Human
Chapter 3
As I step into the lecture room, I quietly make my way over to one of the piers and have a seat, Firefox to my left.
"Late once again I see Evan?" Yeah, professor Jackson is pretty chill. Just...don't get on his bad side.
"Sorry professor, I was held up in traffic. And personal reasons I guess." I don't feel very keen on letting him and my lecturemates be keen on what actually happened. Just didn't seem necessary, especially since Laura and Sam already knew what had happened and were more than likely worried/pissed off at the people who had done it.
"Very well Evan. At least you're here. Thank you for stopping by and joining us." He looks back to all of us a whole class and begins lecturing again. I can't help but feel that something just feels off. I push the thought aside and as I do, I feel a tap on my shoulder. It's Firefox.
"Ready for note taking? I cannot help but notice that you seem distracted." Oh right! Everything is just hunky dory. I almost died today. Just like any usual day.
"I'm fine Foxy. And yes, I am."
The notes that are involved in computer science aren't very difficult. Just tedious and lame when you are sitting on your ass for hours on end. The class goes on without a hitch. And that feeling has all but vanished. Strange. Then the door I had originally entered the lecture hall swings open. A white...mini pony browser thing with blue hair and a red, green and yellow tail makes her way in. She stares right at me. What the hell? What is so interesting about me?
"Pardon me professor, one moment?"
"Go ahead Romi."
"Thank you." She looks back at me. "Evan Huckaby correct?"
"Uh yes? How...nevermind."
"I need you to come with me. We have a few important matters to discuss." She seems very neutral with this. Can't be anything serious I hope.
I agreed and got up. Firefox was about to follow but she was stopped by Romi. "I am afraid this doesn't concern you browser."
"I will decide if it does or not. I also require explicit command from my active user to stay on my seat."
"Firefox, stay there. I won't be long" She seems okay with that. I turn around and head out the door with Romi in tow.
"So what is this about?" She bites her lower lip.
"I know why you were late today. I saw those men in that van. Do you know anything about them Mr. Huckaby? "Crap. How the heck does she know that?
"How did you know exactly what happened? I thought no one saw." I feel somewhat baffled. Maybe she was watching. The question is, why.
"That is just it. You thought no one was watching. I saw the whole thing. It is the simple fact that there were too many hostels in that van. Three to be exact." Romi looks past my shoulder and down the hall. I look behind me and I see nothing.
"What are you looking at?"
"Stay here human." With that strange, quick answer, she trots off. What is going on. To my right is the staircase that leads to the first floor. To my left are two more lecture rooms. Not counting the one I was in that is. I follow where Romi was heading. She just...vanished? How is that even possible? Just POOF. GONE.I keep walking and I hit a dead end, past the third lecture room's door and I see another staircase leading to the third and final floor. This is also where the catwalk to the other half of the Institute is. Probably a mess hall, the much bigger library for whatever reason and other things I don't really care about.
"Didn't I say STAY where you were human?" I spin around and see Romi but she looks WAY different than she did not even five minutes ago. Rather than her pure white coat, it was jet black and her irises were red. I thought of one thing. Run. I ran past her barely out of her reach and could hear her metallic footfalls against the marble floor. As I pass my own lecture room's door it swings open and Firefox gives chase. Here is the thing about browsers. They are just that. Browsers. They are ultimately computers and I have reason to suspect someone or something corrupted Romi's core programming and changed her directive. God only knows what said directive is. The last thing I hear before bursting out the front door is Firefox being crushed.
"Evan! RUN! DO NOT LOOK BACK AT ME. FIND MEMSYNC. THAT IS WHAT THAT COIN IS. ALL I KNOW IS YOU NEED TO FIND THE RIGHT PERSON. GOODBYE FOR NOW."
