Even though he was tired and wounded Fire stood up after some time and said: "Come on, let's go. The fortress is just over there."
He pointed at the fortress, which really was not that far away anymore, he couldn't see any obstacles on the way there. freeZe, Ambigious, Unchosen and TehLulz stood up and followed Fire who had gone ahead, although a slower pace than usual. The terrain was flat and easy to walk on, which felt a little wrong after all the difficulties they had faced.
"Fire, I need to ask you one thing." Unchosen said.
"Go ahead." Fire answered.
Unchosen asked his question: "How are the hackers keeping up with the simulation speed of the server?"
Fire scratched his chin and replied: "That is in fact a good question, I don't really have an answer for it, only assumptions. I think they are logged in with their computer but also with their brain like every other player. They are using their computer client to control their powers. It also seems that this indirect connection gives them some manner of protection from the server's security mechanisms."
"That is quite smart!" freeZe said.
Fire didn't immediately respond: "They are smart, smart is an understatement actually, they are highly intelligent, which is why they even got this far in the first place. But I suspect that there are only a few masterminds and a lot of smaller fish. They are also operating in a completely unknown environment."
freeZe asked: "Why aren't they just taking the code? They want a simulator to sell to those military types. They can train here as well, it's realistic enough, right?"
Fire smiled but the smile had a bitter aspect, he said: "Minecraft still imposes limits on what the software can do, they need the software in its pure form."
"Pure form?"
Fire explained: "The software's pure form is what allows free data transfer between the brain and the computer. You may even be able to digitalize a personality, in theory at least, the admins never tried it since we lack powerful enough hardware. The version of the software running on this server is bound to Minecraft, which imposes some serious limits on what it can do. Without those limits, the possibilities for both helpful and destructive applications are basically infinite. Help people with mental disorders, kill them with a touch, you name it."
In sudden realization about the importance of their mission they stopped.
TehLulz said slowly: "So if we fail, the army gets the software and eventually some crazy person will use it to wipe out or enslave humanity?"
Fire answered: "And even if it gets used for good, testing isn't finished. It works in the context of this server but there are many other things that could go wrong."
Unchosen wanted to know: "How do you manage to keep that calm? We are responsible for all of humanity!"
Fire put on his bitter smile again and replied: "If we fail, we will die and won't have to see the world break. It is cruel but it is true, if we succeed we keep the software secure, if we fail the world gets access to something it is not ready for. It is everything or nothing, no compromises."
They all felt the responsibility on their shoulders and remained on the same spot until Fire demanded: "Come on, we are almost there, it won't help the world if we stand here."
"That is true, let's go!" freeZe said with a bit more enthusiasm than intended.
Ambigious jumped down onto the dark red brick first, freeZe followed, they helped Fire climb down, then Unchosen and TehLulz jumped after them.
"Where to go now?" Ambigious wanted to know.
Fire told him: "Just follow me, I'll lead you there." Then added: "Be careful, the blazes aren't nice here."
They were standing right in front of the dark tunnel that the bridge came out of. The bridge they were standing on was very high up and broken at some parts. It went to a big block of nether brick with maze-like corridors in it. Fire started walking towards the building, the others followed.
Their feet made loud noises on the dark red brick, which had a lot of empty space in it that amplified their steps. They slowly progressed towards the building, always looking out for brittle bricks or holes in the bridge. At about half of the way there was a big brittle section exactly in the middle between two pillars.
Fire stopped and tested the bridge with one foot, it gave out some strange noises but it didn't break.
"I will jump over and you follow one by one." Fire stated.
He went back a few steps, ran towards the brittle part and leaped right over it, his landing was not as elegant as usual, he struggled not to fall on his nose.
Fire turned around and said: "Okay, TehLulz, you first, then Ambigious, then Unchosen, then freeZe!"
"Why am I last?" freeZe complained
Fire replied: "Least risk of breaking the weakened bridge."
Everything worked fine for TehLulz and Ambigious but just after Unchosen was safe, a part of the bricks broke out and fell into the lava.
"Great." freeZe moaned.
She ran over the brittle part and saved herself with a jump just before the rest of the bricks fell down.
"Okay, so I assume that we'll go in there now?" Unchosen asked.
