"F-Found it!" Luna exclaimed as she held the memory stick up into the air. Nathan and Xavier's eyes were focused back to Luna as she unveiled her revelation.
Xavier quickly took the memory drive and scanned it with his wristband. Nathan and Luna looked over the sidelines as the shine of the hologram filled the room, screen after screen popped up as Xavier tinkered with his wristband. His swift motion moved screens from places to places, combining them in a cascade of an algorithm.
"This is gonna take a while, We might need help..." Xavier says as he starts to sweat looking at the various algorithms trying to decrypt the memory drive. Nathan was silent, unsure of how to answer.
Luna was deep in thought, trying to think of someone who could help them. Xavier would exhale, before opening a hologram of a doorway.
"I guess our other option is to use The Web Zone." He says, as he opened the door and dozens of holographic screens pop up all over the room.
"What the fuck is all of this?" Nathan exclaimed as the flood of information and advertisement lit the room with a glow of several colors burning his eyes. The voices of the commercials combined with the bright visuals creates a hypnotic poison to the brain.
"T-The Web Zone hasn't been moderated, E-Especially in recent decades." Luna explained as she handed Nathan and Xavier a Tuning Device. Xavier nodded and thanked her as he wore the device and adjusted the frequencies of the web zone.
"What is it?" Nathan says as he held the device in his hand. Unsure of what to do and how to operate it.
Luna would sigh softly at Nathan's antic before pointing out for him to lower his head.
"H-Here, let me help you." She puts the device around his ears and eyes. Nathan stayed still as Luna Adjusted the settings. After a moment the distorted audio of the Commercials and advertising finally became audible noises.
The visuals became clear, in an instant they were transported into the digital world. Filled with moving beams of light and seemingly endless amounts of information. Every corner of their view is obstructed with foreign text and blinding light.
"Well, at least the noise is bearable..." Nathan sighs, looking on the bright side of his circumstances before walking up to Xavier and Luna.
"We're here to find a Tech Ripper who'll decrypt the drive for us." Xavier explains as he tapped a few keys on his wristband and a screen displaying a search bar. Nathan and Luna looked around the Web Zone as they waited for Xavier to finish his search.
The Algorithm, already suiting their needs began displaying advertisement and promotion based on their personality.
Flashes of Weapons for sale and Delicious food were plastered into his eyes, trying to squeeze every bit of attention from him.
In contrast, Luna's Algorithm seemed to depict highly romanticized versions of male vampires, usually found in the 21st century. She seemed to blush for a second before tinkering with her tuning device.
Not long after the ads were shown, something odd happened.
[Hello,User.] An ominous automated voice echoed into Nathan's Ear.
Confused, he searched for the source of the voice, looking at his surroundings to find the perpetrator.
"Did you guys hear that?" He said to them cautiously.
"No?" Xavier said as Luna shook her head in agreement.
"Don't worry about it, it's the algorithm trying to get you to buy stuff." Xavier dismissed as he continued to scroll through some data through a floating screen.
"I-If you want, I can tune the device further to help with that." Luna offered as she smiled.
"Yeah, I think mine is broken." He said as he lowered his head so Luna could tinker with his Tuning Device. After a moment of fixing, the surrounding view starts to dim as the device is tuned more and more.
"There, I-Is it better?" She asks as she let go of the device. Making sure not to tune it too sharply so that he still remains in the Web Zone.
"Yeah, thanks." Nathan confirms as he can finally calm down.
Xavier looks at Nathan and Luna who was standing up, waiting for him to search for a tech ripper for hire.
"Here, let me make a room." He closes all the screens for a second, closed his eyes and clasped his hand together. In a blink of an eye, the trio was transported into a white room that was devoid of anything, the lights and noise from before seemingly disappear once they reached this place he called a "room".
"This place is a safe zone from all those pesky advertisements, quite expensive to make but it's worth it so I could focus, you guys stay put and try not to break anything." He said as he opened the screens from before and continued on his search.
