by Terry Mayer
*****
8 - Stockholm, Sweden
"Right Steve, show me what the heck is going on" demands Notch.
"Ok, look here at the source code, according to this all the servers are now hardcoded into this game."
"But how, who wrote this code?"
"No one. Only the two of us have access to the source code for the main server and I'm guessing you didn't change it so that means we've been hacked."
"But it doesn't make sense. If we were hacked, we would not be able to gain access. All outside access has been suspended so either whoever hacked us has a back door or he has been locked out also. This is weird even for hackers."
"Yeah Notch, but that's not the worst of it, take a look at this," says Steve pulling the server from the rack.
"What the heck? The cables aren't even connected?"
"I know, told you it was weird. All the servers are communicating with Bluetooth, wireless, or something, who knows what, but there's no hardware installed. It's just not possible but it's happening."
"Right, shut it down. Everything, just turn it off."
"You sure Notch. We've never had to do that before."
"You ever had servers take over the game before?" asks Notch sarcastically.
"No. Ok, so how do we do this, there's no procedure in place for a shut down like this."
"Normally I would advocate backing up, and a gradual powered shut down, but I think we are way past the normal, so just press the power button and we'll worry about bringing it back on line when we have the hacks sorted out."
"Ok, here goes nothing," jokes Steve as he reaches forward to press the main power button on the front of the server. "What the heck, nothing's happening Notch."
"Yeah, guessed as much. Whoever hacked this now owns the servers, only option is to cut the power. Go on, pull the plug."
Pulling the server from its cradle, Steve reaches around the back and pulls the power lead out. Blinking rapidly he stares at the server, realizing that nothing is happening. "You have got to be kidding. It's still running, how's that even possible?"
"Pull it from the rack; make sure there are no other cables attached."
Pulling the server free and laying it on the floor Steve exclaims. "That's it Notch, she's completely isolated but still running. That is way beyond weird."
Staring at the server Notch looks perplexed. How can it still be running? The only possible explanation is we have been infiltrated. Someone must have installed a battery device into the server. "Right, open her up; there must be an independent power supply inside."
"But that's not possible; no one has access to these servers."
"But this is possible?" he retorts, pointing at the server laying on its side on the floor, all cables disconnected."
"No, I guess not." Grabbing a screwdriver, he starts removing the screws, securing the cover. "Ah Notch, this is getting weird," he stammers.
"What do you mean? This has been weird right from the start."
"Yeah, but get a look at this," he says removing the cover.
Looking into the server housing Notch gasps and takes a quick step back. "What the...?" Covering every square inch inside the case is a green, pulsating slime. "You have got to be kidding me! What the heck is that?" he splutters.
*****
9 - Watery Grave
Dragging himself up the stairs, Jethro takes a gasp of air just as his last health point is about to blink away. That was too close. Coughing up water, he stumbles over to his chest and retrieves some bread and pork. Eating ravenously, he feels his health returning. Glancing through the window, he sees a scene of utter devastation with water covering everything as far as the eye can see. Feeling a bump on the back of his legs he spins around, expecting the worst only to find that his chest has floated into him and he is standing almost waste deep in water. Glancing out the window again, he sees that the water has risen half way up the windowpane and is still rising. Picking up his chest, crafting table and furnace he heads for the roof. Man, it is so clever how much I can carry, its real life but with all the Minecraft bonuses. Standing on the roof of the building with the water still rising, Jethro realizes that his house will soon be under water. With nowhere left to go, he takes out his crafting table and makes a boat. Not a large, strong hull like Jay created but a standard Minecraft vessel. Climbing in, just as the water swallows the roof, he surveys his surroundings. So, what now, he wonders staring out onto endless water.
*****
Yes, Redstone. Digging out the blocks, Captain Sparkle's smiles to himself. Now I can really start constructing some worthwhile contraptions. Stepping off the block he was balanced on he is shocked to step back into waist deep water. Turning towards the tunnel entrance water is pouring around the edges of his makeshift wall, filling the room as he watches. That is not possible he thinks as he starts wading across the room to shore up the opening. After a few steps, he realizes that the room will be full of water before he gets to the tunnel entrance so turns and returns to his Redstone wall. Jumping up onto the ledge where he had been mining he starts digging upwards for 4 blocks then jumps in the air and places a block underneath himself. Moving at a steady pace, he continues building up 20 blocks before moving sideward and excavating a new chamber out of the cobblestone. Well, there goes my mine system, just have to start another one. Checking his inventory, he gasps as he realizes he has left his crafting table behind and has no wood to build a new one. Looks like it is a trip back to the surface to resupply, he thinks as he starts his upward journey once again.
