Chapter 29 The Glitch
The Grand Hall is a vacuum. The air feels like it's being sucked out of the room by the sheer weight of the expectation. I am standing in the wings, my fingers digging into the velvet curtain, watching Sloane centre herself on the floor. She looks like a porcelain doll, but I know she is a viper.
"You are shaking, Vane," Sloane says, not even turning around. She is checking her reflection in the floor-to-ceiling glass. "Is it the nerves, or is the guilt finally catching up to you?"
"It is the coffee, Sloane. Do not flatter yourself."
She turns then, her smile thin and sharp. "Thirty minutes until the Board arrives for the final evaluation. One wrong move, and I hit the button. Do you understand?"
"I understand perfectly."
I look past her, toward the balcony where the tech booth sits. I do not see Caspian. He is supposed to be in the South Wing by now. If he is late, or if Jax misses the alarm, I am just a girl dancing for a blackmailer.
The music starts, a heavy, orchestral swell that is supposed to be the Fusion masterpiece we have been rehearsing for weeks. Sloane moves into her opening position, and I follow. We are a study in contrast. Her movements are fluid and light, mine are jagged and grounded.
Stay in the light. Keep their eyes on the floor.
We hit the first transition. I have to lift her, a move that makes my injured ankle scream in protest. As I hoist her upward, she leans into my ear, her voice a poisonous whisper.
"You are heavy today, Janitor. Try not to drop me."
I do not answer. I just set her down and move into my solo. I am waiting for the sound. I am waiting for the world to break.
Five. Six. Seven. Eight.
Then, it happens.
It is not the loud, wailing siren I expected. It is a low, stuttering buzz from the overhead speakers, followed by the lights flickering. The music cuts out with a sickening electronic pop.
The room plunges into a dim, emergency red glow.
"What is this?" Sloane snaps, breaking her form. She looks up at the ceiling, her hand immediately going to the pocket where she keeps her phone. "Where are the lights?"
"It is a glitch, Sloane," I say, stepping into the centre of the floor. My heart is a hammer in my chest. "Probably the old wiring in the South Wing. Just keep dancing."
"Without music? Are you insane?"
"The Board is watching from the observation deck," I lie, pointing toward the dark glass of the balcony. "If you stop now, you look like an amateur who cannot handle a technical difficulty. Keep. Dancing."
She hesitates. Her ego is a bigger cage than her blackmail. She looks at the balcony, then back at me, and she starts to move in the silence, her breathing heavy and frantic.
I move with her, but my eyes are on the clock.
Thirty seconds. In the South Wing, Caspian is currently sliding a drive into the main server. He is fighting the encryption Arthur Thorne built. He is erasing the only thing that gives Sloane power over me.
"Why are you smiling?" Sloane hisses as we cross paths in a simulated fight.
"Because I like the dark," I say.
Suddenly, the red lights flash white. The music blasts back on, but it is not the orchestral track. It is a distorted, heavy bassline, a glitch in the system that sounds like a heartbeat.
Sloane stumbles, her timing completely ruined. She looks like a bird hitting a window.
I do not stumble. I take the beat and I run with it. I turn the Fusion into a war dance. I spin so fast the room blurs, ignoring the fire in my leg, ignoring the rules.
The lights stabilise. The regular music kicks back in, but the damage to Sloane's ego is done. She is panting, her bun coming loose, looking at me with a confusion that is rapidly turning into pure, unadulterated rage.
She reaches into her waistband, pulling out her phone.
"That is it," she snarls, her thumb hovering over the screen. "You think a little light show is going to save you? Goodbye, Zora."
She taps the screen. She taps it again.
"What, why is it not loading?"
"Problem with your signal?" I ask, stepping closer.
"The file, it is gone. The whole cloud folder is empty." She looks at me, her face pale, the realisation hitting her like a physical blow. "You. You did this."
"I do not know what you are talking about, Sloane," I say, my voice a calm, steady rhythm. "But the Board is coming down the stairs. And you are sweating through your silk. You might want to fix your hair."
The doors at the top of the hall swing open. Arthur Thorne and Madam Sterling walk in, their faces unreadable.
I look toward the back entrance. For a split second, the door cracks open, and I see Caspian. He is leaning against the frame, a small, silver drive in his hand. He gives me a single, sharp nod.
The leash is gone.
"Madam Sterling," Sloane starts, her voice trembling as she runs toward them. "There was a breach! The system, Zora and Caspian—"
"Sloane, be quiet," Sterling snaps, her eyes fixed on the floor. "The technical glitch was a failure of the Academy's hardware. But your inability to maintain your composure during the blackout was a failure of your training. Zora, however..."
She looks at me. For the first time, there is a flicker of something that is not disgust.
"You stayed in character. You kept the rhythm. That is what a lead does."
Arthur Thorne steps forward, his eyes narrowed as they sweep over me. He does not look happy. He looks suspicious. He knows his son had a hand in this, even if he cannot prove it yet.
"The evaluation is over," Arthur says, his voice cold. "Sloane, go to the infirmary. You look hysterical. Zora, a word."
My heart stops. The victory feels short-lived as the most dangerous man in the room walks toward me.
"You think you are very clever, do you not?" Arthur whispers as he reaches me. "You think deleting a video changes the contract you signed with me?"
"I do not have a video to worry about anymore, Mr. Thorne," I say, looking him straight in the eye. "So maybe we should talk about the surgery deposit I am making on Friday. My way."
Arthur's smile does not reach his eyes. "You have the money? How? Unless you have been doing something illegal."
"I am a janitor, remember?" I say. "I know where the lost change is."
I walk past him, my head high, even as my ankle threatens to collapse. I have won the battle. But looking at the look on Arthur's face, I know the war is about to get much more violent.