Abolished Herobrine

by yulienderling

Herobrine thought that true hunts after him were a matter of the past. Now Players are after him again. His servants find him defeated and left for dead. Not sure what to do, they take him to the place they believe he will be safe, though Herobrine himself might not agree. Inspired by video "Abolish Herobrine" by LateZ Animations. Credits: ScarOfHerobrine and FirstFandomFangirl

29. A Matter for Cyber Crime

Um... So. Seems I'm not controlling this story? It was this or nothing. Apologies.

This chapter: In his search through the forums for information, which might give him a hint of what the Admin accuse him of, Herobrine comes across disturbing images from his past and recalls very uncomfortable memories from his time of living under supervision by one of the Admin. However, this might provide just the clues he needs to have a chance to carry out his negotiations with that human.

Warning: dehumanization and violence. Triggering moments. Please read with caution.

Also thanks to FirstFandomFangirl for letting me borrow Victor from Steven, lol. He is going to be different here, but that's where he is originally from.

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Herobrine stared at the page hanging before him on the screen and scowled, not noticing how blood slowly seeped from his nails, digging into his flesh within white-knuckled, shaking fist. His white eyes blazed at the first opened image.

There, he could see himself, curled helplessly on the ground of a spotlessly white room. Silver collar stood out on his neck and so did the twin shiny braces on each of his wrists, drawn around his shoulders in a helpless self hug. His lowered face, pale and drawn, held a grimace of pure terror. A small trail of blood trickled down his chin from bitten lips.

His pathetic form lay on the ground and miserably shivered, not even attempting to get up.

On the outer screen around the image hung data with quickly changing numbers. Lines of code ran, shifting and jumping from place to place, as various areas briefly high-lighted in red, only to jump again a moment later.

And above it all hung his ID.

Herobrine vs. 0076914.014

Herobrine's seething, disbelieving gaze tore away from the image and moved to the next one below it. The System immediately obliged, closing the link and minimizing the image so it fell back in place into a row of many like it.

Images upon images crowded below, each depicting Herobrine in a pose suggesting the manner of content that would show in the opened link.

In some he stood proud, his appearance scary and menacing, while players cowered before him in fear. These were the videos of his encounters with players, some recorded by players themselves and others recorded by the Admin cameras while he still worked for them as their dog on a leash, their tame raid boss.

And in others he cowered in fear, bound and shaking, a truly pathetic sight. A prisoner in the lab, undergoing tests of all sorts. Failing. Punished.

How?...

How did this get out there?...

No…

He knew.

"Beg for mercy, bot!"

A lash of a whip whistled through the air right after the bold exclamation by an angry voice. A flare of pain tore across his shoulders, wrapping across his chest and leaving a burning mark.

Herobrine flinched at the memory.

"You heard what he said? He said that we can do whatever we want with you… For however long we want…"

Again, the lash whistled and another fiery, bleeding gash bloomed bright red. His shoulders, back, and chest bore more of the same.

He kneeled on the bloody rough stones before his throne, his arms pulled back by the gleaming chains, while another chain pulled his head forward, forcing him to bow. Four players in tattered armor stood before him, with one idly gripping the handle of a segmented, metal whip, idly sneering at his defeated opponent.

All around them lay remnants of a throne room, once luxurious, but now ruined by battle. Bits of shattered furniture, broken bones of shattered skeletal mobs, arrows stuck in the walls and sooty glimmers of fire slowly devouring richly decorated tapestries of made up lore of ancient days. Giant chunks of stone lay in piles where columns had shattered and fell during the quaking power unleashed by Herobrine's will.

Now, he kneeled before them, humiliated and bound. Not too far away from the group stood a gray, hooded figure, his gray-skinned hands calmly clasped below his stomach. Slightly narrowed red eyes rested on the players, calmly waiting as he smiled at the dark scene with the amused air of someone watching a show.

His assigned Admin.

Angry, Herobrine cast him a gloomy look.

"You may have him. Do whatever you wish to your heart's content, just don't kill him. Actually, don't even worry about that. It's nearly impossible here. I'll turn up his recovery settings."

"Seriously?"

"Yes. Go ahead. The only condition is that this will remain off record. Consider this as… compensation for the inconvenience this glitch caused your gaming process. Will this satisfy your complaint?"

"Yeah!"

These words passed between the players and the Admin earlier, and all Herobrine could do was helplessly seethe when in a blink of an eye, he had been restrained and left to their mercy.

Why?

Why did his overseer allowed them to do this to him?

Herobrine could not understand it. He knew that he made a mistake. He broke the rules, first when he was not in his place where he was supposed to be and then when he allowed his anger at these players' insults to tempt him to teach them a lesson.

He didn't step out of his role, though! They complained after he already conceded to them his defeat.

Granted, he did so with excessive scorn, making sure that they knew that he was only letting them win, but that didn't justify this punishment!

His Admin had to be doing this out of pure spite, irritated that their complaint pulled him from his own affairs.

This was so unfair!

The human's fake face held outward amusement, hiding his true emotions, which even after several months Herobrine still could not read well. How he hated this human! Still, he did not dare show this. Instead, unable to stifle a flinch from yet another strike that fell across already exposed nerves, he shifted his blazing white gaze back to the players.

"You already won. What more do you want of me, puny mortals? If you think that doing this will break my will, you are mistaken. I will remember this and take my revenge when you should return! Pathetic human worms! You'll regret ever daring to raise your filthy hands against me!" Herobrine half-growled in a menacing tone and sneered as the players unconsciously drew back. Exchanging slightly nervous looks, they glanced to the Admin for support.

"My apologies for this. He is not designed to show fear. I'm afraid that we haven't installed such a function yet. Is that something that you might be interested in?" The Admin asked with a helpful expression. The players once again exchanged looks, this time appearing puzzled.

"Oh, did you think that he actually feels pain? Oh, dear. I thought that you understood that he is just a bot. You do know this, right?" The Admin pointed out.

The eyes of the leading player widened a bit, while the faces of others reflected growing confusion.

"But… We thought…"

"You thought that we would allow some R-rated hack where we would use real SAI? Please. We play by the rules. Everything is strictly within the guidelines suggested by the law."

"But you said…" The leading player's eyes angrily flashed. Herobrine saw his Admin almost roll his eyes.

"Do you really think that he is somehow defying you on purpose? I thought you might. That's why I am letting you do this." The Admin patiently gestured to the restrained villain.

"You seemed really angry and wanted to 'make him pay'! I decided why not? Now you can see what he really is. I mean, he does imitate most of human reactions very believably, but… fear is not one of them. At least, not yet." The Admin shrugged and spread apart his hands in an 'I cannot really do anything about this' gesture.

"Still, our goal is to make our SIMs so realistic as to be indistinguishable from real life. So, if you want to make a suggestion, I'll gladly put it through. Although, I must admit, I haven't gotten such a request before. Most players are more interested in defeating monsters, not torturing them."

The last, the Admin said with a disapproving tone, at which some of the players shifted with obvious embarrassment that appeared on their faces.

"So, he really is just a bot?" Their leader stubbornly demanded, his tight voice filled with both disappointment and suspicion. He definitely did not believe the Admin's claim still.

"That's what we've been trying to tell everyone." The Admin sighed with false long-suffering.

The players all turned and glared at Herobrine as if all of this was somehow his fault. The interest in their eyes sharply fell and disgust appeared instead. Herobrine frowned at them all with a gloomy look. As usual, his Admin played his own game. Manipulating others seemed to amuse him. This time, he used Herobrine to subtly humiliate these players by making them feel quite foolish. They had just spent hours of their time acting on a personal grudge against a non-intelligent simulation rather than a person. Of course, the last was not true, but Herobrine had no choice but to go along with the pretense.

Now, the players looked very frustrated. Herobrine would have even enjoyed this, if it did not involve his Admin placing him in this position. Those lashes hurt! And he couldn't even complain about this, or else he would get punished far worse in his off time.

Gritting his teeth, Herobrine waited for this incident to finish playing its course.

"Would you like to continue? You can. This glitchy model is our error, so I'm willing to give you all the time you want. Go ahead. Punish him." The Admin offered with a polite, calm grin that didn't hide the mocking in his red eyes. The leading player glared at him with hatred to cover his embarrassment.

"Don't bother." The lead player spat. "We're just wasting time."

In frustration, he cast down his segmented whip. Herobrine's eyes followed the weapon with relief. Was this little playact over? His wounds were already closing, terribly itching as they healed within the influence of the 'boss crystals' into barely noticeable scars.

