VI

A hired truck driver drove Jarvis and Tybalt to the canyon. The canyon was deep in depth, but you can still see a river running past it. On the other side of the canyon, you can see flat stone grounds followed by mountains. Jarvis saw the pile of scraps just lying on the ground. From the looks of it, it looks like a normal junkyard. Though it's strange. Why isn't there anyone running the site? The trucker raised his shoulders up as if to say he doesn't know either.

"Maybe they're on their work break? I don't know, let's just get this over with." Said the trucker, "Just cross the bridge and bring back some scraps. I'll stay here and get the truck ready. You know, with the ropes and the making space and stuff-." The more the man talked, the more awkward he made the situation. Jarvis left before it gets worse.

The bridge is definitely old and unkempt. It could support the weight of Jarvis, Tybalt, and a load of metal scraps... in theory. Jarvis does not want to see it in practice. Jarvis and Tybalt walked to the other side of the canyon as careful as possible. Jarvis was taking mental notes on what looks broken and where not to step. Tybalt spun his little stubby legs in a circle, causing him to hover over the bridge. Jarvis felt a little envy as he sees his little friend avoiding all the broken wood without a problem. Tybalt is certainly not from this world... or is he? Jarvis doesn't know much of the world so, maybe more like him exist elsewhere.

When they got to the junk pile, it was eerily quiet. Jarvis looked around to see nothing. The birds stopped chirping and all you could hear is the echo of an echo of the rushing river coming from the bottom of the canyon. and the chilling low note winds blowing from the mountains. Jarvis picked a random number of scraps and took it back to the truck. It took some getting used to crossing the bridge but by his 3rd load Jarvis got used to the rickety bridge.

The trucker was starting to fall asleep, and the truck was almost full. Jarvis and Tybalt, who was helping one piece of metal at a time, went for one more load of scraps. As Jarvis had an armful of metal, he saw a figure. This guy was pale, but not a normal color of pale. Their skin was albino white. You can see their bones nearly pierce through their skin. They have no eyes because they have blackened skin overlaying its eye sockets. Blackened skin covers their nose less nasal cavity. It has no lips, so teeth show bare on their opened, tongueless black mouth. This thing is as if someone fastened loosely white skin onto a skeleton and slapped only the necessary muscles to make it move.

What is worse, it's hostile and more just like it arrived in a mob. Jarvis stood in a shock as they slowly dragged themselves closer to him and Tybalt. As soon as Jarvis took a step backwards, these beings tightened their skin and ran in a full sprint towards Jarvis. Jarvis thought fast and swung a metal scrap to stop this monster.

The monster broke the scrap by biting through the metal as if it was a chewable candy. The swing metal wasn't that thick so I guess the better comparison is that it got bitten the same way you would bite a freshly baked churro.

Jarvis dropped everything, grabbed Tybalt and proceeded to sprint towards the bridge. the horde of pale zombies stampeded, chasing Jarvis. Jarvis has a strong lead ahead but that shortened because his foot got stuck on one of the broken boards of the middle of the bridge. The poor person panicked as the pale people eaters paraded perfunctorily ever so closer. Tybalt even tried pulling Jarvis out, but it was no use. Jarvis was stuck. Even if he tried to call for help, by the time the truck driver arrived it would've been too late, that is if he even wakes up.

Jarvis was losing hope as the horde of monsters pushed each other off the bridge to be the first to eat Jarvis and satisfy their drooling mouths. Suddenly, Tybalt's mouth grew a light. That light erupted a jet-like fire that burned the old wood off, freeing Jarvis. Jarvis didn't have time to be surprised just yet. He had to get off the bridge to the other side.

Once Jarvis made it to the other side, he commanded Tybalt to burn off the ropes that held this end of the bridge. The monsters were already 2/3rds on their way into the bridge, each trampling over each other and pushing one another. The weight of the horde would've been enough for the bridge to break but Jarvis wanted to make sure they have no way to get to him.

