Fact: I don't own either of these game titles

Fact: I'm not dead

Fact: You just want to read the story

0o0o0o0

John was sitting on a crate in his hangar cleaning the plasma residue from the barrel of his disassembled rifle as his two other companions continued to argue.

"I'm not giving up. He is my friend as well." Sei stated.

"Frustrated! If you truly believe that then you wouldn't consider such a thing! Anxious. Keth is a survivor, but the sooner we find him the better." Freewall assured.

"Then how, Freewall? You and I both know what Esther said."

Currently that was what John was thinking on, Esther told them that before the teleporter the gateway was the only way to reach the Outpost. Meaning that the only way they could get their friend back was by finding another gateway, but they've spent a week looking. It shouldn't have been that hard, the gateway gave off a unique energy signal and with two ships they scouted over fifty systems... with nothing to show for.

So that gateway was one of a kind, no doubt, but they still had another plan. Find the builder of the robotic Oogler. The only problem was that they didn't have Keth, he was the best tracker they had, just letting him near anything and he could find exactly what they needed for the ship's computer to find the origin. They scanned the whole Oogler but it couldn't pin down a location as the parts seemed to have came from all over.

In the end they put up a bounty for whoever built the robot and their location. So far, only one Bounty Hunter signed on, a Novakid. Apparently the Novakid loved taking up impossible quests. At first they just thought she was rude but as another week passed they started to understand that Novakids just say what's on their mind.

So far, Sei is the only one willing to say it out loud.

"Oppose. We'll figure it out but I'm not going to stop looking. Uncertain. We just don't have a way to get to him, yet." Freewall said as he stood his ground.

"You heard the Novakid, she's known as one of the best bounty hunters in the galaxy and she told us, to our face, that it was impossible, and that was a week ago." Sei deadpanned.

John hated how hollow her words always sounded. Always looking and sounding like she couldn't care less but he knew that wasn't true. Out of everyone she was trying the hardest, second to John himself. John could tell that this fight was about him, Sei always worried as he was Human. He just wasn't as tough as them, Sei's calmness always seemed to keep her from tiring as easy as him and Freewall, although a robot, did need to sleep, but a lot less compared to him.

He hasn't slept since they lost him and it was catching up to him but he had to find Keth. John is only fifty-six, maybe if he lived in the twentieth century he could be considered old, but times have changed and he was pushing it.

"Resolve. You may stop if you wish, but I will not give up on our friend." Freewall said as he crossed his arms in determination.

"I haven't given up either but we are running ourselves dry. All I'm asking is for a small break for us to recuperate" She pleaded.

"I'm fine!" John shouted as he clicked the last piece of his plasma rifle back in place.

They both looked to him in surprise, this was the first time they've seen him mad in a long time, but it wasn't at them. He was mad at himself, he took Keth in when the Floran lost his home. He treated Keth like he was family but he should have trained him like a soldier, then maybe he wouldn't have rushed ahead.

"John-"

"I'm fine, Sei... I can rest when we get Keth back... I can't leave him alone..." He interrupted as he rubbed his eyes with his free hand.

He suddenly felt something on his shoulder. His eyes refocused on Freewall with his hand on john's shoulder.

Freewall looked over to Sei. "Hesitant... Fine." John was about to argue before Freewall turned to him. "Understanding. I know how you feel John, but... She's right, we are all willing to push forward but for me that's less of an issue, but you, if you keep this up... I wouldn't be able to face Keth if anything happened to you." After a second and a deep breath from John, Freewall let go.

John sighed as he placed his gun on a crate. "So what now, do we just wait?" before anyone could answer the ship's computer spoke up.

"One new message."

John looked over to his friends receiving a shrug from stonewall and a nod from Sei. He went over to the console, opened the new message and read through it.

"Heh." Was John's only response.

"Curious. What does it say?"

"Apparently that Novakid found the robot maker, he has a lab in some hidden system, Says the place is packing a lot of heat and that she's waiting for us so she can finish the job and get paid. She also says that she'll do it herself if we don't pick up the pace." John summarized.

A moment passed while everyone digested the information.

"Worry. You don't think the Novakid is foolish enough to do something so reckless?" Freewall questioned.

