Chapter 24 · What the hell are you doing?

He stared at me for half a second. His eyes were glowing faintly. That gold flicker when he's about to lose control.

Then he did something insane. He grabbed my fake chip off the counter, crushed it in his palm, and pressed his own bleeding palm onto the scanner.

The blood sizzled on the plate.

The alarm changed tone. It went from screaming to a low, confused hum.

"What the hell are you doing?" I whispered.

"Overriding it," he said through gritted teeth. "My code is higher than theirs. It should confuse it. For a minute."

The guard stared at the scanner. The screen was glitching. Flashing green then red then green.

"What did you do?" the guard said. "What did you—"

The gate's main light suddenly flipped from red to green. The huge steel doors groaned and started to slide open.

"Gate breach! Gate breach!" another guard yelled, but the system was already announcing in that calm female voice:

"Clearance approved. Welcome to the Hive, Citizen Quinn and guest."

"Go," Cain said. He grabbed my hand and pulled. Hard.

We ran.