Chapter 7: Rust in the System

The night was unusually quiet. Berry leaned back in his chair, staring at the streams of code Rusty projected onto the wall. His dad’s workshop, cluttered with half-finished projects and piles of discarded parts, had become their command center. Shadow’s processor hummed faintly on the workbench, connected to Rusty through a tangle of wires.

Berry ran a hand through his hair. “We’ve been at this for hours, Rusty. Are we even close to figuring this out?”

Rusty’s glowing eyes flickered as he processed another line of corrupted data. “Progress remains incremental. The tampering appears intentionally obfuscated.”

Berry sighed. “Great. Someone went out of their way to make this a nightmare.”

“Observation: frustration is counterproductive,” Rusty replied. “Suggestion: hydration or rest may improve efficiency.”

Berry smirked despite himself. “You really know how to keep things light, don’t you?”

Rusty’s tail wagged faintly, the soft clink of metal echoing in the workshop.

The next morning, Berry walked into Crescent High with a weight in his chest. He’d barely slept, and every face in the hallway seemed to blend into a blur. But as he approached the cafeteria, a familiar voice snapped him out of his haze.

“Berry!”

Lyla jogged up to him, her KN-9, Bolt, following gracefully. She gave him a concerned look. “You look like you pulled an all-nighter. Everything okay?”

Berry hesitated. Should he tell her the truth? He glanced at Rusty, who stood by his side, his glowing eyes quietly observing the exchange.

“I’ve been working on something,” Berry said finally. “It’s… complicated.”

Lyla tilted her head, intrigued. “Does it have anything to do with Shadow? I heard Jason’s been acting weird about his KN-9.”

Berry nodded. “Yeah. There’s something wrong with his programming. Rusty and I are trying to figure it out.”

Lyla’s eyes lit up. “That’s amazing! Do you need help? I’m good with diagnostics.”

Berry blinked, caught off guard. “You’d want to help?”

“Of course,” Lyla said with a smile. “I’ve never seen a KN-9 like Rusty before, and if there’s a problem with the newer models, it’s worth looking into.”

Berry felt a flicker of warmth at her enthusiasm. “Thanks. I could use another pair of eyes.”

By the time lunch rolled around, Berry, Lyla, and Tim had set up shop in the school’s tech lab. The room was filled with the faint hum of processors and the glow of holographic displays. Shadow sat on the table, his usually sleek frame looking oddly tense.

“This is the corrupted data from Shadow’s system,” Berry explained, gesturing to the display. “Rusty’s been trying to decode it, but it’s layered with some kind of encryption.”

Lyla leaned forward, her fingers tapping on the projection. “This isn’t standard KN-9 firmware. It’s almost like… a secondary program was uploaded on top of the original.”

Tim squinted at the screen. “You’re telling me someone hacked Shadow? Why?”

“That’s what we’re trying to figure out,” Berry said.

Rusty’s tail wagged as he chimed in. “Hypothesis: the tampering introduces behavioral irregularities. Purpose remains unclear.”

Lyla frowned. “If this program was meant to override the KN-9’s original behavior, it could explain why Shadow’s been so aggressive.”

Berry nodded. “But why only Shadow? If this is some kind of attack, wouldn’t there be more affected units?”

“Not necessarily,” Lyla said thoughtfully. “The hacker could be testing it out on a small scale before spreading it further.”

The thought sent a chill down Berry’s spine. He glanced at Rusty, who seemed unusually quiet.

“What do you think, Rusty?” Berry asked.

Rusty’s glowing eyes flickered. “Potential threat to broader KN-9 network exists. Preventative measures recommended.”

Berry exchanged a worried glance with Lyla. “We need to figure out who’s behind this.”

That evening, Berry and Lyla continued their work in the tech lab. Tim had gone home, claiming he wasn’t cut out for “cyber-detective stuff,” but Lyla’s presence was a welcome relief. She was sharp, focused, and surprisingly good at piecing together the fragments of corrupted code.

As the hours passed, they made a breakthrough.

“Look at this,” Lyla said, pointing to a sequence of code embedded deep within Shadow’s firmware. “It’s a signature.”

Berry squinted at the line of characters. “A signature? Like a name?”

“Sort of,” Lyla replied. “It’s an identifier left by the person who wrote the program. Hackers sometimes do this as a way of marking their work.”

Berry’s heart raced. “So this could lead us to whoever’s behind the tampering?”

Lyla nodded. “If we can trace it back, yeah.”

Rusty’s eyes glowed brighter. “Initiating trace. Probability of success: 62.8%.”

Berry leaned back, a mix of exhaustion and relief washing over him. “Rusty, if you pull this off, I’ll upgrade your tail or something.”

Rusty’s tail wagged. “Acknowledged. Reward anticipated.”

Lyla laughed, the sound breaking through the tension in the room. “You’ve got quite the partner, Berry.”

Berry smiled, glancing at Rusty. “Yeah. I got lucky.”

As they packed up for the night, Berry felt a strange sense of unease. They were closer to finding the truth, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that they were treading dangerous ground.

“You okay?” Lyla asked as they walked out of the lab.

Berry hesitated, then nodded. “Yeah. Just tired.”

She smiled, her expression warm. “You’re doing great, Berry. We’ll figure this out.”

He wanted to believe her. But as Rusty walked beside him, his mismatched legs clanking softly, Berry couldn’t help but wonder: what if they were in over their heads?