The Glitch (The Glitches Series Book 1)

by Ramona Finn

  An image appears of people, the faces blurred, but I know they’re eager to be near each other, eager to hold hands, they walk along the sidewalk, heads tilted close.

  The images snap off as if something cut them off.

  I’m back on the platform with the wind getting stronger, in a dusty world, and Skye seems to have been speaking for some time. “—cause they’re the only ones who get kicked out.”

  I blink at her. “What?”

  “Glitches.” She says the word slowly as though I might be dumb. Maybe I am. “No one wants to keep a Glitch around.”

  She looks away from me. She has lean muscles that stretch the cloth she wears. Her wide mouth pulls down and I think I see something on her face that makes me think she’s sad or upset about something.

  I frown, and then I realize what must be the truth. “You’re a Glitch, too, then?”

  She nods, shrugs again and shakes her head. “Not anymore.”

  The way she says the words—with a sharp bite like a slap—tells me that being a Glitch is not good. I think on her words—no one wants to keep a Glitch around. Was I left here because no one wants me?

  A feeling like a tear inside my chest inches upward. It cuts deeply and I start to shake inside, but more fragments sweep up at the break inside—this time they aren’t images but sounds.

  In my mind I hear a cool voice speaking. You are the most important thing. My greatest accomplishment. My Lib.

  Lib.

  The word echoes in my head, and connects to something else. To my mother. My mother spoke those words to me—she said I was the most important thing. She called me Lib. Mother wanted me. I know this with a certainty, the same way I knew how to shut down the firewall. But where is Mother now? What’s happened to her?

  Skye’s hand on my arm shakes me back to the moment. She is staring at me, the look in her eyes uncertain, almost concerned. A weight has eased, lifted from my chest. I have two more solid bits of information to cling to—I have a memory of Mother talking to me and I have a name.

  “Lib.” Pushing back my shoulders, I repeat the name. “Lib.”

  Skye’s blonde eyebrows raise high on her lean face. “What’s Lib?”

  I smile widely at her, maybe even foolishly, but I don’t care. “It’s me. My name. I remember.”

  The girl gives me a funny look. “That’s something.” Skye stares at me a moment longer, as though deciding something in her own mind, but she gives a short nod and drops her hand away from me. “Lib it is. At least I don’t have to call you Memory-lost-strange-girl.”

  She winks at me and smiles. I don’t smile back, but I say, because I think it’s the right response, “Yes, a mouthful.”

  Skye looks away from me, her gaze going up and to the sun and shadows. She frowns and her voice goes softer. “It’s late. The sun is going down and the wind’s coming up. We should move. I’ve wasted a lot of time, and if we don’t hurry, they’ll move on without us.”

  “They?” A shiver rushes through me. I think of the memory—people holding hands and walking. Will Skye take me to those people—are they the ones she speaks of? “Who are they? Will they be okay with a…a Glitch? Do they have more Glitches?”

  She looks at me and her mouth twisted up at one side. “The clan. Rogues. Don’t know how they’ll feel about you, but being out alone is not the kind of thing you wanna do. So c’mon. Let’s get a move on. They at least won’t turn you out at night.”

  Skye turns and walks away from the wall and platform. For a moment, my feet seem stuck. I glance back at the wall. It is the only thing that is familiar to me. I don’t want to leave it. What if Mother is behind it and looking for me? Should I stay and wait for her?

  But what if that memory is old and Mother isn’t—isn’t functional?

  My throat tightens. The thought is unbearable. I need Mother to be alive. I need to stay alive. I need to find the other Glitches. I glance down at my bare feet. I have nothing on them the way Skye does. But I start to walk and follow her steps.

  We’ve only taken a dozen or so steps away from the wall before we’ve escaped the long shadow now coast by the wall. I wish we didn’t have to leave here because, even with the sun lower in the sky, it beats down on my already hot skin.

  Moisture pops up and trickles down my face. My tongue is thick and dry. I try to lick my lips, but they are dry and taste metallic. Swallowing, I glance at Skye and ask, “Is there water nearby? Anything liquid?”

