Chapter 3: Debugging Friends and Frenemies

Aya led Mark through a labyrinthine maze of tunnels beneath the city, the air thick with the hum of generators and the clatter of maintenance bots that scuttled past. Mark could tell by the flickering fluorescent lights and occasional sparks overhead that this world—no, system—was barely holding together.

"So, you're a hacker too?" Mark asked, trying to make sense of Aya's easy confidence in this glitch-filled reality.

Aya glanced over her shoulder, her glowing circuit-patterned jacket flickering with every step. "Hacker? Nah. Think of me more as an... opportunist."

Mark raised an eyebrow. "Opportunist with a leather jacket that screams 'illegal download.'"

She smirked. "And you scream 'accidental admin access.' So, who's really winning here?"

Mark snorted. "Touché."

They continued in silence for a bit until the tunnel opened into a massive underground chamber. Mark's jaw dropped.

The Glitch Zone.

The place was a bustling hub of chaotic brilliance. Random bits of broken code manifested as floating cubes of data, neon graffiti crawled along the walls like animated snakes, and people—no, glitches—worked at makeshift workstations cobbled together from junk. Everything seemed unstable, flickering in and out of existence, yet no one looked the least bit concerned.

"Welcome to our little hideout," Aya said, spreading her arms dramatically. "Every hacker, modder, and script-kiddie who's pissed off the System ends up here sooner or later."

New Friends, Old Problems

As Mark took in the spectacle, a lanky guy with glowing green hair zipped up to them on hover-skates. He wore a trench coat several sizes too big and had five floating monitors orbiting his head, all running cryptic lines of code.

"Yo, Aya! Who's the new meat?" the guy asked, eyeing Mark curiously.

Aya grinned. "This, my dear Byte, is Mark Veil. He stumbled into our reality and—get this—hacked drones on his first try."

Byte let out a low whistle. "Bold move, newbie. Most people get fried on their first encounter."

Mark shifted uncomfortably. "Yeah, well, it wasn't exactly by choice."

"Welcome to the club," Byte said, giving Mark a playful punch on the shoulder. "You mess with the code long enough, the System notices. And once it notices you..."

"...it never stops hunting," Aya finished with a grin. "Fun, right?"

Mark shot her a withering look. "Define 'fun.'"

Before Aya could respond, a loud BANG echoed through the chamber. Everyone turned as the glitchy entrance portal at the far end of the room warped and shimmered, and two Stabilizer Agents stepped through.

"EVERYONE FREEZE!" one of the agents shouted, raising a glowing staff that pulsed with deadly energy.

A Quick Rewrite

Mark's heart pounded. "What the hell are they doing here?"

Aya grabbed his arm. "Looks like the drones you fried ratted us out. We need to move. Now."

"But how?" Mark stammered. "They'll fry us before we make it five steps!"

Aya shot him a mischievous look. "What do you think, genius? Rewrite the script."

Mark didn't need to be told twice. He quickly summoned his glowing code interface, hands flying over the virtual keyboard. The agent's staff was charging, ready to unleash a blast that could probably vaporize everyone in the room.

"C'mon, c'mon..." Mark muttered, lines of code scrolling before his eyes. There. He found the staff's power settings.

With a grin, Mark typed:

if (staff.charge > 50%) { staff.explode(); }

The moment he hit enter, the staff in the agent's hand sparked violently—before exploding in a shower of sparks and twisted metal.

"WHAT THE—?" the agent shouted, dropping the smoldering remains.

The entire Glitch Zone erupted in cheers and applause.

Aya patted Mark on the back. "You're a natural at this, Veil."

Mark grinned, but before he could say anything, the second agent raised his communicator. "HQ, we've got a reality hacker. Requesting immediate backup."

Mark's grin vanished. "Oh, come on!"

Glitchcraft and Escape Plans

Aya yanked Mark toward a flickering archway at the edge of the chamber. "Byte! Trigger the failsafe!"

Byte gave her a two-finger salute and slammed a button on his wrist console. Instantly, the entire Glitch Zone shimmered as holograms flickered into place, creating hundreds of fake versions of Mark and Aya, each running in different directions.

Mark blinked, momentarily disoriented. "How the hell are they supposed to know which one is us?"

"They won't," Aya said with a wink. "That's the point."

They bolted through the archway, weaving between glitching walls and corridors that shifted around them like a digital maze. Mark tried not to think too hard about how many laws of physics they were currently violating.

"Where does this lead?" Mark panted as they sprinted through a tunnel that flickered between a sewer and an old train station.

"Out," Aya called over her shoulder. "If we're lucky."

Mark didn't find that very reassuring.

A New Error Emerges

Just as they reached what looked like the end of the tunnel, the air rippled again. Another portal opened, and out stepped a tall, ominous figure clad in glowing red armor. His eyes glowed with the same glitchy distortion as the rest of the world.

Aya skidded to a stop. "Oh no. Not him."

Mark frowned. "Who's that?"

"That," Aya whispered, "is Agent Zero. The System's most dangerous enforcer."

Agent Zero's voice boomed through the tunnel, cold and mechanical. "Mark Veil. You have committed unauthorized reality manipulation. Stand down, or face deletion."

Mark gulped. "Any chance we can talk this out?"

"No."

Aya nudged Mark. "Got any more clever code tricks up your sleeve, genius?"

Mark opened his interface again, frantically typing. "Working on it..."

He tried modifying Zero's armor settings, but every line of code he entered bounced back with an Access Denied message.

"Uh... Aya? I think he's got admin-level protection!"

Aya cursed under her breath. "Of course he does."

Zero raised his hand, energy crackling around it. "Goodbye, hacker."

In a last-ditch effort, Mark typed furiously:

player.escape();

Nothing happened.

Mark swore. "Why isn't anything working?"

Aya grabbed his arm. "Because this isn't just about hacking, Mark. You have to outsmart the system."

Mark stared at her for a second—and then it hit him.

He grinned. "If I can't change him... maybe I can change me."

He quickly typed:

player.invisible = true; player.speed = 2x;

The moment he hit enter, his body shimmered and vanished. Aya let out a surprised laugh.

"Now you're getting it!"

Together, they bolted past the stunned Agent Zero, who swiped at empty air.

The Glitch Life Begins

Once they were far enough away, Mark and Aya stopped to catch their breath. Mark flickered back into visibility, a huge grin plastered across his face.

Aya clapped him on the back. "Not bad for your first day, Veil."

Mark chuckled. "Yeah, well... if every day is like this, I might need a bigger brain."

Aya smirked. "Welcome to the glitch life, genius. You're gonna need it."

Mark grinned. He had no idea what he'd gotten himself into—but he was ready to find out.