Maybe his overseer was right to some degree? Was some pain worth it? Herobrine was not sure. Will this bunch of players finally leave him alone after this? This had been their fourteenth raid in the past week! Their constant taunts had been extremely annoying and what led him to step out of his role. Only how many more like them might still come, convinced that Herobrine was real? All seeking to get a trophy record of having defeated the infamous glitchy version that many believed to be the real Herobrine, returned to haunt their digital world once more.

How long would he be forced to play this role before their interest vaned and the Admin allowed him to do something else, as they once promised him?

Herobrine stifled a sigh.

Avoiding looking at Herobrine and the Admin, their flushed cheeks betraying their embarrassment under the waiting Admin's amused look, the players checked their stats to make sure that they all received their spoils. Some went to rove in Herobrine's treasure chests that appeared by his throne after he conceded defeat. Their gained loot did not impress them, judging by their expressions, but it was to be expected. The System knew how many times they had passed this location and now considered them as grinders, barely giving them any experience. They had long overgrown this challenge. Looking rather disgruntled, the players silently teleported away.

The Admin humphed. His lips, stretched in a polite smile, twisted into an unpleasant smirk. Briefly, he considered the empty place where they had just been.

"What whiners. Don't worry. These jerks won't dare show their faces here again." He huffed. Herobrine tensed at this scornful reassurance, mistrustfully running these words in his mind several times more as he carefully searched the human's features for any shade of expression that might tell him what truly went on in the human's mind. Alarms sounded within. He had no doubt that this incident was not over yet. Despite his calm expression, his keeper was irate. Very irate. Red eyes turned and considered kneeling Herobrine with deep dislike, expression of distaste twisting his features.

"Now as for you…"

Herobrine did not have time to react to the threat he sensed in the human's tone, when his world lurched and he found himself back in the lab, free of the chains. Cautiously, he got up from his knees and flinched when he heard the characteristic click. His overseer had logged out of the game and returned to his own world, to continue to control the situation from there.

Now, the previously invisible silver-colored restraints re-appeared on Herobrine's neck and arms, fully controlling his whereabouts and cutting off his access to code. Isolated in this human's private study, he was once again entirely helpless before his keeper's whims. Here, this human became a god, with Herobrine as his subject. From his console, his overseer could affect whatever changes he wished into Herobrine's environment or even his body, though the last usually didn't stay for long, soon restored to his normal default.

Herobrine definitely expected retaliation. He just didn't know yet how bad his punishment would be. There was no way to predict that. A scolding by a supervisor or a disagreement with colleagues, with whom his overseer did not get along well, some latest political event, or even a badly tasting breakfast, all could put this human into a vengeful mood and move him to punish Herobrine for some made up offense. This human always found reasons to mistreat him.

Herobrine himself did not believe that his mistake had been that bad. He had still mainly stayed within his role, to his own perception, so the only thing his keeper could really fault him in his official report would be that their complaint forced him to come and deal with the situation personally. This was his job, though!

Maybe, if Herobrine explained the reason for his initial absence and played off his keeper's dislike of the players, whom the human considered idiots, he might redirect his anger away from him and toward the players?

Herobrine opened his mouth to speak in his defense and found himself unable to make a sound.

A chill immediately rose within, clenching his stomach in tight knots. His voice functions being muted was a very bad sign – his keeper usually did this because he did not like hearing his screams.

"You, glitch, think too much of yourself." A thoughtful voice sounded very calm. Another bad sign. Herobrine felt slight trembling appear in his hands and nervously clenched them.

"Those players had a fair point. You were there to entertain them, do whatever keeps their interest. And not only were you not in your place, so they had to go around looking for you, but you decided to act up and show them who is boss? I think you need another lesson."

Herobrine couldn't help his own reaction. Even though he knew that it would not help, he tried to back away.

A powerful force tore and cast him forward, chains jerking his arms apart to each side and roughly forcing him down to the floor. His knees painfully hit the hard surface. His body tensed in preparation for the punishment he now knew he could not avoid. Lowering his head, Herobrine waited, his chest rising and falling with anxious breath. He could feel his heart uselessly increase its beat.

He didn't protest. That would only make things worse. Keeping his gaze glued to the floor, Herobrine hoped that this meek display might evoke his tormentor's sympathy. It didn't.

A moment later a wave of pain crashed upon his being, a thousand knives at once shredding the skin on his back to tiny strips, stealing his breath in an endless, mute scream. Minutes followed, stretching. And then the pain let go, leaving him stunned on the ground.

A skewed glance to his shaking body revealed unblemished skin and not the raw, bleeding mess he expected to see by the degree of pain he still experienced. With the access his keeper managed to gain into his code so far, his latest punishments affected only his neural state, leaving no physical damage. He did not manage to catch his breath quite yet when another volley of pain consumed him.

This time he couldn't keep track of how long it lasted. He passed out…

…

He found himself lying on the ground. Herobrine dimly heard voices and amused chuckles beyond his server. His overseer was speaking to someone in the real space of his room. Somehow, Herobrine had once again managed to connect to the human's home System, though he didn't know how he did it.

"Viiiic… I didn't know that you liked this stuff. I can get you in touch with a group who would just loooove this." An unfamiliar voice teased with undertones of some dark anticipation and mirth.

"No! That's not why… I'm not doing this for fun! It's just a project from work!" Herobrine's keeper protested with a strangely embarrassed tone. Herobrine did not recognize the other human, though the casual familiarity in their interactions seemed to suggest that they knew each other well.

"Aha." The stranger's voice carried sarcasm. "Sure."

"I have to resort to psych methods, since nothing else works with him! Fear of pain works to change behavior in anyone with half a brain cell!"

"Ah! So that's a real SAI, then? Heck, that's even better! They are so much more believable than the best of Sims. Is he a true human copy? Full bio imitation? Do his graphics turn on? You know, so, if you slash him, there is blood and such? And those clothes, do they come off? What about his voice functions?"

Herobrine felt the signal that briefly switched his verbal functions on and off, before a sound came as his keeper slapped away the other human's hand from the controls.

"Leave it off, Tony!" His keeper's normally collected, controlled voice held frustrated indignation.

"Ha. Did all that screaming get annoying? You should try a gag. Ropes, too. It's more fun that way."

"This is not what it looks like..."

"Looks like what? I'm just seeing my bud, having a bit of fun. To each his own!"

"Ugh…"

"No, I'm serious, this is good stuff! Can I borrow him? Just for tonight! I'll pay you ten grand! What do you say? Man, just look at all that detail! It's super realistic! He is even shivering a bit. This is delicious, Vic. Amazing model. Did you make it yourself or did you rent him? Is he a full SAI or Modded?"

Herobrine felt the presence of the second camera zooming close to his form and tried to do his best to imitate continued lack of consciousness. He was glad that he lay prone, facing the floor, so his face remained hidden from their view. Else they would have seen a bitter scowl.

They were talking about him. He could be considered a SAI, a virtual being with sentient artificial intelligence, despite what the Admin decided to tell everyone. Only while most human-derived SAI received at least some rights, which shielded them to a degree from wanton human violence, he didn't rate such status. Due to his origins and early thoughtlessly destructive actions, the owners of his game considered him a dangerous, sentient Mob. If it was not for Notch and popular hype, they would have simply destroyed him. Now, they settled with using him like a dungeon boss to earn his keep and set an expert to keep an eye on him and study him on his own time to make sure that he could be kept under control.

Unfortunately, this expert had his own interest in Herobrine. Finding that he really had the code of the original digital being, who was considered a dangerous entity in their digital world, he became obsessed with learning how closely Herobrine could come to his level. He pushed Herobrine to try seemingly impossible things and ruthlessly punished him for failure. Herobrine had no choice but to comply with his keeper's demands, no matter how unreasonable they were. What his keeper discovered about him so far was already enough for the Admin to surrender him to their criminal authorities to be destroyed, if his keeper decided to reveal this to them.

Still, it was one thing to be punished for failing to complete tasks, which in the end did help him to become stronger. But to be tortured for mere amusement or material gain? If his keeper decided to 'borrow' him to this associate of his, there would be nothing that Herobrine could do! Herobrine scowled at the ground while desperation and hatred rose, running through him in waves along with realization that he was utterly helpless before these humans' whims.

"Come on, Vic! Who is going to know? Just patch his memories afterward and that's it." The visiting human solicited with a playful tone.

