Free Glitch by Heather Anastasiu Page B

themselves in power. And it’s been a slow revision. The more time passes, the easier it becomes to reinvent the past.”
    “So then what is the truth?” I asked in exasperation. “What really happened?”
    He stepped around a buildup of mud and sludge that had caked up against one wall. I grimaced, but at least he’d been right: The smell didn’t seem quite so bad anymore. I didn’t know if I was getting used to or if it wasn’t as strong in this side tunnel.
    “People in the Old World had been talking about a Global Community for a while,” he said. “Some globally spanning corporations were formed and they got more and more powerful. Especially Community Corp. It was an impressive technology company with military connections. Then there were the major breakthrough advancements with the creation of bionic supersoldiers. That’s when they realized the potential of the V-chip for soldiers.”
    He shook his head. “Some shunting genius realized they could use the V-chip as an artificial amygdala.”
    “The amygdala,” I said, my mind going back to my neurotech text. “That’s a vestigial part of the brain. It’s useless, like the appendix. That’s why they put the V-chip there, because it won’t interfere with the necessary brain processes.”
    “Another lie,” he said gently.
    He led me around another buildup of gunk and garbage. I saw movement in the dark. Rats. I’d never seen rats before today. Really, I’d never seen many animals in my whole life other than flies or gnats or sometimes roaches. We didn’t have any meat-processing centers in our sector. I shuddered and moved away, even though it meant I was walking through the deeper water at the center of the tunnel.
    “The amygdala’s supposed to facilitate emotional response,” Adrian continued, oblivious to my reaction to the rats. Either that, or he was trying to distract me. “But the V-chip dampened feeling ’til emotion was done away with completely. Then the Link was expanded for military use so that a unit of soldiers wasn’t a group of individuals anymore—they were a single entity, all Linked together to a single commander. I mean, think about it.” He waved his hands as he explained. “With a completely obedient army under their command, an army that had no patriotic loyalties, no conscience, no fear, Comm Corp suddenly had a huge amount of power.”
    He looked over at me. “And that’s when they planned D-day. They could finally wrench control away from governments and bring the V-chip to the masses. And the masses agreed to it willingly.” He laughed darkly and shook his head. “The ultimate corporate acquisition. Our own minds.”
    A shiver went down my arms as I realized just how much people had given up, and all for a lie. How could they? I couldn’t believe that anyone would volunteer their freedom, their mind, without a fight. As a drone, I’d never known what I was missing until now, but for them—they’d experienced freedom. They knew exactly how much they had to lose.
    “People will do a lot of things that don’t make sense when they’re scared,” Adrien said. His voice was gentle now; it had lost its dark sardonic edge. “Comm Corp was producing implants that they said could protect people from the aftereffects of the bombs. It’s totally cracked, I know. But people will grasp at anything if they believe their survival is at stake, no questions asked. They went to Comm Corp for help, and they all left with V-chips.”
    A loud splashing from behind brought me out of my thoughts and sharply back to the present. I stopped and spun around, flashing my light. All I could see was the tunnel leading on infinitely into darkness.
    “Are we being followed?” Panic spiked through me.
    “Don’t worry, it’s just the rats,” he said.
    Great , just the rats. I swallowed uncomfortably and turned around. The tunnel went on seemingly forever ahead. I was used to tunnels, but the darkness and noises and foreign