node tennis

the way Durban and Moscow choose to travel arguably has the potential to raise alarms
this would be true if they didn’t replicate all of their actions countless times in the net
their actions didn’t so much create nodes rather than a lack of them
nodes appeared then disappeared
data was duplicated then deleted
if it only happened once, it might look something like a valley cut through land
or tunnels eaten out of a giant block of concrete
however for every vehicle they hacked from a rental vendor
a hundred others were also allocated to identities that didn’t exist
and some that did
credit accounts, flights, busses
personalities to use when necessary
they spun their hacks on the fly at an amazing rate
the way they pulled their data-shuffles was also quite unique
it wasn’t just a matter of separating strings of code and covering their tracks
they’d picked up plenty of tricks from Seoul regarding active hack-code
they didn’t just shuffle the data, they re-wrote it
leaving modules embedded in the data so that it would constantly evolve until someone fast enough could stop it
what began as normal information evolved into almost totally unique data protocols
and they did it all for fun

not that anyone would ever be able to track it

there were only a very few people who would ever have any chance of seeing what they were doing
and two of them were dead
– you right man?
Durban asks
– yeah yeah, sorry. whose turn is it?
the two of them sit in a self-driven limousine
black, bullet-proof, WNI and dual mobile system equipped
nothing out of the ordinary
they play a game they started way back before they worked serious Tasks
through the WNI, one of them constructs a malignant node
sends it after a random piece of data in a random server
the other player dives in to retrieve it, acquiring both the node and a duplicate of the data
if the node is not successfully retrieved, a point is scored
and somewhere someone’s system crashes
hard
they take turns at constructing the nodes
the player that retrieves the node and the data then constructs their own node, and so it goes on
the nodes themselves performed data shuffles to hide their tracks
usually they were pretty destructive, carving their way through ice and handshake protocols
but the existing code would be rebuilt behind it
their own data protocols were extremely fast
effectively invisible even to the best system admins, and most of the AIs around

today’s victim is the Singapore Data Administrations Office

Moscow casts his node and in his mind sees it streak toward the SDAO
it doesn’t punch the ice so much as it bores narrowly in-between its code
once the node is in, he focuses on the scenery passing by the tinted window of the limo
the hum of Durban’s retrieval processes whisper in his brain
and it’s a comforting soundtrack to the view outside
music emanates from discreet speakers
the obscure Austrian tech-jazz they both like, and its various decent imitators from around the world
he smiles
it’s great to be active again
feeling the net seethe through his very skin
when he’d dived in for the first time in years, he’d soaked it up
it was like standing at the edge of a football field before a game, looking out across the vast open space
this was their arena, where they were kings
where they ruled
for years he had denied himself the right to see this
interacting in merely pedestrian ways
he had a false personality – a normal citizen who worked, got paid, got taxed
taxes were a joke
most people whinged about them but to be honest, the governments of the world were getting sweet fuck-all
taxes formed such a small movement of funds in the net that if you shifted focus for long enough, you wouldn’t even see them
the life of the average citizen was entertaining enough
sure, he’d had some fun – it was alright
a good life
but nothing compared to this
like a rollercoaster that stops invoking fear, only thrills
but regardless of his enthusiasm, it was different
nothing could change the fact that two of his best friends were dead
dead because of the hazards of the net
the nature of information and what it meant to other people in the physical world
Moscow had always loved playing with data
what could be done with it
the shapes and colours it could form and be formed into
but somewhere in there all that data constituted fragments of people’s lives
their names, places of residence
movements in the world
expenditures
history personal and global
technology and information on it

money

maybe that was what it was ultimately about
at some point someone decided that the data that constituted Inverse was worth more than human life
that really fucking sucked
Moscow had seen bad things in the net
he’d had ice take a hold of his brain through neural interfaces and squeeze, and it had hurt a lot
but he knew the risks, and was never afraid
somehow he always figured he’d die jacked into a terminal
or end-up a burnt-out vegetable with an erased brain
Inverse was different though
whatever it was, it had the ability to make people kill
and that scared him plenty

