A Glitch in the Matrix
This is a Shroud brothers age swap AU that I’ve been wanting to write for a long time!!
Idia basically has the same backstory (except Ortho is the dead older brother and Idia is just a bratty like… 10 year old) 😂 This model of Ortho is significantly older (think late teen) because I’m operating under the assumption that kid!Idia built a version of his brother “grown up” so he can have the experience of growing up with him. Slightly different coping method than the OG, but I thought this would be something cute and silly to explore.
Young children are notoriously known for being brutally honest and lacking a filter, so kid!Idia is even sassier than OG!Idia. As for adult!Ortho, I kept him being sneaky, but I also made him super big brotherly!
This is meant to take place during episode 1 of the main story (more specifically, the scene when Trey is explaining the different dorms to Yuu and co)! ^^ Yes, the joke is that Diasomnia’s introduction is forgotten about because they get caught up on Ignihyde—
Imagine this…
“Hey, who are those guys?” Grim pointed at the far end of the cafeteria. “They feel kinda different from everyone else.”
Your eyes followed his paw, landing on a lone table that had been maneuvered to the farthest corner of the room.
A few students—pale as death and donning blue vests—hunched over it, their frames made so small that they barely registered as people. A veil of gloom seemed to cling to them like spiderwebs, hollowing their faces and darkening their eyes. It was like they had been unearthed from their graves and unceremoniously dropped into the school.
“Oh, them?” Trey chuckled faintly. “They must be from Ignihyde. Students from that dorm have a strong grasp on magical tech, but they aren’t exactly the most sociable guys. A lot of them can’t handle talking face-to-fa—”
“Hello!!”
“Whoa…!”
Everyone at the table startled as a blur of blue and silver bounded into view. Forks and spoons clattered, food leapt up from its trays, some of it catching onto clothes and flecking onto skin.
“Sheesh, don’t scare us like that!” Cater groaned, wiping a dot of applesauce from his cheek. “Riddle-kun will have our heads if even one hair’s out of place!”
“Ehehe, sorry! I was just so excited when my visual receptors picked up on unfamiliar faces!”
"M-Myah?! Wh-What the heck, this guy came straight outta nowhere!!" Grim cried.
“Who’s…?” Your voice trailed off as you took a closer look at the stranger.
Sapphire flames in the place of hair danced upon his scalp, a stark contrast to his pallid face. His amber eyes were so striking, so bright, it was like electricity coursed through them. Everything about him was sharp, as though he had been cut out of something tougher than diamonds. But his body—
It was decidedly not that of a human.
Perhaps the most “human” thing about him was the pair of headphones casually slung around his neck—an accessory to pass as a teenager. The rest of his tall, lithe frame was carved out in a silvery white metal, glowing blue lines running down his torso. The joints at the young man's fingers, knees, and elbows were visible, and where his heart should have been was another haunting blue flame.
His feet were particularly strange; too chunky to be made of flesh and bone, but formed like platform boots. And then you realized why his initial appearance had been so odd: he had not walked, but rocketed over. He hadn’t even touched the ground.
You assumed that he smiled at you—you couldn’t tell for certain, as his mouth was concealed behind a black guard of some sort, a skull-like pattern printed on it.
“You are…?”
“Ortho. Ortho Shroud.” He pulled down his mouth visor, showcasing cobalt lips arranged in (as you had suspected) a grin. It was both innocent and mischievous, as though he had a secret yet to be unleashed. “It’s always nice to get to know the new blood~"
“You’re a student too?” Deuce asked excitedly. "Oh...! That would make you our upperclassman, wouldn't it?!"
“Duh, of course he is,” Ace said with a roll of his eyes. "What else would he be, a janitor? The local handyman?"
You shot him a sideways glare for the jab.
“Better a janitor or a handyman than a kid that got put in time out,” you shot back, gesturing to the enchanted collar chaffing Ace’s neck.
He frowned.
“I am present at Night Raven College to monitor and to support my younger brother during his studies,” Ortho replied. "He is a first year in Ignihyde."
