Glitch'd - Ch.7 - Arbitrary Execution (Patreon)

** content warning: sensitive readers may find this chapter disturbing; depression; mentions of medical situations, violence, incarceration, death, suicide **

"They're your parents? That's... wow," I responded as that news slowly sank in.

It almost made sense at first too. Like it definitely explained how Glitch got her hands on an unpublished paper, and how she knew about undocumented mesh functions and subroutines. Except on the other hand it also left me with even more questions.

For one thing I'd never come across anything that suggested Desrosiers and Sachs had any kind of romantic relationship. Granted that wouldn't have been relevant to their professional work, but it was exactly the sort of thing the media loved to report on. Still, it wasn't too hard to imagine them keeping that sort of thing very much to themselves.

The bigger question was how they managed to have a kid, considering as far as I knew Desrosiers and Sachs were both AMAB. Adoption was the most obvious answer, and if it happened during or just after the Collapse that would explain why there wasn't any documentation saying either of them was a parent. Although that in turn led to the question of what really became of the two famous developers, since I'd originally assumed they both died when the world went to hell.

With all that in mind I was just about to launch into another round of questions, but Glitch cut me off before I could even begin.

"How about we turn things around for a bit?" she suggested. "We can get back to all those questions you were about to ask later on. Right now I have a few things I'd like to ask you Wisp, if you don't mind?"

I grimaced slightly, "Was I that obvious?"

"Yes you were," she replied with a little smile. Her expression became serious again as she asked in a slightly worried tone, "How long has it been since you last logged out? And what have you done to keep your meatspace body going, when you're obviously neglecting it?"

Those were two of the top five questions I didn't want to think about, let alone answer. I winced as I hugged my big fluffy tail against my chest, then let out a long quiet sigh. I had a feeling she'd respect my privacy if I said I didn't want to discuss it, but considering she'd just answered some personal questions of mine it only seemed fair for me to do the same.

"It's been about eight or nine months now," I mumbled quietly as I stared down at the floor through the white floofy tip of my tail.

"I have a nine and a half square meter windowless apartment in the Nyfoss slums," I continued in that same soft voice. "My Trodacorp salary is more than enough to cover rent and monthly mesh connection fees, the rest goes to a black-market medical service. They hooked me up on IVs and everything, and send someone to check on me every other day, to make sure the inputs are topped up and the outputs are drained."

I grimaced slightly as I added, "There's a data feed so I could monitor things if I wanted? I could confirm they're doing their job, and check that my meatsack isn't starving or dehydrated or otherwise failing."

"Oh Wisp," Glitch gave me the saddest look as she slowly shook her head. "You know how precarious that kind of existence is, right? And what that prolonged disuse has done to your body?"

When I didn't respond she just sighed quietly, "May I ask why? Did something happen, that led you to turn your back on the physical world?"

"There's a few reasons," I mumbled as I hugged my tail a little tighter, so my face was almost completely hidden in its floof.

Unfortunately those reasons covered the other three questions in that list of things I didn't want to think about. So it took me another couple seconds to mentally prepare, before I finally began to explain.

With my ears drooping down to either side and my voice just above a whisper I told her, "I was just a little kid when the Collapse began, only four or five maybe? We were a stereotypical suburban family, with a mom and a dad and two kids. All blissfully ignorant of how bad things had become, until the government and the media couldn't keep it secret any longer. Then it all came crashing down."

"I'm sure you already know the story," I sighed. "First the economy tanked, my parents lost their jobs and couldn't find work. Then food became scarce and everything got expensive, and finally social services started to crumble under the strain. Not just for my family but for everyone, everywhere."

Glitch nodded slowly, "I'm sorry Wisp. I know what came next. Protests, then riots, then society itself began to fall apart. Those rich enough to isolate themselves from society did so, while those fortunate enough to live on or near farmland tried to do the same. It was a very dark time, for almost everyone."

