Fandom (Glitch Techs Xpanded Universe) GTX: Gnu Fork

[Gadg8eer]

Pentifer stared blankly at Elextrixtr, who was holding the scooter like a weapon.
"... Are you mentally okay?" He asked her, raising an eyebrow before just backed off.

"I- yeah. Are... are you Pentifer?" she asked, a bit shaken.

 

[MisterEightySix]

"I- yeah. Are... are you Pentifer?" she asked, a bit shaken.

"Whoa, whoa, easy there," Hum said disarmingly, gesturing downward with his arms. "Come on, you're not gonna get anywhere trying to beat the crap out of him with a scooter. I don't know who you are, but I know you're a Tech, and if they gave you that gauntlet, that means there's someone who trusts you to use your head."

He turned to look at Pentifer.

"And right now, my head is telling me that the three of us need to talk. But not here. I have a feeling Grand Forks Short Line is going to have a few questions about their missing train, and I don't want to be here when they do. That..."

He made his way to the front of the train and looked over the controls, then reached into one of his many pockets and pulled out an HCP. Ominous yellow sparks jumped forth from a long crack along its top as he held it between his fingers.

"...and I'm not about to let tomorrow's headline be 'train crash, three die in fireball'."

 

[hauntedbythewendigo]

"Whoa, whoa, easy there," Hum said disarmingly, gesturing downward with his arms. "Come on, you're not gonna get anywhere trying to beat the crap out of him with a scooter. I don't know who you are, but I know you're a Tech, and if they gave you that gauntlet, that means there's someone who trusts you to use your head."

He turned to look at Pentifer.

"And right now, my head is telling me that the three of us need to talk. But not here. I have a feeling Grand Forks Short Line is going to have a few questions about their missing train, and I don't want to be here when they do. That..."

He made his way to the front of the train and looked over the controls, then reached into one of his many pockets and pulled out an HCP. Ominous yellow sparks jumped forth from a long crack along its top as he held it between his fingers.

"...and I'm not about to let tomorrow's headline be 'train crash, three die in fireball'."

Pentifer gave a gentle nod to Elextrixtr before quietly attempting to grab the nearest pole to try and stop the train from going any further by fashioning together some sort of makeshift anchor.

 

[Gadg8eer]

Pentifer gave a gentle nod to Elextrixtr before quietly attempting to grab the nearest pole to try and stop the train from going any further by fashioning together some sort of makeshift anchor.

The pole was just the guard rail on the external walkway of the locomotive, but it certainly wasn't designed for the digital - if surprisingly empathetic - demon's superhuman strength, bending and breaking off surprisingly easy. Unfortunately, this wasn't the kind of cartoon where nuclear material routinely ended up stuck to a balding man's back for half the intro, so after Pentifer shoved the bar deep into the ground as a form of anchor, it simply pulled him clean off the train entirely, leaving the two techs onboard, possibly face-palming if they understood the intent.

 

[Gadg8eer]

Gadg8eer immediately looked sad, because he was. "...I'm sorry. I just... I thought that..." he stopped, and sighed. "Thank you for all the help tonight. I'll be sure to remember you saved my hometown, and... I think I'll miss you. You've been a good friend today, and I didn't think I'd say that when we first met."

The van stopped at a set of traffic lights on Central Avenue, just east of 2nd Street, to wait for the light color to change. Gadg8eer got an SMS back from HardModeWarez to explain the situation.

"So, just FYI, it is kind of scary that Hinobi's HGPS can be tampered with at will, but there are apparently moderation logs so it's not like this can just be covered up. The real damage is that the government cares, and that Hinobi's Glitch Positioning System can refuse service to companies like GotSee Studios as a way of saying that Hinobi condemns their actions enough to risk public safety by leaving Glitch containment squarely in the hands of the Intelligence community... the Canadian Secret Intelligence Service and the Central Intelligence Agency in your country... and that's not taken lightly. We're talking Military Intel 64: Agent of Chaos levels of espionage, and yes, the movies are based on actual high-risk black ops even if they never mention the dealing with Glitches part of the job. I get that it doesn't make you feel better about yourself, I just wanted you to know that nobody got hurt that wasn't already risking their reputation by being greedy, and that in a sense you've been avenged. That, and it's still valid for you to stick around as the girl who beats the crap out of glitches that are too stupid to realize this is the real world."

The light finally turned green and Zoe began driving again. At that moment, Gadg8eer's AI assistant, the Operator, finally spoke up. "The current internetwork time is @333 on Thursday, June 29 in the year 12028 HE. The local time is Midnight PST, on Thursday, June 29 in the year 2028 Anno-Domini-slash-Common-Era. Your Countdown To App countdown for the smartgrid has completed."

Aside from the possibility of receiving a prize for his Hi-Texpo entry, he had been waiting all day for the chance to see the smartgrid in action, but losing Zoe as a coworker took the wind out of the day's sails.

But it was the dawn of a new day, and strange things were about to be afoot...

The Perfectly Electric Vehicle arrived at a shared building at 876 72nd Avenue, labelled as Abbeyfield Communal Home on the sign in front. "Thanks, again. For saving my hometown and helping me get used to this job. And for the lift home." Gadg8eer let her know, and reached for the door handle on his side.

"Um, Gadge, before you go..." Zoe began to say. ((I'll let you take it from here, Moldoma, I just figured one of these scenes was inevitable.))

 

[Lord Moldoma]

"I'm gonna... Take inventory of how I act as a person. If my goals are already achieved, and my enemies are already suffering, I don't really have so much to be mad about anymore." Zoe says. "I think I have a lot to sort out, so if it means I start treating you and everyone else differently, treating you better, then I hope you aren't caught off-guard by it." Zoe explains to Gadg8eer.

