Glitch | √

step 4: delete [part 2]

"George Carver. Remember the name," Zayn said as he stood back up from the chair. "He's the strongest glitch that I can track down at the current moment. I can alter his future and link it with yours. Him, and his daughter, Ellen Carver, they've been dealing with Cyphers for a very long time. He does believe in the theory that the world is controlled by foreign species, but he doesn't really know much about what exactly. He'll know what to do. I can send him a signal, a signal strong enough to bring him to you. He may be able to keep you safe, till the time you spread the word out. Or if he's not that . . . lucky, maybe Ellen will help you out." He straightens up, a ghost of a shadow appearing on his face. "She has to."

It was in that moment when Harry saw a stranger inside his friend. There was marked coldness in his tone and it scared Harry.

Zayn shook his head, bringing himself back from his thoughts. "George will sense the break once I'm gone and he'll come for you. My deletion will create strong side effects, your glitching being one of them. With some gentle persuasion from my interference with reality, George will realise that you have valuable information with you and he'll stop at nothing in order to protect you." A sudden realisation flashed across his face. "Oh." He simply said as images of George's death played in his enhanced mind. "He's not going to make it," he mumbled in a low voice.

"Your deletion?" Harry asked, not understanding what Zayn was trying to say. "What do you mean by that?"

Zayn ignored his question nonchalantly and walked past him, towards the others. Zayn sounded more delusional by the second and Harry was convinced he had gone absolutely crazy. Stress of the job, perhaps? But then again, he sounded serious. Too serious. Maybe he was telling the truth . . .

Harry started to follow him, but saw him stop abruptly in his tracks, frozen in spot. Zayn's shoulders were raised and he stood in a poised and alarmed manner. He did not move, not even an inch and this troubled Harry even more. Nobody seemed to have noticed his strange behaviour. Harry slowly walked towards him.

"What's wrong?" Harry's voice involuntarily trembled as he spoke.

Zayn remained as he was. In a brittle voice, he said, "They found me."

Harry did not let go of Ellen as she continued to sob. He was still processing his memories of Zayn. Zayn knew that George was going to die? He just let him die? If Zayn could control the future like he said he did — or at least parts of it — why couldn't he have just altered the timeline? Did he really have to let George die, just like that?

She was the first one to pull away from the hug. Wiping her tears with the back of her hand, she forced herself to look at Harry. "So did Zayn send my father after you? So that he could save you from the Cypher?"

Harry nodded. "He knew he was going to be erased soon, so he told me everything he knew. I was the only person who carried this information with me, so he had to make sure that I was kept safe, at least till my memories returned."

"And . . . and did he know that my dad would die?" Her words came out to be bitter than what she wanted them to be.

Harry decided that he should keep this truth to himself. Telling Ellen that Zayn was the reason behind her father's death would only make it worse for her. He did not say anything, but simply shook his head.

Her eyes were now red and swollen, and seeing her like that only melted his heart. She'd been living a life of lies — everyone was. But with her father keeping the truth from her, and now Harry himself, he felt extreme guilt as he lied to her. He realised he had to keep her in the dark in order to keep her sane.