Override (Glitch)

held on.
    Adrien flipped the switch so the roof sealed shut again, then swung the steering stick back and forth in a zigzag. We could only see the Reg’s hand, gripping the shredded metal of the hood, but the rest of his body bobbed below, his weight still throwing us off balance. He wasn’t letting go, no matter how much we swerved and twisted.
    “Hold on to something,” Adrien said. I was already nauseated from the movement, but I gripped the armrests.
    Adrien jerked the stick full backward, and we headed straight up into the sky. My head knocked against the back of my helmet at the sudden movement. Then he rammed it back down and sent us in a spiraling freefall. My stomach dropped and I clung to the armrests, trying to contain the terrified scream that rose in my throat at the sight of the rapidly approaching ground. As we spun, the centrifugal force pushed the flap of hood metal outward. The Reg flew out with it away from the body of the duo, but he still held on. His added weight threw us into an even more intense spin.
    After a few more dizzy, chaotic seconds, the piece of hood the Reg gripped so tightly ripped off with a screeching tear, and he was flung off into the air.
    The vehicle rocked heavily as the Reg fell free, and Adrien’s knuckles were white on the steering stick as he attempted to right us. But we still spiraled downward and the ground was so close that I could begin to make out the leaves on trees.
    “Adrien!” I shouted, bracing my hands against the back of his seat.
    He strained with his whole body to pull the stick backward.
    My heart lodged in my throat as I waited for the impact, but finally we pulled up out of the spin, and after another few moments we were flying straight again.
    It was suddenly bizarrely quiet.
    “We made it,” I finally whispered, barely believing it.
    But Adrien shook his head. “We’ve only just begun.”

Chapter 3
    ADRIEN’S BACK WAS RIGID as we flew. The only hint that he was rattled at all was a slight tremble in his hand as he punched through an interface cube that rose as a projection from the duo’s console.
    I looked behind us. The lab was only a square dot now with the outline of city buildings jutting up behind it in the far distance. No one was following us.
    I looked back at Adrien. I could see in the small mirror that his face was taut with focus and his thick hair was matted around his forehead. I’d never really seen him like this. I’d known Adrien as the quiet voice talking to me late at night in my room about beauty and the human soul, not as Adrien the soldier. I’d known vaguely that he used to run missions like this all the time. He’d lived on the run and then joined up with the Rez when he was fourteen. But seeing him in action was something totally different.
    “Are you okay?” I asked.
    He pressed his lips together tighter. He looked almost angry. For a second, I thought he wasn’t going to answer me, but he finally said, “I should have been there earlier. I was so stupid. I should have found a way to get an encoded message out. I could have warned Milton not to come into work today and gotten you out another way. Now he’s gone, and I almost lost you—” He stopped and clenched his jaw like he was physically holding words back. “I should have done things differently.”
    “It’s not your fault, Adrien.” I tried to reach out to touch his shoulder, but my strap held me back.
    “I can see the future,” he said, his voice hard. “Whose fault is it but mine?”
    “Without you that Inspector would have captured me. You saved me.”
    His jaw stayed just as tight. I couldn’t tell if he believed me.
    “We’re not safe yet,” he finally said. “Those Regs will be calling for an armada to find us,” he said. “The duo’s cloaking mechanism isn’t built for long runs, but the beta site’s nearby. I should be able to get us there before it wears off.” His voice dropped. “At least I can do this one thing right.”
    I stared at him a moment longer in the mirror. My eyes traced the line of his cheekbone down to his strong jaw, clenched in frustration. I took a breath, determined to find the right words to comfort him, but nothing came.
    My stomach churned from the speed and sudden drops as we flew on. I squeezed my eyes shut and put a hand on my stomach to try to settle it. I hated the sky. I’d grown up in an underground city in the Community and didn’t think I’d ever get used to the empty expanse