His response, you noticed, didn’t fully answer the question.
"What, so there's another big guy lumberin' around campus with his hair on fire?" Grim snickered at the thought. "Must be real easy to spot him in a crowd then!"
"Heheh. Wouldn't you like to know?"
There was an ominous undertone to his words, sending the ghost of a chill crawled down your spine.
"Alright, alright, that's enough of that. You didn't come all this way just to tease the freshmen, right?" Trey adjusted his glasses knowingly. "If I know you, Ortho... you're looking for something."
"Foiled me already, huh? You're no fun." He stuck out his lower lip in a playful pout. "But yes, that is correct. I wanted to ask a little favor of our new friends!"
"You’re already charming your way into getting free labor from your juniors? So mean~ What kind of heartless monster would do such a thing?"
Trey raised an eyebrow at Cater. "I seem to recall someone shirking his unbirthday party duties and dumping the workload onto the underclassmen."
"Ehhh, are you seriously putting me on the spot?"
"Better watch out, Loosey Deucey," Ace smirked to his classmate. "If you're not careful, Cater-senpai's gonna work you ragged!"
"I wouldn't fall for something like that!" Deuce stopped, reconsidering "... Unless they really, REALLY needed me! It's the duty of an honors student to lend a helping hand when asked to!"
"Dude, you're making it too easy to dupe you.”
“I-I’m not easy to dupe!! I could turn down any request if I wanted to!”
“Grim? Prefect? Back me up here.”
You tensed at the suggestion of being tricked. You'd been fooled once by cruelty disguised as kindness—Ace's taunts masked as friendliness—and you wouldn't be fooled again.
"Sorry, senpai. I'm not sure if there's anything I can do for you. I'm just trying to focus on learning the campus and my schedule, so..."
"There's no need to worry! I am at least 20.8% less deceptive than the general student populace of Night Raven College."
"Where did you pull that statistic from?" you wondered, suspiciously eyeing Ortho.
He accepted it in stride. "I am an advanced artificial intelligence. I'm able to run a number of advanced calculations in seconds. There are several other functions only I am capable of—so please believe me when I say that if there were a method for me to resolve this issue alone, I would have."
You hesitated.
The argument Ortho provided was compelling. Maybe too compelling.
"... What do you want?"
Ortho stared directly at Grim.
"H-Hey, what're you lookin' at me for?"
You felt Ortho’s smile under the visor widening. "I'd like to play a game of cat and mouse."
“You can’t find your little brother?”
You briskly walked by Ortho's side, the two of you traversing a hallway which opened into a sunny courtyard. A squirming Grim was tucked under your arm.
The furry gremlin had been taken against his will, whisked out of the cafeteria and away from his plate of mashed tuna, abandoning the Heartslabyul boys to the remainders of their own meals.
"I'll help you, Prefect!" Deuce had promised, only to be shut down by Ace's teasing. ("Oi, what happened to 'I can turn down any request if I wanted to'?")
Not that they would have been of any use, you thought. A statue set on fire, Ace trapped under a cauldron, and a shattered chandelier dancing in your mind.
By now, Grim's loud whining had (thankfully) eased into unhappy grumbling.
Ortho nodded. "I would regularly be able to locate Idia-san by running a campus-wide scan for all living organisms, then isolating by biometrics. However, I can't seem to find him no matter how many times I run the program. He must be using a device to jam my detective capabilities from afar."
"Really? You look... complicated," you commented carefully. "Your brother sounds like some kind of a genius if he's able to pull that off."
"He is," Ortho said sunnily.
"... Well, that's putting you in a bind right now, so I don't think we should be happy about his big brain cells."
“It shouldn’t be an obstacle. Idia-san may be highly intelligent, but I have a trump card now thanks to you!” Ortho snuck a peek at Grim and graced him with a firm head pat. “A cute kitty cat!”
“I’m NOT a cat!!” Grim protested, swiping at Ortho’s metal hand.
“Because you said your little brother likes cats?”