And with that, silence. I can hear but I wasn't acknowledging what I was hearing. Other than the fact I need to outrun this...death machine. I somehow get far enough away. The only problem is my truck is still in the parking lot. I hide in a bush that is in the divider between two streets and see Romi looking for me. She can probably see heat signatures. Luckily I am too far for that to work. Time for something ironic.
"Hey Google. Call Sam."
"Calling Sam."
"Hey. Where are you Ev?" How the hell do I tell her this? This doesn't happen every day!
"I need you and Laura to pick me up. Firefox is terminated. I still have her core files on my phone but she needs rebuilding. She will rematerialize at my apartment. And this Chrome construct wants me dead. "Nope. Can't think of a better way to put all this.
"Damn. Alright. You are at the Institute? It's gonna be a bit, but you'll be fine. Just please stay safe.
"I will." With that I hung up and waited. Romi had long since given up and returned to the Institute. Looks like my lectures are out the window.
…
"Sir?" I see a man approach from the street to my right side. He is wearing what seems like a fancy black trenchcoat. Black pants and grey shirt underneath. Interesting taste I guess.
"Yes?" I looked ridiculous. Here I am hiding on the side of the street like a hobo. "Who are you?"
"Let's just say we have met before. In a different universe." I scoffed. Surely he was drunk. Besides, he kept stumbling as if he wasn't used to standing.
"Are you ok? You seem rather, not to be rude but, intoxicated."
