//------------------------------// // 4 ◈ If you never step out the door. // Story: Pony-Me™: Rebooted // by TheMajorTechie //------------------------------// Samantha looked over her shoulder as Lisa approached. “Hey, Lis. You sure spent a while in there. Something on your mind?" “Not much. Thanks for the new clothes, by the way.” Lisa sat down at the table again. “Anything I missed while I was gone?” Samantha picked a piece of lint off of her friend’s shirt. “No, not really. Though, some people think that it’s a good idea to be spreading rumors.” “Huh? Wh—” Samantha pointed at a nearby table. “I know they’re joking, but they’ve been talking about how the simulation framework supposedly harvests the brainpower of living people to act as a biological supercomputer for the military. I’m worried that others might just believe it, regardless of how ridiculous it sounds.” She let out a groan. “I’ve been dealing with this crap ever since I arrived here. Maybe I should stop worrying so much about it. Maybe put more effort into thinking about how much dust is in the minivan before I toss clothes into the backseat next time around.” “Good idea.” Grace patted Samantha’s shoulder. “You get yourself some peace of mind for once, and I get something to actually do while I’m here. I’m pretty sure that most people around here know that those guys are just screwing around anyway.” “Can… we maybe talk about something else besides conspiracies now?” Samantha huffed. “I know I was the one that brought it up, but that stuff’s been grinding on me lately.” Lisa nodded. “So, how has progress been on the whole hacking situation? Did you find any leads on who the culprit might be?” A smile began to creep back onto Samantha’s face. “Yes, actually. Meet me outside if you want to talk about it. You too, Grace. I’m sure you want to be part of the action for once.” She stood up from the table and walked away. “Guess I’m just irrelevant to the conversation.” Timothy crossed his arms with a playful snort. “Feels nice to not be the one doing all the talking for once.” Lisa nodded again. ~~~ Rosanne yawned. The progress bar moved a few more pixels, sending a jolt of excitement down her spine. She could probably afford a nap while waiting for the download to finish… “Ayy, what’s up?” Selene popped her head through the open door. “Just got back from my check-up. Doin’ anything interesting?” Rosanne nearly fell from her chair in surprise. “I-uh, no—” She pulled a file browser window over the game download screen. “No, not really. I spent about half an hour or so looking through the project codenames, though.” “Hm. Well, good luck with the rest of ‘em! By the way, how’s Andrew been doing? I know you log in to check on him every now and then.” “Huh?” Rosanne nearly choked. She’d mentioned her older brother once before, and now Selene was asking about him? “Um… he’s fine, I guess. Still hooked into the simulations last I heard, but he’s probably having the time of his life… as usual. What about you, though? You’re… uh, well, weirdly poppy right now.” Selene shrugged. “Just felt that I should try being more cheerful while I’m still around, that’s all. Anyway, I’ll be in my own room if you need anything.” “Wait, before you—” The door clicked shut. Rosanne looked back to the bit of the progress bar poking out from behind the open folder. So much for this being an exciting job. Though, with Selene suddenly acting the way she is now? Rosanne rolled herself to the door and leaned into the hall to survey her surroundings. Sure enough, Selene was gone. No hiding behind walls waiting to ambush her when she’s off-guard this time. She shuddered at the memory of being caught just the day before. She pulled herself back to her desk. Selene was not fun to be around when she was ticked. Now, however… there was something off about that old bat. Maybe she should look into it. Rosanne glanced up, kicking herself away from her desk to peek into the hall again. Still no Selene. ~~~ “Couldn’t you just bring that thing inside instead?” Timothy fanned himself with a hand. “Even with the canopy you set up for us, it’s burning out here!” “Yeah.” Samantha sat on the ground, propping her laptop against her knees. “But I like being outside, so here we are. Fresh air’s always a nice change over stuffy old air conditioning when the air conditioning smells like motor grease.” Timothy groaned. Samantha looked up from her laptop. “Lis, you gonna sit too?” “I’ll stand for now. I don’t want to get the clothes you gave me dirty so soon.” “I’m good as well,” Argall added. Lisa turned her head. Professor Argall was leaning against one of the legs of the canopy. He doesn’t talk much on his own, does he? “Alrighty, suit yourselves.” Samantha spun her laptop around, showing it to the rest of the group. “So, as I’m pretty sure all of you know, I’ve been making some decent progress in looking for who was responsible for this mess. Can you see the screen clearly?” She tilted the screen downward. “I