《Special Ops: The Schism》


 One

    Sgt Dean Marcus jolted upright screaming.


    ¡°Get it off! Get it off!¡±


    Hands pulled at him as he tried to beat the flames out. There was a sharp stab in his arm, then blessed cold washed over him as he passed out.


    ****


    There were hushed voices in the darkness, but his eyes wouldn¡¯t open. Bandages covered his face. Had he really been hurt that bad? He tried to remember what went wrong on the mission.


    The mission.


    It was supposed to have been a cakewalk. The first in-depth training mission testing out a new VR system that Special Operations Command wanted to roll out. More complex and in-depth than the video-game style systems they had been working with for years. More realism at lower risk to operators.


    So why did it feel like he¡¯d been burned? Where had all the fire come from?


    He tried to lift his hands to remove his bandages, but something restrained his arms.


    The muttering changed. They must have noticed his movements.


    A shadow leaned over him and a female voice spoke clearly to him.


    ¡°Sgt Marcus. You were injured in training and had to be restrained. If you understand me, and are in control, we can remove the restraints. Can you nod your head?¡±


    Marcus nodded his head. It felt sore, but he could nod.


    ¡°Excellent. I¡¯m going to remove the coverings on your eyes, so it will be very bright until your eyes adjust. Then I¡¯ll remove the restraints. Do you understand?¡±


    He nodded again.


    Bright light leaked around the edges of the bandages, forcing him to shut his eyes tightly. Gradually he was able to open them, and the room came into focus. Standard hospital room, plenty of equipment silently monitoring his vitals, and several people in lab coats watching him expectantly. He presumed the woman standing over him was the one who had spoken.


    He opened his mouth to speak, but only a croak came out. She smiled tightly and reached for a glass of water with a straw.


    ¡°Try this first. The oxygen has dried out your throat.¡±


    He sucked at the straw, hesitantly at first, then greedily as he realised how thirsty he was.


    When he was able to speak, he whispered, ¡°My men, what happened?¡±


    The woman looked over her shoulder and nodded to one of the other lab coats, who rushed from the room, before turning back to Marcus.


    ¡°We were hoping you could tell us that. The simulation seemed to be going fine until you started screaming and seizing. We had to pull you out before you hurt yourself. One of the other soldiers knocked his harness loose before we could extract him properly and...¡±, she trailed off. ¡°We aren¡¯t sure if he¡¯s in a coma, or if parts of his consciousness are still in the simulation.¡±


    She paused before fixing him with an expectant look, ¡°We are hoping you can help us piece things together before we attempt to extract the remaining soldiers.¡±


    Marcus stared at her as the full weight of her words settled on him.


    ¡°You mean my men are still in that...thing?¡± he croaked hoarsely.


    ¡°I think you mean ¡®My¡¯ men, sergeant.¡± the tall ramrod straight officer stated flatly as he entered the room, trailed by the lab coat.


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    ¡°Sir.¡± Marcus straightened in the bed as best he could with the restraints.


    ¡°Are these still needed, Doctor?¡± the officer asked, indicating the leather straps.


    ¡°Not strictly Colonel, we were getting to that step.¡± the doctor answered before turning back to Marcus.


    ¡°Do you feel in control enough for me to remove these?¡± she asked him.


    Marcus nodded, and she reached over to start loosening them. Another lab coat stepped around the colonel and got to work on the ones on the other side. Shortly Marcus was able to start massaging more feeling back into his limbs, and he looked questioningly at the officer.


    ¡°Doctor, could you and I have a moment with the sergeant?¡± the colonel asked politely in a way that made it clear it was a request in name only.


    All of the lab coats immediately made themselves scarce and closed the door behind them.


    ¡°What happened in there Sgt? We need to know what went wrong, and we need to know it now if we¡¯re to have any hope of rescuing the rest of your team.¡±


    ¡°I... I¡¯m not sure, Sir.¡± Marcus croaked. He reached for the water glass, which the doctor filled. ¡°I remember strapping in, starting the simulation. I remember walking around inside the VR space, getting familiar with the new interfaces. The exercise was supposed to be simple. My squad was to clear a building...a house. Retrieve a box, eliminate any simulated hostiles, and extract to the staging area.¡±


    ¡°Go on, Sgt.¡± the Colonel prompted.


    ¡°I left Alpha Fireteam on overwatch on the¡­¡± Marcus paused, gathering his thoughts. ¡°¡­left hand side as we approached. They used a...an abandoned car as cover. Sgt Martins took the right side of the house with Bravo and I approached the front with Charlie and Delta. Our briefing stated no friendlies or non-combatants, so I kicked in the front door and let Charlie take the entry. Then everything went to shit...¡±


    ¡°Elaborate, Sgt.¡±


    ¡°The inside of the house wasn¡¯t the way we were briefed. Instead of an insurgent hideout, it was a regular family home. There were kids playing video games on a big TV in the front room. It was like stepping into the frickin¡¯ Twilight Zone. Outside was Kandahar, and inside was Kansas. I didn¡¯t know what to do in that situation, so I called for an Abort to regroup outside.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s when things went to hell in a hurry. I don¡¯t know why Alpha opened up, but they started unloading on the front of the house. The TV exploded and the kids...they got torn up. We tried to get out of the line of fire, but they hit O¡¯Riley, sorry Cpl O¡¯Riley. He had Charlie¡¯s Three-Twenty and they hit a bunch of his grenades. I guess they must have lit off the grenades...and the Willy-Pete. That¡¯s where the fire came from...his grenades started cooking off.¡±


    ¡°Then I woke up here...at least I think I did. I remember bits and pieces...then I woke up just now.¡± Marcus paused. ¡°What the hell happened Sir?¡±


    ¡°Sgt, from what we can tell, we got hacked. Somehow, someone found out about a project that is behind more layers of security than the White House, and they sabotaged your mission. This was supposed to be a great success for how we train our people. More value at less risk, but instead we have a nightmare. One soldier dead, one catatonic, and the rest we can¡¯t pull out of the simulation without risking their lives.¡±


    ¡°Sgt, we need to figure out what went wrong, then I need you to go back in and rescue your team.¡±

 Two

    ¡°The first thing we¡¯re going to do once you¡¯re back in is test your Emergency Egress System. I want you all to be totally sure we can get you back out safely. Anyone need a refresher on how it works?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m less concerned about the ¡®how¡¯, doc, than I am about the ¡®if¡¯ part.¡± Marcus answered for all of them.


    ¡°Fair enough. So far it¡¯s tested out fine in The Sandbox, but this will be the first trial in The Sim.¡±


    Grim faces stared back at her.


    It had been three days since The Incident. Three days since Cpl O¡¯Riley died when they got hacked. Three days that the rest of Sgt Marcus¡¯ team had been trapped inside what was supposed to be a quick trial of the system. Three days of round the clock testing and evaluations prepping the rescue team that Sgt Marcus would lead inside.


    Marcus looked over his scratch team. All of them Special Operations veterans, all of them combat tested. All of them on board with the program.


    Well, all but one.


    Marcus still objected to the ninth member of their team, but the Colonel had overruled him. The Colonel had agreed with the engineers on this one. They had to take a geek in with them. They needed to have someone who could look at The Sim¡¯s code from the inside...and that geek was Samantha Neville.


    Marcus shook his head as he tried to put it out of mind. The only upside he consoled himself with was that she didn¡¯t have to meet Spec Ops physical fitness standards, because everything was going to happen in VR. All she had to do was look at the code...and not get in the way.


