That day was bright and sunny, the sun shining brightly, the sky empty without any annoying white clouds, revealing the beauty of the refreshing blue sky.
Birds chirped, decorating the peaceful morning, fluttering here and there across the blue sky.
People started waking up to begin their activities, and so did Alice.
Alice is a tall, slim woman with beautiful white skin, blonde hair, and thin black eyebrows. She might catch the eye of many people in town because of her looks, but apart from that, her communication skills are something to admire too.
Alice isn't super smart, but she's not stupid either because she managed to work at ReTecs, known for its tough selection process. She passed the selection because of her ability to understand others, which is useful for comprehending ReTecs' product users and bridging different divisions or teams at ReTecs. Alice is what you'd call a social butterfly.
Working at one of the world's largest tech companies is Alice's dream, as she loves tech-related things, even though she's not as smart as the experts at ReTecs. At least, being part of the Project Advanced Gaming Alternate Reality (PAGAR) as a Project Communications Manager is a huge pride and honor for Alice. Moreover, she believes that PAGAR can bring significant impact to the world, not just in the video game industry.
###
Alice woke up a bit late that morning. As usual, she had to make sure the communication channels between divisions were secure and check for any leaks about the ongoing project in her division from spreading in public spaces.
Just like her routine, she lay in bed, playing on her smartphone. Checking social media, news sites, and the company's internal communication channels was more of a hobby for her than just work.
Once she fully regained her awareness, she got up from bed and went to her kitchen to cook something simple like a sandwich with bread, ham, some vegetables, her favorite sauce, and of course, making coffee to stay fresh for the day at the office.
She had her breakfast in the kitchen, not because her house lacked a dining room or table, but because she preferred eating there. It saved her the hassle of moving the food to the dining table and then back to the kitchen for washing up.
While having breakfast, Alice also continued her task, given her recent recognition as one of the 100 Best Employees of the Month. This time, she focused more on reading news about PAGAR, which had been making waves in the public after its announcement a few months ago.
While engrossed in reading and enjoying her breakfast, she received a call from Brune. Alice could tell from Brune's voice that something was wrong.
"Still at home, what's up? Is there a problem?" Alice replied to Brune's question.
Alice quickly finished her breakfast and packed up her stuff for the office, while Brune explained what was happening.
"Okay, I'll do what I can. See you soon," replied Alice, locking her house and getting into her car.
Brune continued speaking a few more words, but Alice barely listened as she was busy setting up her car's autopilot. When Alice wanted to respond, the call had already been ended by Brune.
Since the call was cut off by Brune, Alice activated the autopilot and started contacting several people, including her subordinates, to address the issue.
###
Alice finally arrived at the office without any problem. She immediately set her car on auto-pilot for auto-parking in the office while she rushed a bit to enter the office building and head to the lobby.
Once in the lobby, she set up her tablet to check the real-time situation reported by her subordinates.
Not long after she arrived at the office, Axel came as if to greet her, offering a snack in the form of coffee-lemon-flavored candies. It was an odd combination for Alice, but one that Axel liked. However, Alice declined.
"Have you heard the report?" Axel asked.
"Brune already informed me, but you can tell me the updates," replied Alice, still looking at her tablet screen.
"Not much progress. There are still many system and program code errors, some I've fixed and are waiting for processing," said Axel, enjoying his favorite candy. "And for the subjects, they are all upset, but there's one person who stands out. Subject A101."
Alice glanced at Axel still munching on that candy, "Why do you like that candy so much, isn't it weird-tasting?"
"At first, it was. But what can I do? Coffee keeps you from falling asleep, and the lemon keeps you awake because of its acidity. You know, programmers need something like this because we get so sleepy from staying up all night to manage the program."
Alice just smiled seeing Axel's expression while eating the candy, looking like someone forced to take bitter medicine mixed with the face of someone eating a lemon. Doing it out of necessity.
"Thanks. I'll let Brune know as soon as he arrives, which shouldn't be long," said Alice, then sitting on one of the benches in the main lobby.
"Alright, oh... I almost forgot," replied Axel, about to leave but not quite, "can you tell Brune to meet me in my office soon? I think I found something strange, and for some reason, there's a comment from Brune with random characters."
Alice looked at Axel's face and asked, "Sure, but is it urgent?"
"Not really. But at least he should meet me today."
"Okay, I'll pass it on."
Axel once again offered his favorite candy to Alice, but Alice still refused it for the hundredth time.
