Glitches

Chapter 31 - Just do it

An hour went, and the counter became more and more uncomfortable to sit on. But I didn't dare to move without Paul asking me to.

Sam still hadn't said anything, until I directly asked him,

"Why so quiet?"

He shrugged.

"Just thinking, I guess."

"About what?"

He licked his lips, a thoughtful expression on his face.

"Do you need to do this? Isn't it pointless? And I'm not selfish for saying that I can't lose you. You'll most likely die and it's for a girl who is most likely dead now. Why bother?"

I clenched my jaw, looking at the boy with a hard gaze.

"Do you really need me to answer that?"

"No, sorry. It wasn't meant that way," he sighed, rubbing the back of his head.

"What way did you mean it then?" I asked.

"Sorry. I... forget it. I don't want to bicker with you right now, okay? I'm sorry."

I calmed down, giving his hand a squeeze to reassure him.

Reassure him in what?

I didn't know.

"You're a genius Max!" Paul exclaimed from the other end of the room.

"What? You've done it?" William asked.

Paul walked over to our group with a devise the size of a matchbox. It didn't look like an USB at all though.

"If my calculations are right, this little thing should work exactly like the USB. I don't know how much damage it will cause, but my guess would be a whole lot."

"That thing?" Miranda asked, frowning. "It looks like a small power bank."

"Ah, that's because it is a power bank," Paul responded, "but it can't charge anything, without melting it's insides."

"Wait, wait, wait," Sam said.

"Isn't there a chance for this thing to end up melting Stephanie's system then too?"

Paul froze, his smile faltering.

"I guess there is. But only if we somehow fail at operate it into her arm."

"Please stop talking about me like I'm not here," I grumbled.

"Let's just try it," Miranda said. "It's not like we have anything to lose."

"Excuse me what? Noting to lose. Is Steph's life nothing to you or what?" Sam exclaimed, turning himself so he was looking down on the girl.

"No, it is something to me," she said calmly, not wavering at the tall boy's threatening aura, "but she's gonna do it with or without this thing. And if she does it without it, there's no change for her survival anyway. We have to do it if we want her to have any chance of making it out alive."

"I told you to stop talking about me like I'm not here!" I shouted, making everyone turn their attention to me.

"Thank you," I mumbled, turning my gaze to Paul.

"Will it work?"

The man blinked a few times, gathering himself together.

"Hopefully. I can't guaranty anything, but it should work."

I nodded, frowning as I debated on what could go wrong.

"And how high is the chance for it to fail and end up melting my chip?"