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Chapter 15

SEVERAL HOURS LATER, our team was poised at the back docking station of the Chancellor’s glitcher compound. We’d taken two air transports and then switched into a supply vehicle that the Rez had hijacked. After so much waiting, it was surreal how fast everything was suddenly happening.

Taylor ordered us all to be silent and focus on our role in the mission. I shifted uncomfortably on the bench in the back of the truck. The air transport had been smooth, but this older vehicle still used wheels and it jostled constantly. The whir of oxygen circulating in my face mask seemed unduly loud in the silence.

The vehicle stopped suddenly and I was thrown into City’s shoulder. She didn’t even give me a glare. She looked as tense as I felt. No one said a word or looked at me, but I could feel the pressure mounting.

We all jumped down from the back of the vehicle onto the docking station. Adrien hurried over to the door and attached a small box. A small console screen projected from the door panel and he started clicking through complicated code.

“Zoel,” the General said, touching her earpiece. “Ginni says there are five Regs on the other side of that wall, and five more throughout the compound. Can you sense them?”

I breathed in and out like I’d trained and let the telek buzzing rise in time with my heartbeat. I felt myself expand outward, beyond the wall. Yes, there were the Regulators stationed at intervals in the hallways. Two of them began moving toward us. They must have been alerted to the supply van’s arrival.

Anxiety rose up and panicked thoughts tumbled over one another. What if I couldn’t do this when it counted? I thought about their metal reinforced hands crushing Milton’s head like an overripe fruit.

I needed to empty my mind, not let these frantic thoughts clog my head. I breathed in and out, focusing on the sound of my breath. The telek expanded outward again. The Regs were moving closer, but I didn’t allow myself to worry about what would happen if I failed. I just closed my eyes and let the energy surround each of the ten Regs throughout the compound. I squeezed my eyes tighter as I yanked the vertebrae apart, snapping their spines right at the C2.

The Regs all collapsed where they stood.

I nodded at Adrien. He’d been flicking through pages of code and hacking further and further into the security feed. At my nod, he tapped a few last times. The door slid open sideways with a hiss.

The General motioned forward with one arm. We crossed the threshold and then we were inside. The lights were bright after the heavy cloak of darkness. We all squinted as we piled into the narrow loading dock room while Adrien went to work on the next door.

City paced in a circle by huge crates stacked to the ceiling. She dug her fingers into her palms. She had boasted so often about going on missions before, but I got the feeling those missions had been nothing compared to what we were attempting now, directly attacking a Comm Corp building.

I looked around at everyone else. Half a dozen Rez fighters had joined us when we’d switched transports. They stood still beside the four ex-Regs. Rand rubbed his hands together. A slight tendril of smoke came out from between his fingers.

“Hold it in until you get to the glitcher cells,” Taylor snapped.

“Sorry,” Rand said, and put his hands at his sides.

“Got it.” Adrien motioned forward as the door slid open, revealing a hallway that led in both directions. The hallways were sleek, with smooth, cream-colored walls and black tile on the ground. Halfway down the right fork, I could see two Regs laying on the ground where I’d dropped them.

“Just like we discussed during the debrief,” Taylor said. “Detachment A, you head left to release the glitchers. Detachment B, follow me.”

Adrien and I headed after Taylor, half the Rez fighters and three ex-Regs following right behind. I looked back once and watched the other team head the opposite direction. Anxiety bubbled up in my chest.

This was it. I’d already accomplished half my job. I tried to feel confident, but my heart still thumped wildly.

We stepped over the two immobile Regs, and I couldn’t resist a quick glance down. Their eyes were moving rapidly, but the rest of their bodies were completely still. For a moment I imagined what it must be like for them, their minds still receiving commands in bodies that would no longer respond. I shuddered a little, but then raised my eyes ahead and kept walking. At least they were alive.

The hallway ended at an elevator tube. As we came to it, Adrien swung his bag around and pulled out a slim card. He swiped it in front of the reader and the tube door slid open.

“Half of you stay to keep watch,” Taylor gestured to the Rez fighters, “And Tavid.” She indicated the tallest ex-Reg. “The rest come with me.”

We stepped into the elevator pod, everyone pressing closely together to fit. I looked around and wondered again what exactly we were retrieving.

We dropped swiftly, and the elevator opened again to a narrow entryway space leading to the thick metal door I was supposed to open. Two more Regs lay prone on the ground. I looked down at them, ready to see the blinking eyes, but while one of the Reg’s eyes twitched frantically, the other one was completely still. His eyes stared lifelessly ahead. His mouth was open and a line of spittle trailed down his chin. I dropped down and put a hand to his chest, trying to feel if there was a heartbeat or any movement of breath, but there was nothing.

He was dead.

I gasped, feeling a dizzy swirl of emotion. I couldn’t stop staring. I’d killed someone. He’d been alive one moment, and gone the next. Because of me. I felt like I was going to be sick.

Taylor stepped out of the elevator behind me and hauled me to my feet. “Focus on the mission.” She pointed ahead. “This is the first of the doors you have to open.”

When I didn’t reply right away, Taylor grabbed my shoulders and pushed my back up against the wall. “You have to focus.”

“Hey, stop it,” Adrien shouted, putting a hand on Taylor’s arm, but she easily pushed him back.

“The survival of the Rez itself depends on what is behind that wall,” she said. “Conscience, fear, regret, and any other thought in your head can wait until after this mission is through. Got it?”

I nodded and she let go. I knew she was right. I had to swallow the guilt for now. She and everyone else were depending on me.

She put her arms on my shoulders again. “Open these doors, and then we’re out of here. Can you do it?”

I nodded again and closed my eyes. For a second it was hard to grasp my telek. I couldn’t feel it anywhere. My thoughts were scattered. I could hear Taylor’s impatient huffing and felt Adrien pacing tensely in the background. He was angry at Taylor. I wasn’t. I couldn’t blame her for expecting me to do my part. The others stood silently.

I breathed. In and out. In and out. No distractions. I could do this. I would do this. I opened my eyes and looked at the thick door. I remembered back to my practice and thought about all the times I’d lifted equal weight with ease. I could not let myself fear. Fear would cripple my control.

Adrien came up beside me and took my hand. It was the anchor I needed. I stopped thinking. A high-pitched whine filled my ears, finally settling into the familiar buzz. My telek was back and at the ready.

I cast it outward and poured myself entirely in.

There. I finally felt the room in my head and with it came a sense of power and control.

Mentally, I lassoed a web around the door and tugged it. With a screeching grind of steel, the door lifted upward on its tracks.

I glimpsed the next metal door as Adrien went rigid beside me. He was having a vision, but there wasn’t time to wait for him to finish. Taylor had said this first door would set off an alarm. I had to keep going so we could get out of here as fast as possible. I cast my telek toward the second door.

But then Adrien shouted, “Oh God, it’s a trap!”