Chapter 10: Sonar Protection Zone:
The very next day; in the auditorium, SNT and all the ministers and programmers of the U.A.V were sitting in the audience, where they observed Norton's latest innovation to hopefully assist all anti-viruses in the fight against malware.
Void was standing front and center on stage towards everyone in the audience as Norton stepped behind Void and put his brand new XR glasses on Void's head.
"Sonar advanced protection. The latest innovation of the U.A.V. Tis the very latest and greatest defense mechanism for advanced detection and removal." Norton announced as he waved his arm towards Void,
Norton then stepped on to the podium and began to explain the functions of Sonar and how it will shape the virus war for many years to come,
"Now usually, standard detection rules imply that every anti-virus must perform a system scan in order to detect and remove all viruses found on the system. Once completed, the computer would have to be cleaned out in order to remove any remaining traces of malware left behind. Now imagine if this whole process is entirely automated for you." Said Norton as he used his remote to show off some slideshows of the standard virus removal process.
"If in about 20 years from now, Sonar advanced protection becomes the industry standard for all anti-viruses, then we can just sit back, relax and enjoy a nice cold glass of ale while Sonar completes the job for us." Norton announced as the programmers and ministers cheered for their superior.
In the audience, both Webroot, ClamWin and SNT were sitting next to each other. As they were clapping, ClamWin, bends down towards SNT and whispers to her, "Heh, too bad this new Sonar protection will be prohibited during your next exam."
Hearing what she told SNT, Webroot turns to ClamWin confused, "I don't get it, what's so bad about Sonar?"
"Although I am intrigued to see it in action, it is unfortunately in violation of our rules and regulations. You see, during the detection and removal exam, we of the U.A.V consider Sonar as cheating." Explained ClamWin.
"Go get em Void, wooohoooo!!!" Cheered SNT as she applauded for the adorable little robot who was standing on stage.
"But before any of this can happen, we must first run a simple test!" Norton shouted as he left the podium and approached Void Ranger.
Norton then placed his hand on Void's shoulder as Void stood in attention,
"As you can see, my student Void Ranger is completely unaware of the dangers that he's about to face!!! In a few moments, I shall open a website that is infested with drive-by downloads. Using Sonar protection, Void will intercept and block all oncoming intrusion attacks sent to him by the infected website." Norton explained,
"Now if Void should prevail. In order to further increase our security defenses for many years to come... I want all anti-viruses to inherit this Sonar protection protocol within our own anti-virus engines!!!"
The ministers and programmers applauded once again as Norton began to circle around Void as he continued to stand in attention.
"Now listen Void, in a few moments. I will be sending you inside a virus infested website. As soon as you enter, do not engage the enemy unless the virus threatens you. The purpose of Sonar is to block all oncoming attacks from every form of malware imaginable. Are you up for the challenge?" Norton asked Void looking concerned,
Void turned towards the right side of the stage and gave out a soldier salute. "Minister Norton, let it rip."
Norton looked behind him unimpressed, "Ahem, left side."
Void turned towards the opposite side and giggled as he finally saluted Norton.
Norton saluted back and walked back towards the podium where he opened up the auditorium's computer.
Norton began to plug the Sonar glasses to the USB slot of the computer and began to type in a website on the internet, he then reached into his belt and pulled out a golden floppy disk which had the Sonar Advanced Protection software loaded inside.
Norton then lodged the floppy disk into the floppy drive and pressed the enter button to launch the software.
"Void Ranger, I've just opened up a fake anti-virus website, you should see a couple of viruses in the web page. Do you see them?!!" Norton shouted towards Void.
Void drew his sword and began to circle the stage as the hologram projection showed the infected website Void was visiting.
"Yes minister, I see 2 viruses, a spyware, and a... and a..." Void said as he began to stutter in shock as he suddenly discovered one of many dangerous viruses from decades past.
"Is that... Magistr?!!!" Shouted Void as he began to panic and backed away from the website and into a corner.