“Yes. I’m sure that we’ll be able to lure him out with this!” Ortho waved a hand into the courtyard. “This would be an optimal spot. It’s a relatively wide open space, so it would appear more innocuous to set our trap here.”
You slowed your pace and scanned the outside, seeking out a blue fire that matched the android's. It was notably empty, with most students away for their lunch break.
“Oi, can ya stop talkin’ about me like I’m your bait?!”
“Quiet, Grim,” you shushed, setting him down in the grass. “You are our bait. Now get your tail out there and try to act natural!”
With that, you rushed to hide yourself behind a column. Ortho chuckled to himself, joining you behind an adjacent one.
“Grrr…”
Grim begrudgingly got on all fours and padded onto the lawn. He glanced around the courtyard and cleared his throat. “Uh… ‘meow’?”
There was silence.
"Meow, meow, me-ooooow!"
The silence grew staler.
"... Okay, that's enough of a stain on the great Grim-sama's reputation for one day!" He stood on his hind legs and stretched his arms to the sky. "I'm headin' back to get my fill of fish!"
"Not yet!! Try doing something cute like licking yourself or playing with a ball of yarn!"
“Not if you’re gonna watch, minion!!”
"I can look away if you're embarrassed."
"That's not the problem here!!"
"What is the problem then?"
"Shh! Wait—” Ortho gasped. "I'm detecting movement from the opposite side of the courtyard. There, in the bushes!"
You looked where he indicated.
Indeed, one of the shrubs seemed to be quivering, causing a few of its leaves to dislodge and fall to the ground. Seconds later, there was a flicker of light, and a small boy clutching a handheld console emerged, followed what appeared to be a floating skull.
He was dressed in a frumpy, oversized black and blue striped sweater. The rest of his outfit was just as comedic and childish, with a pair of pants sporting many pockets and a pair of sneakers splattered with the colors of the night sky. Colorful characters and shapes adorned his footwear: three eyed green aliens, stars, spaceships, and astronauts.
But most importantly, he was just like Ortho. Eyes the same color, fiery blue hair that fanned out behind him, mouth a shade of cyanide poisoning, and skin that looked like it hadn't seen the sun in years.
"That's your brother? Your first year brother? He doesn't look any older than an average elementary schooler," you hissed to Ortho.
"Genius, remember?" He shrugged. "Night Raven College made a special exception for a child prodigy to enroll in its ranks."
So Idia is a child prodigy... and Ortho's a supercomputer that's supposed to babysit him? Wait, how can a robot and a human even be related? Can a human even have fire for hair? Just what kind of a family dynamic is this?!
Your brain hurt from trying to fit the details together. They were like puzzle pieces that didn't quite connect.
A strangled scream resounded in the courtyard.
You snapped to attention, leaping out from your hiding place. Horror clenched your throat, your stomach—
Idia had Grim trapped in a death grip, smushing the poor creature against his face. The little boy wore a silly, toothy grin, revealing that his teeth were pointed like an imp's. His console was shoved into one of many pockets, long forgotten in favor of the cat.
"Hihihihihi, it must be my lucky day," Idia mumbled to himself. "I thought some annoying normie finished stuffing their face with food early and started stomping and shouting, but no! It turned out to be a talented talking widdle kitty witty interrupting my private gaming session... It's okay, I'll forgive you cuz you're seriously sooo fluffy and cute!!"
"Be careful, you're hurting him!!" you called out, charging at the child. You were but a few feet away when Idia noticed you, and his excitement waned.
"E-Eep!! Are you the kitty's owner?"
"I'm NOT a cat!!" Grim moaned desperately.
"Er, no... yes... maybe..." You paused. "It's hard to define, but we live together, so that means I have a say in how he's treated!!"
Idia's expression immediately twisted into a look of total disgust. "Ew. Gross. Go away. No one asked to see your dumb face. I found the kitty, so he's mine now. You should've kept a better eye on him if you cared so much."
"Wh-What..."
What's with this sassy lost child?!
"Now you listen here, mister—“
"Idia-san!!”
Ortho flew right by you, stopping your tirade before it could even start. He practically tackled Idia, smothering him in a hug that was warm and hummed like a generator.
