It started when Markus was in 6th grade. He is not much a genius kid, but he's a curious lad and a sore loser.
He's a typical kid in a typical household living only with his mom, Charlotte Lockwood, in a townhouse in Zone 11 of the city of Aurum. Zone 11 is near the edge of the spherical barrier of the city.
"Mom, we're having an assignment about Phagocytosis and its effects on the Hemophilic activity of a radiated body and it needs to be searched in the net. Can I use your PC?" the kid asked. His auburn hair hides his headphones with his curls. His gray eyes looked at his mom with love and care. His thin built and light complexion reflects on their wooden floor. He smiled and said, "I have to print a copy of it afterward, too." Markus stood behind the door of their kitchen, peeking only on his mom who's cooking dinner.
"Yeah sure..." Charlotte replied. She is an IIP(International Cyber Police) Agent working for classified clients who solves crimes and problems involving cyber systems and cases with the likes. It was commonly known in Aurum as the Bureau. Her auburn hair rests on her shoulders and her thin white face radiate glee as she cooks their dinner. She turned around and smiled at her son. "But don't browse folders aside from the search engine, okay?" She said while pointing a spatula at the kid behind the door.
"Hai..." Markus replied and immediately went to her room.
He sat on the supercomputer and started browsing. Though his mom said not to tinker anything except for the search engine, the kid was quite curious and mischievous.
"I'm sorry mom." the kid whispered. He browsed different platforms and databases using his mom's PC. He was fascinated and was awed by how a supercomputer works and how much information he can access with one. He smiled and went to browse more.
A few minutes later, his mom called him for dinner.
Markus tends to explore stuff on the internet with his mom's PC. He even went to install it with games but when his mom saw those games, she immediately deletes them without a word. Having this trouble, Charlotte brought him his own PC. The kid was very happy and went to immediately upgrade his unit.
But most of the upgrades need pay. So he almost stops with everything. He can't get access to high specs programs and games his friends usually have with their PCs.
"If I can just get this stuff for free, I would be very famous." Markus sulked and buried himself under his bed. "It was that Sassen's Decree's fault. If not bound by the CW(intellectual property) law as stated in Saesen's Decree. I could have got a copy of those programs." he turned around and stared at the darkness. "I'll just have to find a chance."
At school, he does what every single student does in their everyday routine. He's got a small circle of friends and talk about anything. But when they get to the topic of games, he always fell silent. He doesn't have the games that his classmates play and discuss during free time. He can't fit himself in by just playing what he has on his PC, though connected on the internet.
He somehow felt insecure. His mom just won't buy him those games because she argued that PCs are only for educational stuff that's why he felt distant.
That is why he always went to Internet shops to play those games with some of his friends and that is the reason why he used to go home late.
"I'm home..." Markus called as he entered their house. He threw his bag on the couch and went straight to the kitchen. His smile was suddenly lifted.
He was only greeted with a blow of scented air freshener from the aircon in the darkened room.
"Not that mom is here." He turned to the switch and turned the lights on. He heated a cup of water and sat on their dining table, waiting. "Her assignments lasts for 3 days or more that is why she is not at home most of the time. And it usually takes longer when clients have difficult assignments for their department." the kid sighed as he was done explaining to himself as he draws circles on the table mat. "I'm just getting my hopes high. Anyway, I have to get cupped ramen for dinner. I know I still have a few on the cupboard."
And the water whistled on the queue.
...One night,
"What took you so late, huh, Marky?" Charlotte welcomed her son, standing on the door front with crossed arms, holding a spatula. Her red polka-dotted apron is slightly tied behind her. Her bun is scattered, clearly, she's having a hard time with what she's cooking.
"Oh, so you're home? Good evening and welcome home, Mom." Markus responded, keeping his head low as he passed through his mom moving to the stairway on the way to his room, yawning.
"Yeah, and this is what you will greet me? I am cooking dinner, you know..." she complained and rushed back to the kitchen to check her cooking. "What an ungrateful child." her mom raised her voice but to Markus, it doesn't sound mad. So he continued his way upstairs.
"That's great!" the kid exclaimed. "And you can't blame to expect you're home since you're not always here. Thanks for cooking dinner... And by the way, I'm not hungry. I'm already full." He arrived at his room and closed it behind him. He sighed.