Refused, Axel left. Meanwhile, Alice was still waiting for Brune.
###
It took less than twenty minutes before Brune finally arrived in his high-priority car.
Alice spotted Brune entering the office building from afar and heading to the lobby, so she quickly fixed herself up before heading over to greet him.
"How's it going?" Brune asked while still walking, not stopping or even slowing down a bit.
"Everything's okay. Some things are under control, just one subject, A101, still protesting. As for the technical side—"
"Let's handle that later. Let's focus on the subject first. I trust our expert team to deal with the technical stuff, but when it comes to the subject, your expertise is unmatched," Brune said, giving Alice a quick wink.
Alice smiled and chuckled softly, "Thank you for the praise. I really appreciate and respect that, especially coming from the best employee around here."
They both exchanged compliments amidst Alice giving a real-time update on the situation they were facing.
###
The preparation test room only had two people, Subject A101 and Alice. Meanwhile, in another adjoining room, separated only by a one-way mirror —similar to a police interrogation room— there were Brune, the main warden of Subject A101, and the head of subjects department.
"Subject A101 is a male who claims he's straight but shows a tendency towards being bisexual. He's 177 cm tall, weighs 65 kg. He volunteered for this in exchange for seven BC..." Alice briefly skimmed through Subject A101's background on the holobase before closing it and gazing at Subject A101, who is bound all over his body.
She then uncovered the subject's mouth and said, "You volunteered... So what's bothering you?"
Subject A101 looked cynically at Alice and, in a serious tone, said, "F***** with your money! You've been testing us multiple times."
"Sorry about that, but you should have understood that testing would occur multiple times. It's in the contract," Alice replied.
"F*** YOU! There's no sudden termination in the contract. You know how painful that is, dying multiple times..."
Alice reopened the holobase and looked at the mirror, intending to ask Brune about this. However, she found no sudden termination in the test results on the holobase.
"Could you explain what you mean by sudden termination? Our data doesn't show any sudden termination," Alice said to Subject A101.
Subject A101 remained silent, breathing heavily as if he'd just run around the city before saying, "F***!"
Brune then entered the room carrying Subject A101's test result file and placed it on the table in front of Subject A101.
"I'll release you as long as you don't attempt to attack again. Deal?" Brune proposed.
Hearing this, Alice stared disbelievingly at Brune. It wasn't the first time she'd seen this. Brune often disregarded company procedures and rules, it always makes Alice surprised and disbelieving that it was done by someone who is the company's best employee and is even considered on par with the directors.
"Just free me if that's your intention," Subject A101 replied.
Brune then released him, while Alice stepped away. After all, the reason Subject A101 was bound all over his body was due to his violence, which nearly killed his warden.
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"Okay, you free, except for your legs," said Brune, moving the subject's chair closer to the table. "You can check this test result list and tell us where you were terminated suddenly."
Subject A101 carefully examined the test result file, consisting of dozens of pages with over a hundred tests conducted solely on him.
Subject A101 looked at Brune. "The last three pages, you terminated the testing suddenly. Now, please release me, I'm done."
Brune signaled toward the mirror and re-tied Subject A101.
Alice then approached, and Brune showed her the file. "Strangely, all the test end times show the same time, not even a second difference. This might be a system error."
The main warden of Subject A101 entered the room and quickly escorted Subject A101 out, leaving Brune and Alice alone.
"You still have time before becoming a spokesperson, right?" Brune asked Alice, who was organizing her stuffs and files.
"Still free now. Anything I can help with?"
"Please ask Axel about the trial program, there might be an issue. If not, launch it immediately."
At the mention of Axel, Alice remembered Axel's message she didn't get to relay to Brune. "Hmm... Actually, Axel did mention there was a technical error, but he fixed it except he found something odd in the program and needs you. Also, he mentioned if you gave comments on his program with random characters. Do you want to go see him alone?"
"Alright. But you go first to meet Axel. If everything's okay, you don't need to return. But if there's still an error or something odd, come back immediately. I'll handle a few things first."
"Understood."
Alice then left Brune alone in the room, with only the test result file being seriously stared at by Brune as Alice stepped out.
###
Axel's office is quite far, but not too far because it's still within the same project. The office is equipped with super-advanced computers and the best network connection. Of course, it holds the highest priority status, specifically designed for programming the PAGAR. The office is exclusive to Axel and his two assistants, while the other programmers work in a different room next door.