I sighed, "We lived in a city, we didn't have access to land. And without jobs or money my parents couldn't move us someplace better. So we stayed put, and they fought for whatever they could get to keep my sister and I going. That's how we lost dad..."

My voice trailed off as I paused for a moment. Then I rushed through the rest of the story, so I wouldn't have to drag it out or dwell on it.

"He was on his way home from the government relief centre when someone killed him for a week's worth of rations," I mumbled. "Mom lost it after that, she started going to protests and speaking out against the authorities. A few months later they arrested her, charged her with rioting, and sent her to work in the offshore kelp farms. Me and my sister were put into a government facility, which at least meant we got fed and educated, but that's about it. When I turned eighteen I was kicked out, but luckily I had a talent for computers and managed to find work. Grey-market at first, until I was good enough to get hired by a legit company."

After a brief pause I wrapped up my life story, "I did my best to keep learning and improving, so I could support my sister after the facility kicked her out too. At first I gave her my food credits, then once I landed a decent job I gave her whatever money I could. I thought we were doing ok, until a couple years later when we got the notice that our mom died in prison. They claimed it was an escape attempt, but I'm pretty sure it was just their poorly-maintained underwater workhouse. I guess that was the last straw for my sister. She died a week later from an overdose. And I found myself all alone, with nothing left to keep me in meatspace. So here I am."

After that both of us were quiet for the next minute or so. I kept hugging my tail as I blinked away some excess moisture from my eyes, while Glitch watched me with a sad compassionate look on her face.

She finally broke the silence, "Wisp I'm so sorry."

I shrugged and mumbled, "It is what it is. My tragic tale isn't special, let alone unique."

"That doesn't minimize the pain you've suffered," she replied softly. "It only magnifies it."

After a quiet sigh she asked, "You don't have any other friends out there? No-one else to miss you? What about the other physical experiences you don't really get in the mesh? You don't miss eating real food?"

"I had a friend when I was younger," I replied in a dull monotone voice. "He didn't survive the Collapse. There were no friends in the government facility, just threats and competition. And out on the street it was even worse."

I grimaced again as I continued, "I suppose after I started getting decent work maybe I could have tried being more social? Except I never felt comfortable out there. In my own skin. It wasn't until I was in here, where I could be someone or something else, that I could relax enough to meet people and make friends."

"As for food," I shook my head. "Most of the 'real' food I've had came from the same sorts of places that killed my mother. So no, I don't miss it."

Glitch gave me another sad look, "Ok Wisp, I get it. And I'm sorry to put you through all that again with my questions. I had to ask though. I needed to be sure I hadn't made a mistake, when I let you know about the possibility of digitization."

"Right," I frowned. Then I looked up at her and asked, "So why'd you share that paper with me if you didn't even know this stuff before? And for that matter, why tell me all that other stuff about yourself? Like your parents, your secret identity, all that stuff? Why tell a nobody and a stranger like me, instead of one of your regulars or fans, like null and their sisters?"

The enigmatic delver sat back in her chair as she seemed to consider my questions. Then she shrugged, "First off I could tell you were a good person right from the start, even though you worked for one of the megacorps. And I guess I had a bit of a hunch? Call it intuition, but I had a feeling you were hurting, or in denial about certain things."

"I didn't know what exactly," she added, "Although once I saw your new avatar I had a pretty good idea of at least one thing you were avoiding."

I felt my cheeks heating up again, and for the hundredth time I was grateful my fur kept the blushes hidden. I mumbled, "Yeah... Actually the triplets helped me a bunch with that particular revelation. Hence the new pronouns today."

That earned me another compassionate smile from my host, before she continued. "The way you begged me yesterday, what you said about depending on your job, that you couldn't quit or risk being fired? Something about that tipped me off that returning to meatspace wasn't an option for you. And like I said, I'm a sucker for cute smart girls. Anyways maybe it was intuition again, but something told me you might find that digitization paper interesting. That's why I shared it with you."