"Hey, I'm still talking. Face me, you spoiled brat!" her mom pointed her spatula upstairs but she can't see her son anymore. Smudges of sauce on the tip, drip on the floor. She rushed to get a mop and wiped that space.
"No need. I know I will only get nagged. So, I'll pass." He shouts behind his door and went towards his computer, turning it on. He can still hear her mom complaining downstairs though.
...The next morning,
"Oi!!!, Marky!! We're gonna be late for school! Hurry up!" Cassandra shouted from the street fronting his room's window.
"You're so loud, Cassandra!" he shouted back as he opens his window. He saw his two friends on the street waiting for him, the other is waving his candy.
He may not have been on good terms with his mom recently, he always has his friends on his back, Cassandra and Dave.
Cassandra Grey has her usual happy aura and is full of energy. Her straight long brown hair falls down to her shoulders with a ribbon on the side. She's wearing her white sailor uniform and her pink backpack behind her.
Dave Andersen has his cheerful self with his usual bag pack and his SpongeBob shirt eating a lollipop early in the morning.
"Because I thought you're still sleeping," Cassandra replied. "And I was right! Hurry up, sleepyhead. We're going to school!" she added.
"I'm wide awake, brat! I'm just getting dressed." Marks shouted back.
"Ne, Marky...hurry up, we're going to be late for the train." Dave glared at him. "I want to get the first snack bar at the canteen in the morning!"
"Hai, hai. I'll just go get my bag." He shouted back. "I'll be there!"
He went out through their backdoor to see if his mom is still there, but as he had thought, she had already gone to work.
"Going without leaving a word, huh." He got a sausage on the fridge and munched it on his way out. "Very mom-like." He said to himself.
"Mornin'!" He got out of his house and greeted his childhood friends.
"Mornin', you idiot friend!" Dave said poking Markus' shoulder.
"Hey, why aren't you wearing the uniform?" Markus asked.
"I got it inside my bag." Dave turned around to show his backpack.
"Good morning, Marky" Cassandra greeted him with a smile.
"It's too early to fuss around, you know, Davey"
"Could you please stop calling me Davey? It's embarrassing!" he replied on a foul face eyeing his friend as if he wants to remove his brows.
"Ma...ma... You two should stop it before you'll gonna hit each other. Let's just get going." Cassandra pulled the two away by their collars.
"Hai, hai,, Mom," Markus said with tease.
"I'm not your Mom!!!" Cassandra said with an irritated face.
"Ha... that's my Marky... Mom suits Cassandra very much." Dave added nodding in agreement.
"You too, Dave?" she put the two down and gestured to hit them with her bag but Markus noticed it on that very second and started to run. "You'll gonna get what you deserve!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"You should probably run too, Davey, or else Mom's gonna spank you, haha!"
They all laugh as they run on the way to the train station where they have to take the train going to school.
He had a few circles of friends. They are those who grew up with him and became his true friends, Cassandra and Dave. They have been with him as far as they know since they live in the same neighborhood. They accompany the lonely Markus in times he was left alone in their house. The 3 are used to play in the park near their houses and the river under the bridge near their area. Or mess around in Old Ned's garage.
"Morning Markus!" a mid-30-year-old man waving his screwdriver with his left hand said.
"Morning ol' Ned!" Markus replied. "Haven't you seen your face on a mirror? You're full of grease, you know." he hid his smile.
"Oh, sorry about that." the man got a cloth and wiped his face but made his face worse. "I've been doing something since last night, you know. Been busy these days." Ned raised his shoulders and showed them his messy old garage.
"Morning Uncle Ned!" Cassandra stopped behind the two and greeted the man.
"Off to school, huh? You've got to get going."
"Hai." the three waved their hand and said goodbye.
Sometimes, they play with the old man, as Markus describes him, living behind their house, from the next street. He is Ned Johnson, Markus calls him uncle Ned, who fixes damaged electronic devices downtown. He thought those three a few little things about systems and hard wares but those kids don't seem to care about the details that the old man was saying while he works. They were more focused on how he connect wires using the soldering iron and sometimes create explosions.
