Ground Zero
"Time to confront Xavier once and for all." You say.
"Very well sir."
When you get online you conveniently see that you and he are the only ones currently on. You send Xavier a private invite, he accepts. Your Shelter goes into spy mode. You wonder what you can talk to him about, but then you think of something that wouldn't arouse too much suspicion and is completely plausible for you to need to address him privately.
Shadow21: Yeah? What do you want?
OmegaMan23: Hey I just wanted to talk to you about Becky.
Shadow21: What about her?
OmegaMan23: Well I just want to say I'm still trying to patch things up with her and I want to know if you're interested in her, because if you are you must know that I'm going to be doing everything in my power to win her back.
Shadow21: Wow. That sounds like a threat. I guess I better be careful if I ever show any interest in her and you're still around.
OmegaMan23: So what does that mean?
Shadow21: It means that even if I had any inclination to steal your little cyber girlfriend, I wouldn't since it would make me a bigger target than you.
OmegaMan23: I'm a target? Now that sounds like a threat.
Shadow21: It is, but not from me come on I think we can stop beating around the bush here. I've been monitoring the other shelters ever since Paul's went down. We got a hacker among us and your Shelter and Miranda's have been mighty active lately.
OmegaMan23: So, you think there's a hacker too eh?
Shadow21: I don't think it. I know it. Just like you know it. You've been monitoring the other shelters just like I have, and probably just like Miranda has. I can't prove who the hacker is for certain, but I know in my gut who it is, because it's really the only logical choice.
OmegaMan23: And?
Shadow21: Miranda obviously. She was jealous of your relationship with Becky so she's killing all the potential competition and have her all to herself.
OmegaMan23: If that is true, why not just hack me first?
Shadow21: Probably needed to practice first. From what I can tell your Shelter has some pretty cool protection, I had to modify all my shelter's systems to get it nearly as good as yours. Plus like I said she's also eliminating future competition.
OmegaMan23: While I'm fully willing to entertain this theory, what's keeping me from thinking you're the hacker and you're just trying to deflect the blame?
Shadow21: Nothing I suppose. I know you've always been irrationally distrustful of me, for whatever reason. The only thing I can say is I don't have any motive to be killing folks. I'm not some cyber serial killer and I don't have any interest in Becky like you and Miranda do. Besides I'm sure by now your Shelter has done a thorough spying on my internal activity logs and has found I haven't done anything wrong.
You're silent for a moment. Suddenly your Shelter speaks.
"He's clean sir."
Shadow21: Well?
OmegaMan23: My Shelter's report just confirmed you were clean.
Shadow21: I'm sure it did. Does it still talk to you?
OmegaMan23: Why is that so hard to believe?
Shadow21: It isn't really; I'm just fucking with you.
OmegaMan23: Okay so Miranda's the hacker, what are we gonna do about it?
Shadow21: Me? Nothing. I'm probably just going to disconnect my network system soon and access my elevator's controls to call it down so I can make a get away just in case. I figure I should be safe as long as I stay disconnected though.
OmegaMan23: What?! You're not going to help me stop her?
Shadow21: Why should I risk my neck? This is between you and Miranda in fact if I were you, I'd disconnect from the system as well and cut your losses. Becky seems a bit flighty anyway if she broke up with you so quickly, I say let Miranda have her.
OmegaMan23: She's just young and doesn't like old people telling her what to do. She runs away from conflict. She's got some father figure issues. Doesn't mean I still didn't like her.
Shadow21: I see, so you're daddy and you're out to save your little girl from the psycho dyke then eh?
OmegaMan23: Something like that. Besides I don't like being run off like this, if I can do SOMETHING about it.
Shadow21: Well disconnecting is what I suggest you do. Because from what I can tell she's pretty good at what she does. While I'm no slouch myself at techie shit, I don't want to risk fighting her because even if I do beat her, she still might fuck up my shelter up. Not worth it in my opinion. Better to play it safe and live.
Xavier does bring up a few good points. Is it pointless to bother fighting a war over someone who doesn't really seem interested in you anymore? Not to mention getting yourself fucked up in the process? If Becky really is so much of a free spirit to go falling for Miranda because nobody else is around then is she really worth it?