Nathan rolled his eyes as he sat in a corner of the room, looking up at the white that was all encompassing. Luna observed Nathan's behavior and decided to walk up to him.
"H-Hey, you wanna see something?" She said as she pulled out a deck of cards and offered Nathan.
"Pick one." She said, Smiling softly as she held up the stack of cards.
Nathan sighs, before giving in and taking out one card from the stack. It was the queen of hearts. Luna asked Nathan to remember the card he picked before returning it to the deck. She did a meticulous shuffle of the deck, her hands apart, one above and below as she did her trick. With one final shuffle she sat the stack on her hand before picking up one card from the top.
"W-Was this your card?" She said, holding up a card that was 7 of diamonds.
"No." Scoffed Nathan at her wrong guess, thinking it was a dumb trick.
"R-Really? C-Check your pocket." She rebutted, Nathan patted his pocket and there it was, the queen of hearts.
Nathan was surprised for a moment, trying to figure out how she did it. She laughed softly at his confusion before putting the deck of cards away. The moment reminded her of her time in college learning about the Psychology of children and how they perceive the world. She looked blankly at a spot on the wall reminiscing the days she spent learning at the academy.
Nathan's mind was clouded with too many things he has learned today. In such a short amount of time he'd meet these people and he has seen different parts of the world he'd never seen before. He thought about the time Jeremy Redford lectured him.
"In this life you'll meet a lot of people, kid, don't let them down like the way I did."Jeremy huffed a cloud of cigarette smoke to Nathan's face after he said it.
He didn't know why his old man popped into his head at this moment, and in contrast to his usual disdain for his adoptive father, he smiled remembering his words.
'Huh, can't believe I'm missing that old fuck...' he thought to himself, unsure of how to feel during these situations.
Not long after they were brought back to reality as Xavier exclaimed.
"Finally!" He said exhaustedly. Showing a green that has finally glowed green.
"We got it, finally a link that doesn't lead to a dead end." He said proudly of his achievement as he tapped on the screen they were transported into a store-like room.
"W-Where are we?" Luna asks.
[Welcome to Will and A's Tech Service.] A robotic voice answered through the speakers.
Xavier would tap a few buttons on the store's interface. Soon, a receipt spews out from the bottom. Xavier looked at the appointment date on the receipt, it said tomorrow evening.
"What?! We searched this long only for this?" Nathan with annoyance and anger.
"Calm down, this type of thing is normal for tech rippers, Sometimes people would wait for weeks or even months for their service, We're lucky this one is quite empty at the moment." Xavier assured as he scanned the receipt into his wristband.
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"I guess our search ends here for tonight." He continued as he looked at the wristband interface, 04:45 AM. It displayed.
Xavier tapped on a few buttons on his wristband, and they were quickly transported back to the library. They took off their tuning device back to Luna and thanked her.
"Thank you for your Assistance Luna, it would've been a lot more harder if it weren't for you." Xavier said as he closed the door to the Web Zone. He shook her hand as they exchanged contacts through the bracelet.
"Thanks alot." Said Nathan, getting tired after a day he deemed not-so productive.
"N-No problem! Please come again whenever you need s-something!" She said happily. She walked them towards the employees exit, they waved at each other before going their separate ways.
In Front of the usual pharmacy of the Extraction zone.
"Okay, so we'll meet again at the library tomorrow in the afternoon alright?" Xavier said.
Nathan Yawned before answering.
"Mm... Yeah yeah, got it." He said tiredly. Xavier frowned, a bit dissatisfied with his response but kept it to himself. Xavier would hand him a few coins for seemingly no reason.
"Stay safe, alright?" He said before ordering another taxi and going off somewhere.
As Nathan watched the car drive away he started walking back to his empty hut he called home. He walks past pedestrians seeming to be immersed in their own world, talking to someone on the web zone while on their stroll. He starts to notice the things around his city. He went to a nearby United Government issued registry wall, it's still functional though its shape and hygiene is questionable. He contemplated registering as a true citizen. Up until now he has lived fine as an unregistered hunter and street criminal.
