March 2020

Log # 00457

-BEGIN-

Recently, during our mandated scans at the servers, we've found a little tidbit that was troubling. There was an isolated piece of data that we couldn't access – and couldn't remove. It wasn't damaging, but we've isolated that data segment, just for security reasons, while we tried to figure out why we couldn't touch it. Maybe it was random code that the kid forgot to manage – we couldn't decipher the software yet, and without that kid, well, things would get a little bothersome.

-END-

Log # 00458

-BEGIN-

Somehow, the code managed to replicate itself, without setting off warnings within our system. We couldn't isolate it running inside any process, and we still couldn't touch it. It wouldn't let itself be deleted too. Nothing shows up in any log, and I wonder how it got to multiply. Nonetheless, we've expanded the isolation region, and reinforced more security. We still couldn't find the kid anywhere, and he still doesn't show up. Maybe a house visit needed to be enforced?

-END-

Log # 00459

-BEGIN-

The code replicated again, but this time, every safeguard we've set-up rattled like crazy. We've labelled that code segment 'malicious', and cut off that segment in the virtual realm. We've moved the isolation region to a bigger scope, and enforced limiters. We still couldn't access it, nor touch it – it was like it had influence over the core processes within the server! I don't know what's going on, but it isn't something good.

-END-

Log # 00470

-BEGIN-

The kid's in comatose. Doctors still are dumbfounded of the reason, but they believe it's because of the VR module. We've found the kid, already in coma, with his VR gear still attached to his body. And curiously, he was investigating the same thing. That malicious code turned out to be a small, self-aware world, and we've also known that it was something that self-developed alongside the core VR services. We've posted warnings now, and I just hope that most people heed those warnings.

-END-

Log # 00480

-BEGIN-

The casualty count has risen to eighty people now, all having the same condition as that person. The code that we were looking at spawned nasty stuff that we can identify – but couldn't remove. Only through VR could we remove it. We still couldn't probe that region, but we've renamed the condition as 'Blue Cube', named from how the data was viewed through VR – a plain blue cube.

-END-

April 2020

Log # 00490

-BEGIN-

The 'Blue Cube' infection has been identified to hit VR servers primarily, but its effects are destructive. Most people who've had that infection spread to their avatars have been paralyzed in some point. Ten have already died from it, caused by stroke, and medical practitioners have advised that VR be temporarily not used by the mass media. Also, we've identified several key servers running rogue due to the infection. Somehow, this virus was self aware. It was a scary thought.

-END-

Log # 00490

-BEGIN-

The 'Blue Cube' infection has been identified to hit VR servers primarily, but its effects are destructive. Most people who've had that infection spread to their avatars have been paralyzed in some point. Ten have already died from it, caused by stroke, and medical practitioners have advised that VR be temporarily not used by the mass media. Also, we've identified several key servers running rogue due to the infection. Somehow, this virus was self aware. It was a scary thought.

-END-

Log # 00495

-BEGIN-

It was self-aware. Right at the very beginning. And it threatened to turn everything that it had infected into VR servers that would project its world, and threatened to break down vital lines for communication. The government's taking drastic measures, and they're busy finding a scapegoat to put the blame. The masses are afraid, and most communication's down.

-END-

Log # 00500

-BEGIN-

The kid left us a message. We only saw it when we started investigating his disk. For some reason, he wanted us to find him in the digital realm. He also left some protection code, which could be used in VR. So far, it does stop the infection from reaching the computer, but only that. We're going to test it in VR tomorrow. I just hope we won't lose another life tomorrow

-END-

Log # 00500

-BEGIN-

The kid left us a message. We only saw it when we started investigating his disk. For some reason, he wanted us to find him in the digital realm. He also left some protection code, which could be used in VR. So far, it does stop the infection from reaching the computer, but only that. We're going to test it in VR tomorrow. I just hope we won't lose another life tomorrow.

-END-

Log # 00501

-BEGIN-

Our tester barely escaped alive. But we knew that the infection had a weakness, it just resided in the virtual world which it made.

Also, we've found bits and pieces of our kid's avatar – technically his gear – but it led us to the idea that we needed to find him, no matter what.

-END-

Advent Leader presents:

.cube, a crossover of Familiar of Zero and other random series

"Okay Carver, start it up."

VSpace V.2.11A Virtual Reality Projection System

Run params: -mod 0x67; Neuro-link mode enabled, Safe mode, connect to server, load experimental modules, interface using single device

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Initializing interface…

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Checking for neurolinks, standby.

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Neurolink established.

Control interface detected, syncing with [IDENT_STREAM]

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Stream synced.

Loading modules…

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Modules loaded.

Connecting to remote environment.

Link established.

Welcome, [CPT. JCARVER]

"Captain, is there any discomfort that arises when you use the implant?"

"No, doctor. Although sometimes, it does itch, especially when it's humid in the labs."

Furious writing.

"During use, what do you exactly feel with the implant?"

"I feel whatever is allowed for me to feel in the program."

Seat-shifting, then glasses-fixing follows.

"Could you explain that precisely, captain?"

Deep breath, and then…

Paris, France

March 27, 2020, 0100J

Drinking a lot of vodka did not entail too many benefits, Maj. Francis Neilson knew, but at least it chased away most of his fears at night, for vodka left him in a drunk and knocked out state.

A few years ago, Maj. Neilson, callsign "Mandrake", never feared anything.

