System Failure (An Adesa Fanfic) [Originally by Littlewolf65]

Chapter 5

Adam's POV
The virus - I was wondering whether she was actually a virus - wiped the tears from her face and nodded a little, saying a wary "Okay."

"How did you get in here?" I asked. That was the biggest problem right now. If this virus could get in then others could too, which would spell disaster for the glitches.

She dropped her gaze to the floor and muttered. "I don't know. I just... knew how to get in."

"The firewalls didn't stop you?"

She shook her head slightly and I frowned. The firewalls should stop any virus from getting into the mainframe and at the very least, should majorly injure them. The worm had no cuts on her arms or legs as if the firewall never affected her.

"Where are your weapons?" I asked.

The virus shook her head slightly. "I... I don't know."

"You don't have any?"

"No, I have weapons," she said instantly. "But... I don't have them with me."

I gave a quiet sigh. This chatting wasn't getting me anywhere, but I couldn't just kill her now that I had started talking. It just seemed.... Wrong.

"I-I'm sorry," the worm whispered. "I... I don't really know what's happening."

This statement only made me more confused. "What do you mean?" I asked, shifting slightly.

"I... I don't remember much," she admitted. "I remember waking up in... somewhere. It wasn't here, it was similar but... bigger. More confusing. But there was a voice there. I was told that my job was to spread chaos amongst servers everywhere, destroy them, and to kill any glitches I found."

My hand went to my sword. If I wasn't sure that she was a virus before, I was now. Only viruses killed glitches.

"So that's what do you?" I asked, my tone unnaturally level. "Move from server to server?"

She nodded her head slightly. "I stayed at the back of servers, out of sight. I..." She looked up at me, seemingly unaware of my hand resting on my sword hilt. "I don't want to kill people. Or glitches."

"Soooo... What do you want to do?"

"I...don't know," she whispered, tears beginning to fall down her cheeks again. "I feel like I know but I can't remember it. But I don't want to destroy things, and I don't want to kill people."

Suddenly, it hit me so hard that I almost fell over. I wobbled a bit, catching my balance at the last minute. The virus gave something that could have been the beginning of a laugh hastily cut off. I looked at her and I saw the amusement in her code-eyes. This virus somehow had emotions. It could feel something other than hate and contempt, which was impossible.

"What are you?" I asked.

She tilted her head slightly, confused as if she didn't understand my question.

"Are you a virus or are you something else?" I elaborated.

Her eyes widened and she suddenly noticed that my hand was on my sword. "You're a glitch," she said quietly. "Viruses are supposed to kill glitches."

I quickly stood up and took a step back, ready to draw my sword. She watched me, her arms crossed over her chest in a hugging manner. She didn't try to attack or even to run. She simply waited, her eyes fixed on my face.

"Well?" she said. "Aren't you going to kill me?"

I bit the inside of my lip. I was supposed to kill her. She was a virus and she was in the glitch's mainframe. I had an opportunity now. She wasn't putting up a fight and she was unarmed. I was an idiot if I didn't attack her.