Override (Glitch)

everything he’d said about it not being safe to share his visions—
    “Nah, Taylor gave it away,” Rand said. “City was giving Taylor attitude about bringing the girl back, and Taylor’s all like,” Rand stiffened his back, imitating the General, “‘retrieving the girl was one of the mission objectives.’ City figured it out later.”
    “Is that true?” I turned to Adrien. I knew he’d told some of his visions to Taylor, but I’d assumed that after the wounded Rez fighters had been brought back he’d stopped sharing them.
    He shrugged, looking uncomfortable. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
    “So where is she now, anyway?” Rand asked casually. “I got a look at her in the Med Center when I was passing by, and she’s kinda cute.”
    “Really?” City asked, her fists clenched. “You have to hit on every girl in the building, even our enemies?”
    Rand grinned rudely at her.
    Ginni piped up. “First of all, she has a name. Saminsa. She’s been staying in the Med Center. Doc kept her sedated so she wouldn’t attack again, and they’re explaining to her how the Chancellor’s evil and we’re the good guys.”
    “And that worked?” I asked skeptically.
    “It did once Doc convinced her that the only way the building could have blown like that was if it had been wired from the inside. The Chancellor was willing to blow up her own people just to get Zoe.”
    “Me?”
    “Yeah,” Ginni said. “The Chancellor told all of them to click their transmitter once someone saw you. They didn’t know, but it set off the device for the bombs.”
    “That’s horrible,” I whispered. “The Chancellor had the girl bring the place down on top of herself. All because she was so desperate to kill me.” I pushed my bowl away, afraid I was gonna be sick. I suddenly felt I deserved all those accusing glares. I was a walking target, endangering everyone around me.
    “Yeah,” Ginni said. “When Saminsa figured all that out, she stopped talking. Hasn’t said a word since. But she hasn’t tried to kill anyone, so that’s a good sign.”
    City leaned forward. “A good sign? You didn’t see what she did. When she made the first orb, it cut Rez fighters in half like they were made of butter.”
    I shuddered. I’d seen bodies on the floor, but I hadn’t looked too closely. If Eli and I had gotten any closer before Tyryn took her down, we would’ve been killed too.
    “It wasn’t her fault,” I said. I seemed to be saying it a lot lately. But it was still true. All of us were pawns in this game.
    “The Chancellor wasn’t around,” City said. “The girl wasn’t under any compulsion. She attacked us all on her own. And she could be biding her time before she does it again.”
    “The Chancellor took her from the Community, from her home, and filled her head with lies,” I said. “As far as Saminsa knew, we were the enemy. Any one of us would have done the same thing in her position.”
    Ginni seemed to understand. She rested her hand on top of mine. “I heard your friend was in the building when it went down. I’m sorry, that must have been hard.”
    I swallowed. I wasn’t ready to talk about Max yet, but I attempted a smile to show her I appreciated her concern.
    “Just keep the girl away from me is all I’m saying,” City said.
    “She can room with us,” Xona said. “Anyone you’re that scared of I’m bound to like.”
    “I’m not scared of her.” City exploded off her chair.
    “Sure sounds like it.”
    City’s face turned red with anger. “Says the plebe who wasn’t even allowed to go on the mission.”
    Xona shot up out of her chair too. Ginni put a hand on her arm to calm her. Xona shrugged it off and glared at City for another moment. But then she sat down without another word. I was surprised. In the past, she wouldn’t have backed down until a punch was thrown. Then again, I’d noticed Xona’s attitude had improved a lot lately. I’d been afraid she would be angry or mistrustful of me again after that ridiculous test Sophia had set up, but Xona had just taken it in stride.
    “What about the other glitchers? The ones we rescued?” I asked, trying to redirect the conversation.
    “A girl and two boys,” Ginni said. “The girl’s a human lie detector. Awesome, right? And the boys are twins. They’re telepathic, but only with each other.”
    “None of them are very useful to us,” City said. “We need glitchers with offensive talents. The General wasn’t