Glitch

haphazardly given here and there jumbled to-
    gether in my mind. “You said D-day never really happened.
    But how is it possible that the Community could deceive
    everyone so completely?”
    He shook his head. “History isn’t all fact— it’s just the
    story the victors tell to keep themselves in power. And it’s
    been a slow revision. The more time passes, the easier it be-
    comes to reinvent the past.”
    “So then what is the truth?” I asked in exasperation.
    “What really happened?”
    He stepped around a buildup of mud and sludge that had
    caked up against one wall. I grimaced, but at least he’d been
    right: The smell didn’t seem quite so bad anymore. I didn’t
    know if I was getting used to or if it wasn’t as strong in this
    side tunnel.
    “People in the Old World had been talking about a Global
    Community for a while,” he said. “Some globally span-
    ning corporations were formed and they got more and more
    powerful. Especially Community Corp. It was an impres-
    sive technology company with military connections. Then
    there were the major breakthrough advancements with the
    creation of bionic supersoldiers. That’s when they realized
    the potential of the V-chip for soldiers.”
    He shook his head. “Some shunting genius realized they
    could use the V-chip as an artifi cial amygdala.”
    75

    Heather Anastasiu
    “The amygdala,” I said, my mind going back to my neuro-
    tech text. “That’s a vestigial part of the brain. It’s useless, like
    the appendix. That’s why they put the V-chip there, because
    it won’t interfere with the necessary brain pro cesses.”
    “Another lie,” he said gently.
    He led me around another buildup of gunk and garbage. I
    saw movement in the dark. Rats. I’d never seen rats before.
    Really, I’d never seen many animals in my whole life other
    than fl ies or gnats or sometimes roaches. We didn’t have any
    meat- processing centers in our sector. I shuddered and moved
    away, even though it meant I was walking through the deeper
    water at the center of the tunnel.
    “The amygdala’s supposed to facilitate emotional re-
    sponse,” Adrian continued, oblivious to my reaction to the
    rats. Either that, or he was trying to distract me. “But the
    V-chip dampened feeling ’til emotion was done away with
    completely. Then the Link was expanded for military use so
    that a unit of soldiers wasn’t a group of individuals anymore—
    they were a single entity, all Linked together to a single
    commander. I mean, think about it.” He waved his hands as
    he explained. “With a completely obedient army under their
    command, an army that had no patriotic loyalties, no con-
    science, no fear, Comm Corp suddenly had a huge amount
    of power.”
    He looked over at me. “And that’s when they planned
    D-day. They could fi nally wrench control away from gov-
    ernments and bring the V-chip to the masses. And the masses
    agreed to it willingly.” He laughed darkly and shook his
    head. “The ultimate corporate acquisition. Our own minds.”
    76

    G L I TC H
    A shiver went down my arms as I realized just how
    much people had given up, and all for a lie. How could they?
    I couldn’t believe that anyone would volunteer their freedom,
    their mind, without a fi ght. As a drone, I’d never known
    what I was missing until now, but for them— they’d experi-
    enced freedom. They knew exactly how much they had to
    lose.
    “People will do a lot of things that don’t make sense when
    they’re scared,” Adrien said, as if he could hear my thoughts.
    His voice was gentle now; it had lost its dark sardonic edge.
    “Comm Corp was producing implants that they said could
    protect people from the aftereff ects of the bombs. It’s totally
    cracked, I know. But people will grasp at anything if they
    believe their survival is at stake, no questions asked. They
    went to Com Corp for help, and they all left with V-chips.”
    A loud splashing from behind brought me out of my
    thoughts and sharply back to the present. I stopped and spun
    around, fl ashing my light. All I could see was the tunnel
    leading on infi nitely into darkness.
    “Are we being followed?” Panic spiked through me.
    “Don’t worry, it’s just the rats,” he said.
    Great , just the rats. I swallowed uncomfortably and turned
    around. The tunnel went on seemingly forever ahead. I was
    used to tunnels, but the darkness and noises and foreign
    smells of this place were getting to me. At least I