Reviews :

Snake557 : You know me so well haha

Burgie : You'd be correct! Poor thing battles with himself until the end of time lol!


*Chapter 84*

"I really don't know what it is about you and thinking this process is going to hurt," Turbo mumbled with a sweet smile, he kindly allowed Berri to step down the small corridor, in his loft, that lead to the only teleportation pad, in the game, that entered his slice of the code room.

"Cause you're being all vague and weird about it, you're not telling me what you're going to do to me," Berri blurt, her voice echoed up into his second story loft, the narrow walls of the hallway they eased down, and as her feet hit the teleportation pad, Turbo's bare feet weren't far behind, either, "I don't know, my mind just goes to worst case scenario."

"I'm not going to hurt you, hell I'm not even going to be largely involved," Turbo stated in boyish cheek, and as the two came into Turbo's code room, Berri flinched in tender surprise. The three-sixty degree swathe of glass, that showcased the city, was veiled in a lovely illusion of curved walls, as if they were simply in a proper sphere of a code room. The lights were low, the air was warm, Berri sagged her shoulders and softly scuffed her feet to a halt, though Turbo's masculine figure pressed on with a cute peek over his shoulder, "I'm just a guiding hand."

"Wow, it's so... It's so still in here," Berri eased, the warm embrace of the dim lighting, the lovely glow of soft white his code room orb expelled out into the room, Berri raised her eyebrows in prickled surprise as she finally got a solid look at Turbo, who was faced away.

In a firm spike of surprise, Berri gawked at his strong, broad, masculine back and shoulder blades. Having told Berri to dress comfortably, he, too, was dressed in nothing but his favorite, faded red sweats. Although it was dim in the code room her and Turbo shared, Berri felt her stomach clench in delight at the raw sight in front of her, the gorgeous splay of artwork on Turbo's bare, upper back, which trailed to his lower back. A gorgeous sprawl of faded tattoos, two incredibly detailed racing flags with all sorts of little intricate details woven in between, stark blacks and dark greys that melted into his skin like molten mercury. Berri felt her face get hot, the gentle movement of his arms that made his sexy shoulder blades peak through his skin, the way he cued to his very own code room orb, Berri lulled her eyes shut and dared to step out into the code room, to join him. She was well aware he was on a hot pursuit to gain her heart, however slow and painful it was. She wondered if she'd ever cave, and although she desperately wanted to, she held firm to her beliefs and knew to keep it all at arms length, so to avoid getting hurt due to conflict of interest, even though doing so was also painful, in the process.

"You never told me you had tattoos," Berri chimed kindly as she finally stood next to Turbo, she shot him a coy look of snarky, smiling irritation; Turbo raised his eyebrows in surprise and shot her a look of mild confusion.

"O-Oh, the piece on my back?" Turbo staggered, he heaved a bashful chuckle and shook his head. He expanded his glowing, code room orb and now grew visibly bashful about it all, "I... I forget it's there, sometimes. Not every day I'm reminded of it."

"It's beautiful," Berri prod, and although she wanted to take one step back and ogle at the incredible artwork splayed all over Turbo's back, she refrained and knew that they were here for a different reason.

"Thank you... Got it back in my TurboTime days," Turbo sighed sadly, and although Berri was aware there was likely a huge story to said huge tattoo, she refrained and knew that it was likely sensitive; the way Turbo's eyes gently glanced to her, as if to insinuate that he'd be willing to tell said story, though somehow the shyness continued to overtake him, "Hurt like hell, but... I still cherish it to this day."

"I'll bet," Berri huffed a small giggle, and although Turbo gave her a smile of inquiry, he heaved a soft sigh and gently opened a small few indexes, holograms that began to splay out in front of him in the glowing, soft white atmosphere of it all. Berri crossed her arms and now exhaled a nervous sigh, as she continued on, "So... Tell me what's going on, here. Tell me just why my mother and grandmother, of all people, code room geniuses, referred me to you for this issue."

