Shutdown (Glitch)

because I knew she was right.
    “I say we vote about going back for the others or not,” Rand finally spoke up. “It’s the only way that’s fair.”
    “Fine.” Henk let out a frustrated blast of air. “Raise your hand if you want to set up a mission to rescue the others.”
    About half the group raised their hands, myself included. Cole frowned deeply, looking back and forth between Henk and Xona, but kept his hand down.
    “And those who want to stay safe and not do anything foolish?” City asked. She raised her hand. Adrien, Xona, Rand, Simin, and Cole joined her, along with four of the Rez fighters. They outnumbered us by a single vote.
    City let out a small whoop. “There you go. Nine to eight. No mission.”
    Henk shot to his feet. “This is ridiculous. It’s not a democracy. I’ve got the jet and I’ll go by myself if I have to.”
    “You can’t take the jet and strand us here like that,” Xona said, her voice hard. “You’d be sentencing us to death without a way to travel for more supplies.”
    “I’ve had enough of all of you.” Henk’s face was red. “These are the people we love . You do anything to save the ones you love. End of story. Instead, you’re all letting fear turn you back into machines who can’t feel a shuntin’ thing!”
    Cole winced at his words.
    “That’s enough, Henk,” Xona said.
    Henk stared at her hard, then threw his hands up in frustration and strode out of the room, banging his fist angrily against the doorjamb as he left.
    It was deadly quiet in the room. Some stared angrily at one another. Others kept their eyes trained on the ground. People slowly shuffled to their feet. Those who’d eaten already put their dishes in the sink. Cole silently moved to start washing them. Others climbed back up into their bunks.
    I was left alone staring in numb shock at everything that had just happened. I went back to the line for stew even though I wasn’t particularly hungry. My mind kept whirring to the image of the Chancellor’s smug face as she accepted the role as Chancellor Supreme. Replacing one corrupt, tyrannical system with another. One that was worse. I imagined the infants and children she’d probably already ordered to the upgrade centers. Children who’d never laugh or play or have the opportunity to feel any of the wondrous emotions I’d discovered over the past two years.
    The Chancellor had always wanted power and so she’d taken it. More and more until she was the single most powerful person in the entire country. But that hadn’t been enough. She wanted absolute, unchecked power. Would glitchers even still develop if she put the adult V-chip in children? Or was that part of the point? She didn’t want anyone more powerful than herself to ever be able to challenge her. She’d condemn them all to a life of unending slavery just to secure her own position.
    And would that satisfy her, or was she already scheming about ways to take over the other global Sectors as well? Would the Rez in the other seven Sectors fall as quickly as we had here? If they did, she’d rule the whole world. I shuddered. The breadth and depth of her evil made a cold chill settle on my chest. Adrien used to help me stay determinately hopeful, but it seemed more and more that hope was nowhere to be found.
    I finally reached the front of the line and ladled some stew into my bowl, but didn’t bother adding any salt. Tasteless was just fine with me right now.
    Where did this leave the few of us outcasts who were left? We had powers, but we were powerless. We had no armies to command and no government officials to wield as puppets. The more I thought about it, the more I wondered about what Xona had said—that we should just live .
    It was what Adrien had said back when we were in the wilderness, and it struck me as just as wrong now. Or maybe the truth was, I simply had no idea how to do that. Just live. I didn’t know how people, free people, were supposed to live. There had been some kind of normal for humankind back when it was free hundreds of years ago. Then there had been the normal of drone existence. Normal for me had been all about my life with Adrien and fighting so that we could have a real future together. I’d always wanted to free the drones too, but at my core, it had been a very personal mission. I was fighting so that I and the ones I loved could live free.
    And now?
    Ginni tried to wave me over to sit with her, but I shook my head and went over to