*****
Watching the water creep up the walls of the castle, Natasha is shocked to see it start pouring over the battlements. Rushing to the edge of her tower, she looks around the outside walls only to see water pouring in from all directions. Realizing its pointless trying to save the whole castle, she decides to stick with just the tower. Jumping down to the castle wall, she starts to dig through the inner layer of cobblestone, storing each piece in her inventory. I am going to need every bit of cobblestone I can get if I am going to save this place, she thinks, digging like crazy. As the water reaches her knees, she climbs the steps to the tower and slams the door. Opening the door again, she pulls it from its hinges, tosses it inside, and then places six cobblestone blocks where it once sat. There, completely sealed, let us see what happens now; she grimaces as she starts the climb to the top of the 80 block tall tower.
*****
Man I went deep, thinks Captain Sparkles as he digs his way through another 20-block section. Keeping a uniform count, he had been digging upwards for twenty blocks, building a narrow one-block stair case then making a small 5 x 5 room and placing torches before starting up again. This way he would be able to check his progress when coming back down and giving him somewhere to stop and defend if he ran into any unpleasant situations. As he raises his pickaxe once again he pauses in mid swing, man almost made a noob mistake, he thinks as he stares at a wall of gravel. If there's a flooded chamber above me and I take out a gravel block I could flood myself before I get a chance to repair the hole. Moving two blocks over on the cobblestone wall, he continues his long dig upwards.
*****
Removing the roof from the tower, Natasha is stunned at the speed that the water level has risen. Already 80 blocks high and the water's almost at the top, unbelievable. Storing the roof in her inventory, she starts to place more cobblestone blocks, raising the tower in a 2 x 2 winding staircase. Although slower to build than jumping up and placing a block underneath her, it gives the advantage of having a usable structure if she needs to go back down at any point. Building methodically, she raises herself another eighty blocks then stops and builds a small 5 x 5 platform before assessing her progress. She looks down in shock to see the water only five blocks below her. Picking up her pace, she continues to build higher and higher, although there is no sensation of height as the water follows her relentlessly. After building another 80-block section, she glances down and to her relief, sees that she is now ah
ead of the tide by 20 blocks. Either it is slowing down or I am getting faster, she thinks, sitting on the staircase watching the water below. After twenty minutes, the water is still at the same level and Natasha takes a great sigh of relief. Checking her inventory, she finds she still has over four hundred cobblestone blocks. Thank Notch that I collected so much cobblestone before the water hit or I would never have survived. After checking that the water level had not moved again, she builds a 7 x 7 platform at the top of the staircase. Building a two block high wall all around the structure she then reaches into her inventory and puts the roof on the building. Then starting a new staircase she builds another 20 blocks high, and places torches all around the outside, just in case she needs to get out quickly in the fast approaching night. Sitting on top of the staircase and looking out at the great expanse of water, she wonders if she is the only one to survive.
*****
Stopping to check his inventory, Captain Sparkles sits against the wall in his new 5 x 5 room. Man, fourteen levels, that's over 300 blocks down, and still no sign of the surface. I did not think I went this deep. Checking his pickaxe, he is shocked to find it is almost used up but is even more shocked when he realizes it is his last one. If it runs out before he makes the surface, he could be stuck down here, digging in soil hoping to find a way out. Checking his other supplies he groans seeing that the only equipment he has left are three torches and his pickaxe. Although he has plenty of coal, iron ore and even some Redstone, without wood there is no way to manufacture new tools or torches. In his haste to escape the flooding tunnel, he had left all his possessions in his mine. Right, no need to panic, I have been in worst situations before, he thinks, heading back down the staircase that he had just built. If I retrieve my torches from the bottom level of the staircase then work my way back up at least I will be able to see, whatever happens. Dropping five levels, he is shocked when he rounds the bend and walks into water. What the...? That means the flood must have broken through somewhere below, grabbing the torch he moves back up the staircase to the next level and seals the chamber behind him with cobblestone. I hope that that should hold it but nothing makes sense down here. Moving back up the staircase, retrieving each torch as he goes, he is hit by a rushing wind and a thunderous noise. Not again! he screams out loud and franticly digs sideways into the staircase wall, moving 5 blocks forward he starts sealing the hole as a torrent of water rushes down the staircase from above. Placing the last block, he lights a torch and looks around. Not much of a home but that was a little too close for comfort. Grimacing at the pain in his shoulders, never realizing that Minecraft could actually be painful, he continues his long dig upward.
*****
With night fast approaching, Jethro is shocked to find he is still alive. After hours in his small craft, tossed from white cap to white cap, he is drained and seasick. Staring into the starry night, he is glad that mobs do not swim, at least not this far. The last thing he needs now is a confrontation with a zombie or skeleton. The sparkling stars are mesmerizing, twinkling on the horizon and he is just dropping off to sleep when he snaps wide-awake. Hang on, they are not twinkling stars, they are torches and that means dry land. Paddling furiously with a plank he has in his inventory, he heads towards the twinkling lights. Approaching the structure, he sees it is not dry land as such but a tower built in the middle of the ocean. Paddling quietly up to the steps, he ties his boat and removes his sword from his inventory. Creeping up the stairs, he finds himself on a small-enclosed platform with a girl avatar asleep in the corner. Crossing quickly to the sleeping girl, he kicks her gently in the side. Snapping awake and pushing herself back into the corner, Natasha rubs sleep from her eyes and stares at Jethro.