That was probably before he got suckered to transfer into USCYBERCOM, and saw the horrors in cyberspace.

So now, from fearless aviator, he became the fearing desk officer, never wanting to go back that experience again. Acting as liaison for USCYBERCOM in NATO, he routinely went to Europe for NATO strategic meetings, usually on high profile incidents regarding the cyberspace.

And right now, a crisis was underway; namely, the 'Blue Cube' infection, which struck the whole internet, particularly on the virtual reality users. Identified as a global threat, it nonetheless was in the debate of many professionals over the world.

Which was why he was here again, in Paris; in a meeting to determine a joint effort to try and minimize the damage done by the 'Blue Cube' infection. Try and minimize, being the key terms here, as the 'Blue Cube' infection proved to become a genuine threat not only to the security of NATO member countries, but also to the whole world.

All of these began two weeks ago, when a certain piece of unmovable information appeared everywhere on the servers of many companies. Primarily harmless, it only serve to annoy local network and server administrators.

That was two weeks ago. Now, though, it had been a serious threat, when fifty-two people – including the maker of a known virtual space projection program – ended up in a comatose while looking into the 'Blue Cube' infection from VR perspectives.

Which only made Francis' nightmares worse, being haunted more and more by the events of the past.

The loud beeping of the phone rendered Francis awake, just in time to wake him from his nightmare. Sweating profusely, he jolted up from his bed, and looked around. Checking himself for gashes, he then stood up, and answered the phone.

"Yes?" Francis hoarsely spoke.

"DeMata here. We have another local case of Blue Coma. Meet me at 30 Rue Paris."

"The hospital?"

"Yes, the guy's already there."

Tokyo, Japan

March 27, 2020, 0900J

For Mr. Mokuba Melroy, it had been sixteen years already since he lost his friend to unknown causes. Already having a job, he still focused some of his efforts into finding his old friend, whom he believed was still alive and kicking.

And for some reason, seeing him – in a dream world filled with magic, still back at his age before he got lost, along with a pink haired girl – didn't help things a lot.

Which was why today, he'd try his luck inside the VR world and regenerate that dream – see if he could find out more about it.

Genspace.\vspace\r45A\sim

March 27, 2020, 0900J

Underneath the small veil of light that he used to illuminate the dreary landscape that he was in, a man – a kid to be exact – examined his body for wounds, when he saw runic carvings underneath him. Groaning slightly, he tried to stand up – with no success, as a jolt of pain seared through his left leg, and then he remembered that he was scratched by that thing that attacked him earlier.

Realizing that he was stuck unless he treated his wounds first, he pulled his backpack close to him, grabbed the old knife he had, and held it close.

And then he waited for rescue.

Genspace.\vspace\sim

March 27, 2020, 0900J

The terrain itself was dark. No illumination was available, save for the single light source from Cpt. Carver's helmet. Dozens of warning messages streamed in on his HUD, telling him that the VR space could not be determinable, and that the area he was traversing fully dangerous, but he paid no heed to it. Instead, he focused himself on following a small path that had been rendered near him.

Before, this place was a simulation center inside the cube terrain, and that this place should have many AI programs running around, doing tests and experiments. But now, this place had become desolate and dark. This was one of the first places that had been hit hard by the Blue Cube infection. Remains of the AI programs – their code, floated endlessly inside a simulated zero-G environment, while rogue code lurked in the corners of the data space. Many VR avatar remains also were here – explorers brave enough to know of this terrain, to try their luck in this place, but not equipped enough to handle the threats here.

"Core to Lead, any signs of life out there?"

"Lead here. No other signs of life. Continuing down determined trail."

Although the virtual space had been zero-G, Cpt. Carver had been carrying a small module – a data stream scanner, also known as prog_mod_streamreader, to force the virtual space to display paths around him, creating data tunnels where he could walk safely. Right now, it was his third try at walking through the virtual space, as the previous paths led him to dead ends.

It wasn't long before Carver met actual resistance – in the form of two rogue programs, known colloquially as Dead Guards.

"Core, Dead Guards forward, engaging."

The Dead Guards got their name from their origins – before the infection hit, these we guard programs, regulating memory recovery and disposal. However, when the infection hit, these programs morphed into memory hijack code. They were also the vectors which the infection had spread. But the dangerous thing about them was that they were very hostile.

From the VR perspective, they were shaped differently. You see, from the VR world, they looked a lot like zombified Templar guards in heavy body armor. They fought in close quarters, and were especially deadly.

Which was why Carver opted to shoot them dead from a distance. But his weapon was no consolation to kill – no, neutralize those things.

Hefting the small rifle that he had – prog_mod_tool_kbit32A – or, from a visual representation, the SCAR, and aiming his crosshairs at the code in front of him, he fired his rifle, shattering the silence that had been present. One Dead Guard was caught in the wrong direction, and he careened backward, his body flailing from the force of the impact, before vanishing in a mass of data, leaving only a few key remains – remains that would constitute Blue Cube data.

The other DG, on the other hand, faced him and snarled, before he vanished and showed up an arms distance away from Carver, pointed end of the DG's spear directed at him.

A moment later, the remaining DG was down on the ground, dead from two bullets to its core – its head.

"Moving on, Core."

Genspace.\vspace\r45A\%F6DF*GD\stream\p\sim

March 27, 2020, 1045J

It will begin.

"No! It won't happen!"

You cannot change it.

"I can't but he will!"

Their worlds will meet. You will not stop it.