    With that in mind, he¡¯d be keeping her close to him and Sgt Rebecca Mathers. Mathers was a cool head, and Marcus figured Neville would take a female screaming at her better if things went as badly as they had the first time. Of course, he¡¯d been wrong about things before. The rest of the team was paired off in their VR suits and ready to go.


    ¡°We¡¯re going to be dropping you near the location of the...last trip. It¡¯ll be inside a warehouse that is supposed to be empty, according to everything we can see. But we also couldn¡¯t see what went wrong with the last trip, so be ready for anything. As soon as all of you are stable inside, Sgt Marcus will initiate the EES, and you will return. As soon as we confirm that it works as intended and you¡¯re all safe, we can send you right back in. Any questions?¡± The doc looked at each of them in turn. Neville looked like she was trying her version of Resting Bitch Face, and the others were stone faced. Most of them had at least met Cpl O¡¯Riley, and a few had served with him, so the usual joking was absent.


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    ¡°Okay then, into the tanks.¡±


    They filed into the next room, where the VR tanks stood open.


    Technically they were where AR and VR met and had a demon love-child. The system supposedly took the best of AR and laid it over the best of VR. They could use physical aids from The Sandbox, and the system was capable of overlaying multiple input options, but whole point of The Sim was make the system as virtual as possible and to step beyond the AR/VR meld of current games and the next-gen system in The Sandbox.


    One by one they were hooked in and double checked. Marcus scanned the room and saw eight raised thumbs, before giving his own thumbs up to the doc.


    They lowered their visors and the hatches closed on them. They...shifted.


    The warehouse came into focus. Empty, just like it was supposed to be. Marcus looked around, counting his people. ...six, seven, eight plus him. Everyone accounted for.


    ¡°Are we all good?¡± he asked? ¡°Check your gear, function tests, see if everything is working like it should.¡±


    They all went through their equipment methodically. Half of them had M27/M320 combos and the other half were carrying the M38 DMW. Normally they would have years of ingrained muscle memory working for them, but this was where AR and VR met, so they double and triple checked. Neville had a chest mounted tablet geek-thing. The real life one was supposed to be rugged enough for the field, but this was electrons simulating electrons. Marcus didn¡¯t know how that worked, but she seemed to be competent with it.


    Shortly all of them finished and gave Marcus another thumbs up. He returned it and held up his EES. It looked like a fancy sports watch with a rugged cover. Everyone else raised their own and flipped open the covers. Marcus counted down with his fingers and they all stabbed the buttons.


    Nothing happened.


    Marcus flashed the countdown again and...


    Nothing.

 Three

    ¡°Shit.¡±, Neville muttered. She turned to Marcus asked, ¡°Now what?¡±


    Marcus closed the cover of his EES and shrugged.


    ¡°We complete the mission. There are multiple exit points throughout The Sim, so we find our people and keep trying exits until we find one that works.¡±


    ¡°...and if we don¡¯t?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why you¡¯re here, for things like this.¡± Marcus answered. ¡°You get us out, or figure out a way to communicate with the outside world so ¡®they¡¯ can get us out without frying our brains. But in the meantime, we complete the mission.¡±


    Neville felt the tension running through her, but she nodded.


    ¡°Okay folks, turn on the Umpire gear they upgraded us with and let¡¯s see what we can figure out.¡±


    One by one they activated the Umpire units attached to their VR helmet HUDs. Extra information started lighting up their displays. Maps. Unit locations. Technical specifications. Range indications. Usually a lot of this was information reserved for the Standards Staff on exercises, but Marcus had impressed the Colonel that a rescue team needed all the information they could get. A crash training course was one of the reasons they hadn¡¯t been able to jump right back into The Sim. It took some time to get used the proverbial firehose of extra information the Umpire units were capable of displaying across multiple displays.


    ¡°There are clustered lifesigns 250m northeast of us, near where you entered last time.¡± She said after consulting her display. ¡°I can¡¯t tell if they belong to the other team until we get closer. So far they are showing neutral alignment, so the system might need us to have eyes on before the IFF kicks in. Otherwise the nearest groups of life signs seem to be moving between the EPs. ¡±


    Sgt Marcus nodded, ¡°Alpha take point, Bravo on the left, Charlie right, we¡¯ll bring up the rear. Neville, stay in the middle and do whatever Mathers tells you, without question or hesitation.¡±


    Neville nodded and tucked her display back into its case. She had a sidearm and extra magazines, but everyone was crystal clear that it was only a self-defence weapon of last resort if she was somehow separated from the unit. She didn¡¯t like it when Marcus made her feel like she needed a baby-sitter, but she also realized that this was his training and his training was what kept his teams alive in the real world.


    ¡°Move out.¡± He whispered.


    Sgt Andrews waved his hand forward and stepped out in front covering ten to noon, his fire team partner, Sgt Nobel a step behind covering noon to two o¡¯clock. On the left, Sgts MacKenzie and Abbott covered ten through seven and on the right Sgts Douglas and Costello covered two through five. Marcus and Mathers took turns watching Neville and their six o¡¯clock.


    Like a smoothly oiled machine, they moved out of the warehouse and onto the street, heading to the cluster of lifesigns on their displays.


    All around them, the streets and buildings looked deserted. It could have been any mid-sized town in any desert region in the developing world. Tan and brown stone made up most of what they could see. The warehouse they arrived in was the only metal building in view.


    As they approached the end of the warehouse, Andrews signalled them to stop as he and Nobel checked the intersection. The streets were empty in both directions, so he waved them forwards and hurried across the intersection.


    They continued this way for blocks. Quietly moving closer to the cluster of lifesigns they hoped were the missing team.


    The streets were deserted as far as they could see, but in the distance they could hear the sounds of battles. Explosions and gunfire seemed to surround them, but nothing close enough to see what was going on.


    A block back from the site Sgt Andrews signalled a stop. The markers hadn¡¯t moved during their approach. He looked back over his shoulder and got a nod from Marcus. Marcus quickly checked his team and leaned in close to Neville. ¡°Any changes we should be aware of?¡±, he asked.


    She quickly pulled her interface out and scanned their surrounding area. ¡°No changes near us or the target since we inserted...but the battle noises...they¡¯ve stayed centred on us...moving with us. I don¡¯t know how that¡¯s possible, but it¡¯s happening.¡±


    ¡°Any changes in the target? Can you tell what we¡¯re facing?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t see any of the Team¡¯s designators here. If you can get a remote camera to peek around the corner, I can get you some additional details, but right now it looks just like it did before your last insertion.¡± She said with a frown.


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    ¡°...and we all know how that turned out.¡± he said distantly. ¡°How many remote cameras is your gear programmed with?¡±


    ¡°Technically my load-out started with a dozen, but give me a few minutes and I should be able to create duplicates of anything we brought in, or that I have in my database.¡±


    ¡°You can do that?¡± he asked. ¡°How come no one mentioned that during the briefings?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not a guarantee that it¡¯ll work, any more than what happened to you last time wasn¡¯t supposed to be in the plan. It¡¯s a possibility that I was going to try out when we came back in for the actual rescue.¡±


    Marcus nodded and reached out his hand. Neville handed off what looked like a small plastic cube, which Marcus passed up to Andrews.


    ¡°As close as you can, but don¡¯t get seen.¡± he said.


    Andrews smirked and signalled for another, which was quickly passed up. Marcus knew to trust his people, and his job was usually easier if he let them use their initiative.


