Glitches (Book 1)

Chapter 9.5: Claire

The small private jet rumbled along the runway as it prepared to take off. I sat in a wide, padded seat on the far left, casually resting my elbow on the window. Gazing out, I could see a blur of people and buildings rocketing past me.

In many ways, the sight reminded of me of my own life. It was like watching an entire movie on fast-forward: seeing everything, but not really seeing anything. The tour followed by the subsequent events of my introduction to WGO and now my trip to Texas felt like they couldn't lasted more than a few hours.

Where had the time gone?

I'll be home tomorrow morning, I tried to calm my agitated, sleep-deprived self. Depressing thoughts wouldn't do me any good. Turning my head away from the window, I forced myself to concentrate on other things. While thinking, I silently practiced the Code for rain in my head. It was a pretty easy sequence because our world used it all the time. Whoever made the Code had a convenient system of giving the most cumbersome Code to intricate objects and events, while giving simple sequences to everyday things.

Looking out the tiny window, I decided to pass the time by changing the diameter measurements in the Code of the clouds. Some, I turned into miniature animals, while others into flowers. I wondered what the little kids below me were thinking as they laid on their backs, watching the clouds drift through the sky. Did they wonder why one was shaped like a perfect chicken,

complete with eyes and feathers?

Of course, they would see only the chicken, and not the green outline that defined its shape. I squinted so as to temporarily block out the bright, shining lights of the Code, trying to get a glimpse into their world. My attempt was unsuccessful; the dulled Code was still very much there.

I actually thought of turning one cloud into a gigantic representation of my face, but thought against it. I didn't want people to know I was the one doing it, or that I was capable of manipulating the clouds. The last thing I needed was people asking me to put fluffy white portraits of them in the sky. I already had more than enough simple and pointless requests to take care of.

Turning around in my seat, I watched my trail of cloud creations drift farther and farther away until they were either pulled apart by passing winds or lost in the endless blue sky.

I let out a deep sigh, wringing my hands together impatiently. Time had slowed, as it often does while one is on a long plane ride.

"How long until we're there?" I asked the pilot, who sat in the cockpit a few seats in front of me. One of the good things about a private jet was the closeness of everything. I could stand up in the aisle, hold out my arms, and practically touch both sides of the aircraft.

"Two hours," he shouted over the roar of the jet's powerful engines. I nodded and pulled out my phone, tired of playing with the clouds.

A few seconds later, I abruptly raised my head, feeling a little uneasy. After checking the time on my phone, something about the pilot's answer seemed off. It is three hours and forty-five minutes from Massachusetts to Texas, and we had been flying for more than three hours. How could we still be two hours away from our destination?

"Where are we going?" I asked, feeling really stupid. I expected him to laugh at me, ask me if I was joking, or something of that nature for getting on a jet without even knowing where it was going. Shockingly, he gave me a very blunt, straightforward answer.

"San Francisco, of course."

"What!" I stood straight up with a jolt, straining the seat belt that circled my waist.

"San Francisco, California. Where did you think we were going?"

I frantically toggled Google on my phone, my fingers trembling. The flight time from Massachusetts to California was five hours and forty minutes. This guy wasn't kidding.

After a quick glance into the pilot's Code, I found an answer. The lines of Code weren't completely natural. There were interruptions in the sequences, and the overall phrasing wasn't quite right. Someone, obviously a Glitch, had gone into it. This Glitch changed the direction he flew, switching our destination from Houston to San Francisco. There was only one possible explanation for this: WGO.

Why did they want me in California?

Whatever the reason was, that wasn't what mattered. My immediate problem was figuring out a way to get to Houston. As much as I wanted to meet the WGO people, assuming that's why they were trying to get me to San Francisco, I didn't want my parents to start questioning me too deeply. Especially Dad... I knew how he would react to my interest in WGO, and it wouldn't be pleasant.

Reaching into the green Code above the pilot's head, I prepared to switch the destination back to Houston. However, as soon as I touched the sequence I needed, white lights flashed in front of my eyes, making me recoil in pain. I squeezed my eyelids shut, and when I managed to pry them open, black spots danced across my vision. It was obvious that the Glitch on the other end was far more experienced than I was, and meant business.

For a moment, I simply sat there, shocked by the Glitch's violent method of defending his or her Coding. Other than occasional playful stunts with Justin, I had never used my powers with the intent to harm another person. I hadn't even considered the possibility of using them destructively. Whoever these WGO Glitches were, their opinions on the Code and ethics in general were clearly vastly different from mine.

Taking in a few deep breaths to slow my racing heartbeat, I silently went through my options. I could smash the window with the iron leg of my seat, jump out, and Code the clouds to carry me gently to the ground. That would be awesome, but I quickly realized that there was no way it would work. Clouds were made of water, and even if they somehow could support my weight, the other Glitch would probably screw up any Coding I tried to do. The only feasible thing I could do, was sit tight and hope that WGO's plans for me were pleasant.