Sahara looked incredulous. “What’s the point of that?”
“The point is,” said Anja, “the buzz is amazeballs. I’ve got a bunch more inside—I had Saif bring one for everybody. Bao excluded, of course, because he’s a caveman.”
Bao nodded politely. “I’ll wait to get a djinni until after I finally figure out that ‘wheel’ contraption.”
“So, it’s a drug?” asked Marisa. “Like, a digital drug?”
Anja’s eyes lit up. “Fully digital, so there’s no medical side effects and no risk of addiction. It’s the best; I found it last night.”
“And that guy we saw leaving is your dealer?” asked Sahara.
“There’s still a medical impact, though,” said Marisa. “I mean, if it gives you a buzz that means it’s releasing endorphins—that’s a physiological response, not a digital one.”
“Everything awesome releases endorphins,” said Anja. “This isn’t any more dangerous than . . . skydiving, or having sex.”
“Both of which can be very dangerous,” said Marisa. “Are you seriously going to plug some random dude’s flash drive into your djinni? That . . . sounded a lot dirtier than I expected it to.”
“Do you realize how much malware they could store in that thing?” asked Sahara.
“Relax,” said Anja, “I’ve got my djinni wrapped in the thickest antiviral firewall digital security condom you can imagine. This morning a store tried to send me a coupon and their router caught fire—trust me, I’m protected. Here, I’ll show you.” She pulled her hair aside, exposing her headjack, and unplugged the cord she’d used earlier.
“Wait,” said Omar. “You—” He glanced at the house. “Your father will see.”
Anja furrowed her brow. “He saw me drinking your beer, too.”
“He’s asleep on the couch,” said Sahara. “Said he was going to nod off while we were out here talking.”
“Why are you so worried about my dad, anyway?” asked Anja.
“I want to know what it does,” said Marisa. “Before you use it. I’m just . . . I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“I’ve already done it twice,” said Anja. “That’s why I had to get Saif to bring me new ones.”
“Please just tell me what it does,” said Marisa.
“It bluescreens you,” said Anja, shooing Omar from his chaise and sitting down in his spot. “An overwhelming sensory rush, an unbelievable high, and then boom. Crash to desktop. Your djinni goes down and takes your brain with it for, like, ten minutes. It’s the best.”
“Hang on—” said Marisa, but Anja grinned and popped the drive into her headjack.
“Play crazy,” she said, and then her arms started to twitch. A wide, almost childish smile spread across her face, and her eyes rolled back before closing luxuriously. Anja started to hum, a long, sensual mmmmm, and her legs pressed together for just a moment before her whole head and torso started vibrating. Marisa jumped toward her, grabbing her by the arms and calling out in alarm, but in that moment Anja’s body spasmed one last time and went completely still.
“Anja.” Marisa shook her slightly, touching her cheek; Anja’s head lolled limply to the side. “Anja!”
“She’s out,” said Omar. He stared at her darkly. “Ten minutes or so, like she said.”
Sahara turned to him. “You’ve seen this before?”
Omar’s frowned deepened. “I’ve seen it around. It’s new.”
“And you let her use it?” asked Marisa.
“I’ve never even heard of it,” said Bao.
“It’s a rich-kid drug,” said Omar. “Just forget about it; she’ll be fine.”
Marisa checked Anja’s pulse, which seemed strong enough. “Is she gonna be okay?”
“She’ll be fine,” Omar insisted, “she’s just going to lie there and—”
Anja’s head straightened, and she sat up. Her eyes were unfocused, her expression blank, like she was in a trance. Marisa said her name again, but Anja only stood, turned toward the house, and started walking.
“What?” asked Sahara.
“She’s sleepwalking,” said Bao. “That’s . . . weird.”
Marisa turned to Omar. “Does that happen often?”
“How am I supposed to know?” he growled.
“She’s gonna fall in the pool,” said Sahara, jogging after her as quickly as she could in her heels, but Anja navigated the backyard flawlessly. Marisa shucked off her own heels and ran to catch up, the boys trailing behind, everyone burning with curiosity to see what the sleepwalker would do. Anja opened the door, walked inside, and pulled the second Bluescreen drive up out of her shirt. She yanked on it to snap the chain, all the while walking straight toward the couch and her napping father.
“She’s going to plug it into her dad,” said Sahara, covering her mouth in shocked disbelief. “That’s the funniest damn thing I’ve ever seen.”
Anja reached her father, turned his sleeping head, and lined up the drive with his headjack.