    Andrews and Nobel scurried forward along the edge of the last building before the end of the block, and Andrews peeked around the corner. He snapped his head back, and even at this distance Marcus could tell something was wrong. Andrews tucked the camera as high up as he could reach without being seen, and still have it cover the street. Then they ducked back and around up the far side of the building. Marcus assumed that¡¯s why he wanted the second camera. Neville had the feeds up on her split-screen display and Marcus looked over her shoulder.


    The house still looked the same as it had the last time he had been here...except there was now a monster truck parked in the driveway, and what looked like zombies standing in the front yard.


    Andrews had rejoined them and peeked at the screen. ¡°What the hell Boss?¡±, he asked. ¡°I guess those weren¡¯t there the last time you were here?¡±


    Marcus shook his head, looking as confused as the rest of them.


    ¡°Are those part of something, Neville?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Nothing I¡¯m familiar with.¡± she answered. ¡°I can only assume they were part of the hack, or there are some serious flaws in the coding.¡±


    ¡°Can you tell if our VR guns will affect those VR zombies?¡± he asked.


    ¡°I can tell you that I can see them as code, and that they seem as real as the rest of the simulation, so that¡¯s a qualified ¡®I think so.¡¯¡±, she answered, but her voice underscored her uncertainty.


    ¡°Okay, we play this as safe as we can for now. MacKenzie, Abbott...find a way onto the roof of this building and let me know when you¡¯re ready to take out those zombies with headshots. If they go down according to plan, you¡¯ll cover us as we advance and clear the house.¡± Marcus paused. ¡°If they don¡¯t...we¡¯ll wait for 5 mikes after your shots to check for any outside reaction, and then you regroup here with us. Any questions?¡±


    ¡°What if neither happens and we end up getting rushed by...zombies?¡± Abbott said the last word like he couldn¡¯t believe it either.


    ¡°We evac and regroup at the nearest pylons. The two closest are designated in your wrist units. Neville, this is when you do exactly as Mathers says, when she says it. If you see something we need to know about, speak up immediately.¡±


    Nods all around from the team.


    ¡°Everyone has seen the building we¡¯re clearing. Three targets to the front, appear to be...zombies...¡± Marcus shook his head at the absurdity of it all, ¡°Designated left to right as Tangos One, Two, Three. Vehicle in driveway designated Tango Mike. Seen?¡±


    A hushed chorus of ¡°Seen.¡± answered him back.


    ¡°Andrews and Nobel, as soon as the Tangos drop, I want you headed for the front door. Douglas, Costello, follow on the right, covering our right flank. I¡¯ll take Mathers and Neville around to the left camera and cross to secure that truck until entry. Here¡¯s hoping our people are inside and we can all get home and out of this mess soon.¡±


    Marcus turned to MacKenzie and Abbot. ¡°The last time we did this, our cover team opened fire on us, and I still have no idea why. This time, DO NOT open fire on anything in the building or near it, unless it is a verified bad guy running off the property, or something advancing behind us. Under no circumstances are you to shoot into the building. Clear?¡±


    Both men nodded, ¡°Clear.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s find our people and bring them home. Move out.¡±

 Four

    ¡°Overwatch in position.¡± Marcus heard over his radio.


    ¡°Entry team in position.¡±


    ¡°Right in position.¡±


    ¡°Left in position.¡± Marcus answered. ¡°Overwatch fire on my mark. Three. Two. One. Firefirefire.¡±


    Before he finished the first ¡®Fire¡¯, he heard the harsh reports of MacKenzie and Abbott¡¯s suppressed weapons and two of the zombies¡¯s heads exploded. Before they started to fall to the ground, the third one collapsed minus its head. Red numbers flashed above their heads as they dropped.


    ¡°Assault, go, go, go.¡±


    The three teams sprinted across the street and up their respective lanes. Marcus and his team sheltered by the huge front tire of the monster truck, with Mathers watching their back and the street.


    Andrews and Nobel ran up onto the front porch and Andrews slammed his foot into the door. It nearly tore off its hinges as Nobel tossed in a flash-bang.


    Douglas and Costello raced up the right side of the building to cover the rear.


    The flash-bang went off with eye-searing light and thunderous noise. Andrews and Nobel ducked inside, and gunfire and yelling rang out.


    ...and stopped.


    Marcus waited. He wanted to know what was going on, but he had to stick to the plan and wait.


    What seemed like an eternity later, Andrews signalled the All Clear from the front door and waved them in.


    Marcus tapped Mathers on the shoulder and the three of them headed across the yard and into the house. Inside it was a mess, but Marcus was relieved to see the inside matched the outside, and the Kansas farmhouse he had seen on his last trip was nowhere to be seen.


    Instead there were bodies. He quickly scanned them, looking for his team. Andrews shook his head.


    ¡°No sign of them boss. No one here but the sim-insurgents you should have found the last time. They went down just like a kill-house exercise...but our people aren¡¯t here. Douglas and Costello are double checking the basement for holdouts¡­tunnels¡­intel and...we got nothing.¡±


    ¡°Shit.¡± Marcus hissed. He had hoped this was going to be a simple in-and-out. Get his people to the Evac Pylons and get them home. Now he had to find them first. He turned to Neville.


    ¡°Tell me everything you can about this neighbourhood, as it appears now, and everything between us and the nearest EP. Then find out if that thing can locate our people.¡±


    ¡°The Sim should be in Random Insurgents Mode, which means there are very few predictable encounters...but that doesn¡¯t account for the truck parked outside or the zombies. We shouldn¡¯t be seeing anything beyond small groups of insurgents moving randomly, or occupying random buildings. They are programmed to respond to visual or noise threats by approaching and shooting. They should only have rifles in the smaller groups, or in larger groups a few grenade launchers.¡±


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    ¡°So you¡¯re saying we shouldn¡¯t see tanks or aliens or zombies or monster trucks, but having seen some of them the others become possible.¡±


    ¡°Mostly. The system shouldn¡¯t be capable of generating ¡®new¡¯ imagery, so they had to come from somewhere. My guess is this supposed hack is changing things.¡±


    ¡°Supposed?¡± Marcus looked at her. ¡°You don¡¯t think the official story is accurate?¡±


    ¡°I think it¡¯s accurate as far as it goes, but I¡¯m not sure it¡¯s the whole story. You don¡¯t just ¡®hack¡¯ into a system this sophisticated, inside this much security...at least not without some level of inside knowledge. I mean you have to know it even exists in the first place.¡±


    ¡°Wait, you think this breach had inside help? Have you told anyone this?¡±


    ¡°I tried, but the idea was too...too much for them to accept, so they ignored me.¡±


    ¡°...and this is why you volunteered to come inside with us?¡± realised Marcus.


    ¡°Mostly, yes. The rest was the opportunity to get inside the world¡¯s most advanced VR sim.¡± she shrugged. ¡°We spend so much time working ¡®on¡¯ it, but we seldom get a chance to see what¡¯s happening ¡®inside¡¯ it. The Sandbox isn¡¯t really the same thing.¡±


    ¡°I get you there. Nobody wants to spend all their time training and never put it to use.¡± Marcus said before turning serious again. ¡°Okay, we know our laser guns work in here, but we still need to find our people and get out. Neville, what can you tell me?¡±


    ¡°Well, I can tell you that we have a limited amount of direct control over the environment, so while I can¡¯t clear away all of the buildings between us and where we want to go, I can create some limited objects.¡±


    ¡°How limited?¡±


    ¡°Do you want to blend in, or stand out?¡±


    ¡°Unless you can whistle up some huge stompy robots for us, blending in is good.¡±


    Neville leaned over her tablet and worked furiously for a minute, then stood up, apparently pleased with herself. ¡°Take a look out front.¡±


    Nobel looked out the front window and laughed, ¡°Where the hell where you in Kandahar?¡±


    Marcus walked over to the window and looked out. There were two pickup trucks in front of the house, each with a machine gun on a stand in the bed.