"I've met a few of their species during my travels and as much as I would like to say that they're not all the same, I'm sorry to say that they do share traits." Sei informed.

"Okay, let's go over there right away and-" Before he could finish both his comrades gave him a look that shut him up instantly.

"We will set course for the planet but if the coordinates are accurate it will take a little over three hours to get there." Sei said as she looked over the message.

"Inform. For that amount of time you will be resting while we take care of everything." Freewall practically ordered.

"I doubt you will be fully rested, but at the very least we won't have you falling over when we get there." Sei said offering a warm smile she rarely showed.

"...Yeah... Okay." He released a breath he didn't even know he was holding. "Thanks."


Keth was pretty young for a Floran but he considered himself a great hunter. If his friends ever needed something done quietly it was him or Sei, so for the most part he only thought Hylotl and Floran were any good at stealth.

If surprise was a color, he would be that as he was quite surprised by all his current allies' ability to move so deftly... Probably yellow. He kind of expected it from the older Humans but even the younger one moved lightly. Of course they did move a bit too slow for Keth but it was still impressive nonetheless.

They mostly followed Joel as Bill didn't seem to confident in leading the way through the cemetery. Keth could feel the big one's eyes on him every once in awhile, not that the others didn't look like they thought he going to take a bite out of them. Ellie was the only one he felt tried not to stare too much.

He was starting to understand that no one here has seen a Floran before, but they had to have spaceships, how else is he going to get home. He's on a planet called Earth, a Earth with fungus Humans but still Earth, and if what John told him was true there had to be some kind of port where he could get a ride... if not... he would just have to go back to plan A and wait for his friends. They aren't great trackers but he had no doubt they would find him.

Joel lead them through the cemetery to a gate that lead to some kind of small road. At the crossroad were two infected, just standing in the middle. Joel and Bill went forward and simultaneously took both down. Joel took his down by choking it out while Bill just used his blade to split its skull. It kinda felt like how Sei and Keth used to fight together; fighting coherently without speaking a word.

As they took one of the paths Keth noticed past some old white fences with houses that reminded him of John's home, he said they're an old style from earth. For the most part they didn't look like they've been lived in for awhile. At least, not by Humans as there was a lot of infected just wandering around.

Keth could feel a growl roll up his throat. He drew his knife feeling his hunter instincts kicking in. He almost stepped into the yard before he heard Joel.

"Hey, we don't have enough ammo to kill every infected we see. We go to the school and grab the battery." Joel commanded in a low whisper.

Keth could probably take them on by himself but if they went for any of the Humans, that would be on him. Keth sheath his knife.

They made it down the path before finding a truck sitting in their path. If Keth had to guess it would be a bit loud to try to boost everyone over. So they would have to sneak around it, the Humans must have thought the same thing as they moved past the broken fence and he followed.

They circled around the fence to the front of the same truck to find a garage door open. Joel tried the door on the inside to get to the house only for it to stop ajar.

"It's tied on the other side." Joel announced.

Tied on the other side?

"Floran can help." Keth said.

Joel gave him a strange look before stepping out of the way. "Try to be quiet, alright." He said.

Keth walked up to the door and inspected the door. Not that he really needed to, the wood itself smelled old, so what he was planning would work fine, probably not as quiet as Joel would like it, though.

With one hand placed above the door handle while the other grasped it, Keth planted his feet and with one pull he ripped the handle from the door leaving a hole in its place, a lot easier and strangely quieter than he thought it would be.

"Great, you fuckin' broke it." Bill angrily commented.

Without saying anything, Keth looked him dead in the eyes and with one hand pushed the door allowing it to open fully.

Keth remembered one time when he got locked out of John's house he pulled on it a bit to hard and broke it. He thought he only broke one side but he learned that the knobs were connected.

Keth went through the door before the Humans could say anything and immediately he could hear clickers inside the house ahead. He took cover before he turned around to see the Humans coming through the door and brought a finger up to his still bandana covered mouth.

Joel was the first to notice both him and the noises. "Oh, shit." He whispered. "They ain't seen us yet. Just stay down."

But before Joel could lead them up to the house Keth tapped his shoulder.

Joel seemed a bit uncomfortable at the contact but faced him.