(Grim let out another scream as his body was compressed between the two brothers.)
"O-Ortho nii-san...!?"
"Thank goodness I found you! I was so worried when you disappeared on me!!" Ortho released Idia, but kept his hands firmly on the young boy's shoulders. "It was bad of you to run off and go into hiding like that. My circuits almost fried from the shock!!”
Grim fell to the ground in a furry heap and scrambled into your arms. “G-Get me away from that crazy kid…!!”
You held him to your chest and stroked his back comfortingly, warily eyeing Idia and anticipating another smarmy remark.
He bashfully stared down at his shoes. “………………….. S-Sorry. I didn’t mean to worry you.”
Huh?! Since when was he all shy and innocent?! His personality did a complete 180!
“It’s alright! What matters is that you’re safe and sound.” Ortho happily ruffled the flames on Idia’s head. “But promise me that you won’t do that again. I know you’re anxious since it’s your first week of school, but that’s no excuse for holing up for the day.”
“… I-I don’t wanna go to class or eat in the cafeteria,” Idia whined stubbornly, clinging to Ortho’s arm. “I saw. Th-There’s too many people.
He vigorously shook his head. "But I don't want to. I only wanna hang out with you, Nii-san... and the kitty.”
“You know that’s not healthy,” Ortho tutted. “There’s a big, bright, beautiful world out there, full of lovely people waiting to meet you. You won’t be able to experience that if you keep to yourself all year.”
"S-Sounds scary..."
"It's not scary at all! Look, your big bro met these nice people today." Ortho indicated you and Grim. "They helped me out when I was in a pinch. It's because of them that I was able to find you."
"Uh, hi?" You awkwardly waved.
Idia shuffled behind his brother's leg, glaring at you from behind it.
"Don't be like that." Ortho's eyes glimmered with cheer. "Hey, I know! Why don't you introduce yourself to them?"
"D-Do I really have to?"
"Would it help if they introduced themselves to you first?"
Idia said nothing, but his stare turned expectant. Ortho looked at you hopefully.
You sighed and relented. "... I'm the Ramshackle Prefect, and this is Grim."
"That's the GREAT Grim-sama to you, minion!"
"......................... I-Idia. Idia Shroud... I'm a first year in Ignihyde... a-and its dorm leader..."
... Huh?
"I'm sorry, what did you just say? I swear I must have misheard you." You laughed, cupping an ear.
"I'm dorm leader."
... HAH?
"Y-You're... You're a kid though?! And didn't you literally just start school at NRC? How's it possible that you became dorm leader so fast?!"
"Feh!!" Idia smirked, tapping his temples. "Unlike you simple-minded noobs, I've got the brain of a genius inventor up in here! There's nothing I can't achieve, hihihihi!"
He sealed the deal by blowing a raspberry.
Am I seriously being talked down to by a grade schooler?! You took a breath to calm yourself. No, I'm better than this. Don't get mad. Be the bigger person.
"Now, Idia-san... Bragging isn't very kind," Ortho gently chided. "Still, I'm proud of you for managing to get through giving your introduction!"
The android clapped, his face lighting up with excitement. "Since everyone's acquainted...! That makes us all brand-new friends!"
"I don't know if I'd go THAT far," you muttered. "It depends on how loosely you define 'friend'... though it sounds like your definition of it is very loose."
"Friends are friends!!" Ortho insisted. "And do you guys know what friends do?"
Oh no.
There was that odd smile of his again, clearly visible in spite of the visor hiding it. Half innocence, half mischief.
Your stomach sank. You had a bad feeling about this.
"Friends hang out together on their lunch breaks!"
... You should have listened to the warning signs Trey had pointed out.
“Alright, who wants snacks?"
Ortho placed several large bowls before you, each offering up something sweet or salty. There were chips in various flavors, candies in all colors, popcorn, and plain pretzels with a variety of dips. It was a rainbow of treats, definitely an upgrade from all the canned tuna and tap water you had been living off of for the past few days.