    ¡°I can bring them up because they¡¯re in the system for opposing forces, but they¡¯re designated a Neutral Asset so anyone can use them.¡± Neville said. ¡°I believe they are called ¡®technicals¡¯.¡±


    ¡°Smart ass.¡± Marcus retorted. ¡°What else can you do with that thing? A couple of drones would be handy right about now.¡±


    ¡°I have the specs for a small surveillance UAV, but nothing with weapons.¡±


    ¡°Well, get a couple of those drones in the air and we¡¯ll see what is going on around us, then we¡¯ll move out to the EP and clear each of them in turn.¡±


    Neville got back to work.


    Maybe she wasn¡¯t such a dead weight after all, thought Marcus.

 Five

    The split screen display feed from the four drones showed the streets around them were empty of any opposition, but the direct path to the EP was blocked by what looked like a mob of armed insurgents.


    ¡°So all of those sim-insurgents are really just bots generated by the system to do whatever they are programmed to do?¡± asked Sgt Marcus.


    ¡°Essentially. There can be more to it than that, but you¡¯re basically right.¡± Neville answered. ¡°Why? Do you have an idea?¡±


    ¡°Maybe.¡±


    ¡°If you¡¯re thinking I can hit a big ¡®Delete¡¯ button, or re-program them to all be friendly and bake us cookies, that¡¯s not something I can do from in here...and yeah, I already tried.¡±


    ¡°Can you make them interested in something far away from us?¡±


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    ¡°Maybe. I¡¯ll see about getting their attention with the drones and try to lead them away.¡±


    ¡°Do it. Crash one into them to get their attention if you have to.¡±


    ¡°On it.¡± Neville said as she got back to work.


    ¡°Okay folks, we¡¯re going to give Neville a few minutes with her toys, then we¡¯re going to use the diversion to skirt the opposite way and head for the EP. In the meantime, check out our new rides and make sure everything works.¡±


    ***


    ¡°They¡¯re moving to the east, following the drones. Looks like they¡¯re trying to shoot them down.¡±


    ¡°Good enough for me. Load up! Let¡¯s head around to the west and see if we can sneak past them. Keep an eye out for any sign of our people.¡±

 Six

    ¡°Holy crap!¡± Neville hissed. She turned to Marcus. ¡°We¡¯re in Unobtainium 6!¡±


    ¡°Ghezuntight!¡± Abbot called over.


    ¡°...and is that supposed to mean something to us? What is Unobtainium 6, and why does it have anything to do with us?¡± Marcus asked.


    ¡°Unobtainium 6 was supposed to be the next-next-gen VR system for MMO gaming. Then it suddenly disappeared and half the development team went to work on some project that never saw the light of day. Development hell was the rumour. Stuck in committee. Now I¡¯m guessing that was never true and they¡¯ve all been working a few steps ahead of what we¡¯ve been seeing in The Sandbox.¡± Neville shook her head. ¡°So much makes sense now.¡±


    ¡°Maybe to you, but beyond using English, none of that made sense.¡±


    Look, the army has been running video games as recruiting and training tools for decades, so it only makes sense that they would have people on the VR side of the house.¡±


    ¡°Still waiting for how this is relevant to us...¡± Marcus cocked an eyebrow at her.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you get it? This isn¡¯t some clunky government sim program, this is the most advanced VR interface developed so far. Have any of you played the army sim ¡®Spec Ops Force Multiplier¡¯?¡±


    Several nods answered her question.


    ¡°The public side of that game that you play in uses Unobtainium 4 as its AR/VR engine, and we¡¯re using...or at least we thought we were using, Unobtainium 5 for The Sandbox and The Sim to keep developing the next levels of interactivity for military training. Elite public players get special invitations into The Sandbox to help develop the interface and as a reward for putting in the hours. It¡¯s all very hush-hush and they seem to take it seriously.¡±Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    ¡°But it looks like The Sim is really a dumbed down skin over Unob *6*. It looks like The Sandbox, and it runs like Unob 5, but it¡¯s really the interface that is filtering what we see and can do. That¡¯s why the Umpire Gear is so capable...and I bet even that is only scratching the surface of what we can do in here.¡±


    ¡°So, can you get us big stompy robots?¡± Abbott piped up.


    ¡°With this gear, I doubt it.¡± Marcus waved at her rig. ¡°But if I can link to the system properly...likely from outside, I can do a heck of a lot more than what I¡¯m limited to in here.¡±


    ¡°Sweet!¡± Abbott flashed a wicked smile.


    ¡°But what can you do for us in here? Now.¡± Marcus asked.


    ¡°It¡¯ll need some baselines to get you some real improvements, but for now...check your HUDs.¡±


    They all flipped down their HUD units.


    ¡°Whoa! What the hell?¡±


    It was like switching from the old Standard Resolution to 4k. Everything was clear and sharp. New information started popping up over everything they looked at. Names, weapons stats, unit affiliations.


    ¡°That¡¯s hi-res. That¡¯s just a taste of what Unob 6 is capable of. I can¡¯t get the entire display to shift for large groups, but I can get, I¡¯m guessing here, up to twenty photorealistic displays. If it¡¯s too much, I can start filtering, but it already knew our fire-teams, and recognises our weapon load-outs.¡±


    ¡°No, no, this is good for now. More information is usually better. There¡¯s an overload point, but I don¡¯t think we¡¯re there yet.¡± Marcus answered.

 Seven

    ¡°Neville.¡±, Marcus leaned over the seat of the truck.


    ¡°Sergeant?¡± Neville answered.


    ¡°What else can you tell me about this system? What sort of advantages can you give us now that you know what¡¯s going on?¡±


    ¡°Well, I wouldn¡¯t say I know what¡¯s going on, and I don¡¯t know the Unob 6 code, because I worked on Unob 4 and 5. But I¡¯m working on the interface and trying to figure out how to get you as many advantages as I can. It looks like the item codes are the same...or at least Unob 6 is accepting legacy code, so I can do things like create these trucks. Unfortunately, I can¡¯t do large-scale system changes like remove buildings or mobs of opponents.¡±


    ¡°These trucks came with machineguns. Does that mean you can create more weapons if we need them?¡±


    ¡°If I have the codes, I should be able to. Unfortunately the machine guns are ¡®part of¡¯ the code for the trucks, so we can¡¯t take them with us. Digging out the specific code for a component might take days. We¡¯re likely better off getting them ¡®in-system¡¯ so to speak.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not worried about that. We¡¯ll use them to conserve our own ammo while we have the trucks. Besides, our regular gear is at least as good. I¡¯m more worried about what happens if we meet something...bigger. What else can we get access to?¡±


    ¡°Well, I might have something for that.¡± Neville said as she hunched over her unit.


    ¡°Open this crate.¡± she nudged the ammo crate on the seat beside her.


    This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.


    ¡°We checked it. That¡¯s ammo for the machine guns. Nothing that works with our gear.¡±


    ¡°Humor me.¡± she smirked.


