“Well, this isn’t awkward at all,” Regan said, breaking the silence. The tension I’d been feeling eased as everyone chuckled. Sam, however, didn’t smile. He was still studying us like we had words written across our foreheads, and I found myself rubbing mine before I even realized I was doing it.

“They look young,” Sam finally said, turning his attention back to Callaway.

“They are young,” Callaway agreed with a chuckle. “You are young too, Sam. Don’t forget that.” He turned his attention back to us. “Sam and Serina were our first-ever partner pair and coincidentally the first set of twins to both test positive for the Glitch gene. I discovered them doing simulation training together just for fun and realized that we might have something there. It’s where the idea for this program originated.”

Serina chose that moment to pick up the hem of her dress and wring it out on the floor. Noticing my gaze, she shrugged apologetically. “Titanic mission,” she said. “We weren’t supposed to end up in the water, but somebody got a little overexcited when he spotted the Butterfly cutting the line to one of the life rafts.”

Her brother sidestepped the puddle she’d just made on the floor, giving her a disapproving look before turning his attention back to us.

“So, these two really showed compatibility?” he said in a way that made it clear that he found that highly unlikely. It was then that I realized we were literally leaning away from one another, sitting as far from one another as the simulation chairs would allow.

“This is Cadet Regan Fitz and Cadet Elliot Mason, and since you started answering Elliot’s question, maybe you’d like to finish it as well?” Callaway said with a jerk of his head toward the simulation screens.

“Right,” Sam said, crossing his arms over his chest as he turned to us. “The Mayhem has gotten more and more unpredictable, sometimes launching attacks with the intention of transforming history in less than a minute or two. That means we’ve had to adjust our strategy. Unlike a normal Glitcher, we don’t have the luxury of time or preparation.” My face must have reflected the confusion that I felt, because Serina rolled her eyes at her brother and smiled at us.

“Think of it this way,” she said. “If a traditional Glitcher is a doctor, or a surgeon even, going into historical events with ample preparation to operate and remove the Butterfly with perfectly executed precision, then the L and C program is the equivalent of a first responder. We are training you to be thrust into situations where thinking on your feet is not only imperative, but life or death.”