  Skye looks over at me, her eyes wide. “Look around you. You see any water?”

  I do as she asks. Around us is brittle, cracking ground. It is as hot as my skin. The wall behind us is stark. The platform beside it had nothing other than the railing—the connect. I keep looking.

  In the distance I can see the land go up. Mountains. The word pops up and I try for more memories.

  Ruins.

  Yes, the smaller, square bits of black and brown are pieces of what once was here. A city? Metal shoots up from the dry ground and twists like it is frozen in agony. Red dust floats and mixes with the sand over the ruins. An image flashes in my mind—green of trees, the ground covered with more green, and…it flashes off again.

  All I see now are the mountains in the far distance, distorted by waves of heat. There is no water here. And I know that without it, we will die.

  I glance at Skye. She’s staring ahead calmly, walking with a long, firm stride. This world doesn’t scare her like it does me. She jabs her thumb over her shoulder, back to where we came from. “That’s what I was doing back there. Trying to hack some water. The stupid AI caught me before I could get access to open up the water storage.”

  I frown. AI? Hack?

  My hands tingle as if I have them on the board again. I wish I was back in that cool room. It seemed much more comfortable than…than here.

  Skye lets out a long breath and mutters, “Wolf is going to be really disappointed.”

  I want to ask what’s a wolf, but images of a massive animal with four legs and huge paws and fangs and golden eyes that glint pops into my mind. I ask instead, “There are wolves out here?”

  Skye blinks at me. “What?”

  “Wolves,” I repeat, glancing behind us now, the skin prickling along my neck and down my shoulders. “You said wolf would be disappointed.”

  She stares at me a moment longer and breaks into a laugh. It takes her a moment to get herself under control. Irritation sparks in me. She thinks my fear is funny? Wiping tears from her eyes, she tells me, “Not wolves, Wolf. Wolf Tracker. He’s a boy. Well, man. Whatever. You’ll meet him when we get there.”

  I frown at her, glancing over my shoulder once again. The wall is growing smaller, but it is still so big. It is the only thing that seems solid in this world.

  Will Mother come looking for me?

  Thinking of that, I want to tell Skye I have to go back.

  But Skye glances at me and says, “Wolf’s a Rogue. A lot of them don’t like Glitches, but Wolf makes law. If he finds you useful, he’ll take you in. But we need to be back by dark. That’s law. We break law, we’re out. And it’s hard to find other Rogue clans that’ll take Glitches.”

  Find the Glitches.

  The words echo in me almost like someone said them. The drive to complete this task is so strong it frightens me a little. But I must do it. The lingering desire to stay can’t stand against the need pushing at me. It is stronger than my thirst. It is stronger than anything else and beats inside me like the heat from the sun. I must go with Skye. I must find the Glitches.

  But if I am a Glitch why do I need to find them? And what will happen after that?

  Chapter Three

  Wolf turns out to be tall. Taller than both me and Skye by a lot. His shoulders branch out, broad and thick, encased in a dark cloth that maybe is black or maybe is just really dark and looks black because of the dim lighting. His arms are large, shaped by ropes of thick muscle. His waist dips and then his legs are the same as his arms, thick with mus
cles, which are only just hinted at beneath tanned cloth that doesn’t look like cloth but more like soft skin. It’s only when I’ve made it down to the tall black he wears on his feet that I jerk my stare back up to the top of him to find his face.

  A face that is surprisingly young.

  His muscles and size make him seem older, larger, but softness still lingers in his face. Enough to tell me he is barely older than me.

  Or barely older than Skye seems to think I am.

  “Who’s this?” His deep voice washes over me in a wave that could be comforting, could be menacing. It is still too early to tell.

  “Lib. Glitch just tossed. Found her outside the Norm.”

  “Skye led me across the stinking, blazing hot sand. She said this is one of the better places. Places where you can still grow some things and where you can find shade and water.” The more I talk, the more Wolf’s mouth pulls down. I brush at the dirt on the cloth that covers me—the jumpsuit, Skye called it. I’m dirty, tired, hungry, thirsty, and starting to not like Wolf. He’s looking at me as if I’m trash to dump. I’m a Glitch. And I’m not like Skye.