*****
Digging swiftly through soil, Captain Sparkles makes good progress, not stopping to make any rooms and regularly backtracking to retrieve his torches, he has risen over 80 blocks and is fast approaching the surface, his only concern his pickaxe which is very nearly used up. Running into a wall of granite, he digs sideways, hoping to find something softer, but everywhere he digs is granite, way too hard for his iron pickaxe. Backtracking down the staircase, he tries again but after 15 blocks he once again hits granite. Come on man, give me a break! he screams into the empty tunnels. Raising his pickaxe once again he starts digging into the wall when with a final creek the handle of the axe snaps and disappears.
What now? he screams into the tunnels, and is answered by another rushing wind, digging furiously with his bare hands, he pounds away at the soil wall and makes a 3 block opening before water comes rushing down the staircase. Diving into the opening, he turns and seals the opening with cobblestone. Sitting in the small tunnel, he reaches into his inventory to discover he has no torches left, just cobblestone, iron ore, and soil. Thinking that things just cannot get any worst, the soil walls start running water and soon he is up to his waist. Turning away from the cobblestone wall, he starts hammering at the soil walls, breaking a block just as the water level reaches his head. Immediately the water flows into the hole he has created and gives him a little extra air space. Racing against the inflowing water Captain Sparkles continues to hammer away at the walls, just staying ahead of the flow he is barely keeping his head above water when the next soil block crashes down and brings with it a torrent of water filling his small opening almost before he can scream.
*****
10 - Herobrine
"So what do we do now Notch?"
"Don't know Steve, give me a minute will you, this is freaking me out."
"Yeah I know what you mean, I'm going to grab a circuit tester, I'll be back in a minute," he says dashing off to the work centre at the other side of the server farm.
Peering into the green glow inside the server Notch is mesmerized and finds he is getting closer and closer to the pulsing light. Just as he is about to touch the glowing slime, Steve runs back into the bay and shouts at him.
"Notch, what are you doing?"
Shuddering, he looks up then jumps away. "What the ...?"
"Notch, we haven't tested it yet, that goop might be live, and you could have electrocuted yourself."
"Yeah, I don't know what happened, one minute I was looking at it trying to figure out what to do then next then you're shouting a warning at me. I didn't even know I had moved."
"We better stay together until we figure out what that stuff is."
"Yeah, good luck with that," retorts Notch.
"Let's try testing for electrical current first," he says pushing Notch aside. "You better stand back, just in case." Placing the tip of the tester into the slime, he turns it on and hears a high pitch squeal. "Well that's that then. It's live, in more ways than one."
"What do you mean, what does it read?"
"Oh it's not the reading Notch, that's just your standard 240 watts powering this baby. But observe what happens when I touch it." Placing the tip of the tester into the slime again they both peer in and see the slime ooze away from the tester as if it were alive.
"Well that's different," exclaims Notch lifting his ever-present fedora hat and scratching the top of his head. "What do you reckon Steve, is it alive?"
"First impressions, seems to be, but how is it even possible and what is it doing here?"
"I would say the important question is, who put it here?"
"Right! Ok, so what now?"
"It's obviously powering this machine somehow but I've never heard of an organic power source before, this is way out in science fiction land. Whoever placed it here is incredibly advanced and has taken control of our server farm using who only knows what technology. So, what do we do now?"
"You got me boss; who do you want me to call?
"Judging by this situation the only people I can think of is Ghostbusters," he laughs.
"If only we could, but seriously, all our servers are down and someone has hijacked a game. Someone's going to notice soon. What are we going to do?"
"Don't worry about the servers Steve. All th
e players are loyal fans; we will just issue a press release later when we have this figured out. Now pass me my laptop and an isdn lead, I have an idea."
"No way are you jacking into that server Notch, you don't know what will happen!"
"It's cool Steve, just pass it over."
Reluctantly he hands the laptop to Notch and reaches forward to plug the isdn lead into the server.
"Hang on; better put some gloves on in case that stuff moves again."
"Good idea." He reaches over to the workbench and retrieves a pair of heavy leather gloves. Putting them on he picks up the lead, glances at Notch and says, "Well, here goes nothing." Plugging the lead into the server he lets out a great sight as nothing happens. "I don't know what I expected but I'm glad that was it," he smiles nervously.
Opening the laptop Notch is greeted by the welcome.
Hello Notch, I have been expecting you.
"So we have first contact," states Notch. Jumping up, Steve runs over to him and stares at the laptop screen.
"Wow, so we have been hacked. Use the backdoor password and shut it down."
"I'm on it," he answers typing furiously the code to bypass all security and retake control of the program.
Really Notch. I think we are a little beyond this point, don't you?
"The backdoor has been compromised too," he exclaims.
I must say I'm a little hurt that you did not accept my invitation to play in the tournament.
Typing on the laptop Notch asks
- Who are you?
I am Herobrine.
- Herobrine? No, he is just a myth created by a fan. Who are you really?
