cut it deep

0.1 - hack and slash

"Stand up and shout loud.

For those have peculiarity in their blood."

It was that hour of the day where that damned anthem played at full volume from the huge speakers around the neon-embellished city again. As if the volume wasn't enough, some of the low-born creatures were screaming those lines over and over at the top of their lungs - like it was going to free them from their misery.

Such bluster it was. He shook his head in disapproval before shutting the window close for some composure.

A few faint chords of an electronic song escaped from his headphones as he looked around his room. Everywhere there were cords, everywhere there was electronic junk. This room was a mere mask for his personality. He was a virtual deserter, a resuscitator of digitalism.

He was a hacker.

And as his mutuals rose with the glory of dying in their fight to exist, he gave birth to nothing but machinery.

"I found a security bug in this digital bank."

His thoughts were swept away by his brother's words. It was kind of funny and sad at the same time how he swapped his deep thoughts to a new hacking plan but if he was a low-born hacker, he had to do it right.

"Are you sure? This may be a scam just like the last one."

His brother smirked and bounced his leg to show his enthusiasm.

"Yeah. Even the best hacker in the world can't make a fake security bug this obvious."

He sat on the chair next to his brother and checked the grand digital screen covering the whole wall. There was a little white flashing block on the screen. He smiled and fondled his brother's hair.

"Sharp like always, Joel."

He slid on his wheelchair to get to the control panel as Joel stabilized the configuration. He made sure that the cords connected to the virtual reality screen were correctly bound.

"Buckle up, audience."

And put the goggle-shaped screen on his face.

"Braken is online."

He could feel the static electricity flowing through and the cords tingling his shoulders. It was maybe the 1000th time he was about to dive into a system but he was still excited just for the first time.

In all of his excitement he hardly heard Joel's information:

"All systems stable. Logic dive in ten seconds."

He held onto the armrests of his wheelchair and counted down from ten. Then in the blink of an eye, he felt his arms, legs and his chest give in and vanish. He was in the database. His reality has now consisted of a few codes and commands. He turned and looked around in this empty space and a familiar feel filled him.

I'm home, he thought.

He quickly got up and moved aside the security bug. On his way, there were little traps around to lure amateur hackers but after all of those years he lived in the hacking culture he had learned staying safe from the hard hard way -by getting consumed by traps and anti-viruses and having near-death experiences.

The gap was wide open with no protection over it. This was going to be an easy catch. Braken felt bad for the people who had deposited money to this bank, but not bad enough to stop doing his work. He and Joel had been in a dearth for the last two weeks and if this theft was to be successful, it could keep them satiated for the next whole year.