Jilia glared at him. “You’re hopeless.”
He sidled closer to her. “That’s what all the ladies say. Wanna try and reform me anyway?”
She pushed him away, but I saw the quirk of a smile play at the edge of her mouth.
“Ah, here we are. One Grade A shipping container for my favorite fleeing misfits.” Henk pointed to a row of huge boxes with the giant Comm Corp insignia on the side. Several of the hatches were open, revealing more shining transport vehicles packed up inside. But Henk led us to one that only had a few crates stacked against the walls.
“Sorry. This is the best I can do on short notice.”
Xona stepped inside and looked around. “I’ve traveled in worse,” she said. She clicked open the lid of one of the crates. “Got anything good in here?” She moved on to the next container, opening it up and rifling through some of the contents.
“Xona,” Tyryn said, a warning in his voice.
Xona ignored him and kept lifting and examining items.
“Right, then,” Henk said. “So I’ll close you up. This here’s the oxygen generator. You’ll have a day’s worth, though you shouldn’t need it. Transports will pick up the container and drop you at the shipping yard, and then you’ll be attached to a freight train heading south.”
I frowned. “We’ll be part of a Comm Corp freight train? Isn’t that dangerous?”
Henk just grinned. “Safest way to travel long distances. Right under their noses. Then someone from the Foundation will pick up the container and voilà.” He held out his hands wide. “You’re delivered to your new home.”
I must have still looked skeptical, because Jilia put a hand on my arm. “As much as I hate to admit it, Henk’s very good at what he does.”
“Wait, was that a compliment, Doc?” Henk put his hands dramatically to his chest. “I may faint.”
“Now this is what I’m talking about,” Xona said, pulling out a weapon as big as her forearm from the crate in the corner.
“Xona,” Tyryn said, marching over and yanking the weapon out of her hand. He put it back in the crate and shut the lid.
“A girl after my own heart,” Henk said. Then he nodded at the rest of us. “Safe travels.”
“And Doc,” Henk said. “As always, a pleasure.” He stepped in and planted a kiss right on Jilia’s mouth before she swatted him away, her face reddened. “You—”
Henk shut the door tight before she could finish.
Chapter 8
A JOLT WOKE ME, and I sat up. Everything around me was gray. Data sets poured down the sides of my vision, readouts of the room schematics, temperature, time of day, and in the background the monotone voice speaking the Community Creed over and over again: The Community Link is peace. We are humanity sublime because we live in Community and favor above all else order, logic, and peace. Community first, Community always.
“We’re here, Zoe,” said a voice at my side. “Un-Link yourself.”
I blinked in confusion. Adrien’s face was inches from mine as he whispered.
I stared at him for a moment, feeling nothing but a yawning emptiness.
“Say the trigger words to un-Link yourself. Beta Ten Gamma Link.”
“Beta Ten Gamma Link,” I repeated after him. Noise and color and sense washed back in a rush. After we’d left the factory, Jilia had suggested that I Link myself so that I could sleep without fear of losing control of my power. The Link controlled REM patterns, making dreaming impossible. It was horrible to have to put myself back under the Link’s power. I shook my head like I could get rid of the lingering fog it created. But as I looked around me, I saw everyone was safe. It had worked.
“Where is here anyway?” Xona asked. She looked at Tyryn and Jilia. “You never said where the Foundation was.”
“No one knows,” Adrien said. “Even the driver won’t know for long.”
“What do you mean?”
“There’s a glitcher who lives here. He makes the place invisible in people’s minds, so you can’t remember where you’re located, even when you’re here. I think.” Adrien frowned. “The details are a little fuzzy. Like the more I try to think about him, the less I can remember. But I feel like maybe we’re in a mountain?” He looked to Jilia.
Jilia nodded in appreciation. “It’s the best defense mechanism I’ve ever seen. I know I’ve done a brain scan of the boy, but at the moment I can’t even recall what his face looks like.”