  I tear my eyes away from Wolf and glance at Skye. She stands beside him now. She’s smiling, but she shifts on her feet and reaches up with one hand to tug her hair forward over one shoulder.

  Wolf’s lips tug down even more. I realize with a start that he doesn’t like me and I’m surprised to find this disappoints me. A lot. I’m not sure why; he’s not important.

  “A-are you a Glitch?” I ask with a stutter.

  His voice turns unfriendly, and he looks straight at Skye. “You should have left her.”

  “The way you left me? Wolf, she can be useful. She helped me with the hack.” Skye spreads her hands wide.

  “Helped enough to get water access?”

  Skye drops her head low and stares at the ground. We stand in a hole—well, we came into this through a hole, but this place is both cool and warm. The walls seem smooth—someone made this place. Light flickers, which is odd, and I don’t understand how the light can jump as it does. It comes from a spot on the ground instead of from above, and the air smells of smoke, but it is not a bad smell. Not like a circuit burning.

  That thought leaves me frowning, but before I can trace it back to where it came from, Wolf folds his arms across his broad chest, causing the muscles to stand out. “You know law, Skye. You brought a stranger into the clan.”

  Skye looks up, her blue eyes going bright. “Where else will she go? She’s a Glitch and wiped, too. She saved my life—I know law about that, too. That makes her clan.”

  His gaze flickers to me and then back to Skye. “Wiped? You sure?”

  Skye shrugs. “She couldn’t even remember her name at first. I know wiped when I see it.”

  Wolf glances at me. I want to tell him he can keep his laws and clans and I will go, but Skye’s warning that no one should be alone at night echoes in me. Skye calls it Outside—says all Outside is bad, or most of it. Rogues know how to live Outside—they use the Glitches sometimes to access the Norm and get water. And I have to find the Glitches.

  Skye continues to stare up at Wolf, her lower lip pushed out now. Her eyes seem bigger and the blue in them shines in the flickering light from the ground. Wolf stares her down for a long moment, but eventually he gives a short nod. He looks at me. His eyes are darker than the world above right now.

  “Law is law. For saving Skye’s life, you can share the fire.” He waves at the light on the ground. He turns and stalks down into the darkness, away from us—and from the fire.

  Skye turns to me, grinning.

  With a glance at her, I walk after Wolf. My skin is hot again and my breaths fast. My strides carry me quickly into the darkness that is not so dark. I catch sight of Wolf’s broad back. Behind me, Skye calls, “Lib, where are you going?

  Before I can touch Wolf, he stops and turns so fast I almost run into him.

  Licking my dry lips, I ask, “Why are you angry with Skye?”

  When he speaks, it’s like a wolf growl. His white teeth gleam against his darker skin. “You don’t know law. That’s bad. It’s worse if you can’t remember. How do I judge if you’re a threat to my clan?”

  I can feel my face pulling together in a frown. His logic is good. Smart. I don’t even know what I am. But I don’t feel the urge to hurt anyone. I’m too small to do much.

  I shake my head. “But you take in Glitches—?”

  He makes a frustrated noise, and says, “Some Glitches. Most can’t be trusted. They’re unstable—more than Skye even.”

  I don’t know why his words sting, but they do. I flinch and turn away, but he puts a hand on my arm and stops me. “You come out from the Norm and think you’re better because you’ve seen paradise. But you were tossed out. Techs decided you’re broken—and you are. You can’t live in the Outside without clan, but you still think Rogues aren’t even people, don’t you?”

  His dark eyes flash. He’s so angry that I can feel heat burning off him, brighter and hotter than the sun. I want to step back and away. He seems to grow in size until he takes up all the space, all the air, all the world. He moves closer. I will not back down. Heart thudding, I crane my neck back so I can see his face.

  The words are out of my mouth before I can think if they are wise. “Then why help any Glitches?”

  There is a long pause. It seems as if I can feel his heart beating, too, through his skin where his hand touches my arm. I drag in a breath and wait.

