A/N: Hey guys! A slightly boring chapter here, but better to lay down some of the basics before moving on with my story.

Oh, and all information regarding ASL is found through online resources. If I happened to get any of it wrong, just tell me!

Till then, IceWrecker out!

Chapter 11

'Ralph' / Terrance

Running my finger across the bottom of the pie tin, I scrape the last flaky bit of the pastry off and proceed to lick it clean. About a week ago, when RJ transferred his cash for the first time to me, he introduced something called a 'pie'. He didn't tell me anything else about this 'pie' thing, though, so it was up to myself to discover what in the Internet did he mean by that.

Luckily, some of the netizens (they didn't recognize me, if you're wondering) knew what a 'pie' was, and quickly directed me to a website that sold this stuff. It was a weird feeling, waiting in line and placing my BuzzzyBuxxx card on the counter when it is my turn, paying for the stuff I wanted. It was such a stark contrast to the action of stealing just a few days ago that I can't help but laugh out loud at the memory.

But once the transaction was complete and the character in-charge handed me the pie over, all my current thoughts drained from my head. The object on the counter in front of me was definitely unfamiliar, yet I got the nagging feeling I had seen it before. Still, I couldn't tear my gaze away from the pie on the counter, hot and steaming, with a scent unlike anything I'd experienced before. I'm not sure what was in the pie, but I had a feeling that it would taste amazing. Without thinking, I reached over a hand and touched it, only to reel it back almost immediately.

"Careful! It's hot, sir! Here, let me wrap it up for you."

Sucking my finger, I watched as the character took out a small piece of cardboard from under the counter and folded it into a box, sliding the pie inside. As if afraid that the box wasn't enough, he then took out a piece of string of suitable length and wrapped it around the box, tying a delicate knot at the very top. Judging by the calmness of his actions, it was if he didn't know the very character he was serving to was a virus. Still, I didn't do anything else, just in case.

With the box completely wrapped up, the character pushed it towards me on the counter. I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn't notice I was holding up the line until the character cleared his throat, pointed the box, and told me to move aside. Blushing slightly, I took the box and tucked it under my poncho, its heat warming me as I left the website and returned to my home.

When I got back to the Older Net, the box was still warm, but not hot enough to burn my fingers. Brushing my hands onto my poncho, I carefully pull the box out and set the pie down on the ground. Even as it had cooled down, the pie still looked as delicious as ever when I first bought it.

It took all my might to hold myself not to stuff headfirst into the pie, yet instead tear off a small portion of it before eating. It was strange, but not as strange as the action of actually buying this pie from earlier. In fact, as I ate, a part of me was still denying everything that just happened. That I just managed to buy stuff legally from a vendor without anyone noticing. But it was so worth it, all so worth it. The pie was just as wonderful as I thought in my mind, flaky and full of flavor. The fact that I did not get this pie from stealing just makes it taste even more delicious.

As soon I finished my current piece of pie, I quickly tear off another slide for myself. Once I went through the entire thing, I sat back and found myself craving for more, but at the same time I don't think I should use all my money this way. I know RJ gave them all to me, but he definitely wouldn't want me to cash it all on pies, right?

The very next day, I woke up to find another sum of money stored into my account; from my friend, of course. Despite what I decided the day before, I then went back to the same website, went back in line, and bought myself two pies of different flavors. The character raised his eyebrows when he saw me, and I was afraid that this time he knew who I was. It turned out he indeed recognized me…as the customer that came the day before. He was so thrilled to see one of his customers again that he didn't hesitate to serve me more of his pies. The day after that, though, I didn't return to the website; instead I wandered to another part of the Internet, trying to buy myself something else to eat. Soon, I began to discover more parts of the Internet with my journeys, going into more websites than I expected, even starting a conversation or two with some of the characters that happened to be in my way. Sometimes the characters would stop to help me on my journeys, pointing in the direction I wanted to go, all without the thought of turning me over in their words. I was still very confused by it all, confused that the netizens were not as bad as what I had in mind all along…

It seems like ironically, under my poncho, I am able to bring more of myself out, show a version of myself that I don't think the Internet has ever seen before. I don't know if this is a sign of me changing further, nor is this a good thing, but I don't resist it. I'll probably ask RJ if I can if this is something I should let it continue, but don't think it matters if I don't stop it now.

