Free Black Sun (Phantom Server: Book #3) by Andrei Livadny Page A

replied. “The one in the European sector.”
    I got angry. “Why didn’t you tell me before?”
    “When was I supposed to tell you?” Arbido snapped again. “You’re constantly busy, either rescuing Liori or fucking off to Darg on the hybrid’s quests or whatever!”
    I stood up. “I beg your pardon!”
    “It doesn’t matter,” Arbido added appeasingly. “Until last night, this information was purely academic.”
    “You mean until I overrode the logout ban?”
    “You got it. But I can’t do much while my body’s stuck in the capsule. The Corporation must have blocked all communications. If only I could get into the Crystal Sphere! You understand, don’t you, that we have nothing left to lose. We have no other options. But I, I still have connections in the real world. They’ll get us out of here, trust me, and no one will ever bother us again.”
    Frowning, Jurgen glared at Arbido. “But what if the Founders’ network does exist? What if what Zander saw was true?”
    “Then we’ll find out what exactly happened back on Earth and try to recharge our in-modes,” Arbido replied.
    “But why the Crystal Sphere?” Jurgen asked. Sarcasm had now left his voice.
    “Because I know how to log in inconspicuously. We’ll check it and if we see that it’s functioning normally, I’ll be able to pull a few strings. And if things are indeed so bad, at least we can get to the service location. I have some very interesting software that I bought by chance from a Corporate worker.”
    Jurgen frowned. “You want to say that you managed to memorize megabytes of code?”
    “Of course I didn’t. You’re dead right there. I need to get to my in-mode first. But as far as I understand, it’s not a problem anymore, is it?”
    Mechanically I touched the artifact hanging on a thin chain around my neck.
    This was a truly mind-blowing development. Still, Arbido’s arguments made sense. We needed time: both to level up our skills and to build our own identity-digitization device. If we managed to replace our in-modes’ life support cartridges, we would have it.
    “There’s never a dull moment with you!” Foggs exclaimed in excitement. “Count me in! Actually, I have two questions.”
    “Spit them out.”
    “If indeed shit has hit the fan back on Earth, wouldn’t that bring game worlds down too?”
    “The Crystal Sphere would work no matter what,” Arbido replied confidently. “The Corporation has its equipment located in special bunkers. It has several disaster-proof backups which are powered by independent supply sources. You couldn’t have found a better way to access our planet’s cyberspace if you tried. That’s why we need to log in to it,” he repeated.
    It looked like the old man was right. There was also another argument in favor of our using the Crystal Sphere. None of us seemed to question the fact that it had been the testing ground of the first neuroimplants. Which meant that the Crystal Sphere’s engine had been adapted to their use. For us, it was a huge advantage.
    Oh, yes. A lot of things had finally revealed themselves to us in their true light. I could have sworn that the three Dargians I’d met in the Crystal Sphere as well as the Mechanic in a slave collar were nothing but NPCs: a well-calculated setup aiming to draw my attention to Phantom Server.
    “Jurgen?” I turned to him. “What do you think?”
    “It might work,” he answered without hesitation.
    “But how about the technical side of it? You think we can pull it off?”
    “We might if we managed to activate the Relic’s hyperspace module,” he said. “Do you remember me telling you about Argus’ central respawn point?”
    “I think so. Didn’t you use the station’s locator tower to redirect the respawning pilots to Founders Square?”
    “Exactly. You can call it the first case of mass identity transfer. So I have some experience in this field. We’ll have to fine-tune a thing or two, of course. I’m pretty sure