making a confetti parade out of the foliage and leaving a mist of dust lingering in the air. A warning shot meant to chase it away, but instead confirmed to Agiluf that the target was close, or at the least, which way it should go.
As if possessed by the bike of a stunt performer, it took a few wheelies backward and waited for the second barrage of bullets.”Approximately 5 seconds of cooldown required”, a margin that the bot confirmed as good enough. After it figured a pattern, it drove right through the dirty fog at full speed, passing through every scrub it could find to mask its approach before the third round started.
On the other side, a patient and C.T.D. were close to a river, with their backs to it and their face toward whatever was getting closer. Neither of them knew who nor what they took potshots at, but “making the first move gives you more opportunities to take the lead”, thought the patient, a girl wearing what appeared to be a custom-made jumpsuit, with cable termination coming out of it from multiple exits. On top of it, her long red hair was waved back, exposing a pair of goggles, connected to her robotic companion.
Her C.T.D. could have been mistaken for a hunched giant if seen from a distance with squinted eyes, but the closer you got to it, the more distinct their details got and the more otherworldly it’s custom model. The body resembled that of a brown, robotic big feline, like a lion or tiger, standing on its back legs, which were dwarfed in size by the arms. One of the massive trunks of a forearm supported its gorilla-like pose, while the other, fingerless arm was targeting the foliage and forest, charging, waiting, and aiming.
Enemy C.T.D -” Ready to fire again, miss. The target hasn’t stopped moving.” Their patient then lowered her arm straight down to give the signal, and the robot shot another flurry toward the upcoming Agiluf. It missed the little C.T.D. yet again, but the girl was only a bit ticked off by this, while she was frantically buttoning in the middle of the air. The cable glowed again, lighting up a thin yellow crystalline product that circled around a featureless head of the C.T.D.
Enemy patient – “Just keep it at a distance for a few more seconds, Sovereign”, she commanded. “The connection is almost established.”
The new barrage forced Agiluf to take a straight line, and right into the enemy’s trap, as the patient hacker managed to connect to the small robot and deactivate its wheels. The C.T.D. suddenly hit the brakes and stumbled at a considerable speed, sliding for about 8 to 9 meters right in front of Team 2.
-“ Established connection with the receiver for the message”, relayed Agiluf with the tone of a robo-caller. Sovereign tried to warn it not to make another move, but his companion, Syna, signaled to let it speak.
Syna -“ I saw something weird while tinkering around in there. Mainly, that this robot is not like the rest of you. I don’t think this one is a real C.T.D”. She then demanded Agiluf to tell her about the supposed message.
The small robot stood up without a hitch and pulled from inside its belly a communication device, like the ones used by the workers in the County. Except that this model was bulkier than the ones available on the market, with a less lavished design, made with efficiency in mind.
Agiluf -“ Please take hold of this high-distance calling device and reply to the call. It’s strong enough not to suffer any interference, and it can’t be traced. Unless actively looked for. This was intended for the patient Angie, but my updated mission is to give it to you.” Afterward, Agiluf left it on the ground in front of it and took a few steps backward.
Unsure of what to think, the girl asked Sovereign to point its head decoration towards the communicator, while she approached the matter with a more hands-on approach, trying different channels, and tinkering with it for a bit until an unfamiliar voice spoke.
???? -“ Hello. I am assuming that Agiluf found and made contact with you, Syna Ru’Dev?”, asked a woman from the other side. The voice, receiving only dead air and cold shoulders, tried all kinds of tactics to make the hacker reply. “Trying to temper with the Playground’s systems the moment you land? Impressive, but I guessed that would be your first move and how Agiluf found you out. Still, I’m very inspired by how you approach the R.O.C.”
A golden tongue was of no use if there were no ears to persuade, so the voice tried more compliments, then an ignored tamper tantrum and finally a desperate plea. Syna paid no mind to any of the attempts, not until she managed to unlock the holographic video option:
Syna -” Done. Now let’s see if this is who I think it is”. A video projection scattered on the ground later, and her interlocutor quickly adopted a miffed grimace to greet Team 2. “ Well, it’s not that big a surprise to see your virtual mug, since the little bot belongs to your team and whatnot. What do you want from me, Miss Priya?”, asked Syna, not up to playing any games she believed were transpiring here.
CEO Priya -” Wonderful…damn it. Have you at least disabled the cameras in the area?”, to which the hacker only raised her shoulders as if to say “Who knows”.