“Must be lonely to be him,” I said.
The door to the container opened. I stood up, excited to meet more glitchers. But the person who’d opened the container was Adrien’s mother, Sophia.
She hadn’t exactly liked me the last time I’d met her, when Adrien and I had attempted our first escape to the Surface. If his mom had had her way then, Adrien would have left me behind and never looked back.
She glared at Adrien. “I can’t believe you just left without telling me. Do you have any idea how worried I’ve been? What you’ve put me through the last forty-eight hours? Whenever it comes to that girl, it’s always trouble.”
Adrien stared back at her, his jaw tensing up. “I didn’t have a choice.”
Sophia lowered her voice. “We’ll talk about this later.”
We took an elevator down, and when the doors opened, a diminutive man with a cane was waiting in a brightly lit, white-paneled hallway.
“Welcome to the Foundation,” he said, with an enthusiastic smile. “I’m Professor Henry.”
He limped slightly as he walked, but it didn’t seem to slow him down. He shook everyone’s hand as introductions were made and gave Adrien a quick embrace. “Come on in, I’ll show you our little operation.”
He led us down the bright hallway. “Ever since we started recovering glitchers the past few years, we realized we needed a safe place for you to live and study your powers. A lot of glitchers have difficulty breathing the Surface air. It’s part of living underground your whole lives. So we always intended to have a sealed-off air-controlled facility as a safe haven. Of course,” he chuckled, looking back at me, “we didn’t quite anticipate anyone with quite your level of difficulty, Zoe, but we’ve almost finished the necessary modifications.”
“When do you think the air-filtration system will be ready?” Adrien asked.
“Probably a week. Maybe less if we’re lucky. Ah, now we’re passing some of the classrooms.” He gestured to his right. The lights weren’t on in the rooms, but I could see a little bit into the square spaces. Smooth metal chairs were arranged in a circle.
“So we’ll have classes?” I asked. “I thought this place was mainly for Rez fighter training.”
A slight cloud passed over the Professor’s face. “Well, I did first envision it as primarily a school and residence for rescued glitchers, but Rosalina, I mean General Taylor, impressed upon me how important it was for us to consider the military applications of some of your gifts. Especially in these dangerous times. So we’ve set it up as both school and training facility.”
“How many students are there?” I asked.
“About twenty glitchers,” the Professor said. “All with an array of abilities.”
“Is everyone here a glitcher?” Xona asked. Her mouth was a tight line.
“The students are, yes,” the Professor said. “But I hope you know you are just as welcome, Xona. The Foundation has become more and more of a military base, since our invisibility gives us such a valuable tactical advantage. The military personnel are on the level below us, so you won’t see them much. Since your brother will be the new head trainer for the glitcher task force, we thought you could train with them.”
“So there’s no other non-glitching students?” Xona asked.
“I’m afraid not, but I’m sure you’ll feel right at home since all the glitchers are your age.”
From the look on Xona’s face, I wasn’t so sure.
“Is the General here?” Tyryn asked.
“No, she’s on another mission. She’s
embedded and on non-com.”
Adrien must have seen the question on my face, because he leaned over to clarify. “Non-communication. It’s standard for deep-cover missions.”
“Ah, and here we are.” The Professor stopped and put his finger to the touch panel beside a wide door. “The Med Center.” He beamed at Jilia after the door slid up in its tracks. “Just to your specifications.”
Jilia hurried past him into the room. The room was brighter than the hallway, with light cell panels installed every few inches across the ceiling. The walls and floor were the same unblemished white, and the room was filled with brand-new diagnostic machines.
Jilia looked back at the Professor, her eyes shining eyes. “It’s perfect, Henry.”
I saw something else I recognized—another wash-down container, and a pile of packaged blue suits.
The Professor saw where I was looking. “Until the air-filtration system is ready, you can wash and change into a new suit every day so you’re comfortable.”
“Thanks,” I said.
