Breaking the Code

Powering on

P̵̨͔͙̏̽́͂̈́̂̈́͐́̽ơ̶̜͍͕̜̹͎̤̻̮͉̫̇̾̀̅̏̽̑͊͗̀̂̓͝͠w̷̨̤͆̅̍̓̒̏̀̍͗͒͊͌͝ȩ̸̢̭͓͉̇̽r̸͚̐͆͌̃͊̓̍̆̒̾́͗̆̕i̴̻͎̳̱̭̠̩̲̲̟͌̔͗n̷̨̘̔͗̂̔̅̋͂͘g̶̢̢̡͖̰̗͈͇͎͚̉̏̓̿̍͐͛̚ ̸͕̻̜̠͖̰͍̭̩͗̿̀̽̊̇̽̎͘͜o̵̞͕͔̘̦̺̣̺̒̾͐̏͊̄͆́͛̈̓̅͂̚-̷͎͕̪͚̏̆̓̽́̂̊́̀̀̚̚͝ǒ̵̡̧̲̠̺̰̩͎̈́͑̓͑̄́̑͗͂̆̀-̵̨̨̛̥̖̖̺̰̤͔̀̂̇́̐̋͗͋̕͠ͅo̸̧̺̝̰̹̗͓̩̖̤̘̯͇̍̿̇̈́̀̏̔̄͛́̓̕͜͝͝͝ͅn̴̛͎̼̻̥̅̈́́̽̀͑͒́͒͊̾͐͐͘

I open my eyes a little, my vision glitched, colors separated into primary colors, making everything a mess.

Ş̸̧̗͇̙͇̞̳͇̘̖̹̖͇̦̀̑̋̉͝ỹ̷̺̯̲̣̙͕̮͙̹̙̯̻̪̝͛̌̓ͅs̷̡̡̞̖̥͈͚̝̣̞̪͈̖̃̈́̇̐̎̑̈́̍t̸̼̞̳̯͕̦̘̬̬͔̲͚̥̔̀͛͂̄̽́͑̀̓͘͜e̸̱̙̞̼̫̱̗͍͕͙̲͐̊̌̆̂̓̿̔͜͝͝͝ṃ̸̳̘̦̜̳̳̫̅̾͆̑̈́͘̚s̵̨̧̢̤̬͎̹̹̱͇͖̣̓ͅ ̴̦̤͈̑ͅc̵̳̒̽̋̀͗̋̄̓̀̈́̑̊͊͘̚ȧ̸̢̤̘̩̤͉̖̃̓̍̽̀͌͑̄͛̐̕̕ĺ̶̨̧͈͕͕̪͓̫͎̻͚̘̇̑i̷̝̟̱̪̔́͌̍͂̋̌̀̏͝b̸̢͙̻̭̘͚͙̠͈̗̯̎͛̎͋r̷̗͙̰͐͂̽͋̓̕a̴̯͚͓͎̭̜̹͉̤̞͍̘͔̞̿̏͌͂͋̿̽͗̃͐̀̂̕ͅt̸̼͓͕̥̘̪̙̭̹̠̻̤͍̐̍i̴̗̰̽̾̇̿̏͐͂̑̅͝ͅṇ̸̦̹̙̞̺̥͔̭̥͇̼̙̇͛͝g̸̠̜̾͊̃̆̂

I struggle to sit up, and notice that I must've been launched out of the car somehow.

T̷̨͔͚̋͆̇́͌̈̑͠ẅ̴̙͇̙̳̣̝̞͓̘̺͈̰́͆͒̎e̴̫̥̥͙͖͗̌̾̋̽͊̓̄́̊͘͝͠͝ṉ̶̯͈͈͒͋̈̔̍t̴̨̨̖̖̜̍̇̿̌́͆y̷̡͕̬̬͍̠̯̼̲̱͙͚̖̐ ̷̡̢̻̩̩͈̫̈̄͒̍̆̔͗͗̈́̂͆͜͜ͅẹ̸͎͔̟͈̩͕͍͖͐͊̏̈̈́̔̎͒̓i̸̡̢̭̠̺͇͕̇͗̈́̔̅̑͠g̵̨̛̰̺̤̭̞̰̻̥͇̠̪̘͊̒̍͋͑̃̀́̀̈́̒͊ͅͅh̶̛͓̹̐͊͋͌̌̌͛̚̚͠͝ţ̴̦̘̯̬̲͚̪͙̞̻̄̂̊̀́͌̆͠ͅ ̴̢̜͍̬͕̞̹̗̻̏̋̃̒s̵̭̺̣͚̰̙͎͇͈̣̤̼̘͚͒̈́͊͆̆y̶̧̱̫̺͙̬̬͙̱̙̠̓́̒s̸̡̞̞̱̩͚͚̩̦͉͉͛̏͛͗̄̊̋̈́͆̀̎̚̕ẗ̸͓͈̗̗͔̼̼́͗̈́̋́̓̓͗̆̀̓́̈̚͜ͅȩ̵̡͇̤̫̼̌͂͗̏͛̎̓̀̕͝m̷̠̥̮̩̮̝͈͈̌̑̋͛̀̉̈̈̇̊̽̀ ̶̺͉̭̀̓̓͐e̷̡̨͎͈̲͍͉̳͖̓̐͆͋̓̒̀͒̔͗̀͠r̸̛͍̻̈͒͛̅̉̓͊͒͂͜͝r̸̩̝̻̞̰̒̿̉̐̾̎̈̽͝ơ̴̫͇̮̙̬͎͍̎̐́̅̕͘͝͠r̵͕̞̞̤͍̉̆͌͐͆͋̂͝s̸̱̼̙͖͑̎͂͗̿̊̍̐͘͘̚͝

I slowly sit upright, and look myself over. I'm missing part of my left arm, exposing some wiring, and my right leg might as well be in the same condition I left that railing in. It would be easier to remove it, but it'd make it much more difficult to walk.

