The glitching sword lay at my feet, flickering in and out like a dying light. I glanced down at it, feeling both the pull of its insane power and the frustration of its uselessness against the robots we'd just barely defeated.
"Iggy, let's get out of here," I said, wiping the sweat off my forehead. "You might be right, with that glitching, this place is a bit too dangerous. If we come across something we can't hit, we'll be screwed."
Iggy stood a few paces away, still breathing hard from the fight. He looked at the sword, then back at me, his expression somewhere between frustration and curiosity. "Of course I'm right ,Pipsqueak. But you never listen. You're just gonna leave that behind? Iggy asked, changing the subject and pointing towards the sword. "Do you know how strong that thing could be?"
"I know how useless it was against a couple of robots," I shot back. "It glitched out the second I touched it."
Iggy ignored me and stepped toward the sword, clearly not ready to give up on it. "I'll just take a closer look." He crouched down, reaching for the hilt.
As soon as his fingers brushed the metal, the blade flickered wildly, glitching in and out of existence even faster than before. Iggy cursed under his breath, pulling his hand back. "Alright, fine. Piece of junk."
"Weird piece of junk, though," I muttered, staring at the flickering weapon. "Come on, et's not tempt fate. This place isn't right."
As I turned to leave, something else caught my eye—something small glinting near the pedestal where the sword had been displayed. It looked like a card, barely larger than my palm, with a strange chip embedded in the center. Symbols, similar to the ones I couldn't read before, were etched into its surface.
"What's this?" I bent down and picked it up. The surface was cold to the touch, the symbols glowing faintly.
Quest Item Received.
Architect Memory Card #2 of Error
???
"Check this out"
Iggy glanced over my shoulder, his pulse blaster still drawn. "Another relic?"
"Quest Item," I replied, turning it over in my hand. "Architects memory car number two of god knows how many. Information on it is, well the same as our tats in this place, scrambled at best. It's got a chip in it, though." I tapped the small chip with my thumb, half-expecting something to happen, but the card remained inert.
I activated Discern, hoping for some clarity.
Quest Item Received.
Architect Memory Card #2 of Error
???
Description: Error Function: Unknown System Incompatibility Detected.
Contains records of ??? Error
"Well, that's pretty useless," I muttered. "Apparently, it has some records on it. Think you can take a look when we get back?" I handed the card to Iggy. Ever since moving from Applewood Farm to Sefia, Iggy had turned his shed into a decent-sized workshop, always tinkering with one project or another. He'd have a better shot figuring this out than me.
"Great. Now I'll be the one everyone blames when this thing blows up," he grumbled.
I shook my head at Iggy's complaint and took one last look around the chamber. "At least we found something. Might not be much, but it's a start."
YOU ARE READING
The Tethered Mind: Skyratchet
Science FictionJoin Gaines as he delves deeper into the virtual universe of Harmony. With only fragmented memories of his life before joining the virtual network, Gaines must battle a powerful AI determined to take control of his mind. As he grows stronger and gai...