    Marcus opened the crate and whistled loudly. ¡°Now I bet Nobel really wishes you had been in Kandahar with his crew.¡±


    Inside the crate was a smaller crate. His display lit up a window identifying the contents as S-Pike missiles.


    ¡°The new versions of the Pike Missile. These won¡¯t take out a tank directly, but they can do a lot more damage than regular 40mm rounds, and they have five times the range.¡±


    ¡°So yes, with enough time I can create certain objects, but there isn¡¯t any such thing as a free lunch. The more I make, the more resources I draw on, and the less I can do at once. There are limits to the system. Abbot¡¯s big stompy robot might be more than the system can handle. That could crash things, and maybe even interrupt the interfaces. I just don¡¯t know enough yet.¡±


    ¡°Well then, we¡¯ll keep the supply requests limited for now, but it¡¯s good to know we can get ammo resupply if things get hairy.¡±


    ¡°Here¡¯s hoping.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°Do you know how many types of 5.56mm ammunition there are? I could end up creating a crate of blanks or dummy training rounds if I don¡¯t know what to ask for.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll burn that bridge when we come to it. We¡¯re good for now.¡±


    Neville nodded as she went back to her unit.

 Eight

    ¡°Contact! Three o¡¯clock! Large mob moving this way!¡± Abbot yelled from the rear of the front truck as he indicated with his off-hand.


    ¡°Gogogo! Marcus yelled back. ¡°Get to the EP!¡±


    Douglas gunned the lead vehicle before the mob could react.  As the second truck raced through the intersection, Marcus watched them through his new display. Additional information popped up as he focused on various individuals. Weapons carried. Threat levels.


    ¡°Damn, this display would be useful in the field.¡± He muttered.


    ¡°That¡¯s why it¡¯s not part of training.¡± Neville answered ¡°We don¡¯t have that level of information in real life, so we don¡¯t want people getting used to depending on it in the simulator. The only reason we have that level of detail is because we put it there when we built it. The Umpires get it so they can better understand the differences between perceptions and assumptions made in the heat of the moment, and the information available to the operators when they make those decisions. It can be used in debriefs, but not during the training itself.¡±


    ¡°Fair enough, but I can still dream.¡±


    The trucks sped down the street, leaving the mob in their wake.


    Marcus turned to Neville. ¡°This is a lot of information to take in, but I saw something new when I scanned that crowd. Some of the characters had odd displays.¡±


    ¡°How do you mean, odd?¡± Neville asked.


    ¡°Like they stood out. Something about them wasn¡¯t like the others. Most were moving towards us in¡­like a mob. But a few seemed to be independent of the rest. Is it possible to mix units? Could one have been moving through the other?¡±


    If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ¡°It¡¯s certainly possible that units of individuals can mix as they cross. It¡¯s not like a tank, with hard edges. But all the units active in this run should be standard mobs. The only difference should be size and equipment.¡±


    ¡°Is this another thing that could be related to the hack?¡±


    ¡°At this point, anything is possible.¡±


    ¡°Is there a way to show you what I saw? Do these things have a record function?¡±


    ¡°They do, but I¡¯ll have to see if I can access it from in here¡­give me a few.¡±


    Marcus nodded and went back to scanning the streets outside.


    ****


    ¡°Got it! Recordings can be accessed in Umpire Mode. Pulling up what you saw and¡­whoa.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s ¡®whoa¡¯?¡±


    ¡°Close your eyes and I¡¯ll copy my display to you. It¡¯s faster and easier than flipping back and forth.¡±


    Marcus closed his eyes and leaned back in the seat.


    The blackness was suddenly filled with images. The display he saw moments before was playing back in slow motion. He watched popups appear and disappear as he scanned past the crowd he had seen. At this speed he could see more differences between the individual figures. Most were outlined in the red of hostiles, but several had the yellow borders of neutral or unaffiliated units. The unaffiliated units also had more information in the display, so much so that he had to scroll down the popup box to read it all.


    ¡°So these might be gamers or hackers?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Look at their designators. Ours all say ¡®Operator¡¯, because that¡¯s the default and our system isn¡¯t designed to allow for changes to that sort of thing. Everyone is an Operator, regardless of role or rank. Their designators read differently, and they aren¡¯t the standard blank entry for our opponents. Some are things you might accept if you weren¡¯t thinking about it, like ¡¯Sniper¡¯ or ¡®Assaulter¡¯, but I doubt the military has an MOC for ¡®Ass-Kicker¡¯ or ¡®Rocketman¡¯.¡±


    ¡°Huh, I missed that. I¡¯m guessing these ¡®Ranks¡¯ aren¡¯t what I was thinking they were either?¡±


    ¡°Likely not. They look to be numerical rankings, not military ranks. It¡¯s one way Unob 4, and to a lesser degree The Sandbox, works to make things ¡®fair¡¯. Just like you wouldn¡¯t send out a recruit out on a job suited for a Special Operations unit, the game won¡¯t let you do certain missions unless you meet certain qualifications, such as rank in a given specialty.¡±


    ¡°What sort of ¡®specialty¡¯ is ¡®Ass-Kicker¡¯?¡±


    ¡°Likely that¡¯s a custom username, not a class designation. There are a lot of things in Unob4 and 5 that are strictly gamer-oriented, and we don¡¯t use in the sims. Don¡¯t you venture over that way?¡±


    ¡°I avoid the ¡®gamer sessions¡¯ and stick with the straight simulation exercises. Never thought it would be much use to play games with gamers. About as much use to us as playing paintball. Good for some laughs, but not terribly productive overall.¡±


    ¡°Okay, well it looks like some of those gamers have managed to hack their way into The Sim or piggy-back someone who has, and those are their avatars. Lanier only knows how they managed to get in here, or what their gear looks like. There¡¯s no way they have the Tanks or gear we do, so there¡¯s no danger to them if we shut everything down once we¡¯re out, but it¡¯s something we¡¯ll have to look into¡­especially since we can¡¯t record their displays like we can the system feeds.¡±

 Nine

    ¡°How far away is the EP?¡±, Marcus asked.


    ¡°Another couple hundred meters. It should be around the corner in the middle of the square.¡± Neville answered without looking up from her tablet.


    ¡°Find us a place nearby to hide and we¡¯ll send someone up to have a look.¡±, Marcus said.


    ¡°Will do.¡±


    ¡°There. This building looks good.¡±, She said


    Marcus looked over at the map on the tablet. He saw what she was indicating and nodded, keying his mic.


    ¡°Douglas. Take the third left. Two blocks. Then pull up behind the building on your right.¡±


    ¡°Will do.¡± Douglas answered.


    ¡°McKenzie. Abbott. Once we get into position, head towards the square and set up a camera. Let¡¯s get a look at the mess around the EP.¡±


    ***


    As soon as the trucks pulled up,McKenzie and Abbottbailed out and headed towards the square. Neville pulled up the camera feeds on her tablet.


    The feeds jostled and steadied as the cameras were emplaced. The square seemed empty.


    A sudden bang from the roof of the truck startled everyone and had them scanning, weapons out. Costello and Andrews searched the roof lines scanning with their machine guns. From the roofof the building behind them they could see a camouflaged arm waving slowly.


    ¡°Boss.¡± Andrews called.


    ¡°What do you have?¡± Marcus asked.


    ¡°I think you need to see this.¡±


    Marcus eased out of the truck and slid back alongside the rear vehicle. He looked up where Andrew was pointing.


    ¡°If they wanted to shoot us they could have. I guess they want to talk.¡±


    ¡°Neville? Is there anyone in here who should start conversations with us?¡± Marcus asked.


