James had dozed far longer than he was supposed to. So long in fact, that he had missed the start of his shift in the Strategic Digital Infantry command center, the heart of operations for what was left of the US Military. After the Great Disarmament of the 1990s when Cold War tensions broke, war moved online to ensure no country incited mutually assured destruction with nuclear weapons. After recognizing the potential of digital spaces to settle differences without bloodshed, international violence and bloodlust plummeted. A worldwide computer program was developed as the battleground of the future, and nations complied. The US took strides as a nation, improving in every regard without the weight of the military industrial complex. No one dared challenge the US to online war games, but no one had ever felt the need to given the direction of the country. It had been over a century since the US was entangled in "war" and only a skeleton crew of cyberwarriors remained to protect America from cyber attack. James's coworker Aaron was left alone to man the control table in the dead of the night.....

James bolted awake, realizing he was already going to be late. It was a costly error, as his demerits had already got him on the graveyard shift to begin with. His commlink buzzed wildly. Checking his messages from Aaron his heart dropped into his stomach. The screen read "CODE 14 CODE 14"