"Dammit!!! Void Ranger, listen to me!!! Do not engage with Magistr! He's too dangerous! Fall back, retreat!!!" Shouted Norton as SNT and the ministers began to look very concerned towards the blue robot.
"Minister Norton, security alert!!! What must I do?!! Magistr is preparing to launch an attack!!!" Void shouted as he got down on his knees and began to crawl away from the stage.
"TAKE THOSE GLASSES OFF AND ABORT THE DEMO!!! I REPEAT, ABORT THE DEMO!!! REMOVE THOSE GLASSES AND ABORT THE DEMO!!!" Shouted Norton as Void got down on his knees and aimed his sword in the air gesturing Magistr to stay back.
Just as Void was ready to slash away at Magistr, the insidious virus unleashed a solar beam from it's magic wand which sent Void flying and hitting a nearby wall.
Outraged and worried, Norton and SNT ran towards Void to check on him.
"VOID RANGER, ARE YOU ALRIGHT, SPEAK TO ME!!! WAKE THE F*K UP!!!!!" Shouted Norton as he and SNT huddled around Void's injured body.
"Void, are you okay?! Please wake up! Wake up!" Cried SNT,
Norton quickly removed the glasses away from Void as SNT picked him up to carry him back to his feet.
But suddenly, as soon as SNT put Void back on his feet, he immediately collapsed and became unconscious.
"Don't just stand there, get him to a doctor quick!!!" Shouted SNT towards Norton as the ministers ran out of the theater in a panic while some ministers stayed behind to contact doctor MalwareBytes.
Without hesitating, Norton got up to his feet and pointed towards minister MalwareBytes who was sitting within the audience. "Doctor. Take mister Void up to the medical bay. The boy just collapsed."
Fearing for Void's life, MalwareBytes quickly rushes onto the stage and picks up Void from SNT's arms. He then exits the auditorium and proceeds to take the robot to the medical center on the 7th floor.
Meanwhile, at the medical bay. Void Ranger was lying down on a hospital bed as MalwareBytes was administering an IV treatment on Void's arm.
During the treatment, both Norton and SNT entered the room to check up on Void,
"Void, are you okay? You took a huge beat down when you were inside that fake anti-virus website with those Sonar glasses." Said SNT as she was looking worried, "What happened to you?"
Void looked down at his bed sheets before looking back at SNT. "I... I was destroyed by a couple of viruses. Heck, one of them looked it was dressed up like a magician or something?"
"Are you sure that the virus you saw on the infected website was in fact Magistr?" Norton crossed his arms and sternly asked him,
Void closed his eyes and slowly began to retrace his steps. After a good 5 minutes of remembering what had happened. He opened his eyes and responded, "Yes... It was Magistr, one of the most complex and possibly the most dangerous virus out there. The main goal for Magistr is to destroy computers of users working in the law profession. It's payloads include deletion of files, blue screening the system while overwriting the master boot record and flash-able BIOS, which can render computers un-bootable.
Beyond that, Magistr can infect the mouse cursor and have software run away from the cursor indefinitely. But worst of all, Magistr can mass mail itself along with copies of stolen documents found on the user's computer which can lead to possible leakage of sensitive information." Void explained,
"I won't lie Minister, I did take a massive beating for this demonstration... But why did you pick a website that contained Magistr? Were you trying to send me to an early grave?!!!" Void wondered as he stood up and approached Norton,
Norton closed his eyes and began to explain the grueling reality about Sonar,
"Void, listen to me... In order to prove to the ministers that Sonar advanced protection was fully operational, we needed to balance the power of Sonar with an equally balanced yet powerful piece of malware. Which is why we chose Magistr as your opponent." Norton explained,
Norton then turned his head and closed his eyes looking disappointed, "But now that I think about it... Perhaps I made a mistake to allow you to wear the Sonar glasses. Maybe you weren't ready to face the onslaught that we were prepared to throw at you."
