Кара Хантер - No Way Out

It's as if I'm having to drag it out of him, word by word. `Like what , Baxter?'

He looks embarrassed. `You could set it on fire.'

` Set it on fire? '

He flushes. `That way you get your pork chops ready cooked.' He glances back at me. `You want me to show you `њAttack Zack`ќ?'

`No,' I say, swallowing. It feels like I have grit in my throat. `Round up the rest of the team first. We all need to see this.'

Milo's Minecraft Mobs

Posted 11 Dec 17

В

So we all know that Creepers are just about the scariest Mob out there, right? But how much do you really know about this icon of Minecraft? Don't worry `“ right here is all you need to know`¦

Creepers may be mega-fear-provoking, but they actually came about by accident (cool, eh?). Apparently Notch, Minecraft's creator, was really trying to create a pig В , only `“ holy crap `“ something went wrong and it came out tall and thin instead of long and fat. And GREEN! Just has to be the luckiest accident ever.

Creepers are worse than just about any other hostile Mob because unlike zombies and skeletons В they can operate in daylight (they spawn at night, tho'). Even worse than that, they're pretty much silent too, so they can get real close before you even know they're there, and if they get close enough they BLOW UP! That's right `“ they don't attack you, they just В explode В . The only warning you get is this creepy hissy noise, then they start to flash and swell up and BANG!

Amazingly enough, Creepers can actually climb ladders and stairs and get across lava pools, though they can't go through doors and they're scared of cats (Tip: Get yourself a cat В ).

The best way to kill a Creeper? Light a В fire В and lure it in`¦

В

Next post: Zapping Zombies

It takes Baxter ten minutes to connect his computer to the Incident Room projector. Ten minutes while I prowl up and down like one of those bloody Creeper things. First rule of technology: if it can blow up in your face, it will try its darnedest. And then finally Baxter's desktop appears on the screen and he starts to pull up the images. Matty's avatar, which has people glancing at each other and smiling sadly. And then the mutant piglet with Zachary's face, Zachary's mop of curly hair. And now there are no smiles at all.

`And he made that pig thing himself? On his own?' says Gislingham, who's struggling to get to grips with all this.

`Customization,' says Asante. `All those games do it.'

`Bit more than that in this case,' says Baxter. `It's relatively easy to change your own avatar, but to do that piglet he had to make his own Mod.'

Mobs? Mods? I'm losing the plot now. `Mod? What the hell is that?'

`Stands for modification. Basically Minecraft stuff made by players themselves, which they allow other people to use.'

He navigates to an internet page and scrolls down a whole list of customized add-ons. Everything from deluxe battleaxes to new and especially nasty hybrid creatures. Right down the bottom of the page Baxter stops. It's the link `Attack Zack'.

You could hear a pin drop in this room right now.

Baxter glances at me then clicks on the link and pulls up a video. It's a farmyard of some sort. Barns and outhouses and animal pens. In the foreground, the Zachary piglet is staring straight out of the screen, moving its head, flicking its little tail. And then the game begins. In the background, a nasty high-pitched voice is singing the nursery rhyme.

This little piggy went to market

This little piggy stayed at home

This little piggy had roast beef

This little piggy had none

We watch as the piglet is chased through the maze of farmyard buildings until it's cornered, unable to escape. It's an animation, nothing more than bright pink pixelated bricks, but the screams, the panic, are horrifyingly realistic. And just as we're getting to the point when we can't watch it any more, the player throws something at the piglet and it's consumed in flames. Flames that even I believe in.

The tinny voice is cackling now.

This little piggy went BOOM!

`Jesus Christ,' says Gislingham, turning away. `Christ knows how parents keep their kids safe, with all the shit there is out there.' He sighs. `I suppose all you can do is love them. Love them and hope they'll talk to you. You know, before they do anything really stupid `“'

He stops, frozen, realizing what he's said.

`Shit, I'm sorry, boss. I didn't mean `“'

I swallow hard and wave it away. `Don't worry, I know you didn't.'

No one ever does. But they do it all the same.

Everett is still staring at the screen. `I know children can resent new babies, but this? This `“ this `“ it's horrific.'

`But it could make sense, couldn't it?' says Somer, glancing around. `As a motive, I mean. Boddie said it was possible Zachary was suffocated before the fire even started, didn't he? What if that was Matty ?'

Silence, then `I buy it,' says Baxter sturdily. `He's angry, he's resentful. Wouldn't take much to set him off. And when he realizes what he's done he panics and starts the fire to cover it up.'

`He wouldn't be the first person to do that,' continues Somer. `And it wouldn't have been that difficult either. He'd have known where the petrol was. And once the Christmas tree caught `“'

`Would a kid like him really be capable of that?' asks Gislingham. He doesn't want to believe Matty did this, but he's a good copper. He'll go with the evidence, even if that takes us somewhere very dark indeed.

`And what about that therapist?' says Baxter. `Esmond said it was for someone in the family and we all assumed it was the wife. But what if it was the son ?'

`You mean he knew ?' says Ev, her eyes widening. `Esmond actually knew about all this Attack Zack stuff?'

`Hang on,' says Gislingham suddenly. `Wasn't Matty on the wrong side of the flames? If it started in the sitting room like the fire boys said, what was he doing coming down the stairs? That doesn't make any sense `“'

But Asante has an answer. `Maybe he underestimated how quickly the fire would spread? Perhaps he thought he had time to go upstairs and wake his mother or get his Xbox or whatever. But all at once it's a conflagration.'

Baxter, meanwhile, has been flicking through videos on YouTube. He opens one into full screen: a Minecraft player moving around a huge virtual mansion shooting fire in all directions `“ floors, walls, ceilings `“ effortlessly moving upstairs, downstairs, inside, out. The blaze looks surprisingly realistic, but there's no heat, and no harm.