“We’ve been building all of this to lead up to this day,” Weber said, proudly throwing her arms up to indicate the giant space. “This is our command center, each NerveBox occupied by my most faithful colleagues. We’ve been careful. We knew that if we moved too quickly, people would lose faith in us before we could make them have faith only in us. You understand?”

Michael tried to keep emotion off his face. “Why are you telling me this?”

Weber shrugged. “You’re the closest thing to a son I’ll ever have. And you’re a part of this. Great things are going to happen today. I want to share them with you.”

Her comments should’ve sent him flying into a rage. Comparing herself to his mother—it should’ve been the last straw. He wanted to scream, but he knew he couldn’t.

Weber smiled and continued eagerly, as if convinced he loved hearing every word she spoke. “But now we have enough support and enough Tangents in place. We’ve even planned for those humans who are still wild cards—we’ve invited them here today, to make a”—she formed quotation marks with her fingers—“ ‘presentation’ within the VirtNet. Let’s just say that when they wake up, they won’t be themselves. Strategically brilliant, really. We’ve reached the tipping point. Any further delay and we may lose our chance. So today, with this firepower”—she pointed toward the cavernous space above them—“we will go into the VirtNet and complete our plans.”

Her smile vanished, and Michael felt his stomach twist into a knot. He couldn’t stop himself from saying the next words.

“What?” he asked, hearing the tremor in his own voice. “What’re you going to do?”

“It sounds worse than it is when you say it out loud,” she replied in a whisper that echoed through the room, up and up until it faded into silence. “But I’ve always said, it’s what happens in the long run that matters. And isn’t it? A few sacrifices now to ensure a better future?”

Michael took a step backward, away from her. The soldiers moved with him, right at his sides.

“You’re crazy,” he said, half to himself. “You’ve gone totally insane.”

She looked at him with a faint smile. “Quite the contrary. I’m saner than I’ve ever been. I only felt crazy when I began to doubt the plan we’d set forth. All that back-and-forth, all the doubting, all the…indecision. Now that I’m back on course, fully committed, I’m more alive than ever. My mind has never had such perfect clarity.”

“What’re you going to do!” he shouted at her.