The lights outside my office window flashed red and blue.
Heavy footsteps echoed down the hallway. Too steady. Too perfect. Not human.
I crouched behind my desk. My computer monitors were going crazy, broken code scrolling like digital snow.
Then my vision did something weird. A blue box appeared:
[DEBUG AGENT-042] Status: Active
Mission: Find Anomalous User
Threat Level: High
I could see their interface.
Three men in black suits walked down the corridor. They wore dark visors that glowed blue, and carried rifles that hummed with energy. Debug Agents.
My stomach dropped. I should have been dead. I was dead for a few minutes. But my
"Fatal Error" had turned me into something the System couldn't understand.
An anomaly.
One of the agents turned his head toward my office. A name tag floated above him:
[AGENT_TORRES] HP: 87%
Weakness: Neck joint - Critical Hit Zone
What the hell? I could see their weak points?
A horrible screech filled the hallway.
Something big crashed through a window. A monster…all sharp angles and black skin that moved like oil…landed on the tiled floor.
The agents raised their rifles without panic. Professional.
But I saw something they couldn't see. Above the monster's body, glowing in yellow text:
[SYSTEM BUG DETECTED: Left Knee Joint - Critical Vulnerability]
[Exploit Available: 300% Damage Multiplier]
The monster lunged at the agents. They opened fire. Bullets bounced off its hide like rain.
Then I had an idea. A really stupid, really clever idea.
Instead of shouting a warning, I accessed my Debug Vision interface. I found the monster's movement pattern.
[MONSTER_AI_ROUTINE]
Target Priority: 1. Anomalous Users,
2. System Agents,
3. Normal Users Current Target: AGENT_TORRES
I could change that.
I found the targeting system and quickly typed:
Override_Target: AGENT_WILLIAMS (the agent furthest from the exit)
[OVERRIDE ACCEPTED]
The monster suddenly spun toward Agent Williams.
But Williams was standing right next to a support pillar I'd noticed earlier—one with a [STRUCTURAL WEAKNESS: 67% INTEGRITY] tag floating above it.
As the monster charged Williams, I accessed the building's structural code and found what I was looking for.
[PILLAR_SUPPORT_GAMMA]
Integrity: 67%
Load Capacity: CRITICAL
I changed one number.
Load Capacity: 12%
When the monster slammed into Williams, the agent dodged—right into the pillar. The impact made the weakened support beam collapse, bringing down a section of ceiling directly onto the monster.
CRASH!
The monster was pinned under concrete and twisted metal. It dissolved into black dust.
Agent Torres froze, scanning wildly.
"Control, something's not right. The target AI changed mid-attack, and that pillar collapse was too convenient."
I grinned behind my desk. I didn't just see the System's code—I could edit it.
But my victory was short-lived. Agent Williams pulled out a different device that beeped rapidly.
"Anomaly signal is stronger. It's in this room."
My phone buzzed.
[NEW SKILL UNLOCKED]
Name: RenderOverride
Effect: User becomes INVISIBLE to all System processes
Duration: 10 minutes
Accept? Y/N
I tapped "Y" just as the agents kicked down my office door.
The world flickered. The agents' visors swept right past me, scanning, but no red targeting marks appeared. I was invisible to them.
I stood up and walked right past Agent Torres. He was close enough to touch.
"No visual contact," he muttered into his comm. "But the anomaly is close. Very close."
I made it to the stairwell, feeling proud of myself for outsmarting the System's hunters.
Then everything stopped. Every sound. Every movement.
A new name tag appeared in bright red text:
[MASTER_ADMIN_001 - ONLINE]
Threat Level: MAXIMUM
Authority: ABSOLUTE
Code poured across my vision like digital rain.
ANOMALOUS USER DETECTED: MARCUS MARTINEZ
THREAT ASSESSMENT: CRITICAL
EXTRACTION PROTOCOL: ACTIVATED
TERMINATION AUTHORIZED: YES
All the Debug Agents went perfectly still.
Then I felt it. Someone looking directly at me. Through my invisibility. Through everything.
A voice, smooth and calm like customer service AI, echoed inside my head.
"Clever, Marcus Martinez. Very clever. But you cannot hide from me forever."
My hands started shaking.
"You think you can edit our code? You are merely a corrupted file. And corrupted files... get deleted."
[WARNING: MASTER ADMIN APPROACHING]
[CURRENT INVISIBILITY: INEFFECTIVE]
[RECOMMENDED ACTION: RUN]
I ran down the stairs as fast as I could. Behind me, the Debug Agents came back to life, their footsteps perfectly synchronized.
But as I ran, I couldn't help smiling a little. I'd just beaten the System's monsters using the System's own code against it.
I was getting good at this.