"Stop it, Tony." Herobrine's keeper said, this time with idle annoyance as his old confidence seemed to return. Herobrine took a slight breath of relief, reassured by his keeper's firm tone that his fears would not become reality. The wave of anger drained a little, giving room to weariness. Echoes of pain still shot across his nerves.

"Fifteen grand! I'm not kidding! I know people. I can tell you already that he's going to be a hit in their groups." The other voice didn't give up.

"First of all, I cannot patch his memories." Herobrine's keeper irritably grumbled. "I didn't manage to get that deep into his code, yet. Second, hmm…" He made a sudden dark scoff. "Oh, he'll be popular all right. After he hacks your server and turns it into a bloodbath."

"What?"

"Oh yeah. Want to see what he just did? Watch..." Herobrine's keeper said with dark anticipation and Herobrine felt a video program turn on.

The frustrated yells of rage and swearing of players clearly told Herobrine that his keeper was showing his visitor clips from earlier today, when Herobrine ruthlessly slaughtered his persistent opponents again and again in a variety of ways. Traps, mobs, accidents, while allowing them to see the smirk on his face as he watched them trying to get to him, getting more and more incited.

"Oh, man. That's vicious." The other human said after a moment.

"Yeah. All this, just because of a few dumb words they said to provoke him. Why do you think I'm punishing him?" Herobrine's keeper complained.

Well, maybe he did overdo it this time, Herobrine had to admit to himself as he recalled his own memories, filtering from the haze of his mind. He did lose himself a little, allowing his pre-programmed instincts to take over. Hunting and toying with those arrogant players proved irresistible and he thoroughly enjoyed every moment of it.

Still, his mistake didn't warrant the degree of punishment like this! It was far, far worse than anything he had experienced before.

"What game is that?" The visiting human asked with piqued curiosity.

"Legends of Minecraftia. One of the offshoots of a really old game from our old world."

"Really? Huh… I thought it was just a kiddie game."

"Sort of, but it allows mods. He is also from a mod. G-rated."

"Huh. Wow. Kids nowadays!" The other human lightly chuckled.

"I know, right? We would have gotten our heads wrung if we played gory stuff like this." Herobrine's keeper joined in the mirth. So, they knew each other well, Herobrine assumed.

"If they caught us." His keeper's visitor corrected with a hint of mischief.

"Anyway, the whole reason they even made this mod, the one he's from, is because they wanted to hide that they still don't have full control of their Game." Herobrine's keeper began to explain. "It's still full of viruses that they cannot get rid of. Apparently, Herobrine used this place as a sort of base and hid his spare copies there."

"The Herobrine? As in the Super Virus, Herobrine?" The visiting human's voice gained interest.

"Yeah. He kept his copies there. So if a copy of him got destroyed, that's where he would respawn. Those copies of his are empty like gloves. Avatars. Bodies without a mind. Even after they destroyed him, they continued to function. The Admins of that game tried to erase them, ran all kinds of removal programs, but nothing seems to work. The Virus made sure that he would be part of the System, impossible to remove. His copies protect themselves, attacking players on sight. And just respawn somewhere else at random if destroyed. And that game is not the only one where he did that. Remember Echoes of Fallen Legends? And Myths of Cavalon?"

"Yeah. We played them as kids. Too bad they got shut down." The other human's voice gained a regretful tone.

"Yeah, and that's why! His copies were found in them, too. Well, these guys didn't want to get their game shut down. Even though tests already showed that these remnant copies are mostly harmless, without their true owner, they didn't want their players to think that they are somehow not in control of their game. If they can't destroy them, use them! That is their motto. So they disguised them by building their own Herobrine mods. They turned these copies into gaming bosses and even gave them perks and levels. Achievements of all sorts. Rewards for defeating them…. And then, man! Hahaha!"

Herobrine's keeper couldn't help laughing. "This guy… showed up… wreaking havoc on their servers! You should have seen those rich boys panic! They thought that he was the real Herobrine, coming back to destroy all humans. Starting with them and their game!"

Herobrine's keeper chuckled while the other stifled a slight exclamation.

"Wait… for real? I heard of this! The Glitch! So, that's him?"

Herobrine felt the second camera draw closer to him as the other human viewed him with hungry interest. He felt an uneasy feeling crawl up his spine. Why was his keeper telling this other human all this? He normally kept his affairs private, keeping very aloof from the other Admin and on occasion mentioning his very unfavorable opinion of them to Herobrine. He seemed to despise all humans in general, counting himself better than anyone else. And here he was, speaking with such an excited tone, as if he long wanted to share all this with this person. He really trusted his long-time associate that much? Herobrine felt strongly that this trust was unwarranted - the other human's character seemed very suspicious to him.

"Yup, that's our famous Glitch. That's why I'm kind of surprised that you didn't recognize him."

"I did! I just didn't think that it was actually him. I thought it was only an imitation. That's why I said he'd be a hit. They actually gave him to you?"

"Yup. I am now their part time junior Admin, after all. I thought I told you this before." Herobrine's keeper complained, though his tone carried a hint of pride. Becoming an Admin was certainly a highly desired position for many humans like him, who focused their skills on working with code.

"So now they give me all their glitches and hacks. I fix them and put them back. Or destroy them."

"You did tell me, now I remember. I just didn't connect things, bud. My bad. Hey, this is rad! How much is he like the real Herobrine?" The other human asked with intense curiosity that Herobrine didn't like at all.

"I'm still trying to figure it out. But so far, not very much." Herobrine's keeper said with some disappointment. "He's only a copy, which some hacker hacked. To make him come to life, he basically stuck the mind of a normal human SAI into Herobrine's empty matrix. That's what it looks like so far. He does display some interesting viral-like abilities, but they are really meager and nothing like the original. I am still hoping that he will improve in time, but…"

"Aaah." The other human responded with disappointment, appearing to lose some interest.

"Still, this is the closest that anyone ever got to unlocking Herobrine's code!" His host said with renewed enthusiasm. "Whoever that hacker was, he pretty much did an impossible thing. Somehow, he combined the neural matrix of a full Sai with the body of another Sai, and got it all to work! You remember those experiments we did when we tried to create true modded monsters?"

"Yeah, you made a six-armed green mob that looked like a giant cockroach, but which you said was an acid lizard, and then tried to stick our class pet in it. Poor Ms. Turtle. And then all of us got a demerit for cruelty to animals, thanks for reminding me, Vic." The obnoxious visitor snorted with some resent.

"Pfft! They simply didn't recognize true genius!" Herobrine's keeper protested in feigned offense. "Hey, it's not easy to combine even a simple animal AI with that of a completely unrelated mob! There is always a conflict in functions if the neural net doesn't connect just right."

"I know that, Vic. I helped you, remember?"

"And yet here, we have a fully functional SAI! Even if he does have a few glitches. To do this is a… a billion times more complex than say… creating a dragon from a pup… Don't ask. It's another hacked project they gave me. I just set him up as a boss in the same place where I put him." Herobrine's keeper explained, probably at the other human's curious look. "Now it's his pet, running around in circles in their off-time. He even named it. Alan or Alvor. I don't remember now."

Herobrine's keeper smirked, while Herobrine's intense hatred of the man sharply fell, reducing to mere usual simmering dislike. He did greatly appreciate the new monster's company. Alstor was far more responsive and friendly than the other mobs, all of which were only Sims with barely flickers of allowed intelligence. The Admin didn't want to take risks and receive sanctions for creating such creatures, so they didn't.

"Well, that's… kind of you."

"It's my job. I couldn't just destroy it. It wasn't its fault that some hacker decided it would be fun to create a bot, which would not follow usual routines and tear their next target to shreds. If tests prove that a bot has true AI of any level, then it cannot be simply destroyed, anyway. Not unless it proves unmanageable. Usually, I simply retrain them, add a few protocols, and voila! They go back to the game and even better than before. I only destroy them if I must, if I cannot find a place for them. Or if they are really dangerous and cannot be controlled. Kind of like this guy." Herobrine's keeper said calmly.

"Wait. Ah! So that's what you're doing. Retraining him?" The visitor made a slightly disbelieving chuckle.

"Exactly." His keeper confirmed stubbornly.

Herobrine gloomily frowned, wanting to deny his keeper's words to this unknown human. He wasn't that bad! Only then his memory immediately provided him with a vivid image from a recent event, which tore him from Notch's custody to be handed to this human.

"Notch? What the bleep is going on here?... Is that… Is that a fricking heart?!"

Coming out of a mind-clouded trance, Herobrine blinked, the menacing scowl vanishing from his face. Looking down at his left hand, entirely covered with red liquid, Herobrine frowned at the thing he still held squeezed and pierced in his fingers, where human nails had once again transformed into sharp, black claws.

