Shutdown (Glitch)

“What do you want?”
    “Can we talk more privately?” He nodded toward Xona and Ginni.
    I glared at him in response. “Anything you have to say to me you can say in front of them.”
    “Please, Zoe. Just a few minutes. That’s all I’m asking for.”
    “Fine,” I said, if only to hurry it up. I turned to Ginni and Xona. “I’ll be fine. If he tries anything, I’ll rip his arms off.”
    They backed away, but not before Xona gave Max a death glare and said, “We’ll be close by if you need us.”
    “So,” Max said after they backed away. “How are you feeling? I overheard at dinner everything you went through and—”
    “Cut the small talk,” I said impatiently. “What is it you want?”
    He was quiet a second, then looked at me, his brown eyes earnest. “I want to say that I’m sorry. I’m so sorry for how I treated you when we were back in the Community and I’m sorry for all the lies.” He looked down, his forehead scrunched up like what he was saying pained him. “I’m sorry for ever working with the Chancellor, and most of all,” he looked back up at me, “I’m sorry for what I did to Adrien and then lying to you in the worst possible way by impersonating him.”
    “And,” I said coldly. “Your point?”
    He took a deep breath. “What I really want is to know if you can ever forgive me.”
    “No, I can’t,” I said curtly, then started to turn away. He put out a hand to stop me, but I froze it midreach with my telek.
    “Can’t I have a second chance?” he asked, his voice impassioned. “Doesn’t everyone deserve that?”
    I spun on him, my calm demeanor finally cracking. “You had a second chance. Ten times over! You could have come with us instead of staying with the Chancellor when we first escaped the Community. Then during the raid when the Chancellor told you to switch with Adrien, you could have chosen not to. She wasn’t there to compel you. I would have welcomed you to the Foundation with open arms. You chose to do what you did that day. And then after you’d switched with him, you could have told us what you’d done so that we could have saved him before the Chancellor took a hacksaw to his brain!”
    He winced and stepped backwards a couple steps. Only then did I realize that I was shouting. I didn’t care. “But no, you never would have told me the truth if I hadn’t caught you. So don’t talk to me about second chances. At a certain point,” I shook my head in disgust, “it’s just too late. You deserve to pay for all that you did. And yet here you are, safe and sound, while people far better than you were captured or killed.” I shook my head and grimaced. “Looking at you makes me sick.”
    “But I’ve changed!” he pleaded. “I’m trying to be a better man. I’m trying to make up for the things I’ve done. Doesn’t that count for something?”
    “Not enough.” I overenunciated every syllable. “Never enough.” The words echoed around the silent room. Looking around, I saw that everyone had stopped what they were doing to stare at us. Well, almost everyone. Adrien was walking in our direction.
    Max didn’t notice him. His face was red and his hands were balled into fists at his sides. “So you won’t even give me a chance?”
    “No.”
    “I shouldn’t have come here.” His voice was low as he narrowed his eyes at me. “You’ll never believe me, no matter how hard I try to prove it to you. I don’t know why I even bothered.”
    Before I could respond, Adrien reached us and slugged Max hard in the face. Even though Max probably had fifty pounds on Adrien, he was knocked off his feet and landed hard on the concrete floor. When Max looked back up at us, blood ran from his nose. Adrien shook out his hand. “I’ve wanted to do that for a long time.”
    Before I could do anything other than stare in shock at him, Adrien yelped suddenly, as if in pain. He clutched his head and dropped to the floor. His body quaked with an uncontrollable shaking. All the conflict with Max was forgotten as I dropped down and tried to brace Adrien’s head as best I could so he didn’t slam it into the concrete.
    “What’s happening?” Ginni asked, her voice high-pitched with worry. The others crowded nearer.
    “It’s a vision,” I said. “Everyone stay back and give him some room. He’ll be fine in a couple minutes.”
    His body finally stilled and I helped him sit up. He ran a quivering hand through his hair as he blinked and tried to