"Take your pick of drinks too! Plenty to go around." He pointed to a pyramid of canned beverages as he settled in comfortably next to you. This close, you could sense the heat radiating off of him, could see your reflection in his shiny coat.
"Myah?! You sure are livin' the high life!! You have so much stuff!" Grim crawled around on a fuzzy carpet, his eyes darting around, taking in all the shelves of games and merchandise, the consoles arranged in front of a large television.
"I-I have a kitty... I have an actual kitty in my room...!!" Idia looked like he was going to pass out from happiness. A first for his seemingly bloodless self. "N-Ne... d-do you want to play a game? C-Can you play games...?"
"Can I? Don't underestimate the great Grim-sama!!" He stood up and put his paws on his hips. "I won't go easy on ya just cuz you're a lil' brat! Name your game, buster!!"
“Ahhhh, I get to play with a kitty…! Th-This is pure bliss!!”
“For the last time, I’m NOT a… Oh, whatever!! Show me to your games already, I’ll fish out the best one!”
The duo dug into a cabinet, tossing out several discs and cartridges. Grim’s pitchfork-shaped tail sailed in the air as he rifled through titles. The tips of Idia’s hair were tinged pink.
You bit into a chip as you watched the scene unfold.
Grim’s acting like a little kid himself. All Ortho had to do was dangle toys and food in front of him and he instantly caved…
A cold wetness came upon your cheek.
You startled, relaxing only when you realized it was the sensation of a cold bottle being pressed against your bare skin.
“Living organisms such as yourself need to maintain adequate hydration levels for proper functioning,” Ortho advised. “Please do take care.”
“Thanks.” You cautiously accepted the drink, keeping your eyes trained on him.
He’s more cunning than he seems. Ortho talks himself down, but orchestrating all of this takes some serious computing and forethought.
Dangerous, you concluded. He’s dangerous.
“… Oh? You’re staring.”
“No, I’m not.”
“I can tell,” Ortho chirped. “Your iris and retinal activity indicates that—”
“You definitely tricked us.”
Without missing a beat, he nodded. “Yes. Are you upset that I did?”
“How much of it was planned?” you demanded, pointing the water bottle at him accusingly. “Was there really a jamming device preventing you from finding Idia on your own? When you stopped and said the courtyard was the perfect place to search… did you already know he was there?”
“Hehe. When I saw you and Grim-san in the cafeteria for the first time, I saw an opportunity to make use of our meeting, so I took it!
“My brother would have such an easier time opening up to a creature of the feline variety. I formulated a believable excuse to acquire the target.” Ortho chuckled, coy with his words. “I’d say it was a successful mission. Wouldn’t you?”
“Why didn’t you be honest with us? We would have helped if you had just…”
“I wanted it to be as close to a naturalistic simulation as possible.”
You blinked, taken aback by the immediate and blunt response.
“In a simulation,” Ortho continued calmly, “we imitate a situation in a controlled environment. Multiple factors are considered in the process. By running multiple simulations, we can collect more data and come closer to accounting for a simulation which is most closely related to the randomness that is a real-world system.
“In this situation, it was the inverse. I wanted a scenario in which less information would yield a more natural outcome.”
“You… wanted it to feel ‘real’ for Idia,” you said slowly. “It wouldn’t have worked like that if we knew what was going on and pretended like we were there by chance. You needed us to be in the dark.”
“Correct.”
Ortho had confessed to his guilt, but try as you might, you couldn’t detect any malicious intent.
“Idia-san is special—but he’s socially anxious and has a hard time getting along with his classmates. They don’t like that a young child has been enrolled at this school, or that he has taken on such an important role at it.
“As the one that has been assigned to oversee his school life, I worry. I would like Idia to enjoy his time here to its fullest, yet… the year has barely begun, and I’ve already been instructed by the headmaster that firing a laser is ‘not an appropriate defense protocol’ for dealing with bullies and other instigators…”
“… Crowley’s right about that part,” you interjected.
Ortho laughed, and the fondness and the fluidity of it stunned you. For a second, you forgot that he was not human at all, believing that he was a real boy.