Herobrine resentfully pushed the memory back, not wishing to recall it again. Lack of self control continued to remain his sore point. It was not his fault, though! His body carried presets, which were simply too powerful for him to control. Notch was wrong about it. His will alone was not enough to overcome his programming!

"He is pretty scary here. Not gonna lie." The visitor uneasily huffed. "Are you sure he is not the real Herobrine?"

"He is not. Besides! Like I said. This behavior is due to a preset. He literally gets a high from killing and it's impossible to override that easily. I cannot get into his code! It's hidden within that Herobrine copy and all its layers of defense. I have no idea how that hacker even broke through all that! That's why I'm using external methods to change his behavior. I am creating a new preset. Fear. So, his memory of the consequences of his actions becomes stronger than the memory of enjoying those actions. Only then he'll be able to counter his programming. Unfortunately, this method only remains effective if the memory is recent, so I must renew it from time to time."

"Aaah. I get it."

"Yeah, once I find a way into his code, I'll change his presets and that's that! This won't be necessary. I am NOT doing this for fun." Herobrine's keeper insisted, a note of embarrassment returning to his voice, while the other human made a sound of sympathetic acknowledgment.

Herobrine's frown grew deeper as he mulled over the unexpected revelation.

So, his cruel treatments were not random?

This human did say that he punished Herobrine to force him to learn self-control. But he didn't believe that. He thought this human did it due to his ugly inner nature and strong dislike of virtual programs like him. His keeper did often say how much he hated programs like him - humanoid AIs, though he never explained why. It was something from his past, Herobrine figured that much.

And he really was far more tolerant of glitched virtual animals and mobs, which were sent to him to fix. Some, he even kept after his attempts to fix them failed. Herobrine had seen a few, simply living in privately set up servers, taking up space, where this human took care to make their existence comfortable.

Herobrine had wondered why his keeper treated him so differently. All this pain… Because he was trying to help him override prewired behaviors?

Mistrustfully, Herobrine considered this idea and reluctantly had to agree with his keeper's reasoning. This method did work. On many occasions, his fear of punishment now overrode the lack of clarity in his mind and kept him from giving in to his impulses…

On the other hand, this explanation didn't always justify every moment! On occasion, the human's motive had to be pure spite! Herobrine was not blind! His keeper hated him! He could tell himself whatever to justify his cruel quirks, but Herobrine knew better!

Herobrine scowled again as his hatred toward his keeper and all humans in general returned to its former level.

"Wait a second. This preset, is it part of his own code or Herobrine's?" The other human asked thoughtfully.

"Ah! You noticed!" Herobrine's keeper praised. "Yes, it's part of Herobrine's copy, not his. You cannot really make a preset in a real human's mind. Even a virtual one. It's pseudo-biology. Any preset would not stay, unless it's constantly reinforced. With an outer avatar it can be done, since it's far more mechanical."

"That means…"

"That someone got a hold of that Virus and tried to control him. You're thinking right." Herobrine's keeper concluded with a very satisfied tone.

"But that means…"

"Yes! It means that it was probably a command! That Virus didn't just decide one day, oh, I'll go and conquer the world! I'll turn all humans into my digital slaves! Someone made him do it! Until then, he existed in the System for years, unseen and unheard. A ghost in the machine. A digital prankster god! Occasionally a few acts would display his power, but nothing on such a wide scale! His actions simply do not fit his profile!"

"Hmm. That would make sense. He nearly did it, though. He almost broke through into our System Core. If it was not for Notch, he might have done it. Digitized everyone. Or killed them. So you think someone used him? Why would anyone even want to do something like that? What if it didn't work?"

"Someone with nothing to lose. Or maybe opposite, someone sure that he could do it. Imagine what power this would grant! All that endless politics, power grabbing, ended in one stroke. Whoever would have managed to do this would have become a new god! Like Notch, but without any limitations!"

"That would be kind of rad, not gonna lie." The other human agreed with wistful interest. "Even if we were not at the top of the food chain… Makes me kind of wish that he did do it. I bet growing up in Game would have been so good. Would definitely have been better than that gray hole where we grew up, eh, Vic? Vit meals and group exercise, ugh. You remember…"

"I know!" Herobrine's keeper eagerly agreed.

"Only that's not really possible, you know. They made all those tests. If he really went through with it, it wouldn't have brought us into the Game. It would have simply killed us. Everyone and every living thing on the planet. So it's good that they destroyed him…"

"Do you really believe that they told us the truth about that?" Herobrine's keeper made a familiar sarcastic scoff. "I think they are covering it up and it's possible!"

Herobrine barely stifled a sigh at the fervent tone he recognized. He heard this human's rants before, complaining about various things in his world. He seemed very convinced that there were all kinds of conspiracies and most aimed at keeping him, Victor, firmly entrenched in mediocracy. It was always someone's fault if something went wrong in his life. Only often, he would then turn this vehemence around and take it out on him, his subject. And those times, too, Herobrine's punishment would have nothing to do with helping Herobrine to overcome his 'presets'!

"I mean, it would be cool. But there isn't any proof. There is no way we can know what Herobrine could or couldn't do. He is gone." The other human said with a slightly speculative tone.

"I have proof! I ran many tests and this guy can do a lot of the things that the Virus could do. He has his body, after all!" Herobrine's keeper boasted.

"Really? Like what?"

Alarms sounded in Herobrine's mind at the other human's attentive tone.

"Well, he cannot digitize things…" His keeper tried to back out from his claim. "At least, not yet. I don't think it's even possible without a great power source of some kind."

"Like the System Core?"

"Not that strong. Not for a small scale operation. But something smaller, like say, a single individual… Just access to a gaming core would do. In theory. He can access that. He can access and hack any System. Just like the Virus could."

"Huh… That's reeeeally interesting, Vic."

"Right… But, um… Tony? You probably shouldn't tell anyone about this…" Now, Herobrine's keeper's voice gained an alarmed tone. Herobrine barely stifled a frustrated huff. Too late, after this human had already revealed the information. And this, after he numerous times threatened Herobrine to stay within his role! Telling him to pretend to be a Sim, allowing the players to defeat him again and again, just so none came to suspect that he was more than his predecessor's lookalike. He warned him that he would be destroyed, if word of his abilities spread. And now he just blurted it all out to this unsavory character?

"Do his owners even know about all this stuff?" The other human smirked with obvious understanding of his superior position.

"If I told them, they will simply give him up to cyber div and he'll get destroyed for sure! Tony, this is such a unique opportunity! Besides, he really cannot do most of the stuff that Virus is said to do. Definitely not digitizing. Maybe that's even impossible, like they said."

"But I bet he's still dangerous. Vic… you can get in serious trouble for this. I'm not kidding." This time the other human's voice held a serious tone.

"This is nothing compared to you trading SAI!" Herobrine's keeper attacked back with obvious offense.

"Heeey. I don't do that. I only trade Sims. Legit." Slightly affronted, the other human protested, but received a scoff.

"Whatever, Tony. And you didn't just offer me to borrow him. Does his voice turn on? Can he bleed? Ha! Maybe I should lend him to you for a bit. You want blood? You'll have it. I would love to see how your 'clients' will act when he breaks loose and goes after them. They play, what? At 100 percent settings? They'll scream like little piglets when he strings them up by their own guts and…"

"All right, all right! I get it! You don't like them. Same old Vic. Always so clean." The other human's tone carried sarcasm. "Listen, you might think them odd, but the only thing that matters to me is that they are rich! One sale and it's more than what you make in a month. For a tenth of the time you spend poking about in all that code."

"Do you know what I just saw today in the news? Some old geezer got caught just like that. Went to some special interests group and brought a SAI, who looked underage. He got sent to 10 years hard core mode just for that! Just for messing with code and changing a few numbers. They are really starting to crack down on stuff like that. You should stop messing with it."

"Listen, bud, don't worry. My clients are nothing like that pathetic loser. My clients come from the highest tier. Businessmen, politicians, doctors, you name it. They are smart. Even if they get caught, nothing will come of it."

"Maybe for them. Not for you."

"Don't worry, I'm not stupid, either. I make sure to keep my business legit. If my clients really want something odd, it's only Sims, I swear to you on that." Victor's friend said, but his friend still made a doubtful humph.

