Riko and Luna moved through the school hallway like shadows, keeping their voices barely audible and their footsteps light. Even though the school bell had rung and the usual noise was back after that crazy thing in the cafeteria, Riko just couldn't shake it off. He couldn't block out the noise or concentrate on the students' conversations. Didn't help that lockers kept slamming really loud, and teachers were yelling at kids for running in the hall. He was too busy watching every face, every set of shoulders, every backpack, every pair of shoes. He needed to see even the tiniest, weirdest digital flicker. The tech on his arm was softly buzzing, little lines of code running under his sleeve It almost felt like the thing was trying to feel out the danger in air through his arm.
Luna stuck to him like glue, her eyes darting around, looking at students with the same worry Riko. Luna's seen that Assimilator in the cafeteria. She saw its crazy twitching that no normal person could ever do. She definitely wasn't going to risk anything now. "OK," she whispered, "so, are we like, official monster hunters now? Is that what we do after lunch now? Because I did not sign up for this.
Riko didn't answer. His attention locked onto a girl walking by with a pile of books. For a split second, her cheek looked all pixelated, like a broken picture online, then it went back to normal. He quietly pointed her out to Luna. Luna froze, watching the girl disappear, Dude, she said. That's two today. Two glitch-people. What is going on? Did the school get cursed or something?
"Assimilators," Riko said quietly, That's what one of them called itself. Or... whatever it was trying to sound like.
Luna's shoulders tightened up. "How many more of them are hiding?"
Riko had no clue. It was not a great feeling, thinking of how many of those things could be out there, pretending to be students. He's fought monsters before in junkyards and fought big boss monsters and chased corrupted creatures down streets about to fall apart. But these imposters in the school felt different. It felt more personal. Quiet and patient. Seeing a monster coming at you is one thing, but monsters walking next to you between classes? That's something else completely.
They went further down the hall, trying to look normal and laugh.. But their eyes kept looking at every person who walked past. A tall kid with headphones had a weird glitch for just a bit, but went back to normal before he walked past a locker. A girl tying her shoes seemed to flicker around her shoulders before going back to normal. A freshman holding a sketchbook blinked, and his eyes flashed into square blue pixels for a second. Every time Riko tried to look longer, the glitch disappeared, and it was just a normal kid in class.
It was like they knew when he was watching.
Luna whispered, "Do you think they know we know?
"I think they knew the second that one attacked us." Riko rubbed his arm where his system was. "I don't think any of this is just random."
They kept walking. Every so often, the lights in the hallway flickered. There was a weird buzzing noise. People kept complaining about the electricity and the old wiring, but Riko and Luna looked at each other. Glitch zones felt like this. Cracks of light and flickers of reality breaking.
His system vibrated a little, but no new messages popped up. It was watching, waiting, checking things out. To Riko, it felt like a nervous animal smelling the air, sensing danger.
A group of seniors walked by, laughing about a joke in class. Riko kept his head down, but Luna nudged him hard and said, "Look."
He looked up.
For a split second, their legs were out of sync, like they were missing frames in a movie. It was a small thing, but if you saw it, you couldn't ignore it.
"Are they... all Assimilators?" Luna whispered, with fear.
"No," Riko whispered back. "Some of them are probably just normal. Maybe those glitches are... scanning things or passing something along."
"Passing what?" Luna asked.
Riko was about to answer, but right then something crashed into the intercom wiring. The static was super loud and students covered their ears. It only lasted a second. Then, footsteps came from the other side of the hall. Riko pulled Luna behind the lockers to stay hidden.
A tall student with dark hair walked through the hall stiffly, head down, arms swinging too much the same, too even. No natural rhythm or sway, just straight, consistent swinging.. His shadow moved weirdly on the floor, like the light wasn't sure where to put it. Riko stared harder, and the student's face started glitching softly, like the whole thing was lagging online.
Luna whispered, "That's not just acting. That's not just a disguise. That's…"
"Assimilator," Riko finished.
Before they could do anything, a teacher called out to the student. "Hey! You're late! Get to class!"
The glitch-student snapped its head toward the teacher so fast it should've broken its neck. Its eyes turned black for a really quick second. It nodded and walked past, swinging its arms way too casually, like a creature trying so hard to act normal.
Riko felt really cold. If the teachers couldn't tell, if the school couldn't tell the difference, the Assimilators could just blend in forever.
"How are we supposed to know?" Luna whispered, barely loud enough to hear. "We can't just punch every person here."
Riko didn't say anything because he didn't know. Punching wasn't going to solve this, especially not now in crowded hall with, students who would freak out if he started throwing people.
They went around another corner. A group of freshmen walked past, unaware of any issues.. One of them glitched for a moment, their wrist turning into pixels before snapping back.
Luna breathed out, "They're everywhere. What if the whole school is… infected?
Riko shook his head. "No. They'd attack if they wanted to.
"Unless they're waiting," Luna said quietly. "Waiting for What? A signal? A command?"
Riko touched the screen on his arm, hoping for something, but it stayed quiet and dark.
They went deeper into the old part of school. It was quiet and had fewer students, and there a bunch of old lockers. Riko felt his system pulse a little, like it was sensing something was close. Luna saw his arm and leaned to him. "Something here?"
"Yeah," Riko whispered. "Something close."
He stepped carefully, ready for anything. Luna followed, holding her backpack in front of her. The hallway smelled old and dusty, the lights flickered, and the floor shook a tiny bit. Normal student wouldn't even notice, but, Riko knew that was a glitch zone.
He whispered, "Stay behind me."
But Luna joined beside him. "We're in this together.
Riko didn't argue. He looked around the hall again. Old posters peeled off the walls. a door was open at the far end. A student in a hoodie stood there, head down, face hidden. Riko's system buzzed harder.
The hooded student lifted its chin.
Their face was just blank. No eyes, no nothing. Just a flat, skin-colored surface that was cracked with glitches.
Luna covered her mouth.
Riko's heart was pounding. The faceless student took a step toward them. Then another. Their legs moved weird, stretched a bit too long and bent a weird way. They walked like they were trying to control a body for the first time.
Riko slid his foot back, ready to fight, but he didn't want to attack until he knew if other students were nearby.
The faceless creature stopped and tilted its head, like it was listening for something. Then the glitch lines spread across its body. It whispered something in a messed up computer voice. It was too quiet to hear.
Riko nudged Luna. "Back up. Slowly."
She nodded. They took a step backward.
The creature took a step forward.
The hall lights went out, one by one.
Students were screaming in class.
Then—
The intercom buzzed.
Static.
A voice whispered through it that was not human, "User detected."