“Okay, spit it out already. How the hell were you able to recreate this?” A glassy diamond prism glowing red was tossed onto the table. Its red light partially painted itself on the interrogatee. “There’s no way that any hacker would be able to know how to lock down a player’s option to log out, so what the buck gives? You better give me answers, or there will be something nasty in stores for you.”
Master Wind eyed his little invention, and then chuckled to himself. “And what makes you think I’ll tell you, Coder?”
Sentinel made a low rumble in the back of his throat, his lower lips curling and showing teeth. He slammed his forehooves on the wooden table, and pointed the ceiling lamp’s light directly into Master’s eyes. The hacker didn’t blink. “You’ll tell me because this stunt you’ve pulled is enough to land you a lot of years in the dungeon, but if you answer honestly then you maybe be able to get out within a decade.”
Sentinel viciously threw the lamp at Master’s face, tempted to break his muzzle, but the wire it hung from was stubborn. It swung back and forth, casting light around the room. It wasn’t much, being a small room with nothing but a table, a chair, and three occupants with one of them virtually chained to the said chair. This room was specifically designed to be slightly separate from the game, something hidden right underneath the code’s surface. Only fellow Coders could enter such rooms, and were mostly lounges to hang at. But of course, small rooms like this one were perfect for questioning.
‘If only this one was easy to cooperate with,’ Sentinel thought with a scowl.
“You’re not the authorities, and therefore do not have the right to arrest me," Master said.
“No, but we can call the guards upon you. A couple of our guys have already traced you to your location.” Sentinel swept his hoof across and a list of virtual documents popped up. He grabbed one and slammed it in front of Master Wind. “So far, you’ve been stealing personal information from Luna knows how many players in the past few days. We also received a lot of complaints from them, and they said they had lost significant amounts of bits from their bank accounts just hours after you sacked them.” Sentinel shoved his face against Master’s, shooting angry glares at his eyes. “That is just very uncool, stealing thousands of bits underneath our noses. Just who the hell do you think you are?”
A thin smile spread across Master’s lips. “That would be classified, my good sir.”
“Why you little shi– ” Sentinel felt being tugged back by his shoulder. He looked back to see his partner, Roasted Brawn, slowly shaking his head at him. “What is it,” Sentinel asked, a scowl upon his muzzle.
“We need to talk,” he grunted. Roast pulled Sentinel away from the table, bringing him to the light’s edge.
Sentinel shrugged off his grip, not liking being dragged around at a time like this. “What the hay, Roast? Out of all ponies, I didn’t expect you to stop me.”
Roast looked back at Master with a frown. Looking at the criminal, he could see the venom and lies just oozing from him. The way the hacker looked pleased with himself and was relaxing on the metal chair unsettled his stomach, even when he's detained in cuffs heavily programmed to resist hacking.
“There’s something bothering me.”
“Wouldn’t be the first time.”
“I’m serious.”
“As always.”
Roast shoved Sentinel in the shoulder, his muzzle wrinkling in irritation. “Damn it all, will you let me finish?” Sentinel rolled his eyes. “Look, I’ve been looking at the list of complaints from players from the past few weeks. There are sparse, but there have been reports of strange activities happening all over Equestrian Earth. I’m talking about shady players hanging about, areas that couldn’t be entered, and complaints of accounts being compromised from time to time.”
“Hackers, I assume?” Sentinel sat down and rubbed his noggin. “This is all giving me a headache. I had thought the game would be entirely secured for players, free from hackers, but somehow they managed to break through the thousands of firewalls we have. Seriously, each of them was coded differently to protect against any attempts to break through them! And our encryption system has a system tighter and more complex than a spider web. We covered all corners!” Sentinel heaved a great sigh. “Do you think it has something to do with what happened on… that day?”
Roast nodded, scratching his grizzly beard. “I believe something in Goddess was damaged. She’s responsible for maintaining 99.999% of the defenses, as well as making new ones.”
Sentinel lowered his head even further. “It’s entirely my fault. I should have done more to stop it. Should have been quicker.”
Roast frowned and then gave Sentinel’s shoulders a couple shake. “Ey, ey, ey, pull yourself together, mate. What happened to them ain’t your fault.”
“But I should have seen something! I could have prevented it but” – Sentinel stomped against the virtual floor furiously – “I didn’t! I wasn’t able to stop it in time!”
“Don’t beat yourself up for this. What’s done was done, and we should focus on fixing it in the present, ‘kay?”
“… Okay. How’s Raynor doing by the way?”
“He’s doing alright. So far, though, he hasn’t responded to any of our signals.”
“I don’t understand. We have gotten Canterlot’s finest healers and doctors to check on him. They’re able to detect any sort of disease, natural or magic, and all they could tell us was that he is asleep! How the Tartarus can a pony sleep for weeks on end?”
