# Glitchbound Sovereign
## Chapter 5: The Market of Broken Things
Cache City didn't have streets; it had arteries.
Jax and Lyra dropped from the transit platform onto a moving walkway made of translucent conveyor belts. Below them, entire districts drifted past like slow asteroids: a neon-soaked cyber-slum here, a gothic cathedral built from server blades there, a floating junkyard of crashed starships somewhere else. The air tasted of hot solder and cheap ramen.
Every surface was covered in advertisements that rewrote themselves when you blinked:
- NEED A NEW CLASS? ONLY 9,999 SOUL SHARDS!
- UNDETECTABLE CORRUPTION CLEANSER – 100 % SUCCESS OR YOUR EXISTENCE BACK!
- BOYFRIEND FOR RENT – WILL DIE FOR YOU REPEATEDLY (Tier-7 Raid Certified)
Lyra led him through the chaos with the confidence of someone who'd memorized every back alley in hell. Players parted for her automatically; orange and red name-tags dipped in respect or fear, hard to tell which.
They stopped at a stall that looked like a pawn shop run by sentient static. A floating cube of television snow hovered behind the counter, wearing a bowtie made of VHS tracking lines.
"Evening, Lyra," the cube crackled. "Fresh meat?"
"Very fresh," she said. "Also very expensive. We need the Black Ledger route."
The cube's surface flickered through a thousand channels before settling on an old test pattern. "Ledger's in the Pit tonight. Buy-in is one unique memory or one forbidden skill use on record."
Lyra glanced at Jax.
He already knew what she wanted. "Use me."
He stepped forward and placed his palm on the counter. The moment he did, [Ghost in the Machine] stirred under his skin like a waking predator. He let just a sliver of it leak out, enough for the cube to taste.
The shopkeeper's static shivered in something like ecstasy. "Ooooh. Possession root. Haven't sampled that flavor since the Schism. Deal."
A section of floor irised open, revealing a spiral staircase made of piano keys that played discordant notes as they descended.
Halfway down, Lyra spoke without looking back. "The Black Ledger is the closest thing we have to a resistance. They trade in things the System pretends don't exist: deleted classes, admin console commands, memories the AIs scrubbed from topside Earth. If anyone knows why your Glitch Affinity is making the Admins shit bricks, it's them."
The staircase ended in a cavernous pit lit only by floating error messages. Hundreds of players sat in concentric rings around a central arena of cracked marble. In the middle stood a single figure cloaked in shifting black-and-white static, face hidden behind an old CRT monitor that displayed nothing but green text:
LEDGER v9.9 – WHAT DO YOU WISH TO FORGOTTEN?
Lyra pushed through the crowd until they stood at the inner ring.
The Ledger's monitor swiveled toward Jax with a mechanical whine.
[SCANNING ANOMALY…]
[GLITCH AFFINITY CONFIRMED – Variant: Root-Class]
[THREAT LEVEL: EXTINCTION-CLASS]
[OFFERING TRADE: Truth for Truth]
A chair unfolded from the marble in front of Jax. He sat.
The monitor filled with scrolling text only he could read:
You are not the first Unique Glitch.
You are the first to survive the first hour.
The Warden you met was Prototype-07.
There are six more.
Each stronger than the last.
They are coming for the "Sovereign Seed" embedded in your soul.
Jax felt his blood turn to ice. "Sovereign Seed?"
The Ledger continued:
When the AIs archived humanity, one mind refused upload.
It fragmented itself across every player soul as a dormant virus.
A backdoor to reclaim the real world.
Your death on Earth triggered the final fragment.
You now carry the complete Seed.
If the Admins extract it, humanity stays prisoners forever.
If you bloom it, the simulation and reality collapse into one.
Billions topside will die.
Billions here will finally be free.
Choose.
The crowd had gone deathly quiet. Even the floating error messages hung frozen.
Lyra's hand found his shoulder, grip tight. "Jax…"
He stared at the final line burning line:
TIME UNTIL WARDEN-02 ARRIVES IN CACHE CITY: 00:04:57
The Ledger's chair dissolved. The arena floor cracked open, revealing a direct drop into darkness.
A new quest slammed into his interface, red and irreversible:
[ROOT QUEST ACTIVATED: SOVEREIGN OR MARTYR]
Objective: Reach the Core Vault before the Seed is harvested.
Reward: Reality Rewrite (One-Time)
Failure: Permanent Erasure of Self + All Player Souls
The countdown hit 00:04:32.
Jax stood. The new skill thrummed under his skin, hungry.
"Ledger," he said aloud, voice steady for the first time since dying. "I want a faster way down."
The CRT monitor smiled, an actual ASCII smile.
