PvP Finale: Prologue

Prologue

The room was dark, save for a series of faint lights that shone down on each individual chair.

At first glance you could say it looked like a war room, and in some ways you could say that was true. With plain dark walls and equally dark, upright chairs on an ink black table, there was a stiff air of authority and solemnness. In each chair sat a game master, administrators of the game of Cyberpolis. And, like any well respected and well-structured hierarchy seating, there was the leader.

Dius. An ERA 01 avatar, though the date was hardly surprising. Around this time, Legendaries were not known as Legendaries yet. They just simply were.

The faded light source would show not all of his face, just enough to show a wise expression and short silver hair. What stood out the most, however, were his eyes: a rich, royal purple, with a golden ring on the inside. They seemed to see through the shadows of the dark as they combed from one side of the table to the other, making sure that all seated and settled in their chairs before he spoke.

This meeting was to have complete and undivided attention.

"I'm glad you could all make it." Dius finally said with a welcoming smile. "It shouldn't surprise you as to why I've called this meeting... Of course it's so we can address the white elephant in the room. That VIRUS group isn't going to just disappear, and they are causing more than enough problems for us, aren't they?"

A brief pause.

"So, after much deliberation, it has been decided that there will be a classified counter operation to eliminate these members. Codename: FIREWALL."

There was but a brief second of silence before the room quickly suffered a small acoustics of hushed chatter. This did not sound like a good move to make. Amid all the murmurs, a lone female voice piped up, somewhat hesitantly.

"Why can't we just ban the users affiliated with the group?"

"We've tried. But with no detection and traces back to their accounts, we cannot manage it unless we find and take care of them manually."

"But how are we going to go about this? Who is going to volunteer?" Another voice, and another question. Dius' smile stood in place, but his voice did not match it.

"I'm getting to that." He said in a cool tone.

The chatter slowly began to die at his voice, and as the reality of the news started to sink in. Virus had made itself known to the Admins for a number of weeks now. Initially they believed it would be simple to disable the group, but they had prepared well to keep their cause alive. The basic options were rendered useless so now it seemed to hunt them with special forces was the only way to stop them. But by manual banning or driving fear into those who broke the rules of the game? That remained to be seen, it seemed.

"Fallon, you will run the organization. Tech will be your advisor." Dius said, directing attention to the two males close to his right hand side. The duo gave a simple, obedient nod. They were both efficient workers and worked together flawlessly. It was a natural choice. "It'll be your duty to run a team to focus on eliminating this 'VIRUS' threat and their weapons-"

"If you don't mind me interrupting..." A voice amongst the admins called out.

Dius gaze drifted over to the source of disruption, for the first time his smile fading into the slightest of frowns. Of course it was no surprise to him to see that head of white hair staring at him from near the far end of the table. The boy still had a teenage appearance from only being ERA 6, which almost made him look completely out of place. It made sense though. Solitaire was the newest of the ranks and he had already made himself known as the one that kept butting in with his opinion.

"Why are we keeping this a secret from the civilians? They should have every right to know what's been going on behind these disappearances. Questions are going unanswered and all the people continue to think that we're not doing anything."

Unlike earlier, the room remained completely silent. There was no chatter, but a slow turn to look at Dius so they could all gauge his response. A slight chill of uneasiness was growing in the room, but Dius kept his hands neatly folded, no traces of emotion creeping up onto his fine features.

"Solitaire, this has already gone under discussion. Revealing the groups could possibly affect the game far more negatively rather than positively. Players may feel encouraged to join Virus or simply be scared off playing the game. It just won't work."

"But to have them exposed could raise awareness and have it become too risky to act."Sol's eyes narrowed, his fists clenched."This isn't a problem you can just sweep under the rug-"

"Sol. Our minds have been made up. We cannot afford the risk. I will hear no more arguments."

"This is a mistake." Sol growled, turning his head away. Dius' purple gaze trained on him, lingering on the Sum-meiran for a few seconds, a few seconds too long... before returning to business.

"Now, we are going to need to recruit some members willing to fight, so listen carefully…"
---

"…That was many, many years ago. Probably what was most infuriating was that none of the others even attempted to agree with me." Sol said as he leaned back against the wall of the PvP stadium.

Much had changed since that meeting. The game had grown, Sol's hair was now a shade of dark brown with a lone white streak, and Virus and Firewall were now locked in combat. The other members of Catalyst around him in a circle as he spoke, all three girls listening with undivided attention. Sol sighed.

"And look where we stand now. The problem still stands and the CCA are seemingly oblivious to it…" A small smirk played about his lips, his eyes glinting with the promise of triumph. "…but not anymore." He looked to each of his loyal followers, each with their own reasons for standing before him right now.

Three people. Four if he counted himself. All it would take was four people, and their plans would be complete.

"Pandamic, Karella, Adularia." He pushed himself away from the wall, turning and looking at his followers with a sinister grin that showed pointed fangs:

"We're almost at our goal."