"Two Clickysss outsside, Five inssside. Floran can clear houssse." He explained.

"How do you know that?" He asked.

He honestly couldn't really explain it. If he concentrated on the scents he could pull details out, like how infected scents all smelled of rot and fungi but they had differences. Like how one outside smelled of grass and how one inside smelled like dried oil or another that might have owned an animal at one point. It didn't help that he had a bandana on his face which made it a bit more difficult to pick out the differences but luckily he had good hearing as well and those things make a lot of noise.

"Floran hunter." Keth drew his knife once more. "Floran make path sssafe?"

"If it's right it'll be a pain in the ass getting through. Better to have the freak clear the path." Bill offered.

Keth decided to ignore the freak comment.

Joel looked like he was going over his options.

"Quick and quiet?" He asked receiving a nod from Keth.

Joel sighed. "Go then."

The second those words left his mouth Keth jumped over their cover and moved to the building almost completely inaudible. The first two clickers were standing under the patio roof.

The first one he approached from behind and kicked in the back of its knee, but before it could even hit the ground he wrapped his forearm under its jaw to keep it quiet as he slid his knife between its shoulder blades. Its struggles subsided as it let out a muffled whine before it stopped completely. Keth pulled his knife free as he gently set the body down and moved to the next one.

This one had its back to the wall but since they all seemed to be blind it only took a few light steps to come face to face with the clicker that stood mostly still. Keth almost felt pity for the beasts, he's been called such things before but these things... his kind are natural, it felt right to be Floran, but when he looked at the infected, the way they, looked, moved, breathed, even the noises, they all felt so unnatural. Was it in pain?

As quickly as the thought came Keth shoved his knife straight up between the mandible and hyoid bone cutting off any noise it could have made while the length of the blade would cut the spinal cord. He wasn't sure if the anatomy was completely the same as Humans but so far he hasn't been wrong. One of the few teachings he liked that Sei offered was the study of other species, probably his second favorite next to combat training with John.

He grabbed the body before it could hit the floor and sat it against the wall as he moved to the ones inside. It didn't take him long to clear out the rest with the same techniques. He made it to a side entrance that had some sort of van next to it. Something bothered him when he saw a wooden board that went from the top of the van to a tree house on the other side of a fence. The strange part was the faint scent he was picking up.

He climbed atop the van and moved over to the makeshift bridge. Yep, it was the same scent from the boots he tried to put on from before, whoever wore those had a pretty bad smell, it was pretty old though. He also noticed from the van he could see the Humans waiting. He was about to call out to them before stopping himself. He had to be quiet.

So he produced the same bird sound from before. Ellie was the only one that turned to see him on top of the van and pointed it out to the others.

"So that was him." Joel said quietly as if Keth wouldn't hear.

He waved for them to go through the building, from what he could tell this was the only way to get to the school. As the Humans made it on top of van Bill was the first to speak up.

"Well, at least you're not completely useless, where'd you get the plank?" He asked.

"Not Floran. Sssomeone here before?" He asked, he wasn't sure if he wanted to bring up the shoe he broke.

"...Huh, probably..." He seems to be in deep thought before he spoke once more. "School's on the other side of that house. Let's get inside."

They jumped down from the tree house and went through the broken sliding glass door.

At that point everyone seemed to split off in different directions, Joel went searching through kitchen while Bill went more towards the front of the house. Keth noticed a bookshelf and since things looked to have slowed down a bit he decided to take a look. Just as he crouched next to the bookcase he heard someone approach from his side.

"So... you know how to read?" Ellie asked.

Keth turned his head to face her "Floran had good teachersss." Keth said with a shrug before bringing his attention back to the bookcase.

He could hear what he could only assume was Ellie rummaging in her backpack.

Then he heard her clear her throat. "My dog used to chase people on a bike." She said.

Keth looked over to her and tilted his head. He couldn't smell any dogs.

"It got so bad, I had to take his bike away."

Ellie looked kind of nervous as she didn't get any reaction from Keth. She really didn't need to worry, Keth got the joke and he thought it was quite funny, but John always said his laugh was frightening so he held it in.

He didn't want there to be tension between him and the Human so he decided to offer his own joke.

"...What did fisssh ssay when he hit wall?" Keth questioned.

