Override (Glitch)

their security systems, but then Simin came up with a different theory. What if Daavd’s power was something similar to what the Chancellor can do?”
    I shook my head. I might not remember him, but Daavd was my brother. There was no way he could be anything like the Chancellor.
    But Adrien persisted. “Think about it, Zoe, why didn’t you turn your brother in much sooner than you did when he escaped with you as a child? Your first instinct under V-chip control would have been to report him to the Regulators, but you went along with him quietly. What if he could compel you to do what he wanted?”
    “But then why didn’t it work?”
    “Well,” Adrien’s voice had turned softer. He knew how much guilt I still felt about it all. “Maybe he had trouble with his Gift like you do, and it didn’t always work right. Just an instant of his losing control over you would have been enough time for you to call out to the Regulators and get him killed.”
    “But the Chancellor has the same power.” A horrible thought struck me. “Are you saying that we’re somehow related to her?”
    “No, no,” Adrien waved a hand. “Not at all. We just think that Daavd’s power is similar to hers and that the small dose of your early exposure to his power is why you can resist her now. There’s something unique about your body chemistry. It seems to work like your allergies do.”
    Adrien turned to Simin. “You want to explain this part? You’re the one who made the connection.”
    Adrien pushed his chair back a little so I could see across him to where Simin sat.
    “So we know your extreme allergic reaction to Surface allergens is due to your earlier exposure as a child,” Simin said. He clicked through his console while he talked and didn’t look up at me. He sounded bored, or maybe he just wasn’t comfortable being around other people. “Your body created antibodies against a specific allergen the first time you were exposed, so the next time you encountered it, your mast cells went crazy, releasing histamines to protect against what they registered as a dangerous substance. This sent you into anaphylactic shock.”
    I shuddered. He recounted it so scientifically, but I remembered the horror only too well. Gasping for air, my throat swelling shut.
    “But what does that have to do with why the Chancellor’s power doesn’t work on me?”
    “Histamine-releasing neurons are also found in the brain,” Simin continued. “Neural interaction between the hypothalamus and amygdala are at the heart of what makes glitcher powers possible. If your unique immunological response triggered a similar release of histamines in the hypothalmus due to childhood exposure to glitcher compulsion, you could have built up protection against that particular kind of power.”
    I blinked rapidly, trying to follow his complex explanation.
    “But instead of making you sick like your allergies do, your mind is protecting you from a real threat.” He finally looked up at me. “It’s not a perfect correlation, but you could think of it like an immunization. An early dosage built up an immunity to the disease. It was only possible through the combination of your unique body chemistry and your chance exposure as a child.”
    “It explains why you’re the only person her compulsion doesn’t work on, but why every other glitcher power still affects you,” Adrien said.
    I looked between the two boys uncertainly.
    “Zoe,” he took my hand. “I know this doesn’t make up for what happened. Nothing can change that. But your brother’s death could be the reason we’re alive. Because of him, you’re the one person with the ability to fight the Chancellor. You save lives. You can save all of us. Because of him.”
    I couldn’t breathe. I pulled my hand away from his. “If I had the choice, I’d rather have Daavd back.”
    “But you weren’t given a choice,” he said, his voice gentle. “And I’m so, so sorry about that.”
    Tears welled up and my whole upper body began to quiver. Xona had said her mom believed that good things can come from the bad, that things always work out for a reason. But it seemed so wrong to be glad that my brother had died as part of some twisted web of fate so that I could fight against the Chancellor. Adrien had obviously meant it as a comforting thought, but I didn’t want to believe the world worked like that. And still, any way I looked at it, Daavd died because of me. A high-pitched buzzing sounded