Zero Layer
13:32 July 28, 2116
- Cut it, cut it out! - Illy pulled out the train, after which she immediately vomited into the nearest trash can. - What was it? Cockroach, I'll drag you in now!
- The usual sensory conflict, - the big man answered melancholy, not looking up from the terminal. - And I'm three times heavier than you, so you can only drag in your dad, who, it seems, did not teach you manners.
- Why did I turn out? - spitting her lunch, Illy did not stop.
In a semi-dark basement, cool dampness mixed with a mixture of incense, exhaust fumes and city sewers, dragging from the street in heat, which did not help the current state of the young girl at all.
- That's why at the beginning of the last century the users of the first VR helmets were also sick. Well, maybe not so spectacular, of course ... It was called cyber disease or simply the effect of motion sickness, and it arose because of the mismatch between movement in the virtual and its absence in reality, - Cockroach turned in his chair and looked at Illy. - In a virtual environment, you fly in any direction, but in real life you sit on the couch. Knowledge of your position in space and data from the visual channel come into conflict with each other, dizziness arises - the brain mistakenly believes that the body is poisoned, and now you spoil my excellent trash can.
- So why haven't I experienced this before? Illy fingered her jet-black bangs.
- You haven't flown like that before. The usual digital layer is simply superimposed on the environment around you, it is synchronized with your movements when you walk down the street or move around your house. The exceptions are players in dive clubs, users in training centers, and network technicians.
- I've been to gaming clubs and moved freely in virtual space without any problems, while being in a capsule in real life.
- The fact is that in our implants, - the Cockroach tapped on his temple, - there is a Spatial Compensation Module that can work in different modes. By default, it just makes the necessary adjustments, smoothing out the accumulating tracking errors, affecting the sense of position in space. In a club or training center, it works in a different mode, but now ... Well, I turned it off altogether right during your flight in a test assembly. Of course, this has influenced you much more than users from the past, due to the deeper level of immersion. And in the twenties there was no such strong effect of motion sickness, as well as invasive immersion systems like ours.At that time, in order to reduce motion sickness when moving in a static position in real life, it was necessary to make compromises in the form of abandoning free movement in favor of alternative techniques to reduce the mismatch of data from the senses - like the same ...
- Yes, no one cares, Cockroach, let's go without it.
- The main thing that is important to know - Cockroach's voice became serious - is that in the inner contour, the debug layers have nothing to do with the real topology of space, so the layer engineers do not move at all in real life, and their IPCs work in a different, more extreme mode , than usual. And now I can switch to it.
At that moment, the basement door swung open, revealing a skinny silhouette of the Ash Group.
- We found, found everything, where we expected!
Illy and Cockroach immediately went into the private layer.
Private layer ac: btl: 000254834702
13:39 28 July 2116
Next to the sickly pale boy, two more figures appeared in the form of his full copies. One of the copies threw a data packet towards the Tarakana terminal. He immediately brought the projections onto the wall so that everyone could watch the process.
- Checking the content. So, - the cockroach froze in front of the terminal screens on the wall, - it looks like this is it. Yes that's it. Ash, you brought us the keys.
- Topchik, - Ash concluded the original with satisfaction, and at this time the copies began to dance with joy.
- So, - Cockroach glanced over at the Ash and Illy Group, - with the help of the access keys we log in to the Horizon system, go to the debug layer, find the designated backdoor and find ourselves the first alive in the ghost layer.
Everyone in the basement looked at each other in silence.
- We'll meet here in 3 hours, - Tarakan broke the silence, rolling down the terminal windows and getting up from his chair.
Ash jerked toward the door to open it for Illy. The whole team came out of the basement ... and ended up nowhere. The space behind the door ended in solid black.
- Collapse active layer, - Cockroach abruptly grabbed the original Ash and Illy and pulled back into the basement. - Does not collapse.
- What does this all mean ?! Illy glanced around nervously. Ash's original was plastered with copies, ready to defend him from an unknown enemy.
- We are already in the loop, - Cockroach tried to display the terminal, but the system did not give any feedback. - It's a security sandbox.
- How is this possible? Illy wrapped her arms around herself.