"...Ouch," Turbo choked, though Berri jolted and rushed to his aid.

"No, no, I wasn't trying to insult you, I-I just..." Berri grew flustered, and though Turbo lofted her a kind smile of understanding, she frowned and lovingly held her hand to Turbo's lower arm, which was rested at his side, "I guess I'm just confused, is all. That came out wrong... Just, please... I have a lot of questions."

"It's okay, Bear, I was just teasing," Turbo volleyed her a sweet smile and shook his head, he shrugged and looked off in contemplation, though after a moment of thinking, his gaze turned into a far off look of rising sorrow, "I just... I know so much about coding because, well... I was a glitch for the past thirty years."

"How is that possible?" Berri wondered softly, they stood tight to each other's sides as Turbo's code room displays hung before them in readied wait.

"Well, Libby was Sugar Rush's first prototype glitch, the very first Queen," Turbo's voice was warm, soft and deep. His tender gaze sagged into Berri's, a hopeful show of fishing for her understanding, "Because Libby and I swapped codes, I became a glitch as well."

"... And when her game got unplugged," Berri danced around the topic with the utmost care, though Turbo inhaled a deep breath, his broad bare chest expanded in readiness, an eagerness to put the past behind him, and with a nod, he stepped into the very center of his code room and prepared to teach Berri this valuable coded lesson.

"I had thirty years to either be trapped with dying coding, or thirty years to learn the hell out of it and try not to let it destroy me from the inside out," Turbo's voice grew in strength, he stood out before Berri and now faced her, the gentle gloss of the low, dim, creamy lights splayed upwards into Turbo's body, accenting the gentle show of muscles on his core. The menu displays gently flickered and eased back into Turbo's glowing code room orb, and although it typically would be glowing red, a dominant show of his own coding, his whole code room seemed to be in an entirely different setting, as if it were hovering in a read-only mode. Turbo's warm, inviting eyes smiled into Berri's, and although he was never good at instructing or teaching, he felt at ease in Berri's dewy, spongy presence, "I had gone so long without a code swap, just trapped with all that swirling coding. I HAD to learn it and conquer it, before it learned and conquered me. That's where the nasty stereotype came from... I wasn't about to let it rot me to my core."

"That's impressive, Turbo," Berri assured gently, she crossed her arms and patiently awaited his instructions; she wore a comfortable grey t-shirt and a pair of comfortable black leggings, ones that hugged her figure in its entirety. Her long blue hair was long and straight down her back, a glossy, shiny splay of gorgeousness that nearly kissed the backs of her thighs. Berri smiled into Turbo's eyes and side-eyed him in narrowed kindness, "Not a lot of people would be able to make it out the other end of that with all their synapses in tact."

"I nearly didn't," Turbo choked a small laugh and looked down, to which Berri smiled and relished in his contagious laughter, "But, what I've learned, over the thirty years, is cooperation, healing. Your coding is an extension of yourself... There are a few different segments of your coding that need attention and TLC. As any normal gamer, they'd only really think of just one branch of their coding, and as glitches, you have two... But the third segment is probably the most important."

"What are all three of them?" Berri asked quietly.

"The first one, that everyone is familiar with, that everyone in this Arcade shares, is interior coding," Turbo gently rested his hand to his bare middle, "This is something that can be replenished by code swap, or, well... To put it bluntly, self service."

"...Please don't give me the 'talk'," Berri grumbled as she crossed her arms a little tighter, though Turbo blurt a small chuckle and shook his head.

"Trust me, no one would hate that more than me," Turbo blurt, to which Berri beamed a happy smile, the two filled the lovely, dim room with warm laughter. Turbo eased out of a small chuckle and wiped his eye a little, "Interior coding, something we're all familiar with in some way. Either by code swap, with another individual, or a system reboot all by your lonesome."