"No. I just haven't walked on two feet for very long." Huh. Interesting. Wait...what did he just say?
"As I said, we have already met in a different universe." As he said that, his eyes glowed ORANGE.
Don't worry Evan. You'll be fine.
"Wh-who are you?" As he answered his voice began to distort.
"̶̨̡̡̠̮̫̺̖̞̝̼̤͕̟̬͈̱̹̭͇̺̯̹͙̘̝͖̺̱͕̬͔̰͓̖̘̳͍̈́̅̈̍͂͐̓̽͜͝͠ͅĮ̵̧̣̬̝͓̠̟̞̩̝̹̗̺̘̯͈̬̮͈͉̩͙͈̱̞͓͎̣̳̟͚̞̪͕̘̮̙̩̫̲̤̫̑̈̊̑̉̿́̿͛̊̈́͒̏̈́͒͋͑̐̚͜͜͠͝ͅ ̸̡̝̩̞̩͒̏̿̍̿̍͌̾ȁ̵̧̡̨̢͎̤͎͔͚̦͔͇̦̖͔͉̗͈̳̪̯̲̺͓̤͍̪̰̥̪͚̜͔͙͕̥̹̦̞̰̜͕̺͉̜͌̋͐̏̀̅̔̌̑̔̇͗͐̿̄̆̏̃̓̋̒̈́̚͜͜͜͠͝ͅm̷͎̐̈́̆͆̉̾̀̀̄͊̉̅̀̐͋̉̒̋̒͛̋̋́̈́̑̍̈̉̀̃̀̑̐̒̀̀́͆͑͌̚͝͠͝ ̷̨̛̻̺̻̦̣͍̰̯̟̤̞̪̣̱͇̈́͂͌̀͑̀̀͒̔̽̔̂̎̂̒͐̈́̇̓͜͝͠͝y̴̢̧̛̬͇̭̜̞̬̗͇̘̯̳͚̩͔̥͉̤̗̮͇̘̬̬͎̩̓̈́͋̍̔̿̔̈́̈́̾̉͌̇̑́̆̈́̅̎̌̽͌͗̀̇̊̋̌̐͗͋̎̆̈́̐̕̚͝͠ͅớ̷̹͈̦͖̹͔̟̝͕͇̉̈̈́̔̎͛́̕͝ư̸̰̫̘̪̿̇̀͊̓͐͆͆̋͊̈́̒́̒̔̿͐̿̂̃̀͐̔͒͘.̷̡̨̡̨̧̣̦̮͓̞̣̮̬͍͚͔̲̼͚̭͕̦̳̠͕̹̳̝̯̳͔̝̬̥̬̰̦̭͓͓͇̪͎͚͌̇̐̓̄̕ ̸̨̧̡̨̧̨̫̳̻͉̼͈̭͚͙̳̩̘̦̟͉̩̝̼̦̰͚͓͙̰̠̪͉̪͚̻̭̞̤̤͎͎̯̻̙͛̾̈̓̾̌̍̉̏̄͑͘͜͜͜͜͝Ş̸̨͍̦̘͎̼͇͓̮͇͉̟̘̰̊̍̕o̵̢̨͙̗̱̯̫͙̥̪͕̺̲͒̾́̊̅͑̾͒̾͌̌̐̊͌̃́̒͋͂͑̓̉͘̕̚͝͝͝ͅl̴̢̧̨̩̬͓͈̺̟̞͈̰̳̱̮͕͇͇͖͉͖͔̥͈̠̭̩͉̤̋̑͒̒̍̅̌́̒̔͜͠ͅͅȃ̵̢̪͎̹̠͈͖̤͍͔͖̯̹̩̥̹͔̥̹̯̥͎̖̻̫͎͙͙̯̜̜͕̻͉͈̺̟͓̰̖͇̪̞̝͔̏͑́̈́̓̊͛̿̆͛͒͒͂͛̆̂̍̏̈̐͒͌̍̌̉̾̕͘͝͝ͅͅͅṙ̴̢̡̨̛͚̗̯͓̟̳̲̥̝̥̤̣̰̙͓̗͕̐̓̋͐̈́͗̊̓̓̎͊̀͐́̿͗̇̋̓̀̌̂̌̀̔̈̾̾̄̊̉̉̎͘̚͝͠͝ ̴̛͎̙̫͔̖̠͍̤̘̙͓̙̫̌̑̒̀͊̔̐́̓̋̿̃̄͐͛͑͂̃͐̊̀̓̄̊̓̒̓̈́͋́͘͘͜͠F̸̢̛̺̆̂̃͗̽̅͂̊͗͊̒̈́̈́̆̍̋͋͑̋̇̄̌́͌͋̾̈́̄̃͆̄́̿̾̀̚̚͘̕͘̕͠͠i̴̡̨̨̧̛̛̛͈̙̝̞͓͔̩̲̼͈͍̰̜̜͙͙̘̫̬̗̭̝̠̘̖̱̜̤̗̩͚̹͓̼̋̀̉̇̇̀̔̍̆̐̂͌̆̂̆͐̌͆̎́̑̈͛̽͗͒̆̒̃́͒́̾̓̍̅͋̚͜͝͠ͅͅͅr̶̲̲̯͖͖̼̥̥̫͉̞̣̻̘̤̫̗̜̟̱̘̠̘̖͔͈̥̰͉͌͐͘̕͜ḙ̶̣̗͓̣̗̹͔̽̈́̉̇͐͑́͘d̷̛͙̻̄̋̈͛̓̌͐͌̇̀̅͑͗͌͒̈́̚͜͝a̸̢̩͖͚̖͇̖͎̘̻̗͈̰̩͖̣̰̳̥͎̥̟̝̘̱̔̾̆͂̏̾̋̎̃̐̏̿̐̈́̈́͆̆̕͘̚͜͜͠͝ͅw̴̨̢̛͙̯͍̘̞̗̘̜͕̝̺̟̟̬̘͌͊̇͑̃̇̇̑͂́̈́̓̂́̎̂̔̓́̾̀̂̍̌͒͐̽̓̇̃̓͂́͛͋̌̚̕̕͜͝͠͠n̷̨͔̪̗̫̹̪̭̦̝̰̟̖̥͉͓̦͚̥̳̻̼͚̥̝̹̩̹̰̬̲̹͋̔̾̃͛̃͊̓̊̀́̈́̚͝ͅͅͅ
After he said that, everything went black…
END OF PERCEIVED LOG