"The what?" Impulse sputtered, his expression similar to the other 22 Hermits who stood in a loose circle, facing Xisuma.

"Power signature," the admin explained. "It's different for every admin and it's basically like a username, but less.. real. It's more of a feeling kind of thing, and it's present in everything you code."

Ren nodded. "Yeah, that kinda makes sense." He rubbed his sunburnt nose subconsciously, his eyes peeking out below the rims of his sunglasses. Stress poked him and handed him a little bottle of fire resistance, smiling mischievously.

"A free sample."

Xisuma rubbed his hands nervously. He had called an emerging meeting at spawn, and all the hermits had stared, wide eyes at the block, then unanimously decided to steer clear of it. Except for Xisuma of course, who would be looking farther into it. A deep feeling of dread was starting to settle in his stomach, which he did his best to ignore.

Xisuma cleared his throat, grabbing everyone's attention again. "One last thing. The power signature's from another admin and while I don't know who they may be, they are working against us. In fact, they turned off respawn."

Gasps of shock met his words.

"I can't manage to turn it back on. So please, don't do anything dangerous."

Tango narrowed his glittering red eyes. "I suppose you mean no Ravager travel then." His voice was filled with amusement.

Xisuma sighed. "Preferably not." He agreed.

The hermits all nodded.

Mumbo glanced at Xisuma. "It's basically permadeath, isn't it?"

The admin nodded and the hermits glancing at each other sombrely, Ren rubbing a little fire resistance on his sunburn.

"Wait a minute..." Grian muttered, the other hermits turning to glance at him.

"The glitched block is gone."

Xisuma whirled around, his eyes wide behind his visor as he noticed that the glitched block, was, indeed, gone. The hermits took a step back from where they had last seen it, glancing at it warily.

Xisuma tensed. He could feel something in the air, shooting through the system, tearing through code like lighting.

Pain spiked in his chest and he gasped. Something major was wrong with the code. As an admin, he had a certain link to it, which is why he could feel so much pain. It pulsed within his chest, his muscles screaming in agony.

Keralis rushed forwards instantly, his firm hands grabbing Xisuma's shoulders steadying the admin who winced, as if he'd been stabbed. "Are you all right? Shashwammy?"

Grian's panicked voice rose above the clammer of the panicked hermits. "What's going on?"

Xisuma managed to catch his breath, briefly suppressing the pain. "Something's wrong with the code."

Stress shouldered her way to Xisuma's side, handing him a potion of healing, but he pushed it aside gently. "Those don't work. I'm not actually hurt."

He winced as another spike of pain lurched through him, barely able to keep himself upright.

Keralis eased him into a sitting position and he glanced gratefully at his friend, weakly waving his hand and summoning his coding screen which flickered into existence. Breath coming in gasps, he scrolled through the letters, his slender fingers shaking.

False unsheathed her sword, brushing a strand of blond hair out of her face. Xisuma didn't think that the sword would help, but he could tell from the way False held the blade that its presence comforted her.

He shuddered as he came across a glitchy length of code, the letters flickering and flashing across his screen. Suddenly, as another brilliant bolt of pain shot through him, he managed to immerse himself within the code, communicating and repairing it completely on willpower. It was something admins could do in times of crisis, and while much more efficient, also incredibly draining on them mentally and physically.

Keralis stood protectively next to Xisuma, who had gone limp, his eyes closed under his visor. Green glowing letters swirled around him hypnotically, gleaming and twirling in the air.

"Is he alright? X!?" Mumbo sputtered fiercely.

"He's checking the code." Keralis cast a worried look at the flicker of pain on his unconscious friend's face.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Xisuma could see utter darkness, as black as the deepest night, so immersive and thick he felt almost as peace. It drained his willpower and corroded his thoughts, making it difficult to do anything. At the same time, he had never felt to alive, so powerful. He could sense where everything was, every flaw and every dip in the code that he had spent so long trying the perfect.

Gritting his teeth against the spiking pain, he tried to focus and extended his consciousness farther, to the source of the pain.

A hacker. He could feel each attack as it trembled through the delicate, intricate code, shivering like a spider's web.

He didn't recognize the power signature, but he could read the waves of distress that poured freely from the hacker as their mind opened like the petals of a flower in their connection to the code. He could see them too, in his mind, a man in a green hoodie, a shining white mask adorned with a smile covering his face.

For a brief moment, their minds were connected by the network of letters, and Xisuma could sense a lifetime of joy and anguish, so sharp and so vivid, an outpouring of emotions that swallowed him. Bright, sudden images swamped his mind: a man with the blue shirt and wide rimmed glasses sitting next to another man in a white shirt and dark eyes and hair; the laughter of two young boys; the brutal clang of two blades clashing; a pink-haired man wielding a diamond sword, his face unreadable; a muffin.

The last one confused him a little.

Judging from the expression of the Hacker, he guessed that they too, were connected to his mind. He braced himself, building up a wall of code that slowly slid into place between himself and the hacker, hoping to use it to shield himself from the onslaught of vivid memories that filled his thoughts and spilled into his consciousness, making it difficult for him to concentrate.

Then, the hacker recoiled and lunged, bright waves of code sweeping outwards from where he stood.

A final attack. One last push. A wave of energy rolled across the code, smashing everything in its way. A bright bolt of energy that shot towards the originally glitched block.

Caught by surprise, Xisuma stumbled against the wave of energy, unable to defend against it and almost instantly lost his connection to the code and the rich, deep darkness faded away, as did his senses.

He felt nothing.