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The clatter of keys was deafening in the tiny room, a continuous drumming that went mostly ignored by the four figures hunched over their consoles. There was sweat on their faces, dampening their clothes, and not entirely from the little room's lack of ventilation-- this was the cold sweat of tension, and fear, and it made things far more uncomfortable than simple heat could account for.
Hunched over his keyboard, visor covering one eye, Genjyo Sanzo frowned and tried to tune out everything but his screen-- with limited success. The others around him were a distraction, though he had to admit their benefits outweighed their costs.
To his left: Sha Gojyo, whose fingers blurred as he typed another code-- somewhere distant, Sanzo knew, an enemy processor fizzled and died as if sliced cleanly in two.
To his right: Cho Hakkai, who hit a key and made an incoming hail of virus nodes deflect harmlessly away into the ether. The white dragon stenciled on the side of his monitor seemed to hiss and writhe in the flashing lights.
Directly across: Son Goku, frowning as the data cards wired into his head sent another shower of sparks down the cables to his console. His eyes were blank, seeing things the others couldn't, and his fingers moved reflexively in the air. He was the most powerful of the three, and also potentially the most dangerous-- direct interface was a risky technology, for if allowed free reign it tended to drive its users mad.
Three people Sanzo would never have chosen to work with, certainly not to trust, but the Three had spoken and, among the circles that mattered, their word was law. In a way, they were the web-- they were the programs that kept it running, they saw everything that went on within its electronic boundaries. Cross them, and you'd be lucky to ever get online again. They were, in the ways that mattered, gods.
Sanzo's eyes narrowed, and his fingers flew. They were close, finally, so very close to their goal: the central node of the abomination calling itself the Demon King, a nasty bit of programming that had sent sentient codes glitching through the net, corrupting data, erasing files. Easy enough to ignore until those little acts started causing deaths.
On the orders of the Three, Sanzo and his companions had gone hunting.
And now--
The last wall of defenses went down-- Gojyo crowed a wordless victory cheer, to one side-- and Sanzo was ready. He hit the keys, released a scintillating stream of code into the breach, and the void on his screen lit up in a visual scream before going blank and dead.
The lights flickered once, twice, then strengthened-- Gojyo's cheer sounded again, a little wilder around the edges. Hakkai sat back in his chair, looking stunned. Goku blinked, reaching up to unplug himself and slide the coverplate back into place across his forehead.
Sanzo closed his eyes, and let his aching hands fall.