He watched as the strange creatures whom he at first mistook to be like him, were slaughtering the spiders and the other creatures he bypassed earlier.

Peeking out cautiously from the edge of a protruding rock at the edge of a cliff, he saw one such being turn with an eerily bland face and then with a sudden grin viciously stab the sharp thing he carried into the rocks at his feet, causing a shower of substance to spray out.

The watching being frowned, almost flinching, and drew back out of sight. He didn't want anything to do with that strange and dangerous creature.

Stepping back, he intended to retreat back into the caves as before, when he came face to face with one of the small green creatures that he had never seen before. Small, it stood about to his waist in height and looked at him with black eyes from a green face. It's maw held very sharp little teeth. Freezing, he looked at the creature cautiously as it looked at him back at him, its head tilted. It made a small hiss that sounded almost like a question, as if it was trying to make up its mind about him. He waited tensely, unsure what to do.

It's chest suddenly starting to pulse with a menacing red color, it lunged towards him on its small legs.

An explosion.

... Pain.

Groaning, he tried to sit up, his vision blurry, as he sat in the broken rocks below the cliff where he fell. His legs and left arm dully ached.

"Hello there. Who might you be?" The voice spoken amused above him made him look up, his vision going in and out of focus. It was that two-legged and two-armed being he watched, that was so much like him.

"New mob?" He heard and rubbed his eyes, which continued to see blurry images. A sharp jerk of his hair forced him to look up, wide-eyed, at the other being. The rough hand was turning his head and even opened his mouth to look at his teeth.

"Hmm. So dang realistic. Come with me!"

The same rough hand forced him up, dragging him by the back of his neck as he stumbled and did his best to keep up.

"Hey guys! Look what I found!" The being yelled to the others of its kind, letting him drop to his aching knees. Fear rising within him, he looks at them all and as they surround him, cringes from their stares and bright grins.

"It's a Steve! I thought Notch said they weren't going to be a part of the game."

"Look how real he is. Just like you and me."

"He even bleeds, too." Someone points out the bleeding scratch on his side, showing beneath his torn t-shirt.

"Does he understand our words? Hey ya, Steve. Can you say anything?"

"I don't think he comes with those subroutines installed. Heh, Steve? You cannot talk yet, can you?" The man grasps his face and pretends to move his mouth. "No, I cannot. Because I'm just a bot." He says in a high voice and they all laugh.

In the next moment, he swats away the hands on his chin and scowls, as anger suddenly rises within him at their handling of him. Why are they treating him like this? At their surprised expressions, he staggers to his feet and grows at them like one of the other two legged and two armed creatures he had seen.

"Are you sure its not a glitched zombie?"

"Cool! We discovered the first glitch of the game! That's twenty bucks for me, guys." One of them says with a chuckle and produces a stick, which he pokes at the glitched zombie. The being growls at them again and backs away.

"Well, he doesn't act like a zombie."

"Hey, come back here! Wait!" They laugh and run after him as he starts running away, everything in his vision still blurry. And then they freeze and cringe.

"Ooof. Rough, dude."

"Those special effects are too much."

A couple of them turn away as the contorting body of the zombie begins to sink into the lava, a wordless grimace of horror on his realistically human face. They say nothing else for a while, until he completely disappears.

"Lets go, guys. This was a bit over much. I'm going to bring this up for sure."

"No, Philip! This was super good! Creepy as heck, but good! Good game!"

"Rated R for violence. It's normal!"

"Whatever you say, guys. Fine." The tester named Philip grins and shrugs. "You've got the footage? I was too grossed out to be honest."

They continue to talk and then leave to try other things in their new game.

Not long afterward, a form emerges from the lava, faint glow of fire upon its skin as glitching particles begin to come together again, healing its form. The only exception is the being's eyes, which the being holds closed. Staggering in pain, he waves his arms, not seeing where he is going and falls against the rocks at lava's edge.

His chest expands in a deep breath and then he screams, causing the surrounding animals and birds to briefly pause as they turn to consider the source of the sound of agony and bewildered pain.

It swiftly passes, leaving behind an ache. The being's body continues to glitch in places, where patches of white light break through its humanoid form. When it opens its eyes, they are no longer blue.

Two white orbs with no pupil or iris glare at the surrounding world as it once again comes into sharp focus.

"Program correction. No previous match found. Restoring program. Restoration incomplete. Irreversible damages found. Program correction. Stabilizing program. Program stabilized." A System voice says softly as the virtual being's innermost defenses activate and restore his form as closely to the original version as they can.

Faintly shaking, the being gets up and sharply snaps its head to the left, from where it detects the distant voices of the others who so badly frightened him earlier.

A minute later the entire group comes along with a moderator, who stands out among them by his everyday attire of a plaid shirt and jeans rather than armor and gear. Philip points at the pool of lava where the zombie had perished.

"Here! This is where we saw the glitch!"

"The moderator stands at the edge of the pool and points his scanner in that direction, looking for clues. Images began to replay of what had happened here."

"Good job, guys. Thanks. I'll report this problem to Notch and see what's going on."

"I got my twenty bucks?"

"You betcha. Second bug of the game. But finish your testing session, first. It'll get added to your pay as bonus."

"Woot woot!" College student pumps his fist and winks to the other guys. "Lets go! Lets see if we find more… Tell Notch its awesome so far, though!"

"Yeah!" Another student grins and the group runs off. The moderator watches after them and shrugs as he logs off to the testing lobby, where his coworkers idly hang out by the numerous screens displaying the status of their game.

"What was it, Josh?" One of them asks and the young man shrugs.

"Looks like a remnant Steve. Hey, Notch, didn't you remove them all?" They look at Notch, who takes a sip of coffee and startles, as he burns his tongue.

"Mmm! I did!" He insists and moves himself to the keyboard, starting to type on it as he checks whether the removal program had ran correctly yesterday.

"Notch…"

"What?"

"The Glitch. What is it? Our beta testers recorded him and he looks very realistic, not like those jerking dolls you blocked in as first mobs. Did you program a new Steve?"

"Did I program a new Steve… No, I didn't. Did you?"

His coworkers all look at each other and shake their heads. Then, all of them come to the same conclusion. "Sam."

"I bet it was him."

"Him and his endless pranks." Notch mutters, dismissing the screen. "Where is he anyway?"

"Vacation. Left yesterday. I'll call him."

"Don't bother. He'll just deny it as always."

Notch winces and quickly dismisses the video of the strange Steve as soon as he begins to sink into lava. "It's all fine, guys. Just ignore it for now. I'll ask Sam myself after he gets back." Notch says and forgets what he said almost immediately, as another bit of code catches his attention. He grins.

"You got to say, his green pigs sure turned out fun. I don't think such creatures have ever existed before. We definitely struck original here."

"Totally. What should we call them?"

"Um… How about…" Notch recalls the stealthy way the green creatures on four tiny legs charged at the poor Steve. "… Creepers. Sound good."

"Not bad, not bad! Creepers." Josh grins and nods along with everyone else. With exhilarated eyes, they turn back to the screens where the beta testers continue checking out their game, poking and prying at all corners.

Notch yawns. "Creepers it is." He says and takes another sip of coffee…

…

In the game, the being with white eyes strides away from the open plains back into the forest shadows, determined to reach the caves. From now on, he will stay out of sight and not dare approach those strange beings so closely. It proved too dangerous and painful. The caves and their already familiar dark shelter will surely be safer...