Code X: Human Upgrade- Episode 6 – Glitch in the System

By- AK

RECAPE-

After surviving their first major test, Zayel and the other teens are taken deeper into the Code X facility, where they discover they’re being constantly watched. Surveillance monitors reveal that everything they do is tracked—every movement, every word, every thought.

Dr. Varin, the cold and mysterious scientist behind the project, introduces himself. He tells them they must now compete against each other in a new phase where only the strongest will move forward.

Inside a high-tech arena, Zayel faces a series of intense challenges—physical, mental, and emotional. The toughest moment comes when he sees a hologram of his mother and realizes that his emotional memories are slipping away.

After completing the test, Zayel learns that the program is slowly erasing who they used to be. Kai warns that they must fight back before they lose themselves completely.

Meanwhile, in the control room, Dr. Varin watches and smiles.

“Soon, they will be perfect soldiers,” he says.

Zayel knows now—they are not just part of a program.

EP-6 BEGGINING-

The lights in Zayel’s room flickered again.

He sat at the edge of his bed, eyes locked on the small touchscreen console mounted to the wall. It usually just showed his schedule or messages from Node. But tonight, something was different.

A small icon blinked in the corner of the screen.

He had never seen it before.

He reached out slowly and tapped it.

The screen buzzed. A wall of code spilled across it—fast, glitchy, and filled with red text. The console wasn’t supposed to do this. It looked like a system error.

Then a message flashed:

FILE FOUND: HIDDEN_LOG_X23

DO YOU WANT TO OPEN IT?

Zayel hesitated. This could be dangerous.

But danger was already part of his life now.

He tapped YES.

Suddenly, the lights in the room dimmed. Node’s voice crackled in his head, glitching for the first time.

“Zayel… this is not… authorized access. Exit now.”

Zayel stayed quiet. He had to see what was inside.

A series of video clips began to play on the console. Surveillance footage. Conversations. Test logs.

In one clip, he saw himself—hooked up to wires—days ago during the upgrade procedure.

Then another clip played.

Dr. Varin stood in a dark control room, speaking to a group of people in suits.

“The emotional suppression is working. The subjects are becoming more obedient. Once memory retention is below 30%, we can begin implanting directives.”

Zayel’s stomach turned.

Directives? Obedience? Were they trying to turn him into a machine?

He kept watching.

In the final clip, a name appeared on the screen: Kai – Subject 04.

She was speaking to someone secretly.

“If we can find the root access point,” she said in a whisper, “we can break the loop. But we’ll need someone on the inside to trigger the glitch.”

Zayel leaned forward. She’s planning something… and she didn’t tell me.

The file ended, and the screen went black.

Node’s voice returned, but it was slower now.

“Zayel, this behavior will be reported. This file is classified. Please confirm your loyalty.”

He ignored it.

Instead, he picked up the tiny wrist module on his desk and quietly tapped three commands.

DELETE LOG HISTORY. ERASE ACCESS TRAIL.

If Code X found out what he saw, he’d be locked out—or worse.

The next morning, Zayel found Kai sitting alone in the tech lounge. Her face was pale, and her fingers nervously tapped the edge of a coffee mug.

He sat across from her without saying a word.

“You saw something, didn’t you?” she said without looking up.

Zayel nodded slowly. “You didn’t tell me you were trying to break the system.”

“I couldn’t,” Kai whispered. “Not until I knew you were ready.”

He leaned in. “I’m ready now. I saw the directive files. They’re trying to erase us. Turn us into… weapons.”

She looked into his eyes. “Then we don’t have much time.”

Later that night, they gathered the other students in the soundproof rec room. Only five were left now.

Kai spoke first. “They’re using us. Watching us. Controlling us. But we’ve found a way to fight back.”

Zayel added, “There’s a flaw in their system. A small glitch. If we can trigger it at the root access point, we can crash the main server—or take control.”

One of the other teens, Dex, frowned. “That sounds like suicide.”

“It might be,” Kai said. “But doing nothing means losing everything we are.”

The room went silent.

Then, slowly, each teen nodded.

That night, Zayel sat in his bed, staring at the ceiling. Node hadn’t spoken since the incident. It was like the AI was… scared.

Maybe the system knew it was cracking.

Just before sleep, a final message flashed on his wall screen:

ROOT ACCESS CODE: X-07-BETA

NEXT MOVE: MIDNIGHT. BE READY.

But deep inside the facility, Dr. Varin watched the system logs quietly.

A smile grew on his face.

“Let them find the glitch. It’s part of the final phase.”