“I don’t know. Like I said before– ”
“Something strange is going on,” Sentinel finished. “I know… why haven’t we contacted authorities yet? We should have this guy behind bars as soon as possible. He’s clearly a threat to anypony and anybody online.”
Roast glanced back at Master Wind. The hacker returned it with a silent, smug smile. “He isn’t working alone.”
“What makes you think that?”
“These attacks, reports of strange black gates, and this hacker who somehow was able to prevent a player from logging out… only the Goddess is able to do that, and she only does when we Coders are suppressing hackers, preventing them from escaping.” Roast heaved a sigh, lowering his head. “Why does virtual reality have to be so damn complicated? With regular games, all we have to do is sit behind a computer, get a report, and ban the hacker with just a click.”
“I don’t know. This is all fairly new to me as well.” Sentinel lightly bumped Roast’s shoulder with a small grin. “But hey, it wouldn’t be as exciting, now would it?”
Roast chuckled. “I suppose not, but that sort of action ain’t for me. I’d rather investigate.”
Sentinel chuckled along with him. “And beat up hackers for answers.” His smile faded away as he looked back at Master. “We should try to get more answers out of him. If he doesn’t answer, we’ll hand him over to the Guards.”
“Fine by me.”
The two stallions went back to the table, with Sentinel leaned on it. “Okay scum, we’ve decided to give you one more chance. If you cooperate, then I’ll put a good word for you. Maybe the guards won’t bruise you as much.” Sentinel’s confident smirk faltered as Master began uttering a dark chuckle that grew into a hollering laughter. “What’s so damn funny?”
“Oh you poor, insolent, ignorant fools, you truly have no idea what is happening, do you?”
Roast narrowed his eyes, a grimace upon his profile. “What in Celestia’s beard do you mean? What the Tartarus are you planning? Are there others like you? Answer us!”
“Oh don’t worry. You’ll be getting your answers soon enough. My friends will definitely make sure of that.” Master pretended to look at a watch on his hoof. “In fact, they should be arriving to the party any second now.”
Sentinel deepened his glare. “Just what are you trying to pull here? You think your hacker friends are going to save you? Only a Coder can enter this virtual room! You’re stuck in here with us until we get you behind ba– Roast?!”
His friend had suddenly started chocking, grasping at an invisible around his throat. His eyes bulged in shock, and his frantic breathing shortened into faint gasps. Sentinel quickly moved towards him to help, but soon was pulled back by the neck as well. He tried to fight back, but soon felt something wet forced over his muzzle. A sickly sweet smell entered his lungs. His hearing started to distort with loud, constant rings, and his head felt incredibly tipsy. His hooves quivered, unable to support his weight. Darkness infected his vision as his eyelids grew heavy, and soon so did his mind.
The two stallions fell to the floor before columns of light surrounded each of them, logging them out. Soon after their quick departure, another pillar of light appeared where they were. A player draped in a dark cloak, his face hidden, was revealed from it. His stature was large and bulky as a bolder and as he stepped near the light, a black muzzle could be seen poking from underneath the lax hood. It wasn’t smiling.
But Master Wind was. “Oh hello there! So glad you can make it. Took you boys long enough.” Master could feel his virtual bonds sliced away, no doubt caused by the newcomer. With a wave of his hoof, Master conjured a pot of steaming tea and a couple cups. He poured a drink for himself and his friend. “Care for one?”
“No.” The cloaked being’s voice was low and smooth like honey, but his tone didn’t carry the same sweetness.
Master clicked his tongue. “Tsk, tsk. There’s no need to be all grumbly and ho-hum, Club.”
“Our mistress is not happy with your work. She would want to see you right away.”
“Oh what could she want from me? I’m but an old stallion.” Master Wind propped his hind legs onto the table without a care in the world.
Club rested his hooves on the table, leaning his face closer. Master could see his scowl deepening. “Stallion? Have you gone native?”
“No I have not.” Master gargled his drink in the back of his throat before draining it down his pipe. He hummed with satisfaction. “Ahhh, hot liquids are always a great way to clear the body’s system, almost as hot as a good dose of lovemaking.”
“You are one of the best illusionists in your generation, and in all of our clan in general. Your age is no excuse,” Club continued, spitting the last word with a heavy hint of disgust. “And you better have a better one as to why you’re performing with carelessness, or she’ll have your head. Is your horn flaccid?”
“Let’s not bring my horn into this. Incredibly rude you are,” Master frowned.
“Try telling that to the boss.”
Master kept the frown on his muzzle, even as he drank the rest of his cup’s tea. Finished, he traded the cup for the illegal item on the table, peering deeply into its crimson glow. With a deep sigh, he said, “Well, I can easily say that this will not be one of my best nights.”