Glitch

Regan and Elliot break into Regan’s house and find the map in her mom’s office. Then, Regan’s mom appears, and Regan hugs her. Regan’s mom got an alert that a Butterfly was on campus, and she realizes that Regan and Elliot might be the Butterflies because they’re not supposed to be on the main campus. Regan uses some of her mom’s old Chaos Cuffs that are on display to handcuff her to her desk so she can’t chase after them. Regan tells her mom she loves her, then she and Elliot leave the house.

The map indicates that there are 25 explosives disguised as new security cameras. Elliot and Regan briefly wonder if they should have told Regan’s mom about their hunch regarding Officer Salzburg, but since they can’t prove anything and they’re now criminals themselves, they decide it wouldn’t have been worth it. They take solace in the fact that they’re in this mess together. However, they determine that they don’t have enough time to retrieve and deactivate all 25 cameras since the campus is so large.

While Regan and Elliot were in Regan’s house, Regan took her mom’s key card because the Cocoon’s next clue was “grab the key card when you have a chance” (312). They can now gain access to the Academy’s Glitching room, so they go there. They plan to Glitch back to the mountain (before it started to blow up) so they can recruit Serina, Sam, Tess, Eliana, Corban, and Blake to help them fetch all the cameras in time to save the Academy.

Regan and Elliot open their eyes at the mountain earlier that same night. Regan sends Elliot to get the boys from their dorm while she gets the girls. They quickly transport back to the Academy, and Regan explains to everyone that the mountain is going to blow up, killing them all unless they change something. They also have a chance to save the Academy. Everyone agrees to help. They discuss Officer Salzburg—if he’s a secret Mayhem member who helped plan the attack on the Academy, it’s unclear why he would come to the mountain. Serina suggests that the attack on the mountain might have been executed by someone else besides Mayhem.

Since it would take too long to dismantle all the explosives after retrieving them, Regan suggests they just collect them and get them off the island so they don’t blow up the Academy. The kids get dressed in disguises. Regan tears up the map and gives a segment to each partner pair so they can split up and retrieve all the explosives. The other kids hug Regan and Elliot before rushing off to fetch the cameras. Regan and Elliot realize that they’ve made more friends than just each other.

Regan and Elliot retrieve five explosive cameras, then run into some security guards. One of them asks Regan what she’s doing outside and warns her that it’s especially dangerous right now because there’s a Butterfly on the loose. These guards don’t know that Regan’s been transferred to the mountain program. Regan tells them that the Butterfly attacked her mom and that she left the house to find help. The guards immediately rush off toward the house to help Regan’s mom. There are only five more minutes until the explosives are set to detonate.

Elliot and Regan reunite with Tess, Eliana, Corban, and Blake, but they run into more guards. Regan tells them her mom’s been attacked and needs help, but Officer Salzburg appears and tells the security guards that the kids are Butterflies who are stealing the Academy’s security equipment to weaken the school. Regan tells the guards that Salzburg is a Butterfly who installed explosives throughout campus. Serina and Sam appear, being chased by another group of security guards, which makes the kids look guilty. The kids decide to glitch out of the situation with the explosives, using their Chaos Cuffs.

Elliot and Regan open their eyes back inside the Glitching room at the mountain. None of their friends are around, but Officer Salzburg is there, like he was right before they Glitched away from the mountain in the first place. Salzburg is coming toward them and Elliot knows they need to ditch the explosives somewhere before they detonate. He programs the Glitching computers to transport to a place and time where a test of explosives occurred so that minimal damage will be done. Regan grabs his hand, and they both Glitch to 1985 New Mexico.

Regan and Elliot open their eyes in the New Mexico desert, quickly drop their bag of explosives, and Glitch back to the mountain, where Salzburg is hooking himself up to a computer to Glitch away. Elliot realizes he still has one explosive in his pocket, so he throws it at Salzburg, who instinctively catches it before disappearing.

Elliot determines that what they previously assumed was an attack by Mayhem at the mountain was not actually an attack but rather an accident: when their friends Glitched away from the Academy, they brought the explosives back with them to the mountain dorm rooms and blew the mountain up. However, now that the Academy has been saved, their friends probably only died “in an alternate timeline” and not this one (343).

Regan’s mom is outside the door, and she’s calling for Regan and Elliot to come out with their hands up. Elliot says it’s okay if they’re arrested because they saved the Academy and lots of lives, which is why they became Glitchers in the first place: to protect people. However, Elliot and Regan realize they have to write the letter and deliver it to the past so that their past selves can find it and save the Academy. Regan quickly scribbles down the letter while Elliot programs a computer so they can Glitch back to the day they found the letter.

In addition to the Cocoon letter that Elliot and Regan already knew about, Elliot also wrote a second letter, which he put in the campus mail. He doesn’t explain the second letter to Regan (or the reader). Elliot and Regan drop the Cocoon and watch their past selves find it, marveling at how rude they were to each other and how much they seemed to dislike each other. They note how much they’ve both changed for the better.

Regan and Elliot change out of the disguises they put on over their pajamas, which are Alcatraz uniforms. Regan knows that the past version of herself found them and brought them to the laundry room. They Glitch back to the mountain, but now, nobody is trying to arrest them.

Regan and Elliot walk out of the Glitch room and down the hall, not sure if they’re truly off the hook for breaking the law or if all their friends survived. They run into Professor Callaway, who is surprised to see them out of bed. They claim to be hungry, and he tells them to feel free to eat some of the cake in the kitchen. Regan’s mom sent Professor Callaway a message saying she doesn’t want Regan doing any more training missions on the Academy’s property, especially because Officer Salzburg has mysteriously disappeared. Regan asks Professor Callaway if all the other partner students will be in training tomorrow, and he confirms that they will be. This brings tears to Regan’s eyes because it means they’re all still alive.

Elliot explains that his letter to Regan’s mom claimed they were at Regan’s house due to a training mission. He was hoping she’d believe this story and not think they were real Butterflies. He didn’t know if it would work or not, but apparently it did. Elliot finally admits that Regan is smart in a different way than he is. The two head to their dorms to go to bed.

Regan finds a letter under her pillow with Elliot’s name written on the front in Elliot’s handwriting. She decides that whatever’s inside it, she and Elliot can tackle it together.