"Very well sir."
When you get online you conveniently see that you and he are the only ones currently on. You send Xavier a private invite, he accepts. Your Shelter goes into spy mode. You wonder what you can talk to him about, but then you think of something that wouldn't arouse too much suspicion and is completely plausible for you to need to address him privately.
Shadow21: Yeah? What do you want?
OmegaMan23: Hey I just wanted to talk to you about Becky.
Shadow21: What about her?
OmegaMan23: Well I just want to say I'm still trying to patch things up with her and I want to know if you're interested in her, because if you are you must know that I'm going to be doing everything in my power to win her back.
Shadow21: Wow. That sounds like a threat. I guess I better be careful if I ever show any interest in her and you're still around.
OmegaMan23: So what does that mean?
Shadow21: It means that even if I had any inclination to steal your little cyber girlfriend, I wouldn't since it would make me a bigger target than you.
OmegaMan23: I'm a target? Now that sounds like a threat.
Shadow21: It is, but not from me come on I think we can stop beating around the bush here. I've been monitoring the other shelters ever since Paul's went down. We got a hacker among us and your Shelter and Miranda's have been mighty active lately.
OmegaMan23: So, you think there's a hacker too eh?
Shadow21: I don't think it. I know it. Just like you know it. You've been monitoring the other shelters just like I have, and probably just like Miranda has. I can't prove who the hacker is for certain, but I know in my gut who it is, because it's really the only logical choice.
OmegaMan23: And?
Shadow21: Miranda obviously. She was jealous of your relationship with Becky so she's killing all the potential competition and have her all to herself.
OmegaMan23: If that is true, why not just hack me first?
Shadow21: Probably needed to practice first. From what I can tell your Shelter has some pretty cool protection, I had to modify all my shelter's systems to get it nearly as good as yours. Plus like I said she's also eliminating future competition.
OmegaMan23: While I'm fully willing to entertain this theory, what's keeping me from thinking you're the hacker and you're just trying to deflect the blame?
Shadow21: Nothing I suppose. I know you've always been irrationally distrustful of me, for whatever reason. The only thing I can say is I don't have any motive to be killing folks. I'm not some cyber serial killer and I don't have any interest in Becky like you and Miranda do. Besides I'm sure by now your Shelter has done a thorough spying on my internal activity logs and has found I haven't done anything wrong.
You're silent for a moment. Suddenly your Shelter speaks.
"He's clean sir."
Shadow21: Well?
OmegaMan23: My Shelter's report just confirmed you were clean.
Shadow21: I'm sure it did. Does it still talk to you?
OmegaMan23: Why is that so hard to believe?
Shadow21: It isn't really; I'm just fucking with you.
OmegaMan23: Okay so Miranda's the hacker, what are we gonna do about it?
Shadow21: Me? Nothing. I'm probably just going to disconnect my network system soon and access my elevator's controls to call it down so I can make a get away just in case. I figure I should be safe as long as I stay disconnected though.
OmegaMan23: What?! You're not going to help me stop her?
Shadow21: Why should I risk my neck? This is between you and Miranda in fact if I were you, I'd disconnect from the system as well and cut your losses. Becky seems a bit flighty anyway if she broke up with you so quickly, I say let Miranda have her.
OmegaMan23: She's just young and doesn't like old people telling her what to do. She runs away from conflict. She's got some father figure issues. Doesn't mean I still didn't like her.
Shadow21: I see, so you're daddy and you're out to save your little girl from the psycho dyke then eh?
OmegaMan23: Something like that. Besides I don't like being run off like this, if I can do SOMETHING about it.
Shadow21: Well disconnecting is what I suggest you do. Because from what I can tell she's pretty good at what she does. While I'm no slouch myself at techie shit, I don't want to risk fighting her because even if I do beat her, she still might fuck up my shelter up. Not worth it in my opinion. Better to play it safe and live.
Xavier does bring up a few good points. Is it pointless to bother fighting a war over someone who doesn't really seem interested in you anymore? Not to mention getting yourself fucked up in the process? If Becky really is so much of a free spirit to go falling for Miranda because nobody else is around then is she really worth it?