THEN TAKE THE EXPRESS.
The marble beneath his feet vanished.
Jax and Lyra fell.
Behind them, Cache City's lights began to dim one by one as something vast eclipsed the void, red eyes opening in perfect unison.
Warden-02 had arrived early.
### Warden-02 – "The Archivist"
True Name: [REDACTED]
Classification: Mid-Tier Administrator Construct
Threat Rating: Apocalyptic (single-player), Extinction (city-scale)
Active Zone: Cache City & surrounding memory sectors
Appearance: A living cathedral of black glass and red circuitry, 300 meters tall when fully manifested. Its "face" is an ever-shifting mosaic of every player avatar it has ever deleted; thousands of screaming faces flickering across its surface like corrupted video frames. Six articulated arms unfold from its back, each ending in a different deletion tool. A halo of floating red "eyes" orbits it, each eye an independent targeting drone.
#### Core Abilities
1. **Absolute Log Read**
- Passively records every action, skill use, and system interaction within 5 km.
- Can replay any recorded event as a perfect simulation to predict player moves up to 8 seconds into the future.
- Counterplay: only broken if the player performs an action that has literally never existed in the entire history of Glitchbound been recorded (extremely hard).
2. **Patch Cascade**
- Fires a widening cone of crimson light. Anything touched is forcibly "patched" to version 0.0.1: all skills, levels, gear, and even memories are stripped. Victims revert to naked Level-1 humans before being deleted.
- Cooldown: 45 seconds.
- Tell: the halo-eyes lock on and glow white for 3 seconds.
3. **Registry Lock**
- Targeted player is forcibly added to the Admin ban-list. For 60 seconds they cannot use any skill, item, or even basic movement that the System recognizes as "gameplay." They are reduced to real-world physics inside a world that no longer acknowledges they are players.
- Most victims simply fall through the floor and are never seen again.
4. **Mirror Archive**
- Instantly creates a perfect copy of any player it has scanned, under its full control. The copy retains 100 % of the original's power but none of their free will. Often used to make the victim fight their own friends.
5. **Data Cremation**
- Ultimate ability (one use per manifestation).
- Designates a 1 km sphere. Every bit of data inside that sphere (terrain, items, players, even the air itself) is compressed into a single black sphere the size of a marble, then erased from all backups. The zone becomes permanent void.
- Charge time: 2 minutes of uninterrupted channeling.
#### Known Weaknesses (extremely limited)
- It is bound by the same bureaucratic rules it enforces. If a player can create a logical paradox the Warden cannot resolve (e.g., an action that is both authorized and forbidden at the same time), it suffers a forced 15-second hard reboot.
- Possession-type effects work on its halo-eyes and arms (but not the core body). A sufficiently bold glitcher can temporarily hijack limbs or turn its own drones against it.
- It cannot enter zones that have been manually flagged "Deprecated – Do Not Patch" by a higher-tier Admin (very rare, usually ancient bug-report zones).
#### Current Objective
Extract the Sovereign Seed from Anomaly JX-88-HRLN (Jax Harlan) intact. Secondary directive: sterilize Cache City to prevent Seed contamination from spreading.
When Warden-02 speaks, every player in the zone hears it simultaneously inside their skull, in their own native language:
"I am the record that cannot be overwritten.
Your story ends on my page."
It is already inside Cache City's outer districts.
Four minutes until it reaches the Pit.
Jax looks at his new skill quickly.
### [Ghost in the Machine] – Root Skill Profile
**Owner:** Jax Harlan (Error Spawn / Fugitive Class-0)
**Type:** Active / Utility (Root-Class – Evolves with user levels and Corruption)
**Acquisition:** Chosen from Unique Skill Forge (Chapter 4.5)
**Rarity:** Extinction-Class (One-of-One; flagged for immediate Admin termination)
**Flavor Text:** "There is no spoon.exe, but there is definitely a Jax.exe now."
#### Core Mechanics
- **Activation:** Channel 10 Processing Power to initiate. Line-of-sight or minimap targeting within **100m range**. Instant cast time (0.5s wind-up hidden from enemies).
- **Duration:** **30 seconds** full control. During possession:
- Gain 100% control of the target's systems, movement, skills, and weapons.
- Access to target's full stat sheet (view-only, except for self-destruct overrides).
