Chapter 91: Man vs Error

Chapter 91: Man vs Error

They found Bucharest turned to stone.

Basil was almost used to the sight of petrified men and women. Every city invaded by the Unity ended up with a new statue park to artificially keep worldwide levels as low as possible.

But it was the first time Basil encountered petrified buildings.

The Bohens had reached Bucharest after slaying a few dozen Unity Watchers on their way. The creatures were level 2, not even a threat by now. Basil assumed they had been scouts, but when they found Romanias capital in ruins, he realized they were instead stragglers and survivors. The citys outskirts were littered with destroyed gearsmen and the leftovers of a great battle.

In its heyday, Bucharest had been Paris without the flaws. The neoclassical architectural style of many buildings was similar between the two cities, but Romanias capital was no overpopulated ant hill crumbling under the weight of its own population. Great green parks helped its streets and boulevards breathe. Communist megalomaniacal projects like the colossal Parliament House stood side-by-side next to ancient cathedrals and the delightful Ateneul Romn. Bucharest was a center of the arts, of culture, a melting pot of the past and the future. So many great artists and composers had performed in its marble halls.

Bucharest had been a city of the young, of songs and renewal; so to walk its silent streets filled Basils heart with melancholia. The petrified frames of gearsmen lay broken inside parks of stone trees and granite grass. Teams of armored warriors, cloaked wizards, and fearsome gunslingers stood frozen in the streets, their victory forever denied to them. The steel frame of buildings and concrete city blocks had all turned into the purest stone.

This is so sad, Kalki whispered as he touched the cheeks of an embracing couple. A man and woman of stone held each other in grim resignation, their eyes looking straight at the city center. What happened here?

I dont know, Basil replied. The group had split into smaller teams to cover more ground and look for survivors. He and Kalki explored the eastern side of town, with Garud and Shesha having left to survey the sky and check the sewers respectively. Ive never seen anything like this. The Unity usually stops at petrifying people, not houses and trees.

Their machines have been frozen as well, Kalki noted. Friendly fire?

Across an entire city? Basil scratched the back of his head. Did they misfire a nuke of their own?

Garud chose this moment to return from his reconnaissance flight, while Shesha erupted from the pavement. The snake shook dirt off her scales before hissing at Kalki.

Shesha says were the only people left in the city, Kalki translated. Neither she nor Bugsy found anything underground. Whatever turned the city to stone also affected its sewer system.

I found statues of pigeons too, Garud said. From how they looked, they must have been petrified while flying and fell out of the sky.

A blast then, Basil guessed with a scowl. Damn, they really did use a nuke of some kind and here I thought General Leblanc might have jumped the gun when he gave me one.

Speaking of the French, Basil soon received a notification from his Logs. He opened it and a holographic video screen widened before his eyes.

Basil. Benjamin Leroy, former programmer of Dismaker Labs and incarnation of Pluto, stared back through the screen. His red-rimmed eyes were blackened by fatigue and contrasted greatly with his pallid skin. Basil noticed two armed guards in the background, ready to gun their prisoner down at the first opportunity. Its been a while.

How are you doing that? Basil asked. Im limited to chat messages with everyone else.

Ex-moderator privileges, Benjamin replied evasively. Are you in Bulgaria yet?

No, but were close to the Danube Bridge. One of the two that linked Romania to Bulgaria. How about you, Benjamin? Is everything good in Paris?

I am under constant surveillance in a computer lab with even less freedom than a North Korean slave, but otherwise I am fine. Officer Elissalde is of pleasant company, and Im growing strangely fond of her talking hounds.

Glad youre making friends, Basil replied. Considering the mans unstable state of mind, he truly needed emotional support from others. Anything I can help you with?

Ive received word that you were looking for a voice modulator or translator for one of your monsters.

Yeah, we cant understand Steve otherwise.

Benjamin squinted. Steve?

Our car, Basil explained.

Benjamin paused for a few seconds as he processed the answer. Didnt you install loudspeakers on it?

We did, Basil confirmed. He can play music quite well.

But then he should be able to vocally communicate with you, Benjamin insisted. I created the translation program myself. All monsters thoughts and intents are translated into a language that the listener understands, even when they do not possess the physical attributes required for speech.

Well, your program isnt perfect, Basil replied. We cant understand Shesha either. All I hear when she talks are hisses.

But thats Benjamin frowned in confusion. That shouldnt be possible.

Basil turned to Kalki and his allies. Shesha, can you talk to this man?

The golden cobra responded by hissing at the holographic screen, much to Benjamins confusion. The man scowled behind the screen, his surprise swiftly turning into worry.

Benjamin? Basil asked.

I need to go, the programmer said. Ill come back to you shortly.

