by Ramona Finn
“But I like it here,” Mouse says. She glances around and frowns. “I do.”
“We’ll have to move, but there’s worse. The AI—I’ve seen her plans. Her program.”
“Her?” Mole sits straighter.
“The AI has a name—Conie. Its letters put together from other words, but it’s a name. The AI also isn’t happy with things as they are. The AI doesn’t just want everything. She wants to leave. She wants to take the Norm to another world. The program is to start humanity over on fresh earth. I’m not sure the AI can find it, but that doesn’t matter. What does matter is that the AI wants all Glitches and Rogues terminated. The AI is coming. So is a war with her.”
Mutters spread across the group. Mouse looks up and asks, “Why should we trust you?”
“Because I’ve seen her plans. I’ve been in her code, meaning in her head. She tried to download me, but I got a lot from her in the process. She’s coming for us. We need to be ready to fight her if we want to live.”
The Rogues start to mutter and then talk, some waving away my words, others telling those who don’t believe they’d best listen. A wave of exhaustion washes over me. My knees start to buckle. I have nothing else to share with them.
I start to slide down, and Wolf’s arm wraps around me, keeping me upright. He pulls me close and I tell him, “I need to talk to you.”
With a nod, he looks at the Rogues, his voice lifts up loud and clear. “You all know law. Lib brought us water. Lib brings news now. Bird has spoken for Lib. Lib stays unless anyone wants to say differently.” He glances around the group.
Lion mutters something, but no one else does, and a few gazes slide away from Wolf. Wolf gives a nod. He lifts me up even though I protest and carries me over to where the Glitches sit. “Really? Here?”
“We can talk.” He frowns at me and touches a finger to my cheek. I wince, so there must be a bruise there. “You should see Croc again,” Wolf whispers. He presses his mouth to the corner of my mouth.
My heart quickens, but I shake my head. “There’s something more important.”
His eyebrows rise high. I’m reminded of Raj, but I can’t think about that right now. I swallow hard, and Wolf says, “A war?”
“The AI—she’s more than a computer or a system. I’m afraid, too, she might be able to learn to hate. She doesn’t understand emotion, but she can learn.” I bite down on the words about how the AI created me. I can’t bring myself to mention my origins, not yet. I’d like to believe Wolf of all people would understand, but I’m not sure I can expect that from anyone. And I need him to believe the rest of what I have to say.
“I don’t know what happened to Raj.” My nose stings and I wipe at it. “I left him. I didn’t search.”
Wolf rubs a hand over my shoulders. “You did what you had to do. I know you, Lib. You didn’t even want to leave Bear when he asked it.”
I sniffle. “I know… but I still can’t make myself feel better about it. But the AI. She isn’t just hording resources. She has a program—a plan. The AI is out to save humanity—I don’t know from what. But the Norm isn’t just a dome. It’s a huge circle. It goes a huge distance underground, and the AI is turning the Norm into….into something that could leave this world. It’s like a…an ark, it’s called. A ship that can go from this planet and travel through the distance to another star and another world. She intends to take the Techs with her. And she’s got a schedule. The AI is going to strip this world until there’s nothing left. And then she’ll go.”
Wolf frowns but lifts a shoulder. “So let the Norm go. No more AI could be good. No more drones. No more trouble.”
I grab Wolf’s hand. “No more world. The Norm is huge. For it to leave, it’s going to tear this world apart. And the AI is not about to let anyone or anything get in the way of the schedule for leaving.”
Wolf’s jaw hardens. He looks down. When he looks up, I see understanding in his eyes. Voice low, he says, “When she leaves, we’re dead. Then we have to keep the AI from going. Simple, right?” He touches my cheek again.
I want to laugh. Simple—right. And impossible. But the Rogues face tough odds every day. And they survive.
I stand at the edge of the tunnels, staring out at the vast distances of the Outside. The mountains I know are now the Empties. And far away—but not too far—is the Norm. The Outside, dangerous as it is, is my home. I’m ready to fight for it. Not that long ago, such a thought would have scared me. It might have left me quivering, frightened.
I’m not afraid. I’ve been through bad things and come out.
And I’m not alone in this battle.
Wolf comes up from the tunnels to stand with me. He slings his arm across my shoulders, pulling me close. My own arm goes to his waist, my hand lingering on his hips. He presses his lips to my forehead—a kiss he calls it. That is something the AI doesn’t understand. The AI will never understand touch. The AI will forever be alone—and will not understand just what that means. I could almost pity the AI if she didn’t want to destroy everything just to save something that I’m not sure really exists.
But those are worries for another day. The storm left the air smelling sweet and the ground damp. Plants push up—grass as green as in the Norm. I hear the croak of animals that Wolf calls frogs. In the distance, the wolves sing and Wolf throws back his head and howls with them.
I grin up at him.
The council met tonight. Skye is to choose if she wishes to be a Tracker. I got to be the one to tell her and her face lit up, bright as the sun. She is to visit the Empties and come back a Tracker. For the first time ever, we are not Rogues and Glitches. We are clan.
Together, we will face whatever comes next.
When war comes, we will survive.
This I vow tonight to Wolf.
END OF The Glitch
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