Chapter 5: The Codeborn

                                    

                                          
During the events of Chapter 4...
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    Red felt the world stir as consciousness crept on him. His mind was foggy, like waking up from a dream. With his head spinning, Red pushed himself up with shaky arms and saw the rest of his friends lying motionless on fur mats-Green, Yellow and Blue were equally disoriented. His mind dozed off, trying to remember the last thing before they passed out.
    Oh right. The Glitch.
    Red's gaze drifted to Green, who was lying the nearest to him. With a shaky hand, he tapped Green's arm, but no response other than a rustle came from him. Red let out a slow sigh and sat back, wiping his hand across his head as if trying to clear the fog. He glanced down at his hand, his breath suddenly catching in his throat. His color-it was almost unrecognizable. It was faded more than ever before, the vibrance of his body was becoming more drained. His heart sank.
    One by one, the rest of the friends stirred, pushing themselves up. Yellow was the first to sit up, jolting as if waking up from a nightmare. Green then followed, looking as if unconfident of himself. Then Blue rose up last, with an echo of irritation. All of the friends glanced at each other, silent but bewildered, noticing how their colors have equally faded into a lifeless shade. Red felt worried-he wanted to feel worried, but he couldn't. The concern was there, lingering within him, but his body felt too heavy to care or even think. It was unlikely of himself and Red knew it-but he just didn't know why he was acting like this. 
    Then, Red realized something that they all didn't notice when they first awoke. Where were The Second Coming and The Chosen One? The question gnawed at him, but he couldn't bother to ask the others. He felt slower than usual, almost sluggish, as if being weighed down by laziness. Did it even matter to ask? Why bother to worry? It won't change anything. He suddenly shook his head-no! He shouldn't think like that! Two friends are gone, and that's a big deal! He then turned to his friends, now asking the question. 
    The friends soon realized this and looked around the room. Yellow's gaze darted from corner to corner, frantic. It was as if he was trying to process where they were-the unfamiliar space, the disappearance of his two friends, it made him anxious. Yellow's hands fidgeted restlessly, not finding any sense of the room at the end. What if something terrible had happened? A thought suddenly appeared in his mind. What if The Second Coming and The Chosen One are in danger, and it was their fault for not waking up any sooner? They could've done something, but they didn't. Yellow suddenly shook the thoughts off his mind, knowing that it was unlikely of him. He breathed slowly, trying to ease his unusual anxiousness, and suggested they were probably nearby. He hoped to keep the reassurance going, like he'd always do. 
    Meanwhile, Blue was getting more impatient than ever. He shot glances at his friends with his body tense. He didn't like this-any of this. Blue felt his calm demeanor falter, like a poison disintegrating his calm. Why aren't they doing something about it? If they wanted to find The Chosen One and The Second Coming so much, then why are they just sitting there? Why am I sitting there and doing nothing? Blue tilted his head and let the thoughts blow away from his mind like the wind, and added that they were probably okay and they were the ones who took them here.
    But Green begged to differ. Green, who grounded the group when The Second Coming wasn't around, the one who pulled everyone together with his optimism, had his shoulders slumped, almost distant. Please, what's the point? We're just going to fail, no matter how hard we try. Green suddenly blinked. Since when did he think that way? It wasn't like him. But even then, he couldn't find the energy to care anymore.