Glitch (12 page)

He slid beneath the larger creature and struck upward with foot-long blades that appeared out of his forearms. Simone’s entity roared, but Yancey heard her daughter’s voice echo her entity’s pain.

“Enough!” Yancey’s body was weak, but she would summon if she had to and pay for it later.

Both Alters and their bound entities stepped back.

She looked at Simone. “In the corner, your steps in reverse, until you’ve purged.” To Nisson, she said, “I’m a Consortium Psy-sorceress, buddy, and that’s my daughter. I’ll put you down if you don’t back up. Try me.”

Nisson raised his hands, now no longer sporting magical blades, and backed up. “I think I’ll go find some trees to knock down. I need some time before I’m right.”

Coach Buzz waved at him. “Take the back door. Stay on the ridge; stay in the woods. Don’t let anyone see you.”

“I understand.”

Nisson bowed once. Hutto waved. Tarean looked away in disgust.

“I want you to train them, not hurt them,” Yancey said.

Nisson laughed in a beastly baritone. “Hutto, young brother, tell her how it is.” He kicked open the back door, which almost snapped off its hinges.

“Glad-fighting is about embracing pain, Agent Wellborn,” Hutto said. He looked at Simone, whose entity snarled. “Is she going to be okay?”

“Yes.”

“Why did you stop it, then?” Hutto puffed his chest out, as if he were about to dispense some wisdom his father would be proud to hear him say. “If you enter the arena, you have to be prepared to suffer. It’s the honorable way.”

Tarean nodded. “Yes, it is.”

Coach Buzz walked over. “Welcome to the world of open glad-fighting. It’s a madhouse.”

“You fit right in,” Hutto said.

Everyone chuckled, and even Yancey smiled.

She saw a message in her HUD.

It was from Agent Nable:
We need to talk.

* * *

“Hello, Ms. Newkirk,” Simone heard her mother say. Simone sat near Kimberlee, who lay snug under the covers in her dorm room, surfing the net, when her mother’s image popped up in a video chat. “No, it’s not too late, and, yes, they want us to do a test run next week.”

“Test run?” Simone asked, coming around so she could see the screen. “What do you mean, test run?” Her mother had taken the bandages off her head. Her shorn hair was growing back, at least. Even in the chat window, she still looked emaciated and sickly, though. “You look like a super model, Mom.”

“Hey, at least I can put on lipstick.”

Kimberlee laughed.

Simone shot her a dirty look. “It’s too soon. I’m not ready. I know that. Everyone knows that.”

“Not up to me. Simone, you have to understand—”

“I know you don’t want me doing this.”

“I don’t.”

“Dad doesn’t seem to mind.”

“No, dear, he does mind, but he also knows you’re involved because you’re his daughter. He always believed the most effective defense is a devastating offense. So, he thinks this’ll be for the best.”

“What a genius.”

“Don’t disrespect your father. Besides, what’re you two doing up? It’s a school night.”

“Just hanging out with Simone,” Kimberlee said. “I can’t sleep.”

“Seen too many monsters?”

“Yeah,” Kimberlee replied, and glanced at Simone.

“Please,” Simone said. “Don’t look at me like that.”

“Sorry.”

Her mother told them not to worry, but Simone couldn’t stop worrying. They wanted her to be a glad-fighter. “I want you to prepare yourself, Simone. Your brother’s coming back.”

“So soon?”

“He’s not … himself. But he wants to be involved.”

“He won’t be happy about this, will he?” She’d had a feeling Rigon would leave the Rejuv Facility when he found out what the Consortium was doing with them. But he’d only been in for a few weeks; his body was barely functional.

“Not at all, dear. You know you’re brother.”

“He’s afraid of the entities as much as the Rogues.”

“Yep.”

“Okay, Mom, goodnight.”

Her mother said her goodbyes, and Simone let Kimberlee shut off the device.

“Is it tough not having a body?” Kimberlee hefted the tablet. “I mean, you can’t even turn one of these on. Right?”

“I can. Sure. How else do I do my homework?” She raised a finger and pointed it at the overhead light in the ceiling. It flickered. “I’m a Digi-Ghost. I can sense the electrical and cyber-systems here like you sense the wind. I can even manipulate them, a little. I’m getting more and more used to it now. I don’t even pay attention.”

