Glitch (23 page)

He shook his head and dropped his hand. I realized with surprise that I’d been holding my breath the whole time his fingertip had been against my skin. “It’s why so many of you are forced to live underground. To control the environment as much as possible, and because something as simple as touch could potentially trigger a malfunction. It’s even why they allow the space for separate bedrooms for families, even spouses. It would be more efficient if everyone slept in one room, but they know bonds can form when people are in close physical contact, bonds that might become stronger than the V-chip control.”

“Really?” I smiled in wonder at the thought.

“Well, not the adult V-chip. Nothing can get past that. But otherwise, yes, it’s our nature.” He leaned in. “The V-chip really only works in part because people accept it. People’ll give up almost anything to think that they’re safe from pain and fear. I mean, I get it. I really do. It’s so much crackin’ easier to accept an easy solution—even if it means letting yourself be lied to. The hard thing is finding the strength in yourself to stand up against the tide and say
shunt no
, I refuse!” His eyes were alight with passion as he talked, but he pulled back and laughed a little at himself. “Sorry, I can get worked up about this stuff.”

“It sounds so simple and yet so impossible.” I felt a mix of sadness and joy.

He leaned in, his face close to mine. “I know.”

He had such a nice face, with light brown skin and heavy eyebrows and, most of all, those eyes. I leaned in for a closer look. They looked green from far away but up close I could see they were a darker green around the edges that melted into a translucent blue in the middle, with a million little bright aquamarine flecks that seemed to sparkle. I thought that was a good word for Adrien himself—all of him sparkled and he lit me up until I sparkled inside, too. I suddenly felt so happy right now, so much more warm and contented maybe than I’d ever been.

I had a flash of memory—of his face, closer than it was now. Of his lips on mine, his hands cradling my head and the sensation like I was falling, like my stomach had dropped out and was replaced by a flickering, hot fire.

My breath hitched and I pulled back from him, lifting a hand to my lips in shock at the memory. “Adrien,” I said, feeling out of breath at the intensity of the memory.

Adrien’s face seemed almost for an instant to show a glimmer of response, but he covered it quickly and didn’t answer my question. “See you at the Academy tomorrow, Zoe,” he whispered, his eyes lingering on mine for a moment before his face became a mask again.

He got up and moved the ceiling tile, then pulled himself up into the darkness. I watched him go, my frozen fingers still touching my lips, till finally, he was gone.

*

My dreams that night were a long replay of the strange stirring lightness at seeing Adrien’s animated face, his eyes glittering up when he looked at me. Happiness expanded inside of me the longer we sat together.

And then, on the brink of a wild soaring joy, the dream changed again back to the old nightmare. This time it began earlier. My brother and I were creeping through the forest. I could smell the leaves, feel the foreign breeze and all the countless noises surrounding us.

In the dream, Markan had turned back to me and I studied him. He was taller, older. His features were more sharp than round.
Shh, Zoe,
he had whispered.
Don’t make a sound.

But I was confused. We were on the Surface and I knew I wasn’t supposed to be there. And Markan wasn’t supposed to be acting like this. He was behaving anomalously. I was supposed to report anomalous behavior.

Shh, Zoe. Don’t make a sound.

But I did. I did make a sound. I’d heard my voice, though it was like I was split in two—hearing myself scream to alert the Regulators in the clearing we were passing by—and watching it happen with horror at the same time.

The Regulators came running from all directions, crushing the green brush beneath their feet. I saw Markan’s face go white with terror. He ran, but they were faster. From then on the dream was the same as always—his face crashing into the ground, them lifting him up, his face covered in blood. Screaming and thrashing.

All the next day I was so preoccupied, nauseated with the memory that I barely heard it when the Microhardware Engineering instructor leaned his head out of a classroom and called my name as I passed his door between classes.

I dropped my hands to my side and stopped. “Yes?”

“I request your assistance arranging the equipment.”

“Yes, sir,” I said, inwardly frowning.

