Glitch

gestured toward one of the few chairs
    lining the wall.
    “I’m fi ne standing,” I said, grinding out each word. She
    had all the power. For now.
    “Stubborn. Max warned me.”
    I blinked, startled. I narrowed my eyes at her. “What?”
    The Chancellor waved her hand dismissively. “Don’t be
    misled by what you think you know. I am here to help you.”
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    I barely held in a scoff , but the Chancellor only nodded.
    “I’ve been watching you for a long time, protecting you
    from detection and deactivation. I was hoping that through
    our meetings you might eventually begin to understand and
    trust me, but the supervision of the Uppers made it diffi
    cult.
    And then with your attempted escape, I’m afraid you left me
    no alternative. The timing is not ideal, but I trust in time
    you will understand.”
    “Understand what?” My voice was hard. “That you took
    me and my friends? That Adrien’s been spying for you?”
    She shook her head. “I am not the enemy you believe me
    to be. I am not part of the system that oppresses you and your
    friends. The only thing the Community managed to get
    right,” she said, her eyes suddenly glistening, “was that the
    age of humanity as it was has indeed passed. But it is we who
    are the real future of humanity, not them. Don’t you see?”
    She leaned in close to me. “I’m one of you I’m a glitcher.”
    My eyes went wide in disbelief. “What?” I managed to
    choke out.
    She laughed. “I’m like you and your friends.” She looked
    me in the eye and I studied her silently. The Chancellor? A
    glitcher, too? It was impossible.
    “I was fourteen, and just another girl on the labor farm, a
    place worse than any of you can imagine. On the farms, we
    were stripped of our basic humanity.” She pursed her lips
    and stood up straight. “Take enough away from a person and
    they start to seem like an animal, a tool, a nothing. That’s
    what I was to them. But I woke up.” The Chancellor’s voice
    became suddenly hard and fi rm.
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    Heather Anastasiu
    In spite of my determination to stay cold, a trickle of pity
    welled up inside me. Maybe she was lying, but I knew the
    kinds of horrors that had happened to countless subjects all
    across the sector. Or rather, I knew what Adrien had told
    me. So many lies, I didn’t know how much to believe.
    “Where’s Max?” I asked. “And Juan?”
    “They are safe.” She smiled. “You’ll see Max soon. Listen,
    I understand your anger, Zoe,” she continued. “I understand
    your need to save others. Believe me. In the wrong hands
    the Link gives the power to do the unthinkable, and they
    must be stopped. But you’re going about it all wrong. You
    don’t have to leave. You don’t have to join the helpless Re-
    sis tance. This world should be ours , and I’m working from
    the inside to change it. To make it the Community we were
    promised.”
    “But,” I started, my mind whirring to make sense of
    everything she was saying. “How? The Re sis tance has been
    around for years trying to take down the Uppers.”
    The Chancellor smiled. “My Gift is very . . . subtle, very
    persuasive. I can compel anyone close enough to me to do
    what I want. It’s how I’ve been able to survive undetected.”
    Her smile turned cold. “The Uppers give me the informa-
    tion I need to know. Then I make them forget. For the
    worst of them, I’ve encouraged them to administer their
    own punishments I’ve developed my Gift slowly, but even-
    tually I managed to simply take up the part of an Upper. I’ve
    been moving up the ranks ever since.”
    “If that’s true,” I said slowly, still trying to fi gure out if she
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    was lying or not, “then why become Chancellor of an Acad-
    emy? Why not just install yourself as Chancellor Supreme of
    the sector?”
    She’d been pacing but she stopped and turned to me. “I’m
    not strong enough to take down the entire Upper system on
    my own. I realized early on that there must be others like
    me. And I was right. There’s a veritable explosion of Gifted
    subjects in your generation. Installing myself at an Academy
    was the best way for me to discover and collect glitchers old
    enough to fi ght, before they get the fi nal adult V-chip in-
    stalled and lose their powers forever. When I heard about
    your anomalous incident and then disappearance, I was in-
    trigued. I decided this would be the next place for me to
    recruit. I need your help, Zoe.”
    She