Yes, Benjamin replied bluntly. Do you remember what I told you in Paris? That I couldnt destroy all the neurotowers without endangering the entire System?

Basil clenched his jaw. But you kept damage to a minimum.

We did we did. Benjamin sighed. But minimum damage is still damage. With the last incursion, the Level Barrier is low enough to let monsters as dangerous as Apollyon through. The Trimurti System has never been so well-fed in terms of powerful souls, but this also means a greater bandwidth to deal with. These two elements stress a faulty infrastructure that no longer functions at peak capacity.

Basil didnt need twenty years of programming work under his belt to understand the implications.

The Trimurti System, the cosmic machinery that held Earth in one piece, was starting to bug.

And then theres the Unity, Benjamin continued. From what I see, they are using their manufactured neurotowers in an attempt to hack the larger System. If they succeed, they might gain enough influence over it to rival Maxwells privileges and trigger Incursions at will. In the short-term, theyre disrupting the bandwidth and automated processes.

The group exchanged worried glances and a tense, short silence stretched between them. Vasi cleared her throat and asked what was on everyones mind. What will be the consequences?

In the short term, some monsters will be generated with the wrong Perks or abnormalities, Benjamin explained. Spells might occasionally misfire. Eventually, error-riddled areas will be deleted by the System.

Wait, wait, what do you mean by deleted? Shellgirl asked in panic.

Exactly what the word implies, Benjamin replied darkly. Bugged areas will be erased to preserve soul energy bandwidth and safeguard the larger cosmic infrastructure.

The more he listened, the more Basil found himself glancing at the giant crater in front of him and the gearsman at its center. The neurotowers power had terraformed the entire planet by now. Each speck of dust, every lifeform on Earth, had been touched by the Systems influence by now.

How do we stop the decay? Basil asked.

We cant. After marking a short, heavy pause, Benjamin tried to soften the blow. I need time to find a fix. The best we can do for now is stabilize the Trimurti System. Start by destroying all Unity neurotowers you can find. Itll be easier to debug the originals without the dragons inferences.

Ill do what I can, but most of their neurotowers are up there. Basil pointed at the moon above their heads. Unless you have SpaceX on standby, going full Apollo 11 will be difficult.

Portals could do the trick, Vasi suggested with a grim look. She didnt believe in her own proposal. But we would need an archmage of immense power

Wait, I have an idea! Bugsy raised a pincer like a child asking for a teachers attention. The holomachine!

What about Basil stopped mid-sentence as he caught on to Bugsys idea. Oh right, it was trying to connect to the Unitys network when we first activated it!

Thats what I was thinking, Boss, Bugsy confirmed with a nod. I dont understand much about computers, but maybe we can use ours to sabotage the Unity?

Holomachine? Benjamin asked with a befuddled look.

Its a gaming and training device a Unity dragon kindly gave us posthumously, Basil told Benjamin. It uses gems to run programs.

I use it to learn new spells all the time, Vasi added.

Can you forward me one of these gems through the Guild Inventory? Benjamin asked. Basil did so, and the programmer blinked on the other line. My minion cant possibly be this cute!?

Vasi shuddered. You really dont want to play that game.

Ill take you at your word, Benjamin replied with a sharp nod. Yes, I see how it works. Its a complex piece of data processing, but not one beyond my understanding.

Basil smirked ear to ear. You can hack the Unity through the holomachine?

Of course not, Benjamin snorted, dashing Basils hopes. There is no way I can access military installations through a gaming console. If theyre smart enough to build robot armies, then our enemies will have partitioned their network to prevent that kind of attack.

Aww Bugsy lowered his head in disappointment. I thought I was onto something

You are, Benjamin replied, much to Bugsys surprise. What matters is that we now understand how the Unitys access points work. Im almost certain they use these gems as chips.

All their gearsmen possess runic corestones, Vasi pointed out. Could this be the same technology?

Almost certainly. Benjamin nodded sharply. Its highly probable that the Unitys neurotowers use similar access ports as this holomachine. Unlike us, they will want to tune and update their machinery manually.

So whats the gig? Shellgirl asked.

I can modify the gem you sent me and turn it into a viral vector. If you can integrate it into a Unity neurotower, I should be able to infiltrate their network. Well see how we can proceed from there.

It sounded like a risky plan, but Basil was used to them by now. A System notification appeared before him to confirm it could work.

New Quest: Mooooonwreckers!Recommended Level: 70+Objective: If only people knew the power of the dark side (of the Moon)! It is up to you to make sure the Unity learns of it first-hand. Find a way to destroy the factions lunar stronghold, wreck their global ambitions, and return to Earth in one piece.Reward: 7,630,000 Bonus EXP + [Moon Shield].

Lets go, Basil told his team. Were a few hours and one bridge away from my homeland.

The dragon hunt was on.