A Deadly Anniversary

"Good afternoon, everyone!" Isrina greeted the audience in the Baltimore UICA WARBLER Center. "I am Isrina Niang. Thank you so much for taking the time with us to celebrate the first anniversary of our worldwide MMORPG, Syanic Earth: Year 3225."

She pointed to the large screen with a title slide with the name of the MMORPG written in straight blue lines. Moving green hexagons surrounded the title, dilating before the audience's eyes. Applauses filled the assembly room as they admired the title page.

"We're proud to say that young players across the world are enjoying our game! I present the founder of the UICA! Please welcome President Kainos Cecilius!"

A tall man wearing a yellow UICA coat and white shirt walked out. The long-haired blonde man smiled at the crowd as everyone applauded. Isrina gave the admired man the mic as Cecilius replied with a friendly nod.

"Ah, thank you, Isrina!" Cecilius waved as Isrina walked out of the stage. "She has been as wonderful as always! And a pleasure to be here today, ladies and gentlemen! Before we begin our celebration, I want to discuss the current events I'm sure all of you are worried about."

The crowd was silent, eager to hear what the renowned UICA President had to say about the ongoing political conflict.

"I will keep it short. I apologize for the worries and concerns the frazzled field of politics has inflicted. None of you deserve to be troubled by such events. The UICA aims to create technology for those in need, including the Vulpi. Fanghui is a man driven by his hatred of our Vulpi friends we live alongside, and we're doing our best to protect them from persecution."

Cecilius gave a moment of silence.

"Now, we know you have many questions and concerns. I announce we will have a reception full of scrumptious snacks and drinks at our WARBLER Center's lobby, where we can discuss those worries over wine and cookies as gentlemen."

Cecilius cleared his throat. "Ahem! As we put our worries aside until fine refreshments, I present Syanic Earth Year 3225!"

Cecilius snapped his finger. With rock music, the game title turned into a spiraling vortex. The spinning circle of turquoise cybernetic ones and zeros stunned the crowd.

The spiral came to a stop. It burst lightning across the screen from the center. The audience cheered as the game's title reappeared and floated in a digital grid while the rock music ended with the guitar making a climactic drop.

***

"Nice job, Isrina!" A blonde girl closed her laptop. "You got the crowd's attention with that intro."

"I do what I can, Dorian," Isrina shrugged. "But certainly not as good as Cecilius back there."

The two ladies walked down the hallway together. Isrina was giving Dorian a tour of the Baltimore WARBLER Center, showing her the different work opportunities at the UICA.

"How's Shien?" Dorian adjusted her glasses. "I heard the goon squad was planning to hang out today in the Syanic Earth."

"He's doing fine," Isrina sighed. "He's already in the Syanic Earth now. You aren't going?"

"I'd love to, but I just thought it would be more productive to intern for the UICA today. Thanks for showing me around, Isrina."

"Of course! So, you are looking forward to being a game programmer for us?"

"Definitely. Computers are my cup of tea."

When the two walked into a room, they looked at the various holographic boards that displayed the world map view of Syanic Earth: Year 3225. Some crew members were zooming into the continents' terrain to correct any errors in the system. Lots of employees circled the round room on their computers to manage such a large MMORPG.

"Ah! Isrina!" Niode noticed as his colleagues smiled at the ladies. "How's the anniversary?"

"You know our President, Niode," Isrina said. "He always has a way to catch the eye of a crowd."

The tall brown-haired man with green eyes shook hands with Isrina. "It's good to see you, our legendary Desert Cardinal!"

"Oh, stop it," Isrina rolled her eyes. "I'm not that special."

"The Desert Cardinal hid little Shien in a backpack, fighting hundreds of Reaper Squad with her bare hands made of steel!" Niode spun and tripped over a piece of paper.

"Oh boy, here we go again," A teal-haired lady picked Niode up. "If you keep on impersonating Isrina, you will hurt yourself, Niode."

"I don't think so, General Saitori. I'm fine! The legends of the Niang Chronicles inspire me!" Niode grinned. "Oh! How rude of me. Dorian, correct?"

"Hi!" Dorian nodded.

"How was your tour with Isrina?"

"Quite interesting! I am looking forward to helping the UICA in programming for your fancy mechanical marvels!"

"Ah! So I assume Isrina here has shown you her trash buddy?"

