I looked down and headed toward the serving line. My legs were a little stiff, but otherwise my body felt healed. I tried to forget the eyes following my every move. I piled the colorless goop into a bowl and went to the table, sitting between Adrien and Xona. Rand was gesturing wildly when I sat down.
“—and when the weapons dropped from the ceiling, bam, I unleashed the Rand on them before they could get a single round off.”
Xona sat across from him and rubbed her temple. “It’s been a week already. Is there any way we’ll stop hearing this story by next century?”
“Wait,” I said, “I actually want to hear it. I never heard everything that happened with your group.”
Rand grinned and settled back in his chair. “So we get into the open chamber at the end of the hall, and all of a sudden none of us can hear anything. That’s when I saw the weapons dropping.”
He lifted his hands up dramatically like he was reenacting the moment. “And a millisecond later, I’m on it. I’ve been working on melting stuff without touching it, but usually it’s just things within a few feet of me. These weapons were over ten feet high, but I knew if I didn’t take them out, we’d all die.”
City turned from the other table and looked at Rand. “Oh please. If you hadn’t been there I could have easily electrified them.”
Rand made a face and waved a hand dismissively. “I didn’t see you taking care of it.”
She stood and put her hands on her hips. “Probably because I was busy with the other attackers rushing in. Which I didn’t see you doing anything about.”
“How many were there?” I asked.
“Five came through the door at us.” City dropped down to sit beside Rand. “I don’t know if they were all glitchers, some of them had weapons. They got a couple of shots off before I dropped them. And they only managed that because there was this glitcher who could inflict pain.”
Rand nodded, looking almost solemn. “It was like a spike straight through my head. All of us were on the ground. I was screaming but couldn’t even hear my own voice ‘cause of the whole silence thing.”
“So what happened?”
City smiled and pointed her forefinger. “I fried him.”
“You killed him?” Ginni choked on the mouthful she’d taken.
“Of course I did. He was attacking us.”
“It’s too bad, though. The General was disappointed we didn’t capture him alive,” Rand said. “But we do have the orb girl. City’s electricity wasn’t anything against her.”
“I can’t believe they brought her back with us,” City said.
“You’re just bent out of shape because you couldn’t take her out,” Rand said.
“Well, maybe I’ll get another chance.” City glowered. “Either way, she’s not rooming with me, that’s for shuntin’ sure.”
“She’s here?” I asked, stunned. “She’s staying in the dorms?”
“Don’t look at me,” Rand said. “Adrien’s the one who had a vision that she needed to be saved.”
I looked over at Adrien. His eyes had widened.
“You told them your visions?” I felt a pang of hurt. After everything he’d said about it not being safe to share his visions—
“Nah, Taylor gave it away,” Rand said. “City was giving Taylor attitude about bringing the girl back, and Taylor’s all like,” Rand stiffened his back, imitating the General, “‘retrieving the girl was one of the mission objectives.’ City figured it out later.”
“Is that true?” I turned to Adrien. I knew he’d told some of his visions to Taylor, but I’d assumed that after the wounded Rez fighters had been brought back he’d stopped sharing them.
He shrugged, looking uncomfortable. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
“So where is she now, anyway?” Rand asked casually. “I got a look at her in the Med Center when I was passing by, and she’s kinda cute.”
“Really?” City asked, her fists clenched. “You have to hit on every girl in the building, even our enemies?”
Rand grinned rudely at her.
Ginni piped up. “First of all, she has a name. Saminsa. She’s been staying in the Med Center. Doc kept her sedated so she wouldn’t attack again, and they’re explaining to her how the Chancellor’s evil and we’re the good guys.”
“And that worked?” I asked skeptically.
“It did once Doc convinced her that the only way the building could have blown like that was if it had been wired from the inside. The Chancellor was willing to blow up her own people just to get Zoe.”
“Me?”
“Yeah,” Ginni said. “The Chancellor told all of them to click their transmitter once someone saw you. They didn’t know, but it set off the device for the bombs.”
“That’s horrible,” I whispered. “The Chancellor had the girl bring the place down on top of herself. All because she was so desperate to kill me.” I pushed my bowl away, afraid I was gonna be sick. I suddenly felt I deserved all those accusing glares. I was a walking target, endangering everyone around me.
“Yeah,” Ginni said. “When Saminsa figured all that out, she stopped talking. Hasn’t said a word since. But she hasn’t tried to kill anyone, so that’s a good sign.”
City leaned forward. “A good sign? You didn’t see what she did. When she made the first orb, it cut Rez fighters in half like they were made of butter.”
I shuddered. I’d seen bodies on the floor, but I hadn’t looked too closely. If Eli and I had gotten any closer before Tyryn took her down, we would’ve been killed too.
“It wasn’t her fault,” I said. I seemed to be saying it a lot lately. But it was still true. All of us were pawns in this game.
“The Chancellor wasn’t around,” City said. “The girl wasn’t under any compulsion. She attacked us all on her own. And she could be biding her time before she does it again.”
“The Chancellor took her from the Community, from her home, and filled her head with lies,” I said. “As far as Saminsa knew, we were the enemy. Any one of us would have done the same thing in her position.”