As the Project Communications Manager, Alice has limited access to enter that office. When Alice entered the office, Axel was alone, busy tapping the screen and using a holo-keyboard, surrounded by several holograms. Obviously, Axel was fixing a program.
Noticing Alice, Axel break for a moment after saving every change he had made.
"How? Did you inform Brune?" Axel asked.
"I did. He sent me to ask if everything is under control or if he's still needed," replied Alice.
"Some parts of the program are secure, now I'm working on the rest. But still, there's some weirdness I can't explain for sure, so I need Brune to make sure," Axel explained.
Looking around, Alice smiled. "Just looking at all this makes my head spin. How do you manage to stay sane?"
Axel pulled something out of his pocket and showed it to Alice. "With this candy, of course."
Alice just smiled and stifled a laugh. "But that doesn't help you get a girlfriend, does it?"
"Come on... I'm already stressed with all of this, let's not talk about girlfriends anymore. Please," Axel pleaded.
Alice still smiled and then left. However, just before the door slid closed, she winked and said, "Fighting."
###
Alice walked back to the test preparation room to report to Brune. She could have just called Brune, but all the networks on that floor were locked down, so no network could go in or out. This was Brune and Hector's initiative to ensure PAGAR's security against hacker attempts to steal the source code or other malicious activities.
As she was almost there, she coincidentally found Brune already leaving the room.
"So, how's it going?" asked Brune.
"Everything's safe and some in progress. But Axel still needs you," replied Alice.
"Before that, is he still munching on his weird candy?"
Alice smiled every time she heard about Axel's favorite candy. "Of course, if he had to choose, he'd pick the candy over me."
"Doesn't seem so. You just need to communicate. It sounds ironic, but try to understand each other."
"Thanks for the advice, but... it's tough, you know. He's always following structures and steps, very inflexible."
"Yeah... Whatever it is, I hope it's the best for you both. By the way, are you heading straight to those kids after this?"
"Not sure, but I'll drop by Lucy's office first. It's her program, so I'll ask her first."
"Alright then, see you later," said Brune, heading straight to Axel's office.
"You too," replied Alice, making her way to Lucy's office.
###
When Alice arrived in Lucy's room, it was already filled with some people from the socialization program led by Lucy. Alice just stayed quiet and followed Lucy's instructions that were going on.
After Lucy finished giving instructions to all her team members, Alice finally approached Lucy, who was organizing some files.
"So, how was it?" Lucy asked.
"I'm in. But only if you want to tell me about that," Alice replied.
"In that case, we're in agreement," Lucy replied while handing some files to Alice. "These are Ghiovani group's files. I don't know why they picked that name for their group. But most importantly, this group will be your responsibility, and their current schedule is to learn about AR and AGAR, which your division is developing."
"It's Giovani, not Ghiovani, just a correction," Alice replied with a smile.
"Whatever."
"So, what should I do?"
"Just do whatever you want. The main thing is you have to tell them about AR and AGAR and answer their questions. It doesn't have to be precise, but don't sound too silly."
"Alright. By the way, what do you want for lunch?"
"I don't know. I'm on a weight gain thing, so maybe a fatty steak, if you're paying."
"Don't be silly... You still owe me."
"Don't be like that. How about I treat you to lunch, and you forget about that debt. Deal?"
"Nope." Alice then walked out of the office with the files given by Lucy. "I might skip lunch today, I have a bad feeling about it."
Lucy laughed sarcastically. "If your feeling is right this time, I'll treat you for a lifetime."
"Just pay your debt. Bye."
###
The Giovani group consists of seven students and one accompanying teacher. Alice approached the group, who had been waiting in the lobby for a while.
As per Lucy's assignment, Alice took on the role of a guide, explaining nearly everything about AR and AGAR and answering a few enthusiastic student's questions, while the rest were busy with their own things.
In the midst of the activity, Axel and Brune came. They seemed to be discussing something as Alice noticed.
Seeing that, Alice immediately ended the Q&A session and told the students to take a break. She then went over to Axel and Brune, who seemed to be waiting for her, standing at a distance and chatting.
"What's up?" Alice asked as she approached Axel and Brune.
"Please come with me," Axel ordered.
"Axel wants to explain something about the weird things he's encountered," Brune replied.
"So, why not explain it here? Where are we going?" asked Alice, following them.
"A special room, you don't need to know its name," Brune answered.
"A room without any spying devices," Axel added, glancing at Alice.
