Glitchborn

Eli wasn’t sure if he had made a deal or a mistake.

The sterile glow of the Circuit Collective’s headquarters wrapped around him like a cage. He could feel the cold hum of servers vibrating beneath the floors, the rhythmic clicking of data streams pulsing like a heartbeat. Everything about this place felt artificial, a stark contrast to the chaotic, neon-drenched streets outside.

Mara stood beside him, arms crossed, eyes scanning every detail of the room. The Collective agent who still hadn’t given a name led them deeper into the facility, past walls lined with shifting holographic projections. The images displayed cityscapes that flickered and distorted, glimpses of different realities layered over one another.

Eli’s stomach twisted. How long has the world been breaking like this?

“Welcome to the center of the known,” the agent said, pausing before a massive reinforced door. “You made the right choice. Unlike the Syndicate, we don’t thrive on chaos. We bring order to the unraveling.”

A mechanical voice scanned them. Access granted.

The door slid open, revealing a sprawling laboratory filled with strange machinery floating interfaces, cables weaving through the air like living veins. At the center of it all stood a monolithic black screen, lines of shifting code scrolling down its surface like an ancient prophecy written in a language beyond human comprehension.

Eli took a hesitant step forward. The screen pulsed as if it recognized him.

“We believe this is the core of the instability,” the agent explained. “It’s not just a glitch. It’s an intelligence one that predates even the first self-aware AIs.”

Eli felt his pulse quicken. “You’re saying… it’s alive?”

“Alive? No. Conscious? Maybe.” The agent gestured toward the screen. “We call it The Fractured Code an entity that exists beyond our reality. We suspect the Syndicate has been trying to commune with it, altering the city’s fabric in ways that are increasingly dangerous.”

Mara took a step forward, squinting at the screen. “So you’re saying the Syndicate isn’t just fighting for power? They’re trying to break reality open?”

The agent nodded. “They believe whatever lies beyond will grant them limitless freedom. We believe it will bring ruin.”

Eli’s hands clenched into fists. He thought back to the strange glitch outside the bar, to the way reality had shifted around him. Could that have been the Fractured Code reaching out? And if so… why him?

“What do you want from me?” he asked, voice steady despite the weight pressing on his chest.

The agent studied him carefully. “You felt the shift, didn’t you? We’ve run simulations, tracked anomalies every pattern leads back to you, Eli. You are linked to the glitches in ways we don’t understand.”

Eli’s mind raced. Why me? What the hell am I?

Before he could voice his growing dread, the lights flickered. A deep, static hum filled the room. The black monolith pulsed again, this time more violently. Lines of code distorted, twisting into symbols that made Eli’s vision blur.

Then, the sound of alarms.

A Collective technician bolted into the room. “Syndicate breach in the lower sector! They’re coming for the core!”

Mara swore under her breath. Eli’s gut twisted with unease. The Syndicate didn’t just want control they were here to rip open reality itself.

The agent turned to him. “If you want answers, you’ll have to fight for them.”

Eli took a breath, trying to steady himself. His past was a mystery, his connection to the glitches unknown, but one thing was clear he was caught in the middle of a war that stretched beyond his understanding.

And the first battle had just begun.