The uneasy look disappeared as Ellie asked. "What?"

"Dam."

That got a chuckle out of Ellie as she closed her book.

"That was awful." Ellie said between giggles.

"Where'd you hear that one?" Ellie asked as the giggling died down.

"Floran bessst friend love bad jokess." He answered honestly.

Ellie looked a bit more serious. "Are they with the Fireflies?" She asked.

"No... hope to sssee him ssoon... Floran never gone this far alone, feel very far from home." Keth said.

He already knew that but it felt more real saying it out loud.

"He sounds nice, I'm sure you'll see him again." Ellie said offering a small smile.

He knew that was true but it felt nice to hear someone else say it.

Ellie seemed a bit distracted as she shoved her book back into her backpack and followed Joel upstairs. He could follow and eavesdrop on them but he decided to just tune them out and look around the house more, making sure not to make the same mistake twice. Since he saw Joel look through the kitchen, he moved further into the house and found what he assumed to be a garage, a much smaller cargo hold for small vehicles if he recalled.

Bill was already in the garage when Keth entered and it was noticeable more tense when Bill realized he was in the room.

Keth found it quite awkward as he tried to think of something to say as he started messing with a few random tools hanging on a wall.

"What do the Fireflies want with the girl?" Bill asked.

Keth was bit thrown off by the bluntness of the question and dropped what looked like a wrench on his own foot. Keth silently cursed to himself as he hopped on one foot while rubbing the other. He didn't get any noticeable reaction from Bill who was still waiting for an answer.

"Floran not sssure." he answered as he put his foot back on the ground.

Keth did know that she was important for not turning into a infected when bitten. It was the only reason he showed her his own bite mark, and not the others, was to get her to trust him... Also to get his knife back, but the point was that he wasn't sure if the two other Humans knew that, both talked as if they weren't a part of the Fireflies and as far as Keth knew, only they are aware of the bite.

"Bullshit... you know what, once you're all gone it won't matter."

Keth didn't really understand but he couldn't really find it in himself to care. He doesn't like the Human's attitude but he was still willing to help them, from what Keth heard the Human owed Joel and that was his reason. Maybe that was true, Keth wasn't sure.

Before he could delve more into that thought, the other two Humans showed up. The two adults opened the garage door and they moved under and past it. The area they now entered was a school parking lot but was now a graveyard of broken down cars and buses.

The four of them quickly moved behind a car near the garage and Bill pointed off to the side of the school.

"There's that truck, sticking outta the school right there." Bill stated.

Of course that didn't account for the group of infected that wandered around the downed buses.

Joel turned to Keth. "Can you tell how many there are?" He asked.

At close range Keth was sure he could pick out any but at the range they were he would only pick up the ones they could already see, anything else was too old to be relevant. So he was going to have to move forward as to not freak out the Humans if he wanted to pick up more.

"Give Floran ssecond." He said as he moved in front of the group.

As soon as he was sure none of the Humans could see his face he pulled down his bandana and flicked out his snake like tongue picking up tiny chemical particles in the air. His tongue retracted back into his mouth and he was immediately hit with multiple scents causing him to shake his head, he put the bandana back in place as he moved back to the Humans.

"So?" Ellie asked impatiently.

"Too many." Keth said.

"What, can't count them out?" Bill asked.

"Floran sssmell too many." He repeated.

In truth Floran could distinguish up to around twenty scents but past that it all blended together becoming too much for even a Floran of Keth's skill to handle.

Joel sighed. "Looks like we'll have to sneak through."

Keth was having doubts, even when the Human Joel got stuck upside down Keth could still differentiate the many scents that came rushing at them. Here though, Keth was picking up scents as old as him that were still fresh. His instincts told him to run away from this place, that if he pushed forward he would become something's lunch... but...

He looked at the Humans who all looked determined to push. It would be irresponsible of him to let them go alone, besides, couldn't let the Humans show him up.

0o0o0o0o0

This story is not dead

I noticed a few of my other readers of "Mass Glitch" are here and I just want to say glad to see ya

As for the ones that were waiting I'm glad you're still here

I'll be working on this story for a bit and will return to "Mass Glitch" at some point

Maybe even try going back and forth between the two but you'll just have to wait and see