“Oh look,” the Professor said with a delighted smile. “Here’s the rest of your team.”
I turned to follow his gaze and saw a group of people crowded in the doorway. A dark-haired boy I recognized timidly stepped in front.
“Juan!” I said. We’d rescued him during our escape from the Community, but I hadn’t seen him since we switched vehicles at the first safe house all those months ago.
“It’s so good to finally see you again, Zoe!” Juan said, stepping closer. “I’m not on your team, but I had to come and say hello anyway.” He gave me a big hug. “The only reason I’m alive is because of you.” He said, his voice quieter. “I never got the chance to thank you. I am forever in your debt.”
I waved a hand, trying to hide my embarrassment. “Is Molla here, too?”
“She’s here,” Juan said, but then looked away. I could hear what he didn’t say. Molla was here but didn’t want to see me. She thought I was the reason Max stayed behind with the Chancellor. In part, she was right. The familiar pang of guilt sliced through my gut.
Adrien’s face stiffened briefly, his eyes going distant. The next moment he blinked and looked at Xona standing behind him. It was brief, but I could tell he’d just had one of his short-term visions “Don’t,” he said, heading over to her.
At the same moment, Xona turned and saw the group crowding into the Med Center. Her eyes widened until they looked like they’d pop out of her head.
“What the shunt are they doing here?” she yelled. She reached under her tunic and whipped out two weapons.
I looked where Xona was pointing and gasped. Four Regulators were approaching from the back of the group.
“Lower your weapons, Xona. They aren’t Regs anymore,” Jilia said, her voice far calmer than mine would have been. “These are the boys Zoe rescued when she fled the Community. I’ve examined them myself and—”
“They’re all murderers!” Xona flicked the safety off the weapons with her thumb and aimed them higher. The Regs didn’t even flinch.
“Hey, calm down,” said one of the glitcher boys who stood by Juan. He was dark-skinned and short but broadly built. He held out his hand, palm up. “You need to put down the weapon.”
“Calm down? Calm down?” Xona’s voice was almost a shriek.
“Underneath the metal, the ex-Regs are as human as you and me,” Jilia said.
“They’re nothing like me!”
The tips of the metal weapons Xona held began to turn a glowing orange. She didn’t notice at first, but then she suddenly cried out and dropped them. She looked down at her hand in disbelief. Small welts were forming on her palm.
“Rand, you didn’t have to do that,” Jilia said to the boy who’d told Xona to calm down. She hurried over to Xona. “Let me see the burns.”
I looked on in confusion. I had no idea what had just happened.
“Don’t touch me,” Xona pulled away from Jilia, her eyes flashing at Rand. “Of course you’d protect them. You glitchers are barely human either.” She brushed hard past Adrien and ran from the room.
Jilia started after her, but then paused at the door and looked back at us. “I would appreciate if you would all try to be patient with her.” Her words were clipped and almost angry. “She’s a bit rough around the edges, but you would be, too, if you’d been through what she has.”
“She’s the one who pulled a weapon,” a girl with long blond hair objected, putting her hands on her hips. “What were we supposed to do?”
“She protects herself the only way she knows how,” Jilia said, then hurried out the door.
“And we all know you can more than protect yourself, Filicity,” Adrien said to the blonde.
The girl balled up her fists and stared back. “How many times do I have to tell you, the name’s City.”
“I didn’t mean to burn her hands,” said Rand.
City scoffed. “You aren’t the bad guy here, Rand. She pulled a laser weapon. She could have sliced someone’s arm off by accident.”
“What exactly just happened?” I asked.
“Rand melted her weapons.” A short girl with long frizzy brown hair got to her feet from where she’d been crouching on the ground with her arms covering her head. She beamed at Rand. “He can turn metal molten.”
He winked and waved at me, his palms turning a glowing orange. City smacked him hard in the shoulder. “Now if he just could learn to tone it down sometimes.”
He rolled his eyes. “Because you are always so controlled with your lightning.”