Ginni seemed to understand. She rested her hand on top of mine. “I heard your friend was in the building when it went down. I’m sorry, that must have been hard.”
I swallowed. I wasn’t ready to talk about Max yet, but I attempted a smile to show her I appreciated her concern.
“Just keep the girl away from me is all I’m saying,” City said.
“She can room with us,” Xona said. “Anyone you’re that scared of I’m bound to like.”
“I’m not scared of her.” City exploded off her chair.
“Sure sounds like it.”
City’s face turned red with anger. “Says the plebe who wasn’t even allowed to go on the mission.”
Xona shot up out of her chair too. Ginni put a hand on her arm to calm her. Xona shrugged it off and glared at City for another moment. But then she sat down without another word. I was surprised. In the past, she wouldn’t have backed down until a punch was thrown. Then again, I’d noticed Xona’s attitude had improved a lot lately. I’d been afraid she would be angry or mistrustful of me again after that ridiculous test Sophia had set up, but Xona had just taken it in stride.
“What about the other glitchers? The ones we rescued?” I asked, trying to redirect the conversation.
“A girl and two boys,” Ginni said. “The girl’s a human lie detector. Awesome, right? And the boys are twins. They’re telepathic, but only with each other.”
“None of them are very useful to us,” City said. “We need glitchers with offensive talents. The General wasn’t too happy.”
“That’s not fair,” Ginni said. “Besides, they gave us some good intel on some of the other glitchers the Chancellor has, ones that were too valuable to leave behind in the building to get blown up. Apparently there’s this red-haired boy who can make you hallucinate and see things that aren’t there. He liked to terrorize the other kids. The twins got all shaky when they talke
d about him.” She shuddered. “It creeped me out just listening to it. I hate powers that can get inside your head.”
“The Chancellor’s getting more and more powerful,” Xona said, frowning. “She’ll keep stocking up on glitchers she can use against us.”
Xona’s words hung ominously for a long moment.
“What happens next?” I asked. “The General didn’t get whatever it was she was looking for.”
“I don’t think even the General knows what to do next right now,” Xona said, her voice subdued. “This past week alone, ten Rez cells were cracked. Double agents working for the Rez keep getting found out and imprisoned. It’s not safe anywhere except here.”
“I heard the floor below ours is flooded with Rez fighters who managed to escape the safe house raids,” Ginni said.
“Just soldiers?” I asked. “What about civilians and families?”
“The General doesn’t want to open up the Foundation to nonmilitary personnel. We’d go through rations too quickly. She worries about the visibility of every shipment of supplies coming in as it is. But I also heard she does have a plan,” Ginni leaned in and dropped her voice to a whisper. “Something big.”
“What?” I leaned in too.
“I don’t know the details,” Ginni said. “But I overheard her arguing with the Professor. She said something about how she was gonna change the world.”
“Change the world?” Adrien suddenly leaned in, his green eyes flashing.
“What does that mean?” I asked.
Ginni shrugged. “That’s just what she said. That if it was the last thing she did, she was going to change the world.”
Chapter 18
“EVERYONE, THIS IS SAMINSA.” Jilia stepped into the room and gestured forward to the girl standing behind her. She was a slight little thing, with cropped brown hair and a heart-shaped face.
“Hello!” Ginni said and bounded toward the girl with open arms. The girl flinched back, moving behind Jilia again.
“Don’t freak her out,” Xona said, jumping down from her bunk.
“Oh,” Ginni stopped, visibly trying to rein herself in. “Sorry! I’m just so excited to meet you. Look, there’s this empty bunk right over mine. This is Xona by the way,” she gestured, “and that’s Zoe. Oh,” she paused nervously, “I guess you’ve already met Zoe.”
Ginni’s face reddened. I imagined she’d just realized exactly where and how I’d met Saminsa. “But—I mean—well now you can be properly introduced!”
Saminsa eyed us warily. From her tense stance, she looked like a cornered animal, ready to attack or flee at any moment.
“It’s safe,” Jilia said gently. “I promise. You’re safe now. No one will force you to do anything anymore.”
Saminsa’s eyes flicked up at Jilia, but she still stayed silent, her mouth a hard line. She looked slowly between Xona, Ginni, and me. Cautiously, she eased forward and grabbed the bedding out of the bunk above Ginni’s and tugged it over near the doorway.
“What’s she doing?” Ginni whispered, frowning deeply.
“She’s taking up the most tactically advantageous position while in a new territory,” Xona said with a smirk, her eyes twinkling with approval. “I wouldn’t want to be stuck in a box within an enemy camp either.”
“But we aren’t enemies!” Ginni exclaimed.
“Guys,” I hissed. “Stop talking about her like she’s not here.” Saminsa looked both terrified and fierce as she dropped the bedding and stood with her back to the wall, her quick eyes flicking back and forth between us all.
“Come on,” Jilia said, “I’ll show you the bathroom and shower.” The girl followed Jilia out.
I went back to the drawing I’d been working on, but I couldn’t stop thinking about Saminsa. I could only hope that with time she’d see we weren’t the enemy. I looked down at my paper. The Professor had given me colored drawing pencils, and I was trying to figure out the best way to blend the colors together.
