Glitching Out

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Virus continued to swim through the datascape. It was endless. There was so much, and yet not enough. Never enough. Not till the whole world was done.

"She looks damaged already," Mangle growled softly. Seeing how pathetic this one was acting, she almost felt....bad.
Not bad enough, though.
She spun the blade in her hand, stalking towards the cornered girl.
 
Constance felt herself trying to move further away from Mangle, lowering to her knees and trying to put the most distance between herself and the knife. The back of her shoes hit the wall and she sagged to the floor, feet kicking out from under her. She turned her face away from the blade, watching it glint from the corner of her eyes. Thunder roared steadily outside the warehouse. The storm had reached its peak.
She sent an alarmed, final signal, trying to get to Virus through her damaged connect. Virus! I don't know where Wendy is, I think she was waiting for me to- they have me. I need help!
One of her optics flickered again in the darkness as she channelled her energy into sending the message. Her heart, the only unaffected part of her, beating like a jack rabbit's.
"Why?" Constance started, looking up at Mangle who was advancing on her, the weight of doing a grievous service in her eyes.
"I- I said I would go!"
 
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VIRUS-
Virus' head snapped up, vision switching back to his own optics. That was her! That was his girl, that was-
DATASCARE GET HER-
Panic flooded the wavelengths. Emotion wasn't a thing they felt. That wasn't what they did but Virus felt it and so did she and oh gods-
WENDY- CONSTANCE- In the sudden wave of emotion she felt from Virus- so unlike anything she knew- she panicked, sending an emergency message to Constance.
And then she felt it.
The pain.
Virus let out a scream. A horrible, glitching, gargled mess of ten, fifteen, five, eight voices, cutting in and out and drowned in static, thrashing in his bonds. It was awful, the pain that he felt. He knew someone, somewhere, had got a hold of Constance. Had hurt her.

Mangle snarled, taking the remaining two steps forward. "You're going to leave and get more of them. Drag them to our location. We can't let you go. So instead we're gonna see what happens when you stab a Glitched."
And with that, she drove the blade firmly into the girl's exposed side.
 
Constance cried out, thrashing. Cold metal was embedded in her side and it hurt, hurt OH GOD it HURT-
She felt a swell of warm blood patter against her shirt. That part was human. Her blood, her pain, amidst the wires. Her Connect sent out frazzled messages, no longer coherent but stressing she'd been hurt.
She gasped and clutched at her side. She had to get away from the warehouse. Had to move. But she couldn't. The lights in her eyes flashed once more. They flickered, then went dark.
Constance kicked out desperately, whining and cringing away from Mangle.

Wendy felt the pain and doubled over, grunting. For the first time Constance's words were coming through to her. Cries. Meaningless words. They'd hurt her somehow.
 
Mangle cried out in shock, staggering backwards, the knife stuck in her hand. That was blood. That was- she was bleeding.
Glitched didn't bleed.
She looked at her hand in horror- the blade soaked in blood, the red covering her hand and shirt, and looked with wide eyes and diluted pupils.
"Oh God," she whispered. It was all she could think of to say.

Glitchdancer bit back a choke, leaning against the wall and clutching her side. Around her, her siblings were doing the same. Virus. Fucking Virus and his pain receptors connecting them all. They all felt it when one of their Firsts got hurt- Zelroth was no doubt communicating with the Queen through his pain, asking to fix this. But shit this hurt.
 
Wendy ran, practically sprinted towards the warehouse. Her footsteps pounded against the earth, thunder rumbling overhead. She skidded to a halt, and then shouldered through the warehouse doors with a sharp, resounding clatter.
There was Constance's slumped figure in front of the doors. Hell, she almost tripped over her. Her small frame almost dwarfed by that ridiculous yellow slicker. Cold, blue eyes surveyed the scene. The panicked unGlitched in front of her, knife in hand, more in the back. They were standing around like sheep. Unsure. That was good. It meant they hadn't let pack mentality, or adrenaline take hold of them yet. Her white hair whipped around her face as she lifted Constance as if she was nothing but a bundle of clothes. Her eyes were narrowed at the girl. She was the reason why the mission had failed, then. How had they grown suspicious of her in the first place?
"We'll be back for you. We won't forget what happened to one of us today." She snarled.
It was unfair Constance had sustained the injury, for she was weak. Closest to a human in behaviour, too, thanks to the institute. She always saw the good in them. Maybe this would change her mind.
 