    ¡°The only autonomous people in here should be us and your other team. NPC¡¯s should only react, never initiate. We may have found your team.¡± Neville answered.


    ¡°Here goes nothing.¡± Marcus muttered. ¡°Cover me.¡± He said to Andrews.


    Marcus stooped and grabbed a rock. He lobbed it underhand onto the roof of the building. Another rock sailed back towards him and landed near the truck.


    ¡°Sully?¡± Marcus stage whispered harshly.


    ¡°Marcus. Is that you? What the hell happened?¡± A voice called back.


    ¡°Sully, it¡¯s me. I brought back up. Who¡¯s with you? Can you move?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve got my team. Martins, Jones, and Josephs. I lost contact with Cockburn and Gant when you and O¡¯Reily disappeared. Coming down.¡±


    Marcus keyed to the unit frequency and said, ¡°Steady folks. Cover me.¡±


    Marcus stepped out from the truck as the back door in the building across from them opened. Four figures dressed just like them spilled out in tactical formation. One of them looked straight at him and waved tersely. He spoke to them and they moved as a unit towards Marcus.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    As they got closer Marcus recognized the rest of his crew. Sgt. Sullivan Cpl. Jones Cpl.Martins and Cpl. Josephs .


    The crew established positions crouching alongside the trucks as Sgt. Sullivan moved to Marcus.


    ¡°What the hell happened? Where did you go? How long have we been in here? Who are these guys?¡±, questions spilled out of Sgt. Sullivan as fast as he could talk.


    ¡°Whoa, whoa. Slow down.¡±, Marcus said waving his hands. ¡°I don¡¯t know what happened. They¡¯re still figuring it out. Something about getting hacked. When the attack went sideways I got kicked out of the Sim along with O¡¯Reilly. We had to figure it out and get a QRF organized to get back in. You guys have been in here three days. These guys are the new QRF. Go figure we didn¡¯t think we need one because this is just VR.¡± Marcus answered.


    ¡°Three days? What the hell? Can¡¯t you pull us out?¡± Sullivan asked.


    ¡°O¡¯Reilly died coming out so we didn¡¯t want to risk anyone else until we knew what was going on. Have you guys tried the EP¡¯s?¡±


    ¡°O¡¯Reilly¡­ What the¡­ Are we stuck here?¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t know. That¡¯s why we¡¯re here. We brought in a tech specialist. She¡¯s looking at the code from the inside. We¡¯ll figure it out. Have you tried the EP¡¯s?¡±


    ¡°We haven¡¯t been able to. Every time we get close to them they get mobbed. It seems like there¡¯s a group or groups in here hunting us. They usually camp out near the EP¡¯s, but they¡¯ve taken to pursuing us. We¡¯ve been looping back around to this EP because it¡¯s the closest to our original site. We figured if anyone came for us they would start here.¡± Sullivan answered.


    ¡°Just a second.¡± Marcus held up his hand. ¡°Neville come over here.¡±.


    When Neville joined them, Marcus introduced Sullivan and said, ¡°Sully now tell her everything you told me.¡±


    After Sullivan had brought Neville up to speed, Marcus turned to her. ¡°Does this make any sense, or are we just going mad in here?¡±


    ¡°Sgt. Sullivan, the groups that have been hunting you? Do they behave like soldiers or gamers? When you shoot them do they disappear and reappear or do they stick around?


    ¡°Now that you mention it, they don¡¯t act like us. Maybe like recruits? I guess they could be gamers? Some of them seem to know what they¡¯re doing, But only at a few things. Like they¡¯re good at sniping but not CQB. Or they¡¯re good at rushing but marksmanship sucks.¡± Sullivan answered. ¡°The ones that are chasing us also disappear after several hits. The others fall to the ground and stay at least until we lose sight of them.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what I was afraid of.¡± Neville said. ¡°It looks like there are actual gamers in here. They probably think it¡¯s a training Sim. I¡¯m not sure if they recognize that there are real people in here.¡±


    ¡°How is that even possible? Aren¡¯t we supposed to be secure?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know the answer to that. The Sandbox is linked to Special Ops Force Multiplier through some heavy firewalls. The Sim is connected to The Sandbox so if someone hacked into The Sandbox they may have kept going. It shouldn¡¯t be possible, but here we are. It¡¯s likely they think they¡¯re playing in the developer¡¯s playground without realizing what they¡¯re actually doing.¡± Neville answered.


    ¡°Once The Sim was proven tech, we were going to pit actual Spec Ops teams against each other. That way we could level the training up much higher than fighting AI opponents. If that¡¯s what was going on we would know it.¡±


    ¡°All right, enough shoptalk.¡± Marcus interrupted. ¡°First let¡¯s see about getting everyone home. Then we can figure out the hows and whys.¡±


    ¡°Neville? Are the mobs moving towards us? Or are they following Sully¡¯s team?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t tell who they are following. But several large mobs are moving towards us.¡±


    ¡°Can we outrun them in the trucks? Can we get to the EP¡¯s before them?¡± Marcus asked. The noise from the square was getting louder.


    ¡°We can certainly outrun them. But if we all head for the EP¡¯s and they don¡¯t work we may end up trapped in the centre of the square surrounded by mobs. I don¡¯t know what will happen if we get shot and die in VR. After what happened to Cpl O¡¯Riley, no one knows for sure. I think we¡¯re better off making a run for a more remote EP and arriving well ahead of the mobs. If we can¡¯t do that, we¡¯re better off drawing them away and leaving a small group to test the EP¡¯s.¡±


    ¡°All right. Here¡¯s the plan.¡± Marcus spoke quickly, ¡°We load up in the trucks and hightail it out of here. We find a remote EP and try it. We get Sully¡¯s people out first. If that doesn¡¯t work, will try to establish communication with the outside. Sullivan and Jones hop in Truck Two. Martins and Josephs can ride in Truck One. If need be we¡¯ll keep circling the EP¡¯s trying each one in turn. If we get separated, we will run through them in numerical order. Keep an eye peeled for Cockburn and Gant along the way. If we haven¡¯t found them by the time we get Sully and crew out, we¡¯ll set up a rotation and keep searching for them.¡±


    Nods and thumbs up all around told him everyone got the message.


    ¡°Everyone mount up. Neville, give Douglas directions to the next EP.¡±

 Ten

    ¡°Sgt Marcus?¡± Neville asked from the back seat.


    ¡°What¡¯s up Neville?¡±


    ¡°Should I send some drones in to scout the area around the EP?¡±


    ¡°Do we have any left?¡±


    ¡°The original batch is either destroyed or out of notional power, but I can key up a few extras.¡±


    ¡°How many can you make?¡± Marcus asked, looking at the map display.


    ¡°Safely, I know I can do the same four as last time. Why, what are you thinking?¡±


    ¡°I want you to sent three of them to this EP. Loud and noticeable.¡± He pointed to a spot on her display. ¡°Then keep one back and offline until we see what sort of response the pack gets.¡±


    ¡°So we¡¯re going to use them as decoys again? Get the system to think we¡¯re heading for that EP while we quietly sneak over this way?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re catching on to tactics quickly Neville. Maybe we¡¯ll make an Operator out of you one day.¡±


    She laughed, ¡°Maybe a Tech Op, but I doubt I¡¯ll be replacing any of you any time soon.¡±


    ¡°Fair enough Neville, fair enough. I guess we stick to what we¡¯re good at.¡±


    ***


    ¡°It looks like those mobs are following the drones to the other EP.¡± Neville said, holding up her display. ¡°I wonder how much of this is AI, and how much is directed?¡±


    ¡°At this point, I don¡¯t care much.¡± Marcus answered. ¡°I¡¯m just happy it¡¯s working and they¡¯re over there instead of giving us grief.¡±


    ¡°Sure enough.¡±


    ¡°Alright folks, it looks like we¡¯re clear to take a run at that EP across the way.¡± Marcus addressed the entire team. ¡°Primary Mission is to get Sgt Sully¡¯s team extracted so they can have a shower and a cold beer.¡±


    Chuckles and smirks belied their nervousness that this might not be as smooth as everyone was hoping for.


