GLITCHED - Chapter 2 ✨

Instructions

Donnie stared intensely at the comment, rage clouding his features. "Excuse me?" [...] [QuarkedUp: I meant what I said. ^^] He scoffed, hunching over the desk with a scowl darkening his face. His brows twitched in irritation, and he began typing like wildfire across the keys. [Bootyyshaker9000: This is not an "ordinary" or an "inferior" piece of advanced technology. It was built with my own superior intellect. Of course, a simple bug such as you wouldn't understand its magnitude.] He leaned back in his chair, pride dusting his expressions. What. A. Burn. That lowly computer virus was barely sentient--yet it had the gall to infiltrate his boundaries and insult him without the correct knowledge. Now, it would feel pain. [QuarkedUp: Woah, that was fast :0] [QuarkedUp: I'm going to be completely honest w/ you- your state-of-the-art security protocols are lame.] [QuarkedUp: I had a more difficult experience with the government. And theirs is god-awful, which you already know. :>] He stopped in his tracks, hissing at the screen in defiance. His arrogance had gotten the better of him--he was ready to commit straight-up murder. [Bootyyshaker9000: Thank you. My memory is completely intact.] [Bootyyshaker9000: And second, I do know. I have classified government information.] Before he could glimpse its response in record-time, his ears pricked up to the overachingly familiar sounds of footsteps. One was weighted down, shaking the ground with every possible move. Another was light and nimble, like a fish dancing across water. And finally, the pitter-patter of barely noticeable hustling on concrete. He had memorized these patterns by heart, tracing them in his brain over and over again. He knew them all too well. "Oh..god," he muttered, running his fingers up and over his forehead. His dum-dum brothers were quickly arriving on the scene, and his finely-tuned senses were rarely problematic. He couldn't have them finding out that their brilliantly genius brother had, for the first time in his life, gotten "hacked." [QuarkedUp: Are you still present? >_<] [QuarkedUp: Hello?] He didn't hesitate, although he would most likely regret it later. Since the anomaly wouldn't leave him alone, he would have to convince it. [Bootyyshaker9000: Yes. HIDE.] Why must the universe be mocking him? After a few brief intervals, there was still no comment to be seen. He monitored the layout intently, refreshing it whenever needed. [LOADING...] [LOADING...] Maybe it had finally listened to him, and cloaked itself among the various lines of code. Just he was about to gain false hope, an alarming buffer of new developments filled up his screen. [SECURITY BREACH IMMINENT...] [ACCESS GRANTED] [OPEN SECRET FILES? : Y/N : Y] [PLEASE STAND BY...] His surroundings lit up with a newfound scarlet, like it had been washed up in crimson blood. His other battleshells, which had been clipped nicely to the walls, sprouted talons and stood at frightening points. His inventions and top-secret projects either stopped entirely or beeped to an ominous song they had come up with all on their own. [QuarkedUp: Point illustrated.] [QuarkedUp: Do you see what I see? :0000] "GASP. You turn that off right now, or.." He knew this would happen, had considered it as a possibility, but he didn't think it would happen in the span of 1.5 minutes. His computer was deeply interconnected with all the complex networks in the laboratory, and by breaking into one of his hidden files, the virus had somehow managed to control the energy flow at will. [QuarkedUp: ...and why would I do that?] He attempted to look composed and natural, but failed miserably. His gaze hardened, and he met the visor with sweat raining down his midnight-colored mask. As his family grew ever so closer, he decided to act posthaste. "My brothers are arriving, and if you don't hide, they will discover the truth of your existence. I will allow you to regain full control of all my scientific achievements, but only if you conceal yourself and turn it all off." To his ultimate surprise, the invasive parasite shut down every single mechanical progress it had created. Everything was carefully precise and organized, just stored away in the exact same place it had once been. His shoulders dropped in solace at the perfected backdrop. His brothers wouldn't suspect a thing--not that they had been particularly attentive to begin with. [QuarkedUp: Either way, I win. I don't need your permission, but I do want to mess around with you a little bit before revealing myself. >:D] The intruder's consciousness retreated into the lining of text, and he watched in trepidation. It would be back eventually, but that was an issue for later. [CONFIRM: SLEEP MODE] His eyes darted to the entrance curtain as it was whipped off slightly to the side. A whirlwind of colors burst towards him, an unidentifiable mixture of orange, red, and blue. "Donnie! We're pool-jumping at the rooftops!"