“It’s electricity, not lightning. And it’s not supposed to be subtle.”
“Why don’t I introduce you all officially,” Adrien said. He gestured to the blonde. “Zoe, this is City. She can produce spirals of electricity from her bare hands. Then there’s Eli, Wytt, Tavid, and Cole.” He nodded at the ex-Regs. Three of them didn’t move at all. They just stood looking at the far wall like they were on guard. The fourth looked my way and nodded.
“Where are the other ex-Regs?” I asked. Ten had come with us after I freed them from their V-chips, if I remembered correctly.
“The rest are on active duty with other Rez squadrons.” Adrien turned to the stocky boy who’d burned Xona. “This is Rand. You saw his power in action.”
Rand grinned.
“And I’m Ginni,” said the frizzy-haired girl. “We’re all so excited to meet you and welcome you to the team!” She came forward and gave me a huge hug. I patted her back awkwardly. I’d never really been in such close proximity to anyone except Adrien.
“Uh, hi.”
City snorted in the background, and Ginni pulled back.
“Ginni can locate people anywhere on earth,” Adrien said, smiling. “Down to a few feet.”
“Oh,” I smiled. “Adrien told me about you.”
“He did?” A grin split her face.
“Now that you’re actually here maybe we can finally see some action,” Rand said, rubbing his hands together.
Ginni leaned in. “Can you really do everything they say you can? Juan told us you ripped metal-reinforced doors out of the wall. Is that true?”
“Um, yeah.”
“Telekinesis is such an awesome power. And one day you’re gonna be the leader of the Rez,” Ginni shook her head slightly, looking awestruck. “To think, I get to be on the same task force as you.”
“She’s not a leader yet,” City said. “Everyone on the task force is of equal rank.” She looked at me sourly. “Except some of us have actually trained for years and been on missions.”
“Aw, don’t get your tunic in a twist, City,” Rand said.
City’s hands balled into fists. “I’m not getting anything in a twist. I’m just telling it like it is.”
“Okay, guys,” Adrien intervened. “Everybody out. Let’s let Zoe get some rest now.”
He ran a hand through his hair after they all left. “I’m sorry about how they acted. They can be a lot to handle
all at once.”
My skin prickled up at the thought of so many people with such intense expectations of me. I ran my hands over my arms rapidly. “Everyone here knows what I’m expected to do. How can I possibly live up to that? It’s too much pressure.”
“I know, I’m sorry. But news travels quickly around here. And it’s been so long since we’ve had good news,” Adrien added. “People latch on to hope wherever they can find it.”
I suddenly felt bad for my outburst. They needed me, not just because I was supposed to help them win, but also because simply believing in me was helping them stay strong.
“Do you want to go get some more sleep?” he asked. “I can show you to your dorm room. Or we can go grab some food if you’re hungry.”
I cringed at the thought of the protein mix. “No,” I took Adrien’s hand. “Is there somewhere we can go to be alone and get away from everything?”
“Hmm,” he drummed his fingers on his thigh. “Jilia will be back after she takes care of Xona’s hand. But everyone else is at lunch, then they’ll have class after. We could go to your dorm room.”
I nodded. He led me out of the Med Center and down the hallway, but, instead of continuing down the way we’d come, he took a hallway that forked off to the right. At the end of the hallway were several doors. He stopped at one and pressed on the panel to open it. The lights turned on as we walked in.
The room was about twice the size of my old room back in the Community, but there were four beds built into the wall like shelves, two high. A curtain ran along the length of each, for privacy I assumed. A long metal table with four chairs took up the far wall of the room.
“Looks like you’ve got your choice of beds,” Adrien said. “Ginni’s been living here alone. I’m sure she’ll be beyond thrilled at having you and Xona for roommates.”
I nodded. Ginni seemed nice, but I wasn’t so sure how I felt about rooming with Xona. She was so hostile. “As long as Jilia takes away Xona’s weapons.”
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