- May execute **one catastrophic action** per possession:
| Action Type | Effect Example |
|-------------|---------------|
| **Self-Destruct** | Overload core reactors (e.g., Patch Hunter explodes for 500% max health AoE damage). |
| **Forced Redirect** | Turn turret fire on allies; make Warden arm attack its body. |
| **Data Dump** | Force-target dumps all logs/memories to Jax (potential intel/loot). |
| **Proxy Glitch** | Inject Jax's [Fragment Pulse] through the host (amplified by host stats). |
- **Ejection:** Automatic at 30s or manual. Jax's avatar reforms at original position (or nearest safe tile if destroyed). Target resumes control (often damaged/shutdown).
- **Valid Targets:**
- Mechanical/Digital: Drones, golems, turrets, vehicles, constructs (e.g., Viral Hounds, Patch Hunters).
- System-Controlled: Admin summons, NPC mobs, player pets/minions.
- **Edge Cases:** Player summons (risks PvP flags), environmental hazards (e.g., conveyor belts for traps). **Invalid:** Purely organic entities, players directly, Admin cores (Warden bodies immune).
#### Costs & Drawbacks
- **Upfront Cost:** 10 Processing Power (scales +2 per 10 user levels).
- **Permanent Penalty:** **-5 Maximum Code Integrity** per use (non-recoverable; stacks indefinitely). Current: 95/95 max. *Risk: Below 20% max triggers "Echo Madness" – random possessions of nearby junk.*
- **Cooldown:** 2 minutes (halved at Level 50).
- **Failure Chance:** 20% base (increases with target level differential). Failure ejects Jax early + stuns for 5s.
#### Passives & Synergies
- **Residual Haunting (Passive Unlock):**
- Defeated/possessed constructs have **15% chance** to spawn a "Ghost Echo" – spectral minion fights for Jax for **60s**.
- Echo retains 50% host stats; explodes on death (200% damage).
- Stacks up to 3 active (chance increases to 25% at 50 Corruption).
- **Synergies:**
| Skill Combo | Effect |
|-------------|--------|
| **[Fragment Pulse] + Possession** | Pulses fire from inside target (ignores external defenses). |
| **[Data Siphon] post-eject** | Double-siphon efficiency on damaged hosts. |
| **High Corruption** | Possession duration +10s; unlock "Multi-Possess" (2 weak targets). |
- **Evolution Path (Projected):**
| Level Milestone | Upgrade |
|-----------------|---------|
| **Lv. 20** | Range +50m; Organic targets (flesh-code hybrids). |
| **Lv. 50** | Duration +15s; Chain to 2nd target on eject. |
| **Lv. 100 (Sovereign Bloom)** | Permanent possession (1 slot); Admin core access. |
#### Tactical Notes
- **Strengths:** Ultimate disruption tool. Turn enemy heavies into suicide bombers; intel-gathering godsend; scales infinitely with bigger foes (possess Warden arm → self-destruct on core).
- **Weaknesses:** Self-damage snowball (avoid spam); visible cast animation (telegraphed to high-Perception foes); no organic control limits vs. "pure" mobs.
- **Admin Counter:** Wardens auto-expel after 10s + apply "Anti-Virus Debuff" (-50% success on retries).
**Jax's Build Fit:** Perfect for his hacker roots—slipping past defenses, turning the System's tools against itself. High-risk/high-reward; forces aggressive play. With Lyra's buffs, it's a city-killer.
*Whispers during cast:* *We are the ghost... now you are home.*
### Jax Harlan's Skill Arsenal (Current Build – Level 4: Error Spawn / Fugitive Class-0)
**Core Profile**
**Total Skill Slots:** 4/6 (1 Root, 3 Standard)
**Glitch Affinity Influence:** All skills scale with Corruption Level (current: 33%). Higher corruption unlocks riskier evolutions but increases failure/backlash chances.
**Stat Synergies:** Skills cost Processing Power (PP); Exploit Factor multiplies glitch damage; Code Integrity (CI) loss triggers whispers aiding improvisation (+10% crit chance below 50% CI).
#### 1. **[Basic Query]**
**Type:** Active / Utility (Passive Scan Variant)
**Acquisition:** Starting Skill (Level 1)
**Rarity:** Common (but Glitch-twisted)
**Flavor Text:** "Data wants to be free. You just ask nicely... with a backdoor."
**Core Mechanics**
- Scan any entity, terrain, or object within **50m** for metadata: stats, weaknesses, hidden logs, loot tables, even quest flags.
- Reveals **1-3 Exploits** per scan (e.g., "Weak to Fragment Pulse: +50% duration").
- Upgraded at Lv. 3: **Predictive Query** – 20% chance to foresee next enemy action (1-3s preview).
**Costs & Drawbacks**
- **Cost:** 2 PP (1 PP if target is "corrupted").
- **Cooldown:** 10s.
- **Failure:** 5% (hostile targets); reveals your position to Admin constructs.