They reached the school on time and got into class.
When the class is done, he always went to his other friends that usually wait at the 3rd gate, behind the school. They were Ken and Brent.
"Sorry I got late." Markus greeted.
"Not that much. We've just got here. Same place?" Ken asked.
"Let's go!" Markus replied.
The three walked around the school to reach the river on the other side. It was the nearest way to the entrance where they are going.
"Did you bring your Account cards?" Ken asked.
"Why would I leave it, idiot," Brent replied. "We can't get to play if we don't have that. And besides, it was hard to get an account card, you forgot?"
"I know, I know. It was hard to ask my dad to get me one. And I have to win the Trial match to make my account official. I'm Just asking." Ken giggled.
"Mine was a wager for good grades, your knowledge." Brent sulked. "I burned my eyebrows for this, I don't want to leave this anywhere."
"How did you get yours, Markus?" Ken faced the kid who was unwrapping his pimiento sandwich.
"Mine?" he took a bite on his sandwich. "I saved my allowance for it and I used uncle Ned's name to purchase it online."
"Ohh." Brent's eyes glimmered in awe. "And the match?"
"I did it last month when I first came with you on Sunny." he finished his sandwich and cramped the tissue, turning it into a ball, before putting it inside his bag.
"And that's the genius kid. Anyway, I kinda tinkered mine last night. I did some upgrades and such." Ken said.
"Ehh, what a coincidence. I did something on mine as well." Markus replied.
"De, what level are you now, Marky?" Brent asked.
"Level 5." he proudly replied.
"Whoa! That's impressive. I tried to upgrade mine last night but I only got to level 4." Ken complained.
"I'm still at level 4, too." Brent sulked again.
"Haha, anyway, we gotta play some more to upgrade those accounts. In time, we'll reach the Serville level." Markus said with confidence.
"Yeah right! After we reach level 10, we've got to have those titles, right?" Brent exclaimed. "As long as we have Markus here, we can level up immediately."
"Oi,oi.." Markus stepped farther away from them. "Don't sell me that high, I'm also a beginner, you know."
"A beginner that started just last month but easily reached level 5." Ken muttered. "Don't kid on us, kid. I know you've got some potential."
"Ken was right." Brent moved forward and pat Markus's shoulder. "We've been in this game for 6 months now but without you, we couldn't have upgraded."
"We just have our own roles to play. I'm just doing mine." Markus said.
"And there he is with his goody-two-shoes attitude." Brent lift his shoulders and went ahead.
"Shut up..." Markus pouted and they all laughed.
They arrived at the Internet shop and sounded the chimes on the door when they opened it.
"Ahh, look..." Ken exclaimed. "We came early to get those units there." he pointed at the far left of the café.
"That's great!" the two exclaimed.
The internet shop on an alley next to the marketplace in the city is where they usually play RPG tournaments every month.
The Sunny Café is popular with online gamers for having upgraded games and stable fast internet connection. Ken and Brent want to team up with Markus because he is a good online gamer of their age in their neighborhood. And besides, Markus learned stuff about computers by watching those who play in the internet shop where he always spends his free time. It's one of the most popular gaming hubs in Zone 3 where most gamers around the Quadrant visit to play and compete.
The three usually join the 3-on-3 online tournament in this area in the game called Reign of Aegis-RPG. It was the most common way to settle an issue in this time, to have an online battle for whatever reason.
Ken was the person who's always in-charge of the defense and Brent plays the offense with Markus. The three have worked their teamwork since they teamed up for the past month.
Ken has a fierce-looking brown eye under his eyeglasses but his attitude is far opposite from how he looks. He's tough but skinny though he is a kind kid.
Brent was a nerdy-looking guy who always brings a play station with him. He's a brawny kid because he part of the judo club at his dad's suggestion but he's good at his studies as well. They were Markus' good friends aside from Cassy and Dave.
The people inside the café wear 3d glasses as they play a game in every unit. It visualizes the exact thing in the program to their brain using impulses that were converted by the Orion glasses and perceived by the gamer. Other upgraded glasses produce static for pain reception in case of hardcore playing.
One time, they joined a different bracket on the 3-on-3 battle. They decided to register on a higher bracket where most of the participants were high school students and some were already title holders.