Daphne was up in a flash and yanked Mangle away from the Glitched who had burst through the door - she'd bloody known it, she'd heard it in her voice all along. She checked Mangle over for wounds then pushed her back towards the wall as she ran to the door and stared out. The Glitched carried her injured companion away into the dusk. Daphne's breathing was harsh and her knife gripped tightly in her hand to the point of pain in her knuckles. She let out a frustrated, frightened noise and raked a hand through her hair.
"We're not safe here," she said, echoing someone though she couldn't even remember who had said it. "Fuck, we're not safe here."
 
Constance held Wendy's shoulders, white-knuckled. She was tired, suddenly. Wendy was saying something, but she could hardly focus because of the static invading her thoughts.
"How'd they clock you, then? Did you do something stupid?" Wendy growled, stalking away from the warehouse. They wouldn't be followed. If they did come after her, she wouldn't even covert them. She'd kill them.

Herman grimaced. "She would've got to us, all because we didn't notice the watch." He was used to asking that question, about the time. Nine times out of ten, those that could answer were Glitched.
"We were lucky this one wasn't as- imposing as the others."

Reginald breathed heavily, his tic evident. It had all happened so fast. One minute he'd trusted her, then he knew something was amiss, and then Mangle had acted.
"How could they have known?"
 
Mangle was shaking, panting, -holy fuck the Glitched could bleed- and she scrambled backwards, slumped against the wall. Her knife lay abandoned on the floor, dripping that devilishly red liquid onto the ground below her.
"We're not safe here." Daphne's words echoed through her head, bringing her to. She stood up, walking towards her gun and her bag lying discarded next to it. Neither of the Glitched had noticed it all.
"You're right," she said. "We need to leave."
 
Reginald acted immediately, moving to gather his things. Supplies were unboxed, placed into bags, the futons were rolled up. Had the girls lead the Glitched to their location? Perhaps not knowingly, but unwittingly?
"Reckon time's of the essence here. They'll come back soon."

Herman moved to examine the blood on the blade, frowning. The Glitched couldn't bleed. Everyone knew that. So what the hell came into their warehouse?
 
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Daphne's bags lay still zipped up. She slung them over both shoulders and went to the door again, pausing for a moment to put a comforting hand on Mangle's shoulder. Outside there was a clap of thunder, and it was already drizzling and dark. She sighed. Looked like they were going to be out in the storm after all.
"I know a place," she said over the sounds of Reggie, Mangle and Herman getting their things. "An old farm right out on the outskirts of town. It was where I wanted to head originally - I've been out a couple of times in the past few weeks, checking it out. There's no phone signal there, which makes life harder for the Glitched... they haven't ventured that far out yet. It's got good strong walls and looks like it might be high-ceilinged enough for some sort of fire..." She sighed heavily again, staring out into the dark. "If we run we could make it, perhaps in twenty minutes or so. Maybe we'll have to shelter somewhere else on the way if we don't get there tonight -" She shivered at that idea. The Glitched were definitely going to return to search for them, and she wanted safety in the most secluded place she could think of.
 
Mangle packed her things, slinging her duffel bag onto her back. "They'll bring more," she answered. "And they won't be happy."
She gave a weak smile to Daphne. "That sounds good."

Virus waited. Worried. Too much emotion was flowing through him to re-enter the datascape and continue his job, so he was forced to stay where he was, bound with all the wires and back pressed to the many computers that kept him so restrained. Tied here. Unable to move to run to her. But he couldn't do anything.
 
