Glitch

Logic. Order. “First we fi g-
    ure out what to do with him.”
    “What did the Re sis tance used to do before you devel-
    oped all your advanced tech?”
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    G L I TC H
    “Unfortunately, the Rez did sometimes used to deacti-
    vate people,” Adrien said grimly. “But a deactivation would
    still trigger an investigation, and I’d never do something so
    barbaric. But maybe . . .” He looked at the wall, his brows
    knit in thought.
    “What?” Max said.
    “Well.” Adrien looked down at the man and frowned. “I
    did see a Rez fi ghter do a manual memory wipe once.” His
    eyes fl icked up to mine. “But it isn’t pretty.”
    “Would he—” I looked down at the unconscious man
    and a shiver ran down my spine. “Would he be okay after-
    wards?”
    Adrien bit his lip. “If I do it right, then yeah, he’d be fi ne.
    His recent memory will be fuzzy, but otherwise he’ll be
    fi ne.”
    “And if we don’t do it right?” I asked.
    Adrien looked away and didn’t say anything. He closed
    his eyes and swallowed hard. When he opened them again,
    his jaw was set fi rmly and he was all business.
    “Zoe, bring me my tablet. Max, remove his shirt and then
    we’ll turn him on his stomach so I can get to work.”
    My hands were trembling as I brought Adrien his tablet
    case. He clicked it open as Max rolled the man over.
    “Make sure his head is to the side and that his breathing
    remains even,” Adrien said to Max as he pulled out his tab-
    let. To my surprise, he didn’t turn it on but instead tipped
    it sideways and then cracked it gently against the concrete
    fl oor. Adrien pried the two halves of the case apart, reveal-
    ing the inner electronics.
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    Heather Anastasiu
    Adrien paused, looking up at me. “Do you have a spare
    hairpin?”
    I slid a slim metal pin out of my hair and handed it to him
    without asking any questions.
    “Molla, keep watch to make sure no one else comes this
    way.” He pulled the two thin metal prongs of the hairpin
    apart until it was one long slim piece. “Max, see that fan in
    the corner over there?”
    Max nodded.
    “Strip its power cord and bring it over here.”
    Max moved to do what he said as Adrien worked to fl at-
    ten the metal hairpin out. “Zoe, grab me one of the broken
    chairs over there.”
    I came back with the chair and Max brought the frayed
    power cable. Adrien was busy carefully prying out one of
    the hair- thin wires in the tablet.
    “What are you doing?” Max asked.
    Adrien didn’t answer, just bit his lip. “Can I have another
    hairpin?”
    I pulled out another and handed it to him. He used it like
    a pair of tweezers and slid the tiny wire under another clus-
    ter of thin cables. Finally he breathed out. “There. That
    should do it.”
    “Do what?” Max asked.
    “I rerouted the power coupling in the tablet to regulate
    the amperage it can output.”
    I gasped as I looked at all the components gathered in
    front of Adrien and realized what he was going to do. “You’re
    going to electrocute him!”
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    G L I TC H
    “I’m not going to electrocute him ,” Adrien said quickly.
    “Just his memory chip.”
    “ ’Kay, Molla,” Adrien turned to her. “I’m gonna need
    you to use your Gift— you can see through objects, right? I
    have to get this piece of metal,” he lifted my hairpin, “into
    his head, but this won’t work unless it makes contact with the
    memory chip. I need you to be my X-ray unit and tell me
    when I’m in. I know you can do it.”
    My mouth gaped open in surprise. I’d wondered if Molla
    had an ability and if it manifested yet. They must have talked
    about it before I’d arrived.
    Molla’s frightened eyes fl ickered to Max. He nodded.
    “Show them what you can do, Molls.”
    She came and knelt close to the man’s head. I moved back
    to give her room. I felt helpless, but I knew the only thing I
    could do was stay out of the way.
    “So why’d we take off his shirt?” Max asked.
    Adrien wiped away some beading sweat on his forehead
    with his arm and swallowed hard. “To use as a rag for the
    blood.”
    My stomach lurched. Adrien swallowed again, then slid
    the pin into the tissue right beside the existing access port.
    “Max,” he said, “hold the chair. We’re gonna have to use
    the leg like a hammer to get this thing in deep enough.”
    I forced myself to watch, even though I winced every
    time they tapped the slim hairpin further into the man’s
    skull.
    “Careful!” Max hissed. “It’s