"Anyway, don't worry about my business. Worry about yourself. You should be the one more careful. Even if he's not dangerous, like you said. You're still breaking all kinds of laws keeping him here and keeping this info from his owners. And these tests?… Just think about it. Your little program here alone. Acid burn? Stifle? Drown? What kind of punishment is this? It's called virtual torture of an artificial sentient and there is an article for that. You can get sent to chill blocks for life for this, not hard labor like that guy."

"What? I'm doing this for a reason! They will destroy him anyway if they find out what he is!"

"Probably, yeah. But first, they'll get rid of you. He is still a SAI, you know. Your reasons won't matter."

Herobrine's keeper took in a loud breath, about to go off on another defensive tirade, but his associate interrupted him.

"Hey, Vic! Calm down! Of course I won't say anything. It's all fine with me. I don't really care what you do with him. It's just a piece of code to me. You know I don't believe any of them are real. That's why I sell them."

Herobrine's keeper let out a relieved breath.

"You'd probably sell your own mother if you got enough credits for the deal." Victor grumbled, calming down. His friend only chuckled lightly.

"Maybe I would. If I knew who that trump was and someone made an offer. Would only serve her right for selling me into that joint! But at least she didn't know me, not like your dad. I don't even remember any of that."

"Don't remind me of that bastard." Herobrine's keeper hissed.

"So anyway, don't worry about it. I won't tell. I was just surprised. I come in and see you messing with that program. And I go, is that really my old buddy Vic? Finally decided to have some fun, hey? I am just teasing you, buddy, that's all, don't get all huffy puffy. You really haven't changed a bit? Same prim old Vic. All work and no play."

"You know I'm not into that kind of stuff. Like I said - I'm doing this for work! I want to find out if Herobrine really could do those things that they say he could. If someone controlled him, then there has to be a handle in his code. I find it and I can control his matrix, too. Or at least, his copies. Then, who knows, maybe I can even use it to open the main System core again. No one has been able to access its full functions since the Virus broke in. Can you imagine how much that might be worth?"

"I get it, Vic. I get it. My lips are zipped. Zip!" The other human lightly laughed. "Keep me updated on this, will you? It does sound interesting. And send me some of those vids, deal? I can find an audience for that, too. No worries, I'll keep it anon. They'll think it's just another Sim." The other human pressed with an amicable tone.

"Which ones?" Herobrine's keeper grumbled, giving in to the veiled pressure.

"Him killing those players and all the tests. Where he actually does something. Don't worry, the last is only for me. I'm curious where you're going with it. Besides, you're going to sell him, right? After you're done with him?"

"Um… "

"I'll find you a buyer! Don't sign any contracts without me! I hate to tell you this, Vic, but you're far from the best in the commercial aspect of things. You're a pro at code. I'm good at selling! And I have contacts."

"He's not really mine to sell. I was just going to sell the data I got from studying him. After I was done, I was going to send a full report to the Admin."

"But aren't they going to destroy him? You told me that they would." The trader made a puzzled comment.

"Well, they really should. He's dangerous already and he'll be even more dangerous by the time I'm done with him. Another Virus in the making, but worse because of those presets. He already hates all humans like heck. If I cannot get into his code and get full control, then I'm making sure he gets erased and there is nothing you can say to convince me otherwise. My life is a bit more important to me than money, Tony. Just think what will happen if I sell him to you and then he breaks loose? He won't stop until both you and me are dead. I'm not taking that risk."

"Hmm. Alright? I guess I can understand that. I wouldn't want a crazy Virus going after me, either. But if you do get him under control, you'll let me sell him for you, right? Don't worry about your Admin! They cannot blame you if he simply escapes!"

"There'll be a fine for that."

"Pfft! Don't be ridiculous. The kind of money we'll both get will be astronomical! Who cares about one little debt for a breached contract? I'll arrange everything! You just keep doing what you're doing!"

"Fine." Herobrine's keeper reluctantly agreed.

Herobrine scowled, deep hatred within growing into an all-consuming fire. Even his closed eye-lids could not hide the blaze burning in his eyes. At this moment, he wanted nothing more than to kill both these humans. Right there in their world, where they stood! If he could have, he would! Of all their selfish, conniving species, they deserved it most for their greed.

"Sixty-forty!" The visiting human offered with excitement and earned himself a disbelieving huff.

"Ninety-ten. Arranging sales is at most a four percent premium for any hired agent. I'll give you a bonus only because you're an old friend and you'll be doing all the leg work."

"Not how it works in our circles, Vic. This won't be exactly legal." The other human protested. "Sixty-five-thirty-five. And only because I know you. You know, I could just have him stolen from your little Game and that's it."

"Eighty-twenty. Or I'll scramble his code with self-destruct and good luck scraping up what remains."

"You can do that? I thought that his copies were indestructible." The other human's voice held doubtful notes. Herobrine's keeper huffed.

"Not this one. He is damaged already. The Admin nearly destroyed him once before, so it won't be hard to finish the job. Eighty-five-fifteen." He reversed his offer to his own advantage with greater confidence.

"Hmm. Fine. Eighty-two-eighteen. But you're adding more vids for me and I'll sell them. Same percent."

"What vids? Him killing players? If I let him do more of that, I'll be out of a job. And any other pro will learn quickly that I was withholding data."

"Neah. I just want the vids where you punish him. It's really tasty stuff. Only I want more effects! My clients will love it!"

"No. I'm not doing that. I'm not into that stuff, I told you." Herobrine's keeper said dryly.

"I could do it for you. Just teach me how to use that thing and give me a few hours here and there."

"He'll figure that out, no. That's crossing the line, Tony."

"Vic, don't make me laugh! You're already doing it!"

"To curb his existing presets for violence!"

"Vic! You'll be selling him, anyway!" The trader said with exasperation.

"Only if I can get full control! If not, then I'll erase him. I told you. I'm not taking any risk of him coming after me if he ever gets loose. Right now he hates me, but not enough to kill me. He has morals."

"Hahaha! That's really funny, Vic. Real funny. A crazy Virus bot with morals."

"Think whatever you want. I'm not selling you those vids!"

"Not even when you'll do it, anyway?" The other human teased him.

"No!"

"Fine. I'm just teasing you, bud. Same old Vic! Goody two-shoes… I'll take eighty-twenty, but that's it. If he's as dangerous as you say, maybe it won't be safe to keep him even after you gain control. I don't want to be responsible for releasing a Virus that's going to kill us all."

"That's what I'm trying to tell you! Eighty-twenty then. Deal."

"Deal." The short pause followed where Herobrine could imagine then shaking hands. Humans often exchanged that gesture after mutually satisfactory negotiations.

This was just great. He had just been illegally sold.

He didn't even know what to think about that just now. Weariness pressed over him. What did the change in his owners matter, since he was already property? Only being a raiding boss for the Admin now looked as a far more appealing option than becoming a mindless tool used for who knew what illegal purpose in the hands of strangers, whom this unsavory human would find as his new owners.

"Awesome, Vic. I knew that something good was going to happen today. I have a gut feeling about things like that!"

Herobrine's keeper only made a doubtful huff and opened another program.

"I got you your files. Let me encrypt them for you. I'll send you a few vids of him later, as a download link. I better not see it on the open net! Do you hear?"

"Don't worry. I'm not sharing anything that can point someone to you. I'll just make a nice little portfolio for you for later!"

"And I don't want you coming here again. This is my place. I do business online, not here. You're lucky Kattie is at camp. But she's coming back and I don't want you anywhere close when she comes back!"

"Awww. Ashamed of your shady ties with shifty old friends?"

"That's right. I don't want her to know anything about this dark stuff. Her life stays clean!"

"It's not going to work like that, Vic. You know sooner or later, she'll have to learn. Cannot protect her from the darker side of life forever. If she was my kid, I would have taught her everything I knew, just to make sure she knew what to avoid. Just in case something happened to me." The other human said with a mild tone of reproach.

"When you get your own kids, then you do what you want. I'll be doing it my way! And I'm telling you, stay clear!"

"All right, all right. Don't get in a huff. Get me my files and I'll get going. I'll give you a call next time first, how's that?"

"Please do." Herobrine's keeper said with disgruntled growl and resumed his operations.

Herobrine waited, remaining motionless and trying to keep his breathing steady. All he wished now was that this intruder would leave. Hopefully, after this, his keeper would return him back to his mansion and he could finally rest. He would think and consider the implications of everything he overheard today, later.

He winced as yet another sharp bit of pain shot through the nerves along his limbs to his back. Why did it still hurt so much? Any physical wound he received would have long healed by now.