He tossed the question aside as he heard his stomach growling. He walked across the street towards a vending machine. He puts some credits into the slot and dispenses a tube of nutrient paste.
As he munched on the nutrient paste, he went through an alley way but the smell of blood hinted at something sinister right around the corner, as he turned he witnessed two children feasting upon a bleeding corpse of a dying man.
Disgusted but not in the mood for blood.
"Go away." He said with disgust while clenching his fists. The children hissed at him before they raised their bloody claws at him.
"Just walk away mister." One of them said as the other continued to suck on the man's neck. Their sharp razor-like claws ready for a moment of weakness in his mind.
Annoyed, Nathan dashed and punched one of the children on the stomach, causing them to puke blood onto the concrete floor. The other one would quickly stick its razor-like claws on Nathan's arm.
"Grr... You little shit." Nathan groaned as he grabbed them by the neck, his eyes glowed red for a split second before slamming their head on to the floor crushing their skull into pieces. Looking at the horrifying scene In Front of them, the other child ran away horrified.
Nathan held his bleeding arm to slow down the bleeding, and continued walking back to his apartment. Finally arriving at the place he calls home,he finally laid down and slept on his back. The stinging pain from earlier seems like a distant memory as he fell asleep...
A few hours before,
On another view of life, a familiar red dressed woman can be seen jumping from rooftop to rooftop. Subtle yet gracious, her speed was unmatched, moving through buildings freely like a gust of wind.
Landing on an apartment complex, looking at a metal door that has been ripped off it's hinges. She examined the torn door. Looking for a perpetrator.
"Such brute strength... Reminds me of that guy..." She retorts as she caressed the hinges.
On the other side of the door a logo can be visible. It has the symbol '𝛼' on the front of a depiction of earth. It is the logo of Atlas. She quickly confirmed her suspicion and sent her report back to the man she's talking to.
"Atlas? The charity organization?" The man said, unsure of her confirmation.
"Yes, I believe it's a front made by Orpheus, only those bastards have the guts to do it like this." She continued.
"Orpheus? Alright, I'm sending our data team on it, we'll send you what we have for now, use the web zone and look for any affiliated links." The man said as a few screens popped up from Elise's Wristband. She quickly arranged them and skimmed the information from the documents.
She puts on eye contacts that hide her red eyes and and with a swift hand motion, the modified tuning device was worn by her. Using swift eye movement combined with signature hand gestures, she made a room and traversed the web zone.
Comparing the data from her documents, she quickly goes to a web forum under the name '31st century poets' or '31cep' for short. An intermediate level Orpheus member frequently visited the site.
Upon arriving at the forum, she is greeted with a man who calls himself the best poet of the 16th century.
"Welcometh! lief viewr, what words shall thee playeth with the present day?" He said as he gestures for her to come to the forum's board. She followed the man who bowed and left her alone after she arrived at the forum board.
She saw lists of ongoing public threads and talks. Ranging from plain and simple one such as "morning poetry" to "how do I begin writing?" She skimmed through the many threads looking for a match to her document. She put her sights to the max as she scrolled through and read the board showing her inhuman speed.
In quick haste, she found a match to the document she's given. An individual who goes by the user name of Tal0sIntrict. He is known as the middle man of Orpheus, working on deals with other organizations and handling espionage.
She tapped on the thread and was transported into his room. A classical bar of the 20th century, the tall wooden stool was taken, leaving a few far ones available for her to sit on. There she saw Tal0sIntrict talking to a group of guys while sipping on a cocktail. His manipulative nature was revealed through his charismatic smile.
"And what have those mega corpos done for us? They've restricted everything, taxes, taxes, Taxes! it's always about profits for them." She overheard him say as the group of men agreed and continued their discussion. The surrounding men were focused on his words, like disciples looking at a great teacher.
"Those vampires, not only they suck blood, they also want to reap all of our cash. Why should we let them do all of this?" She eavesdropped from him.