Void slowly got out of bed and stepped forward to hug Minister Norton, "No need to stress out about this Minister. I'm sure you felt the same when you were once taught by your mentor."
"Ah yes, I certainly do remember the good old days. Especially when I was in the same position as you. The only difference is that the U.A.V didn't exist at that time and we were all separate anti-virus companies."
SNT then looked at her wrist watch, "Well time sure flies fast, doesn't it?"
Norton smiled and placed his hand on SNT's shoulder, "It sure does miss SNT. And as for you mister Void... Will you be willing to try again to intercept these viruses with the Sonar glasses?"
Void looked up to Norton looking determined than ever, "Minister Norton, I promise not to fail you again... I promise."
Norton clapped his hands once in agreement, "Very well children, but tis now 6 o'clock. It's time for curfew, and tomorrow is another day of learning." Norton said as he left the room, "Good night children."
As Norton left the room, SNT looked at a nearby holographic billboard where she saw a promotion for an upcoming school ball.
"Hey Void, come here!!" Shouted SNT as she gestured him to come closer,
Void walks towards the advertisement and stands next to her.
SNT then points to the advertisement of the school ball, "Look Void, it looks like there's gonna be a school ball here at the academy. Are you planning on going with me?"
"School ball?... What in the world is a school ball?" Void asked looking nervous,
"It's a school dance silly, I just contacted my friends Daniela, Nicole and Maria, and they're all gonna be there. They're even bringing my friends Sonic, Shadow and Silver along as dates." SNT said as she held his hands and blushed. "I was just wondering if you wanted to join me as my date in the school dance later this summer?"
"I dunno... i'm not so sure about this. I've never been to a ball before." Void answered looking worried.
"Cmon, this is gonna be fun!!! There's music and dancing and everything!!!" Shouted SNT in excitement as she began to jump up and down while holding Void's hands.
SNT then got closer and held his cheeks as she began to use her special aura on Void, "Hey Void, can you please think about this? I really want you to join me at the school dance, please?"
Void sighed as he knew his fate was sealed, "Alright SNT, i'll join you at the dance this summer."
"Great!!! Meet me in the ballroom after school, we can practice dancing until then. Does that sound good?!!" Asked SNT as she was as happy as she'll ever be.
"Alright SNT, i'll see you there." Void said with a smile.
SNT gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and dashed out of the room, Void watched her leave the room and blushed.
But deep down inside, Void was feeling nervous about going to a school ball; as this was gonna be the very first time in his entire life where not only he would attend a school dance, but he would also meet SNT's friends.
Once SNT was no longer in sight, Void suddenly shook his head and gave a serious look. He was determined to fight and defeat Magistr with the Sonar glasses once again.
Void headed towards the auditorium where he opened the doors and climbed onto the stage.
Once on stage, Void immediately grabbed the Sonar glasses which were left unattended and put them on; in order to be transported back to the infected website.
Once inside, a swarm of viruses tried to charge at Void and tried to tackle him and dog pile him, but Void was ready this time.
He slightly removed his glasses and found a thermal clip near Norton's computer.
Void grabs the clip and loads it onto the grip of his sword.
He then swung his sword and pressed the trigger which fired an energy beam; killing all the viruses in his path.
After delivering an energy beam to the viruses, a couple of spyware showed up with their pistols as they opened fire towards the blue robot.
But Void simply hid behind a nearby wall and swung his sword once again to launch another energy beam.
After taking cover from the hail of bullets, Void stepped away from the wall to discover every last virus and spyware infecting the website was deleted... All except for one.
Suddenly, a purple magician looking virus with a top hat, a cape and a magic wand emerged from a nearby wall on the opposite end of the website and began to approach Void.
"...Magistr!" Void whispered with an angry tone.
"That dirty perka shark bac flacking porten filip bunkum barten perkalooma berton dirton busha darton barton oohh" Mumbled Magistr in anger.