"Probably not as efficient?" Berri wondered cheekily; although the topic of it all was a little uncomfortable, she was glad the two were able to segue into it with grace.

"Actually, it's about equal," Turbo stated happily with an outward gesture of his hand, "If it's just your own coding, that's all it knows. So, it reboots and you're fine. Good stress relief. Same thing if you had a swap-mate. It's a refresh of shared coding all while lowering stress levels."

"...Turbo, a-are we..." Berri furrowed her brow in a spike of confusion and felt her face turn beet red, and although the topic of code swaps now hovered over them like neon lights, Berri began to feel a sprawl of nervousness cloak over her; Turbo urgently gestured his hand.

"NO, no, that's not why I brought you in here, no, for User's sakes, no," Turbo rushed, he huffed a small, shaky chuckle the second Berri beamed, sagged her shoulders and looked relieved, though not simply because she maybe didn't want to code swap with Turbo, though the idea that it all was maybe way too soon, here. Turbo bashfully rubbed the back of his neck and staggered to continue on, "C-Code swapping is definitely a solid, fool-proof way to get rid of stress lines, but, no... I-I'm here to teach you how to accomplish getting rid of them on your own, outside the act of anything involving interior coding. I'm going to teach you how to conquer it through the hardest avenue, so that you can strengthen your skills all around."

"So, interior coding is just a branch of stress relief that everyone would be familiar with," Berri giggled, the two caught their breath and eased to a warm calm, yet again, "So, what are the other two branches?"

"The second branch is one that only glitches are familiar with, as I'm sure you've already guessed it," Turbo gestured to her, and with ease, Berri allowed her silver coding to gently glow on the palm of her hand.

"Exterior coding," Berri chimed in delight, to which Turbo nodded in encouragement.

"Now, I can't glitch anymore, but I'd use that to my best ability, when I could," Turbo nodded, his lonely eyes hooked to Berri's in a soft sag of kindness, as if he maybe missed being a glitch, it having been something that was a major part of him for the entirety of his life, he almost peered to Berri in longing desire, the want for a special exterior swap was maybe something he secretly craved; something Berri dutifully noted, "Exterior swaps are something you're familiar with, obviously. They're good for conveying emotions you can't put into words, memories, thoughts... You can even have full-blown conversation just by utilizing the binary under your skin. It's an informational high way of data that can be used for all sorts of things."

"Yeah, whenever I'd cry, as a child, my mom would always exterior swap with me whilst she hugged me," Berri nodded in agreeing, to which Turbo lovingly smiled, "It always helped soothe me."

"It's a wonderful tool, though... You have to be careful who you choose to exterior swap with, in a time of emotional need. If their emotions are running hay-wire, or they're maybe not so emotionally stable, that could add stress to your coding, because then your coding is just taking on the burden of their troubles," Turbo explained tenderly, though Berri furrowed her brows in a pluck of realization.

"I never would've thought about that," Berri eased, she shook her head and sagged her shoulders, "I guess I've never come in contact with someone who wasn't mentally stable. Everyone I've ever exterior swapped with was just family."

Although Berri gently went down the small list of people she's ever exterior swapped with, it being her parents, Theo, Ace, Libby and Chester, she felt her pupils tighten at the raw fact that hit her square between the eyes. She raised her eyebrows in plucked surprise and caught eyes with Turbo, she held her breath as she could see the sweet, teasing smile of understanding quickly sprawl Turbo's cheeks, and with an exasperated noise of irritation, Berri gently cupped her face with her hands and gave Turbo an embarrassed look of desperation, as if to beg him to not mention the incident she knew the both of them remembered, like it was yesterday.

"I know I'm on that list," Turbo huffed a chuckle, though Berri groaned and covered her face in further embarrassment as Turbo's laughter grew, "Remember that one time you-"

"YES, Bo, I-I was mortified for DAYS afterwards, I nearly body-slammed you in the garage because I wasn't looking where I was glitch-hopping," Berri rushed in a whine, she giggled into her hands as Turbo's cute, deep laughter soaked the warm, dim room they were nestled in, "I'm serious, Turbo, I have never been more embarrassed in my entire life."