“Here, take these to the supply closet.” He handed me a tray of microfusing tools. I looked at him, trying to cover my look of alarm. What if my instructor was actually a Monitor? The realization dawned on me with sudden dread. Of course. It made sense that Monitors didn’t just pose as students. Instructors had the perfect excuse to stare at students all during class, watching us when we didn’t think anyone was looking.

I took the tray and headed toward the small closet at the back of the room. I wasn’t Linked, but I didn’t want to whisper the words to Link me back in case he overheard me. I walked in the back equipment closet, scanning the floor-to-ceiling shelves for an empty space to set the tray down.

I didn’t notice the instructor had followed me until he closed the closet door behind us. I took a sharp intake of breath, but managed to swallow my scream. I was trapped. He was holding me captive until the Regulators came to drag me away for deactivation.

I turned to face my captor just as his body shimmered and morphed into Max’s. He had a very satisfied smirk on his face.

“Max!” I squeaked, the release of adrenaline flooding me in relief. I put down the tray and knocked him in the chest with both palms. “I can’t believe you scared me like that!”

“I just needed to talk to you. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“A little warning next time would help,” I said, still trying to catch my breath from the shock. “I thought you were—” I couldn’t even finish the sentence. I hugged my arms around myself.

“Hey, it’s okay.” His face was soft and he reached out for my hands. He smiled, dimples showing.

I breathed in and out slowly, the terror trickling away.

“I was going crazy thinking about you. And I decided I’ll help with Molla. Whatever you want me to do.

“Ouch, my hand, Zoe.” He laughed and I realized I was clutching his hand so hard my nails were digging in. He leaned in, his broad shoulders and strong jaw outlined in the dim light of the closet. “Glad to know you care.”

“Of course I care,” I said. “So you’ll contact Molla? How?”

“Same way I’m doing here. Posing as an instructor. I’ll try to catch her later today. I’ll let her know I’m looking out for her and help her work on hiding her emotions so she doesn’t get noticed by the Regulators.”

I smiled as the last of my frustration ebbed away. “Max, that is such a good thing. Just think how much better she will feel. And here.” I pulled a small drive out of my pocket that Adrien had given me in case I found a way to get Molla alone again. “Give her this upgrade, then she’ll be able to click herself in and out of the Link like I can.”

Max took the drive and nodded, then looked up at me. “All I want is to make you happy.” The tenor of his voice deepened. “I know I’ve been pushing you. I just get so…” He paused, brow furrowing. “I don’t know, frustrated. Upset. All the emotions get uncontrollable sometimes. But it’s only because you mean so much to me.”

“I understand.” I suddenly thought about Adrien and the image I’d had at the end of our meeting last night—the one that was maybe a memory of kissing him. It made me feel guilty, being here with Max.

“You understand? You do?” Max sounded surprised.

“Sure. All this emotion,” I said, “it’s confusing. It makes thoughts get all mixed up.” I didn’t know if I was talking more to Max or myself.

“Exactly.” He smiled.

“I should get going before it’s noticed I’m gone. I am so glad for your help with Molla.” I squeezed his hand one last time.

“See you at lunch.” His dimples caught the light. I put my hand on the door, but before I could step out, it was suddenly yanked open from the other side. I jerked back, my body instinctively turning rigid and blank. I was working to keep my heart rate within range when I saw it was Adrien.

“I just had a vision,” he said, pulling the door closed behind him. When he turned back to us, his face was pale and pinched with worry. “Molla’s about to get caught.”

“WHAT DO WE DO?”
I whispered.

“Hold on, we have to think about this,” Max said, glaring at Adrien. “Maybe we should stay out of it if they already suspect her. We’d be throwing ourselves in harm’s way.”

“Not an option. If she’s caught, she’ll talk.
You
might be safe,” Adrien said through gritted teeth to Max before looking back to me. “But Zoe’s cover’ll be cracked. Do you care about
that
?”

Max pushed Adrien hard in the chest. “I cared about her before you ever—”

“Guys, stop!” I stepped between them. “We don’t have time for this.”

Max’s nostrils flared, but he stepped back and raised his hands. “Fine, so what did you see, Future Boy?”

