Glitch

Bail

Chapter 1: Bail

I walked through the halls of the simulation alone, we all do. The government wants to make sure that we are ready for our games. Each of us has one that we share with our fate. No one knows who their fate is, but as soon as you meet them, you both are brought into your shared game together. The goal is to keep your fate and yourself alive, and because no one knows what type of game each of us will go in, or who our fates are, the government puts everyone through simulations to "prepare" us.

But it's stupid. All of it. The games are supposed to test your level of trust towards someone you just met and is supposedly your "perfect mate." What makes it worse is that, in your game, you have someone with you: your fate, but also, your soul is transformed into a weapon; and because no one can replicate those weapons, we all get to defend ourselves in the simulations weaponless, AND alone.

But oh well.

There wasn't anything I could do about it, so I walked. And I walked, and I walked a little more. I held my hands in fists close to my chest in the defensive position and turned a corner. Nothin'. I kept walking down hallways and turning corners until finally I met a creature. It looks like you took a rotten apple out of the garbage, fused it with a human body, and painted parts of it in a mucus green. The foul smell of the creature told me that it's a level one; the least dangerous and weakest of all the creature levels. Amateur hour.

I rearranged my footing and brought my fists closer to my chest. If I didn't defeat this wimp, I'd be a laughing stalk, and be put in for extra simulator hours. I started running towards it, and crouched down, sliding my right foot along the floor to the creature's distorted ankle. Right as my foot came in contact with the level one, the system glitched and the momentum brought my foot clear through the open space. That move should have taken the level one off balance, giving me the time to stand and get in another attack. But instead, the creature was standing unharmed and I was on the ground.

I had to think quick or I'd lose to this pathetic little crap. I brought my leg close and rolled out of the way as the creature stumbled to grab hold of me. As soon as I was out of range, I stood and ran back towards it. I got in a good kick to its side and manage to get it down before another glitch rippled through the room. I kept my eyes on the creature and went for the final strike, which should have finished it. I delivered the blow perfectly and the creature started to fade away, showing that it was defeated. I turned and started to walk back to the beginning of the simulation, but I stopped when I felt the sudden change in atmosphere.

The room glitched again and this time I saw the real world. In the few seconds that the glitch lasted I saw that people were running around frantically. They smashed buttons and flipped switches non-stop. There was a commotion behind me, something crashed and a woman screamed.

"Get her out of there!" I heard a woman's voice command right before the simulation started up again.

I took a deep breath, and if it wasn't for the rich chocolate and rose smell that filled my nose, I'd have been continuing on down the hallway. But I did smell chocolate and roses so I stopped and turned back to where I had only just finished fighting a level one creature. In its place, I saw a cat-like creature with two tails and eight eyes. One of its ears was cut in half and talons replaced its claws. It was a level ten, and it saw me.

"Fuck," I said under my breath.

The creature began to circle me and I followed it with my eyes, turning as it turned. I took the cloth from my wrist and tied it around my nose and mouth; I had to try not to breath in its toxic scent, no matter how alluring it was. I barely had time to finish tying it before the level ten pounced at me, extending its talons towards me and baring its teeth. I dodged it, turned towards it and attempted to kick it, but it was already too far away. It charged at me again, but this time I was ready for it. I ducked and shoved the palm of my hand right into its stomach area as it pounced at me. The creature shot up, giving me time to move out of the way and recuperate. The level ten hit the ceiling hard, but it hit the floor even harder.