I lick the pie tin once more. Apart from the website that I discovered at the start of the week, I found several more pie-selling websites in another section of the Internet. To be frank, they were located on the other side of the Internet, and it took me quite a while to head there and back. But that didn't stop me from going there to get myself some pie; and also for another reason…

On the ground next to me, several cards and pieces of paper are lying in stacks. Right next to the website that I just mentioned, a website that provided printing services was located. There, I used some more of my cash to print out some teaching notes and guidelines on ASL. The last time I've seen my friend is about a week ago; enough time for me to go and prepare materials to teach him sign language. Not that I want to say bad things behind my friend's back, but RJ is absolutely terrible at this. So terrible, that I decided to teach him right from the basics. And even then I might have to take quite a while before we move on to the intermediate stuff.

To be honest, RJ doesn't even need to know how to sign the words; he just needs to understand what I trying to express when I'm signing. But he insisted that he wants to learn how to sign it himself, just in case…

I toss the tin aside. RJ will be arriving any minute, eager to learn my language. And I have to be ready for him. He might have some sandwiches with him, as per the tradition, but that is not my focus right now. My mission today is that by the end of my lesson, RJ would have known how to interpret the alphabet in ASL and learn how to fingerspell, or even understand a few basic words and phrases.

At least, that's what I'm hoping will happen. RJ has faith in me; I can't let him down, right?

I hear someone descending from one of the ladders nearby and I smile. Right on time. I think, restacking some of the fallen papers and standing up. Sure enough, my friend had arrived in the Older Net, ready for his first lesson in sign language.

"Hey, Terry!" RJ calls cheerily "Ya got the…"

Suddenly, his face falls, and he starts tugging on the metallic device on his chest in frenzy. I can see fear in his eyes, something I don't think I've seen in RJ before. This must be something important that he's doing, given how serious he looks.

RJ grunts and twists on his device, and at the same time I can see his figure starting to flicker. I start to get confused: RJ is a Glitch, so flickering is something common to him. I've seen him glitching and flickering almost every time I saw him, and he seemed to be okay with it. So why the frenzy? Why the sudden seriousness?

I get my answer almost immediately.

With a yell, RJ wrestles the device off his chest and tosses it to the side, ignoring the smashing sound it made upon contact with the ground. It is then his figure explodes in a flurry of green sparks, glowing and continuous, like a blaze of fire rising out of the ground. Within the flames, I can hear RJ screaming, clearly in pain as he glitches again and again and again, his flickers bringing him to the ground. His glitches are so powerful, I can barely make out his silhouette underneath it all; from where I'm standing, RJ is just a bundle of blinding green light, lighting up the darkness.

RJ screams again, his cries piercing through the Older Net with agony. Instantly, I am reminded of my treatment in BuzzzTube, the virus-precaution cuffs snapped onto my wrists and burning my code alive. The only thing different is that at least my pain is stopped when the cuffs were removed; with RJ, though…I don't even know what is causing the pain!

But I just can't stand here and do nothing! I can't! Shielding my eyes from the brightness, I run to where RJ is still twitching in pain. I reach out a hand, trying to do something to help my friend ease his pain, but a voice cuts through the blinding light, stopping me. I gasp, realizing the voice belongs to RJ.

"Don't…" He manages to mutter, his eyes teary with pain "Don't come near me…don't touch me!" RJ squeezes his eyes shut again, and continues screaming.

I withdraw my hand, confused.

He clearly needs help, why would he telling me not to do this? It's so unexpected, but I keep my distance from RJ anyway, just in case.

My friend continues twisting and turning and yelp and screaming, and I'm just standing there to the side, confused why I am not allowed to help. The screams continue, along with the bright flashes of light, for maybe a minute more; before all of a sudden, the Older Net is plunged back into darkness and silence.

For a while, I am just stunned by what just happened, so stunned that I didn't start going to where RJ was to see if he needed help. Very carefully, I inch to where my friend was. There on the ground, RJ just lies there, unmoving. His hair is messy on one side, his posture is twisted awkwardly, and his clothes seemed like they were burnt slightly. Seeing RJ like this, I'm really worried for him, yet at the same time I know there must be a reason that he told me not to touch him. Looking around me, I see a stick; I think it's made of wood, propped on the wall nearby. So I go over, grab it, and start to lightly poke RJ's side.

