Virtual Revolution Page #3

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Open up, a**hole.

Always a nice word. People must love you.

What's the matter?

Is it possible to prevent

a gamer from logging out?

What?

As far as I know, it can't be done. Why?

Never mind.

I need you to search the database

from the verse, Olmetta Worlds.

Map 16, coordinates +144/-5.102.

And find out who's been logging

in or out the last few hours.

Okay, but it's going to take some time.

Do you want me to come to your

place when I have the results?

No, I can wait here. Just

tell me if anything's...

Oh, sh*t.

A car has landed on the

roof. We have visitors!

Mr. Morel, I reckon?

Yes.

What can I do for you?

Oh...

We need to talk.

Oh, let me introduce myself.

Special Agent Stilson.

Interpol.

You do look good.

Uh... thanks?

What I mean by that, mister,

is that you're not obese, nor dead skinny.

This neighborhood is inhabited by

Connected, Hybrids and Living, all the same,

so it was hard to imagine

what you would look like.

I take it you're not a Connected?

Uh, well, I...

- I spend some time online.

- Mmm-hmm.

But... But I keep on spending

time here too, sometimes.

So you're a Hybrid.

Good.

You know how to keep a grip on our reality.

I like that in a man.

And, you see, I do believe that we

also have other points in common.

Yes. Maybe.

Yes.

We are looking for the same thing.

For instance,

when you hack our servers

in order to search the

record history of a camera,

which happens to be located just near the

scene of a very recent cybertronic crime,

I think our spheres of

interest are pretty close.

What I'd like to know, Mr. Morel,

is why you were interested

in this specific camera.

Well, I...

I was curious. That's it.

Curiosity, Mr. Morel, is a sin.

I feel a man should

stick to some boundaries.

Otherwise, he must be called to order.

Hmm?

Oh, look, let me simplify

the situation for you.

First possibility,

you work for the terrorists,

but in that case you

would have erased the file.

So, second possibility,

you work for someone also very

interested in finding these terrorists.

I strongly suspect,

the corporations attacked by them.

Which is why I am going to ask you nicely.

Who recruited you,

Mr. Morel?

Wait. Wait.

No one recruited me.

All right?

I just came across an internal memo

at Vesglas Corporations about the attack.

And I thought that if I could

discover some valuable information,

maybe there was a way for me

to negotiate a good amount of credits,

by selling it to Vesglas.

Vesglas wasn't one of

the attacked companies.

Yet they still had the info, though.

So, you are not working for

any multinational corporation?

No. Well, not like this, at least.

How so?

I test security systems by

finding out failures in them.

Several companies contact

me so I can test theirs.

If I succeed in getting in,

then I get a nice amount of credits,

in exchange for a report explaining

what the failures are and

how to correct the system.

This is why I live here,

in a connected area.

Breaking in is harder from outside,

since I can't connect directly

to a network inside Neo District.

Well, I guess

our agency could use your

services, one of these days.

With pleasure.

We just need to...

You will do it pro bono, won't you?

And, on our side,

we won't pay too much attention

to the legality or the origin

of your hardware here.

That does seem like an

acceptable deal, doesn't it?

Yes.

So, between us.

Between friends.

What did you find

on the recording history of that camera?

Nothing.

Just a few people walking.

But I found nothing special about them.

I mean, if I had found anything,

anything at all,

I would have already sold it to Vesglas.

But I really couldn't find a thing.

Well...

We will meet again,

Mr. Morel.

What are you doing?

Bathroom.

Get a grip on that

bladder, we've gotta move.

There is somebody else I

really want to pay a visit to.

They're gone!

Thanks for not ratting me out.

Are you sure it's worth it?

You're taking the risk of ending up between

Interpol, the corporations

and the terrorists.

Is it the first time you hear

about this kind of attack?

Yes. Why?

There have been others before?

Apparently, the terrorists are planning

on changing their operating mode.

But I have no idea how.

I should have made that

son of a b*tch talk more.

Made who talk?

Thanks for having my back.

I owe you.

Can I still count on you

for the map analysis, in Olmetta Worlds?

Yeah.

Okay, I'm on it.

As I was listening to Camylle,

it was obvious he had

no idea who I was.

So, in all likelihood,

the bastard who beat me up

never transmitted my coordinates.

And I recovered my ID.

My flat was probably still safe.

Well, in theory, that is.

Are you all right?

You seem worried.

I'm fine.

Don't worry. I'm good.

You wanted to see me?

Interpol came here.

They know.

It was only a matter of time.

You didn't tell me the other

companies were concerned.

I didn't know.

You've obviously

discovered things yourself.

What have you got?

The attack was launched against

the three biggest verse companies.

Two officially.

The other ones, we both

know the truth about that.

Yes. I received your message.

"Four down. End of the line."

We sent in the cleaners,

but Interpol was already there.

On the one hand,

I congratulate you,

for eliminating four of them.

On the other hand,

I find it quite frustrating

that the trail has seemed to go cold.

Have you absolutely no new ideas?

No.

I had someone looking at the connections

and disconnections of the zone

where the Necromancers were hiding.

But nothing.

Not even one over the last few weeks.

I guess they

always have some of them connected,

to protect the area from other players.

And they just log in or

log out from elsewhere.

It's very clever

and there's no way to track them.

We need to resolve this

as quickly as possible.

I don't like Interpol

hanging around our business.

We are allies,

but we are not friends.

How's that?

We pay the authorities the taxes they need.

They pay the Connected

the universal income.

And the Connected pay us to use our verses.

It's all a matter of balance.

But isn't it expensive

for the governments to pay

everyone's universal incomes?

No. The amounts are relatively low.

They pay them rent,

a little food, and for the connection.

If you remember in the old days,

they used to have to pay for health care,

retirement fund and unemployment insurance.

Now, they have to pay much less

and for not as long.

The Connected barely reach

a life expectancy of past 40.

They're obese, underfed,

no health care, poor hygiene.

What do you expect?

Don't fool yourself.

If the politicians want to

keep things the way they are,

it's because they benefit from it.

Anyway, the guys from Interpol

pretend they know more than we do

about the Necromancers

behind the latest attack.

I prefer not to send in our

own hackers against them.

You have your own private connections.

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