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subscriptions and product placement (advertising posters and objects within the gaming environment which
Marlon Good said “added realism”) had generated close to a billion dollars’ revenue. The sequel was expected to earn double that during its lifetime. This made the pre-release
game a very precious commodity. It would be only too tempting for an employee to steal part of the code, new character designs or level maps and sell them on for a fast profit. Goodware spent
millions of dollars every year planning so that didn’t happen.
    But they weren’t planning on me, Hack thought as he swiped his hand over a laser grid protecting the route through the centre of the office. He sensed the beams fail and moved
forward, keeping as low as possible. Directly behind him, Jonesey and Hui did the same.
    They progressed across the office towards a room in the very centre: a cube of black glass with no visible entry point. This was the main testing room and the office of the system administrator.
It also contained the control server for all the work terminals and it was here that they would find evidence of Jonesey’s original game designs – if indeed it still existed.
    Disabling more lasers, cameras, a directional mic designed to pick up the sound of breathing, and a pressure sensitive pad under the carpet, Hack reached the edge of the cube. The glass room
exuded brilliant blue light, stretching out in ever-changing spikes and arcs. This electronic aura was only visible to Hack, however – an indication of the ultra-powerful technology housed
within. He placed his hand on the glass, creating swirling patterns of energy across the dark surface. The rectangular outline of a door appeared a metre to his right and swung outwards, allowing
access.
    Hack smiled at Jonesey, despite the seriousness of their position. The goal they’d been talking about ever since Goodware’s theft of Ridge Run Rabbit was within their
reach.
    “We’re almost there,” Hack said. He led the way into the cube.
    The interior of the room was exactly six by six by six metres. Although the glass on the outside was opaque, inside it appeared clear – allowing 360 degree views of the office. Against one
wall stood the server tower – a black monolith with green lights flashing rhythmically along one side. An LCD screen took up most of the opposite wall. Directly before this was a work desk
with a terminal linked to the server, an unfamiliar games console and two swivel chairs. This was the administrator’s work area and the place where the overall build of the game was tested.
Many programmers worked on different components of the game, but only a few were ever allowed to run the full draft version, and then only under the watchful eyes of the administrator.
    Jonesey and Hui entered the cube. The door closed behind them with a faint click.
    “This is amazing,” Jonesey said breathlessly.
    Hack didn’t intend to waste time. He estimated they’d already spent three minutes inside the office, which meant they had another two to find what they wanted and get out. He sat and
placed his hand on the terminal keyboard. Rather than pressing the power button on the monitor (which would set off an alarm) he instead accessed the server through touch alone – stretching
out with his mind via the keyboard’s wireless connection to the machine. In seconds, he had pushed through layers of encryption and protection that would take an experienced computer criminal
months to crack (if ever) and gained access to the hard drive.
    For a moment his thoughts tumbled, trying to sort the confusing depths of code, images and information stored on the server. Employee data was here, as were entire obsolete versions of the game
and swathes of security reports. He had never accessed a computer with a tenth of the capacity and speed of this machine – it was remarkable. Hack tried to focus. He had to find
Jonesey’s original designs. Searching the information