Glitch

especially sharp corner.
    What was he doing? He was acting anomalously right in
    front of the Regulators! And worse, he was coming toward
    me, bringing attention to me, too.
    My heart monitor started vibrating. I swallowed, put my
    head down, and squeezed my eyes shut to get myself under
    control. I couldn’t aff ord to have it start beeping here, not
    while I was trapped in an enclosed space with all of these
    witnesses, not to mention the Regulators.
    Just then I heard a disruption at the other end of the train,
    a loud clunk noise that echoed throughout the otherwise si-
    lent train car.
    I looked up, momentarily distracted by the sound. It was
    one of the Regulators- in- training. He was grabbing his
    head and stumbling around. He’d banged his armor- plated
    forehead into the wall again— that was the sound I’d fi rst
    heard.
    “Regulator Anderson,” said one of the other young Reg-
    ulators, reaching out an arm to steady the unstable Regulator.
    177

    Heather Anastasiu
    The one called Anderson knocked the arm away. The loud
    clang of metal on metal from their steel- alloy bionic arms
    was so loud and piercing that I winced. Several of the people
    on the train began tapping their arm panels, no doubt re-
    porting the anomalous incident. I felt a wave of relief, fol-
    lowed by another of shame. I was glad it wasn’t me they
    were reporting, but what about this poor Regulator? What
    would happen to him?
    The Regulator let out a sharp yell as the other three
    Regulators- in- training attempted to subdue him. They sur-
    rounded him but that only made him more wild. He thrashed
    outward with both bionic arms at the Regulators and sent
    one fl ying halfway across the train car into the standing
    crowd. The heavy Regulator knocked over a group of
    people, his momentum only stopping when he slammed
    into a metal pole. The pole snapped from the ceiling and hit
    a woman hard in the torso, knocking her down.
    It was all happening so fast, I could barely register what
    was going on. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the other
    two Regulators still tussling and trying to get Anderson
    under control. Then I was forced back against the far wall
    from them by the crowd, and I didn’t have a good view of
    what was going on anymore. It was only after another quick
    look that I realized it was Adrien’s body in front of mine,
    blocking me against the safety of the back subway- car wall.
    He swiveled his head to the side, whispering urgently,
    “Stay against the wall. A glitching Regulator is shuntin’
    deadly.”
    Anderson let out a feral shriek at the other end of the sub-
    178

    G L I TC H
    way car. The knock of metal on metal and the beeping of at
    least ten people’s heart monitors triggered by pain fi lled the
    space. I craned my neck to see over Adrien’s shoulder just as
    two of the Regulators pinned Anderson against the side
    wall. He thrashed violently under their grip, his face mot-
    tled and red. Spit dripped down over the metal that framed
    his jaw. His blue jumpsuit had ripped, revealing more of the
    metal alloy that had been grafted into his skin.
    “Deactivate, Regulator Anderson,” said one of the Reg-
    ulators who held him. “I repeat, deactivate.”
    My heart jumped into my throat at the word. They were
    going to kill him? Did he have some kind of internal hard-
    ware that would kill him at the simple command of their
    words? Over all of the chaos in the train, a high- pitched
    buzzing blared in my ears.
    “Don’t!” Adrien whispered just as the arm of one of the
    Regulators holding Anderson was yanked away by an invis-
    ible force. My force.
    “I didn’t mean to,” I gasped, my eyes wide. Adrien stared
    at me in panic.
    Anderson had taken the momentary freedom from the
    Regulator’s grip to pull away. The others lunged for him
    but he twisted away and ran headfi rst into the opposite wall.
    The hydraulics on his legs contracted and then released as
    he sprang forward with incredible force, taking a subject
    who’d been standing in his way with him. He was so crazed,
    he didn’t even aim for a window— his body smashed through
    the wall with a horrible crash and the squeal of twisting
    metal.
    179

    Heather Anastasiu
    A panel of the wall was ripped outward and the sudden
    rush of wind from outside the train was deafening. The
    lights in the cabin fl ickered off and on and I saw in the brief
    fl ash of light before we were swallowed in total darkness
    that the person who’d been in his