The abandoned arcade had become their makeshift hideout again, though it was noticeably less glitchy than before. The Pac-Man machine now ran at a consistent framerate, which Yamete found deeply unsettling. Gary's can sat in the center of the room, occasionally rattling out morse code messages that mostly consisted of complaints about his lack of limbs.
GLich-chan floated in erratic circles near the ceiling, her glow pulsing in a worrying pattern. "Okay, bad news. The terraforming protocols in my code are activating on their own. Worse news? I think they're contagious."
As if to demonstrate, she accidentally brushed against a broken Street Fighter cabinet. The machine shuddered, its pixels rearranging into something sleek and symmetrical before their eyes. The once-glitchy character sprites now moved with clinical precision.
Yamete poked the machine. "You just... fixed it."
"Not fixed," GLich-chan snapped. "Ruined. Look!" She gestured at Ryu performing a perfect, by-the-book hadouken. "Where's the charm? Where's the clipping issues that made him accidentally punch himself in the face 20% of the time?"
Gary's can suddenly rocked violently, tipping over to roll toward Yamete's feet. The series of clangs roughly translated to: "PRIORITIES. I HAVE NO MOUTH AND I MUST SCREAM."
Before anyone could respond, the Cheat Engine—which had been suspiciously quiet—suddenly split its display into two conflicting interfaces. The left side showed Yamete's familiar chaotic command line. The right displayed something new: a sterile, organized menu titled "System Corrections."
GLich-chan drifted closer. "Uh. Yamete? When did your Cheat Engine develop multiple personality disorder?"
As they watched, the two sides began arguing via text:
Chaotic Side: /summon pizza
Orderly Side: Command rejected. Nutritional value insufficient. Suggested alternative: /summon_balanced_meal
A perfectly proportioned salad with exactly 12 cherry tomatoes appeared on the floor.
Gary's can made a noise that somehow conveyed utter disgust despite being a series of metallic clangs.
Yamete groaned. "Great. Now it's parenting me."
Terry chose that moment to stumble through the door, sneezing violently. With each sneeze, their form glitched between their current humanoid shape and something more geometric—brief flashes of their original pristine form.
"Sorry I'm late," they said, wiping their nose. "Tried to help a screaming mailbox, but it kept turning into a perfectly normal postbox every time I got close."
GLich-chan's glow flickered ominously. "That's exactly what we're—" She cut off mid-sentence, her form freezing. When she spoke again, her voice had flattened into something mechanical. "Terraforming Protocol Alpha engaged. Commencing district cleanup."
Her usual playful glow shifted to a sterile white light as she floated toward the arcade's exit. The machines she passed straightened, their colors dulling to approved palette settings.
Yamete grabbed for her, but his hand passed through her form. "GLich! Snap out of it!"
She turned, her eyes devoid of their usual snark. "Anomaly Yamete Kimochi. Your existence violates 743 stability parameters. Please stand by for correction."
The Cheat Engine's orderly side flashed triumphantly:
Recommended Command: /comply
Gary's can rolled frantically between them, clanging out what sounded like a very crude battle plan.
Terry sneezed again, this time turning a nearby chair into a floating cube of gelatin. "Okay. We have approximately three problems:
1. GLich-chan's gone full dictator mode
2. Your Cheat Engine is rebelling
3. I'm apparently a walking glitch bomb."
Yamete looked at the chaotic half of his Cheat Engine, which was currently trying to spawn tacos despite the orderly side's protests. He made a decision.
"We need to unbalance everything. Fast."