Chapter 8

He knew who to search for the minute he found himself in the astral Morbot realm. He called out for her. "Void!" he yelled. "Are you here? Where are you?"

Glitch immediately noticed the state of the room. He warily looked around at the shattered Morbite. His reflections were disrupted by thousands of spidering cracks along the walls. There was an electric energy radiating through the air, accompanied by a faint but visible static and the soft sound of white noise. It really was like a disjointed simulation, a program that had been overtaken by a virus. Except the virus in this case is a mad scientist, Glitch informed himself. He studied the space further; one wall in particular was partially collapsed, allowing a way through to the other side. From what he was able to decipher, however, the hole led to nowhere, only darkness. He took in a final glimpse of the space behind him. This area had nothing left to offer. It was probably better to try moving on.

He stepped through.

Glitch expected the bottom of his foot to meet a floor, but it didn't. He fell for a moment, only to float back upward. It was as if this area lacked gravity. Despite how nervous he felt himself becoming, Glitch pushed himself to advance. He carefully pressed on, beginning his journey into the darkness. He kept straight and steady for the next several minutes. He found that a swimming motion—swinging his arms forward and outward while kicking out both feet—helped him move faster. The farther along he floated, the darker it became as the Morbite's light faded. He occasionally glanced at the room over his shoulder. It grew smaller with the distance growing between them, until it was nothing more than a faintly glowing, color-changing speck against the oil-black sea of nothing. Once he was cast in total darkness, he decided to turn on his headlight to try and make out what was ahead of him.

There was nothing. A part of Glitch was begging him to go back, especially after the cacophony of unknown howling sounds that arose seemingly from nowhere. The noises were shrill and metallic, belonging to creatures of some kind, it seemed. They sounded far away but placed Glitch in a state of unease, regardless. He told himself to keep moving. He figured there had to be something out there to find.

Glitch came across it a few minutes later. There was something small but bright waiting up ahead. It was like a tiny star against a black sky, until Glitch made it closer. There was eventually enough light to where he no longer needed his own. He switched it off, just as he fully approached the bright object. His eyes grew wide.

It was Void. She sat alone on a single, large sheet of Morbite. It acted as a makeshift platform, keeping her afloat in the dark. Glitch hurried toward Void, anxious to reach her. He stepped onto the Morbite surface and took a few careful steps forward. He stopped for a few seconds to study her. The Morbite fragment was even larger than he managed to judge from the air, making her much farther away than he realized. Her back was turned while she sat quietly by herself.

"Void!" Glitch shouted her name.

She jerked her head up at the sound of the familiar, echoing voice. Glitch watched her anxiously turn to look at him. Her glowing optics brightened the moment she saw him. "Glitch!" she exclaimed.

Glitch rushed toward her as fast as his legs could carry him. Void eagerly took his hands into her own, elated to see him again.

"You came!" she breathed. "I was finally able to connect with you! I did not think it would work."

"We haven't talked in ages," Glitch said. "You okay?"

Void nodded. "I am," she replied.

"What are you doing way out here?" Glitch gave her time to get on her feet before answering. She immediately towered over him.

"This realm is no longer safe." Void sadly lowered her head. "It falls apart as we speak. When I was finally able to return, I managed to make it to our usual meeting area. But Dr. Exavolt was waiting. He drove me away."

"Say what?" Glitch experienced a flare of anger from the information. Exavolt was clearly the one who destroyed the realm before, but he didn't make himself known. The thought of him coming back and making a full appearance to scare Void off made Glitch boil inside. "He didn't hurt you, did he?" He couldn't stop himself from asking.

Void quickly shook her head. "No," she answered. "I got away before he could. I found this body of Morbite to stay on and waited for you here." She gestured to the large fragment they were standing on together.

Glitch briefly looked down at it. "I wonder where it came from," he said. "And how'd it get all the way out here?"

"Perhaps it broke off from another part of the realm," Void proposed. "But I am not sure where. I am not too eager to find out, either." She gave a small laugh. It was one of amusement, but there was a hint of fear in it, as well.

Glitch chuckled. "You and me both," he agreed, looking out at the vast dark space surrounding them.

A bit of time passed before either of them said anything else. Glitch suddenly looked down at his feet, as if something troubled him. Void noticed and grew concerned. She got down to his level again. "Are you all right?" she asked. It wasn't until Glitch met her eyes that she remembered what it could be. "Ah," she uttered softly. "I see."

"I screwed up big-time," Glitch muttered.

Void became confused.

"Uh…it means to mess up real bad. I made a mistake," Glitch elaborated.

"Oh!" Void put a hand up to her forehead. "Please forgive me for not knowing," she sighed.

