Well, here it is! Sorry for the delay, but as I said, I was pretty under the weather last weekend. If it's any consolation, you guys'll now get two chapters in as many weeks! Enjoy!
Alex logged off of the chat room and turned to his father. "I don't understand. Any minute now they're going to make you legally dead, and it's all over. Why are you wasting your time to help me?"
"Because you needed it," his father said simply. "And that's what fathers are there for; to help their kids out when they've screwed up and gotten themselves knee deep in dog squeeze."
"That's a really nice image there Dad. Thanks for that."
Alex Sr. smiled at him. "Besides, when else am I going to get the opportunity to take part in an internet civil war?" Then the smile disappeared, and his father became serious. "You do realize that stopping them online is not going to work, right? It doesn't matter how many times they die, if they can keep respawning, killing their characters is meaningless. You need to find a way to take them out in real life."
"How should I do that?" Alex asked.
"By thinking. Use that brain of yours for something good. Use the engineer's eye; look at what you've got and make something of it." He unexpectedly wrapped his son in a quick embrace that ended as quickly as it began. "I'll be back within three hours. Scout's honor." He promised. And with that, he stood up and hurried out the door. He stopped quickly to peck his daughter on the forehead, then hurried down the stairs. He was stopped at the front door by Dunham, who was standing with his arms folded, looking very cross. "You do realize you're putting him at risk by letting him do this, right? What if he gets hurt, or worse?"
"They've found a way to counteract the noise. He should be fine," Alex Sr. assured him.
"Should? You're risking your son's wellbeing on should?"
Alex Sr. sighed. "Ed, you never had kids, so you never realized this but, there comes a time when you have to let go of their hand. It may be the most difficult thing you have ever had to do, but for the best. You can't be hovering over their shoulder telling them constantly what's right and wrong. You have to let go, take the training wheels off, and let them take their own path. And while the path Alex is taking could end up becoming dangerous, I have full confidence that Alex knows the risks, and is willing to accept them."
"And what if the worst comes to pass?"
Alex Sr. looked at Dunham, with steely eyes that showed no emotion or mercy. "I said I'd let him choose his own path. I never said there wouldn't be repercussions to those who take things one step too far."
The castle was completely repaired, and then some.
The Hackers had apparently pulled out the stops in repairing the castle. The walls were almost doubled in height and thickness, NPC guards now patrolling the walls along with an increased compliment of Hackers. Each tower sported at least half a dozen arches and crossbowmen along with catapults capable of hurling massive stones, or whatever else the Hackers planned to throw at anyone assaulting their lair. What was most impressive was the Keep. For some reason, they had neglected to fully repair the structure, leaving most of the roof gone, and many gaps in the stonework. But that was not what had caught they eyes of the group.
"It's floating." Croe said in amazement. "It's actually floating. Can they do that?"
"Apparently they can." Miles said in mild irritation. "That makes it way more difficult. How are we supposed to crash a server when our target is floating a hundred meters above the ground?"
"It will definitely require scrolls of Icarian Flight." Qilin mused. "And rope. Preferably rope ladders. Sharps, send an IM to the Coders still at base as well as the Guild quartermasters to bring rope and lumber."
Sharpslefae nodded and made motions with her hands as if typing. "Message sent." She answered after a few moments.
"When should the Guildmasters be arriving? Janus asked.
Sharplefae's eyes darted to the upper left corner of her view, where most players kept their clock on their HUD. "Any second now," She announced.
As if on cue, the air around them rippled and several players stepped out of the portals that formed. Almost all of them were massively built, some towering even over Miles. The largest, a fully armored knight wielding two axes with heads easily bigger than Ginganinja's own head, nodded to Qilin. "Qilin," he said,acknowledging the Coder leader.
"Axinator," Qilin replied.
"So the Hackers have shown their hand, eh."
"Enough of it to know that any online game is now at risk." Qilin replied. "You've seen the videos of the Halo incident, I assume."
Axinator grunted.
"Then you know how high the stakes are right now. If the Hackers succeed, they will have a perfect staging ground to launch future attacks against-"
"Qilin, let me make something very clear," Axinator interrupted. "I don't particularly like you at all. You have shown time and time again that you are a coward, and are unwilling to stomp out the Hacker problem. And the fact that you were incapable of finding a solution to the Hacker's virus until now shows that you are rather inept at a job you claim to be very proficient at. The only reason that I've come here is that for once you are right. The stakes are very high"
"Coming from someone who runs from the Hackers and refuses to fight them, those are some pretty bold words." Qilin shot back. "You want to put your axe where your mouth is?"
Axinator growled and advanced menacingly towards Qilin. Qilin, despite being noticeably less bulky, held his ground, compartments beginning to open to reveal hidden weapons. Both would've probably torn each other to pieces had Sharpslefae and another guildmaster restrained them. "Grow up you two," Sharpslefae ordered. "If you're going to fight we might as well log of and kiss the internet goodbye."
Axinator and Qilin eyed each other for a moment, then stepped back, sheathing their weapons.
"You said that you had a way to stop the Hackers once and for all," A robed spellcaster commented. "What is it you have in mind?"
"We crash the game." Miles said simply.
"And afterwards?" The spellcaster asked once more. "What do we gain that gives us an advantage against the Hackers?"
"Time to figure out phase two." Croe answered.
An animatronic knight turned to Croe. "You mean you are wasting our time with a useless plan?" He answered incredulously.
