Cytronica

Nine

Priya left the library and walked through the hall with her schoolbag slung over one shoulder. Each day she had almost an entire hour between her final class and her admin duties, so she took the opportunity to cram in a bit of study. Considering she didn't get home until late, and that it was her final year of high school, it seemed to be a wise strategy.

The halls were mostly deserted with the majority of students having left for the day. A few stragglers were seen here and there, tending to certain after-school activities. She turned the corner and headed for the server room, where Hunter stood waiting out front. He was the first to arrive.

"Hey," she said casually.

His face was beaming. "Hey? That's all you're going to say?"

"What else would I say?" she asked, confused.

"Dunno. But I thought you'd be a little more excited."

"Oh, right." Priya offered a shrug. "I am excited."

Hunter raised an eyebrow. "Are you?"

"Probably not as excited as you."

"Obviously." He glanced inside the room and saw Miller. The older man had his back to the students. "You know, you've been kinda quiet on our Cytro dealings. I can't tell if you approve or not."

"What do you mean? What's to approve of? We're having fun, aren't we?"

"Absolutely! I'm loving life right now. But I mean, Diego clearly doesn't agree with what we're doing. Jiaying doesn't seem to either. So ... what's your opinion?"

Priya thought long and hard about her response. "I'm fine with it. Just as long as we don't do anything too weird."

Hunter pretended to take offence. "But weirdness is the best part of Cytro!"

Zack strode over to the pair, his pace fast. "Hey, guys."

"Hey, man! Excited?"

"Let's go in," Priya suggested. "It might look suspicious if we wait for the other two."

"Good point." Hunter grabbed his key and inserted it into the lock, turning the handle and entering the room.

Mr Miller swivelled on his chair. "Hello there."

They greeted the boss and took a seat at their respective workstations.

"What did you do?" he asked.

The trio froze. They swallowed hard and turned to him.

Priya was the first to speak. "I'm sorry?"

A smile appeared on Miller's face. "I said, what did you do? The Cytro users on Friday peaked at almost two hundred. It hasn't been that way in weeks."

"Oh," Hunter said, breathing a sigh of relief. "Not much. We just spread the word about Cytro's benefits."

"Great!" Miller said, impressed. "That was quick work. Although I have no idea how you were able to spread the word on Friday afternoon."

"We logged in and told the users to invite their friends inside," Hunter quickly lied.

"And we've made some posters too," Priya added, trying to distract Miller so he didn't think too hard about it. "We're expected the user count to increase again today."

The engineer smiled. "That's what I like to hear."

Hunter turned to Zack and made a face, mocking Miller's gullibility.

Diego and Jiaying arrived outside the room, unlocking the door. They exchanged pleasantries and took a seat.

Zack peered out from behind his monitor. "So, sir, is there anything else you want us to do today? Or just the usual?"

Hunter held his breath, hoping for a certain answer.

"Just the usual, thanks," Mr Miller said. "There are a few things you could do if you wanted to, but I can do them tomorrow. For now, I'd prefer it if you just keep brainstorming ways to get the user count even higher."

Hunter offered his short friend a thumbs up.

"Thank you again," Miller continued, rising from his spot and stretching upwards. "I've reported the numbers to the principal and he's going to let the board know. Whatever you're doing, keep it up."

"We can do that," Hunter jested. "Easy." He winked at the others.

"I'm heading off now. Is there anything you need?"

"Nope," Zack said, almost interrupting him.

Mr Miller grabbed his jacket and briefcase, then made his way to the door. "Have a good evening."

"You too, sir," Jiaying said.

The door closed, and his figure disappeared from sight.

Hunter leapt out of his chair, knocking it over in the process. "Let's do this. No time to lose." He landed hard on Miller's seat, rolling into the desk.

Zack ran to the window. "Wait. Let's at least make sure he's gone first."

"Clearly he's gone."

"He might have forgotten something," Diego said. "You need to be more careful."

Hunter scoffed. "You worry too much. And there's no time to lose. People are already inside the realm."

Zack opened the door and looked outside, watching the old man down the end of the hall. "And ... he's gone."

"Awesome." Hunter pounded his fingers into Miller's keyboard, logging in with the obvious password.

The others surrounded the computer and watched on with curiosity.

"Do you remember the lines?" Zack asked.

"Oh please," Hunter dismissed. His fingers tapped the keys, entering the required code. "Bot autonomy ... one hundred percent."

Diego cringed. "I hope this is a good idea."

"I'm sure it'll be fine," Jiaying said.

"It will be," Zack assured him. "Bot autonomy is a different parameter to bot peace. We'll keep the peace at the maximum. Nothing to worry about."

"Code's done," Hunter bragged. "Let's log in."

The five returned to their desks and made themselves comfortable.

"See you on the other side." He didn't even wait for the others before touching his comm, his mind drifting into another realm, his body slumping in the chair.

"Wow. He's keen," Priya noticed.

Diego took a quick, apprehensive breath. "Alright, I'm ready."

"Ready," Zack smiled.

The four students tapped their screens, their consciousness leaving the world behind.

-----

Thanks for reading! I hope you've enjoyed it so far!

I'd love it if you could rate my story on Swoon Reads. They're a standard publisher, and if my book gets picked up, it'll give me the opportunity to keep writing and creating and building worlds.

So please feel free to check it out and rate it here! https://www.swoonreads.com/m/cytronica/