Loud and clear steps echoed throughout the hallway, their origin rushed.

Sometimes, I wonder if it's impossible to do anything important without some sort of complication cropping up. Now, whatever it is this time, it better be good - I missed my daughter's soccer game for this.

I wonder if I should just quit. I mean, the pay's so good I don't even need the money anymore, and my retirement fund is well past robust... I can't say I hate the work, though, I just hate the constant emergencies.

Besides, they need me. Hah, to think the younger generations think we old geezers aren't hip with it. I bet they'd be surprised to find out the "uncool grandpas" created the game ripping through the world right now, Ascend. That'd show them.

Cho Yun sighed. Oh well, it's not like I'm really killing myself here.

He turned and knocked on the door. "It's Mr. Yun!"

A muffled voice emerged from the other side, Cho Yun perking up an eyebrow at the tone of urgency.

"Mr. Yun! It's unlocked, come in quick!"

The smartly-dressed man nodded(it was out of habit, he supposed, nobody could see his gesture) and firmly grasped the door handle, swinging the solid oak door gently out of his way. Never let it be said I hate nature, he thought wryly to himself.

The humorous ruminations, however, were cut short when Cho Yun's watchful eyes fell on the young man frantically pedaling between computers in the brightly-lit room, muttering things to himself under his breath.

Oh, so it's that young man. He's talented and hardworking but still lacks experience. Not entirely unpleasant to work with, though.

"What's the issue? I missed my daughter's soccer game for-"

Before Cho Yun could even finish speaking, he was interrupted by the rushing young man.

"Everything went wrong!"

That sunk in while the young man, Zhen Wugang, continued his work. It took a second before he spoke again.

"Somehow, the company has lost its access to Ascend. We can't edit the game, contact the AI, or contact the players from within the game world. I'm running a few programs right now," that statement lined up perfectly with Zhen Wugang striking the Enter key and kicking off the computer's desk to a different device, "and from what I've found so far, I suspect it's Emergency Protocol 94."

A much more stunned silence ensued compared to the last one. The name felt familiar to Cho Yun, and brought with it a certain dread, but it took the capable middle-aged man a few seconds before his brain brought the memory to the surface.

His eyes widened.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

"The one... about an invasion?"

Somehow, Zhen Wugang found the time to grimly nod.

"That's the one."

  Cho Yun exploded into a whirlwind of motion and subdued panic. Not saying anything, he ran over to a random computer and took a second to read the code running across the screen, quickly identifying the program and taking over its control. 

  This was bad. Emergency Protocol 94 meant that they had no access to the game at all. They couldn't control the servers, the AI running the game, or anything else. They couldn't even see what was going on. Oh, no...

 "I'll take over while you call some more people. This is a matter of high secrecy and importance. Nobody can know."

  Cho Yun said, while darting to and fro. He glanced at Zhen Wugang, who now grimaced painfully. 

"That's the thing... I have reason to believe every single integrated user was notified of the protocol..."

   A loud clack sounded out. Cho Yun, in his shock, had broken the "y" key he was at the moment resting his finger on.

  "Every... single... one?

 "Quick, notify upper management, I'll deal with the situation here!"

 The normally enthusiastic and energetic young man nodded seriously, jumping up and running over to the telephone in the room. His slender fingers danced across the number pad, calling the necessary number. Cho Yun nodded and got back to work.

  Soon enough, the two men, young and old, were dashing between computer screens and panickedly striking some keys, also occasionally jiggling the mouse about.

  Cho Yun spoke up. "Wugang, what's this?"

 The young man froze before breaking away from the computer he was currently checking, rolling backward on the wheeled chair to bump into Cho Yun. He eyed the monitor.

  "Is that..."

  "I think it's..."

 "The quest... to win the game..."

  They stared at each other for an uncomfortable amount of time. Cho Yun spoke up first.

 "I thought that was removed from the game..."

 "Yes, it was," Zhen Wugang responded slowly, "but it must have resurfaced or something. It's possible there was a remnant in the code we didn't cleanse completely out, and whatever's trying to wrest control of Ascend activated it again, or maybe the emergency protocol brought it back into action. We don't know. We just fix it." Zhen Wugang was back to work in an instant, spinning his complicated web of floor marks, Cho Yun spoke up.

  "Don't you know what this means?"

  Zhen Wugang looked back. Staring into Cho Yun's eyes - at least it looked like he didn't lack eye contact like most of the younger generation - he cocked his head, thinking, then slowly shaking it.

  "I can't think of anything."

  He is young, after all.

  "Whoever accepts and completes that quest gives us a way out. If you're right and they know about the lockdown, the sudden appearance of the quest will no doubt seem related. While we don't know what it says, we can be almost sure any integrated player who receives the quest will want to complete it - this is their new home, after all, and who would want to see their home taken over by an outside force? They can't trust that force, anyways. So they have to take it into their own hands. So, basically, that quest is a ray of hope for us to regain control from the game. In the situation that the invasion is happening from the inside, somehow, the only scenario in which Ascend isn't taken over is one in which the players complete that quest and take over instead of the force. Maybe they'll want something from us in exchange for the game, or they'll refuse to hand it over, but whatever it is, it'll be better than the alternative. We'll cross those bridges when we come to them, though I fear we might."

  A flash of understanding appeared in Zhen Wugang's eyes. Smart kid.  

  "So, there's hope!"

  Cho Yun grinned.

  "There's hope. In the capabilities of the integrated players."

 The moment was interrupted by the knocking at the door and the muffled voice coming through.

  "This is Li Qun, with some others. We're here to help stabilize the situation."

  "The door's open!"