Alice immediately understood Axel's words. The information Axel was about to share was confidential, and he couldn't trust anyone but them two. Also, he felt like the room might have been bugged, so they were heading to a safe special room.
Realizing all this, Alice fell silent.
###
The three of them went down from the base floor to underfloor 3, a floor specifically designated for exchanging highly confidential information, accessible only to Brune among the three of them.
Then, they entered a room that also required access available only to Brune. After getting in, they made sure the room's security was tight.
Once they were sure, Axel got straight to the point, saying, "Okay, let's to the point. The weird thing I'm talking about is the record of duplicated source code data and a security warning code level 3 from SIS-PAGAR. And, the weirdest part is the random character comment with Brune's ID."
SIS-PAGAR, or Security Integration System of PAGAR, is a security system that integrates all the programming codes being developed by the PAGAR division. It's meant to detect anything related to program errors, including program malfunctions like theft or hacker attacks.
Knowing that a warning code level 3 can only be given by the system if the entire source code has been corrupted or has errors, it's indeed bizarre.
Brune repeatedly asked Axel several questions to ensure he wasn't mistaken or misinterpreting things.
Then Brune looked at Alice and asked, "Can you activate the safe channel in SIS-PAGAR?"
Alice opened her tablet and said, "Sure, but I need your permission for that."
"Just do it," said Brune.
Alice then handed her tablet to Brune, and Brune granted permission.
Once the safe channel was open, the three of them could see logs of every activity on SIS-PAGAR, which strangely duplicated all of its own activities and all programs in PAGAR.
They exchanged looks but were thinking the same thing, "SIS-PAGAR error."
Then, they look at SIS-PAGAR intently. Axel checks the code lines in the SIS-PAGAR program, Alice reads the logs in SIS-PAGAR, while Brune looks at all the connected networks in SIS-PAGAR and anticipates the possibility of a cyberattack on SIS-PAGAR from the connected networks.
In the middle of their discussion, each of their smartphones received a notification that a trial program would be executed without their presence.
Brune hurriedly went out because he wanted to make sure why the trial program could run without them. Axel and Alice followed.
However, when they tried to open the door, a power outage occurred, shutting down all things requiring electricity in the office, including the door to the room they were in at that moment.
Axel knew for sure about the electrical system and the program to control it, so he knew if they didn't have enough oxygen for long, and that made him panic.
Meanwhile, Alice tried to comfort Axel in various ways, including the most common way by advising him until Alice hugged Axel tightly, kissed his cheek, and slipped Axel's favorite candy into his mouth.
Brune stayed quiet, but his mind was not idle, as evidenced by his quick action to activate special security protocol level 1, signaling the security division about them being trapped.
"Odd... why has special security protocol level 1 been activated before I did?" said Brune.
"That means someone else activated it," said Alice, still hugging Axel tightly.
"It's not what makes it odd, but the protocol was activated by me."
The three of them exchanged glances.
"I'll send a signal and report related to this, so we should be safe," said Brune.
"Wait!"
Brune looked at Axel, who shouted, and so did Alice.
"Wait, wait... you're going to make a report, right?" Axel asked, who had released himself from Alice's hug and walked towards Brune.
"Yes, why?"
"Can we add the exact same message as the comment with your ID?"
"You mean that random character?"
"Yeah. If we leave a trace, maybe we can trace it back later. What do you think?"
"Will you track it? If you do it alone, I'll include it."
Alice looked into Brune's eyes, "No. If he does it alone, SAT might come after him."
"Don't be afraid of SAT, they might just ask a few questions. But once they know it's related to security, they'll actually be very helpful because they'll investigate the company's network thoroughly," Brune emphasized, "So, are you going to do it or not?"
Alice still stared at Brune, "Why don't you track it?"
"Of course, I'll track it, but it's better to share the tracking."
"You're up to something, aren't you?" Axel asked Brune.
"Of course," Brune looked at Axel and then Alice alternately, as if affirming to them to trust him.
"Okay then, put in the message 'from Axel,'" Axel said, smiling at Alice.
"It's up to you all."
Brune then sent the report.
Within a few minutes, the medical team along with SAT came at their room and opened it.
As an emergency handling procedure, they were immediately given oxygen masks and taken to the ambulance.
However, strangely, Alice felt that the more she breathed in oxygen from the mask, the worse her vision became, and her head also felt increasingly dizzy but light.
Alice had a bad feeling as soon as she saw the SAT members staring at her.
It didn't take long for Alice to completely lose consciousness, precisely when they reached the base floor.
####