by Ramona Finn
Over the headset, he asks, “Why do you think they’re malfunctioning like that?”
“Malfunctioning?”
“Your memories.”
“That’s a weird question.” My throat tightens and I think of how Bird had said human before. Leaning against Raj’s back, I ask, “Why do you say malfunctioning? Like they’re something that’s broken? Is that a Glitch thing?”
“Sort of,” he answers. His voice sounds odd over the headset—distant and higher than normal. But he doesn’t seem bothered by this. “Every Tech is part machine. We have gear added on to give us abilities to connect. A Glitch is a Tech that’s failing in some way. That’s why the Rogues don’t like us around. Some clans won’t even take in a Glitch. We’re part gene-spliced and part gear. That lets us hack the AI systems, but that’s not always good. The AI’s always watching for unauthorized connects.”
My skin is prickling. Half human…I’m part gear. That leaves me thinking about how my skin seems smoother than that of any Rogue. Too smooth maybe. And is my fast healing because I’m different?
I think about how Skye was having trouble with her connect when I found her, and I ask, “So Rogues keep us around because we can hack better than they can?”
“Makes us useful,” he says.
Cold settles in my stomach. I’m useful if I can hack, but what if I’m too broken for that? I bury my face against Raj’s back again, letting the cloth rub my cheek. I can hack. I helped Sky out of trouble. So I am useful. And I also don’t feel like I’m part gear. I eat and sleep and need water and have feelings. So what makes me different? My malfunctioning memory?
Wolf’s voice comes over the headset in a low growl. “Platform ahead. Raj, time to do your thing.”
My stomach stays in knots. I tighten my hold on Raj. He is useful. We all are. But why can’t he be of value just because he exists?
Raj slows the vehicle and stops it next to Wolf and Bird’s vehicle.
I slide off, my legs and chest still vibrating from the rough ride. Sand clings to my eyelashes and I spit out more sand. My eyes sting from the dust and wind, though Raj thankfully blocked most of it.
I blink and take a look at the platform.
We’re close to the wall, and there is a tower here that juts up into the sky — round and smooth and seeming to have no function. The platform looks like the one Skye tried to hack. But the silver-gray metal looks rusted in spots. The platform is also leaning to one side as if it’s sinking into the ground. Shards of glass surround it and a few more shards cling to metal frames. Inside the glass and metal, the same railing stands out. That our connect. I’m hoping Raj is better at this than Skye was.
Wolf glances around. Bobcat and Bear pull up and their vehicle shuts off, too, as soon as it stops. I don’t know what powers these vehicles, but whatever it is leaves them quiet with only a soft hum when they run.
Seeming satisfied with what he’s seen—or hasn’t seen—Wolf waves Raj forward. “See if you can’t get water from it.” All the Rogues, except Bird, seem tense. They keep glancing around, and Bobcat and Bear have spread out. Wolf keeps glancing at the tower as if he expects something to burst out of it, but it—like the platform—looks battered to me. Scarred with red and black streaks as if it’s been in a fight with something.
Looking at the platform again, I’m not sure the connect will work here.
Raj swings off his vehicle and steps through one of the broken panels that doesn’t have any glass shards sticking out. He braces his legs wide to stand against the tilting floor.
Interested now, I stretch up on tiptoes to see what he does. He’ll take hold of the railing, just as Skye and I did. But will he do anything else.
The back of my neck tingles and I get an itch between my shoulder blades. Turning, I see Wolf watching me. His eyes aren’t gleaming now but look flat, dark, and unreadable. But I know what he’s thinking.
He’s wondering if I’m too broken to be useful like the Glitches. He’s thinking Skye made up a story about me saving her so he’d have to take me in.
Lifting my chin, I stare back at him and say, my voice flat, “I know how to hack. I just want to see if Raj has a different style.”
He huffs out a breath, turns and walks away to stand with his back to the platform, as if he’ s looking for trouble to come our way. Maybe the Rogues are watching for drones. I’m not sure. I do know Raj may hit a sentinel inside the hack—just like Skye did.
