Etc Etc.

Chapter Two: Haze

Maybe I wouldn't think much of this if two of them weren't holding guns. I mean yeah, they're dressed weird and all, but... guns? What the hell are they using guns for? And in a crime-filled city? This just isn't right. I mean sure, guns were pretty common in Georgia, but those were all rifles and shotguns used for hunting. This is a full on military sniper, and I know for a fact the things people hunt in TBD aren't deer.

"Alt!" The kid with the sniper jumps up and squeezes him in a suffocatingly tight hug. "And who's this? A new friend? Hi new friend!"

I give them a small wave. Their whole outfit is eye-bleedingly scenecore- they're wearing colorful striped fingerless gloves and a rainbow tie-dye shirt covered with pins and buttons tucked into half black and half checkerboard pants, plus a shit ton of kandi bead jewelry dangling everywhere it could possibly go. Their face is almost completely hidden by an eyepatch and Monster Energy mask, and the eye that is showing is adorned with a sick eyeliner wing.

"I'm Ctrl+Alt+Z! What's your name?" they ask enthusiastically.

"Uh, Backspace."

"Nice to meet you Backspace!" Ctrl+Alt+Z exclaims. "Welcome to our gang!"

Gang? That explains the guns but- no. No no no no no. I am not part of any gangs. Unless they mean gang as in a group of friends? But... isn't TBD notorious for actual gang violence and organized crime? Am I overthinking all this? The guns could be fake I guess- like some sort of hyper-realistic NERF gun type things. Or I actually did just accidentally join a gang. I hope to God I'm overreacting.

"Uh, Backspace?" Alt puts a hand on my shoulder. "You good?"

"Th-the gang?" I squeak out.

Everyone lets out a few quiet snickers then the girl with blue hair speaks. "Please- did you think we were an actual gang? These idiots are just a bunch of sad kids who spend their days on Tumblr and alt TikTok, there is no way in hell they could ever start a gang."

"Shut the fuck up F11," Ctrl+Alt+Z gumbles at her through their mask.

"Language!" calls out the emo man seated cross-legged on a table, a tabby cat purring in his lap. He looks the oldest out of everyone here, not only that, but he dresses like he's stuck in the early 2000s. In other words, a millennial. "That's Ctrl+C," Alt tells me. "He's like my brother."

Ctrl+C smiles at Alt fondly. "Stop, you're gonna make me cry!" He turns to me. "Backspace was it? Can I get you anything to eat or drink?"

"No, I'm okay," I say, not wanting to bother him.

"Wanna go up to my room now?" Alt grins.

"Wait- this is your house too?"

"Well duh, I told you we were going to my house! It's just upstairs is all," he says, taking my hand again and guiding me to a door in the back with an "employee's only" sign. Behind the door is a staircase with fairy lights hanging from the ceiling which leads into a dimly lit living room. It's connected to a kitchen with neon signs hanging on its walls, which Alt walks over to and grabs two Cokes from a black minifridge. He then opens up another door into a cramped bedroom- it's a long bedroom but still small nonetheless. Despite its size, it's surprisingly neat. He has a bulletin board hanging above a short dresser full of pictures of him and "the gang" going all sorts of goofy things, plus a few other people I don't recognise. And honestly? I'm jealous. I never had that kind of relationship with Shift- with us it was just her doing whatever she wanted with me being dragged along against my will. But everyone looks so genuinely happy in Alt's pictures. There's a picture of Ctrl+Alt+Z pushing the blue haired girl in a shopping cart at night, both screaming, one of the hot green haired one and Ctrl+C at a library, and one with everyone posing together on a pier in front of a beach. I wish I could have been there. Alt notices me looking at the photos and smiles. "I know they were a bit much at first, but they're awesome friends."