Just then, Magistr took to the air and began to unleash spells towards Void.
As Magistr casted his spells, Void jumped over, summersaulted and side stepped to dodge and avoid as many attacks as possible.
But just then, Magistr used it's wand to deliver energy beams towards Void, Void bent backwards into an arch and dodged every energy beam that was thrown at him.
Void then drew his sword and got into a fencing fight as Magistr used it's wand as a sword.
As they clashed and tried to stab each other, a couple of trojan horses tried to run over Void to incapacitate him.
But Void suddenly jumped on top of one Trojan horse and rode the horse like a bull in the rodeo, the trojan horse slammed itself onto the others and Void launched an energy beam from his sword to delete the trojans from the equation.
Void and Magistr then continued dueling as they tried to slit, stab and slash each other until one of them would fall to their knees.
But just then, Magistr delivers a spell to Void causing him to fly into a wall.
But Void slowly got back to his feet and held his sword towards Magistr.
"Alright Minister Norton, I'm now starting to understand the purposes of Sonar advanced protection." Void said to himself. "Hey Magistr, try this on for size!!!" He shouted towards Magistr.
Just as Magistr took to the air once again to perform another dose of spells, Void immediately swung his sword and gave Magistr an energy beam; sending him falling to his doom.
And with that, Magistr was deleted.
Void quietly looked over at the carnage that laid before his feet. It was a binary coded blood bath.
Before taking off his Sonar glasses, he went deeper into the website and found a chipped wooden sign near one of the walls which read, "Warning, this site may harm your computer."
Void grabbed the sign and used his sword to bash it onto the ground like a hammer, in hopes that anyone who enters the site will know that they'll risk losing their computer if they should enter the website.
After putting up the danger sign, Void finally took off the sonar glasses and found himself back in the auditorium.
But little did Void realize; Minister Norton was standing right behind him.
"Ahem." Norton said as he cleared his throat. "Void ranger, surprised to see you. Experimenting after hours, I see."
Void turned around and was shocked to see Norton. He quickly bowed before him and attempted to apologize.
"Minister Norton, it's you! I want to apologize for violating your rules and regulations of staying up after hours." Void said as he bowed his head in shame. "But I had to give Sonar advanced protection another shot. I wanted to understand the true aspects of Sonar and what it should be used for."
"And what have you learnt from this experience?" Norton asked as he crossed his arms.
"I learnt that Sonar advanced protection is a mechanism that can block intrusion attacks whenever firewalls are unable to get the job done. Kind of like a virus payload block mechanism, isn't it?" Void asked looking slightly confused.
"Precisely Void ranger. If in the near future, the firewalls become irrelevant or they eventually fail to protect our computers, we can use Sonar advanced protection as our last resort. Especially in the event of a firewall failure or an anti-virus failure." Norton explained,
Excited upon hearing this, Void suddenly put on the Sonar glasses once again,
"Hey Minister Norton, you think you can throw me into another infected website, please?" Void asked as he drew his sword and took up his fighting stance.
Norton looked unamused. "Well, I'd love to grant you your request. But it's still after hours, and you need to get some rest. And besides, you have a class tomorrow; virus detection and removal.
And you do understand that Sonar advanced protection will be prohibited during your next exam, right?" Said Norton as he wanted Void to understand his restrictions for his next exam.
"But of course minister." Said Void as he removed his glasses and bowed before Norton.
"Very well Void, off you go. Have a good night, Mistress ClamWin will see you tomorrow." Said Norton as he bowed back to Void and began to exit the auditorium.
Void watched Norton leave the room and looked back at the auditorium computer.
He held the Sonar glasses in his hand and began hesitating to place the glasses back next to the computer.
But suddenly, Void decided not to place the glasses back. He closed them up and walked out of the auditorium; while carrying the glasses back to his dorm.
And even though this was the very first time he stole U.A.V property, Void had a gut feeling that he will need to use Sonar once again in the event of an emergency.