So as far back as I could remember, I’d wondered what it would feel like. I’d obsessed over it, really, but I forgot to care as the countdown began, because who could care about something like that when their mom might be dead? The second the traitorous thought crossed my mind, I shoved it away. I couldn’t go there, not yet, not ever. I’d been trained my entire life to compartmentalize, to give my entire focus to the situation at hand, and I leaned hard on the habits developed from years and years of study and work. What mattered now was the mission. What mattered now was retrieving Agent Chris, and I could shut everything out and focus on just that. I was almost positive.

The countdown hit one, and the air whooshed from my lungs as a sudden intense pressure encased my body. It was as though I was being sucked through a straw. I felt like my skin was shrinking, and if I’d had any air left I’d have screamed. A second later it was over, and I felt the heat. Heat so blistering that I thought for a second that we’d been Glitched directly into flames. I opened my eyes.

The insides of the 1911 factory were ablaze and the screaming of the workers trapped inside was almost deafening. Adrenaline hit my system like a freight train, and I felt my heart rate double in an instant. I’d heard my mom talk about the Glitch rush, but I’d always thought she was exaggerating. She wasn’t. In the next instant, I remembered Elliot and turned, expecting to find him at my side, but he was nowhere in sight. My mouth went dry. Something had gone wrong. I was here alone.