Vik and Tory had decided to become whistleblowers in retaliation.

Vik had this video loop because he had rerouted the signal to his backend crew involved in the heist. But since he was Baldy's guy, he didn't trust him completely. He had intercepted the signal before sending it to him and kept a copy of the footage on his private server in an encrypted format.

Vik and Tory had participated in this contest so they could broadcast this clip worldwide without Raquel intercepting them beforehand. After meeting Tory at Battery Point Lighthouse, he explained his plan to him.

The duo then applied to be participants in the wrestling show. They were required to submit their background history reel on the show in case it needs to be used for various occasions. An occasion like this.

Vik had injected a harmless coding script in the video that would play the footage of their heist in the middle when it gets played for the second time. From the looks of things, his plan had worked out flawlessly.

People watched the heist from start to finish from various angles and perspectives. When Vik and Tory exited the facility using the stolen truck, the heist's footage ended. In the next segment of the video, Vik and Tory also showed themselves wearing the same masks that they had worn during the heist. And they removed them in front of the video they had shot to authenticate their identities.

At the end of all this, Vik's unmasked face was seen on the display once again.

The on-screen Vik was seen to be taking a long breath before speaking up.

"Yo. I'm not good with formalities or opening speeches so I'll just get to the point. By now, some of you may know me by my face because of the bounty that is placed on my head.

I'm Viktor Vladimir and I showed you this video for a reason.

I'm sorry for showing you something you weren't prepared to see. But I had to do this since there was no option left for me. People of Oasis Online, listen to what I have to say.

We did not kill Remington Roy. That accusation is a coverup to blame us."

Vik narrowed his eyes as he spoke next.

"I'm not telling you guys that we are completely innocent. Or that we did not commit the heist. But we don't want to be associated with something we didn't do.

This footage shall be our proof. I'm sure there would be experts decoding the video. So they'll tell you how authentic the video is.

If Remington Roy was inside the facility, we never saw him. We only stole the truck. We did not kill any guard or police sent after us."

Saying this, Vik coughed and spoke in a low voice to downplay his acts.

"We only injured them a bit."

Vik straightened his posture and spoke the next words with confidence.

"Raquel Roy, if you think your crocodile tears are enough to fuck with us, think again. If you believe that your killing of innocents that were related to us is going to get covered up because of your bullshit, think again.

Lastly, if you think that maybe you should have chosen different scapegoats for your plan, congratulations. You can bet your sweet ass that you've come up with the right answer in this case.

Over and out. You motherfokin bitch!"

The original dramatic footage of Vik and Tory's made-up background began playing. But nobody was interested in that anymore. A new storm was created in Oasis Online when Vik's footage was seen by various rankers.

The creators of the new storm had already left the premises when their clip started playing. Alas, it was still too late for them to escape.

That's because they soon found out that they couldn't log off from Online Online no matter what they did. Without a way out, they were trapped inside the metaspace.

***

Elysian city of Bristol, London. Earth.historical

Inside a large and lavish corporate-looking office was located on the top floor of a skyscraper.

"What the fuck is this? How did these bunch of lowlives escape the trap we had set for them? Didn't you guys assure me that the next time they login into Oasis, we'll have them?"

Raquel asked while sitting on a comfy chair that was behind a large table full of various study materials and reports. She stood up when there was no answer coming from seven of her subordinates standing in front of her with their heads down.

Raquel had come to know that Vik and Tory had logged into Oasis using their temporary avatars that were still anonymous to her. She had no way of knowing where they had ended up. But the information about their login status was still accessible to her because of the tracking on MCP chips.

"Answer me damn it. They could do something crazy if left unchecked.."

Bzzt. bzzt. Bzzt.

Raquel received a holo call from someone just when she was about to lecture her immediate subordinates.

Maybe Raquel jinxed herself when she said that. Because she received a holo-call from her manager. She said with a fearful voice that Raquel should tune into a particular pay-per-view video feed on Oasis that was known for displaying Meta vs non-Meta competitions meant for regular audiences.

Raquel had a terrible feeling when she heard the manager's way of speaking to her. Her face darkened and she summoned a spectral screen in front of her and tuned into the feed.

She and her subordinates watched as the scenes from the heist started playing on the display. She had made various claims about the heist. But the footage was strong proof that Remington Roy was not harmed by the duo as she had claimed to be.

Raquel crashed onto her chair as she kept on watching the scene. She clenched her fists as she listened to Vik's mockery of her. And she flipped the large study desk with her Awakened powers.

In a feat of rage, she executed her wind-element spell that manifested a bunch of sharp wind blades and obliterated the desk into smithereens.

"Use any channel you can. Contact anyone you see fit. Use any right you deem possible and necessary over Oasis, at any cost.

I only want one thing in return-- news of these bastards' deaths getting released in a few hours."

Raquel said in a cold voice as she got up from her seat and turned to face the gallery-like open space that was behind her. She started walking in the gallery's direction, away from her subordinates. Her face had regained her earlier aloofness. Her eyes were serene.

Her voice no longer contained any anger she had been carrying till now as she spoke her next words.