That weekend in #kaos, the crew is talking about weekend plans.

   anyone hitting bars this weekend?

   yeah probably saturday

   ska you going out or staying in?

  My fingers freeze over the keyboard.

  Bars. I'm fourteen. I can't even get into an R-rated movie without my parents.

   nah staying in. got work stuff

   damn workaholic haha

   same. got some server maintenance to do anyway

  The conversation moves on. Aimee69 and d0pe making plans. JaXx complaining about his job.

  My heart's still pounding.

  ---

  Saturday afternoon. #mp3 has 523 users when the trouble starts.

  A user named TekSupreme is spamming the channel—not with random text, but with fake bot announcements. Making it look like other people's file servers are advertising content they don't have.

   yo audiofile your bot said you got the new orbital album?

   what? no i dont even have that

   your fserv just announced it

   thats not me

  More users chime in. Confused. Angry. The channel's devolving into arguments about who's lying.

  The real operators aren't around. Just me and a few regulars.

  I watch for three minutes. Nobody's handling it.

  I don't have @. Can't kick or ban. Can only watch.

  But I can document.

  I start logging everything—timestamps, messages, the pattern of spam. Take screenshots. Save the evidence.

  When Kaos comes back online an hour later, I send him everything.

  [SKa] this user was causing problems earlier. got logs if you need them

  I share the full timeline of the fake announcements.

  Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  [Kaos] damn good thinking

  [Kaos] most people just complain. you documented it

  [Kaos] thats how operators think

  That night in #kaos:

   ska handled something good in #mp3 earlier

   thinking ahead, documenting problems

   nice

   crew material

  ---

  Sunday night. I set an alarm for 9:45pm. Fifteen minutes before Dad's 10pm deadline.

  The alarm goes off while I'm in the middle of helping Kaos test a new channel bot.

  I should log off. That was the deal.

  [Kaos] you around for a few more minutes? almost done here

  [SKa] yeah sure

  I silence the alarm. Just ten more minutes. Then I'll log off.

  At 10:17pm, I'm still online. The bot test turned into a whole setup session. Then d0pe asked about the Chicago rap thing again. Then someone new joined #kaos and I wanted to make a good impression.

  I hear Dad's footsteps on the stairs.

  Quickly minimize mIRC. Pull up the algebra homework I haven't started.

  Dad appears in my doorway.

  "You still up?"

  "Yeah, just finishing homework."

  He glances at the clock. Glances at me. I can't tell if he believes it.

  "Don't stay up too late."

  "I won't."

  He leaves. I wait thirty seconds, then restore mIRC.

  The homework sits blank on my desk.

  ---

  Monday night, two weeks after joining #kaos.

   ska you've been solid

   helpful, smart about stuff, not causing drama

   yeah man youre good people

   most new people just want @ immediately

   you actually contributed first

  I'm staring at the screen, not sure how to respond.

   just trying to help

   we've been talking

   crew thinks youre ready for more responsibility

   you interested?

  My heart's hammering. More responsibility. That means @. That means operator status.

  That means five hundred people will see me as someone with authority.

   yeah definitely

   cool. lets talk about it

  A PM window opens from Kaos:

  [Kaos] being @ isnt just about power

  [Kaos] its about defending the channel, making calls, dealing with drama

  [Kaos] defending means watching for takeovers, keeping bots coordinated, stopping spam before it gets out of control

  [Kaos] if our channel gets taken, we lose the file servers, the users, everything we built

  [Kaos] and making calls - whos trustworthy, who gets ops, who gets banned

  [Kaos] people will test you because you have @

  [Kaos] you up for that?

  Am I up for that?

  I think about xXEliteXx getting kicked. The instant authority. The power to remove someone from the conversation.

  [SKa] yeah im ready

  [Kaos] good

  [Kaos] alright. you ready?

  [SKa] yeah

  I switch to the #mp3 window. Five hundred twelve users. The channel scrolling with conversations, file server announcements, the usual chaos.

  * Kaos sets mode: +o SKa

  The @ symbol appears next to my name in the user list.

  Five hundred twelve users in the channel. All of them seeing @SKa now.

  I switch to #kaos. Kaos is already there.

  * Kaos sets mode: +o SKa

   official now

   one of us

   welcome to the club

  A few minutes later, another PM from Kaos:

  [Kaos] hey one other thing

  [Kaos] we should meet up sometime. few of us are in the midwest

  [Kaos] maybe grab beers in chicago?

  Uh.

  Meet up. In person. Where he'd see I'm not twenty-two.

  Where he'd see I'm a kid.

  [SKa] yeah maybe. schedules pretty crazy right now

  [Kaos] no worries. just thought itd be cool to meet the crew IRL

  [Kaos] anyway, congrats on the @

  The PM window closes.

  I sit back in my chair, staring at the screen.

  I can handle IRC. I can handle scripts and bots and channel management.

  But I can't handle meeting them in person.

  The @ symbol I just got feels like a timer ticking down.

  How long can I keep this going before they find out who I really am?