OLD-WORLD EXTRA

Chapter 490: Upon Who The Blade Falls



Emir and Lyra walked through a glass passageway, a cold and sterile space surrounded by server racks as far as their eyes could see-which was incredibly far, to say the least.

They followed a holographic, wobbling blob of slime that slithered in front of them, leaving a trail of goo.

If not obvious enough by now, they were on the ninth floor of the Tower, Brain.

[Almost there.]

Brain informed them.

[Level 2. Access granted.]

Ahead, the gates slid open automatically, granting them access to the next section.

They entered and walked through the relatively empty room, meeting no one else on their way.

Netweavers were taking a 'break' somewhere far from here and would remain doing so for the entire duration of their visit.

Emir had arranged it to be that way.

Soon, they reached and stopped at the third gate, awaiting Brain to allow them in. [Rank Identification: Privileged, Momentary EX Security Clearance... processing access.] This was the third level; only those with EX-level clearance could enter, a fact made all too clear by the barely visible label just beside the door, subtly reminding everyone they weren't special enough.

A few hours ago, Emir would've been in that same boat, no way past this gate.

But thanks to Amon, who allocated him a {Momentary EX Security Clearance} just before they left the meeting room, he could get in.

It was an incredibly big deal too-this clearance gave him keys to all that the Academy was. And for some reason, Amon even gave the green light for Lyra to tag along.

Once, Emir would call him too trustworthy, but now he knew better.

Amon was just crazy, perhaps even crazier than he was, especially when considering how this setup made it stupidly easy for them to wreck the place if they felt like it.

'That's why I like the guy~.'

Chuckling softly, Emir held up his watch to the link point where a regular doorknob would've been.

A soft beep and a blinking green light confirmed it.

[Level 3. Access granted.]

Then, with a quiet hum, the door slid open.

"Go ahead."

Emir gestured for Lyra to enter and she did, while he followed after her like a gentleman.

Once they stepped inside, the atmosphere immediately changed.

The once-dim room lit up with a harsh light, revealing every screen and terminal that lined the walls in multiple rows.

Next to them were many tens of Neuro-Cybernetic Interface pods, likely housing all the essential Netweavers.

They were still active, on the clock; even Emir couldn't get them to 'relax.'

Made sense, though. If these people left their posts without replacements lined up, the Academy might as well have put up a giant "Hack Me" sign.

They were the first and last line of defense, fully prepared for a cyber war at all times.

This wasn't a job one could half-ass, and the Netweavers themselves?

They were the best of the best-on Earth, at least.

Sure, their physical stats weren't winning any arm-wrestling contests, even when up against an average man, but in the digital realm? Their net weaving skills were par none.

Emir had brought Lyra along exactly for this reason.

There was no way he was about to mess with these guys himself-too risky, and besides, Lyra was leagues ahead of him when it came to net weaving.

If anyone could pull this off without a hitch, it was her.

Sure, they could've just let Brain handle it. That would've been way easier. But that came with its own set of headaches.

If the mole was as sharp as they thought, he or she might've planted a tracker on certain files. One wrong move, and they'd tip him off.

Worse still, the mole could've rigged everything with a kill switch-a big red fuck you button where the data would delete itself the second someone tried to grab it.

That wasn't a risk they could afford.

So, they were stuck doing it the old-school way. Manual. Tedious. Slow. But safe.

Lyra moved toward a console connected to multiple terminals, her expression focused as she examined the setup.

"Hm...?"

She showed slight surprise at the sight of a physical keyboard.

After a flip or two, checking out its material, she quickly logged into the system, using Emir's data, then navigated through menus and screens that would have been a maze to anyone else.

This was her territory, and she knew exactly where to go.

"Alright, I'll need a few seconds to get to the database."

She typed quickly, and the holoscreens before her shifted as she bypassed the standard interface and started accessing more specific databases.

{EX:\Users\USER>...}

After a few moments, a familiar prompt appeared, and she entered a series of commands, narrowing down her search to the right department.

Her eyes scanned the options on the screen until she found what she was looking for-the

map generation department.

They were the ones responsible for creating and updating the maps used for missions, training, and other purposes.

She focused on them and began filtering through the recent projects.

Each project was tagged with contributors, timestamps, and update logs, but she needed to

be even more specific in her search.

Slowly, she set even more filters, narrowing the projects down by date and keywords.

The list shrank significantly, revealing only a handful of projects that fit her criteria.

And among them was the one they were after.

{Metro's Heart}

"Bingo."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Lyra murmured, glancing over her shoulder at Emir, who stood silently behind her, watching

the screens.

"Great job, now let's see the bastards."

Not needing to be told, she accessed the details of the project.

It was a large file, at least a few terabytes, last edited only a few days ago.

As she scrolled through the details, she noticed something odd-an extra layer of encryption

around some of the data, one that was not typical for this type of project.

"That's strange."

She opened up the encryption to inspect it further.

"What is?"

Emir asked, his eyes narrowing as he leaned closer.

"Extra encryption. It's unusual for a standard map update."

She explained while tapping a few keys to break through the layer.

Once inside, she discovered a set of coordinates attached to the project.

They didn't align with real-world geographical maps of that location.

This revealed what they already knew.

A map in the Academy's official database had been tampered with, or at least it had been

inputted incorrectly.

With that in mind, she quickly moved on to the logs, hoping to find something more concrete.

She did.

It was a log entry made by someone using a pseudonym-a common tactic among those trying to avoid detection.

Lyra tracked the pseudonym across the database, following its trail from one project to

another.

She scrutinized those involving slight alterations that didn't match standard protocols and found the common users, eventually noting their information.

"Two teams."

The first pseudonym, a team responsible for the oldest map of Heart's Ruin, had already been

killed by the Academy, likely after making them rot in prison, tortured with Aether Cores.

The second username appeared to be a more recently awakened sleeping agent, likely still

alive.

"I've got them. But the team has three people, and all of them use the same username."

Emir rubbed his chin.

"Three suspects... huh, perfect. Everything solid?"

"Definitely."

Lyra replied, pointing at a screen where three profiles were displayed alongside their histories

and recent logins.

"Two of them seem suspicious, but this one"-she pointed at the third, a gruff-looking man

-"is the most suspicious. We must focus on him."

"Will do."

She logged out and stepped back from the console, exiting the room.

Emir followed after he cast a final glance at the setup to ensure everything was back to its

original state.

"I'll handle the rest now... You can expect a debrief soon."

With those words, he began to head back to Amon's office.