Careful where you step. (Open)

==Mainframe, Inc.==

"Copland, you logged in at just the right time." The old codger known as Grimm stepped into Mainframe's grand entrance. "Call just came in. Got your name all over it."

"What is it?" Copland asked.

Grimm pressed something on a handheld computer. Copland's keytool blinked as the destination was uploaded to the system GPS. "You know those Spammers that say they can get you credits for a good rate?" Copland nodded. "Well a bunch of them were trying to develop their own two-point-five modules."

"That's for the CPU's." CPU was an official term for the Core Police Union. They had a special branch for illegal upgrades.

"Till their operation destabilized the base code in their sector."

"That could pose a problem. Catch ya in a bit."

Grimm only grunted and waved him off. Copland ran out of the building, fishing his airboard Blade out of inventory. He activated it and jumped on board as soon as it rezzed.

"Gadget, directions." The keytool's display brought up a map of Core. A route formed and then zoomed, like a car's turn by turn navigation device. Copland followed the line. He just hoped traffic would be light.

==Core's Industrial Sector, a few moments later==

Traffic actually hadn't been that bad. That may have been because Copland had special permission to go outside the established routes for this emergency. His board shimmered back to inventory when he approached the CPU mobile command station. The official law enforcers had a typical warehouse cordoned off with a holographic Caution tape. Velvet rope like stanchions shot the beams of yellow light around the perimeter. Anyone caught crossing it had their avatar ID scanned into the police logs. As to be expected, the warehouse was surrounded by onlookers.

Groaning sounds could be heard from the building. What they didn't know was that the digital structure was beginning to decompile. Emergency services were also setting up their mobile command structures, trying to assess the fallout to the surrounding regions of the Sector. With all the lawful activity going on now, all the unlawful types had either logged out or moved to less noticeable locations. Most of them anyway.

Copland waved Gadget into the holographic tape, registering himself with the authorized avatars only list. One of the cops trotted over to him. "How bad is it?"

"The destabilization seems to be contained within the structure for now. Our biggest concern is the number of people currently inside." Copland raised an eyebrow. Most people left when a sector started to decompile. "Word spread that the owners had the 2.5 modules. They're taking the chance of a connection failure in the hope that they can get one."

The high holy equipment programmers have only come out with two tiers regarding an item's quality. Conversion blades came into the market a few years back as a way to boost any current Tier 2 item. They are incredibly costly as they aren't official packets of code. Not illegal mind you, just not patented. Rumor has it they were made to appease the masses until the official third tier is released. Of course, the distribution of converters is a highly regulated business. This particular black market distributor could probably have gone unnoticed for cycles if it hadn't been for the destabilization.

"Have you taken ownership of the building?" The cop looked unsure. "If a federal agency lays claim on an condemned property, anything inside with a lock gets updated to match that of the agency. It will slow down the looters until they are all removed."

Copland ran into the warehouse to see the extend of the damage for himself. Gadget would let him know the ownership changed hands. He told the keytool to locate the source of the deresolution. Of course it was in the heart of the building. He could seen sections of the floors and wall peeled back to reveal the lines of code that made them up in some spots. That wasn't good.

"Gadget, megaphone." The cogwheel extended like a telescope, which Copland placed to his mouth. "May I have your attention, please? I need everyone to leave the building now. If you derezz in here, your account will be irrevocably lost meaning you will not be able to use anything you pick up here."

It was a half lie. The chances of an avatar caught in this situation resulting in permanent deletion was very unlikely. However, the likelihood that the Conduit would fail to save their inventory was pretty high. Players were more likely to respond to threats of being banned or deleted than to a "Please try your luck again later" statement. It apparently worked as he saw a few packs head for the exits.

Copland personally didn't care if everyone left with a free 2.5 conversion kit. He just wanted them gone so that the Core's servers back in the real would wouldn't have to strain themselves to maintain the presence of countless avatars. It would delay the deresolution if there was less to generate. The trick was just getting to the source on the inside.

==Pause for others. You can be a looter or a wannabe hero trying to pull everyone out. Have fun.==