Shutdown (Glitch) (26 page)

If the Chancellor had her way, there’d be no one left to free and humanity’s enslavement would be complete. I’d known the Chancellor lusted for power, but naively, I hadn’t ever believed she was absolutely
evil
until now.

“Well, that answers that question.” City broke the silence, taking a step back from the table. “No way we’re gonna try and infiltrate to get the others if she’s the Chancellor Supreme.”

I looked at her in disbelief. Really?
That
was what she’d taken away from seeing the video? “What about the drones? What are we going to do about them? We can’t let the Chancellor get away with this!”

City stared at me as if I was the one who was making no sense. “And what exactly do you think we can do about it? Nothing. It’s time we accepted the fact that we’re defeated and hide out somewhere we can be safe.”

Henk stiffened. “The vid doesn’t change anything. We’re going back for the others.”

“It changes everything!” City said. “Ginni said they’re all in the same building as the Chancellor most of the time. We can’t even imagine the kind of security detail she has surrounding her now that she’s Chancellor Supreme. There’s no way we’d be able to sneak in unnoticed.”

“But we have to try,” Juan said, putting down his bowl on the ground with a loud clank.

“I agree,” Henk said. “It’s Jilia.” He looked around at the others. “You know she wouldn’t hesitate to sacrifice herself if it meant a chance to get one of you lot back.”

“Exactly,” City said. “She wouldn’t hesitate to sacrifice herself. You think she’d want you, us, anyone, going in after her and risking their life?”

“It’s not just Jilia,” Juan said. “It’s Molla and the baby—”

“Would you stop mooning over her already? It’s not even your baby. And she’s in love with the traitor.”

“City!” Ginni said, looking at the other girl sharply. “Don’t say that. Juan was there for Molla. He was her friend.”

“She was my friend too,” City cut in. “But you have to leave people behind. It’s what happens. Tell her, Xona.”

I expected Xona to object and throw it back in City’s face. But to my surprise, Xona just looked at the ground. “City’s right,” she said quietly. “I had to leave plenty of friends behind over the years. That’s the life of living on the run. And the only way the Rez survived this long is because people have known when to duck and hide.”

Ginni’s mouth dropped open. “You can’t believe that! Tyryn was captured too. Don’t you love your brother at all?”

A vein pulsed in Xona’s forehead. “Don’t you say a shunting thing about my brother.”

I was shocked at how all the camaraderie I’d just been watching had suddenly turned in on itself. I’d assumed it was a given that we’d go back and try to rescue the others.

And how was no one else even mentioning what the Chancellor had announced about the V-chip? I opened my mouth to bring it up again but then closed it. I supposed City was right in a way, we did have more immediate problems than worrying about the drones, but still. The Chancellor had to be stopped.

My mind flipped to the vision Adrien had yesterday. Was this the catalyst for what he’d seen? Because there was no way I could ignore what the Chancellor was doing and go live my life in peace somewhere. There would be no peace for me until she was dead and I’d rescued my brother. My chest cinched up even thinking about Markan. Had she done the procedure on him already, implanted the last deadening V-chip? I thought I’d have a few more years to get him back before the final chip was installed. Or would she keep him un-chipped if he was a glitcher with a useful enough Gift?

Meanwhile, the discussion raged on around me.

“The Rez has survived because we didn’t leave our own behind,” Henk glared at City.

“That’s not true,” City scoffed. “Look at what happened to Taylor when they went for Adrien. You try to rescue even just one person and the rescuers get killed instead. Whole Rez teams have been killed that way. And then what’s the point of it all? Who’s going to fight the next battle if we’re all dead? You’ve said yourself that we’re the only ones left, Henk. That means they win.”

“So, what?” I interjected. “We just sit here and do nothing?”

“It’s called living.” Xona crossed her arms. “It’s what the Rez has done for hundreds of years. Hiding out and staying alive.” I thought about the promise she’d made to her brother as she went on. “We steal the supplies we need and stay on the move. There’s gotta be some cells that haven’t been cracked yet.”

“None that I could find,” Simin said.

“Yet,” City corrected. “None that you could find
yet
. And it makes sense. Any operatives who’ve managed to escape the Chancellor aren’t going to be broadcasting it. It’s protocol to go communications-dark when the situation gets hot.”