Kimberlee tossed the tablet on the bed. “Are you excited about your brother coming back?”

“He’s only been in for a month or so, but yeah.”

“It’s only been that long?”

Both of them paused as they remembered the night the Rogue incursion began at Sterling. Everyone had thought Simone had been killed; afterward she’d floated down the hall of the Compsys room, freaked out Hutto, and given everyone a shock. Her brother had sacrificed himself in the school’s defense.

“How did it feel,” Simone asked to change the subject, “binding your entity?”

Kimberlee almost retreated to that place she always went when someone mentioned her problem. Her bottom lip actually quivered, as if she were quelling a panicky desire to run like hell and hide under a rock.
 

“It felt good,” Kimberlee said. “I was able to relax and just ...”

“Be?”

“Without worrying about losing control. Your mother said I was
beautiful
. She said I could do great things, with a little help. She also told me the Consortium will have a special role for me, and, listen to this, that I’ll like it.” Kimberlee pulled the sheets up to her chin. She peeked out, as if she were hiding. “But why am I one of those and you’re ... whatever you are?”

“I haven’t figured that out yet, but my parents are starting to open up.” Simone floated to the end of her bed, crossed her legs, and settled down well enough it looked like she was actually sitting there. “I do know that things are changing. The Consortium will be offering what they’re calling ‘legal upgrade packages to Transhumans.’ They’ll start off slow and steady. None of the powerful stuff yet. But enough to see how Alters react.”

“To become like us?”

“Like what Nisson got, but regulated, and way less powerful. If we do well, and can push back against the wacked Rogues, they’ll allow more of it for the public.”

Kimberlee glanced at Simone’s neckline. The initials
SWML
were just barely hidden. “That sucks.”

“What?”

“Having a Rogue after you.”

“They have to come at me—because I’m a Wellborn—through other means than how they got Joss.”

“He’s better now, I guess.”

“He looks better. I just hope he is better. My mom said that when the Rogues infect someone, it’s never a simple process to make them whole. None of that really matters. What matters is that they want something called the Protocols, and they want to use the glad arena to get them.”

“Beasley’s not taking this well,” Kimberlee said.

“She’ll get used to it. Wally has.”

“He’ll do anything if it helps him learn how to control those robots,” Kimberlee said.

“Wally’s doing his part. What has Joss said about all this?”

“He thinks this is awesome.”

“Of course he does.” Simone levitated off the bed, twirling translucent blue ribbons of digital energy through the air. “He’ll have to be careful because Interfacers like him who also summon or channel can get in trouble. The Rogues can mess them up. Like what already happened to him.”

Kimberlee’s tablet beeped.

“Hey, it’s Joss,” they both heard him say. “Wake up.”

Kimberlee triggered it. “Were your ears burning?”

Simone couldn’t see him but the glow from the tablet lit up Kimberlee’s smiling face. She couldn’t tell if Kimberlee had a bigger crush on Joss or Hutto because Kimberlee giggled enough around both of them and shot faux evil looks to either with equal regard.

“I got news,” Joss said.

“So do we,” Kimberlee replied.

“My brother’s coming back,” Simone said.

“Shit!” she heard Joss say. “Hey, Simone. I didn’t know you were there. Your brother hates me.”

“He doesn’t. You’re just someone who got branded—”

“So did you. At least my brands are gone.”

“Lucky you.” She moved closer, as if talking to the back of the tablet were normal. “He’s had a change of heart.”

“He’s a Consort cycop. I’m lucky if he doesn’t shoot me when I’m not looking.”

Kimberlee cast Simone a
zip-it
look. “What did you hear, Joss?”

“Chatter in Cyberspace is that the Consortium will be sending a fight crew to a local unsanctioned event for a few matches.”

“A few matches?” Simone asked.

“The news is out there already?” Kimberlee asked.

“The fights will happen soon.”

“That’s us,” Simone said. “That’s what my mom was talking about.”

“I thought you should know,” he said. “Maybe you can practice with your whips or whatever.”

Simone laughed. “Like an invisible cowgirl.” She floated off the bed toward the middle of the room. “See you tomorrow.”

