The Phantom: Code Breaker

Chapter 8: The Making of A Hacker 1.6

They left the shop and entered Ned's kitchen to grab some food. They helped each other to put up dinner.

Markus munched on his food and Ned watched him closely as they eat their dinner.

"Careful, that food is all yours." Ned said. He's stood and fetched a pitcher of cold water.

"Sorry." Markus reached his glass and pour some water and immediately emptied it. "I just felt so hungry." he exhaled.

"That's what you get from fighting with an empty stomach." Ned laughed. He cleaned his plate, went to put it in the sink, wore an apron and started washing it.

"De," Markus emptied his plate and stood next to Ned, sliding his plate in. "About what you said about the Hack..." he looked so interested that gave Ned goosebumps.

"What about it?" Ned replied. He picked the wok and started scrubbing it.

"It seems that you know something about it." Markus said. "Perhaps, do you know how to do it?"

"If I did, why do you want to know?" Ned exclaimed.

"I want to learn how to do that." Markus replied with a straight face. "Hacking!"

"Do what?" He turned and face the kid "Hacking?" he repeated. "Why would a kid like you like to learn about that stuff?" the wok slid from his hand and it hit his toe. "Aww.." he screeched, jumping on one foot.

"Are you alright?" Markus was shocked but at the same time, he kept his smile by biting his lips.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." Ned slowly stood up; he saw Markus' face turning weird. "Just go get a mop and dry this place." he sighed.

"Hai." Markus obeyed and immediately wiped the floor, giggling.

"De, answer my question." He started to ran water on the dishes. "Why do you want to learn how to hack?"

"Do I have to spell it out?! Of course, to beat that certain person that made us suffer like this. I want to fight on his ground and defeat him like how he defeated us." Markus said with full determination. "But I can't do that if I don't know how to use those kinds of cheats." he pouted.

"That knowledge is not for revenge." Ned said with a straight face. "Besides, even if you learn how to do it, you might not get the chance to fight against him if he's really caught by the cops."

Markus felt Ned getting serious out of the sudden. "Perhaps..."

"If it's ROA, cheats are not that important, you know." Ned started to explain. "You just have to level up your account and you can experience the great side of the game. That's what most kids and even adults do."

"But most players have their own cheats to defeat opponents and enhance their accounts, right? It's quite unfair!" Markus replied.

"The world is unfair to begin with." Ned said. "But to do things to cancel that unfairness is pretty unfair, too."

"You're not making sense, uncle Ned."

"I know...But the thing is," Ned pointed the kid with a spatula, dripping soap to the floor. "You're still so young to understand those concepts and to actually apply it in the real world is out of the question. Not to mention, the Firewalls, the obstacles in succeeding to hack are pretty sturdy and strong now that ORION has taken control over everything around the city." he caught his breath and continued, "You know it's a crime to such a thing, right?"

"But, I can't put on a fight if I wont equip myself with that knowledge." Markus argued. "Besides, I will be fine of I'm not caught, right?"

"That's not the reason you will just go on with it, stupid brat." Ned stared at the kid. He didn't know what to say to the kid to stop his fantasies.