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Chapter One

     "C'mon USERBØMB, you got this!" The chipper voice of user: Zoombox cheered through the small sprite at the corner of the screen. Zoombox and Ace only knew each other through sprites and usernames. That's how hackers worked, after all. "This firewall is stronger than I thought." The quiet clicking of the keyboard keys accompanied the inaudible groans of annoyance that echoed across the desk. Unintelligible mumblings barely picked up through the microphone as Ace worked away at the damned firewall blocking his way. "Cmon cmon cmon... Yes!" Arms pumping in the air, Ace cheered triumphantly, finally having gotten through to the info he needed.
     "Alright!" Zoombox mused, "Now get all that sweet sweet government intel~" Ace couldn't help but chuckle, the autotune they used crackling a little bit with the sound. "Heh, this guy is getting himself in some deep shit." Thousands of classified files loaded onto the hardrive, all being shady deals and investments made by political figures. A bigshot politician hired the infamous hacker known as USERBØMB to dig up dirt on the opposing parties to blackmail them into letting him win. Ace didn't really care for him, but it payed well. The process was simple; just drag and drop the files, then watch the magic happen. Only this time, the magic was quite.. gruesome.
     "User? What's wrong?" Zoombox asked, concerned as the face of Ace's sprite turned utterly mortified. "I-I'm gonna share this.." Ace muttered, clicking the small button on screen. What was shown was utterly disgusting. It was live cam footage; a room that resembled the infamous "Red Room" at the center of the dark web with a man in the center, duct taped to a grungy mildew-covered wooden chair. A sign sat propped at his legs that said 'A show for you, USERBØMB.' Ace recognized the man in the chair, It was the shady politician. After a few moments, a fully disguised figure walked into frame, holding a large machete.
     "WhattheFUCK!?" Zoombox shrieked as she watched the figure slowly murder the politician. Ace was paralyzed with fear, to shocked and grossed out to even speak. He could tell Zoombox was crying, based on the tremor in her sprite's crackly voice. An hour, the video lasted a full hour before the murderer flashed a sick smile, waving goodbye as they walked away from the scene. "T-That was fucked up.." Ace barely muttered out. Zoombox had muted herself, probably working on calming down. They had seen many horrible things in their line of work, but never murder.
     Unfortunately for Ace, it was about to get much, much worse.