A perfect track record for years, and then the Ignis.
If Playmaker hadn't been there to see it, he would've assumed the Ignis was hiding somewhere, camouflaged itself in the VRAINS. But this…
One minute it was there, the next it was gone. An escape route, opened up in the middle of nowhere, bypassing both SOL Tech's shields and Hanoi's- including the ones Yusaku designed himself.
He runs diagnostics- both the ones he designed and the ones in his soul. Nothing. No sight of it. But there was something there, an address that's being scrambled over and over as he watches it.
Seconds from his prey, Playmaker can barely accept this. He does, of course- denial leads to mistakes, and he's not that sloppy. He knows better than that.
He can't say the same for the soldier riding Cracking Dragon behind him, who almost crashes when he stops and now looks utterly lost. "Where is it?" They- she, if memory serves- demands. "It's here, right?"
Under the mask on his avatar, Playmaker growls. "Not here." Obviously.
"But- it has to be." The soldier, Haruda Yumiko in real life, insists. "It couldn't have escaped from the inside, and we know SOL Tech wouldn't make an exit in their own program. It couldn't be with them, they'd make too much noise about it."
That's actually a fair point. He'll have to correct his impression of Haruda, apparently she was more than just a decent duelist. If the Ignis couldn't have gotten itself out, it definitely wasn't in the VRAINS anymore, and neither Hanoi nor SOL Technologies had it…
Though his avatar's mask is no more than ones and zeroes, to Yusaku it's as though something is trapping his breath in it, stifling him with heat. "Log out." He orders Ha- the soldier. "We're leaving."
"But- the Ignis-"
"It's not here." A quick check that the area was clear before Playmaker withdraws his monsters. "There has to be a third party involved- whoever it is will have thought this through. They won't get caught, but staying here only increases the chances that someone will track our signals."
The soldier clearly wants to argue, but she nods and obeys all the same. Alone in the VRAINS, Playmaker takes a few minutes to calm himself. Checks the area again, make sure Haruda's retreat is clear. Wonders who could have done this- and why.
"Who else wants it…" Nobody, as far as he knew.
Could it have been SOL? They were doing government-contracted jobs five years ago, and the military has been known to recruit skilled hackers. Perhaps one of the chairmen convinced an old friend to lend them a hand, just one person.
It didn't matter. Whoever did this was good enough that he wasn't going to be able to do anything about it staying here. With one last determined growl, Playmaker logged off.
Yusaku groaned as the devices around him whirled and slowed, slowly getting up from his chair. "All these years…"
Whoever stole the Ignis was going to pay. As a duelist and as a hacker, Yusaku wouldn't let this battle go until he came out on top.