Chapter 4: The Glitch in the Roar
POV: Quest Strother*
Quest readied himself inside the animatronic as they prepared for the next scene. This was the moment where Godzilla's opponent—a new monster designed specifically for the sequel—would face the King of Monsters head-on, only to retreat in fear. The actor inside the opponent's suit was good, though not quite on Quest's level. Still, he was competent enough to sell the intensity of the scene.
The cameras started rolling, and the action began. Quest moved Godzilla with his usual precision, every step deliberate, every swing of the monster's massive arms as natural as breathing. The opposing monster fought back, and for a moment, it almost felt like a real kaiju battle. Dust and debris flew as they clashed, with the set pieces crumbling around them in choreographed chaos.
The opponent, as scripted, turned and fled. The actor inside the suit moved quickly, executing the retreat with just the right amount of panic. Now it was Quest's moment to deliver the signature roar of frustration—a classic Godzilla moment.
Quest positioned Godzilla, his movements slowing as the massive creature prepared to bellow. He had done this a hundred times, and it had always been seamless. But this time, something was wrong.
As Quest went to mimic the iconic roar, something strange happened. His body tensed up inside the rig, and for a split second, his voice seemed to merge with the roar. But it wasn't just a sound—it was *wrong, distorted, and off. What came out wasn't just Godzilla's signature roar.
It was a scream—*his* scream.
The roar of Godzilla was there, but layered beneath it was Quest's own voice, glitching in and out, like a broken recording struggling to play. The sound twisted and warped, an unnatural blend of man and monster that echoed across the set. Quest's yell became intertwined with the mechanical roar, and it sent a chill down his spine.
For a moment, the entire set froze.
POV: Director (Sam Landon)*
Sam stood behind the monitors, watching the scene unfold with the usual intensity, but when the sound hit him, his blood ran cold. The roar, which should have been a triumphant, fearsome moment, had turned into something *unnatural*.
He glanced at the sound crew, who looked equally as confused.
"Was that… supposed to happen?" one of the sound engineers muttered, his fingers hovering over the controls. "That didn't sound right."
Sam stepped forward, his eyes glued to the monitor. He could see Quest still inside the animatronic, motionless. Even though the scene was over, something felt… off. The roar—the glitch in Quest's voice—had shaken everyone on set.
"What the hell was that?" Sam called out, breaking the silence.
The crew scrambled, unsure of what to say. It wasn't just a technical issue. There was something *alive* in that sound, something too human for comfort.
POV: Lisa Chan*
Lisa had been watching the battle scene from the sidelines, waiting for her cue in the next scene. She had seen Quest's performances many times now and had grown accustomed to the sheer realism he brought to the Godzilla animatronic. But this… this was different.
The roar wasn't right. She had heard Godzilla's iconic bellow countless times in her life, but hearing Quest's voice inside it, twisted and broken, made her skin crawl. She instinctively took a step back, feeling a cold sweat break out on the back of her neck.
"Did you hear that?" she whispered to Jake, who was standing beside her.
He nodded, his face pale. "Yeah. That didn't sound like just Godzilla."
Lisa's heart raced. Something was happening, something they couldn't explain.
POV: The Crew (Anonymous)*
The tension on set was palpable. Everyone was whispering in hushed voices, trying to make sense of what had just happened. The sound technicians replayed the footage, but every time they listened, the same eerie distortion came through.
Quest's scream was embedded in Godzilla's roar.
"Is this a malfunction with the suit?" someone asked.
"No way. Quest's controlling the suit, but that doesn't explain the sound."
The crew exchanged nervous glances. Some of them had been around during the first film, and they remembered the glitches. The strange technical issues that no one could fix. This felt like a continuation of that—a sign that whatever had haunted the original film was far from gone.
POV: Quest Strother*
Inside the animatronic, Quest was frozen, his mind racing. He had felt the roar in his chest, felt the vibration of the sound, but when his own voice had bled into it, something deep inside him recoiled. It was as if, for a moment, he and Godzilla had truly become one, but not in the way he had ever imagined. It wasn't just acting. It was… *something else*.
He unstrapped himself from the rig, stumbling out of the massive animatronic. His legs wobbled beneath him as he hit the ground, still disoriented from the strange glitch.
"What the hell happened?" Sam called, rushing over.
Quest shook his head, trying to find the words. "I—I don't know. I was roaring, like usual. Then… it just… my voice came out."
Sam frowned, glancing up at the towering animatronic. "That shouldn't be possible. The suit isn't supposed to pick up your voice like that."
Quest rubbed his temples, feeling a headache forming. "Yeah, I know. But it did."
The sound of his voice merging with Godzilla's still echoed in his mind. It had felt real. Too real.
As the crew swarmed around him, checking the animatronic for malfunctions, Quest couldn't shake the unsettling feeling that something deeper was at play. It wasn't just a glitch. There was more to this, something lurking beneath the surface, and he had a feeling it wouldn't stop here.
The roar wasn't just a mistake.
It was a warning.
To Be Continued...