Override (Glitch)

following suit.
    “Hey everyone,” he said, his voice light and easy. “This is Simin.”
    “Hi,” Ginni said, standing up. She grabbed his hand and pumped it. “It’s so lovely to meet you, Simin!”
    The boy pulled his hand away, pointing to the book open on Ginni’s tablet by her plate. “You’re reading that again? Doesn’t it always make you cry?”
    “How did you know that?” Ginni gasped. “Is your power telepathy?”
    Simin sighed. “We’ve met like ten times already.” He looked over at Adrien. “I told you this was a dumb idea.”
    “Nah,” Adrien said, putting a hand on Simin’s back and pushing him lightly into a chair at our table. “The more days in a row they see you, the better chance they’ll have at remembering you.”
    “Remembering him?” I asked.
    “Simin is the glitcher who keeps the Foundation’s location safe. Anyone who meets him immediately forgets that they saw him. Taylor has anyone who visits talk to Simin before they leave, and they forget where they’ve been.”
    “So why can’t I remember him?” Ginni asked. “I haven’t left the Foundation.”
    “It doesn’t just work on people leaving,” the boy said, staring down at the ground uncomfortably. “Everyone forgets me.”
    “Whoa,” Rand said. He stared at the boy, frowning. “You don’t like, live in the dorms with us do ya?”
    “I stay in the security hub,” Simin mumbled. His eyes darted back to Ginni before quickly looking away.
    I remembered going to the security hub once with Adrien, but when I tried to think about anyone else there, the details became indistinct.
    “The hub’s below the Foundation,” Adrien continued. “Simin’s a techer too. He handles all the communications for the Foundation.”
    “So how do you remember him?” I asked. Adrien looked at me, our eyes holding each other’s gaze for a moment before he answered.
    “I wrote it down and put a note on the side of my bed to look at each morning. Figured he could use some company.”
    My heart swelled. Despite everything weighing on his shoulders, Adrien still thought so much about other people.
    “Can I sit here?” Adrien pointed at the empty chair beside me. He leaned over. “I’m sorry for how busy I’ve been lately,” he whispered in my ear. “I’ve been researching with Simin on a task for the General. But I miss you.”
    His breath was warm on my neck and I felt the chills race up my arms. It was the closest we’d come to touching in so long. I felt a rush of relief. I’d been making a big deal out of nothing. He did still want to be with me, he’d just been busy.
    “I missed you too,” I said, and grabbed his hand. The second my skin connected with his I felt a wave of warmth and security wash down my body. I tugged him down and he sat. A shy smile warmed his face. I interwove my fingers with his, my hand a perfect fit.
    But almost the instant he’d settled into his chair, his body went rigid. He stared at the wall beyond me, his eyes vacant. No matter how many times I witnessed one of Adrien’s visions, they were still unsettling.
    “What?” I asked as soon as he shook his head, his eyes refocusing and his face taking on a look of horror.
    “Get down!” he yelled.
    A billowing flame of fire blew outward from the kitchen.
    Everyone except the ex-Regs immediately dove from the explosion, arms over faces. I raised my arms too, but my chair was jammed in too tightly to move. I looked behind me frantically. Adrien had dropped under the table and I thought I heard his voice screaming my name amid all the shouting. A blindingly orange fire had spread over half the cafeteria wall, filling the room with a haze of smoke.
    It was a surreal moment—the ex-Reg Eli just sat against the wall completely still, even though the upper half of his body was in flames. Part of the skin on his face had been burned away, leaving only the metal of his reinforced jaw behind.
    The buzzing in my head eclipsed the chaos. The sprinklers weren’t coming on, I didn’t know why. Tyryn had grabbed a fire extinguisher, but he was no match for the wall of flame. Other Rez fighters ran for the hallways to look for more. Some people from tables near the door escaped through the doorway, but then the blaze moved toward the entrance. We were trapped.
    I finally managed to push my chair back and stand up. The others had climbed out the other side of the table and were stumbling toward the wall farthest away from the blaze. It