Fire nodded and started walking again.
It was very dark inside the building, they barely could see their own hands in front of their faces. Ambigious had taken his sunglasses off, with them he would be blind like a mole. Some light got in from through the barred windows. They occasionally came across a lava well, the only bright source of light inside the fortress. With the darkness and the corridors, which were apparently built without a system, it was very easy to get lost. Fire seemed to know the way as if he walked it every day, his glowing eyes helped the group follow him. Suddenly they heard a strange sound, like a breath, only with a metallic tone and it sounded as if the one breathing had a hard time doing it.
"Blazes!" Fire warned and asked: "Do you know why blazes are covered in smoke or fire most of the time?" He gave the answer himself. "Because they want to hide something, their blaze core, an eternal fire burning in their center, it is a crystalline piece of metal as far as I know, it keeps the rods and the head in place with a magnetic field. Without it they will just fall apart. It is one of the best ingredients for Fire Resistance and Strength potions, much better than blaze powder."
Unchosen said: "Sounds interesting, but what does it have to do with our situation now?"
Fire raised his index finger as a sign that they should be quiet. The breaths sounded pretty near.
"It is only one blaze, I can deal with that. Now answering your question, if I can come close enough to rip it out quickly enough, it will lose its connection to the head and die… And I only have ever had one of those things, I need a few more or at least one for brewing." Fire said and then added: "Follow me quietly, take care where you step!"
Fire walked towards the exit in a ducked position, the blaze was right outside but it was facing away from them, no smoke was coming from its center as it didn't see itself in danger. Between its rods was the blaze core, a rotating ball of a red-golden material. On further observation it was not really a ball, it was a crystalline structure, a glow radiated from it, but not the glow of light, it was the glow of energy.
Fire felt the energy and took a deep breath, the last time he had fought a blaze without weapons had been a long time ago. Technically they couldn't hurt him with their fireballs but their rotating rods could break bones when coming too close. Fire signaled the others to stay behind and slowly walked towards the blaze, which was now only a few meters in front of him. At the worst time a zombie pigman squeaked for no apparent reason and drew the blazes attention. Unfortunately the pigman was on top of the building Fire just came out of.
The blaze noticed him instantly, smoke and then fire started to radiate from the blaze core, also catching the blaze rods on fire and turning the blaze into a small tornado of flames. Fire let go all stealth and sprinted towards the blaze as quickly as he could. The blaze managed to float up just before Fire could reach it.
The flames started condensing around its upper rods, forming fireballs around them. With an almost elegant spin of its rods it threw a barrage of five fireballs at Fire. He just felt a little bit of warmth where the fireballs hit him, his clothes were made out of fire resistant cloth so they didn't get any more ruined than they already were.
The blaze realized that it wouldn't have much success with ranged attacks and dove down on Fire from the air with its rods spinning faster now. Fire ducked under the attack and extended his claws, with high pitched sounds the rods collided with them. While the blaze was busy blocking the claw attacks from Fire's right hand, his left hand had gone down under the lower rods and now was only a few centimeters away from the blaze core. By the time the blaze realized what was going on, it already was too late. Fire held the core in his hands. The rods fell down to the ground and the head exploded into a small fireball.
Fire walked over to the others with the pulsating core in hand, he said: "As you might have observed, the mobs are a lot smarter and harder to kill here."
TehLulz only said one word in agreement: "Cube."
Ambigious was about to say something but then suddenly twisted his eyes upwards, dropped his shades and pressed his hands against his chest. He coughed as if he couldn't breathe, then he fell over, where freeZe and Unchosen caught him. About two meters behind where he used to stand now was a tall creature, not as tall as Fire but only one and a half heads shorter, it looked like a humanoid skeleton only with pitch black bones.
The skeletal creature was holding a sword in its hand, pulsating with a black aura, the sword didn't seem sharp but caused a feeling of fear in the group. freeZe looked down on her brother and noticed that the black aura also was present around his chest, particularly where his heart was. As she realized what happened, she ran, dragging her brother and an a bit traumatized Unchosen away from the wither skeleton.
Fire had positioned himself in his full size in front of the group, he said: "Haven't seen you in a long time…"