"I really hope you got the right files. Sans Corps has the highest defense. I had six other pros try to get through, and they all flunked. Only two got in, but the stuff they pulled was junk. Decoys. My client is gonna get peeved if I don't bring him something hard soon. I told him that I had my best pro on it this time."

"Of course, I got it. Here."

"Ha! You're great, Vic. Did I tell you this before?"

Herobrine's keeper only made a derisive scoff, but with a hint of pleased pride.

"Then I'll get going. And I'll leave you to… hmm, your dominance kin..."

"Hey!" Victor indignantly interrupted but his associate only made a light laugh. Herobrine heard them move away from the sound receiver toward the exit. Finally! His keeper seemed to be escorting his nosy friend out of his dwelling space.

"Don't come back here again. I'm serious about this, Tony. Next time just meet me online, like usual. I don't know why your client wanted a hard copy, when it's so much easier to just download it from a secure site."

"Well, he's very old-fashioned. And powerful. I'll give you one hint. His name starts with an "O"."

"Hmm." Herobrine heard his keeper's voice gain uneasy respect.

"What could I do? You don't exactly get to argue with those kinds of people."

"Well. Then why didn't you download it yourself?" Herobrine's keeper snapped. "You know how to do that!"

"I'm not a pro like you. Ahaha! I'm just kidding, just kidding! I was just in the area. I thought that I might just come by and visit my old friend. What's wrong with that? Haven't seen you in ages. How long has it been? Nine years?"

"Six. And don't play games with me. I know you don't miss me. All you ever care about is money."

"You stab me right in the heart, bud. Right in the heart!" The other human joked. Both of their voices now came from a distance, which Herobrine knew measured to the door.

"Pfft. You don't have a heart, Tony."

"Ouch… That hurt." The human chuckled. "But it really was good to see you. Glad to know that you're still alive. And doing pretty well. You're looking good, Vic! Don't worry, next time I'll call you."

"It was good to see you too." Herobrine's keeper grudgingly admitted. "Take care of yourself, too, Tony. I'll talk to you online."

In the distance, Herobrine heard a dull click of the locks and a shutting door. His keeper's footsteps then sounded heading to the kitchen, where he began to prepare a meal as he listened to some tunes in his earphones and began to hum to himself. He didn't seem in a hurry to get back. Maybe he was simply going to leave Herobrine here overnight? That happened before.

Herobrine slightly slumped, breathing a breath of relief against the stony floor. The plates of it felt cold and smooth against his forehead. Listening to his keeper moving around the kitchen, Herobrine considered what he just overheard. He really didn't know what to think about it all quite yet. Thoughts tangled within his weary perception.

His keeper had ulterior motives in keeping Herobrine's true abilities a secret from the Admin. That much Herobrine knew already. The human practically told him the same day after the first few tests. He said the only reason he was not going to recommend Herobrine for immediate removal was because he wanted to know how much of the original Virus was in him and what he could actually do. He wanted to run additional tests. And as long as Herobrine obeyed him and made full effort to pretend to be what he would tell the Admin he was, he would stay safe. Victor would send the Admin a modified report, approving their idea that Herobrine could work in their game as their raid boss. There was a high player demand for that. Herobrine had no choice but to agree.

Still, he simply did not understand how grueling his tests would be and how ruthless his training. His attempt to complain to the Admin came to nothing. They didn't listen. They listened to his keeper and then took him to their lab to remove him. Then his keeper agreed to attempt to retrain him once more. Taking terrified Herobrine back, he taught him such a lesson that he feared to ever complain again. He simply accepted his unfortunate position, hoping that once his keeper lost interest in his abilities, he would simply leave him be and he could continue to work as a raid boss, entertaining players until such time as everyone lost interest in him. He would continue to pretend to be a realistic Sim, just as the Admin decided to claim to everyone.

All his hopes ended up a lie!

This human never planned to let him simply exist. He tormented him to learn his secrets, only to get access to his code. He tried to override his violent presets through fear, not to help him, but to make him compliant. Once he finished pulling what knowledge he could, he was simply going to get rid of him in one way or another. Even if he found a way to control him, he was still going to get rid of him!

Now, thanks to the other human's greed, this future had changed, but it wasn't much better. Now, if his keeper managed to get into his code and gain full control, he was to be sold, instead. And he would still be destroyed if that proved impossible.

Herobrine didn't want to perish, so that left him only one other option - exist as a slave. But if he allowed this human to break into his code, would he even have any will left to understand what they would do with him? What if he was ordered to kill or do some other gruesome tasks by his new owners?

Yes, he hated humans and he enjoyed killing players in game, but it was all pretend. He wasn't truly hurting anyone. And he knew that making other creatures suffer was wrong. That's why even in his worst period of arrogant madness, he didn't kill virtual humans or animals and mobs who were alive and not empty bots. Even then, he could feel the difference.

What was he supposed to do now?

Herobrine scowled and pushed himself up with slightly shaking hands into a sitting position. There was no longer any reason to continue to feign an unconscious state.

Well, at least he didn't get sold now to get tortured for some sick human pleasure. Despite his keeper's cruelty and ill will, there was a line his keeper would not cross and Herobrine had to be grateful for that. Grudgingly, he had to admit this. His keeper even seemed to have protected him, intentionally exaggerating his capabilities.

Herobrine simply could not have accomplished such a feat as hack some unfamiliar server and "turn it into a bloodbath" as much as he wished that was true. Most likely, he would have been entirely helpless, so long as he remained restrained with these restraints.

Herobrine skewed a hateful glance to his manacles, then glanced longingly to the wall.

His chains were gone, leaving him free to move around. Wincing at the residual weakness, he dragged himself to the nearest wall and leaned against it. It wasn't much safer than the middle of this room, but by some irrational trick of his human part of the mind, it felt safer there. Wrapping his arms miserably around himself for a measure of comfort, Herobrine rocked slightly back and forth, waiting for the ache of non-existing injuries to fade away completely.

He was already falling into a drowse, when the click of his overseer's return sounded and he startled wide awake, his gasped breath locking within his chest in a brief spike of fear.

"Awake? Good. Don't think that I'm finished with you, yet." His overseer promised with a sort of strange, vengeful satisfaction.

Dismay washed across Herobrine's entire being and his nervous trembling returned. Perceiving the faint outline of the camera zooming closer and checking over his huddled form, he gave his keeper a wide-eyed, pleading look. Sometimes that worked to soften his attitude a little.

Was the horrible punishment he just suffered not enough?

Maybe his keeper did not understand how bad it was, simply because he couldn't see any outer effects? Herobrine's body looked whole and so his keeper did not feel satisfied. He probably wanted to take out his frustration on him, after his discomfort in the conversation with his old friend because of all that teasing.

Forcing Herobrine into submission would help this human to regain his own sense of power and control over his situation.

Herobrine dimly understood this, since he knew what it was like to have this craving for dominance. Being in control over another being, perceiving their fear, certainly felt pleasant. That's what lured him to walk the path of destruction, killing players and burning their structures in the first place, not long after he became aware of himself. Dazed by his perception of power, he even came to believe that he was the true Herobrine, a dark god, who had no rival to withstand his might!

He paid greatly for this delusion.

Only he acted like that because he didn't know any better. Those who met him called him Herobrine and reacted with fear, either attacking or fleeing. No wonder he came to such erroneous conclusions. This human had no excuse for his behavior. Unlike Herobrine, he had no presets to conquer. He acted entirely of his own free will and intent.

He claimed to his friend that he was using fear to force Herobrine to overcome his pre-programmed shortcomings. But Herobrine was already afraid! There was no need for further persuasion!

Herobrine could feel his body trembling at the mere thought of receiving more pain the likes of which he just experienced. It was so much worse than the earlier punishments. Then, lacking access to his code, his keeper resorted purely to in-game means and mostly relied on various levels of electrical shocks to make his point. Direct neural control offered greater flexibility and range, but also hid the result from view.

He didn't need to be punished again! He didn't! How could he convince his keeper of that? Desperate, Herobrine didn't even notice reaching out to chat and forming words until he already did.

[Herobrine to Victor0948]: You don't have to punish me again. I will correct my actions, if you only tell me what I did wrong.

"You dare ask?" His overseer's voice held an incredulous tone. "Those players said clearly enough what they wanted you to do. You didn't do it."

[Herobrine to Victor0948]: I allowed them to defeat me. It was my mistake to step out of my role, but it did not warrant such harsh punishment as this. I didn't lose control!

His keeper huffed. "Then you did all that on purpose? Toying with them? Showing off? That's even worse. You are forgetting your place again, bot."