Ginni sewed beside me and Xona changed into her training clothes and left. It seemed like she was always working out lately or putting in more hours of weapons training. I’d gathered she was still mad about not being included in the mission and was determined to show her brother she was as capable as any Rez fighter.
My drawing wasn’t working. I couldn’t seem to make the picture on paper match the image in my head. I put down the purple pencil I’d been using and stared at the door Saminsa had left through. I wondered if she’d get any sleep tonight, or if she’d stay up keeping guard against us.
Ginni chatted on like she always did. “So I heard that Tyryn might be dating one of the new Rez recruits. She’s got auburn hair that’s so smooth and shiny, I would just die for it. Nothing like mine.” She tugged at the ends of her frizzy hair and sighed.
I paused and looked at her. “How do you always know about everything that’s going on with people?”
“Oh, you know, I just hear things.” She looked away.
“Yeah, but it’s more than that.” I frowned. “You seem to know things no one else does.”
She bit her lip, hesitating before looking back at me. “If I tell you something, will you promise not to hate me?”
I laughed. “Of course.”
She looked down at the line of stitches she’d made. “I used to be a Monitor.”
My mouth dropped open. “What?”
“The officials at my Academy figured out I’d been glitching from the repeated anomalous incidents flagged in my record. They offered me safety if I spied on the rest of the students for them. So I did.” She fidgeted with the edge of the fabric while the words rushed out.
I couldn’t help gaping at her in horror. Monitors were specially trained as spies, hidden among the regular population. They were adept at detecting all the subtle clues that someone’s V-chip hardware was malfunctioning. After they turned in someone, the subject would be taken away for new hardware installation or, worse, deactivation. An involuntary shiver snaked down my spine. Ginni couldn’t be a Monitor. She was too sweet and good.
“Eventually they even had me tracking not only anomalous students but also other Uppers who came through our Academy. I was good at it because of my power. I always knew when a person was somewhere they weren’t supposed to be. I’d sneak up close but out of sight and listen to their conversations, then report.”
“And you just … went along with it? You helped them capture other glitchers like us?”
She squeezed her eyes shut and I immediately felt bad for the accusatory tone of my voice. “When you become a Monitor, they put more tech in your head. Even though I was glitching and safe from the V-chip, I couldn’t escape the new hardware.”
“Oh Ginni,” I put my hand over hers. Here I was again, accusing someone before I’d gotten all the details. “I’m so sorry. I had no idea that was how Monitors worked.”
She forced a smile. “Don’t be. I’m the one who’s sorry. When the Rez rescued me, they tried to disable the extra hardware, but they couldn’t completely. I still have the compulsion to spy on people and learn their secrets. The Professor says I can try to fight it, or at least keep the things I learn to myself. But it’s hard.”
I squeezed her hand and pointed to the hardware portal at the back of my neck. “The Community left its mark on all of us. We’re all trying to recover from what has been done to us.”
* * *
I went to sleep soon after Xona and Saminsa came back. I pulled the heavy curtain to my bed box closed and said the words to Link myself, waiting for the usual calming tones of Scheduled Subject Downtime to play as my thoughts melted away into the Link.
But as my senses dulled, I realized it wasn’t the calming tones of Scheduled Subject Downtime playing. I’d Linked right in the middle of the Link News, complete with audio and video reports. The Link did its work, slowly numbing me to my outside senses, shutting me up in the gray of my own mind with no stray sensory data or reactions.
Anomalous activity
continues to be on the rise. Families of those reported for anomalous incidents must submit to additional testing.
Footage played of the current Chancellor Supreme of Sector 6, a short gray-haired man. He stood at a podium and spoke. “We are Humanity Sublime for a reason. We have stamped out the destructive passions that ruled our ancestors. Any and all anomalous activity poses a threat to our peaceful and productive society.”
The vid scene switched. A girl screamed and thrashed on the ground of an Academy cafeteria, held down by Regulators on both sides. All the other students watched passively, faces mute of any emotion at the scene playing out before them. The girl looked like she was about fourteen. Her blond hair fell out of the careful clip and her scream hit an especially high piercing note right as the Regulator reached toward her neck with the pen-needle. A moment later, she was slumped between the two Regs.
The animal-like regression of anomalous subjects continues to be a concern. Treatment, however, is swift and effective. But only if every Subject remains vigilant to protect Humanity Sublime from this growing menace. An anomaly observed is an anomaly reported. Order first, order always.
The vid and audio switched again, to a story about recent trade agreements with Sector 5, but the girl’s screaming face seemed imprinted in my head no matter how much the vid flashed and changed.
She was so young. A shot of dread spiked through my veins. My brother Markan was fourteen. I thought he’d have a couple more years until I’d have to worry about the possibility of him glitching and getting caught.
But from what I’d just seen, it seemed like time was running out. I had to get my brother out of there, away from the Community and away from Chancellor Bright, before it was too late. The report had said family members of those confirmed as anomalous were being tested. Did that mean … I suddenly felt sick. Surely Bright would test the brother of the most notorious glitcher ever. I’d been a fool ever to think Markan was safe just because I was gone.
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