"It's cool!" Glitch insisted. "Everything else isn't, though. I can't believe I blew up the gateway."

"It was not your fault," Void placated. "Destroying the gateway was not your intention."

"If the Colonel finds out, he'll kill me," Glitch fretted.

Void giggled. "I do not think he would go that far!" she said.

"So what, should I break it to 'em?"

"It would be wise! Colonel Alloy cares for you, Glitch." Void spoke to him endearingly. "You are more than just a soldier to him. This I am certain of."

Glitch thought her words over. There was so much going on over the past two months that he forgot Void even knew about the Colonel. When she brought him to the Morbot realm, he wasn't just connected to her conscience, but vice versa. Glitch wondered if that meant he was capable of seeing her thoughts, as well, and just didn't know how.

It was a matter for another time; he was more concerned about their worlds. "What do we do about the Morbot gateway? Can it be fixed?"

"It can," Void confirmed.

"Really?" The news rekindled Glitch's faith.

"Yes," said Void, "there is a solution."

She got back down to Glitch's level and briefly closed her eyes. Her body began emitting a strong glow as she channeled a powerful force. Glitch stood back a little as the glow became stronger. It suddenly shrank in size, eventually culminating in Void's hands. The glow developed into various shapes, which came together, forming a schematic. Glitch walked back over to analyze it.

"This is a map of Iron Star." Void began to explain. "Long ago, the Morbots designed a convenient way to navigate the world without interfering with the inhabitants on the surface. They created entry points, or, as we call them, gateways. The planet's surface can be separated into five main elements: earth, ice, metal, magma, and scrap. These elements are exclusive to their respective regions. They each have their own gateways. They are connected, of course, both physically and supernaturally. When one is affected, the force is disrupted. When the remaining gateways are awoken one by one, however, they will channel their energies to their chosen being. The being will be able to use the power they are given to restore what is broken.

"Reach the gateways in every region and activate their powers," Void directed. "You'll need to collect their respective keys along the way to do this."

Power chips, Glitch realized, remembering the chip in Krunk's possession. He is not gonna wanna give that up after what happened last time.

By now, Void had risen again. She looked down at Glitch with a hopeful, encouraging gaze. Glitch briefly looked away. He would need help getting to the other Morbot gateways, and for that, he would have to buckle down and come clean about the one in Droid Town. It's gotta get done, he asserted to himself. Man up and do what you gotta do.

"I'll do it." He decided with his eyes still lowered. "I'll tell the Colonel what happened. If he doesn't send me to the scrap heap, he'll hopefully be on board with the plan. And Krunk, too. I just got a quick question."

Void stayed quiet, listening.

"You said the gateways will lend their energy to the bot they choose," he recalled. "I'm assuming that's whoever activates them. Will I be able to use it to stop Exavolt?"

Void was about to answer when her first word was interrupted by another one of the horrifying shrieking sounds in the distance. This one, however, sounded much closer than the rest. Glitch and Void frantically scanned the dark depths from their position.

"Please tell me you've got some idea of what the hell that is," Glitch said.

Void gulped. "I do not," she responded, her voice shaking.

A distorted face revealed itself from the black depths. It was warped and grotesque, bordering an animal and something inorganic. It glared at its potential prey with two sinister glowing red eyes and a growl. Glitch, nor Void, had ever seen anything like the creature that was hurling itself toward them now. It flew at them full-force, snapping its jaws. Glitch and Void ducked, causing it to miss them both by only a hair.

"Get behind me!" Glitch instinctively shielded Void as she followed his command and took her place at his rear. He hoped it would do some good in protecting her given how much her height exceeded his. He shoved the thought to the back of his mind while arming himself. The metal creature flung itself forward again, but not without cloning itself. But Glitch was still prepared. He hurled a Cleaner in their direction. The grenade split itself into two—one for both targets. They landed direct hits. The creatures left behind hideous screeches as they were blown to pieces in the air. Glitch and Void dropped down to protect themselves from the falling debris.

They thought the commotion was over until they heard more of the same screeching noises from all over. It wasn't long before they were suddenly met with an entire horde of robotic, animal-like monsters.

"Yep, time to bounce!" Glitch declared.

Void was about to ask him what he meant by that when he grabbed her by the hand and led her off the body of Morbite. They floated deeper into the darkness, with no clear path or destination. Glitch didn't care. His only goal was to escape in one piece.

"They are gaining on us!" Void reported.

Glitch glanced over his shoulder to see how little distance they had between themselves and the monsters. They were closing in quickly. He spun himself to face them, then pulled out his Slingshot and launched several Coring Charges. A few of the grenades destroyed a handful of them on impact, while the other few missed and flew into oblivion.