"The what?"

Isrina blushed. "Niode, please. Let's not-"

"Oh, yeah!" General Saitori interrupted. "That cute little trash can bird that talks and moves?"

"No, Saitori. Please, don't-"

"Yeah! It's like a pet!" Niode blurted. "It can make over 30 distinct faces of different emotions! It speaks over ten different languages! Not only that, when you want to throw trash out, it becomes a fat bird, waddles to you, opens its mouth, and says, 'I'm hungry! Feed me!'"

"Really? That's so cute! Can I see it?" Dorian begged.

"Of course, Dorian! I got a video of the one I bought! Mine speaks Japanese. His name is Lansen!"

"No! Stop!" Isrina begged.

Dorian and Saitori watched the video of Niode's bird-shaped trash buddy who ate his trash and spoke Japanese. Isrina's cheeks reddened as she heard the other colleagues giggling. The entire UICA knew about the cutest invention Isrina made. The feared Desert Cardinal invented a trash can.

"This is so cute!" Dorian laughed. "Isrina? What's wrong?"

The three found a pale Isrina kneeling on the floor, murmuring to herself. "I-I invented a trash can. Why did I bother making it?"

"What's wrong with the trash buddy?"

"Haha," Saitori pat Isrina's back. "She gets embarrassed about her little trash buddy story."

"But why? I love it!"

"People feared me until I made a bird trash can. Everyone called me cute and stopped respecting me."

"It's okay, Isrina! We still respect you, our Desert Cardinal!" Saitori shook Isrina by the shoulder.

"Don't baby me!" Isrina struggled as Saitori squeezed her with a bear hug. "Stop that!"

"So that's where Shien gets it from," Dorian giggled.

***

As the circular room bustled with laughter, two people dressed in white UICA coats spied the Syanic Earth crew through the glass windows of the room. They scurried off through the hallway, blending in with the others with their disguises, until they found the side windows of the assembly room. The two of them spotted Cecilius and the clapping audience within.

"Nice!" The black-haired man with purple eyes whispered. "Cecilius and the crowd don't suspect a thing, Colonel Maika."

"Indeed, Agent Dacos," The lady with dark purple hair and green eyes whispered. "Let's keep it that way. Getting in was a bit of a hassle, but now, this is where Fanghui's plan will be in motion."

"So, Maika," Dacos walked with her down the stairs toward the basement. "Do I get to blow everything up now?"

"What? No, stupid!" Maika stomped as a UICA scientist with goggles passed by, puzzled by the two's conversation as he held a pack of books.

"What's this I hear of blowing things up?" The scientist asked. "Everything good?"

"Uh, yeah. About that," Maika sweated. "We meant, blow things up like getting everyone excited for the rest of the anniversary, right?"

"Ahem, yes!" Dacos blurted when Maika shouldered him. "We didn't mean to startle you!"

"Oh, okay," The scientist almost dropped his books. "Woah! Got to go!"

As he scurried away with his books, Maika grabbed the agent's throat and slammed him on the wall.

"Okay, you psychic windbag, listen," She told Dacos. "If we ever want our plan to succeed, we need to be smart! We have to stay low. You were too loud and almost blew our cover with your big mouth!"

"That's no fun. I hate this disguise and infiltration thing. Why can't I just blow up the entire center with my psychic? I just go to their internet reactor and boom. Right?"

"No, Agent Dacos. We can't just blow up the center. It would look like an accident. We're here to frame the UICA so the people would turn against them and welcome the Federation invasion."

They two walked behind a passing group of UICA maintenance workers pushing a cart of wired equipment, blending in with them. As the other workers discussed their routines, one of them pressed a keypad to open the large glass doors to the internet core.

"Alright, team!" The worker adjusted his blue cap. "Let's make sure this mechanical marvel is in good shape!"

The others nodded while Maika and Dacos looked at the large cylindrical tower that burst with electricity. As the cart rolled into the room, the two infiltrators noticed a few computer pads attached to the core tower.

"Okay," Maika grabbed her laptop. "You remember the next part?"

"Hook up and plant the virus. Finally, some action."

"Come on, gentlemen!" One worker shouted. "Let's quickly do our work and still be in time for dessert at the reception!"

"And dessert you shall have," Maika hooked up her computer to the internet tower while Dacos grinned.