Glitch

sight— it was like I could feel his body bro-
    ken into a hundred little geometric shapes, each plane curv-
    ing and butting up against the next.
    Everything around him was in sharp detail, too. Somehow
    I could feel all the corners and edges— like I was surrounding
    them somehow, like I’d brought them all inside my mind.
    The humming got louder in my ears as I felt out the contours
    of Adrien’s entire body.
    I lifted my arm to direct my energy. I felt his body lift up
    and away from the stack of boxes.
    “Keep going,” he said, still excited.
    I moved him up higher until he was fl ush with the ceil-
    ing. He wasn’t heavy— I couldn’t feel his weight at all in
    fact. Gravity didn’t matter here. There was only a three-
    dimensional space and objects fi lling that space.
    I opened my eyes, a rush of power coursing through my
    veins, ready to burst out of my eyes with a blinding light.
    That’s when I saw the look on Max’s and Molla’s faces. Max
    was smiling in a strange way I couldn’t quite decipher and
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    Molla was clutching his arm in terror and wonder. They
    were both standing up now.
    I glanced up and saw Adrien bobbing against the ceiling.
    I blinked a few times. My strength was fading in and out.
    I was starting to doubt myself.
    I tugged Adrien down but lost control before he got all
    the way to the ground. The buzzing stopped and Adrien
    dropped the last few feet and landed on the concrete fl oor
    with a grunt.
    “I’m so sorry,” I said, running over to him to help him
    up, but he was on his feet in an instant.
    “That was cracking great, Zoe!” Adrien said, hugging me.
    I stiff ened, casting an uncomfortable glance in Max’s direc-
    tion before shrugging out of his arms. Adrien took it in
    stride, seeming too excited to take off ense.
    “You were controlling it!” His eyes were shining with
    energy and it made my breath hitch in my chest, reminding
    me of last night.
    Max pulled away from Molla and hugged me, swinging
    me around in an arc before putting me back on the ground
    again. I laughed, feeling giddy. I hadn’t been able to control
    the power in so long. I’d been secretly afraid it wasn’t work-
    ing anymore. Just being able to access it again made me feel
    centered, more in control of everything.
    “Now if I could just do it all the time.”
    “You will, with practice,” Adrien said.
    “For once,” Max said, “I agree with him. We can practice
    together, at my place.”
    I nodded, trying not to look at Adrien, the complexities of
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    Heather Anastasiu
    the situation settling back in again. I had to talk to Max about
    my feelings for Adrien, but I didn’t even know exactly what
    they were. Like friends, but diff erent from Max. More.
    “I’ll try to contact Juan,” Adrien said. “I’d initially
    wanted to wait a little longer before getting us all out of
    here—” He glanced at me, then back at Max. I knew what
    he was thinking. He wanted to wait longer to give the al-
    lergy injections a better chance of working. “But I think
    maybe we should bring this last glitcher up to speed and get
    out as soon as we can. I feel the Chancellor circling closer
    and closer, ready to make her move. I don’t like it.”
    He looked uneasy. His meeting with the Chancellor must
    have really put him on edge.
    “How?” Max asked.
    “I’m working with my contacts in the Rez. They’re coor-
    dinating our escape, plotting out the maps and codes required
    to hack the system and give us enough room to get out un-
    detected. They’ll map out our route and the multiple safe
    houses we’ll have to stop through to make sure we lose any-
    one who might be tracking us. When it’s all in place, we will
    contact each of you individually. But be prepared to move
    soon, and quickly.”
    “And Markan? How will we get him out?” I asked.
    “That’s one of the things we’re working on. We’ll have to
    stick an external drive in his neck port with a program that
    will make him follow without trouble till we’re all safe.”
    I lifted my hand to rub my own neck uncomfortably.
    “I’m sorry,” he said, seeing me. “I know you hate that, but
    I think it’s still the safest way.”
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    I nodded. “Of course.”
    Molla suddenly let out a squeak. I startled and looked over
    at her. I had momentarily forgotten she was there, she was
    usually so shrinking and quiet.
    “Someone’s coming!” she hissed frantically.
    My heart leapt into my