Chapter Text
> Begin.
Your name is Karkat Vantas, and you get the feeling that something's wrong with your computer. Of course, this isn't an unusual phenomenon, what with your quite frankly abysmal programming skills, but this time, you're pretty sure it's not your fault. Of course, had SGRUB been working normally, a couple hours from now you would have run a program that would have blown up your computer and placed a curse on you and everyone you've ever known. As much as you would have liked to deny it, that would have been your fault.
But you, of course, have no idea that any of that stuff would have happened, and even if you did, you wouldn't give a shit. Right now, the loading screen for the game Sollux sent you is going extremely slow, and while you're not sure whether that's supposed to be happening, you're not exactly happy with that. After you get the game to work, you and him are going to have a chat about that. Oh, speak of the devil. He's contacting you right now.
twinArmageddons [TA] began trolling carcinoGeneticist [CG]
TA: kk, what diid you do?
CG: YOU MEAN TO THE GAME?
TA: no, to your haiircut. of cour2e ii'm talkiing about the game. 2omethiing'2 wrong wiith iit.
CG: NO, BESIDES WATCHING THIS GODDAMN LOADING SCREEN, WHICH IS TAKING FOR-FUCKING-EVER, BY THE WAY. WHY DO YOU PRESUME *I* DID SOMETHING TO IT?
TA: two rea2ons. a) you're one of the only people ii've 2ent iit to, and b) iif anybody wa2 gonna fuck thii2 up, iit wa2 goiing to be you.
CG: OH, THAT'S NICE. SO YOU'RE TRYING TO PSYCHE ME OUT AND INSULT ME? REAL FUCKING CLASSY, CAPTOR. HOW LONG DID IT TAKE YOU TO COME UP WITH THIS ONE?
TA: ii'm dead 2eriiou2. check the 2ource code, pre2umiing you're not the one maniipulating iit. oh, wait, ii forgot, you don't have near enough 2kiill to do anythiing liike thii2 anyway. ju2t 2ee what'2 going on, iif you can even do that wiithout cra2hiing your computer.
CG: SCREW YOU AND YOUR '2OURCE CODE'.
Despite that sentiment, you decide to go check the source code anyway. The SGRUB screen is frozen anyway, so it isn't like you have anything better to do. You scroll through it, and everything seems to check out. It's esoteric, but what code that asshole sends you isn't? You're debating between sarcastic barbs to send to Sollux when, around four-fifths of the way through, something that you've never seen before catches your eye. Bits and pieces of the code are being replaced with odd red symbols, to the point where, by the end, entire lines are made up of them. You copy and search a line, but all that comes up are articles about some defunct East Alternian language that certainly doesn't belong in a game code. You take a screenshot and send it to Sollux, along with this message:
CG: IS THIS SOME KIND OF BIZARRE IN-JOKE I DON'T GET?
TA: oh god, iit'2 that bad already?
TA: kk, you have to beliieve me, ii have no iidea what'2 goiing on here.
CG: YEAH, RIGHT. SURE YOU DON'T.
He says something else, but you're distracted by a noise coming from your computer. You split your screen and pull up the game. The loading screen is gone, and now, there's pure black with white text.
[Completing loading process...establishing server connection...rerouting server connection...]
Rerouting? That doesn't sound right. You send a quick message to Terezi, then turn back to the screen. A few more of the strange glyphs have appeared on the screen, only a single line this time: 私たちは皆、私たちに値するものを手に入れます。
After that, your entire computer screen goes blank white. You blink a couple of times, then turn the monitor on and off again. That doesn't work. You pound on the screen, as if your computer is an old television set that just needs a bit of force to work again. Predictably, that also doesn't work. Standing up, you make to walk around your desk and see if something's wrong with the way it's plugged in. Your head is pounding, and as you stand up, you get rather disoriented. Did that light do something to your eyes? You squint and walk around behind your computer desk. You kneel down; everything looks normal. It must have been that program. Dammit, Sollux.
Your headache is getting worse than ever. The edge of your vision is cloudy. You swear you feel some sort of invisible force pulling you away from your computer. You brush it off as your imagination, but it gets stronger, and you're moving against your will. Terrified, you grip the leg of your desk, but you're still yanked backwards onto your feet, and you probably weren't fast enough even before the headache and heavy eyelids to run against it. What the hell's going on? Everything feels odd... it's not that bad, actually. Maybe you'll just rest your eyes here for a bit...
Terezi eventually responds to your message, and on the chat you abandoned, Sollux is freaking out, but you aren't there to respond. By the time anyone would see those messages, the troll who was supposed to receive them was long gone. So, too, were those who sent them. In fact, it would be six hours and twelve minutes after carcinoGeneticist went offline before someone saw those messages. When that happened, this would be their response:
carcinoGeneticist [CG] has changed his trolltag.
condescendinglyGarrulous [CG] is online.