Late at night.Alex's apartment was quiet when Alex finally reached home, his hoodie damp with city mist, shoes dragging from exhaustion and adrenaline and pain piercing through his forehead. He winced as he shut the door, trying not to make a sound.Too late."Alex?" came his mother's voice from the kitchen.He froze. "Y-Yeah, it's me.""Why so late? I thought you took off before the restaurant closed."He quickly stuffed the glowing console from his hoodie into his backpack and zipped it tight. "I took the long way," he said, forcing a casual shrug even as pain pulsed in his ribs.Mei Steele walked in from the kitchen, wiping her hands with a towel. Her brows knit together. "Alex... what's on your face?"Alex didn't answer.Mei grew tensed " did those boys do this to you?" He touched the dried blood on his forehead. "No, I slipped, hit a wall."She stepped forward, eyes wide. "You what?""It wasn't a big deal, really, I—"But she was already in full Mom-mode, tugging his face toward the light."Slipped? This looks like someone swung a microwave at your head! Sit! Now!"Alex groaned as she grabbed the first aid kit, muttering under her breath about boys, cracked skulls, and the nerve of teenagers trying to lie to their mothers.Alex's Mom sat next to Alex and began to clean his wound."You need stitches. You need a CAT scan. You need a helmet every time you leave this house!""Mom, please, I'm fine.""You're seventeen, not invincible. You act like you were fighting monsters out there."Alex flinched. "Right. Monsters. Totally not that."She narrowed her eye's. "And what's in your backpack?""Just school stuff! Books!" Alex replied quickly and mumbled under his breath, "Definitely not illegal video game hardware from the digital future."She squinted at him. Then sighed and dropped the subject. "This should not happen again, I know something else happened but let me just let it slide. Dinner's in the fridge. Go to your room. Don't bleed on the couch."Alex took off to the fridge, brought out his food and tossed it in the microwave. As it hummed, he paced, his eyes flicking to the backpack like it might unzip itself.Later, Alex slumped onto his bed, kept his food aside and yanked the backpack open. The console pulsed with a low hum, its screen flickering like a heartbeat.
[SYSTEM: READY. USER PRESENCE CONFIRMED.]
Then it levitated. Yes, floated. Right above his bed, like it had a mind of its own."Wha—hey! Get down!" Alex hissed, grabbing at it. It dodged."HELLO, ALEX STEELE," the console boomed in a voice that sounded like a smug game show host. "WELCOME. MY NAME IS GENESIS!""SHHH! My mom will think I'm talking to a possessed toaster!""Possession: not currently supported," the console replied cheerfully. "Though I am quite adept at multiverse synchronization, matter generation, and light sarcasm."Alex blinked. "You… talk. Great. And float. Even better. I'm kinda excited and scared at the same time. I've alot of questions."" Is anybody after me?"" Negative,"" Great, What are you?""I am GENESIS: Gateway Entity Navigating Entangled Systems in Interdimensional Simulations. You may call me Genny.""Genny? Really?""Would you prefer Supreme Overlord of Quantum Chaos?""Okay, Genesis it is."Alex thought for a while, while pacing " That monster, that girl—you! Where do you people come from. What is happening. Did you people escape from a tv? What the hell is going on?" The console screen shimmered, displaying a cosmic diagram: stars, cities, digital strands twisting like DNA."Recently, virtual and reality became a blur. Our world is layered with simulation stacked on top of others. Something is unraveling the layers. One by one."Alex sat up straighter. "Wait… what? You mean erase reality?""Correct. Digital collapse. Existential overwrite. The whole 'blink and you're a file error' thing."Alex didn't quite understand " How?"" The monster you encountered are glitches, corrupt codes. Many roam around the earth currently.With them, reality can be terminated." The console replied flatly.Alex frowned slightly " The girl, the girl who saved me, I'm guessing she's is the one stopping them?"" The girl is an agent of a virtual society in charge of eliminating those threats," replied Genesis.Alex's brow raised " a virtual society?"" No, a tooth fairy factory, of course there is a virtual society," replied Genesis in sarcasm, floating around and scanning his room.Alex scoffed " How come nobody knows about this? This is so—not real." " Exactly, that is why we do our operation in a very discreet way. So you humans minds won't explode."Alex sighed at his food, coconut rice wasn't his favorite." And what are you supposed to be? Their secret weapon?" The console stopped, humming softly " Actually yes, I am speaking from programming and instinct. I don't have first-hand experience." " So, you are being booted for the first time," Alex said through mouthfuls of coconut rice." Affirmative. I feel it in my circuits that I'm a very rare device and the virtual agency is looking for me," said Genesis." No kidding," replied Alex." I have the ability to give powers to my host but for some reason, I things didn't work out and I ended in the alley—and you found me," said the console buzzing." So I'm not supposed to have you?" Alex quipped." Technically, yes, though I have no memory of anything, but I know a very powerful device is not supposed to belong to a lanky teenage boy who can't handle two sapiens," Genesis chirped." Hey!" Alex frowned " easy for you to say, you are just a controller." " But nevertheless, I am yours," said Genesis." Cool," said Alex and Genesis bolted towards his face." Not cool, it's a responsibility, you found me."Alex made a smarmy laugh " Yeah, by accident. I'm not cut out for this responsibility stuff. House chores and high school is already overwhelming, how are you even mine?""Because you activated me. And now I'm bound to you. Until further notice, I must stay within your proximity. You are my host. Congratulations!"Alex sighed wearily. "I just wanted to walk home. Not get adopted by alien tech.""I am not alien. I am hypernative. And unfortunately for both of us, the digital entities are dying to get their hands on me. Now I have a host, we need to fix that problem.If I get captured, it might affect both of us, since we are connected. So, in a way–you have no choice."Genesis hovered around the ceiling, glowing different colours.Alex looked pale "So they're after me now?""Technically it is me they are after but by association, yes. You touched the console. The console chose you. That's how these things work.""I didn't sign up for this. I have high school tomorrow! Math quizzes. Gym class.""And now you'll also be dodging data wraiths and possible timeline implosions. But don't worry—I'll blend in. I can morph into a wristwatch, a phone, even a belt buckle."Console buzzed around Alex and he rubbed his face in exhaustion."A belt buckle. Fantastic. Just what I need to complete the 'unhinged teenager' look."Genesis gave a delighted beep. "Sarcasm! You're adjusting nicely."Alex flopped back on the bed. "This can't be real. This shouldn't be real.""And yet, here we are. You witnessed a Class-1 breach. The glitch was just the beginning. There will be more.""So what? I fight them?""With my help of course. Eventually. For now, you train. Learn. Survive. And when the time comes… lead."Footsteps creaked outside his door."Alex? Are you talking to yourself again?""Uh… yes! But like, in a character-building kind of way!""Keep it down or I'm taking your weird anime tech!"Genesis whispered, "I like her. She's fierce."Alex exhaled, staring up at his ceiling and thought " Just 7 hours ago l was a normal kid working in a restaurant helping my mom. Now. I'm connected a flying talking console expected to fight face-eating glitches. What could possibly go wrong?"Reality was unraveling. Monsters were real. He had a floating, talking console as a roommate.This was going to be a long week.And somehow, he had to survive algebra, lunchroom politics, and interdimensional chaos.Maybe he should invest in that helmet.