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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.

I un-Linked myself and swung the curtain from my bed back. “Taylor’s still on site, right?” I asked Xona.

She looked up from the weapon she was polishing. “Yeah, why?”

“Thanks.” I jumped down off the bed and pulled some slippers on my feet. I had already failed Max. There must still be time to rescue Markan, and the families of the other glitchers who’d been left behind.

All I could think about was Markan as I walked towards Taylor’s office. I remembered the way I used to tiptoe into his room at night and watch him sleep. That was months ago. He might look very different now. I wondered if his soft cheeks had leaned out and how tall he’d gotten. As I got closer to Taylor’s office, I saw the door was partially open already, and I could hear voices.

“Got the skeleton darn near done, but that don’t mean nothin’ if we don’t have the contents to put in the godlam’d thing.”

“Don’t you think I know that, Henk?” Taylor’s voice was sharp. “Obviously I know that.”

“I got myself cracked puttin’ this together for ya. You promised we could take them down for good. That’s the only reason I risked my position to do this.”

“Your position? That’s right, here on the outer dregs of the Rez we don’t get to eat caviar and drink gin.”

“You know I don’t care about any of that.” Henk’s voice got louder. “I wanna bring the whole thing crumblin’ down on the shunters’ heads, same as you.”

I tiptoed closer to hear better. Henk sounded far different from the joking prankster he’d been when I’d last seen him.

“Then find me another way to get what we need.”

“How am I supposed to do that if I’m watch-listed and on the run? This was your side of the bargain. You said if I designed the thing and brought you a prototype, you’d take care of the rest.”

“Chancellor Bright always seems to be two steps ahead of us.” Taylor grimaced like she’d eaten something rotten. “All we can do now is figure out another way to get what we need. You work things on your end and I’ll work mine.”

“I ain’t got an end anymore, or haven’t you heard a single word I’ve said? I need access, machinery, resources. It’s all gone.”

“We both know you have clientele outside the Community you could talk to. You moved product between global Sectors all the time.”

“You’re trying to get me killed, is that it? Need your project all hush, hush, so let’s get Henk to cut deals with the ganger bosses and get his throat slit?”

“I would die for the cause tomorrow,” Taylor shot back. “A sacrifice that all of us should be willing to make, no questions asked.”

“Dyin’ for something that actually makes a difference is one thing. Takin’ a suicide run is somethin’ else entirely.”

“I’m not saying you have to steal it—”

“Well it’s gotta come from somewhere, don’t it? And last I checked, the Rez ain’t got near enough resources to buy—”

“Stop,” Taylor said, and I heard feet approach the doorway. “You can’t even close a door correctly, no wonder you got cracked trying to leave the factory with the prototype.”

The door shut fast before I could hear his response.

I pulled back, my heart beating fast. What were they talking about? I was stunned, but I couldn’t turn back to my dorm room. I’d come here with a purpose, and I was going to see it through.

I waited a few minutes, so they wouldn’t know I’d heard them, then knocked on the chrome door until it slid open. I looked at Henk. He was staring at the General, his face mottled with anger. She looked down at her console screen as if purposefully ignoring him.

“I’m sorry if I’m interrupting.”

“I was just leaving.” Henk grabbed his jacket and strode out the door.

I looked around. Every ounce of wall space was covered with paper maps and a wall-wide monitor that had digital notes scribbled all over it. The clutter gave the room the look of a lair. And all the actual paper surprised me. I leaned in without thinking to try to read her small scratch. I was used to everything being digital. Other than me and my drawing stock, I didn’t know anyone who used paper anymore.

“What?” the General asked, still not looking up.

Nervousness struck, but I held my ground. “I want to talk to you about something.”

She finally looked up, but her eyes were narrowed. “What?”

“I saw over the Link News feed that glitchers are showing up younger and younger.”

The General nodded, her face impassive. Of course she already knew.

“That means the Chancellor is getting access to even more glitchers every day,” I went on, “building up her ranks when we haven’t been able to rescue any new ones other than the few from the raid.”

She didn’t respond. I hesitated.

She stared at me, her face still expressionless. “And? Is there something else?”

“They say glitching runs in families sometimes,” I rushed on. “So I want to put together a mission to rescue my brother and other people’s siblings. We’ve got to get to them before the Chancellor does.”

She stared at me blankly for a long moment, then took a deep breath. “Oh my, you’re serious. Listen carefully, Zoel. Chancellor Bright has your family’s housing unit under constant surveillance because she thinks you would be stupid enough to try to attempt such a thing. It’s probably the same for the family of every other glitcher we’ve rescued. There might be a lot of rumors and talk about you becoming a leader, but this army doesn’t belong to you. These aren’t your lives to risk. And if you think it’s worthwhile to get good soldiers killed just so you can play happy family, you’ve got a hell of a lot to learn about being a leader.”

“But his life could be in danger,” I sputtered. “I have to try. And he might be a glitcher.”

“Might is the operative word. And all of us have family.” She turned her attention back to the file in her console screen.

“Which is why I’m not just talking about my brother, but the others’ families too. There can’t be that many of us with siblings, and if we organized coordinated strikes all at the same time—”

“No,” Taylor said simply, looking back at her console screen.

“You don’t understand.” I sat down at the chair across from her. “I betrayed my older brother a long time ago, and I couldn’t save my friend Max. I can’t do the same to Markan. I have to try to get him out. I could disable any Regs who are assigned to follow him, then we could—”

The General looked back up at me, her face suddenly hard as marble. “I’ve already wasted too many of our resources in the hope that you might turn out to be useful. We built this entire facility with you in mind, to protect you. We saved you.”

“But—” I started to protest, but she cut me off.

“No, Zoel, you have yet to pay back any of the great debts you owe. And that’s fine. I have one task that I need you for, and then I’m happy never to work with any of you glitchers again. You’re all unnatural anyway. A by-product of the enemy we are trying to destroy. I’ll take care of mine, you can take care of yours.”

I gasped, taken aback. “What does that mean?”

“It means I’ll take care of freeing the drones. Your job is to get rid of Chancellor Bright.”

“You can free them?” I leaned forward. My worries about my brother were momentarily sidelined. Getting rid of the V-chip was everything I’d always hoped for. “How? I’ll do anything to help.”

“Would you?” Taylor raised an eyebrow. “Would you really? You speak of sacrifice as if it were simple. As if choosing who can be saved and who can’t is a burden easily carried. Yet you come in here begging me to risk losing countless good fighters, people who have their own families and lives worth protecting.”

“But it’s our families—”

“We all have families.” Her voice caught for a moment before her eyes hardened again. “The question is not whether you are willing to give your own life, it’s whether you’re willing to give up the people you love most. Even if it was for the greater good, could you do it? Could you?” She waited a moment with her hawk eyes on me. “I thought not. But you can kill the Chancellor. You’re powerful, you’re immune to her compulsion, and she will kill you unless you take her down first. That is all you are here to do. You are dismissed.”

I left Taylor’s office both fuming and terrified. We couldn’t get Markan back. They were watching him, all because of me. If he was a glitcher, the Chancellor would know first, and if he wasn’t, she’d still make sure I never got to him before he turned eighteen and the final adult V-chip was implanted. He’d turn into a drone forever, just like our parents.

No. I wouldn’t let the Chancellor take the only family I had left. Anger surged up inside me like a billowing red sheet. The idea of Markan glitching and being able to feel emotion—only to be made a slave to the Chancellor’s compulsion—chilled me to the bone. If it was in my power to end the Chancellor’s life, I could save my brother and so many others. This was my destiny, and, sooner or later, I had to face it.