Come on… I think as I continue poking. Come on! Wake up! Wake up, RJ!

My friend doesn't move, not even in the slightest. I feel my code racing as I poke him harder, praying for him to wake up. WAKE UP! WAKE UP!

"Ugggggh…" I hear moaning from below, and the stick drops from my hand as I see RJ open his eyes. Almost immediately he shuts them again, but I can see his head slightly shaking as he gains more conscious by the second, slowly getting stronger

RJ! Are you alright? I ask.

RJ groans again. He's still lying face down, but at least he can now open his eyes and look at me. "I am now, I guess…Yeah; guess I'm fine…for now."

You should have let me help! I tell him. You look terrible, and I don't know if you're going to get a game-over!

"Yeah, I know. Wonderin'…wonderin' the same thing as well. Guess I got lucky." RJ says, panting. "But…no matter what happened…back there…Ya can't…ya can't touch me. If ya touched me…ya'd be already dead by now."

Wait what?

What do you mean? I ask through my board.

With a few more seconds of panting, RJ manages to sit up. "My Glitch, 'tis too strong for me to handle. At most times, I am able to control it, and use it like a normal power. But sometimes…sometimes it gets out of control and it explodes within me, in the form of a Glitch Attack. At that moment…" RJ glances to the side, grimacing "my Glitch is at 'tis most dangerous. 'Tis full energy is surgin' through me and ya don't even want to know what happens if ya touched me! Believe me, Terrance; I've nearly killed characters with my Glitch Attack before and I don't want ya to suffer the same."

With that, RJ starts to stand up, but his prosthetic gives away and he crumbles to the ground before stumbling forwards again. Seeing him struggling, I would have helped RJ by now, if not for the words he just said.

RJ's Glitch can kill?!

His Glitch is that dangerous?!

I don't think RJ had told me anything about his Glitch before. Sure, I've seen him use his Glitch to get from place to place with complete ease, but I just thought of it as a random power. What just happened was nothing like I've seen RJ's Glitch behave before, and I can't help but wonder if there's anything RJ is hiding from me about his Glitch. With what he just said, though, it turned out RJ's Glitch was something more powerful than I imagined. RJ had a prosthetic leg instead of a real one: did his Glitch cause that to happen?

I suck in my breath, finally understanding everything. No wonder RJ didn't want me to touch him while he glitched; he knew exactly what would happen to me, and it was not good, not good at all.

So are you okay now?

RJ stands up from where he'd just fallen and stretches himself. He shakes his arms about, readjusts his prosthetic, and lets out a couple of glitches. At this moment I tense up, afraid that he'll suffer another attack with his glitches, but this time it is if RJ knew what he was doing.

After shaking and glitching for a while, RJ goes over to his pack and digs out a device, the same metallic device that he tossed aside just before the Glitch Attack hit. He screws it open, twisting until the center glowed a brilliant green. RJ glitches one more time, and then he turns to face me.

"Yeah, I'm okay." He says. "Shall we begin?"

Okay, so the first thing you need to learn about ASL is how the alphabet looks like. I write on the board.

"Uh, well, but I think we both already do!" RJ says with a look of skepticism.

Yes, but there's a different symbol for each letter and I'm gonna tell you which is which. I place my board down, turn around, and grab one of the papers resting on the top deck. The 26 letters, along with their respective signs, are printed on it. I pass the paper to RJ.

RJ holds the paper close to his face and studies it, his eyes narrowing in concentration as he tries to figure out what it means. For the past few encounters, RJ was the one in charge, and I was the one tagging along for the trip. But today, it is a nice surprise to see our roles have been reversed, that I'm now the teacher and RJ's the pupil, eager to learn what I'm about to tell him.

"Oh, so that's what ya mean…" RJ says, looking up from the paper. "But I see some arrows here and there. What do they mean, Terrance?"

Oh, those are action signs. You need to follow them to sign the letter. I erase my board and start again. For example, with 'J'… I hold up my hand, clutched in a fist apart from my pinky, and twirl it towards me, like I'm writing the letter in mid-air. And with 'Z'… I point towards RJ and make a zigzag; again, like I'm writing the letter.

"Oh, I see…But why the trouble?" RJ asks, "Couldn't they just invent new signs for these two letters instead?"

Who knows? I shrug. I'm just a user.