Turning back, I wet my lips and watch Raj. He brushes off the railing, clearing away the dust. He rubs his palms together and glances up at the tower once before putting both hands on the railing.
And nothing happens.
Raj stands still, his head tipped back and his eyes closed. But under his eyelids I can see his eyes moving. He’s looking. He’s someplace else, the way Skye was in that cool, blue room.
The wind shifts and starts to blow harder. It pushes sand into my face and eyes, and I have to turn and put my back to it. My hair slaps my face and the world smells dry and hot. The wind’s hot, too.
Wolf shifts and moves back to sit on the cage on wheels. Tension stiffens his shoulders. To either side, Bobcat and Bear watch the sky. Bird walks over, her boots silent on the sand, and stands next to me.
“It always seems to take a long time. Waiting, that is,” Bird says.
I lift a shoulder. “I don’t mind waiting.” I look from her to Wolf. Bird seems to know him better than anyone, so I ask, “Is that why Wolf doesn’t like Glitches? We take too long to do things and he’d rather be the one hacking? Not that I care what he thinks.”
Bird glances at me, her eyes sharp. The wind flutters the ribbons in her hair, snapping them. “You don’t care? Really?”
Folding my arms over my chest, I keep my stare on Raj. His face is beaded with moisture now. “Why should I? I’m only half human.”
She makes a sound that could be a short laugh or could be a snort. And she leans closer. “Sometimes Wolf’s just difficult. Aren’t we all?”
I’m not really satisfied by this answer. I look at her and try to read her face to see if she’s making a joke, but her expression suddenly goes blank and her eyes become distant. It’s as though she is looking somewhere far away and thinking of something else.
“Bird?” I put a hand on her narrow shoulder and shake her a little. “Bird?”
Wolf’s voice makes me jump. “What’s going on?”
Glancing over, I see he’s come right up to us and stands on my other side. I didn’t hear him move. I shake my head. “She just…it’s like she’s in the connect, too. Or someplace else.”
Turning to Bird, Wolf lowers his voice and softens his tone more than I thought he could. “What do you see?”
She answers in a soft, sing-song voice. “Storm coming. Fast. Can’t stay.” She turns her face into the wind.
I turn, too, and see brown clouds darkening the sky. Beyond them it looks black. In the distance, a white line lashes down from the clouds. Lightning. The word pops into my head along with the danger. It’s wild electricity—erratic and dangerous. This lightning could be what’s wrecked the platform and the tower, too.
Wolf stares at the clouds as if he sees more than I do—maybe even more than Bird. With a look at where Raj is still hacking the system, Wolf says, “We need to get moving.”
“You can’t leave Raj behind,” I tell him.
Bird blinks once, twice, and seems to be aware of me now. She turns to Wolf and says, “Send her in after him.”
Wolf gives her a sharp look. So do I and lift my eyebrows high. My mouth dries and my fingertips tingle. I want this, and yet I’m worried. I’m not sure I want to deal with another sentinel.
“Send her in.” Bird makes the words firmer this time.
Wolf is looking at me, not Bird. Bear and Bobcat are still out, staring at the sky and now at the clouds heading our way.
I give a nod. “I saved Skye. I can help Raj.”
Wolf frowns as if he’s
not sure he thinks I can do this—or not sure he wants me to try.
Before he can question my skills, I walk to the platform, slip in through the broken panel Raj used, and place one hand next to Raj’s with our littlest fingers touching.
In a blink, I’m in.
Chapter Seven
The world inside the connect seems just like the outside, but more complex. Making a Connection—hacking—is like walking through a doorway for me. I don’t know if that is how it is for all Glitches, but that’s how it is for me.
I grip the railing, turn it, and just push.
Connection: Secure.
I walk into a room so wide and long I can’t see the walls. Aisles of cabinets stretch out before me in a filing system of some kind. Here I know things without having to know. It’s as if my memories are here and flood back into me. In here, everything is calmer, cooler. The connect is comforting in a way that is unlike anything else.
