du stumbled through the flickering corridors beneath Queen's Mansion, the polished chrome walls glitching into jagged pixelated fragments before reforming into impossible geometries. The air hummed with corrupted data streams, their cyan light casting distorted shadows that moved independently of any source. A cold dread settled in their chest as they realized the usual precision of the Cyber World had broken down here, replaced by chaotic randomness where gravity shifted without warning and doorways led to identical empty rooms. Just as they reached out to touch a wall that seemed to be melting into binary code, an unnatural laughter echoed from all directions at once—a sound that was neither mechanical nor organic, but something altogether alien.
Two glowing eyes materialized in the darkness ahead, one burning with vivid yellow intensity while the other radiated magenta pink, floating above an unnervingly broad, toothy grin that remained perfectly fixed despite the laughter continuing to ripple through the glitched space. "NOW THIS IS INTERESTING..." the voice declared, each word crisp and clear despite the distortion. "YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE HERE." du stepped back instinctively as the laughter rang out again, their heart pounding against their ribs. The eyes drifted closer, the grin widening slightly as the segmented tail twitched with precision behind the silhouette. "NO NEED TO BE AFRAID... YOU CAN THINK OF ME AS A FRIEND IN YOUR TIME OF NEED."
The cat-like form glided forward, its outline shimmering with white light against the absolute blackness of its body. "I DIDN'T EXPECT ANYONE TO STUMBLE INTO THIS GLITCHZONE - IT'S QUITE A SPECIAL OCCASION WHEN THE BARRIERS BETWEEN WORLDS TEMPORARILY TINGE. YOU REALLY SHOULDN'T BE ABLE TO SEE THIS, BUT I GUESS YOUR PRESENCE HERE MAKES SENSE IN A WAY - AFTER ALL, WE'RE BOTH OUTSIDERS IN THESE WORLDS, ARE WE NOT?" Friend's tail swayed rhythmically as he examined du with detached curiosity, his mismatched eyes seeming to look through them rather than at them. "HAHAHA... YOU REALLY, REALLY SHOULDN'T HAVE COME HERE. but i'm glad you did."
