Shutdown (Glitch)

pod’s emergency lights when I took the top off.
    In spite of my resolve to stay calm, panic bubbled up in my chest at the darkness. I hastily touched the panel on my arm for light, but it was paltry and only illuminated a small sphere around me. At least Adrien looked a little more alert. I set him down on his feet and he managed to stand on his own, but he still had to lean against the tunnel wall. It was clear that we’d never be able to outrun the Regs.
    We were trapped in the dark underneath a mountain, with murderous machine men headed straight toward us. And I had absolutely no idea what to do next.
    I tried not to think of the Regs coming down the tunnel behind us. I tried not to think about the fact that, back in the compound behind us, Adrien’s mother was probably dead. Too many things not to think about, and that wasn’t including the collapsed tunnel in front of us. My body started to tremble.
    Stop . Focus. I squeezed my eyes shut for one long second and took several deep breaths. First one thing and then another.
    I needed to clear the tunnel. With my eyes still closed, I lifted an arm to move the largest chunks of rock and steel to the sides of the tunnel. The rocks scraped against each other as I moved them and the steel beams screeched.
    I could already feel the rest of the mountain threatening to crash in from the weak spot above. Dirt sifted down, so I held up my other arm and kept the rest of the rock back. Sweat began to bead on my forehead. Splitting my focus on two objects was one thing, but holding this much mass back while also keeping my mast cells in check was far more taxing.
    I looked at the small hole I’d made and realized there was no way I’d be able to get the pod through. Even if I cleared enough of the fallen rock out of the way, the walls were too close. Wherever I moved the pieces of rock, they’d only cause another obstruction.
    Adrien finally spoke up. “We should fly out of the mountain.”
    “We can’t.” I knew it wasn’t his fault, but I couldn’t help how sharply my words came out. “The tunnel’s too tight. The pod isn’t flying anywhere. And we’re still at least fifteen miles from the Surface.”
    He just stared straight at me, his translucent gray eyes uncanny in the dim light. “We should fly out.”
    “I can’t fly!” I said. He was obviously still not able to think straight.
    “Why not?” he asked. “You just made me fly out of the pod.”
    I was about to respond back that he was being ludicrous, that of course I hadn’t made him fly. I was simply using my telek to make him occupy another space where gravity didn’t matter and—
    Oh.
    Right. Wow. I blinked in surprise.
    I’d only ever lifted other objects. I’d never really thought about lifting myself. A distant repetitive thunk ing noise echoed down the long tunnel behind us. It must be the Regs. They were gaining on us.
    I raised Adrien up behind me and tugged him forward on an invisible leash. He floated along until we were well past the rubble. I released my hold on the ceiling, and more rock crumbled in and sealed off the tunnel behind us. It wouldn’t keep the Regs back for long, but it might help.
    “Now,” Adrien said. “Fly.”
    The absurdity of what he was asking struck me all over again. I couldn’t fly . But I also realized I didn’t have any choice except to try. I’d never be able to outrun the Regs on foot.
    I closed my eyes and let the telek buzz in my ears until it was a steady drone, then I pulled out of myself and felt the shape of my own body in the tunnel. It was such a small thing to lift myself off the ground. Easy, even.
    What I hadn’t expected was the disorientation. I tried to steady myself with my feet, but there was nothing but air. I lost focus and plummeted back the two feet to the ground, landing unceremoniously on my backside.
    Adrien laughed, then stopped, looking as surprised at the sound as I felt. I stared a moment longer than I should have. Had I imagined the sound of his laugh? It had sounded so normal, so Adrien . Which was doubly absurd considering our position.
    I closed my eyes again and lifted my body off the ground. I tried to focus only on the projection cube in my mind. Tried to ignore the rest of my senses that were screaming Oh-shunting-hell-I’m-not-touching-the-ground!
    I took Adrien’s hand, as if holding on to another floating object would make the fact that I was floating seem less bizarre. It didn’t.
    “We should