The room is blue again and gives light enough to see. No sun is needed. The entire room glows on its own with a soft, blue glimmer that is easy on my eyes, which really means it is my mind seeing all this.
For a moment, I just want to stand and absorb. This is familiar to me. I almost forget why I’m here. But something nudges me.
Find Raj.
It’s odd because it’s as if Wolf spoke those words to me. But he’s not here. Raj isn’t either.
Where is he? He’s taking too long and a storm is coming. That flash of lightning I saw leaves me jittery inside. I do not want to be inside a connect with wild electricity bursting around me. If it fried the tower, it could do worse to me inside a connect. I know that with a knowing that lives in my bones.
Scanning the room, I look for signs of where Raj might be. Last connect, Skye stood right in front of me. Good news is that while Raj isn’t here, no sentinels are here, either.
I start searching.
If Raj is looking for water, I should, too.
Time is different here—I know this. So is movement. I think of a place and am just there. I wonder if I could think of Raj and find him that way.
I look at the filing cabinets. I need to speed this up. Not only is time different here. I am different.
I close my eyes. When I open them, the world has changed slightly. Threads of thin light now connect the files and cabinets. Lifting a hand, light stretches from me to everything inside this world. I reach out and pluck one of the strings with a careful finger. It vibrates, sending ripples that quickly fade. One thread hits something that isn’t a wall, but also is. A firewall. Behind the wall, I’ll find a panel. I know this, just as I know I can touch the threads of this world.
The firewall doesn’t hold me out. I slip through it, following more threads. It’s as if I can fold myself sideways to fit between the wall that is there and isn’t. Quantum, I think. More than one state—just like me.
At the panel, I place my hand on it. More threads flow into my fingertips and code appears, riding the lines of light. The list isn’t in a code language anyone speaks, but it is in one I understand. Memories surface, but I’m looking for water and Raj. The two are linked.
The code shifts into a fast blur. It’s searching on my inquiry.
The list stops. Yellow glows around a single item, blinking on and off like a heartbeat. That’s what I want. Something rumbles. I glance around to see the cabinets are rotating. They turn and twist and now I see Raj in the midst of the files.
Raj clings to one cabinet. I call his name without calling it.
He glances down at me when I call his name. “Lib? What’s happening? Why are you here? You’re going to alert the sentinels.”
“No. The water’s coming to us. Why didn’t you just request it?”
His eyebrows flatten over his dark eyes and his mouth pulls down. I think he’s going to say something, but he just turns away and climbs down the files.
The water pours down into a perfect cube. The edges glow and inside the water moves in ripples and waves. The cube rests in front of me. I place my hand on the surface. It glows brighter and the water disappears as though being siphoned off. I can’t see where it’s going, but I know I’ve directed it to come out of the Tower port into a container.
Raj drops down next to me. He stares at the cube and then looks at me. “How did you do that?”
I blink and shrug. “I don’t understand your inquiry, but we have to disconnect. A storm is coming. It’s got wild electricity.”
He pales a little. “Let’s go.”
I give a nod. I close my eyes and open them.
Gone are the cool, blue room and the cube of slowly disappearing water. I’m back in dry heat and a biting wind, standing on a tilted platform. For an instant, longing almost chokes me. I want to go back—I want the connect.
I turn from the railing before I’m tempted to touch it again and go back. Glancing at Raj, I see his face is tight, and I think he feels the same as I do. We both want to be back inside. But we’ve been thrown out once. If we go back, we risk the sentinels coming after us.
Wolf for once is grinning. Seeing his teeth gleam and his eyes glitter pulls me fully back to the moment and out of the lingering desire to connect again.
“Don’t know how you did that, but it’s amazing!” Wolf slaps Raj’s shoulder, pauses, and then slaps mine.
I glance over to see Bear and Bobcat hauling containers from the tower and fastening them to the back of the vehicles.
We got the water Wolf wanted.
And now I’m not really sure how that happened. My memories of the blue room are fading already. I saw things…did things…but it seems I left my memories behind.