Herobrine desperately shifted, feeling the conversation slipping into the wrong direction.

[Herobrine to Victor0948]: I allowed their words to provoke me. It won't happen again! And you already punished me for this. Please don't hurt me more.

He attempted to make his expression even more broken as he looked at the hovering camera. He didn't have to work on it hard, since he really felt what he was trying to show. His keeper only huffed.

"Aha. You should have thought of that before they called me in and wasted my time. You could have resolved it. I know how smart you are. You know us humans well by now. So you made a mistake and played with them a bit, enough to stir them up. That was totally fine, since that just keeps things interesting. But then you should have let them win and faked a bit of fear for your life, not show off again."

[Herobrine to Victor0948]: I know. I'm sorry. I did let them win in the end.

"You did. But you did it with so much scorn, that they knew it was fake. That left them unhappy. They wanted to see you brought low, truly defeated. I gave that to them. And yet what do you do? More defiance. Your pride is unacceptable, bot."

Herobrine couldn't help an affronted scowl.

[Herobrine to Victor0948]: You mean I should have begged them for mercy? That wasn't part of my role. I am supposed to be a villain in that game. Villains do not beg. They fight to the last and die with pride.

"Hmm. Maybe you are right about that, but that's not the point. You already broke your role when you abandoned your place, so do not speak to me about that. You should have been there. The main point is that you failed to keep those players content with their gaming process. That is your main job. Instead, they called me and wasted my time. I have better things to do than deal with the likes of those idiots."

The human's words showed the entirely selfish nature of his keeper's motivations and Herobrine's lips twitched with bitter scorn before he could help himself.

Chains materialized next to his manacles and sharply contracted, jerking his body back to the middle of the room, forcing him into a kneeling position. He gasped, realizing his mistake, but it was already too late.

"Watch your attitude, bot! You forget yourself!" His keeper raised his tone, where angry notes rang.

Herobrine blinked at the camera in panic, briefly unable to regain focus and concentrate enough on code to respond. What has he just done? No, no, no! Why did he provoke him? He knew that his keeper was looking for anything to justify his whim to punish someone, to take out his aggression. And he just gave that reason to him! He should have kept his facial expression pleading or neutral at best.

"Who do you think you are?" His keeper hissed through gritted teeth. "Do you really still believe that you are a real person? Some sort of villain? A digital god? Get it through your dumb, glitchy head! You are a doll! A plaything! You do not get the right to decide what to say or do, just do what you are told! So, if we tell you that you are a pathetic worm, who should beg our players for mercy, then you are going to howl and beg, to their dirty little hearts' content. Idiots... Whatever makes them happy! That's your job! Because that's what you are. That's what you were made for. Nothing more."

Herobrine blinked with a lost expression. Each clipped word he heard cut him within like cold steel. Words formed before he could stop himself.

[Herobrine to Victor0948]: I am am real. I existtt. I think. I am not just just a mistake in code code. Not just a glitched copy. You arrrre wrong ababout me.

Herobrine gaped, realizing that he just dug his own grave. Hurriedly, he dropped his gaze, desperately hoping that his message would come across as a pitiful appeal rather than a prideful protest. He was also losing control once more, the world before his sight hazing into white. The room went in and out of focus as his vision flickered, while he struggled to hold on to his mental cohesion.

"I… don't… care… And I will continue to punish you until you learn exactly what you are. Get it into your head. You are a worthless piece of code! Bleeping glitch! Bleep bleep of bleeping bleep!" The human descended into vehement swearing, which the System thankfully distorted in Herobrine's perception into nonsense. Each hissed word still made him flinch, a hopeless feeling settling over him. His keeper was too worked up now to calm down easily.

"You are going to either learn and start doing everything I say, or you'll stay here, until every shred of that false human shell will get torn away. Do you get that, bot?"

[Herobrine to Victor0948]: Yes. I will obey. Please don't hurt me.

Herobrine tried to salvage the situation, making sure to keep all expression from his face this time as he lowered his head and let his entire body posture to show proper submission.

After a long pause, the human humphed with much less ire.

"Smart as always. But I can still see that pride. So… Time for another lesson…"

Herobrine threw up a pleading and truly desperate look to the camera viewpoint.

[Herobrine to Victor]: Please don't! Please! I wll obey! I do everything you wan! Dont h1urt me like this! This hurts worse worse than rrrrespawn! I cannot bbb Ppplease ddont,,!

His access to chat abruptly cut off.

"Good begging, bot. I can almost believe you. Remember this for next time, when you might have to convince players of how pathetic you are." The human huffed with dark satisfaction and disabled his video-feed.

No! Please!

A wave of mind-reeling agony engulfed him, drawing forth a mute scream as his body collapsed to the floor and contorted without his volition. His strange connection to the code shattered, leaving him alone in his small prison and deaf to what happened beyond. And then all he was aware of was the all consuming, unending pain.

He felt as if he was stifling, burning alive and freezing at the same time, pierced by burning, twisting blades, and his joints stretched and torn limb from limb. All that time, only silence surrounded him as his body beat against the cold, hard ground, helplessly gasping and hissing. Blood trickled down from bitten lips and smeared on the white plates. Some of his bones cracked beneath the powerful spasms of his muscles. He was utterly alone. Even the human administering his punishment had logged off, perhaps bored by the monotonous image or still for some reason feeling embarrassed by his associate's earlier teasing.

The video feed was not being recorded, like he promised, but currently Herobrine could not care about that.

Agony held him in its tormenting grip, flowing without end or reprieve. For some reason, he couldn't even lapse into the saving grace of unconsciousness this time.

In the brief glimpses of interrupted thoughts, Herobrine tried to understand what he was supposed to do. What did this human want from him? To show his lack of pride? How? Would more begging work? The chat option had been turned back on, but he couldn't focus long enough to form coherent words! Desperate for the horrifying moment to end, he still tried to push through the overwhelming pain.

[Herobrine to Victor0948]: Please stop this. Please! Please stop! Please! Please! Stop! Stopp1! Stop plplease. Plppppp. Please! I beg of you! I will do anything you wish. Just make this stop! Please! I wwil will obey. Please stop this. Please."

In endless desperation, he continued to flood chat with his pleas, from time to time pausing as he lost the ability to comprehend where he was or why. He lost track of time, too, not sure if it had been minutes or hours.

Finally, the pain let go, leaving him gasping on the floor as his body shook under strain. He lay with his eyes closed, so exhausted that even a click in chat signaling his keeper's return did not evoke much reaction.

"Good. That's what I wanted to see." His keeper audibly yawned. "That's what real begging means. You ask those who have power over you to stop what they are doing, and you do it in a way, showing that you know your place. Piece of trash. Glitchy, worthless bit of nothing. Empty bit of useless space. That's all you are. You got it?"

[Herobrine to Victor0948]: Yes.

Herobrine responded and felt something within him break. He was not designed to lie; he knew that much.

Only… Something within him immediately jumped in weak protest, trying to undo the devastating sense that began to spread across his dull and utterly defeated mind.

He had accepted the human's evaluation of his being. But it was only this human's view. He was not… nothing. The saving thought came with a memory of a broad, bearded face smiling at him with kind, dark brown eyes. Notch… did not think he was worthless. He… He said so.

If Herobrine had to believe someone, then he would believe the only one who cared about his well being. Notch told him that he had value. That he was a person as real as the humans in their world, even if he was virtual. Then what this human said… didn't matter.

This thought was a weak and desperate one, since Herobrine was no longer sure himself if that was still true. Notch left him in the hands of the humans, after all. He did not come to see him even once after they took him away. Did not come when he cried to him for help. Maybe he had been too far, then? Or Herobrine's restraints blocked him? It was probably the last. And it had been Notch, who even told him to obey these humans and convince them that he could be useful.

Still, the thought offered relief from the bleak, empty gray space that tried to engulf him just now, robbing him of the little remaining strength of will. Herobrine clung to it with desperation. Even his perpetual anger was now almost gone, the fiery burning edge stifled to dim embers. He wished only to be left alone and not to be in pain. The human's methods to force him to submit to their will, to overcome his 'presets' definitely worked.

"Good. Now get up."

He tried, trying his best to stagger to his feet, but kept falling to his knees. His body felt weak, and he found no will to push it to do more or even to consider alternative options of completing such a basic task. Without lifting his eyes, his shoulders slumped, he robotically repeated the useless attempt, staggering and falling over and over again.

