Initialising BenziChat ver. 3.11.2b
Synching with Ring Network…
Synched.
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23 contacts offline
2 pending friend requests
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[07:23] BenziBuddy: Hey, you’re up early.
[07:23] Tr0ubad0r: hey Benz
[07:24] Tr0ubad0r: yeah, exam today. pretty nervous
[07:25] BenziBuddy: Ew, tests. I get way too many of those.
[07:25] BenziBuddy: You’ll do fine! You’re super smart and stuff.
[07:26] Tr0ubad0r: i’d have thought being home schooled would mean you’d get less exams?
[07:27] BenziBuddy: Nope! Dad’s big on tests and exams and stuff. You know, like, mathematics, psychics, not-being-a-psychopath, that sort of stuff.
[07:28] Tr0ubad0r: …that last one’s a joke, right?
[07:28} BenziBuddy: :D
[07:28] BenziBuddy: So what’s the exam on?
[07:30] BenziBuddy: Yo?
[07:35] Tr0uba0r: composition
[07:35] Tr0ubador: sorry, breakfast. i'm gonna head to school early. see you later
[07:36] BenziBuddy: Oh, okay! See you in Guild Fantasy after school?
[07:36] Tr0ubad0r: sure
[07:36] Tr0ubad0r has signed off.
[07:36] BenziBuddy: *hugs!*
[07:37] BenziBuddy: Drat.
* * * *
Benzi stretched her arms above her head as she materialised in the Luminen City central plaza. The teenaged mouse’s fur shifted lightly in the wind running through the mountaintop city, her long, braided ponytail swaying.
There weren’t that many people about at this time of day. Her contact list was empty, and only a couple of guildies were about – doing an early morning five-man before school, it looked like. She decided not to bother them. She received a tell from someone with a jumble of random letters for a name, advertising some gold selling site or other. With a brief mental effort she blocked him.
“Guess I’m grinding today,” she mused to herself. “Guess I can work on my Conjuration skill…” she mumbled as she headed for the warp gate.
As she passed another player – a young-looking raccoon boy, although appearances can always be deceptive in an online environment – an alert window popped up in front of her eyes. ‘PERCEPTION: Windnight Tear has been stolen!’
She wheeled around, to see the raccoon making a run for it. “Hey!” she shouted, and ran off in pursuit, her robes billowing out behind her. Apparently startled by her quick reaction, her quarry suddenly swerved right and darted down an alleyway off the central plaza.
Benzi flicked open her skill menu, scrolling down with one hand as she raced for the alley. Her finger almost instinctively found the skill she was looking for. Spying the thief further down the alley, she grinned, and then leapt into the air. Sailing high overhead, she landed with her back to the thief, posed almost nonchalantly.
Her procyonic assailant skidded to a halt as Benzi turned around. Without a word, he turned to run – but Benzi pressed the little microphone icon next to her Conjuration skill, and called out a voice command. “Entangling Vines!”
Vines – six of them, as always – sprung from the floor and walls, wrapping around the raccoon’s limbs and torso. The thief struggled and fought, as Benzi approached. “I believe you have something that belongs to me,” she said conversationally, eyeing the name floating above his head.
Swift Milftaker? Ugh.
Swift fought against her vines, but he wasn’t damaging them at all. Benzi smiled. “I’d suggest you hand it over, Aaron Littlewood. Or I’ll tell your teacher you’re skipping school again.”
The boy froze. He stared at Benzi in confusion. “Wh… h-how did you…”
“Oh, I’m a friend of your sister’s, of course,” Benzi lied breezily.
He swallowed. “…Anyway! My teacher knows I’m not gonna be there, ‘cause I’m sick, so you can buzz off! Why should I give it back?”
“Oooh?” Benzi leaned in closer to the boy, a coy smile on her lips. “This is the fifth time you’ve been ‘sick’ this month. Is something wrong? Maybe you should see a doctor.” The boy froze again! He stared at Benzi, wide-eyed. “…And before you ask, yes. I do know you haven’t, in fact, been to see the doctor.” She smiled again. “Now, if you don’t mind… I’d like that Windnight Tear back. I mean, I guess I can just phone the school and tell them you’ve been lying about being sick, but…”
A trade request popped up in front of her. “Thanks, cutie,” she teased, ruffling the boy’s hair after accepting the trade. “Now, the duration won’t be running out for another five min-“
Benzi’s vision darkened for a moment, and she was suddenly back in the lab again. Her father was standing right in her field of vision, arms folded. Oh boy.
“And what do you have to say for yourself, young lady?” the aging mongoose asked in an accusing tone.
“I… what? I didn’t-“ Benzi attempted, before being interrupted.
“Not only did you trace the connection of another user to divine his identity. Not only did you then find him in the education database, then hack into his school’s computer system to find his attendance records. But you hack his medical records? Are you trying to be suspicious? Do you think those systems have no administrators?!”
“I… I wasn’t think-“ Benzi again attempted to speak, but was once more cut off by her father.
“No! You weren’t thinking! How can you be so… and for what? Why did you risk the security of this system, over a game?”
“He… he stole a rare drop! I couldn’t just let him get away with it!” Benzi complained. “It was the only way I could get him to return it!”
“A rare drop? I see. And how long would that take you, with your abilities, to replace?” Her father’s tone was still accusatory.
Benzi said nothing for a few moments. “…Ten minutes,” she said, guiltily. “Half an hour if I don’t actually cheat.”
“Half an hour. Half an hour of your time is worth more than the security of the entire system?”
“I… but I’d have to, like, coordinate with tons of-“
“Good!” the professor shouted. “Socialisation! I keep telling you that’s why I let you play these games!” He pinched the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes. Benzi heard him take a deep breath, and then slowly exhale. “…Benzi. I just… I’m only trying to protect you. I can’t have you doing stupid, reckless things like…”
“I know. I’m sorry, daddy,” Benzi murmured, averting her gaze. “I… I won’t do it again. I swear.”
The elderly mongoose sighed. “…Of course you do. Shut down the external communications, please. I need to re-encrypt the signal. You can play one of your single-player games for a while.”
“Okay, daddy,” Benzi murmured. She willed the antenna to shut down, and felt the constant flow of data to and from the Ring Network cease. She would have shuddered, if she had a body to shudder with.
“I swear. You’re as difficult as my biological daughter, sometimes,” her creator muttered, sitting down at the console.
Benzi picked a game at random, shifted her external sensory equipment to subconscious mode, and immersed herself in the game. In the corner of her mind, she could feel her father inputting commands to the subconscious parts of her system, but chose to just ignore it.