"Well, why! I thought it was so sweet," Turbo assured, though Berri raised her eyebrows in surprise and peered to Turbo in a strike of uplift, as if she was certain said embarrassing situation would just remain that way forever, though with Turbo's words, she was floored that the past was rewriting itself, "And, you didn't body-slam me, Berri, c'mon. You just fell into me, and I caught you."

"I was certain that you had no clue what to do with my coding, I probably popped your bubble like a million fireworks," Berri giggled, she remained bashful, though she peered her hopeful eyes to Turbo's and begged for him to keep rewriting that embarrassing incident.

"It was sudden, but, no, that exterior swap wasn't a strange occurrence to me," Turbo chuckled, he sagged his hands into the gape of his sweats' pockets, his broad, bare chest sagged with a sigh of delight as he sweetly peered into Berri's eyes, "I learned a lot about you in that one single bump."

"Ohhh I was hoping you wouldn't," Berri groaned in irritation as she covered her face, once more, though Turbo huffed a small chuckle and shook his head in delight, he dared to take a step closer to her, amidst their six-foot gap.

"Whatever information you gained about me, I got the same volley of info," Turbo assured as Berri gently peeked from her hands, once more. She relaxed the second Turbo warmly reached for her right hand, with his left, and lovingly held it between the two of them, "Don't fret. You know how exterior swaps work, and so do I. You know that the suddenness of it all is strictly just statistical information, at first. You really have to soak in someone's exterior code, for a minute or two, to reach their emotions and deeper thoughts. So if you're worried about that, then rest assured, the only information I got a solid look at was just your statistical information. Like, your height, gender, age, vitals."

"Phew," Berri huffed, she bashfully squeezed Turbo's hand and locked eyes with him, as if to silently express that him having access to all of those deeper emotions wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing, though at that point in time, they were just strangers. She sagged her shoulders and bobbed a gentle nod to him, "Thank you, for that. I was so worried you thought I was the weirdest person alive."

"Well... I mean, I do," Turbo teased, he choked a laugh as Berri gently removed her hand from his and swat at his bare chest. He took a step or two back and returned to his previous position, he carried on through a cute chuckle, "But, I like it. It's what makes you so great. Don't be embarrassed over that, I thought it was sweet."

"...'YOUR HIGHNESS'," Berri teased as she tensed her shoulders and held her hands and arms out, to playfully make fun of how Turbo looked in that incident of her bumping into him in the palace's garage, though Turbo sagged his arms and looked off in a climb of smiling irritability.

"Okay, don't start with that," Turbo muttered with a smile he tried to conceal.

"Fine, fine," Berri giggled as the two gently came to normality and eased off their playful laughs and banter. Berri tucked her hair behind her ears and gave Turbo a revived smile, "So... You've covered two branches of this, I guess... I didn't know there was a third. Is it something I can access?"

"Absolutely... And, little did I know, Throttle actually knew about these three branches, and even had learned the names for them," Turbo shrugged and gave Berri a bewildered smile, alongside a shrug, "I guess it was something he occasionally taught, when he was a professor in End of Line Academy."

"So, you figured it out, and later found out that Throttle knew about it all, as well?" Berri prod in curiosity, Turbo nodded and shrugged his hands into the gape of his pant's pockets, "Y'guys are way too sharp for your own good."

"It's not so much sharpness, as it is to the sheer amount of time we've been alive in this Arcade," Turbo eased, "As time goes on, you pick up on stuff. You'll see as your number goes up, you just obtain understanding. It's weird thinking about it all... Ten years ago, I was certain this knowledge was just useless and only helpful for my own good, it felt weird harboring all this coding knowledge and not being able to share it with someone."

