forum || The Glitches | reboot | 5/5 | closed ||

Started September 21, 2021 by @PrettyLittlePyro

tune

( @In_the_mud, @Miu_Iruma, and @RiverTheSeawing, if you guys want to do a separate chat like this, I'm all for it!)

(Yeah, that sounds fun.)

Glitches were the terror of the world. Humans so powerful, so devastating, so capable of things that normal people weren't, that they couldn't be allowed to live. They were horrible, supposedly demonic, and one should never approach them. According to the constant warnings from the government, Glitches were easy to spot, with glowing red eyes and almost monster-like appearances.

Solana felt almost offended at their description of Glitches.

As one of the supposedly criminal beings, it was amusing to her that they wanted to hide the fact that Glitches could hide among regular people, from the normal citizens. However, it also made it scarier, because none of the Glitches would know when they had been noticed.

Nor when they would be caught.

These were where her thoughts turn as she walked down the street, hands shoved in her sweatshirt pockets. There were times when all she wanted to do was stand on the rooftops and shout that she wouldn't be a threat if they would just let her live in peace.

You're not a dreamer, Sol. She heard her mother's voice in her head. It's better if you don't wish for things that can never happen.

She just rolled her eyes at the memory and stepped into a department store.

Poko hated going to the store. His college roommate, Jax, was always busy with his girlfriend though, so it was always a responsibility that was put onto him. As Poko dragged his feet through the dairy aisle, he noticed there was a six-pack of his favorite yogurt in one of the fridges. He looked at the price. Jeez, 15 whole bucks… Would his roommate even notice though? He grabbed the yogurt and put it in his cart. Jax would probably be making out when he got back anyways, so he could just hide it in his secret mini fridge. One of the many MANY secrets he was keeping from his roommate, including his sexuality and most of all… the fact that he was a glitch.

Poko had overheard Jax speak about Glitches multiple times, and everytime he managed to be degrading and horrible, even if he was trying to semi-compliment them. It sucked. Jax was just an overall idiot though. Homophobic too. Poko shook his head at the thought. He was hot though, which is why Poko did so much for him, in hopes that he might turn a new leaf… and be attracted to him. He knew it was a silly though but he couldn't really get rid of it.

As he continued down the aisle, consumed in his thoughts, he bumped into a small brunette girl " Oh, sorry" he said smacking his forehead " Lost in thought y'know?"

Whump. Just like that, all of the air left Solana's lungs and she fell against the shelves. She felt her hands start to heat up and muttered a quick thanks that her hands had been in her pockets before she pushed her power away. Acting like nothing had happened, she rubbed her head, realizing how lost in her thoughts she had been, and looked up to see the guy she had run into.

"Oh, sorry about that," she said, offering him a light smile. "I wasn't looking where I was going, either." She steadied herself and picked up her basket, which had fallen onto the floor. "Are you okay? We ran into each other pretty hard."

Poko, still a little dazed, nodded "I'm fine, just got knocked back into reality" he laughed and looked closer at the girl. She was very pretty. Almost unnaturally so. Her skin shone a light umber color. If he didn't know better he would say her skin even seemed to glow a little, but it was hard to tell under the harsh white lights of the store. Her eyes seemed to have a familiar glow to them, as if he had seen it before… on who though…

He hesitated to continue " Have-" he started "Have I seen you before?" he asked. The glow almost seemed like the same glow he had seen in the mirror countless times when trying to get in control of his abilities. He shook the thought from his head. No way she's also a glitch, he must have recognized her from someplace else. "You seem familiar"

As much as Deacon hated having to go out, he found himself walking along the streets in the city. He preferred staying in his small apartment, away from everyone else and away from the worry of being caught. On the other hand, there was not much in his fridge, plus he needed to do something other than staying home.

His hands were buried in his pockets as he ambled along the sidewalk. Keeping his eyes staring straight across, he used his peripherals in order to see if there was anyone looking at him. No matter how normal a scene seemed to be, he always worried about someone in the crowds hiding, waiting to point him out.

Walking into the store, he turned to pick up a basket. After lifting up the handles, he started to walk around the place, finding items then dropping them into the basket. Suddenly out of nowhere, he heard something bump into shelves and things hitting the floor. He walked over to find two people in the aisle.