"So if I want to sign my name, then I just…" He holds up his left hand, holds up his index and middle fingers and crosses them; then he curls it in a fist, minus pinky, and twirls it towards himself. He then looks up at me, his head cocked, awaiting my response.

Yes! I mouth, making a thumbs-up on both hands. Though we usually sign it with our right hand. I add with my board.

"Sorry, I'm left-handed." RJ replies, shrugging himself.

Well, I guess that works too. I write, giggling a bit.

"I wonder if anyone would sign with both hands at the same time, one letter on each." RJ thinks aloud, picking up the paper again.

I wouldn't advice that. I reply, giggling again. I mean, it is possible, but that's not for a beginner. Besides, I use one hand for most of the time.

"Okey-dokey. So what's the next step?" RJ asks, tapping his chin.

I pick up my board again. I'm going to teach you to fingerspell. It's a bit confusing at the start, but pretty easy once you know it.

With that, I 'tell' RJ to look at the paper, then I start signing, moving my fingers one sign after the next. Second and third fingers pointing to my left, hand closed in fist with the thumb clearly visible, pointing a finger gun upwards, repeat, hand not completely closed in fist. I let my hand drop limply to my side, my signing complete.

There is a moment of silence. RJ scratches his head, trying to understand what I had done. Slowly, I sign the above pattern again, and look at RJ.

"Uh…what are ya signin'?" RJ asks, cocking his head in confusion.

Just the alphabet. I explain. I'm signing the letters one by one. Find out which one I'm doing, and spell out the word from them.

"So that's why ya called it 'fingerspellin'!" RJ realizes. "Ya find the word from the signs!"

Bingo! I applaud, and then sign the letters once more. RJ looks from the paper to my hands and reads aloud the letters that he thinks I am signing. "Okay, so…that's an 'H'…then an 'E'…and then I think…uh…that's an 'L'…did ya just sign that again, Terry?...and then an…uh…this is an 'O'? Oh!"

RJ reels back from the paper and beams. "'Hello!' Ya were signin' 'hello' to me, is that right?"

I nod my head, grinning. You got it! Immediately, I start signing once more. For the next couple of minutes, I signed one word after the next, and RJ would try to understand what I am saying. Sometimes, however, he would interrupt me in the middle of a signing to try and sign the word himself, but it is not as easy as he thought it would be. He keeps messing up some of the letters, like the Es and the Ms and the Ns and the Os and the Ss and the Ts, yet I can see he's trying very hard to understand my language. But soon it became easier for RJ, and he was able to sign a few words with the letter signs I taught him that I am able to understand.

"'Tis is fun." RJ says, twirling his fingers. "Though 'tis a bit of a hassle to sign everythin' with these letter signs; that's gonna take a while."

You have a lot to learn, my friend. I smile. We've got signs for almost every single word available. Fingerspell is just the beginning.

RJ's grin immediately flatters. "But…oh God, I'm so takin' that compliment back. I didn't know there's more to 'tis! I thought that after ya've learnt the alphabet, then that's it! I've learnt everythin'!"

I laugh. Yeah, there's a lot going on. But I have some cards that show some basic words and phrases. In fact, let me teach you some right now!

I put my board down, and start giving a bunch of basic ASL phrases to RJ. I sign quickly, but also enough for RJ to memorize each one before moving to the next.

Hello: I put my right hand near my head and do a sorta-salute.

Goodbye: I hold up my hand and bend down my fingers to touch my palm quickly.

I am: I point a finger at myself. There's several more versions to signing this, but I use this the most.

Yes: My hand in a fist, I jerk the hand up and down, as if I am knocking.

No: Holding up my first three fingers, I squeeze the fingers together, shaking my head for emphasis.

Please: I place my right hand flatly on my chest and move it clockwise.

Thank you: I place my hand near my mouth and move it forwards, towards RJ.

And there you have it! These are some common ones I use, but there are more words on the cards I've prepared. With that, I take the stack of cards that I've prepared and side them over to RJ. At least, I tried to slide them over: some of the cards toppled from the pile as I passed them over. Almost immediately, RJ scoops them up and quickly replaces them onto the original stack. He glances at the cards, then at his pack, and then at the cards again. I'm guessing that he's trying to see if he can somehow stuff them all into there.