"Fine! Just stay where you are!..." His keeper hurried to say. "Maybe… I think I overdid this..." Herobrine heard him mutter under his breath with a hint of concern. Doubtlessly, it was concern for his job, not for Herobrine's wellbeing. If he broke him, even he would not be able to justify his actions before the Admin, who were still interested in using Herobrine for their profit. With relief, Herobrine gave up and remained still, slumped on his knees.

"You will stay here tonight. I will run a few more diagnostics before you return to your normal duties tomorrow." The human's voice grumbled, and left, not forcing Herobrine to acknowledge him. The sound of him logging off evoked intense relief.

For a long time, he didn't move, unable to gather the strength or will to do anything. The only thing he wished at this moment was that he would cease to exist. But even that option was denied to him. His removal would hurt just as much and there was no guarantee that it would not leave him in a permanent state of pain, suspended and torn apart, yet not gone, only invisible to their senses. That happened when the Admin tried to remove him before. That would be so much worse than his current, empty and hopeless state. At least, he was not in physical pain now.

His emotional state was that of turmoil and numbness.

Lights turned off due to lack of motion, leaving Herobrine alone in the dark. Herobrine remained where he was. Dark thoughts continued to assault him. He was alone. No one cared what happened to him or that he hurt so badly right now. No one would care if he would be destroyed and gone. Would Notch? Now, Herobrine was not sure of even that.

He stirred and became aware of the chains, still binding him in place in the middle of the room.

His overseer had forgotten to release him.

Herobrine managed to look up and stared for a moment at the slim square of a bed that appeared on one side of the lab, its sheets and outer surface as white as the rest of the spotless room.

He couldn't get to it.

Slightly shaking, Herobrine lay down where he kneeled and tried to curl up, wrapping his arms around him as much as he could for comfort. The phantom pain began to quiet, but his trembling did not cease. A strong chill was spreading to his body from the stone floor, settling in the metal confining his wrists and neck.

Cold increased, within and out, forcing its way across his dulled senses. He could not escape it. Could not escape…

Escape.

The sudden thought came and held, bursting like a bright beacon in the darkness. Herobrine's hooded eyes flew open, his breathing briefly pausing, then spiking, faster, as disbelief, then desperately yearned hope all flared through him at once, the expressions showing painfully on his face, faintly lit by the ghostly, flickering glow.

Could he somehow escape all this?

He learned so much in the last few months. Not just about the humans and their ways, but about himself. About Code. And even his powerful predecessor, whose form he bore. An AI like him, but ancient and far wiser. They caught and changed him, forcing him to obey, which led to his open conflict with the humans and a violent clash with Notch, who destroyed him. This much Herobrine understood from clues he gathered so far. But before his predecessor's failure, he lived for a long time in their systems, elusive and invisible to their sight. If his predecessor could do that, why not him? Especially if he had his abilities?

Options flashed rapidly through his mind, considered, rejected, adjusted, only to be rejected again, until one viable one paused. Herobrine mulled over it, mistrustfully turning it this way and that. This might work. Though not without risk, and only if his often unstable abilities did not desert him at the crucial moment…

He might get caught at any stage of his yet uncertain plan. If that happened… He doubted that the Admin would give him another chance. Once he revealed the extent of the abilities that he gained as a result of his secret 'training', they would doubtlessly decide that he was too dangerous to exist. Even his keeper warned him of that.

He was glad that he was no longer so naïve that he revealed everything that he learned how to do. Even what he just did today, hearing them talk about him beyond his controlled space, Victor did not know or else he would have spoken so freely.

It would certainly be a great risk. Was Herobrine willing to take such a chance?

What future faced him otherwise? He already glimpsed it today, when just for a moment, he nearly lost himself. A few more lessons like this, and he really would become nothing more than an empty shell, entirely obedient to the will of the one who had him in their grasp.

Desperate search for a way out settled into determination and at once such relief washed across his being. To be free… It was his greatest wish. The fervent yearning filled his heart to the brink, so he had to force calmness to return.

He was going to try to escape!

He would have to be careful and disguise his attempt as something less worthy of condemnation. Just in case he was prevented before reaching the point of no return.

In this mind, Herobrine began once again to check and recheck his chosen option, adding alternative details in case he had to quickly improvise. He would also still have to wait and comply with his overseer's wishes until he actually could do what he planned. Until then, he would continue to play his role and obey the best he could.

Herobrine's body still shivered a bit from the cold, but his face was already turning into a neutral lack of expression that hid his worry, hope, fear, and ever burning anger once again growing stronger. He then ordered himself to sleep, doing his best to ignore his uncomfortable conditions.

His decision was made. Now he only had to wait until the right moment arrived.

…

He did escape…

…

And now he found these images, in great detail accounting for almost every single test and moment that occurred when he had been a prisoner of the Admin for nine months, 5 years ago. An entire anonymous site dedicated to him, Herobrine version 0076914.014, for anyone to see.

Herobrine scowled.

Well, not anyone…

To access this site, a user had to agree to a non-disclosure information and then pay a hefty sum, entering detailed information to ensure that they would abide by the agreement they signed.

More links to other sites led from this page as well, all with very specific interests. To find his information here was very unpleasant, to say the least. And Herobrine knew exactly who to blame for it.

When he spoke to his former overseer again, and it looked now that he would have to, since he didn't manage to find any hint of the comatose players for whose condition the Admin blamed him, Herobrine intended to ask a few questions. Did Victor Jarlin Weand even knew that the private information he once shared with his old time 'friend' was now displayed on this site? Did he receive his share of the spoils?

Herobrine growled.

He was going to find out who posted this and who paid to see this information. And then he was going to make sure to wipe out every last bit of it.

Blazing eyes shifted to the other displayed links on the site that led to sites not connected with him. The images there looked just as disturbing, inciting pure, deep seated rage in him, which made him want to tear those humans apart with his bare hands. Most of them held adults, all tortured in some way. But a few… a few showed children.

Herobrine jerked his bleeding hand and materialized another screen, where the logo of Cyber Crime Division shone on an official, blue background and nastily sneered.

It was funny that it would come to this. The one organization he always avoided to even look at and now he would be contacting them.

He couldn't leave this alone, though.

He didn't care if these victims were merely bots or virtual Sai like him, or even if they were real humans. What was done here was criminal and he had to do something! But first, he would trace every single user who accessed this site, make a record of their activities, and erase everything concerning him. Then he would make a nice, packaged file.

And Migo Santiago was going to send it.

Herobrine's white eyes narrowed as he began recording and dived into protected code, easily by-passing the numerous defenses. First nicknames of habitual users began to appear on a separate screen, with their other information blank, but then started to fill up as their real names appeared along with their addresses and names of business.

Antuan Deleganni.

Pierre Acosta.

Benjamin Rebbet.

Tanya Awole.

Oliver Dawait

Mirassa Venissi

The list continued to fill, adding dates and links, and copies of the their visited pages appeared, flashing disturbing images. Herobrine no longer bothered to look at them in detail, filtering only for information concerning himself. An expression of disgust held on his face.

Another list appeared on the side as well, where he began to cross-reference the images of victims with the pictures of missing individuals that he just pulled from cyber crime division's site. He didn't dare pry into their code deeply. He didn't have to. Such information was open to the public.

Kattie Norovan.

Jonny Edoran.

Kimberly Tawash.

Melody Rown.

Tony Aguan.

Briefly, Herobrine frowned at the image that corresponded to the last name. A skinny human male in his early thirties looked back at him with a slightly sarcastic smile that left dimples in his cheeks. He quickly scanned his information.

Tony Aguan. 31 years old. Born 1251 AE. Parents unknown. Missing since Aug 12, 1282 AE.

Two months. Herobrine couldn't help another wry smile. It looked like he found his keeper's old buddy, after all. Ironic, that he, who once called the recordings of Herobrine's torture 'tasty' now also counted among the victims and had his own dedicated page.

Herobrine briefly opened it and with an expressionless look quickly scanned across the images of the same man, pale, sitting miserably in some tiny room with his hands bound behind him. Opening yet another blank record, Herobrine began making a separate file dedicated just to him.

Perhaps he could use this when he contacted his former keeper. That human might wish to know what became of his former friend. Yes, he would definitely send him this information first. Maybe then his keeper might become open enough to actually talk, rather than trip his trap.

Narrowing his white eyes on the last image date, Herobrine humphed slightly with satisfaction. 5 days ago. Good. Then this meant that this human was still alive. Most likely.

Indifferently turning away, he dismissed that screen, finished with the compilation, and returned to his other file. More names and their information continued to appear.