“This will be the first step of many for Idia-san. I hope to be there for the rest of that journey.”
“Ortho-senpai…”
“I’m glad that our paths crossed, Prefect-san.” He flashed a winsome smile. “Thank you and Grim-san for helping me—and for indulging him.”
“… It’s no problem, but next time you’d better not pull another dirty trick like you did today.”
“Next time?” The smile turned slightly cocky, and you vaguely regretted your reply.
“I assume we’ll be seeing you around campus, not necessarily hanging out.”
“Aww, it’s not nice of you to snub your new friends like that~” There was a nip of wickedness to his teasing tone. “… I’m not a formal student, but you might still see me hanging around my little bro. Come by and say hi again sometime, will you?”
You blinked. “You’re not a student?”
Ortho gave no response. His eyes trailed over to Grim and Idia, who had seated themselves before the TV, controllers in hand.
The screen sparked to life with color and light and sound. A night sky speckled with stars blinked into view, along with bombastic blue font.
Star Rogue ~The Road to Being a Hero~
Traced by the glow of the game, the uncanniness in Ortho’s appearance became apparent. The lack of pores in his rubbery skin, the sharp metal sheen of his body, the abnormal lines running in his irises. Even his fire was just a swaying projection, a trick of the light.
Beneath his mask, fake lips moved, producing a close approximation of a human voice.
“… I can be at Night Raven College because of Idia-san.” He cupped the flame that burned in the place of his heart. “That alone… brings me happiness.”
If Ortho was a flame burning brightly, then he had dimmed to mere embers, his voice but a contemplative whisper. Cold, hard logic had been dispelled, leaving only the ashes where a feeling had once been.
Pressure welled in your chest.
I… shouldn’t pry further than this.
“N-Never mind that!” You cracked open your bottle and took a big swig out of it. Slamming it down, you wiped a stray dribble of water from your chin. “Let’s watch the game!! How does it even work, anyway?”
“Star Rogue? Oh, it’s a classic.” Ortho crossed his legs and leaned back against Idia’s bed. “You go…” He pointed a finger at you and pantomimed a firing, then a kickback. “Pew, pew!! And everything in your way explodes! You shoot down the boss and save the galaxy!
“Er… You have way more of a casual attitude on violence than you initially let on.”
Ortho shrugged. “Like I said, the headmaster forbade me from firing lasers on campus. This is the next best thing.”
“Well, as long as you’re not obliterating any real people... I guess that’s fine.”
“It’s better experienced than explained. We should go for a round after those two!” Ortho inclined his head towards Grim and Idia, eyes glued to the television and caught up in an intense round of button mashing.
You chortled. “Okay, you’re on.”
“Great. Prepare to get crushed and left in my space dust!” His eyes twinkled like the stars on the screen, the traces of sadness that had once been there gone.
So human, so real.
The feeling behind them.
Almost like his entire being was lighting up from the inside out.
Huh, so he can smile like that too.
“Hey,” you said slowly, “Ortho-senpai?”
His eyes cut to you, the alien features in his profile still illuminated. “Yes, Prefect-san?”
“I may not entirely understand your circumstances, but for what it’s worth… you have a big heart.”
He looked at you fully, pupils dilated. The fire of his hair and in his chest flared up, as if expressing surprise.
“Really,” you stressed, your brows upturned sympathetically. “Anyone would be lucky to have someone like you in their lives.”
Ortho's gaze sharpened, carefully analyzing you. Your features, your feelings. Contemplating the sincerity behind them.
After what seemed like an eternity--but was surely just a few seconds in real time--he spoke. It was a single, simple word as sweet as the taste of victory.
"Thanks."
"Don't mention it." You gave him a playful light tap on the shoulder.
With a soft laugh, he returned the favor. When his fist made contact with you, you could feel the warmth emanating from him.
The wires and electricity running through him. His heart pulsing.
“… But don't think this means I’ll take it easy on you,” Ortho warned. “I can get super competitive when it comes to games, you know!"
“Wouldn’t dream of it, senpai.”
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