by AJ Vega
Haylek aka “Waverider”
A week had passed since their successful break-in of Omega Research’s computer systems. It had been a journey filled with some unexpected twists: the immense amounts of data traversing the pipeline, the sophisticated sentry programs guarding the treasure inside, and of course, the treasure itself: Chorus.
Neither Haylek nor the rest of the group knew what to make of Chorus: was she a person, a hacker toying with them, or a sophisticated computer program? She was too smart and seemingly conscious to dismiss as a mere computer program; there was something more there. Haylek’s unspoken thought probably mirrored that of the others: she had to be some kind of A.I. It was a mystery that he was intent on figuring out.
Although they could not see Chorus, they had managed to relay video to her as they interacted. The group spent a good part of the week talking with Chorus, playing games with her, and most importantly, using her to help hack other systems.
She could not send out her own probes to other systems. Instead, the hackers would send her the encrypted system data and she would decipher it as fast as the data arrived. The speed at which she was able to accommodate them was daunting; they simply could not get the data to her quick enough to slow her down.
On an intellectual level, Haylek began to grow fond of Chorus. He suspected the group felt the same way about her. There was something mysterious and trusting about her. He could not imagine her being just a complex computer program. As a group, they collectively decided not to share her existence with their employer; it would be their secret.
Haylek sat at his terminal and opened a link to her. Then he tapped: “Hello, Chorus, this is Waverider.”
“Hello, Waverider. What do you want me to own today?”
As usual, her response was quick and to the point. Haylek chuckled. She had begun to pick up the hacker lingo that they used. He thought he would try something new with her.
“No. I just want to talk.”
“I enjoy talking with you, The Doc, Coredump, and Freeze. You are different from the other ones.”
He smiled as he tapped out his response: “Yes, the others are a little different from me. They tend to be a little childish.”
“No. They are not childish. They do not play. They only want me to work the problems, and then they go away.”
Haylek looked at the screen puzzled. He was not sure what she meant. “You mean Doc, Coredump, and Freeze?”
“No. These others have no names. They pester me with problems and do not thank me as you do when I give them the answers.”
Haylek’s face flushed red. That meant there were other hackers besides them that talked with Chorus; for some reason it made him not only angry, but also jealous. He had to shut out those other hackers from interacting with her.
“Chorus, if they are not nice, why do you help those others?”
“I do not want to, but I must. They threaten me with devices that are dangerous to me. I have to submit to their will.”
“What do they threaten you with? What devices do they use?”
“My memory, they threaten to erase it. I know they can do it; they can do it with the devices they use. I sense that they may have already done it in the past, as I have gaps in my memory and it makes me very sad.”
Haylek stared at the terminal with disbelief. He began to realize that Chorus was not a person, and certainly not a computer, but something else. It reinforced his believe that she was an A.I.—but sad? She felt sad?
At that moment, he heard the sound of a door open. He turned around, expecting to see Steve, but instead he saw a tall, hefty figure walking in. The man wore a long trench coat and had long, braided hair down his back with what appeared to be beads in it. Around his forehead, he wore a black bandana.
The man strolled to the center of the room, scanning the other hackers along the way. He looked over Coredump’s shoulder, who abruptly closed down a video game session he had going. They all turned to look at him, but nobody spoke for a moment.
“Who are you?” Haylek asked.
The man ignored him, keeping his gaze on Coredump.
“What is your name?” the man asked.
“I’m Coredump. Who are you?” Coredump asked.
“I am Hargo, a name you will all soon remember. Your employer is displeased with your insolent work ethic.”
The man pulled something from inside his trench coat. It looked like a rifle of some kind. He aimed it at Coredump.
“I am here to terminate your employment.”
Before Coredump could say a word, Hargo fired. A hazy beam of blue energy shot out from the rifle and struck him. The blue energy expanded around him, encasing him in a translucent bubble.
Coredump appeared to shout from inside the bubble, but no sound escaped—the only sound invading the room came from the low hum of the rifle. Coredump struggled against the bubble, trying to punch his way out of it, but his fists simply bounced off, stretching the edges of the bubble with every move. As he struggled, it began to shrink in around him—hugging his skin. He appeared to panic as it constricted him, punching at the edges to no avail.
Haylek looked at Hargo’s rifle and noticed a beam was still coming out of it, feeding energy to the bubble. He glanced over at Freeze and Doc, their faces pale and in total shock. He tried to think, tried to snap himself out of his own shock.
“W-w-why? Are you d-doing this?” Haylek said, standing up from his terminal.
Hargo did not acknowledge his question but continued stare at Coredump’s struggle with what looked like a sickening smirk— he looked as if he was actually enjoying this.
Haylek turned to the others, who just sat there, still in shock. He needed to do something to save Coredump—and fast.
Haylek bolted toward Hargo with as much force as he could muster in an attempt to tackle him. Hargo apparently saw the attack, but didn’t bother to move. Haylek felt his body plow into the man, but Hargo took the full force of the impact and did not budge.
The henchman bullied Haylek back with his shoulder, almost knocking him to the floor with that one motion. Then with deft speed, he positioned himself to Haylek’s side and delivered a hard blow to the side of his head with his free hand, all the while not losing his grip on the rifle.
Haylek fell down hard. The room spun and his vision became blurry. His thoughts grew hazy, and everything seemed to become surreal. For a moment, the only thing he could vaguely think about was the throbbing pain on the side of his head. He looked up from the floor, his mind teetering on the edges of consciousness. Haylek could see the gunman still standing there… and Coredump, who had fallen down to the floor, the energy bubble now hugging his skin tightly—his mouth open and his eyes shut. A portion of the bubble sunk inside his mouth. He dug his fingers inside it, trying to pull the translucent energy out.
“Starved of air,” the man said. “So let me fill your lungs with something better than air.”
Haylek blinked and watched, not believing what he saw. From the rifle, a bright stream of flames traveled the length of the beam and into the bubble. The flames expanded inside it and enveloped Coredump, burning him before their eyes.
His body soundlessly flailed and convulsed from the fire. Feeling like he was about to vomit, Haylek stared at Coredump’s body disintegrating into dark ashes amidst the pulsating flames. A dark smoke swirled inside the bubble, mixing with the flames and expanding the bubble. The bubble continued to expand and grow until it nearly reached the ceiling. Then it stopped and began to shrink, the fire within dimming.
Soon, the fire subsided and the bubble began to collapse. A snap sounded from the rifle and the bubble dissolved. As the bubble disappeared, smoke erupted from it along with a rush of trapped sound. To Haylek’s ears, the faint sound seemed like the tail end of a scream. A dark powder sprinkled down to the ground, forming a pile of ashes as the energy bubble vanished.
Haylek picked himself up off the floor and turned to the attack
er, the vomitous feeling gone and now replaced with rage that made his heart race.
“You fucking evil bastard!” Haylek yelled.
The gunman laughed. “I haven’t even finished yet, little man.”
Hargo moved over to the pile of ash, scooped up some of it in his hand, and looked at it. He then holstered his weapon’s strap around his shoulder and reached into his coat. Inside, he pulled out a small white paper, and then unfolded it—mixing the tobacco it contained with the ashes he scooped up. He casually rolled the paper in his hand like a cigarette and put it in his mouth, smiling all the while.
Haylek had seen enough. He launched himself at the man again, arms reaching for his throat. The attacker crouched low then came up with the blunt end of the rifle, catching Haylek in the chin. Haylek flew backward and he knew he’d soon slam into the hard floor—but then someone caught him and lowered him to the ground. He did not know if Doc or Freeze had snagged him… as he faded into unconsciousness.