“Ugh…!!”
A groan as they desperately hold back nausea, breaths coming in gasps, perhaps from the side effects of overexerting their brains.
Their trembling arms, fighting to hold themselves up, seem pitiable as they try not to bury their faces in the puddle of vomit they created.
It was obvious to anyone that the twins were in a really bad state.
But as the saying goes, it takes two to tango; unless there is something reciprocated from the other side, conflicts do not form simply from one-sided anger.
Despite the sudden finger-pointing, Team 1 showed little reaction, nearly reaching hysteria.
“……Whaaa!!”
After another round of heaving up bile, supporting each other on their shoulders, they barely got to their feet and shouted at Sir Léonard, regardless of whether the audience was curious about the circumstances.
“Ghost-head…! Judge!! Those bastards… they committed foul play!”
“…Foul?”
Sir Léonard tilted his head skeptically, having never received a proper introduction, so his titles changed oddly depending on who was addressing him. He seemed entirely uninterested in correcting that.
Moreover, the opera mask that had been projecting properly since he was called was now scowling in a corner of the screen, as if annoyed. It was a relief that he showed at least some interest upon hearing a word difficult to ignore.
Perhaps he at least felt some minimal responsibility as a host.
“Ugh…. This isn’t exactly a trivial matter…! The bastards not only set up a packet alteration web on the connection port, but they also planted a cyberware contamination virus inside the vault!!”
“…Did they even intentionally develop that? Our antivirus program is in danger!”
“Uh…?”
Hearing that outcry, I also observed their trembling bodies once more.
Being overly focused due to the pride at stake, they had cramps in their arms and legs, and their sense of balance seemed so thrown off that they felt nauseous.
What a mess had unfolded on their retinas, their pupils continuously dilating and contracting as if they could barely see.
Drool was flowing from the corners of their mouths.
Even though quite some time had passed, their semicircular canals were not functioning properly, making their bodies shake like a tremulous aspen tree.
Despite their unfortunate condition, they had transformed from their previously neat appearance into something that could convincingly resemble a drug addict, clearly exposed to something horrific and ghastly.
It was something I really shouldn’t be saying for the umpteenth time. Regardless of the city, in this world, it is illegal to possess illegal programs or malicious codes that bypass application procedures.
Possessing it, even in any form, is a sensitive issue; failing to self-report an infected state could result in fines.
…Though, asking whether those who develop such things have any sense of lawfulness is a different story.
According to a memory chip related to the world view that can be obtained during gameplay, there used to be a catastrophic virus that never ceased even after being released into the public network, which forced residents to evacuate and closed down entire metropolises, reminiscent of the Grey goo scenario.
Naturally, corporations responsible for maintaining society were horrified, and it was an event that raised awareness among the cyber engineer field, which typically beneficially utilized such things.
There is always a dangerous possibility of natural extinction or, at the very least, early suppression being out of the question, and even mutations could occur depending on the host-parasite relationship and the network or terminal environment, which is why it’s customarily handled with extreme caution.
No matter how closed the ecosystem.
The conditions for activity can be restricted, and instead of neatly reclaiming when disconnecting, they just implant it without a second thought to mess with the competition? Seriously…?
“……Idiot.”
He reached out with gloved hands, checking the condition by peeling back the lower part of his eyes or inspecting the state of the blood splattered here and there.
If his voice had been intact, he might have sighed as he murmured, turning away from the two.
Surely our irritable judge had prepared a manual for such cases as well, but.
“…You there, Team 1!! Do you admit to altering the vault as testified by number 9?”
Sir Léonard asked in a booming voice so that others who might need to bury their heads in the vault could hear.
I thought the questioning side, whether accusing or defending, would at least show a little more effort, but… reality exceeded imagination.
“……”
Team 1 and their group simply shrugged their shoulders, further flipping the stomachs of the poor hacker twins.
“Hm. They say they didn’t do it.”
The judge, upon seeing that expression, nonchalantly played with the lower part of the screen as if stroking his chin. He made it clear to those with unstable vision that he heard their denial, managing to administer a treatment for their invisible low blood pressure.
“….”
“……”
…Is that it? No, hey.
“Wha…? Hey! What kind of crazy shit is that?! They set a trap to screw over the successors!”
“Try acting like you’re connecting at least! Something completely different is attached to the vault’s own security…!”
“And the parties have denied it. Furthermore, you and the other participants received the specialized equipment you wanted safely.”
“Ugh…!”
The disinterested yet sharp observation made everyone shrink back.
Had the twins been much further back in the lineup, they might not have spoken up, or they could have asked another team to bring their gear sooner.
In any case, the truth is that they deliberately tried to create a gap to get ahead of others, so when that point was addressed explicitly, the twins’ faces flushed.
“…The clients up there aren’t coming to see our skills?! That’s not the same as these obstructions!”
However, reluctant to retreat right then, one of them nagged at Léonard with frustration.
Upon hearing those words, he seemed to accept that as a reasonable counter-argument before smoothly deflecting the responsibility.
“So what are you saying?”
“Eh?”
“Do you have some developmental disorder? Did you come here only because you have a talent related to cyber engineering in exchange for something? Haven’t I said multiple times! I don’t decide your fate.”
“Um….”
Could it be that it doesn’t matter what kind of means you use, as long as you show results?
A sense of foreboding. Some humans grinned with something scheming in mind, and a few even fumbled around their waistbands.
Ugh, don’t provoke Zero, you fools…!
“Phew.”
But looking around the room as if utterly exasperated, he snatched the microphone off the stand and brought it closer to his speaker.
“However, I’m not saying you should turn guns on each other. Simply, what you can touch here without the market’s regulation is….”
Bang bang—!!
“Only this vault.”
Amidst the silence, the loud sound of pounding the data vault echoed harshly.
…Shit, it feels like a very tense air has settled over the plaza, right? So, does that mean that anything done with the vault will be tolerated?
“This isn’t good…? Hey, sweetheart, you shy one. Do you perhaps have a good plan or something?”
“…I don’t know. I have to touch it to find out.”
“Even if we think about it now, by the time a few teams pass….”
Feeling the impending disaster, Marina awkwardly whispered, but I had no fitting response to give her.
What we were faced with excluded the vault’s security system and included a cyberware-specific virus and some data manipulation program. By the time it was our turn, I couldn’t tell how much spicy seasoning would have been added.
“……Alright. If that’s how the structure goes.”
The twins exchanged glances with each other and soon approached the vault with vicious smiles.
Ah, kids. It seems that because it’s not a direct connection type, the terminal is still attached, meaning the vault hasn’t closed yet.
Um… friends?
If you’re angry because of me or Marina, I’ll apologize, but please at least show some spirit of fair play…
“Hey?! Twins…! Don’t mess around!”
“Take it easy, easy! You guys are already faster than the ones ahead anyway!”
“……Should we forfeit?”
Even with everyone collectively jeering, things weren’t going to change.
The person in charge had officially confirmed it, so there was no need to feel any guilt. To restrain them from exercising their legitimate rights would require physical intervention, but that wasn’t allowed.
Zzt…! Chzzzt!
Whatever kind of malicious data they stuffed in, sparks flew from the vault receiving the transmissions, and the external sensors blinked chaotically.
In the resulting backlight, the shadows of their faces twisted with strange excitement.
Heh. Yeah, when would you get to play with fire in such a controlled environment? Go ahead, I don’t care.
…Those damn fools.
“It’s not a fight we started first, but…!” “Winning this way isn’t so bad either!”
Clank!!
As the connector almost popped out, the vault’s light returned to red, indicating it was locked, and thus began the unprecedentedly filthy mud fight in industry history.