Something felt out of place as he looked at the two, but he wasn't really sure why. Deacon just stood there for a second, trying to pick apart any details he could find from where he stood. His eyes squinted at them. Shrugging the strange feeling off, he went on about his business.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Solana said, shaking her head and smiling. "You probably wouldn't have seen me before, I just moved recently." She acted calm and quiet, but inside she was panicking. Why did this guy think she looked familiar? Was he a member of the secret police, trying to spy out potential Glitches?

She shook her head mentally. She was being ridiculous.

Just for a moment, her golden eyes met dark brown ones, and she blinked. A guy had walked past the aisle, looking fairly interested, and he had had a strange look on his face, as if he wasn't sure about a feeling he had. She stared at him for a moment, and watched as he walked off with a shrug, before she turned back to the guy she had run into.

"I'll let you keep shopping," she said, grinning at him. "Sorry again."

"Oh, well, sorry I guess" A man began to walk past the aisle they were in and paused. Shoot. He also had the same glitter in his eyes. Suddenly Poko recognized the light. It was the sign of a glitch. Three glitches in one place. This definitely wasn't good news. "I'll let you keep on shopping" he heard the girl in front of him say, as she apologized "Actually" Poko began "You should probably come with me… We might not be safe" he knew that even being seen with another glitch was enough to incriminate you, so three glitches in one place was EXTREMELY bad, for ALL parties invlolved. He looked around for anybody else who might be looking at them suspiciously "We need to hide"

The man she was talking to instantly changed his outlook when he saw the other man. Solana wasn't sure why, but warning bells rang in her head. Something was wrong. This guy seemed to know something he shouldn't.

She shook her head, still smiling, but it no longer reached her eyes. "No, I think I'm good," she replied. "I don't really want to go with a complete stranger."

Even if he was a Glitch… but no. There was no way. She turned away and walked off before the creep could say anything else.

Poko sighed and turned around… maybe he was overreacting "Sorry, sorry I just… nevermind" he turned around as she walked away, and saw somebody else walking into the store. A man with dark tinted sunglasses on, his hair slicked back. Definitely a cop. Shit. He stood nearer to this rack of food, to obscure himself from view. He watched as the cop approached the security guard in the store, who jumped when he heard what the cop said. I at least have to keep myself safe he thought looking around I've got to find a way to leave. As he thought this a worker came onto the store intercom "All customers, please report to the front of the store for a Glitch check!" Poko took a cold breath. He was in deep shit.

"All customers, please report to the front of the store for a Glitch check."

Unlike the man she had run into, Solana didn't feel very concerned. With the rumors going around of the dangerous appearance of Glitches, their red eyes and horns - not unlike how people portrayed devils - the only reason this would be happening was to cause a little more fear, a little more panic in the others.

She simple ran a hand over her hair, making sure that not a strand was out of place, and got ready to use her power. After all, with the power of light, she could simply manipulate her results to appear different… for the most part, anyway.

Deacon tried to go on about his business, but his mind was always going back to the people in that aisle. There is just something about them that made his mind restless about the matter. Are they Glitches?

His attention snapped back to reality when the cop's voice rang in his ears. It took a moment till his shoulders tensed up. A check? Now? Perhaps he should have gone with his gut instinct to stay home, but here he is now about to get himself caught in front of other people. Well….unless he finds a way out of it.

There wasn't much he could do to help him pass a check. While it is somewhat easy to maintain his powers, he knew that it would never be enough to keep himself completely safe. He walked towards the back of the store. Maybe he could find a way out.

Just outside the door, a slender man with wearing a hoodie was about to enter, only glancing up from his phone when he heard some sort of commotion. Lika stared for a moment, processing what was going on, before backing out of the store as if he hadn’t tried to enter in the first place.
Unfortunately it wasn’t as easy as it seemed and a security guard noticed him backing away. He was promptly called back into the store for suspicious behaviour. ‘Damn it! They had better be using the scanners this time, they’re easier to work with.’