"I have something." Alex interjected. "You all have video capturing software, right?"
Qilin nodded. "All Coders are required to have some installed. But how would that help? We've already tried sen-"
"If you would let me tell you what I had in mind, you might learn a thing or two." Alex said.
Qilin's mouth snapped close. "I'm sorry. Please continue," he appologized.
Alex told them. What his father had said was true. If death was meaningless, then killing the Hackers in the game was nothing more than a setback. To end the threat once and for all, the fight had to be taken to the real world.
Which was exactly what Alex intended to do.
"Fascinating," Miles pondered, stroking his beard. "It could work. If we got enough of the right footage, it would certainly work."
Axinator peered at Alex. "You're that flaming ninja kid. The one who blew up the Hacker base last time, right?"
Alex nodded and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Yeah, that was me. Or us rather. I had Janus, Miles, and Croe to help."
"And you think this plan will work? Remember, Qilin has already tried getting videos to the public."
"That was before this week." Alex replied.
Qilin was shaking his head, still skeptical of how this would work. "I don't know GN. We have tried what you're considering. It hasn't done much."
"Can it Qilin." The spellcaster ordered. "The kid's right. A lot has changed in the last week. And we can use that to our advantage."
Qilin still didn't look convinced, so Croe piped up. "Look Qilin, if it doesn't work, it doesn't work. And if it fails, at least we crashed the server and bought some time to make plan B."
"That's assuming we succeed." Qilin mumbled. "Even without the Hacker Virus affecting us, they can still kill our characters."
"Hey! I'm trying to be positive here!"
Qilin began to say something but Miles cut over him. "Dumbledore's right. Shut the hell up Qilin."
"I assume you have a plan to crash the game, correct?" The animatronic knight asked.
"When we destroyed the Keep the first time, the area lagged for a few seconds." Alex answered. "The way I see it, we'll have way more people in the same area as last time. And I don't want to stop with the Keep this time. I'm correct in assuming each stone in the wall can be turned into an individual entity if broken off, correct?"
"Correct." Janus said. Even with the mask, Alex could tell his friend was grinning from ear to ear. Garrett and his brother loved a good explosion. Even if it was only a virtual one.
"Well, with a wall that big, there's got to be a lot of stones. A lot of entities. A lot of different physics that the game will have to calculate."
"Potentially enough to cause a total crash of the game's servers." The knight mused.
"I would say more than enough." Croe said. "All that we destroyed was the keep and part of a wall. Since then, they've made the wall even bigger, even thicker. Just imagine what kinds of lag we can now create by destroying just one wall."
Miles clapped his hands together. "Right then, if no one objects, I'd say we're almost ready. I suggest we use the same strategy as Operation THUNDERBEE to scale the walls."
"Thunderbee? Miles are you sure?" Qilin asked in shock. "The last time we used that strategy,"
"Was the first and only time a sizeable amount of Coders were able to get past those walls." Miles finished. "All that we need is already prepared, save for wooden ladders, which we can make on the fly."
Qilin gulped. "Miles, that attack, we swore never to use it again. Are you cer-"
"Qilin, this is exactly what I was talking about." Axinator interrupted. "Once again, you're hesitating due to the attack not going as planned. I'm truly surprised you've lasted this long as the leader of the Coders!"
Qilin's eyes narrowed. "Be very careful Brutus." He said in a low voice. "I may be a coward, but I at least did something. Unlike another man directly in front of me."
"Brave words coming from someone who two years ago was a gold farmer in the slums of Detroit; who stood by and let the game's economy crash and nearly emptied the servers." Axinator replied. "Unlike you, my guild banded with the others," he gestured to the other guildmasters beside him, "to pull Rune's economy out of the crapper! So do you want to put your money where your mouth is?"
"I think it would work." Alex said with finality. "Look, even after two months of playing Rune, I don't know much about what went on before I arrived. But from what I've learned, the Coders quite often used very similar tactics for each raid. If we start our attack in a way you've already used, then it might fool the Hackers and give us enough time to get in, and crash the server."
Qilin looked around the circle and sighed. "I guess my mind's been made up for me." he said. "Although, I did not appreciate my life's story being publicized. Besides, you're just as guilty as me when it comes to gold mining."
Axinator shrugged. "True. But at least I tried to clean up the mess. You just logged off and played with your -"
"Anyways, I'll go back and prepare the Coders for battle." Sharpslefae interjected, preventing the Axinator from speaking further. "If you have no objection, I believe we should attack within the hour."
Axinator grinned. "Not in the least. The Order of Friendship and Magic will stand by your side. Today, the Hackers will regret their decision to harm our pastime."
"Hang on, are you a Brony?" Croe asked in awe.
"Most of the guild is." The Guildmaster said with a smile.
"Are you looking for a scythe wielding scarecrow?"
"No, he is not." Miles interrupted, grabbing Croe by the neck. "Like it or not, you're stickin' with us."
Croe deflated. "That guild sounds like fun." He muttered.
The other guildmasters and Sharpslefae chuckled and teleported back to their bases to finish rallying their troops. Axinator wrote a simple message off to his second in command. Qilin stood with his head down and sulked.
Alex turned to Janus. "So what made Qilin so anxious about using this operation THUNDERBEE?"
Janus shrugged. "Well, the only thing that I can think of is that the last time he used it, Professor BA ended up in a coma."
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