–

Durban flies through the SDAO ice
it’s good shit really, he thinks
it might actually put up a good fight should some mid-level hacker try and break it
the ice in these quasi-government-private-whatever setups always looks the same though
once you know the patterns, it’s fairly easy to penetrate
code washes through his brain like mist
fine and infinite, impossible to quantify
memories of protocols and code are constantly being triggered
he feels like he’s waking up after hibernating
years may have passed, but the basic code of the net hadn’t changed all that much
the first thing he’d done when he jacked in was examine several pieces of coredata from various servers of the world
the military always had interesting stuff running, glowing in the net with all its belligerent bravado
he’d flown around picking up pieces here and there
learning the dynamics of how things ran
there had been some fundamental operating changes, but he wasn’t totally ignorant of them
in his life as a zombie, he’d read the odd geek-media out there about shifts in data processing
it didn’t take long before he was back at his optimal operating speed

messing around with nodes was a good way to keep half of your brain occupied
he and Moscow had done it sometimes during a Task
it helped you think
and now Durban thinks about Inverse
as the code flies past his visual perception, his mind reflects on the past
he’d never liked it
it was a strange Task from the start, and it never got any clearer as time progressed
sure enough as the whole thing escalated, it had fucked everything up
his whole life
Durban didn’t ever want to have to think about what to do for a living again
it was a good lifestyle – good constant work
good friends
and the strangest memories come back to him
memories of himself and Moscow cooking for everyone
Seoul and Vitoria fighting over which Media channel to watch
hacking the Media server through its WNI and building micro ice modules in it until one of them gave up trying to crack it
Auckland teaching them code theory
Cairo and Venice talking about philosophy
the sounds of laughter

the smell of Kyoto’s coffee

– shit Durban! you’re bleeding! fuck!
he’d just run
and didn’t stop until he got back in the bunker
sweat and tears obscured his vision
and he could taste it in his mouth
hyperventilation
his muscles burned
– get the medkit
– what the fuck happened? was he shot?
– i don’t know – fuck
– where’s Vee?
– i don’t know i don’t know
– holy shit – oh my god – why is he bleeding
– i don’t know goddamnit he just got here
– holy shit – what’s happening
– what about Auckland?
– no no – and – and Venice?
– shut the fuck up!
– oh my god
– where’s Venice?
– just shut the fuck up! he’s going to bleed to fucking death
– oh fuck
– Durban – Durban!
– Vee! Durban’s bleeding!
– Durban what happened?
– call them! call them now!
– for fuck’s sake shut up! Durban man – come-on – i know you’re trying to catch your breath,
– but i’m going to need you to hold it for just one second
– oh shit…
– for just a second – come-on man, you’ll be fine – just hold – for a second
he’d nearly passed out
– was he shot?
– yeah, we’re going to have to get him to a hospital
Durban spoke,
– fuck
hardly a whisper
– don’t try and talk Durban
– fuck
he shut his eyes and tears fell from between his lids
– fucking hell
– what?
he breathed and cried, and it was all he could do
– Kyoto – was shot
the room stilled
silent except for the sound of Durban’s breathing
– she was shot goddamnit
no-one moved
– they fucking shot her
they couldn’t believe it
Cairo spoke first
– what about Auckland? and Venice?
– i don’t know
she came to where Durban lay against Moscow
kneeled down, took his head in her hands and kissed his forehead
– you hold on for me ok?
and he was so tired
so angry
so messed up, in the worst way possible
he just kept crying
– hold on
Cairo whispered again
then she got up and left
Durban clenched a his right hand into a fist
– fuck!
he struck the floor once
then passed out

the node is right in front of him
Durban grabs it and the piece of data it’s acquired
takes them back out to the limo’s rig
the SDAO doesn’t wink
when he opens his eyes, he sees Moscow sitting opposite him
staring at him
Durban reaches up to his cheek and wipes away a tear
– yeah
says Moscow, whose eyes are red
and for the rest of the trip they don’t talk