Firewall

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Mark put all of his weight onto the railing, staring off into the distance from his high vantage point. He casually brushed his bright red hair off to the side so it wouldn't dangle in front of his face and tickle his brow. Mark eventually sighed and stepped away from the railing, his brown eyes closing as he could hear the abrupt roar of battle off in the distance.

"Sounds like one of the patrols got some themselves some action" he thought almost longingly, listening to the distant chaos "perhaps a level 5?" he continued to listen, focusing intently "must be in the outer ring, since their kicking its ass." Mark reopened his eyes so he could look up at the sky, getting lost in thought.

"There's been plenty of activity lately."

Mark blinked and turned to see Felix walking over, a small dog trotting after him "the outer ring has been crawling with Viruses ever since Jack began his syncing" Felix came to stand beside Mark, looking out at the land in front of them "I guess they've caught wind of his potential."

"Meaning he might get a Character yet" Mark smiled "good for him."

Felix looked at him "what's wrong?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"I've known you for years, Mark" Felix let his gaze wander out to the horizon "I know when something's bugging you"

Mark fell silent, his lips pursing together as he knew he couldn't hide anything from Felix "the same thing happened when I first went in there" he explained, looking up at the sky once again "and all I got was..."

"You're worried he won't get anything special" Felix concluded, smiling a bit "well, even if that's the case, he'll still grow stronger. With the way his code has been acting up, he'll emerge an Expert for sure"

"True... I just don't want him to be disappointed" Mark looked down at his feet, where Felix's small dog had begun to paw at his pants, its eyes gleaming in the sunlight "well, Edgar seems to share my thoughts" Felix picked up the dog, holding it up so Mark can look into its eyes "say Edgar, what do you think Mark should do?"

"Well Poods!" Mark had to stifle a laugh as Felix suddenly started talking in a high pitched voice, bouncing the tiny dog around in his arms to make it appear that it was talking "Mark needs to stop worrying and just be optimistic, because Jack just doesn't give a shit!" Felix waved Edgar's paws around, gently hitting Mark in the shoulder with them "Jack's got what it takes, Characters or not, he'll probably get stronger with just his determination alone!"

"Well said, Edgar!" Felix returned to his normal voice as he put the dog down, who immediately trotted off to sniff something "in all seriousness though, Jack really does have what it takes. Hell, he might even be stronger then you after today."

"I'd love to see that" Mark admitted, going back to lean on the railing "though I'm worried he might make some foolish mistakes regarding the patrol schedule."

"Like I'd let him be in charge of that on his first day" Felix laughed "no, you and Vanoss can handle that on your own, even if Jack gets to be stronger then you. You know the territory better then even me."

Mark nodded thoughtfully, his eyes now closed "that is true..." he fell silent for a while, thinking of something to say "when will Jack get out?" he asked after a long period of silence, the uproar of distant fighting now fading away as the conflict was resolved "in a few hours" Felix checked the time via a technical wrist band "I've instructed MatPat to contact you when he's out, so you can focus on other things beside your watch."