know there’s a bit of glare from the sunlight.” Grace leaned a little closer, squinting. “It’s a bit dim if you ask me, but it’s okay like that.” Samantha tapped a key on her laptop a few times. “Better?” “Yeah. Thanks. You wanna explain a bit more, or did you bring us out here to just say what you said and show us some fancy charts?” “I’ll explain some more. So anyway…” Samantha peered over the top of her screen. “In short, as of now, we know that the employee account responsible for the data breach belongs to, or at least, belonged to a former employee by the name of Rosanne Smith. She left the company not too long ago, and… well, I guess it was a misstep on the company’s part to not wipe her credentials. Not that anybody would’ve realized that that was the case in the first place, but still.” Lisa blinked. “O…kay? So you’re saying that this happened partially because of an oversight.” “More or less. I figured that since the account still had access to the company’s internal servers and software, I’d might as well take a look at which accounts even have access to them at all. I’ve been watching a particularly large download job since this morning, too, so whoever’s using Rosanne’s account is absolutely active by all measures.” “How are you going to find their location then?” A smirk grew over Samantha’s face. “Friends in high places, that’s how.” “Wh—” “I contacted the VPN that the incoming connection came from and requested a bit of information.” Timothy snorted. “Well, that’s anticlimactic.” “Life isn’t always exciting, Tim. Anyway, continuing on, I was only able to get some very basic info from the people I contacted, so at best I know that the origin of the breach is within driving distance of HQ. I’m considering handing the case over to law enforcement soon, but I feel like monitoring the situation for a while longer is the better option. Argall? Thoughts?” “If it comes to it, we could sue for damages. The company’s lawyers aren’t used all too often, but I’ve heard that they’re good at what they do. Given the proximity, I wouldn’t be surprised if it is Rosanne herself operating the account still.” Lisa tried to hide her cringe. Again, that cold feeling had returned. The Samantha that was talking to Argall wasn’t her friend. She was just another cog in whatever faceless entity it was that controlled the simulations. Even though she herself had once been a part of it, it couldn’t have ever felt this… what was the word? Detached? Distant? She cut into Samantha’s conversation with the professor. “Sam? Do you mind if I step away for a bit?” Samantha turned her head. “Hm? Oh, yeah, go ahead. I’m just talking to Argall right now anyway. Grace, what’re your thoughts on hiring the person responsible for the breach to join our cybersecurity team?” Lisa stepped out from beneath the tarp. She could feel the blazing sun on her skin. Was that what life was going to be like out here in the real world? A life of tending to some higher power whose sole goal was to make money? It couldn’t be only that, right? She’d heard Samantha plenty of times talk about other things, after all—like her past, and… being annoyed by conspiracy theories… Lisa racked her mind. Come to think of it, Samantha hardly talked about anything else beyond either work or the past. That was going to be her own life too, wasn’t it? And not only that, but it’s what she herself should’ve been doing, too. She was in her twenties. She should’ve been in college. Maybe even graduated by now. She turned her gaze upward. How did she lose so many years in only a matter of days? And rejoining the simulations tomorrow wouldn’t solve anything, either. Not with her newfound knowledge of the outside world. Come to think of it, that was the life that would be coming for her in the simulations too. It was inevitable. Uncomfortable. That was the word she was searching for earlier. “Lisa, are you feeling okay?” Lisa lowered her head, glancing back at Samantha. “Lisa, I know I asked this a little earlier, but you seem to have something bugging you. I know you don’t like any of this. I haven’t really had much time to genuinely spend with you ever since we met again, but just hold on for a little longer. Promise me that, okay?” She shut her laptop. “Tomorrow, all of this will be over. I can hand over the investigation to somebody else. For now, I just need to get the job done. Not just for me or you, but for everyone that’s been disconnected.” A trickle of relief surfaced within her. For all the company-speak that her friend had been using, at least she could still fill in the blanks without needing to be told everything up front. Not only that, but Samantha was even willing to go out of her way to give her friend some much-needed attention. Lisa’s thoughts screeched to a halt. Was that what she wanted? Attention? No—it was more than that. This was about emerging from the comfort of the simulations’ lies. About rediscovering herself. This was about finally stepping out the door.