I look around me, my hearing corrupted, making the sound of the river distorted and as if it's on the other side of a wall. The chaise of the car, missing a couple doors, is on the other side of the river. A glitched memory of having to pull myself out of the car and make it across the river slowly comes back.

Ẅ̶̧̨͔̖̭̪̳̺̗̲͆͛̃͆̅̇̔͗͗̎̃̎͘͜͠ͅḫ̶̡̲̜̬̫͍̦̯͖̞̠͈̮̦̋̂̉̉̓̓͒̈́͐̏̄̾̄̆͘e̶̡͎̙̘̙̽̔̅̀́̓͝ȑ̷̺̯̂̏̌̚ͅě̸̢̛̜̐ ̶̳͇̭̑̔̃̒͝ì̷̢̪͙̦̭̳̦̈́̉̉̍͂̏͜s̴͎̹͖̮̼̈́̅̊̅͝ ̷̡͖͚̞̰̞̆̈́̎͂͗́͒̀̊̌͘h̶͖͖̰̠̖͇̠̜̝̬͗̏̂̓̎̈͘̕ȩ̶̧̨̰̼͍͎̖͓̍̈́̓̃̒́͆͗͒͛̀͝?̵̢̳͚̖̗͍͕͗̈͗́̄

My mind is suddenly filled with thoughts of Gavin. I realize he probably thinks I'm gone for good this time, and it might be too late for me to get to him, but I have to try. I grab a nearby branch, break it so it's like a makeshift crutch, and slowly get up, being careful with my right leg. 

Ë̵̢̘̪̳̱̟̮̭͕̜́͐͛̀͆͝ͅr̸̝͉̘͕̈́͐́̈́͌̅̀͗̄͒͘ŗ̵̡̢̨̬͕͕͈͙̬̾͜ơ̸̫̮̮̙̬̺̰͎̱̟̓̑̓͛̈́͗̀̒́͘ͅŗ̶̙̜͙̳͇̫͇̐̌̆͌͆̔̕͠ ̵͔̦̉̇̀͐͌̉́́̾͛̿̆̏e̸̛͓͉̲̫̗̘̼͗̊̐́̿͊̐̓̕͝r̵̢̳̘̱͉͛͐̀͌̈́̔̀̑̕͝ř̵̛̯̪̬̮̖̦̖̠̇̈́͒͐́̊͆ͅő̸̳̫̖̞̠̙̻̇͛͒̐͜͝r̷͓̤̭͓͊̇̈́̈́̎͛̓͊̈́̾̀͆̿͘͜ͅ ̸̧̛͓̦̈́́͊̂ȩ̷̡͕͎̳̲͙̬̬̲̘̪͍̄̂́̄͗̉ŗ̷̛̱̲͙̫͉̩̞͓͚̩̖̪̏̄͊ͅr̴̤̮͔͗͌̊̚o̴̞̓̍͛͒̐̃͋̍̈̓̕r̷̜̪̲̝̒̇̀̂̓̂̆͂́̊͘͘̚̚

Errors start flooding my vision, several systems on the verge of failing completely, but I stand there for a while, until most of the systems sort themselves out enough for me to continue walking.

It takes two hours for me to make it to a path that most likely leads back to some sort of town or city. I start going along it, noticing the amount of blue blood I've lost is on the verge of being fatal, so I pause and tear a sleeve off my shirt and make a makeshift tourniquet from it, wrapping around my right thigh, and I keep walking.

After a few more hours I reach the end of the trail, and almost immediately get hit by a car, but it misses me by about a foot, and I try to keep my balance as the car screeches to a stop. At least, I think it did, but with my corrupted hearing I'm not sure if it make any sort of sound.

The man driving the car walks over to me, frantic. He says something to me, but I can't make out what he's saying. I try to say I can't hear him, but my voice is mostly static, but he seems to understand. Suddenly, another person gets out of the car, walking over, and they stand next to the man, most likely looking worried.

My vision clears enough for me to realize it's Hank and Connor, who were apparently taking a drive outside Detroit. I try to ask where Gavin is, and if he's okay, but Hank and Connor look at each other, probably exchanging worried glances.

They just lead me to the car carefully, and Connor sits in the backseat with me as Hank starts the car, and the android pulls out some sort of repair kit, and starts working on my arm, it being one of the easier parts to fix. I scan the container and pick up a hearing module, and take out my own, unable to hear anything, and gently put this new one in with a click, and the sound of a car engine comes through clearly. My eyes have started repairing themselves, so my vision is slowly clearing.

By the time we get to Detroit, Connor has fixed my arm, and got my leg into mostly working order, and I say quietly, "W-w-where is G-Gavin..?"