Green Eyes

0

Soaked Sheets and Subtle Glitches

Rain hammered the windows of Danny's apartment, turning the view of Amity Park into a blur of neon and haze. Inside his bedroom, soft lamplight glowed across the tangled sheets and tossed clothes from the night before.

Valerie stirred, wrapped in the cozy comfort of too many blankets, until something cold and wet touched her leg.

She groaned. "Danny."

The culprit was sprawled half-on, half-off the bed. Still in full ghost form, his suit soaked from head to toe. His cape had managed to drape itself across the sheets like a ghostly sponge.

"You're soaking wet, Casper," she mumbled.

Danny blinked awake, glowing eyes flickering. "Huh? Oh, crap. Did I fall asleep like this?"

"You think? I'm lying in a haunted puddle."

He rubbed his face. "It was raining when I flew in. I meant to change back, but Technus wouldn't stop talking. I barely made it up here before crashing."

Valerie sat up, brushing back her curls. "Wait. Technus was here?"

Danny nodded, groaning as he stretched. "Yeah, he's downstairs. Said the Ghost Zone was throwing off his calibration or whatever. Wanted to 'sync with my network' for stability."

"You let a glitchy tech ghost plug himself into your apartment?"

Danny tried to look innocent. "He brought his own surge protector?"

"Danny."

"Okay, okay. I figured it was harmless. He's not eating my snacks or stealing my socks."

She narrowed her eyes. "Did you give him the WiFi password?"

There was a pause.

"...He guessed it."

A pillow hit him square in the chest.

"It's literally 'GhostlyAstronaunt123.'"

"I panicked!"

They both laughed as they stripped the soaked sheets off the bed. Danny finally transformed back into his human form, grumbling as he tossed his cape over the curtain rod to dry.

"I swear, I need ghost-proof bedding," he muttered.

Valerie made her way into the kitchen while he went to towel off. She flipped on the lights and grabbed the skillet, tuning into the low hum of city news on the radio. Just as she reached for the eggs, her dispatch bracelet buzzed to life.

Her dad's hologram appeared, flickering slightly with static.

"Morning, pumpkin. Sorry to bother you so early, but we've got an issue downtown. Technus just hijacked a VR arcade. He's got patrons trapped in some kind of simulation. Can you check it out?"

She glanced toward the hallway. "Technus is literally downstairs."

Her dad blinked. "...Then who's at the cafe?"

Valerie didn't hesitate. "On it."

In a shimmer of light, her armor snapped over her pajamas and into full suit form. She was already heading toward the balcony when Danny, now dry and shirtless, strolled in with two mugs of coffee.

"You're suiting up?" he asked.

"There's a Technus attacking downtown. But another one is here. So either he's glitching, or someone's puppeteering him."

Danny's brow furrowed. "Want backup?"

She grabbed her hoverboard from the corner and clipped her helmet onto her hip. "I got this. Keep an eye on the one you've got downstairs. If he starts foaming at the mouth, call somebody."

Danny held up a mug. "You're not taking the coffee?"

She grinned. "You owe me a dry mattress first."

And with that, Valerie launched off the balcony into the storm.

The cafe was lit like a disco rave from hell. Neon colors pulsed through the broken front windows as Valerie landed on her hoverboard.

Inside, Technus hovered midair, laughing like he was hosting a game show.

"Val-Val! Just in time for the boss level!"

"One, I told you to stop calling me Val-Val. Two, you are not installing yourself into another arcade," Valerie called, blasting through a hologram as she advanced. "You good?"

"Oh, I am great. Connected. Streaming at full power. The humans, however..." He gestured below to rows of patrons frozen in VR headsets, eyes glowing faintly with green.

Valerie narrowed her gaze. "What are you doing, Technus?"

"It's not what I'm doing. It's what I've been... chosen for. The code speaks to me now, Val-Val. I see everything."

That was new. Even for him.

Technus blinked oddly. His voice crackled, digital static layering beneath it. Valerie hesitated. He wasn't acting. He was glitching.

"I can help you," she said slowly, lowering her blaster.

Technus twitched. "I don't need help. I need bandwidth."

Suddenly, the patrons moved in unison, rising like puppets on invisible strings. Valerie cursed, blasting one headset after the other, dodging attacks from people who didn't even know they were attacking.

"You're being used, Technus. This isn't you!"

The ghost's body flickered again. His form destabilized, then restabilized. His laugh cut off midway.

"Get... out... before it sees you too."

"What sees me?"

But it was too late. A shockwave burst through the room, knocking Valerie back.

Technus' eyes glowed red.

Valerie caught herself midair. "Alright then." She clicked her intercom. "Danny, I take it back. I could use backup. Now…"

Back at Danny's apartment, the copy—or possibly original—Technus sat hunched over Danny's gaming console, muttering in binary.

Danny stood nearby, phone in hand, reading Valerie's latest voice message:

Technus isn't just glitching. He's a signal booster. Something's in him. Something big. Get here fast.