The Scrap Tamer - Chapter 96

Chapter 96: Day Off
“Alright, you guys can take the rest of the day off” Owen said, sounding much more energetic than they’ve ever seen him.

He walked away just after saying that, leaving behind a yawn that told exactly what he was going to do with the rest of his day.

Team 7 was left standing in silence, until Clara broke it with a question,

“So what do we do now” she asked.

The sleeping tiger had switched hands, as Clara had reluctantly handed it to Lisa.

“How about we start looking into yesterday’s incident?” Marcus suggested.

“That doesn’t sound like a day off ” Clara said.

“They just launched an attack recently, I’m sure they’ll be lying low for now,” Reid said “so looking into it now would just draw their attention to us, since they’ll be on high alert.”

“And getting Ethan into the systems will almost be impossible since the military might also have increased their security” Lisa also stated.

“Yeah” Ethan said with a sigh before pausing, as if he just got an idea “except, I take the long way in”.

“Explain” Reid said and Ethan obliged.

He took a pause, arranging his thoughts before explaining.

“Any attempt I make to get into the mainframe right now would quickly be discovered because of the high security” He started “but what if I took the longer route, a place where they’ll never expect to be infiltrated from”.

“And that is?” Clara asked.

“The game room” he revealed, confusing most of them so he continued explaining.

“Every piece of information or data sent or received within military systems passes through the Great Server,” he said, pausing briefly. “The data going to the simulation room is likely encrypted. But if I can upload my own encrypted data in the game room which has the least security and disguise it as simulation-related, the server might interpret it as part of the system.”

“That way, I could potentially gain access without triggering security protocols.” He finished.

Lisa raised an eyebrow. “You’re saying you can hack the military’s system… through a gaming lounge?”

Ethan grinned. “Exactly. Think about it—while the simulation room is heavily guarded, the game room is just a recreational hub. It still connects to the Great Server, but with far fewer security layers. No one expects a breach from there.”

Marcus folded his arms. “And we’re sure this will work?”

Ethan shrugged. “Nothing’s ever guaranteed, but it’s our best shot.”

Reid considered the plan. It was risky especially since the military was on high alert and if they were caught, they’d be suspected of the abomination that appeared in the simulation.

But if Ethan could pull it off, they might get access to crucial information without setting off alarms.

“It’s decided, our day off will be spent in the gaming room” Reid informed the team of his decision and they didn’t seem to disagree with it.

“I guess that’s a bit better” Clara said, without Lisa noticing, Clara had somehow taken the tiger back from her.

Lisa gave a small nod. “Alright. If this is the best way in, we’ll go with it.”

Ethan smirked. “That’s the spirit.”

Marcus said. “Then get moving then.”

As they walked toward the game room, Clara clutched the sleepy tiger gently. “So… do we actually play games, or are we just going to stare at screens while Ethan works his magic?”

“Both,” Ethan replied. “If we sit there without playing, it’ll look weird. We need to blend in.”

Lisa glanced at Reid. “Are you any good at games?”

Reid gave a small shrug. “Decent enough.”

Clara grinned. “Guess we’ll see about that.”

With the map on their watches guiding them, they continued their walk towards the game room which took the a few minutes.

The game room was a center created for the military personnel to relax on their days off, or for the training junkies to get in extra training even during the time they’re supposed to be on break.

The moment they stepped inside , they were met with a futuristic space filled with glowing neon panels, pod-like VR stations and PCs for those who want to experience games from before the eruption.

Although the place was called a game room, it was a lot bigger than that. The place was lively with activity as players sat in front of the screens, either raging at their loss or celebrating their victories.

Some pods were occupied by players that wanted full body VR experience.

Clara, still holding the small sleeping tiger, glanced around in awe. “Damn, I’ve never actually been in here before. This place is insane.”

Lisa, walking beside her, gave a small nod. “They really went all out with this.”

They arrived less than three weeks ago, so they hadn’t had time to explore the entire military base since they had been going through tests after tests with this being the first break they’ve had since they arrived.

Reid’s gaze briefly moved to the tiger in Clara’s arms. He could feel that it had recovered more than enough energy to wake up but it didn’t since it was so comfortable in her arms.

With a small chuckle, he turned to Ethan who was looking around for a suitable spot that’s a way from attention.

“How about that side” Marcus pointed to a certain corner of the game room, it had a couple of pods, PCs and it was mostly empty.

The team walked towards it and Ethan sat in front of one of the screens but before he could turn it on, they were approached by Damien and Dean.

“Hey Reid” Dean greeted as soon as they got close enough “I didn’t think we’d meet you guys here”.

“Great, just when we’re about to have some fun” Clara commented with sarcasm while glaring at Damien “the fun killer just had to show up”.

Damien crossed his arms, locking eyes with Clara. “Didn’t expect to see you here, since your annoying energy doesn’t match with a place like this.”

Clara scoffed. “And I thought you’d be too busy being an ungentlemanly pain in the ass, but here we are.”

Damien smirked. “I multitask.”

“Yeah? Well, maybe put some of that effort into not being the most unbearable person in the room.”

“Funny, I was about to say the same thing about you.”

Lisa sighed, already used to their constant back-and-forth. Dean, on the other hand, was grinning like this was the most entertaining thing he’d seen all day.

“Shouldn’t you guys be training with commander Ajax at this time?” Reid asked Dean, ignoring the bicker between the two.

“Yeah but due to the incident yesterday, we were given today off so he and I decided to come and play some games” Dean explained.

“And he simply agreed ” Reid asked with a raised brow, the Damien he knew was a pretty prideful individual, maybe a yandere too sometimes so Dean being friends with him this fast was surprising.

“Yeah, we didn’t have anything to do so iw was between visiting you guys, which he denied since he didn’t want to meet the annoying Clara” Dean explained “staying in the tower or coming here”.

He then turned to Damien who was still locked in a heated banter with Clara and said “I guess he now wishes we’d stayed back in the tower”.

“Anyway, congratulations on the promotion” Dean changed the topic.

“Yeah, thanks” Reid answered.

“Damien is now a lot more determined to catch up ” Dean said again.

That much was to be expected since they had a kind of rivalry since childhood. So Reid just nodded and turned to Ethan who had already powered on a PC screen was furiously typing on the keyboard.

“Are you in?” Reid asked the focused Ethan.

“Almost, but I don’t want to rush things else they’ll notice something wrong” Ethan replied, his eyes still fixed on the screen as he typed without stopping.

“What is he doing?” Dean asked, curious.

“Gaming?” Marcus was unsure of what to say so he just blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

“With lines of binary?” Dean raised an eyebrow but decided not to push the topic. Instead, he turned back to the ongoing banter between Clara and Damien.

“You both should calm down, you’re drawing attention towards us” Lisa scolded.

“”He/She started it”” like a pair of kids, the two pointed fingers, blaming the other.

“I don’t care” Lisa answered and the two quickly went quiet, with Clara moving towards her.

“Why don’t you two just settle your differences with a match?” Dean l suggested, only to receive a glare from Lisa which caused him to reel.

“H-hear me out,” Dean stuttered, raising his hands in surrender. “Instead of wasting energy arguing, why not just settle everything with a simple game? Winner gets bragging rights.”

“Fine” Clara agreed before turning to Damien “or maybe you’re too chicken to face me?”

Her voice had taken a mocking tone which was sure to tick Damien off, and it did.

“Don’t come crying when you lose” Damien answered as they both approached a pod each.

“This should be interesting ” Dean said with a chuckle.

Even Reid was interested in seeing how Clara would hold out, while keeping a distance since she was a long ranger.