Glitch

body, and then he leaned
    over me.
    “Zoe,” he whispered in my ear, “it’s me, Max.”
    I jerked in surprise and turned my head sideways. For a
    quick second, the technician’s face disappeared and was re-
    placed by Max’s impish one.
    “Here to save the day,” he said with a smile before he
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    Heather Anastasiu
    reverted to the technician’s façade. “I’ll just pretend to use
    the equipment, then change it in the computer afterward.”
    “Shouldn’t be necessary, I’m Linked,” I whispered in a
    rush of relief. “I’ll explain later.” I caught Max’s look of con-
    sternation just as I fi t my face back into the oval.
    He clicked the access cable into my neck and then shifted
    the three imaging panels on three sides surrounding my
    head. I could see his feet move away as he went to sit at the
    table with the projected 3- D diagnostic screen.
    The curtain swung suddenly open and I lifted up to look,
    banging my head into one of the imaging panels as I went.
    It was Chancellor Bright.
    “And how is our subject doing, Dr. Campbell?” She tilted
    her head sideways in her penetrating, birdlike manner.
    “Perfect,” Max said, not even missing a beat.
    I buried my face in the oval facing the fl oor so the Chan-
    cellor wouldn’t see the worried heat fl ushing my cheeks.
    “As you can see,” he said, gesturing to the 3- D image of
    my brain that was rotating in the imaging panel. “Not anom-
    alous.”
    “Hmph,” the Chancellor said. I saw her feet move close
    to where Max was standing. I tried to keep as still as possible,
    and after a minute, she stepped back.
    “Yes, everything appears normal.” She sounded disap-
    pointed, confused.
    A tool scraped as it was picked up off the instrument tray.
    “Let’s see if her pain- response system is working.”
    I felt the cold metal touch my neck below my ear. Then
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    G L I TC H
    with a sharp motion, she jammed it inward and my body lit
    up with pain. I screamed as my body jolted on the table.
    The buzzing blasted in my head at the shocking pain. The
    crash of instruments hitting the fl oor coincided with the
    sound of my beeping heart monitor fi lling the room.
    The probe was released and the Chancellor whipped around
    to look at the tray of instruments I’d accidentally fl ung against
    the wall with my power, an unreadable expression on her
    face. She almost seemed to soften for a moment before turn-
    ing back to Max.
    “Her screaming startled me,” Max covered quickly. “I
    backed into the tray.”
    There was silence. I imagined the Chancellor turning her
    penetrating stare on Max. What had I done?
    I swallowed my terror down so my heart would stop beep-
    ing. I kept my face fi rmly in the face rest, though a droplet
    of sweat managed to fall down my cheek. Out of the corner
    of my eye I could see Max calmly and methodically picking
    up the fallen tools.
    The Chancellor was silent while he fi nished, her feet com-
    pletely still. I had no idea what she might be thinking.
    “Adequate pain monitor response,” she fi nally said, her
    voice unreadable. “Make sure to run all the tests. I don’t want
    anything slipping through the cracks with this one.”
    “Of course, Chancellor,” the technician’s voice said, each
    syllable as monotone as the last. I had to remind myself it
    was Max beside me, he was so convincing. He hadn’t even
    fl inched when I’d screamed. I wondered if that was part of
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    Heather Anastasiu
    his power— that he was completely believable as what ever
    person he projected— or if he was just that good a liar.
    The Chancellor’s footsteps echoed as she left. Max didn’t
    say anything more, just went through with the rest of the
    tests, making marks on the technician’s tablet as he went. I
    was surprised he knew what he was doing so well. I won-
    dered where he’d learned it. In fact, I was starting to realize
    there was a lot about Max I didn’t know.
    He fi nished quickly and I felt his rough hands on my neck
    as he removed the cable from my access port.
    “Tomorrow night” was all he said but I knew what he
    meant. I nodded slightly as I sat up. I knew he had questions
    and I had plenty of my own. I didn’t want him putting him-
    self in any more danger. And I had to tell him about Adrien,
    the enigmatic boy with the blue- green eyes that I still didn’t
    know if I could trust.
    I was up all night. Questions about Adrien and the Chancel-
    lor kept me restless and awake well into the