“Thank you,” I breathed out, my voice thin and reedy.
“What the fuck was that?”
I shook my head. “I don’t know. But that wasn’t the glitch I was chasing.”
“Whatever that was, you’re not touching the wall again until we’ve scanned it. That was scary. You looked like you werehaving a seizure.” She pushed something into my hands. A battery.
Clamping my hands around it, I smiled. It wasn’t much, but I appreciated that Riley thought it might help.
“Can I help you check that glitch you were chasing?”
“No. Thank you.” It was probably too late now.
“Okay. You keep hold of that battery, and I’ll let Rick know you’re on your way back to the hub and need a break before tackling the ballroom.” She helped me up. “Don’t scare me like that again.”
How could I promise that? I nodded anyway.
I meant to go to the hub, but as I passed the corridor into the east wing, I picked up the hum again. It had faded to a trickle but still pulled at me, leading me to the old elevator. The one Layla had told me was out-of-bounds. I’d avoided it, had blocked its noise from my system… but I couldn’t ignore this.
I stopped and froze. A vaguely familiar figure stood near the elevator. Tall, impressive, with olive skin and dark curls, dressed in ’80s pastel-colored human fashion. It was the clothing that threw me off, but when I studied him closer, I realized why he seemed familiar. He was from the underworld. I’d never met any myself, but there were stories about Niren selling their souls to find their way back home…
I shuddered and wanted to turn away… but he smiled at me—a surprisingly genuine smile, friendly even.
“Good evening. I’m Zagreus. Which floor can I take you to?”
I blinked. “I… there… I’m Adri, from IT.”
“Ah. Yes. Layla did warn me about you, Niren. You’re not allowed access to my systems.”
“I know. But… there was dissonance, and?—”
“The brakes needed oiling. I took care of it. Nothing for you to worry about.”
While Zagreus’s tone was friendly, I read a warning in hisposture. “Next time you’re free, come find me, and I’ll take you up to the roof. The views are quite spectacular there.”
“Perhaps,” I replied as I took a step back. “Next time.”
“I’ll be here,” he said with a wink.
Bewildered—and frustrated about chasing a problem I wasn’t allowed to fix—I returned to the hub, where Rick stood waiting for me.
He pointed at my hands. “Riley told me what happened. How are you doing?”
I glanced down. The battery. I was still holding it. I put it on the nearest table and ran a quick scan of my systems. Not quite there, a bit frazzled, but far from depleted. “I’m okay.”
“Good. We’ve got three burned-out circuits on the second floor and two on the third. You up for it?”
I pushed any thoughts of the elevator out of my system. It was a different system. Not our problem. “When did that happen?”
“Around the same time as your incident, I’m guessing.”
The timing was suspect. “Give me a moment.” I connected to the server and compared my readings to the log. I turned to ask Jim, but he wasn’t there. “Where’s Jim?”
“Out on a call. He did say you were chasing a glitch. Anything I should know?”
“Busy night for him.” Something about that didn’t sit well with me. Neither did the log, but I didn’t want to tell Rick my suspicions until I was certain.
“Yeah. I really thought we finally had a grip on it. So, sparks jumped out of the wall?”
