“You were faster than I thought,” said Circé with a chuckle.
“Don’t get me started,” sighed Eden. “...How are things going?”
The tone immediately became serious in the room. They were all in Loir’s room, the large Map of Chicago displayed ahead of that day’s battle. Everyone was there, including Dante’s lieutenants like George. It had rarely been so crowded, but Eden knew more men were getting ready to leave downstairs. The place was strangely quiet, though; they could even hear the pups grunting and playing in the corner. Jack, who would be staying there with Loir, was trying to entertain them, but even he looked a bit nervous, glancing repeatedly at the men present.
“Everyone is getting ready,” said Rolf. “All the Zodiacs have already made contact to say they are almost or already in position.”
“The Edge is ready as well,” nodded Circé. “Nebty says good morning.”
She gave her a quick wink. Just like Eden, the female hacker was geared up for battle under her usual purple kimono. They had both chosen skin-tight, black bodysuits, most fitting for this kind of mission. Unlike the others and Dante’s men who would mostly be fighting in plain sight, their mission would be a stealthy one. Just as she was getting a bit more nervous, Dante wrapped his arm around her waist, and she naturally leaned against him. Everyone was used to their skinship by now. Since all of their eyes were focused on the Map to review the plan, she didn’t feel too embarrassed.
Rolf glanced toward Loir, and with a big creepy smile as always, the hacker’s fingers danced on his keyboard. Several colored lines appeared on the detailed Map of the Core. Eden remembered they needed her in the room for it to function, so they had probably waited for her and Dante to come down to start reviewing the plan...
“As discussed, the evacuations began around midnight, quietly so as not to get the Core’s attention. The Goat is taking the non-fighting population to the various shelters, away from the fighting, and into hideouts where possible. We think the Core noticed, though; the air quality literally dropped this morning.”
“The external temperature is at sixty degrees Fahrenheit, my Kitties,” giggled Loir. “We have a warning of firepower, smoke, and rain about to piss on the Windy City, so everyone get your prettiest coats and masks out!”
“The plan is for the Dog and the Zebra to have the fight focused in the north first,” continued Rolf, a part of the Map lighting up as he spoke. “They will make sure to get as much of the Core’s attention as possible, and around an hour later, the Dragon and the Eagle will attack the south jointly. Each group has several targets to destroy, especially the towers used to amplify their communication and the Core’s field of action. They also want to destroy the ventilation systems as soon as possible.”
“Tell them to destroy the bridges that included former metro rails first,” said Eden. “They are using them to convey their vehicles, but all of their means of transportation use electromagnets. If you destroy them, they won’t be able to use them, unlike ours. We will have the advantage over them.”
“We can use ram cars.”
Eden was surprised to hear Nebty’s voice in her ear already.
“Morning,” she said.
“Morning, sleepyhead. I hope you’re in tip-top shape, the fights are starting already.”
“I’m not surprised...”
“The Edge has begun launching micro-attacks on the Core to support the Zodiacs on the ground, but it won’t look like a coordinated attack yet, just a tad busier than the usual day.”
Eden knew that to control the hundred-or-so hackers, she and Nebty would only be in contact with the eight team captains right below Nebty and Malieka, whose codename was Patience.
“Anubis is leading the hackers in the north with Mage,” added Nebty. “Gluttony and Sapphire are in the south. Nekhbet and Crash will be with you as soon as you get into the Dark Reality, the two others are on stand-by and leading the scattered attacks. I’ve added some newbie Back Hackers to help Circé and Warlock, and everything else is going as planned. Everyone is waiting for your instructions.”
“Got it.” Eden nodded.
She had almost met them all virtually the previous day, but she already knew all of those hackers. Those with the names of the seven sins were actually Malieka’s apprentices or peers, and those named after Egyptian gods had been trained and selected by Nebty. Mage was another survivor from the first generation of the Edge, who had never made it to Chicago and lived in a different city. The other hackers had been recruited separately, but all those named were top hackers of Chicago or other systems. It wouldn’t be hard to remember for her or Loir.
Her attention went back to Rolf, who was still explaining the plan.
“...Our team is set to arrive from the west as soon as we meet up with the Rat’s men, in less than half an hour from now. The Core’s soldiers will already be busy on two other battlefields at each end of Chicago, so our attack has to be quick but brutal. Our goal is to pave the way into the Core for the hackers and as many of our group as possible. Our objective is this.”
A large and tall building was lit up, and the Map zoomed into it. It was surprisingly close to the river, and in fact, just a few streets away from the border to the Suburbs. A chill went down Eden’s spine. That large, dark tower had once been her home and a place to run away from.
“...The Arcadia Tower,” she muttered.
“The Arcadia Tower,” said Rolf at the same time. “This is the central power of the Chicago Core. Not only do all of the important leaders of the Core live on the upper floors, but it is known to contain all of the System’s physical resources: data centers, main computers, and all the human resources that keep the Chicago Core’s System functional.”
“It requires a ton of space in the real world,” said Eden.
“Can’t we just... bomb the place?” George frowned.
“It wouldn’t shut down the System,” she shook her head. “There’s a digital backup, like everything. It will get triggered if we touch the System’s physical parts, and most likely restore it to the latest backed-up version, perhaps even transfer it all to another city that has its data centers intact for a while. They may even have a spare copy ready of this place elsewhere in Chicago itself. If we want to really destroy it, we have to do it both in reality and in the Dark Reality simultaneously: trap it where it is and as it is so the data won’t run elsewhere.”
“Isn’t there a risk they already have a digital backup elsewhere, then?”