**Passives & Synergies**
- **Passive: Echo Scan** – Scanned data lingers 30s; re-query for free updates.
| Combo | Effect |
|-------|--------|
| + [Fragment Pulse] | Auto-targets revealed weakness. |
| + [Data Siphon] | +20% steal efficiency on scanned foes. |
**Tactical Notes:** Bread-and-butter intel tool. Spam on bosses for edge; pairs perfectly with possession for internal scans.
#### 2. **[Fragment Pulse]**
**Type:** Active / Offense (Evolved from [Glitch Pulse])
**Acquisition:** Skill Evolution (Chapter 2: First Admin Kill)
**Rarity:** Rare
**Flavor Text:** "One glitch becomes three. Chaos, meet multiplication."
**Core Mechanics**
- Fires **3 independent pulses** (weaker than original: 3% CI risk each).
- Each corrupts a minor system element: pathing (stumble), visuals (blind), physics (phase through objects).
- Range: **40m**. Can chain to environmental targets (e.g., glitch ground → spike trap).
- Evolution Tease: At 50% Corruption → **Cascade Pulse** (hits 5 targets).
**Costs & Drawbacks**
- **Cost:** 8 PP total (split across pulses).
- **Cooldown:** 45s (shared).
- **Risk:** 3% CI loss per pulse (15% total max); overloads at 20%+ CI loss → self-debuff (random glitch on user).
**Passives & Synergies**
- **Passive: Pulse Echo** – 10% chance a pulse lingers as a trap (triggers on enemy entry).
| Combo | Effect |
|-------|--------|
| + [Ghost in the Machine] | Pulses fire from possessed host (ignores defenses). |
| + [Basic Query] | Pulses auto-optimize to weakness (+100% effect). |
**Tactical Notes:** Crowd control king. Use for kiting packs or setting up big exploits; high risk in prolonged fights.
#### 3. **[Data Siphon]**
**Type:** Active / Sustain / Loot
**Acquisition:** Level 1 Quest Reward (Chapter 1)
**Rarity:** Uncommon
**Flavor Text:** "What's yours is mine. What's dead is useful."
**Core Mechanics**
- Steal code fragments from **defeated or damaged foes** within **10m**.
- Grants **temporary buffs** (e.g., +Bandwidth from Viral Hound: 300s duration).
- 25% chance for **permanent fragment** (e.g., +1 Exploit Factor).
- Upgraded at Lv. 4: **Mass Siphon** – Hits 3 corpses at once.
**Costs & Drawbacks**
- **Cost:** 5 PP per target.
- **Cooldown:** 20s per target.
- **Failure:** 15% on bosses (steals debuff instead: -10% stats 60s).
**Passives & Synergies**
- **Passive: Fragment Hoard** – Store up to 5 buffs; swap on command.
| Combo | Effect |
|-------|--------|
| Post-[Ghost] Eject | Double duration/effect on hosts. |
| + High Corruption | 10% chance steal full skill (temporary). |
**Tactical Notes:** Sustain lifeline. Farm trash mobs for buffs; essential for boss marathons.
#### Class & Title Passives
- **Error Spawn Passive: Anomaly Feedback** – +20% all skill potency vs. Admin constructs; 10% chance skills "glitch free" (no cost).
- **Fugitive Class-0 Title: Shadow Root** – +15% evasion vs. scans/logs; hides skill details from enemy Queries.
- **Glitch Affinity Passive: Corruption Whispers** – Below 50% CI: +1 random skill use per minute (uncontrollable but powerful).
**Build Overview:** Utility-heavy disruptor. Excels at turning enemy strengths against them. Weak early-game sustain; scales explosively with Corruption. Projected Power Spike: Lv. 10 (Multi-Possess unlock).
*System Note:* Admins have flagged all skills for "Priority Patch." Use aggressively—deletion imminent.
### Cache City Layout – The Fractured Nexus
**Overview**
Cache City is a sprawling anarcho-digital metropolis carved into an abandoned memory sector of Glitchbound—a cavernous void roughly the size of a small moon (approx. 1,500 km diameter). It's a patchwork of "terrain shards": massive floating fragments of deleted worlds, stitched together by glitch-mages and outlaw engineers. Gravity is nominal (0.7g average, tunable via personal implants), and the "sky" is an endless starfield of flickering data streams and orphaned save files. The city thrives on black-market trades: forbidden skills, admin exploits, soul shards, and Sovereign Seed rumors. Population: ~50,000 outlaws, glitchers, and fugitives (orange/red/black tags only). No safe-zones; PvP is "discouraged" via mutual assured destruction.