* * *

Before Kimberlee could persuade her to stay, Simone pushed through the ceiling and out of the building as if she emerged from a pool of water. She balanced in the cool, night air to right herself. She dimmed herself to the point of near invisibility. Above the dorms, she willed herself across the court yard to the boys’ wing and found herself dropping through the roof ... right above Hutto Toth’s third floor dorm room.

She was being presumptuous, and a bit naughty, she’d have to admit, as she settled inside his closed closet. She smelled the distinct odor of dirty sweat pants, rolled up towels, and—of all things—bubble gum.

Disgusting
.

She moved closer to his closet door. She didn’t want to just jump out and disturb him. She wanted to respect his privacy ...

“Hutto.”

She heard him jump out of bed and land on the floor with a grunt. “Fuck!” She heard him fumble for the light. “Fuck, fuck, fuck!” The slit under the door lit up. “Simone! Is that you?”

“Can I come out?”

“You’re in my closet?”

“It stinks in here.”

The closet door yanked open, and Hutto stood there in his underwear, no shirt, and his hair akimbo. He squinted. He looked half asleep still. She tried not to stare at his perfectly sculpted muscles and his flawless skin.

“Hey.”

“What the crap, Simone?” He stepped away, as if she might jump out at him.

“I just wanted to chat,” she said, emerging out of the stink. “And you need to wash your clothes.”

He smiled. “You can’t knock, I guess.”

“No.”

He sat on his bed. “I was about to fall asleep. I guess you heard: big day coming up.”

“Joss call you?”

He smiled again, and she forgot she was a ghost, and thought she might flirt and secure that boyfriend she thought he’d be. Ever since her last boyfriend she’d been free, but she hadn’t had much time to think about boys, even though she did think about Hutto and what they’d done by the swing set, even though he never brought it up, not once, and she wished he would …

Hutto began talking about how crazy it was they were going to fight in an unsanctioned match and that he was confident he could control his entity. She couldn’t pay much attention, not with him standing there in his underwear.

“Your mom is amazing. She’s really helping us.” He stopped. “Are you listening to me?”

“Uh … your brother … he’s … interesting.”

“He’s from another planet.”

“Intense guy.”

“Sorry if he hurt you.”

“Not bad. I recover fast. My entity’s pride was hurt, though. It’s not used to me being a ghost. Gravity issues and all that.”

“That’s a plus you heal so fast.”

She floated to his desk where he kept some cologne, a comb, paper money, his tablet. She ran a finger over them, as if she might pick an item up. “I didn’t mean to disturb you. You can go back to sleep.”

“You’re a peach.” He crawled into bed, as if the act meant she’d disappear.

“Why did you pick the other one?” she asked.

Hutto paused as he pulled the covers up.

He scrambled to say something witty. But nothing came. “I don’t know, Simone. She seemed more annoyed.”

“You think of me as always annoyed?”

“Well, no. But—”

“—you kissed her.”

“It was you I thought I was kissing.”
 

She increased in brightness so much that she saw her reflection in his blue eyes. “It was a copy of me, but not all of me, you bozo.”

“Sorry,” he said.

She pulled the collar of her hem down and displayed her brand.
 

He grinned. “If you’d done that ... I’d have picked you for sure.”

“My mistake.”

He sat all the way up. “What happens if you take off your dress all the way off?”

“What?”

“I mean, you’re a ghost. Does it disappear? Can you get it back?”

She put both hands on her hips and considered doing more than illuminating herself. “You want to see me without my dress on?”

“I mean, on stage that time in school when you ... channeled, you were wearing a cool outfit. Showed your abs and all that. You had it on when you were wearing that dress.”

“The night I died.” She relaxed, the slightest hint of a smile. “You liked it.”

“It was hot.”

“Very.” Her hair flared, as if a strong wind had sprung up.

“So?”

“So what?”

“Let’s see. I mean, that’s what you were wearing that day? Right?”

“Yeah.”

He waited, about to say something else, but he obviously possessed enough discretion to keep his mouth shut. She pulled one arm through her sleeve and out the top, pulled the other, and let her dress fall. It looked like it might crumple into a pile but disappeared in an actual
poof
. She saw herself in his mirror: a monochrome cobalt girl in a sports bra, hot-shorts, and knee-high boots. She looked hot as hell.

“What about the whips?” he asked.

“I got ‘em. You want to see?”