Question 3

Expressions of relief flood the faces around you. "There is something you can do," says the hacker who has been talking the most. "We have an idea that our first attempt to destroy their databases failed. A part survived --- or maybe it escaped."

You must have looked at her funny, because she tries again.

"It seems to be spreading," she says. "Just before we got trapped in here, we began noticing other signs of other MUDs introducing this idea of relaxing and forgetting all about your problems. Luckily, only True Cyberspace is technologically advanced enough to allow a player to really do this."

"What's the strangest thing," says another nerd, "is that I found a room that looked just like one of the rooms in the original database. So either it moved to a different site, or it escaped destruction. In any case, I think all these places are somehow connected. Or maybe something is connecting them. We even have a theory that it's a bizarre virus."

"Introduced by aliens who want to see the Earth's progress stopped," quips another. "Sort of like the Russians introducing Tetris in the 1980's." Some of the others smile, but some merely look nervous.

"I still say," says one, "that this is all far too ridiculous. Back in my day, MUDs weren't in a real cyberspace, you didn't jack in, and none of this would ever---" He is promptly shut up by the others.

The first nerd speaks. "So, we think you'll have to find a way to ---"

Klogind the daemon suddenly pops in. "Our defenses have been breached!" it says. "Something has been listening in to your conversation!"

Continue.

Exit back to my homepage.