“Max, you gotta go get Molla out of class. There’s going to be a graphic video in her Community History class about a historic mass-deactivation event—it’s going to make her start crying. Crying
loud.
They’ve already been Monitoring her, and it’ll be the last step to confirm their suspicions. Please, Max. Make up whatever excuse or disguise you need, but get her out of there and give her the upgrade so she can control when she glitches. Think you can handle it?”

“You questioning my abilities?” Max stepped forward, invading the small space between him and Adrien.

Adrien held his hands up. “’Course not. I know you can do it, that’s why I’m asking.”

“And what are you two going to be doing?” Max’s voice was still a growl.

“Hopefully, hacking into Central Systems and altering her subject records so she drops off their radar.”

Max was quiet a moment. “Fine. But I’m doing it to protect Zoe, not to help you.” He pushed past Adrien to lean in and whisper to me, “I’d do anything to keep you safe.”

Max’s breath was hot on my neck, and I was uncomfortably aware of Adrien watching us only a few feet away.

“I’ll see you soon,” I said. “Be safe.”

He nodded and was gone. When I looked back at Adrien, his face was all hard lines, a mask I couldn’t read. He swallowed stiffly and I watched his throat bob up and down.

“Let’s go,” he said, his voice a bit distant. “We’ll split up and walk normally when we leave. We need to look as non-anomalous as possible.”

I nodded and before I could say another word, he was out the door. I followed, keeping my steps measured and controlled.
Order first, order always
, I repeated in my mind. Above all, I had to stay calm. I had to ignore the constant thoughts and images of what would happen to Molla if we failed.

We walked down familiar hallways and corridors. It was a passing period so the halls were packed with students. I stared straight ahead, stealing looks at Adrien whenever I could in order to make sure I was keeping up with him. I turned when he turned, paused when he paused, all with a perfect studied indifference.

We paused as we turned down a short hallway. A pale gray door blocked our path into the restricted block, where Adrien had told me we’d find one of the few access points for the Central Academy data mainframe. I watched anxiously down the hallway as Adrien inserted a chip in his wrist ID scanner. When it was all in place, he turned to smile at me, but not before I saw a flicker of anxiety cross his eyes. He wasn’t sure this would work.

My heartbeat ratcheted up a few notches and I barely kept it in check as he held his wrist in front of the scanner. It let out a loud beep, and I released the breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding. I took another worried look up and down the hallway, but it was still empty. After a pause, the scanner light switched from red to green, and we heard the welcome sound of the door lock sliding out of place.

I breathed out a sigh of relief as we entered an empty hallway. Our footsteps echoed loudly off the narrow whitewashed walls. Sweat gathered at the nape of my neck. Adrien might be able to erase the video feed of us coming here afterward, but if a person discovered us, there would be no explanation for our presence here.

Adrien ducked into a doorway alcove. I stepped into the small space with him. It was so quiet I could hear his every breath. He pulled a small drive out of his bag and attached it to a small port in the wall.

“What’s that?” I asked, my voice barely audible.

He smiled at me. “A distraction.” He turned his attention back to the device. Embedded wall projectors lit up, creating an orange 3-D cube about a handspan in length. I watched in fascination as Adrien’s fingers clicked through the interface at rapid-fire speed. He bit his lip in concentration, but he looked confident—like he’d done this hundreds of times before. Maybe he had. I watched him, wondering what he must have seen in his life to make him able to stay so unafraid and calm as he crouched here in a hallway with me.

“There,” he finally whispered, pulling back. I heard a door open somewhere down the hall, and then voices. Adrien quickly pushed me farther into the shadow of the alcove corner, covering his body with mine. My eyes flicked up anxiously at him. He was so tall he had to crane his neck at an awkward angle to look down at me. We stood close with our chests pressed together, breathing at the same time. I watched a droplet of sweat trace its way down the side of his neck. Maybe he was more nervous than he let on.

The voices came closer and I instinctively leaned into his chest, wishing one of us had the power of invisibility. We didn’t even dare to breathe as the footsteps came closer and closer. We were standing in a corner, hidden, but by no means completely out of sight. And there was nowhere to run if we were caught.