You can take some of it now, I'll keep the rest when you return. I offer. I can see his face light up when I wrote this, and smiling, RJ takes some of the cards and pushes the rest back to me. I have no idea which cards RJ now had in his hands, and whether or not the words on them are really useful to us both. I make a mental note to sort the cards by category and pass the ones I think are the most useful to RJ the next time we have our lesson.

As RJ studies the cards in his hands, I begin signing mindlessly on my own. Without thinking much, I hold out both hands, both index fingers hooked up. With my right hand flipped towards my face, I hook my finger from the other hand onto the first. Quickly, I then reverse the position for my hands, this time with the left hand flipped when the fingers are hooked.

I know I shouldn't have signed this word out, yet I don't think I can undo it as I look up to see RJ glancing intensely at my hands. It is clear that he'd just seen me sign, and is now awaiting my explanation.

And sure enough…

"What does that mean?" RJ asks.

"Friend."

RJ looks up at me with surprise, and that is when I realized that I just spoken aloud. I use my board or ASL for most of the time that I forget I am able to speak that particular word, not that there's any reason for me to say that out loud, though. Almost by instinct, I look away, but then I remember that RJ is not one of the characters that is out to get me, that he isn't bothered by this. With that in mind, I turn my head back to where RJ is sitting.

Slowly and carefully, RJ holds up his hands and hooks the index fingers. He sticks his tongue out as he tries to mimic my actions, having some difficulty as he tries to place his fingers in the right places. I laugh, and without second thought, reach out and grab both his hands, helping him hook the fingers together.

"I must be terrible at 'tis, right Terrance?"

I look at RJ, and he returns my gaze sheepishly. He jerks his wrists and I release my grip on them. I then take my board and write my response on it. You're just a beginner, RJ. I write. Everyone has their first try at everything.

"Yeah, but…there's just so much to learn! How can I understand everythin'?!"

You don't need to remember everything. I reassure RJ. You just need to remember the common words that I use. And besides, you don't need to sign yourself, you just need to know what I'm saying.

"Yeah, but I want to learn how to sign too! I mean," RJ argues back "I wanna learn how ya do yer language too!"

Don't be impatient. I remind my friend. You'll get it in time.

RJ looks straight at me. Then he breathes in deeply, and starts to slowly move his hands. His movements are much more cumbersome than mine, but at the same time his signs are unique in a way that I cannot explain.

"Okay, so…get it together RJ." He mutters as he puts down the cards and starts signing for real.

He puts his left hand up and waves at me. "Hello…I am…RJ." He speaks aloud while saying the words. He points at me, and then back at himself. "You…me…" He flips one hand and hooks the fingers together, before doing the same with the other hand. "Friend."

He lets his hands fall, and none of us do anything. Then gingerly, RJ breaks the silence.

"How did I do, Terrance?"

Instead of answering, I simply smile, giving my answer. RJ immediately gets it, and his face breaks into a smile as well. "Ya know, I knew it all along that ya were someone more than just a clone." He says, and then returns to his cards.

Suddenly, I feel myself jerk back unnaturally, as if RJ's words have affected in some way or another. The entire time when I was signing, I was having so much fun that I kinda forgotten who I really was. I mean, when I spoke the word "friend." aloud, I kinda remembered that I'm really just a clone; but what RJ said just now really hit it hard. That I wasn't really a real character, just merely a shadow of one.

Or am I?

My mind recalls my recent journeys on the Internet, the moments that I talked and interacted with the other netizens like I'm just another normal character. I remember that they were patient with me when they realized I can't speak, and were willing to exchange a conversation or two.

They never realized that I was not a character like them.

Or even if they did, they did not show it immediately.

Maybe it's because they're also starting to see me as a different character than a clone?

That I can be someone they can call unique?

I see RJ looking at me again, and he smirks. As if he's able to hear what's in my mind, he says "I think ya gotta have more confidence in yerself. Ya are really somethin' more, but ya just can't see him unless ya let him appear."

How do you know that? I ask, uncertain.

He smiles again. "I just do. And I think ya do too." I am about to write something more when RJ interrupts. "Come on! I think I got time to learn more on 'tis. Ya wanna teach me more?"

His wide grin banishes all the thoughts in my mind, enough for me to temporary forget who I really am once more. Smiling myself, I brush my hands and pick up my board, ready to teach some more.