The ropes were burned off and just in time. One of those pale creatures nearly got their lanky but sharp hands onto Jarvis, but the bridge gave out, as Jarvis saw hundreds of bodies fall onto the bottom of the canyon. There were some who were on the other side of the canyon, and they watched silently. Those monsters left slowly, loosening their skin and dragging themselves back to whence they came from. Jarvis saw some of those monsters clinging onto the rocky walls but at the rate they're climbing, they will take days to get up, if they don't lose their grip or their stamina.

Jarvis didn't want to chance it. The truck had a bit more than enough metal. Jarvis and Tybalt hopped onto the truck, which woke up the truck driver. "Hey! Watch it! What's going on?" The driver asked. "I just got attacked by some pale zombies!" Jarvis yelled at the driver for not helping. The Trucker checked his rearview mirror and saw the aftermath along with a few of those monsters that stayed behind to watch on the other side of the canyon. Realizing the situation, He drove out of there as fast as he could without a word spoken about it.

A couple hours of silent driving later, the trucker dropped off the scrap metal, Jarvis and Tybalt off by the entrance of the upgrade shop. The trucker left with an apology to Jarvis for not helping earlier. Jarvis calmed down by then and accepted his apology before waving goodbye.

Dantei was happy to see a large pile of metal near his doorstep. "My guy! You brought a whole lot more than I thought!" Dantei exclaimed. Dantei was just finishing up the 'final touches' of Jarvis' commission. After helping move the metal inside the shop, Jarvis started a conversation.

"I was attacked." Dantei stopped his welding for a second to look at Jarvis. "You were? By whom?" "It was a whole crowd of pale zombies. You wouldn't happen to know about them, do you?" Dantei looked puzzled as he rubbed his chin, "Pale zombies? A crowd? That sounds familiar." Dantei then looked like he had an idea. "You mean Glitchmen?"

Jarvis had never heard of what Glitchmen were. "I don't know what that is." Jarvis said. The look on Dantei's face was of an astonished look, you could compare it to the look you give when someone is serious when they ask you how to breathe. "You're joking right? Did you hit your head or something?" Dantei smiled a nervous smile. Jarvis told Dantei about how couldn't remember anything of his past or of this world.

Dantei released a heavy sigh. "You really don't know huh. Well, Glitchmen are what the locals call them. Seems the word Glitch is an ancient word according to them. No one knows where they came from, but they started appearing like 200 years ago. You saw how they look. Creepy huh. No one knows if they're dead or living and they can't tell if they're even considered undead since the only way to study one is alive. If you manage to kill one, they start turning into dust and ash. Gosh, If I had known there were Glitchmen by the canyon, I would've never even considered sending you over there. Just one is enough to take down 3 good soldiers. I can't imagine a horde of them!"

Jarvis realized the threat of seeing a horde of Glitchmen means now. He's even more impressed that he managed to kill some with the bridge falling. He would feel more superior, but that experience was far too close for comfort that remembering Dantei's words humbled him.

Dantei wanted to change the subject. "Anyways I'm almost done! Come! Take a look" Jarvis and Tybalt watched Dantei weld the final pieces together, sanding, polishing, and finally airbrushing the project a turquoise color. Tybalt learned a few things about the process from watching. Jarvis cannot say the same, but he did had fun watching.

"Behold!" Dantei raised the newly finished hand cannon gun up in the air. "This is a semi-automatic heat laser hand cannon! Or SALC Mk 1" Dantei handed over the gun to Jarvis.

The hand cannon looked like a cannon that you can put your hand on the back to pull the trigger. even if it's a small cylindrical shape, if you're foolish enough to look down the receiving end of the gun, it'll look near pitch black with a dim red light on the center. The gun has 200 heated laser rounds that recharge at a rate of 1 round per 2 minutes. There's a strap on the trigger of the gun that helps reduce recoil if you wrap it around the arm if you need to shoot for a long time instead of short bursts.

Overall, this is definitely a nice high tech looking gun. Jarvis was pleased to see this new gun... except he had no idea how to use such an advanced weapon. Dantei was more than happy to show him on a shooting range on a room of the upgrade shop. And so Dantei taught Jarvis how to shoot.