  A short minute later, he yells, “Bear!” The word echoes. I want to clap my hands over my ears, but Wolf still holds me. Quieter, he says, “I am Wolf Tracker, leader of Tracker Clan, and it is up to me to make law and keep law. Law says we keep what is useful. Law says we waste nothing. Law says you earned the right to sit by the fire by helping the clan.”

  Before I can do more than take in a harsh breath, another boy appears out of the darkness. He, too, is big. White lines crisscross his skin. His arms are bare. His cloth covers only his chest, his waist, his legs and not his arms. I don’t know why he has lines on him—they looked like old tears that have mended. He doesn’t seem to take up the whole room like Wolf does, but he frowns at me and I don’t want to be near him. Like Wolf, he has dark hair and eyes.

  Wolf pushes me toward the boy, who must be Bear. “Take her to the Coffin. No one sees her without my say.”

  Bear nods and grabs me by the wrist. He drags me away. I stumble along after, too tired to do more than that. If I can find a place to fall down, that will be enough. I need to be nonfunctional for a time.

  But on my back, I feel Wolf’s stare, hot as the sun.

  The Coffin turns out to be a box in a ditch. It smells like wet animals and stale mold. The ditch looks hollowed out by hand. Dirt and straw line the inside. Beneath that is metal of some kind, half rusted just like the walls, which are taller than I am. I can stand straight, but I’d rather lie down. The top is open with bars across it. They don’t look rusted. Bear slings some kind of nearly transparent material over the bars. From under the cloth, I can see shadows that move but no details.

  I am a prisoner. But I’m too tired to care.

  Bear comes back to pull away the cloth and hand down a hunk of something that smells good. It’s charred and tough, but I eat what I can. Bear also leaves a small jug of stone with sweet, cold water. I drink it all, and my eyes keep drifting closed. When Bear leaves, I lie down and wiggle a little to get as comfortable as I can in the dirt and straw.

  I know Wolf put me here because he doesn’t trust me. I don’t know why that bothers me like it does.

  Eyes closing, I try not to think. It’s not comfortable here, but it’s not uncomfortable either. The straw itches, but I am warm. In fact, I could be nonfunctional anywhere right now.

  My mind starts to drift. That’s when I hear a woman say my name.

  Lib.

  Has Skye come to help me? But the voice sounds wrong. The voice isn’t really here. I know
that, but I don’t know how I know.

  Lib, this is important. Do you understand?

  Suddenly, I am not in this hole anymore. I’m back in that cool, blue room. I know this place…don’t I? I know it from more than just having been here during the connect.

  Differences are bad. They are destructive. Humanity embraced them, praised them. As a result, humanity failed. If not for me, the human race would not even be a memory.

  Her voice is soothing…and so familiar in a way that nothing else could ever be. She cares for me. She is my everything.

  This is why Glitches must be cast out.

  I flinch because that word applies to me now. A worming dissatisfaction crawls under my skin. But I am an important Glitch. I am necessary. Aren’t I?

  You understand why you must go.

  I don’t understand! I want to shout the words. I want to bunch a fist and yell and hit something. With a shout, I sit up.

  It’s dark…I am still in the hole. That Coffin. I am alone—and even the memory of her voice is fading. But was it a memory or something else? A wish?

  I am no closer to knowing the answer than I am to knowing who I am, but now my shoulders slump with the burden of sadness. It claws at me like something trying to tear me apart from the inside. The woman—the one speaking in my head—is important to me. Is she Mother? Or someone else?

  All I know it that she cast me out.

  Lying down again, I shiver. I am truly alone.

  Chapter Four

  At some point, I go nonfunctional again. I know because now I jerk into function sweating, my heart pumping heart and my breaths fast and shallow. Voices echo, but it is difficult to judge if they are close or a long way away.

  “…just throw us in lock up!” I don’t recognize this voice, but it is deep and smooth. It is also male. And angry.

  Someone makes a derisive sound, a snort of some kind. A second later I realize that might be Wolf because he answers, “Long as you live with clan, you listen to law. Law says I must do what is good for the whole clan.”