Glancing at the rail, I want to grab it again, but Bird grabs me instead and drags me from the platform. She spins me around. “I told you she was important.” Bird grins as if pleased with herself for doing something amazing.
Raj is staring at me. Bear and Bobcat are slapping his shoulder just like Wolf did, as if Raj did all of this. But Raj’s face is still tight and his eyes seem wary. I don’t like the look on his face, so I just turn away. The air snaps with the dry scent of ozone. I know the smell of electricity in the air.
“We need to go,” I tell Wolf.
Wolf waves to the others. Bear and Bobcat have the containers of water fastened to the vehicles.
“Let’s ride the storm,” Bird announces and claps her hands. She does another spin, her wild hair and ribbons whirling.
Wolf glances at her and then at the sky. “There’s not enough time to get back.”
Head tipped to one side, Bird smiles and shrugs her shoulder. “Not enough time means enough time to reach the caves.”
Wolf nods and waves to the others. “Send up a light air to let Lion know we’re okay but can’t make it.”
Bobcat pulls out something flat and fastens it to a hose. It fills with something—a gas maybe—and turns into a silver sphere. Bobcat lets it go and the silver flies into the sky. The wind pushes it higher.
Glancing at the sky, I can see the clouds coming toward us, but it seems to me we have enough time to get back to the tunnels. Everyone is already on their cages on wheels, leaving me staring at the platform, at the dome wall, at the tower.
“Come on,” Bird yells. “You don’t want to miss the fun.”
Chapter Eight
This is not fun.
The storm follows like a monster swallowing the sky. Explosions of light and thunderous noise shake the world and vibrated inside my chest. My hair seems to stand on end. Lightning strikes down and shoots back up from the ground. The storm drives rain with a furious wind. The whole thing moves so fast that fear seems a very wise reaction. Though Raj sends his vehicle over the ground at crazy speeds, a tightness wraps around my chest. I was wrong about having enough time. We’re not going to make it.
Ahead, little black holes in a cliff face seem to be where we’re heading. We race over the sand, but it seems a long way to the cliff, and the storm is overhead now. Dust swi
rls around, choking me and leaving me almost blind. How do the others know where to go? Ice and pebbles spit at us, stinging where they hit on my skin. It feels as if the world is turning inside out.
I press my face into Raj’s back and have to work hard just to breathe.
Raj sends the cage vehicle faster. It’s almost like he can sense I’m afraid…or maybe his own fear of the storm is pushing him to demand more. Raj’s vehicle stays up next to Wolf’s. At times I think the wheels will touch and lock, and we’ll all end up eating dirt and spilling water. But Wolf always managed to veer away at the right time. I don’t think this is a play for power between them or either of them showing off. Everyone’s faces are set into grim determination. Even Bobcat keeps up with the others, leaning forward, her hair streaming back.
The water sloshes behind me. It’s what we’ve risked everything for, but we might move faster without the extra weight. It seems a bad choice—die for water now or die because there is no water later.
The vehicle shoots up over a small dune and lands on two wheels. Raj leans to one side to bring the two spinning tires back onto the ground. Dust cakes my mouth and eyes. Glancing back, it looks as if there is nothing but brown behind us.
In the next instant, we’re in one of the caves. Daylight has already faded into a brown twilight. Now the cave leaves the world even darker.
The storm tries to follow us inside, but the cave narrows and twists, and the storm runs out of energy before it can find us.
Slowing, Raj flicks on a switch and a light glows from the front of the vehicle. He brings the cage vehicle to a stop.
I’m shaking and clinging to him. The others stop their vehicles and they shut down. Except for everyone’s ragged breathing, it’s silent. My heart thunders in my chest and I just want to be back in that calm, blue room. I also don’t want to let go of Raj.
“It’s okay,” Raj tells me, twisting around a little. His voice seems soft and reassuring. He pats my hand. The comforting gesture is enough to get me to relax a little. With my face warm, I release my death grip on him.