A New Virus

Not A Child

Annalise was sprawled out on the couch, reading off of her newly bought tablet that Anti had gotten her for her birthday. She chuckled at the comic she was reading that Bing had suggested she try out. Annalise let out a hum when the front door was knocked on.

"I got it." She called as she placed the tablet down and headed for the door.

"Where is he!?" Annalise was greeted by a large man shoving his way into the house, waving a gun around. "Where is that bastard!?"

"Get out," Annalise warned in a harsh tone, not even flinching when the gun was aimed at her face, the barrel only an inch from touching her nose. Annalise glitched and appeared behind the man. She kicked the man's knee and sent him to the ground. Annalise snatched the gun away and pointed it at the man, finger on the trigger and eyes cold.

"Ann!" Anti glitched into the room as Dark threw open the door to his office.

"Are you okay!?" Dark asked as he and Anti rushed over to the teen virus.

"I'm fine," Annalise said, letting Anti take the gun from her and rolling her eyes as Dark checked her over. "He came in with the gun and, pointed it at me and I-"

"You threatened my daughter with a gun!?" Anti yanked the man to his feet and slammed him against the wall.

"You didn't do your job!" The man shouted back. Anti only growled before he glitched both of them out of the room.

"I did my fucking job, you piece of shit!" Anti's voice was muffled and was below Annalise's feet. They were in the basement. The basement that Annalise has never been in.

"Father." Annalise protested as Dark took her wrist and dragged her into the office.

"You are not to leave this room until either I or your dad come to get you," Dark stated as he typed away on his laptop.

"The dog was still alive!"

"Are you fucking kidding me!? The Dog!? The fucking dog!?" Annalise blinked when there was a loud crash and didn't fight back was Dark sat her down in the chair, too engrossed in the conversation. "You come into my home and threaten my child because of a dog I was not hired to-" Annalise yelped when headphones were suddenly put on her head and some loud music prevented her from hearing the rest of what Anti was saying. She looked at Dark and the demon sighed the word 'stay' before vanishing into a puff of black smoke. Annalise went to remove the headphones but found that they were magically stuck to her head. She tried unplugging them, nothing. She couldn't turn off the computer either. She wasn't even able to pause the film.

"That's so not fair." Annalise huffed before crossing her arms and leaning back against the chair. "He left a tab open." She said out loud when she saw that the 'forbidden internet' icon had a line under it, telling her that something was pulled up. Annalise wasn't supposed to use that browser, she was told to never touch it, to never look at it. "A quick wouldn't hurt." She sang before taking the mouse and clicking the icon. "That's dull." Annalise pouted when she saw that it was just Anti's webpage for Glitchers. "Wait..." She raised a brow when she noticed that the prices didn't make any sense. Why was uninstalling a program half a million dollars? Why was there a specific category for uninstalling things in the first place? "Installing a firewall is an additional hundred grand? What?" Annalise scrolled down the page, seeing insane prices for simple computer tasks. Was her dad really that good? Or was he doing something else? "All payments must be done in cash and cash only. Meetings will be done at our discretion. A contract is to be signed at the first meeting...what the hell?" Annalise said in confusion. What was this? What did all of this mean? Something wasn't right. Annalise quickly went back to the film when she saw that Dark had appeared back into the room. "I couldn't even leave the tab." She lied with a pout when Dark gave her a look. Dark rolled his eyes and smiled a little with a head shake as he went over to Annalise and removed the headphones.

"Sorry for that, princess. We were having a business discussion and couldn't have you hear us." Dark was clearly lying, Annalise could tell. His aura slightly flickers when he lied, the blue covers the red just a bit.

"Where's dad?" Annalise asked, crossing her legs.

"A mess was made downstairs and your dad is cleaning it up." There was no flicker.

"What kind of mess?"

"Some spilled water." Flicker.

"Fa-"

"All good to go, nice and clean." Anti chuckled as he glitched into the room.

"So...what was that all about?" Annalise now crossed her arms as well, using her, what Anti called, 'Dark face', showing that she knew something was up.

"Just an unsatisfied customer," Anti answered.

"With a gun?"

"It's America. Anyone can get a gun." Dark huffed as he tugged on his blazer.

"You're a computer person. You fix computers, why would he-"

"We'll talk about this later, Ann. I need to get ready for a job tonight," Anti said.

"Are you installing a program? Or installing a firewall? Or are you taking care of a 'fried hardware'?" Annalise used her fingers to make the quotes.

"Annalise," Dark said with a warning in his tone.

"Why does it cost half a million dollars to uninstall a program?"

"Did you go on the browser!?" Anti snapped.

"Father left it open!" Annalise protested, standing up.

"I did not," Dark stated, voice stern.

"I want to join dad at work tonight," Annalise said.

"Absolutely not!" Anti and Dark both shouted.

"Why not!? It's just computer work, isn't it!?" Annalise's tone had an accusation in it.

"It's a school night." Dark quickly said before Anti could speak.

"So? I have perfect attendance, one day isn't going to screw me."

"You are to focus on school and nothing but school!" Dark's voice got louder as he spoke.

"I don't want to go to college!" Annalise screamed.

"Then you can go to your room!" Dark snapped.

"What are you hiding from me!?"

"Room!"

"Fine!" Annalise stormed out of the office, hearing the door slam behind her.

"Maybe we should tell her the truth." Annalise heard Anti's voice say.

"She doesn't need to know. It's dangerous for her to know." Dark protested, voice a lot softer already.

"She's not a child anymore."

"She will always be our child."

"Dark..."

"You should get going. Have fun with the Phillips."

"Phillips?" Annalise's eyes went wide with that name. She knew them. She knew where they lived.

"Two million dollars." Anti chuckled.

"Four uninstalls." Annalise went to her room and shut the door. "I'm not a child anymore." She said to herself before glitching out of the house.