CEO Priya – “Well, our channels lost signals to the cameras from a landing place, (yours I presume) and surrounding area, so I would prefer to think that it was your doing. The stunt you pulled in the arena got my attention… Especially because, while skilled, you couldn’t have done it by yourself. Milla must be pulling a lot of strings to give you so many options, correct?”
Once more, Syna just acted ignorant but also poshly waved her fingers for the CEO to just continue talking.
CEO Priya -” Alright, here is the deal. You want to succeed your parents, or whatever Alvara and Robert are to you, right? I also have my plans for this year’s games, but you must know that the geezers will spoil our aspirations.” Priya tried to prod her a bit, trying to see if there was any point in taking the risk.
Syna was a bit intrigued by what she was trying to say, but to her head balance, Milla’s support counted way more than some conniving player like Priya.
Syna -” Well, for now, I achieved my objectives effectively through the number 2 Brand. So why would I trust anything you say? You, Robert, Alvara…and even Milla sadly, at the end of the day, are just different-colored threads of the same fabric. Sometime ago I learned that I can’t just unravel all of you at once. But replacing a thread won’t ruin the entire fabric. It’s difficult, but not impossible. It’s safer, less disruptive!”, she said with a trace of conceitedness in it.
Instead of indignation, as Syna expected to receive, or even an arrogant grandstanding, the hacker was treated with laughter. Priya bit her lip at the end of the laugh, unable to contain her disdain for what she saw as misguided naivete;
CEO Priya -” Another one, huh?”, she bit her lip again, trying to suppress the sudden venom boiling inside her. “So you are the new one that will change the system from the inside?”, she then simulated a bow.” Oh, we waited for so long for you to come, finally everything will change because the one is here!” The CEO’s tone had a sense of pity, but also melancholy to it while ranting to the hacker.
Syna managed to grasp only the pity part of the clear insults, unable or unwilling to grasp the CEO’s intent. “ Yeah, and what of it? Listen lady, don’t know what your problem is but how you get to the point before I report you Milla.”
Priya sighed, and to Syna’s surprise agreed with her. “You are correct, I should drop it. Alright, back to business then, like usual.” She then tilted her head, narrowed her gaze and dressed up in her usual persona.” From your words at the arena, I assume you learned what the C.T.Ds are, right? Either from Milla or on your own? If the first, why do you believe she told you the whole truth about it?”
It took the hacker a few moments to adjust her frame of mind, with a bit of help and encouraging words from her C.T.D. The weird feline knew precisely how to get her back to a level where she could equally converse with the CEO.
Sovereign -” Miss, remember that once you become a CEO, you will have to deal with this” the C.T.D then waved at Priya-” from time to time. Take this as a training opportunity and learn.”
After thanking them, Syna thought about Priya’s words and figured that something didn’t add up.
Syna -” No, I never believed it, but the same goes for you. You come here with a remote drone disguised as a C.T.D., trying to…I don’t even know what you want. Oh, I know, let’s start from there. You want my trust, behave like what your profession entails, sell me on it, and give me a reason to listen to you. What are you planning, miss Priya?”
Right before she could answer, a ruffle from the bushes took the group by surprise. Up until then, Angie hid and listened in, thinking that spying was the better option but the bickering got on her nerves.
Angie – “ Yeah, tell her boss Priya, what the hell are you planning to do?”, she asked with fury in her throat.
CEO Priya -” Finally, my champion is…”, but then a rock flew right at the screen before she could even finish. Priya appeared somewhat annoyed by it but got the message to bypass all the smooth talk. “Alright, alright. So firstly, Angie… Up until now, when you trained and talked with Agiluf, you were speaking with me. Agiluf is not a real C.T.D. Actually, a finished one might be a better term, I think.”
Angie -” What in the hell are you saying, you humanoid glitter toy?”, snarled the confused miner. “ That’s not how you start this. Why are you doing this, why you are here, WHY ARE YOU TALKING WITH…”
The hacker, befuddled by the sudden pause, took a second to understand that something was asked of her- ” Me? Oh, ugh, I’m Syna, this is Sovereign, we are team number 2, and I think your benefactor is trying to woo us.”
-” Pleasure. Angie; and this, I guess, was my C.T.D Agiluf. And I think we were the number four team”, responded Angie. “ See, that’s how you do it. Now let’s try again.”
A huge “bump” shut all of them down, with Priya being done with their shenanigans. The CEO slammed her hand on a table, again and again, waiting for silence to drop. She then drank directly from a bottle, ignoring the glass in front of her and then, in exasperation, dropped her ace:
-” The C.T.Ds are the former patients from the previous races”, yelled Priya fastly, followed by another big gulp of wine.