The channel is a battlefield. Eight of ours holding ops, forty-two of theirs probing, striking, retreating. Mode changes flash across the screen in milliseconds, a blur of +o and -o, each side testing the other, looking for a crack. There's no pause. No mercy. Just constant war.

   theyre gonna hit us arent they

   yeah

   when

  I check my defense scripts one more time. Automated op protection. Kick protection. Ban evasion. Rejoin sequences. Everything I could think of.

  All theory until now.

   probably soon

  The clock hits 6:03pm.

  Then it starts.

  * SYN|agentsmith sets mode: +b *!*@*.aol.com

  * SYN|agentsmith sets mode: +b *!*@*.rr.com

  * SYN|agentsmith sets mode: +b *!*@ppp*.*.com

  * vinyl was kicked by SYN|agentsmith (banned)

  * djNRG was kicked by SYN|agentsmith (banned)

  * tekhed was kicked by SYN|agentsmith (banned)

  ...

  Ban flood. A dozen bots setting channel bans simultaneously, each targeting different ISP ranges. My screen fills with mode changes too fast to read.

  They aren't banning us specifically. They are banning entire ISP ranges. Thousands of users getting kicks automatically.

   what the hell

  The user count starts dropping. 1,962 users. 1,701. 1,389. Everyone on dialup, DSL, or cable connections getting booted from the channel.

  Not an attack on our bots. An attack on the channel itself.

   theyre clearing the room

   why

  I watch the count fall. They are removing witnesses. Making the channel small enough to control.

   easier to fight in an empty room

  My bots start removing bans. One at a time. Trying to let users back in.

  * ska|ghost sets mode: -b *!*@*.aol.com

  * SYN|agentsmith sets mode: +b *!*@*.aol.com

  * ska|shadow sets mode: -b *!*@*.rr.com

  * SYN|terminator sets mode: +b *!*@*.rr.com

  ...

  But they have twelve bots setting bans. I have eight removing them.

  Math isn't on our side.

   we cant keep up with this

  He is right. For every ban I remove, they set two more. The user count keeps dropping.

  762 users. 423. 187.

   let it happen

   what

   we're not here to protect users. we're here to keep ops.

  The ban flood continues for another thirty seconds. Then stops.

  Channel population: 94 users. Mostly bots now. The real people either banned or scared off by the chaos.

  Quiet again.

  I check our ops. Still have them. All eight bots still holding.

   okay so that didnt work for them

   that's a test

   test for what

  Before I can answer, my PM window blinks.

  [SKriLLa] lets try something else.

  They target one bot at a time—all twelve hitting it simultaneously.

  * SYN|agentsmith sets mode: -o ska|ghost

  * ska|shadow sets mode: +o ska|ghost

  * SYN|agentsmith sets mode: -o ska|shadow

  * ska|wraith sets mode: +o ska|shadow

  * SYN|agentsmith sets mode: -o ska|wraith

  ...

  My failover triggers, restoring ops instantly. But they're ready for that, stripping the next bot before I can stabilize. Op, deop, restore, strip. Back and forth in milliseconds.

  Coordinated assault. Each of their bots assigned to specific targets. One coordinator, distributed workers—Caldwell's pattern, turned against me.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  My screen floods with mode changes too fast to track individually.

  Code versus code. No human could type fast enough to participate.

   how long can we sustain this

   as long as our connections hold

  The mode war continues. My bots fighting to maintain ops. Their bots fighting to strip them. Neither side gaining ground.

  Ten seconds. Twenty. Thirty.

  The server is complaining. Too many commands too fast.

  Then something changes.

  * ska|ghost has quit IRC (Read error: Connection reset by peer)

  One of my bots drops. Connection killed.

  My failover tries to compensate. The remaining seven bots redistribute ops, maintain coverage.

  But now it is seven versus twelve.

   they killed your shell

   checking it

  I switch windows. SSH into the shell server. Get a connection refused error.

  The entire server is down.

   theyre ddosing my shells

   can they do that

   theyre doing it right now

  This isn't IRC commands. This is attacking my infrastructure directly. Finding where my bots are hosted and hitting those machines with enough traffic to crash them.

  I have backups. Each bot has a clone on a different server, ready to join if the primary fails.

  But they've seen my bot's hostmask. Know which provider I'm using. Probably scanning their whole IP range right now.

   deploying backup

  Back up to eight bots. But I am running out of shells.

   how many backup shells you got

   four

   three

  Fifteen shells total. Already down from twenty. If they keep finding our providers, we're done. No shells, no bots. No bots, no channels.

  For now, we hold.

  The attacks keep coming. Different patterns. Different techniques. Another shell goes down, SpaceGoat's this time.

  We adapt. Barely. But we hold.

  The attacks slow.

  The channel goes quiet. Our bots still have ops. SYN's twelve bots still idle in the user list.

  My PM window blinks.

  [SKriLLa] not bad. you actually know what youre doing.

  I wait.

  [SKriLLa] but you cant do this 24/7. eventually you sleep. eventually you leave an opening.

  He's right. We've survived ninety minutes because all three of us are online, coordinating, adapting in real time.

  But we can't maintain that forever.

  [SKriLLa] this is gonna be a long war. hope youre ready.

  The PM window goes quiet.

   so what now

  Fifteen shells total. Three of us. School in less than twelve hours.

  The math doesn't work.

   now we figure out shifts

   shifts

   they just proved they can attack any time. we need 24/7 coverage.

   spacegoat you take morning. 8am to 4pm. i'll take afternoon and evening. 4pm to midnight. steez you get overnight.

   midnight to 8am? dude thats all night. i need sleep.

   we all need sleep. and we've all got school in the morning.

  Silence in the channel.

   so we make it work

  More silence.

   okay

   yeah. okay.

  I look at my clock. 7:47pm.

  Four hours left on my shift. SYN's bots still in our channels.

  I'm not logging off.