The Glitch Inside

[Ellimist system]

Illian stared at their strawberry cake and sipped tea. The drizzle of jam scooped on top slowly slipped down the glazed side of the treat, a pool forming on the plate. They dipped their finger in the sticky juice and put in their mouth, enjoying the taste.

Across the cafe, their crush was laughing with a group of customers at the counter. Danny was pouring coffee as the couple told him about their trip to Whistler. Illian gulped down the rest of their tea and listened.

"And that's when the guy challenges us to a ski race. No fucking joke." The cute girl with a side shave said. She took her coffee from Danny and nearly spilled it, despite the lid firmly attached to the top.

"It was like something out of a 90s teen movie. I swear."

Illian growled deep in their chest and angrily started to eat their cake. Strawberry filled their mouth and they started eating in ernest. Danny served the two women their coffee and they parted, one last laugh a parting shot. Illian stood and approached the counter with their empty cup.

"Hey, are you Robin?"

Illian stopped, just a few steps to go to the counter.

"It is! You're Robin Goodgamr. I watch your streams all the time."

Illian turned toward the voice behind them. They squeeze the cup in their hand and smile.

"Hey, yeah. That's me." They say.

"Oh my god. Oh my god." The girl that stopped them was the embodiment of a stereotypical gamer; vest of buttons of their favorite character, zelda t-shirt, input jacks on her forehead, and they even had an actual NES controller half assed in to a belt. "Guys, I told you it was her."

"Them, actually." Illian set their jaw as a crowd of children swarmed around them. The grabbed the felt pen from their pocket for just these occasions.

Pain blossoms behind my eyes.

"Asses and elbows, assholes. It time to get up, we got some serious shit."

I slam on to the cold grate of the floor below my cryosleep pod, my skin ripping as the metal digs in. I vomit a stream of blue and the pain dissipates. I stand on scarred and shaking legs.

"We have incoming, fifteen minutes out. Suit up and get to fucking battle station, now." The officer yells and we run. The cryo fluid drips from my nose and I wipe it away with a finger, the taste of bile filling my throat. I breath and my lungs clear, I run faster.

We hit the suit lockers, our names stamped in gold leaf on the front of each. I pop open the one labeled "Bee" with a quick press on the black palmpad on the side and step in. The compartment closes behind me and everything becomes dark. I hear the whirring and feel the pieces of my exosuit clamp over my limbs, I feel pressure on my chest as everything locks in to place.

I grind my teeth at the deep pinch and click of the spinal spike. The compartment lights up and I can see the cabinet doors in green. My breath fogs my faceplate for a moment before the internal air supply whisks it away. The doors open and I move.

All around me are people, some in power suits like mine and others in uniforms. The ship is filled with alarms and red lights signaling battle stations. My squad pushes through the chaos toward the close range battery.

"Fuck. Fuck. They're here. We're fucking dead." Jay says, his voice tinny over the helmet speakers.

"Stop pissing your pants, you do this every time. This is just another drill." Cie says.

I jump down the flight of stairs to the guns, my stride barely changing. The floor is deserted but orderly, racks of human sized ammunition hanging beside gunner seats.

"Brace." The shipboard AI squawks over the coms. The hull shifts underneath me and I barely grab the back of a gunner seat before the shockwave slams everything to the wall. I settle and remove my hand from the ruined, steel back of the gunnery chair.

"Sound off." Ace says. The squad chirps in sequence, five chirps and five members. We get moving again as everything goes to shit.
"Intrusion, sealing bulkheads."

Zee mounts our team's chair as I grab a shell from the rack, the loading and checks quicker than quick. I slap my partner on the back of his helmet as he's already emptying my work.

"There are so many, man. This is just too much red for one person to handle." Zee says.

"I told you this was real." Jay says.

I load another shell, switching to a higher spread ammo type.

"Hey, Cie. I had the dream again." I say as I slide the breech closed.

"The one about earth? Seriously?"

"Yeah, I was a civi. It was weird."

"Fucking A."

"Brace." The AI says and I grab the handrails set in to the ammo rack.

The compartment explodes and I watch Zee be sucked, along with his gun, out in to the star filled sky. I hold tight as the air from the room follows my partner.

"Guys, I think my rangefinder is off." Zee says before his mic blasts sucking static and then silence.

The blowback comes as shockwave reverberates and returns, pieces of shrapnel burying themselves all around me. I let go with one arm and reflexively protect my face as Zee's body slams in to me at the speed of hurt. We tumble together and hit the back wall, denting the metal.

I feel a click and a pinch. My vision swirls and my jaw works. I see static on the edges of my vision as god begins talking to me.

"This is the best. Seriously. I have never had an experience like this." Illian said as they pulled the input spikes from their temple. "Urbi has really outdone themselves with this new console release. Total immersion is going to be way bigger than 3D."
-------------------------------

Posting this for right now to save, I'm going to continue tomorrow. I made the mistake of starting to write after my bedtime and I'm starting to write gibberish.

 

[Draconomial]

Nothing wrong with it. But it's almost not a chapter. I'll follow along

 

[Ellimist system]

First chap has been updated and completed.