Browser City

Chapter 13: Viral Glitch

"Browser City had never been so quiet," Amser Time, the email functionality, said with a voice full of distrust.

"You bet," Aethelred replied.

They were all gathered in the Console Room, carrying background jobs while the User had recently started playing League of Legends and staying alert.

His face was broadcasted on the Console Room's ceiling, as usual. He was wearing his wireless headset. His pressed, thin lips and frown denoted he was deeply concentrated on a mission.

"Don't let your guard down," Aethelred insisted with furrowed brows. "Pitt and Nekari could be about to strike again. Report any performance issue asap."

The Console Room's double doors swooshed open. Shannon came in.

"Shannon, what are you doing here?" Aethelred asked her with mild exasperation. "Aren't you supposed to rest?"

"It's been almost a minute already since I got infected. Ragna says I'm completely recovered now."

"I assume you want to work?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I need it. I can't bear standing idle," she replied as if she would die if she didn't have anything to do.

Aethelred sighed as Shannon crossed the room to her side of the round control panel, right in front of him.

"How's Ajax?" Bea asked her shyly while Shannon passed by near her desk.

"Stable but still unconscious."

"And his scleras?" Aethelred asked.

"Ned's checking them every second. Still white."

"Good," Aethelred replied in a bittersweet tone.

"I hope he recovers his consciousness soon," Bea added, turning to her screen.

"Is the User playing with his friends?" Shannon asked.

"Yes. Nothing is out of the ordinary," Imari Loyal answered. He was a dark-skinned translation add-on who wore a white full bodysuit with glowing, orange lines. "My automatic translations for their multicultural team work fine, as usual."

"Nothing wrong with the data transmission. Fluid, as expected," Ilaria Cheer added, her straight, waist-long mane of hair moving with her head with grace. "Trust the word of a video-sharing platform."

None of their other colleagues reported any anomaly.

"I don't like it. They're planning something," Shannon whispered with dread.

"Don't fret over things we don't know yet," Aethelred answered with the poise of a wise, old general. "I've warned every citizen in Browser City with a personal message. I guess that, with everybody's guard up, they might be having problems and prefer to hide."

"Yes, that could be true," Shannon replied, still worried.

A loud alarm blasted their ears. Red flashed on and off all around the Console Room.

"Or not."

"Guys!" Hector yelled with wide eyes. "I detect performance issues coming from the Downloads and Uploads sector!"

"The logistics facility at Browser City's docks?!" Amser exclaimed.

"The spyware is causing havoc there," he went on while frowning. "But she seems to be alone."

"What is she doing?" Aethelred demanded.

"She's infecting documents, images, music files, and other locally-stored material. Oh, no! The biology project upload is at risk too! If the User clicks on any of these files, it will trigger a chain reaction. It will spread throughout the entire city... maybe even beyond, to our fellow neighbours in the hard drive."