In truth, a lot of the revelations tonight had given her reason to act differently, and to look over what she'd been doing ever since she started streaming. The rage was authentic, but maybe it didn't have to be, and more importantly, she had better things to look towards now.

 

[Gadg8eer]

The Perfectly Electric Vehicle arrived at a shared building at 876 72nd Avenue, labelled as Abbeyfield Communal Home on the sign in front. "Thanks, again. For saving my hometown and helping me get used to this job. And for the lift home." Gadg8eer let her know, and reached for the door handle on his side.

"Um, Gadge, before you go..." Zoe began to say. ((I'll let you take it from here, Moldoma, I just figured one of these scenes was inevitable.))

"I'm gonna... Take inventory of how I act as a person. If my goals are already achieved, and my enemies are already suffering, I don't really have so much to be mad about anymore." Zoe says. "I think I have a lot to sort out, so if it means I start treating you and everyone else differently, treating you better, then I hope you aren't caught off-guard by it." Zoe explains to Gadg8eer.

In truth, a lot of the revelations tonight had given her reason to act differently, and to look over what she'd been doing ever since she started streaming. The rage was authentic, but maybe it didn't have to be, and more importantly, she had better things to look towards now.

"Thanks, Zoe. Me too. I don't think I really understand people, and I assumed I knew what you wanted just because I knew what I would've wanted in your situation." Gadge explained. "I guess we'll see how things go tomorrow." he smiled.

The rain finally started to let up when Gadg8eer opened the door of the vehicle to headed into his apartment, waving a temporary goodbye to let her know it was all cool, before closing it completely and triumphantly running and jumping in a joy his new form let him express more easily.

At that moment, a long and slightly sinister-looking black limousine pulled up along the driver's side of the green Hinobi van. The tinted, electric window lowered and an individual was illuminated by the limousine's backseat compartment lights.

"Miss Wingon." the mechanical being inside said matter-of-factly. "Gavin E. Strong, Innovative Online Industries. How would you like to live forever?"

 

[Lord Moldoma]

"Miss Wingon." the mechanical being inside said matter-of-factly. "Gavin D. Strong, Innovative Online Industries. How would you like to live forever?"

"I don't know. Depends on what living forever means." She says. "If this is an advertising deal on account of my streams, you've certainly got an odd way of proposing it, but I can't say I'm not disinterested."

"If it is though, I have to make it apparent that I can't wager exclusivity, since I do already have a deal with CheatGenKey." She says. "And... A significant amount of fanart between my avatar and the mascot..." Even just her voice and the limited facial expressions of her screen are enough to show that she's giving a squinty glance to the side as she says that. Not that it's really above her to express a certain level of attraction to fictional characters, but generally in the professional space you don't get too deep into what your fans exactly draw.

 

[Gadg8eer]

"I don't know. Depends on what living forever means." She says. "If this is an advertising deal on account of my streams, you've certainly got an odd way of proposing it, but I can't say I'm not disinterested."

"If it is though, I have to make it apparent that I can't wager exclusivity, since I do already have a deal with CheatGenKey." She says. "And... A significant amount of fanart between my avatar and the mascot..." Even just her voice and the limited facial expressions of her screen are enough to show that she's giving a squinty glance to the side as she says that. Not that it's really above her to express a certain level of attraction to fictional characters, but generally in the professional space you don't get too deep into what your fans exactly draw.

"My company, IOI, have been able to successfully do what Hinobi claimed could not be done." Gavin gave a smirk that suggested he was in some way condescending, but that Zoe was nonetheless more valuable than an average pawn. "Would you really stick with Hiverse pirates when they can't can offer you what you want? To be entirely digital?"

 

[Lord Moldoma]

"...What are you implicating?" She asks. "You've figured out brain uploading?" She asks

This was conflicting. Dee was her best friend, and CGK was Dee's brainchild service. It'd be abandoning someone she had known for years.

Albeit, Dee herself couldn't figure out brain uploading, or if she could, She wasn't willing to make the necessary sacrifices to do so.

"I-If that's your offer... Can I call someone first and... Ask if this is okay?" She was a little premature on the matter. She hoped she could talk Dee into it. The thought of finally conquering her Bardiel Syndrome was important to her. For all of her talk about hating corporations, Zoe was only human, and humans will often throw away their morals in favor of getting something they've been wanting their whole lives.

 

[Gadg8eer]

"...What are you implicating?" She asks. "You've figured out brain uploading?" She asks

This was conflicting. Dee was her best friend, and CGK was Dee's brainchild service. It'd be abandoning someone she had known for years.

Albeit, Dee herself couldn't figure out brain uploading, or if she could, She wasn't willing to make the necessary sacrifices to do so.

"I-If that's your offer... Can I call someone first and... Ask if this is okay?" She was a little premature on the matter. She hoped she could talk Dee into it. The thought of finally conquering her Bardiel Syndrome was important to her. For all of her talk about hating corporations, Zoe was only human, and humans will often throw away their morals in favor of getting something they've been wanting their whole lives.

"Very well. Remember, though, this is a limited time offer..." Gavin said, and tapped the screen on his IOI-brand tablet computer to give her his temporary contact information. "...and I do mean limited."

He showed her the display on his device. It read Current Time: 2028-06-29 @343 and showed a countdown of Offer Expires: 2028-06-30 @333 that it counted down to in a non-decimal 23 hours and 46 minutes... well, 23 hours and 42 minutes a moment later.