While being escorted to the line of customers waiting to be checked, he noticed a few other faces that looked just as apprehensive as he felt. Surely, if they were innocent, they had nothing to fear; if they weren’t Glitches, they would be fine. Right? But what if the results showed a false reading for someone who wasn’t a Glitch, would that give him a chance to slip past security?
‘Man… It’s too early for this.’

Solana stepped into line, putting on her headphones. She may not be listening to anything, but just based on the fact that no one bothered a person listening to music, she hoped that she put out the right amount of irritated inconvenience. It had worked more than once.

She met eyes with several of the customers, who either looked terrified - of the fact that Glitches could be there, she assumed. Or maybe they were just Glitches - or annoyed. Some looked excited, like they wanted to see someone get arrested, but there were very few of those.

She ducked her head again and stared at the floor, waiting for her turn to be scanned. When she was, by a burly looking official, she just offered him a bland smile and a wave. He grunted, scanning her from head to toe, and then looking at the results. Luckily, the screen was in sight, and it was an easy task to mark negative for the Glitch portion.

If she hadn't lived in a society of Glitch haters her entire life, dealing with this sort of thing would not have been easy.

Poko headed to the back of the store as quickly as possible, a stern expression on his soft face. A bead of sweat ran along his brow as he suddenly became overwhelmingly conscious of his entire body. He could feel the piercing at the bridge of his nose all the way to the tips of his toes, which were wriggling with anxiety. Still, Poko tried to keep his composure. If he lost it now, he definitely wouldn't survive.

Once he reached the back of the store, the vegetable aisle, he tried looking for a way out. The beads of sweat on his face and arms made way for a few small stalks of mushrooms, that began to grow straight from the surface of his skin where the sweat had been. He plucked them out as fast as they could appear, but his nerves were getting the best of him. He glanced around desperately around the aisle when he found a vent, it was decently close, above the vegetable aisle rather than on the roof, for ventilating the produce. At that very moment, he saw somebody else come to the back of the store. The man who had seen him and the other girl earlier.

If he did this with perfect timing, then he wouldn't get in trouble. Sure there would be the security cameras and such, but he could find a way out of it all. As long as he got out, then that's all that matters to him.

The odd feeling of someone's eyes on him was looming over as he got closer to the back of the store. His shoes made a small squeak as he came to a sudden halt. Looking over his shoulder, Deacon noticed that it was the guy from before who was staring.

A Glitch. There is no other reason why this man was standing in the back, especially near a vent. His eyes squinted as he looked at the vent, wondering if it was possible for him to go through there. He shook his head. "Be quick or get fucked," He mouthed.

A cop came out from one of the doors, walking right past him. Deacon swiftly grabbed whatever was near him then began to walk towards one of the doors. Glancing over at the guy again, he motioned him to go to the same door. "You won't get up there in time……"

Poko trusted this guy more than he trusted himself, so he walked towards the door with him. "Do you know where these doors lead?" he asked, whispering "There could be more cops outside for all we know" he pulled up his mauve hoodie, trying his best to shield his face from view, so nobody would be able to recognize him "And what about the cameras?"

When it came to Lika’s turn to be scanned, he gave the security guard a tired smile as the device beeped.
“Alright, you’re clear.”
“Thanks.” Lika murmured, nodding softly as if his heart wasn’t currently racing. He properly made his way into the store to grab what he needed, but while trying to decide whether he wanted the skimmed or lactose free milk, almost a hundred images burst into his eyes.
Every security camera in the building was essentially hooked up to his mind, and he could see everything. Including the guys walking towards the doors hidden out of view of the security guards at the front of the building.

While each camera was being occupied by Lika’s mind, from anyone else’s perspectives it would look like all the cameras had shut down, and the man himself looked to be in a daydream just staring at two bottles of milk.

Deacon stared straight ahead, looking through the small windows of the doors. In the corner of his eye, he glimpsed over at the guy then gave a simple shrug. "As long as I get out….," He whispered. Taking a step forward, he paused after hearing the guy's second question.

Right. Cameras. Running his fingers through his hair, he used his peripherals to look up at the one camera close to them. Again, he shrugged. "Change the obvious features of your identity so they'll lose you," He responded. A smirk swept across his face for a second. "Dye your hair if you want."