KillSims reached for them with tendrils of darkness. Right before they could make contact, Gabby revved her jetpack and shot them into the air again, flying toward their friends. Michael looked back as three of the creatures slammed into each other, forming a cloud of black fog, specks of white fluttering within. As Gabby landed, she kicked a KillSim away from Helga; Michael swung out with a fist to pummel another one and his arm bounced back, as if he had just hit a firm balloon. Just in time, Helga swung her magic sword, cutting another creature in half, giving them a moment’s respite from the madness.

And then, all at once, Michael made a flurry of decisions.

“We have to split up,” he said, his mood lifting for the first time since he’d sat in the tree house and seen that Kaine had answered his message. Whether or not it was a good one, he now had a plan.

“What are you talking about?” Helga shouted, between thrusts of her sword. “We just found you!”

Michael shook his head. He glanced quickly to make sure they were still clear of KillSims; then he spoke as quickly and clearly as he could to his friends. “Make a Portal. To anywhere. Get out of here, then go find the Hallowed Ravine. That’s where they’re uploading the Tangents—it’s where the Mortality Doctrine is. Send me a message when you’re there and I’ll meet you. Soon.”

He didn’t know what they showed more strongly on their faces—confusion or rage.

Gabby started to argue, but Michael cut her off.

“Just do it!” he yelled. “Go! We don’t have time!” He had no idea what had come over him, but he wasn’t going to abandon the course he’d decided on back in D.C.

Bryson still looked as angry as ever. “And what’re you going to do, boss man?”

Michael turned away from him and started marching toward Kaine just as he saw the Tangent destroy two KillSims with one mighty swing of his stick.

“Michael!” Bryson shouted at him. “Michael!”

Michael glanced over his shoulder. “Find the Mortality Doctrine! Right now I need Kaine! I need to…use him.”

Michael’s time had run out. He sprinted toward the fighting Tangent, forming the code for an illegal Portal even as he ran.

4

He’d always heard that adversity sharpened the mind, honed the senses. He experienced it firsthand in the frantic moment he reached Kaine and pulled him through the makeshift Portal.

The VirtNet was a mess—he’d already discovered that. The code, Decayed. But he’d learned enough on his trek to the tree house to do what he needed to do. He worked on pure instinct, manipulating things seemingly with thought as he formed a Portal just to the left of Kaine, who still battled the KillSims ferociously.