Berri raised her eyebrows in gentle surprise, and as the two caught eyes, Turbo gently eased a kind smile in Berri's direction before he bashfully looked down to his feet and bobbed a nod of collected understanding.

"If you told me, ten years ago, that I'd be helping my best friend with her coding, who was Sugar Rush's princess, no less, I'd say you were crazy," Turbo blurt a small laugh and returned his kind gaze into Berri's twinkling eyes.

"I can't tell you how appreciative I am," Berri affirmed warmly, and as the two soaked into a soft silence with each other, Turbo finally exhaled a long, content sigh.

"You can always come to me for help, for anything," Turbo assured with a nod, "Although I will teach you how to do this all yourself, and give you the tools to strengthen your own coding, you can always ask me for advice."

Berri softened and picked apart Turbo's statement like a jigsaw puzzle. She gently narrowed her gaze and peered into Turbo's eyes; she was well aware Turbo's words were clear and concise, true and had depth, though she wondered here if he was begging her to read between the lines. She wondered if maybe her own mind was wanting to rush away with said hidden meanings, or if Turbo truly was making it clear that he wanted her to look a little closer at his statement. She could feel her heart begin to thud in knowing, the understanding that he was here to guide, but also to remain an outreached hand she could grab onto, if she needed, she could already feel her wavering heart begin to feel content in the idea of it all.

"You're the best," Berri concluded through a sigh and a smile, to which Turbo shook his head and looked down.

"I'm Sugar Rush's Knight... I swore to protect the royal family," Turbo pressed warmly, he gave Berri a cute, sneaky smile and lulled his eyes closed, "Even if it means protecting you from the downfall of your own coding. I'm here to help."

"I'm excited to get started," Berri nodded, knowing that this was only just a small introduction to whatever Turbo was prepared to teach her; he inhaled a readied breath and counted on his masculine fingers, out before him.

"So, we went over the first-most, outer ring of coding structure, known as the Cognizance Class, or... The exterior swap," Turbo rattled gently, he smiled and pressed on in gentle authority, "The act of sharing emotions, awareness, thoughts, ideas and tender loving care, all without using words. Expression beyond verbalizing what you need."

"Something only glitches can do, right?" Berri wondered, Turbo nodded and shrugged.

"Well, glitches and any gamer that a glitch comes in contact with, exterior-swap wise," Turbo eased as he held up two fingers, "The second, inner ring of coding structure is the Visceral Class, or, the interior swap... Also can be known as the code swap, sex, self-service... Everything in between."

"Wait... So, that's just an inner ring of coding structure? I thought that was the most INNER ring of it all that you could possibly get, I mean..." Berri gestured to her core and peered to Turbo in gentle confusion, "There's something more INNER than that?"

"Yep... That's exactly where your problem lies, within the Quintessence Class," Turbo eased, he shook his head and eyed Berri in a show of mild apprehension, for this venture, "I'm going to teach you how to access this branch of your coding, something I'm sure you have never accessed before... Well... Something I KNOW you haven't accessed before, due to the stress lines on your face and neck."

Berri sagged in all of Turbo's coded knowledge, terms and ideas she had never heard before, and it was here did she feel relieved that she had all of her mother's and grandmother's previous coding knowledge. Berri knew that if she were to go into this, with Turbo, entirely blind, she'd likely leave this session with a huge exhaustion headache. She inhaled a shaky breath and felt the gears in her mind turn, the very idea that Turbo had deeper knowledge on coding, deeper than the depths of interior coding, and it was here did she understand just how valuable of a friend Turbo was to her. Someone who previously had her same powers, someone who could be of great aid in the future. Berri tried not to allow romance to seep into these sticky corners of their blossoming, romantic interest, as if there were certain areas that were strictly out of bounds, though she wondered if somehow, in the secrecy of Turbo's walled off code room, she could potentially get away with one small dose of just what Turbo was made of.