"I hope you know- because I fuckin' suspect you were thinking of trying something funny back there, that not one of those humans are going to accept you. You only have us, you know." Wendy commented, stalking over fields. She was a tall, stooping shadow in the night.
"So nobody." Constance said glumly, letting out a sudden howl of pain as Wendy dropped her suddenly into the passenger seat of the car. In the window her reflection was pale.
"Don't get blood on the upholstery." Wendy grunted, eyeing Constance. She was quiet now. No other run-ins with humans had turned out like that for her. The car purred to life, heading towards their Headquarters.
Mission botched. Wendy communicated, now she and Constance were somewhere reasonably safe. She sent information to Datascare at urgent speeds. Constance injured. Definitely needs re-Glitching. Has become- almost sympathetic. This run-in has taught her a lesson, I believe.
 
Datascare frowned. Bring her back to Virus, then. We'll meet you there.
She passed the same message onto her siblings, who all nodded with the same grim expression. They couldn't be out and about whilst a First was being made. They got into the car with Zelroth on the front seat, and began to drive back.
Keep her alive.
 
Constance clutched at her side, slumped into the front seat.
"What did they say?" Her voice was five different voices again, each trying to speak out of turn. She pulled her hands back from her side and saw they were slick with blood. She moaned, squirming on her seat and wishing Wendy would drive the car faster. She wanted to see Virus.

"They said I'm supposed to keep you alive." Wendy said, not mentioning the girl's impending re-Glitching. If she did, Constance might behave unpredictably. Maybe even try to stagger out of the car, away from what they had planned for her.

"I want to see Virus." Wendy noticed the glow in her eyes was dim when she looked actoss again.

"You will." They arrived at the shared headquarters, the taller of the two walking around to the other passenger door. She bundled Constance's shivering frame into her arms.
 
Virus was still hooked up, unable to walk. Unless it was Constance or Glitchdancer helping him, he wasn't allowed to leave the machine. Yet still he waited.
She was close.
Zelroth greeted them at the gate. He opened the doors for them, leading them inside. No concern showed in his face; instead, he seemed emotionless. Like this was an everyday task. He took them through to Virus' room, opening a chamber big enough to fit Constance inside.
He looked to Wendy, and nodded.
Virus' gaze looked from the chamber, then to Wendy, then to Constance. He gestured to the chamber as best he could with his restrained arms.
 
Constance glanced at Virus, Wendy lowering her to the ground with a lack of grace. She saw the chamber and frowned as best she could through her permanent smile, her expression questioning.
"Hello, Virus."
 
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Virus chuckled softly.
"Hey Constance."
He looked at the machine, watching as Zelroth shut the lid, trapping Constance inside.
He sighed, tilting his head back and shutting his eyes. Wires extended from his feet, connecting him to the cylinder in which his First was now safely encased, and booted it up.
Immediately, his brain was filled with information from the machine. His conscience was there, directing the wires that plugged back into her, fusing her wound shut and connecting to the mainframe that replaced her nervous system and skeleton.
And suddenly, the connection was cleared. The fuzz removed from his mind.
And there, in the vast expanse that stretched around them now, just a few feet away from him on the soft emerald grass, was Constance.
 
Constance let out a startled laugh, the laugh ringing clear, a perfect imitation of a human. She felt the pain allevitate at once. It had fixed her wound.
"Virus!" She said to herself, kicking her legs. "You did it!" Her eyes flickered into a glow, this time free from the erratic blinking that had overtaken her after the job in the warehouse had been botched.
"I missed you." She said into the air. "Whilst I was in the institute, it was lonely."
 
Virus smiled. "Still doing it," he commented, walking towards her. In this little simulation, this little pocket in the world he'd created, he was able to walk without help.
"I missed you as well. I couldn't get to you. I was always trying, but there was just...static. I had to work with Datascare and Wendy to talk to you."
A bench fizzled into life, and he plopped down onto it. "We have a few minutes here before the process is done."
 
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