Glitched

21 - A Human Problem

When Pixel woke up to light streaming into the cave, she was alone. She pushed herself up, checking over her body. Normal. Completely normal. Creamy yellow fur from the neck down. Black feet. Her horn was in the right place. She even ran her paws over her face for good measure.

Normal.

She let out a long sigh of relief. No virus. In retrospect it didn't make sense, but she wasn't going to complain. Despite the odds, she was clean.

At least for now... had it been twenty four hours yet? She pushed herself to her feet and clambered towards the cave mouth. She could hear Switch's voice outside, talking to someone who wasn't talking back. As she poked her head out, her eyes fell on the human leaning against a tree with his pocket computer on his lap. But he didn't appear to be talking to anyone in particular.

"Is something wrong?" she asked.

"Not really," he said. "I've got about a billion missed calls off N00b and Connor. I'm trying to decide whether or not to ring them back."

"Why wouldn't you?"

"You've not met Connor," he said. "He'll probably be wanting me back ASAP. I'll end up with an ear full, especially since he's been ringing me endlessly for the past two days. He probably got N00b to call me thinking I was ignoring him. Poor pup."

"It might be important." She wound her long head fur around a paw and looked around them. That destroyed village was just visible through the trees in the distance, which still felt too close for comfort. There was no sign of Vector anywhere.

"Neither of them have left a voice message," said Switch. "Or if they have, I can't hear them. Unfortunately my computer's taken a frying from an electrical attack. It's been muted. No ringer, no video sound. I'd be surprised if I could even hear their voice on the other end."

"No text messages?"

"The only ones I have say to 'ring me when you get this'." He scratched his head and sighed. "Not much help. I tried ringing N00b since it's the safer of the two, but I can't even hear a dialling tone. I'll just send him a message telling him my computer's not working properly and to let Connor know he'll hear from me when I get it fixed. I just have to find someone who can do it."

"You might be struggling there."

Switch lowered his computer and looked up at her. "What do you mean?"

"I don't know if this is the case or not, but from what I know, with this virus outbreak, any news that can stir up hysteria will be feeding the media." She paused as she looked back over at the village, trying to spot one of the billboards through the trees. But it was too far away to see anything clearly. "With the trouble we've caused and that feraligatr's threats, our identities might be all over news websites and billboard screens. If we step into any residential areas or cities we might be apprehended."

"We didn't intend to cause trouble," said Switch. "They overreacted when they saw Vector, and not without good reason. That virus is deadly." He paused to look up at her again. "It's good to see you're well, by the way. I have to admit I was rather worried."

"So was I." She hugged herself and looked back at the cave, rubbing her arms as a cold breeze washed over them. "Where is Vector anyway?"

"He went to find breakfast, although he has been gone for about half an hour now. I'd give him a bit longer before we go looking for him."

So he hadn't up and left then, at least it didn't sound like it. She didn't want to doubt him. He'd promised he'd help if she needed it. But she didn't need it, did she? What reason then did he have to stay?