- A minute, give me a minute, - the cockroach stared at the floor. “I have no doubt about the backdoor, I have checked everything a hundred times. There could be no questions with the IDs of the technicians, they are not fake. Modification of the IPC would not raise suspicion. I know all the protocols of their IB schnicks ... Ash, Ash! - The cockroach turned towards the group. The copies growled angrily at him.
"You don't think ..." Illy shook her head.
- Ash, - said Tarakan in a soothing tone, - tell us exactly how the deal to obtain authorization keys went.
Ash slowly looked from Cockroach to Illy and back again, the copies did the same, only in reverse order.
- Well, well, here we got the address of the layer, and here we are ...
- Shut up! Illy jumped up from the chair. - Don't tell him anything!
He nodded in disbelief at Illy's request.
- The petty thing guessed it, huh? - the Cockroach grinned. - Ruined the whole fairy tale, deprived of the award.
“Ash, be quiet, not a word, just shut your mouth.
Illy threw an angry look at the Cockroach.
- The cockroach has an important rule that has always saved us - it knows nothing about the Grouping network, so you did not receive this information from it, but you also cannot extract it from Ash directly due to the presence of copies that introduce noise into the data analysis. Ash, - Illy looked into the eyes of an even more pale young man, - this is not a Cockroach, but an intellectual imitation system, and it looks like we have been in the sandbox much longer than it seems.
Illy turned back to Cockroach.
- Well, you bastard, did not get your dose? You are driven by a primitive reward system, ”the girl grinned viciously. - And how many cycles have already been passed, does it break?
Inner contour. Sandbox # 40
Cycle number: 153
Private layer ac: btl: 000254834702
13:43 July 28, 2116
- One minute, give me a minute, - The cockroach stares at the floor. “I have no doubt about the backdoor, I have checked everything a hundred times. There could be no questions with the IDs of the technicians, they are not fake. Modification of the IPC would not raise suspicion. I know all the protocols of their IB schnicks ... Ash, Ash! - The cockroach turned towards the group. The copies growled angrily at him.
"You don't think ..." Illy shook her head.
- Ash, - the Cockroach said in a soothing tone, - now think carefully, try to remember, was there any possibility that someone could find out the source through which the keys were obtained? Close your eyes, concentrate and try to imagine everything from the very beginning of the day, create a picture of this day in your head.
- Ash, don't do this! Illy screamed.
- Shut up! Shut up, shut up! - The cockroach went almost to screeching, his voice did not match the imposing look at all. - Don't bother me, don't bother, bother, don't bother me! We will soon get rid of you, tvrrr, 154, creature, little is left to simulate your disgusting, new cycle, insignificant "I"!
Inner contour. Sandbox # 40
Cycle number: 486
Private layer ac: btl: 000254834702
13:44 28 July 2116
- Ash, - the Cockroach said in a soothing tone, - now think carefully, try to remember, was there any possibility that someone could find out the source through which the keys were obtained? Close your eyes, concentrate and try to imagine everything from the very beginning of the day, create a picture of this day in your head.
- Yes, Ash, take your time, - Illy turned to him gently, - do as Tarakan asks, so we will find a way out of here together.
Inner contour. Sandbox # 40
Cycle number: 498
Private layer ac: btl: 000254834702
13:47 July 28, 2116 A
cockroach was sitting in his chair with an absent gaze. There was no one else in the basement.
- Unload the fortieth block. Generate a report and transfer data to the external communications system. Sending. Expectation. The confirmation. Dissolution.
Public news layer pl: news4 :: 000194470246
12:00 July 29, 2116
“Today at 8 am in the basement of one of the abandoned hotels in the old center, the bodies of two young men and one woman were found. According to preliminary data, death occurred at 13:40 last day due to an unsuccessful attempt to break into the Spatial Compensation Module or IPC for short, which led to a short circuit. This is not the first case of this kind that arose after information appeared on the network about the possibility of manually changing the operating mode of the IPC. In this regard, the Central Grid Regulator issued an official statement with an insistent recommendation not to attempt to carry out unauthorized operations with augmented reality modules. "
Next story - Session