Glitch

throat. No. Max dropped to the
    ground out of sight behind one of the small overturned
    tables just as the door opened.
    I hurried to the wall where some furniture was stacked
    but Molla was still just standing frozen in the middle of
    the room. Before I could hiss at her to get down, a brown-
    uniformed man stepped in. He was of medium height and
    build and his brown clothing identifi ed him as a ser vice
    worker. He looked at Molla dispassionately and followed her
    horrifi ed gaze to me.
    “You shouldn’t be here. You do not have authorized ac-
    cess. This is anomalous.” He moved to touch his arm panel.
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Chapter 19
    i saw adrie n tense in the shadows, getting ready to
    launch himself at the man, but before he could, the Chancel-
    lor rose from behind an overturned table.
    “Stop,” she said calmly, ostensibly to the brown- uniformed
    man but I knew it was also meant for Adrien. Adrien froze
    and looked at Max’s disguise in disbelief. He’d never seen
    Max’s power in action before.
    “Chancellor Bright,” the man said, his hand paused in
    midair.
    She tilted her head and trained her hawklike gaze on him.
    “What are you doing here?”
    “I’m on a Resource Redispersal Unit. I was working down
    the hall when I heard voices. It was anomalous, so I came to
    look.”
    “Is anyone else here with you? Did you tell anyone you
    were leaving your post to investigate something which is
    none of your concern?”
    “Anomalous events are the concern of every conscientious
    subject,” he said robotically. “And, no. No one knows I’m
    here.”
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    G L I TC H
    “Good,” said Adrien, who had crept up behind the man
    while he talked to Max. Adrien raised a heavy- looking metal
    brace and slammed it into the man’s head.
    I gasped as the man crumpled to the ground. I clapped
    my hand over my mouth to keep back a scream.
    Adrien looked over at me, then down at the brace in his
    hand. He dropped it to the ground with a clatter and took a
    step back from it like it was toxic.
    Max morphed back into himself, a look of pure fury red-
    dening his features. “I thought your visions always warned
    you of danger. How did you not see this, Future Boy?”
    “I don’t know!” Adrien said, sounding just as upset. He
    ran his hands through his hair. “It shouldn’t be possible. It
    shouldn’t be . . .” For a moment he looked lost and helpless
    and desperate.
    I wanted to go hold his hand, but I myself was frozen in
    terror.
    “What do we do now?” I tried to keep the hysteria out of
    my voice. I needed to stay calm. I went over to the man on
    the ground. I could see his chest rising and falling with each
    breath. Okay. We just needed to keep calm. Think logically.
    “A blow to the head won’t erase his memory, and he’s
    seen all our faces,” I said, trying to fi gure out a plan as I
    talked. I turned to Adrien. “Do you have some equipment
    that can erase memory?”
    “No.” Adrien looked at me, both hands still on his head.
    “I don’t carry that kind of equipment with me most of the
    time, in case I ever get searched.”
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    Heather Anastasiu
    “You shouldn’t have disabled him,” Max said, advancing
    angrily on Adrien. “I had everything under control. I could
    have just told him not to mention he’d seen me.”
    “It wouldn’t have mattered what you said,” Adrien said.
    “Protocol is to make note of all details of anything anoma-
    lous, no matter what. If it’s an incident involving an Upper,
    they just ignore it, but if the Chancellor saw this man’s
    report, we’d have been cracked for sure. I couldn’t take that
    chance.”
    “So how do we make sure he keeps silent? Do we deacti-
    vate him? Can we remove his memory stick?” Max asked.
    “Max! How can you say that?” I hissed.
    “Look, he’s seen us. The way I see it, it’s him or us, and
    that is an easy one for me,” said Max. “Besides, he’s got an
    adult V-chip. The guy is a drone for life. What diff erence
    does it make?”
    I glared at him. We both turned to Adrien, but he hadn’t
    even heard us.
    Adrien was still staring at the fallen worker, a look of
    shock on his face. “I don’t know how I didn’t see this com-
    ing.” His voice was high- pitched and frustrated. “It’s never
    happened before. I’ve always been able to count on my vi-
    sions.”
    “We’ll worry about that later.” I put a hand on Adrien’s
    shoulder for a moment to calm him down, and then I
    crouched down beside the man.