"Damn!" Glitch felt his frustration mounting.

"Is that another word they like to use on the surface?" Void curiously asked. "Are there other words like it?"

"Don't worry, you're gonna learn a lot more of 'em in a sec." Glitch reassured her while pulling out the SPEW. He unloaded the one hundred rounds into the remaining half of the monster horde. By the time he was ready to reload, there were still at least a dozen left.

"Glitch, look!" Void pointed to something bright up ahead. Glitch glanced behind him to see another Morbite space similar to theirs. It was much bigger, however, appearing to have once been an entire city. It seemed to have a chunk missing. Glitch figured this must have been where the Morbite mass originated from. The deserted city was half-hazardously protected by a damaged laser shield that occasionally flickered in and out. Glitch fully turned his body to face the approaching zone. He and Void braced themselves, hoping they wouldn't get caught in the faulty force field. They made it through, just as it shut off again. They landed on their feet and turned in time to see the horde of creatures meet their demises. The shield flickered back on, slicing them in half on their way through. Their upper portions went soaring forward before crashing a few feet in front of Glitch and Void. Their lower halves remained stuck in the shield until it disappeared again.

"I probably would've felt sorry for 'em if they weren't tryin' to bite our heads off," Glitch commented. It made him stop and think. What would happen to him in real life if he somehow died in this realm? It's not like I'm a straight-up ghost, he thought. Or am I? Either way, I'm pretty much myself. I'm able to hit stuff. He looked at the dead monsters lying in front of him and shuddered a little. And they would've been able to hit me, too, he concluded.

"You are right, indeed." Void agreed to his last statement. "I am relieved that was not us." She looked down at Glitch suddenly. "I thought you were going to teach me more words!" she whined. "You promised!"

"I feel better now, so there's no need," Glitch told her, thinking of all the special words Void could've learned if the monsters weren't stopped.

She wasn't stuck on it for long, though, as she redirected her attention to the dead creatures. She exchanged a glance with Glitch; she seemed to be thinking what he was thinking. She carefully followed him for a closer look. Glitch kept his weapon trained on the limp metal bodies while they approached them. Once they were close enough, they examined them together.

"I assume this is Dr. Exavolt's doing." Void didn't remove her eyes from the creatures as she spoke. "New creations of his, designed to patrol the realm."

"He must've sent them after us," Glitch reasoned. "And I'll bet all my washers there are plenty more where they came from."

He was in the middle of loading a new magazine into his SPEW when Void suddenly placed a hand onto his gun-wielding arm. She squeezed it gently, in a subtly urgent manner.

"What's wrong?" He looked up at her.

"There has been another disturbance." Void's face was serious now. "In Droid Town. You must go back."

"But what about you?" Glitch shifted his gaze between her and the monsters. "You gonna be okay on your own?"

"I hope so," Void answered. She sounded uncertain. "But I cannot make any promises. I will make refuge here while you are gone."

"But…" Glitch winced from a knot forming in his stomach. He didn't like the thought of Void being left to fend for herself with new enemies roaming around. "But the monsters," he protested. "There are still more out there. And I still have a ton of questions! There's Rev and where I come from and everything! And what about Exavolt? What if he comes back here after you?"

"It is not me he is truly after, Glitch," Void gently established. "You and I both know this." She took his free hand in reassurance. "Go now, back to Droid Town," she instructed. "Neutralize the situation there. Then go and find the other gateways."

They were interrupted by a new threat. Two more monsters—larger than the previous—broke through the laser shield. It barely fazed them, if at all, thanks to their seemingly impervious armor. Glitch aimed his SPEW, preparing to shoot, but Void stopped him. She turned to him one last time.

"Save Iron Star," she told him. "Build your alliance. They will help you."

She gave him a final warm goodbye before he was forced to leave the realm.

...

Glitch found himself back in the locker room. He had almost forgotten how he ended up there, until he remembered the training exercise he and the other soldiers had just completed. He could hear the emergency siren going off out in the corridor. The sudden banging sound from the door being swung open startled him a little. A single Droid stood in the entrance. He was armed with a gun…and heavily damaged. He stumbled forward, only to fall after a few short steps. Glitch managed to catch him.

"What's going on?" he asked. "What's happening out there?"

The injured Droid could barely speak after getting shot in his voice box. "Th-they're back," he croaked, his speech garbled.

"Who?" Glitch demanded.

"The…the Mils."

It was the last thing the Droid could say before shutting off. Glitch stared ahead in shock while holding the body. He eventually composed himself enough to place the deceased bot on the locker room bench. He closed his eyelids out of respect, then grabbed his fully loaded gear and rushed out.