It was on the right corner of the café. Shouts and wails with booing echo the area.
They thought it will be an easy win for them but then, he saw something different from what they are doing, he is cheating.
"Oi, Mister, that's unfair." He whispered to the man who was cheating. Markus was standing behind him.
"What's wrong, kid? Do you have a problem?" the High school kid replied and removed his glasses to see the kid. He wore a high school uniform from the West Cuprum High School, one of the public schools in the city. His hair stood like spikes from too much application of the gel. His eyes were brimming and turning reddish due to too much exposure to the glasses. A picture of a delinquent.
"Yeah, because you are cheating," Markus replied eyeing him back. "Try to play fair."
"Oi, hear this everyone, this kid here still needs some milk! Give him some you know!" the high school kid shouted and stood from his unit. He put his leg on his chair and lean down setting his face close to Markus'. "...he said that it's unfair because I cheated!" everyone in the shop stared at them and laughed on top of their voices.
"Don't make him cry, Kirk! Haha..." his friend shouted from his back. "He's just a grade-schooler."
Kirk poked Markus' shoulder and said to him "... if you don't know this stuff kid, you can't keep standing on this league. See that stats?" Kirk pointed at his monitor and showed the kid his standing. "You can't get to an Exorcist level if you only know cheap tricks. So, you better learn how to do it, or run for your lives." He turned back to his computer and continued what he was doing.
His friends saw the commotion and went to him saying, "This is bad... let's just get out of here, for now, Markus." Ken said, holding his arm.
"Ahh, I agree... they're out of our league. We can't pull this off, Markus." Brent urged.
"We won't know unless we try." Markus was determined to show that High school kid that he was wrong. "I want to prove that we can win without using cheats."
"Even if we're on par with their skills, their accounts are way higher. We're just untitled yet." Brent added.
"Then they can teach us a thing or two." Markus confidently replied.
They pursued the fight the way they know how, but they lost seemingly. It was an overwhelming defeat.
The three silently walked out of the Internet café with all the eyes staring at them. They sat on a bench outside, looking all gloomy.
"It can't be helped, right?? Because, you know, they are using cheats and we don't," Ken said.
"Ahh, but that wasn't much of a fight, it irritates me! ... It's too one-sided." Brent added.
"Not to mention, one of them is an Exorcist already." Ken said.
"So, he's at level 20 or more, right?" Brent murmured.
They stayed for a while and heard the shouts and cusses of the ones playing inside.
"Cheats, huh..." Markus said while making a fist. "...if that's how they will fight, I will learn that and bit the crap out of them!" he punched the fly that was flying near his face.
"Ma...ma... Markus, take it easy. Besides, we were too young to put up a fight like that anyway. That's why let's just take it easy for now and let's get going. Who wants to grab some ice cream?" Ken stood and gave the two his blissful smile.
"It's what Ken said, we should just take it easy for now, besides, we still have time to learn stuff. Let's come back better soon." Brent added. "It's also getting late. My mom's gonna nag me again."
"Mine too..." Ken pouted and leaped from his seat.
"I won't let them beat me like this, I swear, next time they will not be able to stand in front of me bragging with their lame cheats." Markus stood and walked his way home.
"Cheats are fine to learn but I guess our greatest disadvantage now is the difference of our level." Brent said.
"That, too." Markus sighed. "Well, we got to work on all of those aspects, huh."
"OKAY, See you tomorrow at school, Markus. Let's just grab the ice cream next time." Ken said somehow disappointed.
Brent consoles him for not having the ice cream after the game because Markus was not in the mood to take one.
"Ahh, see you tomorrow." Markus waved his hand and took his leave.
"Good night to the two of you!" Brent waved his goodbye.
He put deep thought into what happened on the internet shop when he got home. He went to his bed and bury himself under his pillow thinking how they were defeated immediately without even putting up a good fight.
He realized "So, it is a battle of cheats, huh... A battle of game hacking apart from the ranks, huh..."
Those thoughts became his turning point on seeing this kind of world.
"Interesting..." Markus giggled. "I'll pave my way to that world."
From that, Markus studied how to use cheats on the game they are playing with those thugs. He went home immediately and researched more about cheats.