Override (Glitch)

simple as that.”
    I felt all the eyes in the room on me.
    “Rose, they’re just children,” the Professor spoke up.
    “They are soldiers,” Taylor said sharply. She took a breath and calmed herself, though it looked like it took some effort.
    “Now as for the rest of you,” she pulled back and gestured to the Professor. His brow was still furrowed, but he came forward and clicked on a projection cube in the center of our table. A squat building rotated in the illuminated space. We all pushed closer as the Professor touched the apex to expand and enlarge the image.
    “We enter here.” Taylor pointed to one side of the floating image and spun it so we had a clear view of the back loading dock.
    “Rand, City, and a detachment of Rez fighters will retrieve the glitchers who are held in locked cells here.” She touched the 3-D image again to show the hallway that split like a T from the dock. She pointed down the hallway that led to the left. The model animated, moving like a camera on a trolley down several long hallways until it opened to a larger circular room at the end.
    “The cell doors are here. Rand can melt through the doors to get to the glitchers.”
    Rand grinned again and rubbed his hands together.
    “The team of Rez fighters will tranq each glitcher as soon as Rand gets a hole opened. The Chancellor won’t be there to use her compulsion power, but there’s always a chance some of them may be working for her voluntarily. That’s where you come in, Filicity.”
    City sat up straighter in her seat while Taylor continued, an excited flicker of blue electric current shooting across her palm.
    “We don’t know what we could be facing, so we want to knock them out before there’s even a chance for them to start using their powers against us. Filicity is the backup in case something goes wrong with the tranqs. Sophia informs me you’ve recently been able to manipulate your electricity to an amperage that will only stun, not kill, is that correct?”
    City nodded. “No problem.”
    “Good. We want, if possible, to take all the glitchers alive. Then we not only deprive the Chancellor of her weapons but gain more for ourselves.”
    I frowned at glitchers being referred to as weapons. Was that really how General Taylor thought of us?
    She clicked the image again so that it zoomed back out. “There is a secondary objective. Adrien, Zoel, and I will head this direction to retrieve an object located on-site.” The camera started again, this time following the hallway leading right and then dropping five stories down an elevator shaft.
    “At the bottom of the elevator, there are three barrier doors that not even our best tech hackers would be able to crack in a timely manner. Zoel, this is your second task. I’ll need you to open them with your power. Disrupting the first door will signal a breech,” Taylor continued, “but the Regs on-site will be deactivated. The response time for an external security team is sixteen minutes. We should have plenty of time to complete the mission and be out before their reinforcements arrive. This mission hinges on it being a quick surgical strike. We hit fast, get what we need, and are out of there in fifteen minutes flat. Understand?”
    We all nodded, our group uncharacteristically silent.
    “The mission has been planned down to the smallest detail, and you will be well prepared. You have your schematics and detailed instructions downloading onto your arm panels as we speak. Memorize them as we prepare. Ginni,” she looked at the frizzy-haired girl, “you are to keep constant watch on the Chancellor’s location. After I feel everyone is ready and able to accomplish their personal mission objectives, we’ll wait until the Chancellor leaves the site again, and then we’ll strike.”
    *   *   *
    All we did was train, eat, and sleep for the next two weeks. As the days passed, my power buzzed to life faster and faster, and the more practiced I became, the further my control seemed to expand. The looks that came my way in the halls and cafeteria now had a hint of respect, or at least were no longer openly hostile. A new energy of anticipation filled the halls.
    “Now find the four ex-Regs,” Jilia instructed.
    I closed my eyes and let the buzzing expand inside me for a moment before sending it outward. I could easily feel out the entire shape of the room, but I pushed beyond it, farther and farther until the entire Foundation was a vibrating