traveled through secure V-Net sectors like an invisible Trojan horse. Clyde kept his eyes glued to his control panels the entire trip, maintaining their course and ignoring David entirely. David was too busy poking into the module's underlying code to attempt conversation.
"Stop that," Clyde said without looking up. "If you're a good little programmer, I'll show you how to write one yourself."
Snorting, David cancelled his probe scan and studied his former friend. Clyde had always been tall and skinny, but now he leaned toward emaciated. He had his light blond hair cut short and ragged, and small twitches seemed to constantly play across his face. Everything about him spoke of nervous tension.
Perhaps it was merely focus. No one in the right circles of V-Net could deny that when it came to hacking, Clyde was the paragon of the craft.
"We're here," Clyde said, and his gaze grew even sharper.
David leaned over to look at the readouts, but Clyde was already shifting the system modes, as well as his avatar. His skinny frame morphed into a barrel-chested, rocket launcher-wielding soldier. David threw his head back and laughed at the familiar sight.
"Sergeant Doom, eh? All right, if that's how we're playing."
David tapped a shortcut to his character loader, and his outfit shifted into its new form. The weight of a pistol settled on his hip. He tipped his fedora and flashed Clyde a suave grin. "Meet Detective Smith."
"Smith, huh? Yeah, you don't have any sort of complex about your step-dad, now do you?" Clyde retorted. "You think that little slug-thrower will be able to keep up if there's trouble?"
David drew the revolver and stared down the sight. His fingers brushed the lion head embossed on the handle before slipping it back under his trench coat. "Depends on your definition of 'trouble'," he replied. "Anything particular I should be on the lookout for?"
"Leave that to me."
The exit opened into blackness. An enormous central room spread before them, with corridors splitting off at regular intervals. The walls were constructed with black slabs of raw code material, held together by seams of gold light. Diffused white lines crisscrossed within the walls, marking the network relays that traveled throughout the system.
Clyde tapped a pair of buttons within the module, and the golden seams nearby shifted to green. The color spread along the lines of the room. "Sensory counter-code," he explained. "This will prevent VERA from directly observing things if you screw up."
David stepped inside, eyes trained for movement, and admired the beautiful simplicity of V-Net's core. "How often do you come up here?"
"Whenever I feel like it," Clyde said. Moving toward one of the corridors, he raised his weapon in preparation.
"Have you ever seen VERA? Inside the network, I mean."
"Nobody sees her here. She's locked behind so many protocol barriers and security systems, that you'd get disconnected and thrown in the pen before you saw which wire you tripped." Clyde kept his eyes forward, but there was something in his voice, an undertone of challenge that snuck in when he spoke of Phoenix's governess.
Clyde's parents had been part of some conspiracy several years ago. They had been executed for their crimes, but Clyde had inherited their opposition to the fact that mankind was ruled unconditionally by an ancient computer program.
David had to admit that it sometimes seemed unnatural, but considering that humanity had destroyed their home world ages ago, while VERA kept this world flourishing and balanced, it made sense. The system wasn't always perfect, but David had no issue with bending the rules when he needed to. It was one thing to bend the rules, however, and another to seek to destroy the guardian that sustained humanity.
Clyde came to an abrupt stop, and David, lost in thought, bumped into him. Clyde rolled his eyes, held a finger to his lips and motioned for David to look forward. A low humming noise drifted from one of the
"Stop that," Clyde said without looking up. "If you're a good little programmer, I'll show you how to write one yourself."
Snorting, David cancelled his probe scan and studied his former friend. Clyde had always been tall and skinny, but now he leaned toward emaciated. He had his light blond hair cut short and ragged, and small twitches seemed to constantly play across his face. Everything about him spoke of nervous tension.
Perhaps it was merely focus. No one in the right circles of V-Net could deny that when it came to hacking, Clyde was the paragon of the craft.
"We're here," Clyde said, and his gaze grew even sharper.
David leaned over to look at the readouts, but Clyde was already shifting the system modes, as well as his avatar. His skinny frame morphed into a barrel-chested, rocket launcher-wielding soldier. David threw his head back and laughed at the familiar sight.
"Sergeant Doom, eh? All right, if that's how we're playing."
David tapped a shortcut to his character loader, and his outfit shifted into its new form. The weight of a pistol settled on his hip. He tipped his fedora and flashed Clyde a suave grin. "Meet Detective Smith."
"Smith, huh? Yeah, you don't have any sort of complex about your step-dad, now do you?" Clyde retorted. "You think that little slug-thrower will be able to keep up if there's trouble?"
David drew the revolver and stared down the sight. His fingers brushed the lion head embossed on the handle before slipping it back under his trench coat. "Depends on your definition of 'trouble'," he replied. "Anything particular I should be on the lookout for?"
"Leave that to me."
The exit opened into blackness. An enormous central room spread before them, with corridors splitting off at regular intervals. The walls were constructed with black slabs of raw code material, held together by seams of gold light. Diffused white lines crisscrossed within the walls, marking the network relays that traveled throughout the system.
Clyde tapped a pair of buttons within the module, and the golden seams nearby shifted to green. The color spread along the lines of the room. "Sensory counter-code," he explained. "This will prevent VERA from directly observing things if you screw up."
David stepped inside, eyes trained for movement, and admired the beautiful simplicity of V-Net's core. "How often do you come up here?"
"Whenever I feel like it," Clyde said. Moving toward one of the corridors, he raised his weapon in preparation.
"Have you ever seen VERA? Inside the network, I mean."
"Nobody sees her here. She's locked behind so many protocol barriers and security systems, that you'd get disconnected and thrown in the pen before you saw which wire you tripped." Clyde kept his eyes forward, but there was something in his voice, an undertone of challenge that snuck in when he spoke of Phoenix's governess.
Clyde's parents had been part of some conspiracy several years ago. They had been executed for their crimes, but Clyde had inherited their opposition to the fact that mankind was ruled unconditionally by an ancient computer program.
David had to admit that it sometimes seemed unnatural, but considering that humanity had destroyed their home world ages ago, while VERA kept this world flourishing and balanced, it made sense. The system wasn't always perfect, but David had no issue with bending the rules when he needed to. It was one thing to bend the rules, however, and another to seek to destroy the guardian that sustained humanity.
Clyde came to an abrupt stop, and David, lost in thought, bumped into him. Clyde rolled his eyes, held a finger to his lips and motioned for David to look forward. A low humming noise drifted from one of the
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