    ¡°Then, assuming all of them ex-fil safely, the rest of use will allow suit. Once everyone is out, we¡¯ll set up a return trip with what we know know to find and ex-fil Gant and Cockburn.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    ¡°There it is! Extraction Point on the left!¡± Abbott hollered from the lead truck, waving his off-hand to the left.


    The tower loomed over the square, doing it¡¯s usual impression of a cell-tower. The Team¡¯s displays told a different story, showing a glowing sign over it.


    [Extraction Point Four]


    ¡°Hold up at the edge of the square and we¡¯ll take a look.¡±


    On their way in, the last of Neville¡¯s drones had shown the square to be clear of sim-surgents, but the mobs were closing on the location at a steady, tireless pace.


    One downside to VR was all their Special Forces fitness training didn¡¯t count for as much as it did in the real world.


    Once they carved out a position at the rear of a building facing the square, Marcus sent Douglas and Costello to clear the upper floor and set up cameras. With eyes all around them, Marcus laid out the plan.


    ¡°The primary goal right now is to get Sully¡¯s team to the EP and get their asses out of here. The rest of us can use a different EP if needed, but they¡¯ve been in for three days and could probably do with a beer or six. If we get everyone out, I¡¯ll bring the rest of you back in to find Gant and Cockburn as fast as we can. The Colonel is going to want a debrief, but we¡¯ll keep it short and sweet.¡±


    ¡°What if it doesn¡¯t work?¡± Sully spoke up. ¡°Is this ¡®Leadership by example.¡¯, or ¡®Troops eat first.¡¯?¡±


    ¡°Good question.¡± Marcus turned to Neville


    ¡°Is there any way to gauge risk before actually trying it? Can we tell how many people the system can take before fritzing out?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll know more when we get there, but it should be ¡®All or nothing¡¯. If it works safely at all, it should work safely for everyone. On the other hand, disappearing in here won¡¯t tell us anything about what¡¯s happening on the other side.¡±


    ¡°Okay, if it doesn¡¯t work, then we drive around avoiding these mooks until Neville finds a way to communicate with the brains on the outside. On the way in, we¡¯ll stick with the trucks we¡¯ve been in. We¡¯ll use the trucks to establish a barricade in front of the door, noses out. If we can¡¯t get the EP working before the sim-surgents get to the edge of the square, we bail and head to another one. I do ¡®not¡¯ want to risk any of you in this amusement park from hell. We are not letting them get close enough to get their hands on us, let alone drag anyone from the trucks. Clear?¡±


    Mutters and nods told Marcus that everyone got the message.


    ¡°Neville, can you tell from here if that thing is working? Are their any indications one way or the other?¡±


    ¡°I can tell it¡¯s powered up and the EP side of things appear to be functional. If it was down, the sign at the top should have gone out to prevent people from trying to use it.¡±


    ¡°Fair enough. Let¡¯s mount up and see what goes wrong this time.¡± Marcus said sardonically.


    ***


    ¡°Any movement on the cams?¡± Marcus asked Neville.


    ¡°They¡¯re definitely headed our way from the south and east. The further west you go, the more it clears out. I estimate we have five minutes at their current rate.¡±


    ¡°Okay folks let¡¯s see if this works¡­ Sully, it¡¯s your call.¡±


    ¡°Once more unto the breach, dear friends¡­¡± Sully intoned as he dropped his fist on the large button on the panel labelled Emergency Extraction.


    ¡­And vanished.


    ¡°Shit! Marcus, we have company!¡± Neville called out from the doorway.


    ¡°Jones, Martins, Josephs¡­get the hell out of here.¡± Marcus barked.


    One after another the remaining soldiers slammed down on the emergency button as it reset. Marcus could only hope they made it out safely to the real world as he made his way to Neville.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±


    Before she could answer, the ground shook and the lights flickered.


    ¡°Evac! Now!¡± Marcus shouted.


    Douglas and Costello were the closest to the panel and hammered the button, disappearing. Mackenzie and Abbott looked torn between following, and heading for the door.


    Loud hammering echoed through the room as Anderson and Nobel opened fire with the truck mounted machine guns.


    ¡°Everyone, get moving. No one gets stuck in here.¡±


    ¡°Someone out there has rockets. If they take down the tower, we lose the EP.¡± Neville blurted out.


    ¡°Move!¡± Marcus pointed at the panel as he headed for the door to cover Anderson and Nobel.


    Mackenzie and Abbott winked out as Mathers pulled Neville towards the panel.


    ¡°Wait! I need to¡­¡±, Neville struggled to type more inputs into her display as Mathers shoved her up against the panel.


    ¡°No time! Gotta go!¡± Mathers slammed Neville¡¯s hand down on the button and followed a second later.

 Chapter Eleven

    Marcus jerked upright, nearly banging his head on the padded interior of the pod. He tore his headset off and slapped the affectionately named Tap Out button to turn on the interior lights and crack the seal. Light poured in through the crack and the lid was lifted off by the techs. He looked around the room, counting the other pods, checking for activity.


    Only two were still closed. Gant and Cockburn¡¯s pods. The others were surrounded by techs pulling the occupants out and stripping off their gear. Gurneys were lined up near the four pods of the members they had rescued.


    How are we doing?¡± He called out.


    Sully gave him a weak thumbs up from across the room before Marcus lost sight of him behind the press of bodies.


    ¡°Once the docs have done their thing, we¡¯ll have showers and debriefs in the mission prep room in thirty minutes.¡± He announced.


    The expected groans and mutters told him that his crew was okay. He would have worried if he¡¯d been met with silence.


    ¡°How about some time for chow boss?¡± Someone asked.


    ¡°Okay, make it an hour, but I expect to see all your smiling faces ready to go back in as soon as we debrief and update the details.¡±


    Nods all around told him his team would be ready to go when he expected them.


    ¡°Neville? Can you hang back so can I have a word with you after you get out of your gear?¡± He spoke softly as he leaned towards the pod next to his.


    ¡°Sure thing Sgt. I¡¯ll be done is a sec.¡±


    Marcus waited near the door, checking on each of his people as they filed out of the room. The medics had long since wheeled the four they¡¯d rescued off to the infirmary.


    ¡°What did you need Sgt?¡± Neville asked as she walked up to him.


    ¡°Was there anything I should know about before I brief the Colonel? Anything that might impact the next rescue? Are we safe to reinsert and start looking for Gant and Cockburn?¡±


    ¡°As far as I can tell, we¡¯re still go for insertion. There are a few things that aren¡¯t working as planned, but those are beyond what I or we can deal with in the timeframe we have. That¡¯s system level stuff.¡±


    ***


    The debrief had gone well, and the Colonel was happy with their results so far.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.