"There's no more war against vampires, it's a war on freedom." He said nonchalantly with his calm yet fierce voice.
She decided to keep an eye from the sideline, ordering a drink at the bar to watch him from afar. Her wristband recording every he said. Tal0sIntrict wasn't a man of strength, his beauty and cunningness is what makes him dangerous. A sharp-tongued fellow, he continued his critiques on the world around him.
"The United Government is a front, It's all just politics in the mask of unity. Do you think a united world government is achievable? Don't make me laugh." He said to one of the men, scoffing as he took another sip of his beverage. The surrounding men would nod in unity, bickering amongst themselves to what he had just said.
Her face seems confused with confliction. She can't deny that she agrees with some of his views, but he is rather extreme about the way he spoke. She decided that enough is enough and confronted him.
"Excuse me, Tal0sIntrict? Can we talk? In private." She said with a commanding tone. He looked up, admiring her for a second before answering.
"Ah, a new face, sure darling." He said with a sly smirk as he told the group of men to go away. One by one the group of men begins to log off and disappear, leaving him and her alone in the room.
"To whom do I owe the pleasure?" He said as he raised an eyebrow and crossed his legs.
"I'm Elise, Elise Alexandria Beatrix." She spoke, her hand crossed as she stared down at him
"Ah yes, the infamous red menace, To think she would appear In Front of me on the web zone! What a rare sight to see." He applauded.
"I know you're working for Orpheus." The words escaped her mouth with a weight of seriousness as gripped her class of wine.
"My, what a critical accusation you made there..." He said with a sly grin.
"And how could you possibly know that? Unless... You're a member of Exses." He rebutted with a grin of playfulness to her annoyance.
"Listen here, we just want to know what caused the turf war earlier."
"And how exactly would that help you?" He asks sarcastically as he looks at his glass of whiskey. In contrast to his slim and lean figure he seems to be quite the drinker as told by the bottles that have b.
"Your problem is our problem too, if you can't keep it down we'll have to step up." She reminded him of their position compared to Exses.
"Oh my, how scary~" he said with confidence and playfulness. Rolling his eyes and that smug smile of his, as if he ruled the world in this instant.
"We're both part of the same underworld here. Do you really think They would let you do as you pleased?" He continued with a playful expression, caressing the rim of his glass.
"You know, for someone of your position you really are just all talk." She squinted her eyes, a fierce hostility visible on her face.
"Haha, talking is a form of fighting too you know?" He answered playfully to her mockery. A wide smile on his face in contrast to his less expressive eyes.
"Tell me Elise, do you think your supposed 'boss' would care if you died right here?" He said with an eerie calm. His arm is resting on the bar counter.
"Will he mourn for you? The cog of the machine, The slaves, of the ones in charge?" He continued, his smile fading into a gaze of immeasurable weight into her eyes.
"..." Elise was silent, not knowing what to respond to his rhetoric.
"You're one smart girl aren't you? You do know who's Really in control of the underworld right?" He said, emphasizing his words with the tone of his voice.
"For someone who's an agent of the Equalist. You really seem fit to play the role of an Exses Operative." His lips curled into a smug smile, mocking her.
The mention of the Equalist caused her grip to tighten suddenly, the stress causing the glass to shatter. The shattered glass turns into ones and zeroes as it disappears into thin air. Her furrowing brows and clenched jaws displayed her anger.
"Whoops, looks like I struck a nerve didn't I? I wonder how the higher ups would react knowing this..." He said playfully before giggling.
"So you knew huh?" She responds as she typed something on her wristband. She placed her hand on her tuning device and pressed a button that unleashed a deafening sound that caused the surrounding room to shatter. Returning them into the Lobby of 31cep.
"Wha-" before he could gather his thoughts, she grabbed him by the neck and lifted his slim figure off the ground. She choked him harder but to her surprise he grinned and said.
"Catch me, if you can." Was the last words that came out of his mouth before he transformed into bits of binary, due to him having logged off the web zone to her disappointment. She would clench her hand into a fist, logging off for the day.