“Yes, but there are other protocols to set beacons to let others know you’re still alive,” Simin said. “I pinged the beacon for the Rez in Sector Six, and none have been activated.”

“Then we go to other countries,” City said. “If everyone in the Rez in this Sector has been cracked because of the Chancellor, then we get as far as we can away from her. The other side of the globe if we have to. There are other groups we can find.” She looked at Simin. “Have you tried contacting the Rez in other Sectors?”

He shook his head. “Not yet.”

“There,” City said, nodding her head. “Then that’s what we’ll do.”

“That’s
not
what we’ll do,” Henk said, slamming his hand hard on the table. “You’re all just kids. You don’t know—”

“Don’t you dare patronize us.” City’s voice rose an octave. “We all heard Jilia talk about you. How you’re irresponsible and don’t think before you do things. You’d get us all killed if you were in charge.”

“Did you forget whose bunker we’re all sittin’ in?” He gestured around him. “And whose jet is sitting outside?”

“Zoe was a Colonel,” Ginni said. “She’s the highest-ranking person we have left. She should be in charge.”

“Because that turned out
so
well back at the Foundation,” City said sarcastically. “Did you forget about the earthquake she caused that led them straight to us?”

My face burned both in anger at what she’d said and shame 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 the corner where my med container was. I sat down with my back against it. I ate several spoonfuls of stew, barely noticing that it burned my mouth it was so hot.

I finally put down the bowl and looked across the room at Adrien, who sat eating on his cot, still reading from his tablet. He hadn’t spoken to me all day. I moved my hand from my bowl to massage my aching chest. It hurt so much it felt like my heart was literally breaking. Because I loved him, both who he had been and who he was now. I loved all of him, and always would. But my love for him was only an incomplete half of a whole. He didn’t love me back, and that meant the jagged gash that had been punched through my heart would bleed forever.

It didn’t matter, I tried to tell myself. After our time in the wilderness, I believed more than ever that Adrien was going to be okay. Maybe if there was any hope at all, it was in that. He could live a full life now. A life without me.

The vote had sounded like a firm answer. Like it was settled. But seeing Henk stomp out of the room like that, I knew it wasn’t. And City had been right too. I wasn’t fit to lead, not when I’d always been such a danger to everyone around me. If I accidently caused another earthquake once my telek energy replenished fully, I could lead the Chancellor right to them all over again. I wouldn’t let that happen. It was the same realization I’d had after the first quake. I’d ignored it or been too tired to think about anything other than getting to safety the past couple weeks. But the danger of my presence still remained. There was only one thing to do.

It would be my last gift to the ones that I loved.

I would leave them.

Chapter 22

EARLY THE NEXT AFTERNOON,
I sat down beside Henk on his bottom bunk as he sipped a large cup of coffee. “I need to talk to you.”

He winced at my words and put a hand to his forehead. “A little softer, love. My head’s pounding.”

I leaned in, worried. He’d slept in till almost noon, then had barely spoken a word to anyone while he warmed up his coffee.

“What’s wrong with you?” I asked. He looked more ragged than usual. The circles under his eyes were dark and the scruff on his cheeks heavier.

Henk ran a hand over his face. “It’s nothin’ that won’t heal with a few cups of coffee.”

He seemed to sense that I still wasn’t catching his meaning. He sighed. “I got piss-faced drunk last night after the vote. I keep a stash of gin on the transport.”

So that was where he’d disappeared to after he’d stalked out last night. A few people had whispered at breakfast about him stumbling in right before sunrise.

“Well, no more of that,” I said, my voice severe. “I need you alert. I wanted to leave tonight, but not if you’re in this condition.”

“Leave where?” he asked. Several people around us looked our way and I shushed him.

“It’s not safe for everyone if I stay here.” I kept my voice low.

He looked like he was about to object, but I silenced him with a look. Slowly, he nodded. “Guess that might be true.”

“So I need you to drop me somewhere. And Henk,” I put a hand gently on his forearm, “I’ll do what I can to free Jilia and the others.”

His head shot up in surprise, his eyes wide. “You will?”

I nodded. “The Chancellor has my brother too.” Then I looked around furtively. “But don’t tell anyone. I don’t want anyone to know until I’m gone.”

He stared at me, frowning, but then finally nodded his head.

“Lunch is ready!” Rand’s voice boomed throughout the room and Henk winced again.