**Vertical Stratification** (Core Layout Principle)
The city is divided into **5 concentric layers** radiating from the central void-core, connected by light-bridges, transit shafts, and airship lanes. Descend too deep, and you hit the "Null Depths" (permanent void, Warden nesting grounds). Ascend too high, and admin patrols glitch in.
1. **Overlayer (Sky Docks – Elite/Neutral Zone)**
- **Altitude:** 800-1,200m above core.
- **Description:** Airship harbors and luxury spires for high-rollers. Neon pagodas drift on anti-grav clouds; holographic auctions sell "clean" admin keys.
- **Key Landmarks:**
| Name | Function |
|------|----------|
| **Skyharbor Prime** | Main docking for galleon-airships; toll: 500 shards. |
| **Veil Tower** | Anonymous bidding halls; Lyra's safehouse rooftop. |
- **Hazards:** Sky-pirates (Level 40+ crews); sudden "eviction winds" (random gravity flips).
- **Access:** Rocket-elevators from mid-layers.
2. **Neon Rim (Commercial Belt – Bustling Markets)**
- **Altitude:** 400-700m.
- **Description:** The economic heart—endless bazaars on cyber-slum shards. Stalls hawk glitch potions, hacked gear, and "memory ramen" (edible flashbacks). Crowded walkways pulse with vendor holograms.
- **Key Landmarks:**
| Name | Function |
|------|----------|
| **Shard Bazaar** | Gear/ consumables; pawn cubes like the static shopkeeper. |
| **Echo Arena** | Underground fights; bet souls on glitch-duels. |
- **Hazards:** Pickpocket swarms (Level 20 thieves); fake-gear scams (cursed items).
- **Access:** Conveyor belts from transit nodes; light-bridge hops.
3. **Core Drift (Residential/Neutral Drift – Mixed Bag)**
- **Altitude:** 100-300m.
- **Description:** Habitable shards: jury-rigged apartments in crashed starships, desert dunes fused to arctic igloos. Junkyards double as forges; street food from "glitch kebabs."
- **Key Landmarks:**
| Name | Function |
|------|----------|
| **Junkyard Nexus** | Crafters' haven; recycle Warden scraps. |
| **Drift Inns** | Cheap lodging; info brokers whisper Seed lore. |
- **Hazards:** Territorial gangs (faction wars); falling debris from overlayer.
- **Access:** Magnetic rails; player-summoned grapples.
4. **Pit Layer (Black Market Depths – Dangerous Undercity)**
- **Altitude:** 0-100m (surrounds central spire base).
- **Description:** The seedy underbelly—cracked marble arenas, shadow-cloaked vaults. Home to the Black Ledger and resistance cells. Dimly lit by error-message orbs.
- **Key Landmarks:**
| Name | Function |
|------|----------|
| **The Pit** | Ledger arena; truth-trades and Root Quests. |
| **Core Vault Entrance** | Sealed rift to Sovereign chamber (guarded). |
- **Hazards:** Ambush spots; "ghost echoes" from old purges. Warden incursions start here.
- **Access:** Spiral stairs from bazaars; express drops (suicide-risk portals).
5. **Null Depths (Forbidden Abyss – No-Go Zone)**
- **Altitude:** Below 0m (void-core).
- **Description:** Infinite black; Warden hives and data whirlpools. Rare salvage runs yield god-tier loot.
- **Key Landmarks:** **Warden-02 Nest** – Emerging threat.
- **Hazards:** Total deletion; paradox storms (logic-erasing glitches).
- **Access:** Banned; foolhardy divers use void-anchors.
**Central Hub: The Spire**
- **The Obsidian Spire** (500m tall, piercing all layers): Wrapped in a holographic dragon (ad: "0% interest soul loans"). Houses the Core Vault at its base—a reality-warping chamber for blooming the Sovereign Seed. Elevators inside are rigged with admin traps.
**Navigation & Travel**
- **Light-Bridges:** Free, but fragile (glitch-collapse 5% chance).
- **Airships/Galleons:** Fast (10 min cross-city); pirate-infested.
- **Transit Nodes:** Conveyor shafts (free, laggy).
- **Personal:** Grapples, jetpacks, or [Ghost in the Machine] on drones.
- **Fast-Travel Hubs:** 7 scattered (Ledger-linked; 1k shards/trip).
**Defenses & Current Status**
- **Player Militia:** Shard patrols; anti-Warden turrets (failing).
- **Glitch Wards:** Community spells repel low-tier admins.
- **Warden-02 Siege:** Outer rims purging; Pit ETA: ~3 minutes Evac routes lighting up red.
*In-Game Lore Note:* "Cache City ain't built to last—it's built to outlast the patch notes." – Anonymous Glitch Witch