Override (Glitch)

down. Did his whole, ‘the young are the future of the Rez’ shtick.” She sounded sarcastic as she mimicked her father. “Though from what I hear, you’re supposed to be the real future of the Rez.”
    I felt the blood leave my face. If she was trying to get a reaction out of me, she’d finally succeeded.
    “If you believe the rumors about Adrien’s visions,” I said, trying to shrug off the comment.
    “Well, I don’t. The whole idea of destiny is total piss. No offense. But I’m not going to believe one girl’s gonna save the world just because someone had a vision.”
    “Even if Adrien’s visions always seem to come true?”
    Xona paused, slowing her stride. “So far, maybe. But saying something is fated sounds just like the lies my mom used to tell me about how it was all gonna turn out okay. How all the bad stuff in life was part of a bigger purpose and that everything happens for a reason. How all the lives sacrificed for the Rez will be meaningful in the end when we win.”
    She shook her head, looking angry. “But that’s a stack of lies. Besides,” she looked over at me, “if you’re supposed to save the world, then that means the world was supposed to be all shunted up like this in the first place. It means this war, the V-chip, everything—” she paused, and I could tell she was thinking about her parents’ deaths. “Things don’t happen for a reason. If they did, what kind of sick world would this be?”
    She sped up again, her face hardening. I kept pace with her, but my lungs were burning.
    “Are you sure you even believe in his visions?” she asked. “Can you really handle the pressure of having to be some kind of savior?”
    “I’m hoping to have some help,” I said through huffing breaths. I wished I could wipe my forearm across my sweaty brow, but because of the mask all I could do was let it drip down my face. I didn’t like the direction the conversation had taken. “What about the other glitchers we’re going to meet at the Foundation? Do you know any of them?”
    “I usually steer clear of glitchers.”
    “Are you always this friendly?” My voice was sharper than I meant it.
    She laughed. “Look, I feel bad for you guys, okay? They put stuff in your brains, and your powers are a freak side effect. I get it, it’s not your fault. But in the end,” she shrugged, “you’re still just another bi-product of what Comm Corp created. The Rez is fighting so that the world can go back to the way it was , before the Community and brain hardware and glitchers ever existed.”
    The path narrowed, and Xona ran ahead of me. I gave up trying to continue the conversation. We were obviously never going to be friends. Instead I thought about what she had said about the future of the Rez. I wanted to be a part of it, to help people, but there was so much responsibility being put on my shoulders. Everyone had these huge expectations of me. I thought about how Xona had said people expected me to be the future of the Rez. And the way Adrien had described that fearless girl in the future …
    I just didn’t understand how I went from being me to being her. Every time someone talked about me being a leader, it sounded like they were talking about someone else. Would I wake up one day and suddenly be that girl, or was I supposed to somehow be actively trying to change myself into her?
    The memory of the little blue lights from Jilia’s brain scan flashed in my mind. I was changing all right. I just wasn’t as certain about what I’d become. I imagined the power multiplying more and more until my body split into a million pieces, little blue lights pouring out of me like water from a broken glass.
    I yelped in surprise when Xona suddenly stopped in front of me and pulled me down beside her against the tree. “Don’t move. Something’s coming,” she whispered. Her cool confidence was gone.
    We hunched down into a space between two fat roots. I heard a distant humming noise that grew louder as it came closer. The noisier it got, the more my heart hammered in my chest. My telek clamored to life under my skin. I squeezed my eyes shut as my forearm began to shake. Not now. If I accidentally let loose right now and was seen, we would all be caught and delivered to the Chancellor. Or killed on the spot.
    The mechanical humming got louder and louder until it was a dull roar.
    It passed directly overhead. Xona and I both tensed, curling ourselves up as small as possible against