All that left me quiet again for the next minute or so, as I needed time to process what she said and the emotions it churned up.

I finally focused on Glitch and gulped, "So if I wanted to go through with digitization, what... How does it work? What happens to me exactly? And what would I do afterwards? I assume I'd have to quit my job, since you said that was one of the requirements."

Once again there was a slight pause while Glitch considered her answers. "If you decide you want to go through with it, you'll be provided with a special encrypted file. I'm sure your HUD or any built-in security software will identify it as a hostile virus, which to be clear is not an inaccurate description. So you'll have to be very sure, and you'll have to trust us. Because step one is disable all your security software, and step two is execute the file. Then... Well, there's no step three."

"The process isn't painful or anything," she added, "And subjectively it's over pretty quickly. There may be some momentary disruptions to your interface, but that's about it."

I asked, "And after that I'll be part of the club? Then I'll get answers to the other questions I asked? About how to stay safe and protect my data and everything?"

Glitch smiled, "Of course. You'll be set up on a secure server and someone who's already in the club will show you the ropes, teach you what you need to know about keeping yourself safe and how to thrive and prosper as a digital entity."

"At some point after the fact your empty meatspace shell will expire," she added, "And your old identity will be declared dead. So if you have any property you want to keep, you'll want to make arrangements ahead of time to transfer it to your new digital identity. We can help with that too of course. Anything else of value should probably be sold or given away. In other words, you might want to get your affairs in order before-hand."

None of that was a surprise, and it didn't bother me either. I didn't have anything of value, and even if I did there was nobody left for me to give it to. And the only sentimental stuff was already digitized, like some old pictures of my family from before our lives all went to hell. So I moved on to my next set of questions.

"Will I have to work for you, or whoever else is in on this?" I asked. "Will I be expected to repay you all for the server space and the tutoring and everything?"

Glitch shook her head, "No. You'll be free, in a way that very few people are these days. Obviously there's benefits to remaining part of the group, but it's not enforced or demanded. And it's not exclusive either, you wouldn't be pressured to abandon your other online friends."

That was good to hear. I hadn't even really considered the possibility, but knowing it wouldn't happen regardless made me feel better.

That left me with one more question, "What about work? You said I had to quit first? Or I guess even if I didn't quit I'd end up unemployed regardless, once they found out I was dead."

"Yeah," she grimaced again. "Best to avoid any difficult conversations about how you kept showing up for work in the time between your shell's passing and your bosses getting the notice."

A moment later she added with a smile, "Unless you were ready to take the plunge and get off the fence firmly on our side? Burn those corpo credentials by using them to commit some digital crimes. I know a certain green-haired delver who'd be more than happy to give you some tips and pointers, if you're interested."

I couldn't help smiling at the thought of taking Mr. Ulriken down a few notches as I ended my employment in a blaze of glory. My smile faded just as quickly though. It was a huge decision after all, literally life and death in a way.

"So what do you think Wisp? Are you interested?" Glitch asked after a couple seconds.

"Yeah," I nodded. "Very interested. Also a little scared, to be honest. Even if there's nothing left for me in meatspace, it's still a big step."

She gave me another sad smile, "I get that. No pressure though. Do you have any more questions for me?"

"Not really," I shook my head.

"Then I have one for you," she responded. "Obviously your puff of smoke avatar was a special case, being intangible and inanimate, but you've been in that cute little anthro foxgirl av for a day now right? And there's something I'm really curious about."

She waited just a half second before raising an eyebrow and asking, "Do you just like, not wear clothes at all? You do know you're naked, right? The fur covers up a little, but..."

By that point I was convinced my fur had to be fire-proof, otherwise it would have been ablaze from the heat radiating off my face. At the same time my eyes were probably wide as saucers, and the best I could manage was an embarrassed little "Eep!" sound as I hid behind my big puffy tail.

** This chapter was brought to you courtesy of Lucy, who commissioned it! **