    Neville had talked with the developers and she thought she had a few new tricks to take with them. The rest of the team was ready to go. Marcus scanned the room counting thumbs up and waved to the techs before sitting back in his tank while they closed the lid.


    The metal building they started in previously came into focus around them. Everyone had their weapons up in a defensive perimeter.  Marcus waved Mackenzie and Abbott to one side and Douglas and Costello to the other to check the entrances. Neville got to work on her tablet.  The vehicles they had requested materialized in front of them.


    Instead of the pickup trucks Neville had accessed last time these were Oshkosh S ¨C ATVE3s. Not top-of-the-line anymore but rugged, reliable and perfectly suited to snatch and grab reconnaissance. Anderson and Nobel quickly checked the vehicles over and made sure the roof fifty-cals were loaded.


    ¡°Okay boss, where to now?¡± Marcus asked looking at Neville with a cocked eyebrow. She was starting to earn his respect, he admitted to himself.


    ¡°Based on the data we got from the last trip, I have a better handle on Gant and Cockburn¡¯s signals.¡± Neville answered. She pointed to a spot on her tablet display and said, ¡°That¡¯s where they should be.¡±


    ¡°All right people.¡± Marcus hollered.  ¡°Let¡¯s go get our lost puppies and get out of this damned game.¡±


    They loaded up into the trucks in the same teams as last time with Abbott and Nobel waiting to open the doors to the outside. Douglas and Matthews started up the trucks, their hybrid drives eerily silent.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go¡± Marcus said to Mathers. Douglas¡¯ vehicle followed behind them. Once they cleared the doors, Abbott and Nobel pulled them shut and jumped in their trucks.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you want the newer all electric trucks?¡± Neville asked Marcus.


    ¡°They have a lot of advantages, but I still like the reliability of the diesel as a backup. The electric is great for sneaking up, but sometimes it¡¯s better to have two drives than one.¡± Marcus answered.  ¡°On the other hand everything in here is electrons, but we all have our superstitions to fall back on.¡±


    ¡°Makes sense.¡±


    ¡°So what are the chances that this is actually  Gant and Cockburn?¡±


    ¡°The data we got from the last trip showed that Sully¡¯s team had a trackable anomaly in the data. We¡¯re using that information to track these signals. We¡¯re assuming it¡¯s Gant and  Cockburn, but we won¡¯t know for sure until we get there. However there¡¯s no other signals with the same anomaly.¡±


    ¡°I guess it¡¯s no worse than intelligence in the real world.¡±


    ¡°Is that the old joke about military intelligence and oxymorons?¡±


    ¡°Yes, yes it is. They do their best but sometimes situations change faster than we can react.¡±


    ¡°Here¡¯s hoping this situation doesn¡¯t and we can get out of here quickly.¡±


    ¡°On that note, do we have any sim-insurgents closing on our position or theirs?¡±


    ¡°There seems to be a concentration circling around their location, but they don¡¯t seem to be interacting.No one seems to have noticed our arrival, yet.¡±


    ¡°Well let¡¯s hope it stays that way until we¡¯re gone.¡±


    ***

 Chapter Twelve

    ¡°How did you get in here? What¡¯s your Ident Code?¡± Neville barked at the figure on the ground in front of them.


    ¡°None of your business asshole. Who do you think you are anyways?¡± The figure shot back.


    ¡°She¡¯s the one who is going to terminate your ass and box you up inside that cesspit you call a brain. How would you like to get cut off ¡®completely¡¯, as in forever?¡± Marcus said over her shoulder.


    ¡°You can¡¯t do that! All you can do is deactivate my account and block me from the servers. I can have a new account up and running and be back here as fast as you can try to block me. Man, once this sort of treatment gets out, no one will want to play here, then where will you be?¡±


    ¡°You think this is a game? You think we¡¯re a bunch of frat boys amped up on energy drinks in our mom¡¯s basements? Shit kid, you are so far in over your head you can¡¯t even see the light. We know you hacked your way in here, and that means you¡¯re looking at cyber terrorism charges. That means shutting off your access to the Internet. Forever. Well, assuming you survive prison.¡±


    ¡°Prison?!? What the hell? I can¡¯t go to prison for playing a video game!¡±


    ¡°No, but you ¡®can¡¯ go to prison for hacking defence facilities, and the cyberterrorism laws include virtual facilities¡­¡± He waved around them. ¡°¡­Like this one. You¡¯re here without an Ident Code, ergo you hacked, ergo you go to prison. The police are already on their way to pick up your meat suit in real life.¡±


    ¡°How the¡­ You don¡¯t know where I am. You¡¯re bluffing.¡±


    ¡°Not so much. Why do you think we¡¯ve kept you online all this time? Our counter intrusion specialists have been at work this whole time. You have pretty decent capabilities, but you¡¯re just one kid. We¡¯re a whole team.¡±


    ¡°So, back to my question.¡± Neville interrupted. ¡°How did you get in here? How did you even find out about this place? If you cooperate, we can make things a little easier when it comes time to how you serve your sentence.¡±Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.


    ¡°Sentence? I can¡¯t¡­you can¡¯t¡­ I¡¯m just a kid. You can¡¯t put a kid in prison!¡±


    ¡°You should have thought about that before you hacked a defence facility. Cyberterrorism laws specifically include minors to prevent terrorists from using kids to do their dirty work and get off without consequences. It¡¯s supposed to be a deterrent, but I guess it didn¡¯t work on you.¡± Marcus shrugged. ¡°Oh well.¡±


    ¡°So kid, help us out and we¡¯ll see what we can do for you.¡± Neville leaned closer.


    ¡°What sort of help?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s start with telling us how you found out about this place and how you got in.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s in The Cop Shop! I found the hook up in The Cop Shop!¡± He blurted out.


    ¡°The¡­what?¡± Marcus looked at Neville, puzzled.


    Neville nodded knowingly. ¡°The Cop Shop is a place gamers go to swap information the gaming companies supposedly don¡¯t want made public. The name comes from the smart-ass idea that it¡¯s funny to ¡®do business¡¯ in the last place people would think to look¡­the cop shop. What they don¡¯t know is that all the major gaming outfits have accounts there and use it to leak information on their terms. It¡¯s basically a place low-mid level hackers go to get an edge in their games, so if news about us really was there, we¡¯d be flooded with intrusions¡­¡± She turned to him. ¡°Care to try again¡­?¡±


    ¡°Shit.¡± He said.


    ¡°Indeed. It isn¡¯t easy to get in here, and we know more about what¡¯s going on than you do. Either be straight with us¡­now¡­or get used to a six by eight cell with one hour of daylight per day.¡±


    The figure seemed to slump. ¡°Okay, fine. I got a message that there was a secret developer training area that required a hack to get into. Sort of a ¡®If you¡¯re good enough to get in, you can play the game.¡¯ challenge. It was a private message through an account on The Cop Shop, but it wasn¡¯t posted anywhere. Super ¡®no sharing with anyone or you would get banned and shamed from every game the developer makes¡¯ sort of thing. You had to run an account on SOFM, then hack into the Invite Only area without being detected, ¡®then¡¯ you had to hack into the developer¡¯s area. That was the challenge. If you made it all the way in, you would get to go up against the developers and could earn custom options that you could take back into the other levels.¡±


    ¡°Okay, that¡¯s a start. We need all the information you were sent, including any verifications you attempted.¡±


    ¡°So this isn¡¯t the developers area?¡±


    Marcus leaned in and looked the figure in the eye. ¡°This is what prison looks like. Remember that.¡±