The Original Glitch by Melanie Moyer

Author:Melanie Moyer
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: FICTION / Science Fiction / General, FICTION / Literary
ISBN: 9781941360606
Publisher: Lanternfish Press
Published: 2021-10-05T00:00:00+00:00

“He hasn’t blown up any countries yet.”

Adler rolled his eyes. What Theo wanted right now was more personal than world domination, Adler was sure. But that didn’t mean he wouldn’t do dangerous things to get it.

Adler’s login to the PNX had been revoked. His computer, which technically was the property of the university, had been confiscated, so it was a personal machine for him now, pulled out from under his bed and set to charge for the first time in months. He’d tried making new logins for Wilson and Bev and even Charlie, but all the registration requests got knocked down. Horn was trying to quarantine the area. The campus wifi had been down for days. Getting the 5G shut down was an ongoing battle between the State Department flashing credentials and the towers claiming rights.

“You talked to Charlie,” Wilson said.

“I did.”

That talk on the couch had been a surreal moment for him. Afterward, for once, he’d slept. He couldn’t remember his dreams, but he thought her perfume might have been in there somewhere. He didn’t know if the visit was good or bad for either of their health, but he had wanted her to know.

“You talk to your psych friend?” Wilson asked.

“She emailed me a couple times.”

“But?”

“I can’t give her any more answers than I already have.”

“People don’t always want ‘answers’ and ‘information’, Adler.” Wilson set his glass down with an overly dramatic clunk on the wood. “Sometimes they just want to know they’re not alone. I mean, look at Charlie. She hates you but she still just wants to talk to you. Wants to know you’re still there.”

“Don’t start. I’m already afraid of what she thinks it means.”

“You’re allowed to admit that you have feelings for someone. Doesn’t have to be either love or nothing. Sometimes it’s a lot more nuanced.”

“She’s my oldest friend. She knows me better than anyone. But if she got married tomorrow, I’d be happy for her.”

“That doesn’t mean it wouldn’t hurt you. Are you listening, you big dummy? Contrary to your weird alien psychology, humans can actually feel more than one thing at a time.”

Adler swallowed the thick air stuck in his throat. He didn’t want to think about weird alien psychology. He could see it. He thought of the dream, from a week ago, staring in the mirror and knowing it was Theo looking back.

“I would say Bev likes you too, but I think she’s too smart for that.”

Adler ignored that. “This is why there are not any fucking computers in Dune.”

“Don’t blame your homicidal AI for your relationship problems—no, actually, do that, because your weird obsession with that fucker is what got you into a mess with Charlie.”

Another thing to hate Theo for. “The mess was because she wanted things I didn’t.”

“You buried your head in the sand to avoid talking about what you wanted—or didn’t want.”

“Don’t use clichés at me.”

“Here’s the thing. You want to know my thoughts about you and about Charlie? Like my first actual, honest reaction to the situation? It was ‘wow, I hope that’s never Cam and I.

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