The friends all took a step toward each other and clasped hands. Michael stood across from Sarah, holding her gaze. Despite everything that was at stake, one thing sat like a pit in his stomach: He couldn’t shake the feeling that whatever Helga was about to show them, it would mean that he and Sarah could never be what he had always wished they could be. Some possible future that he’d held far back in his consciousness since the day he’d met his friend was about to be taken away from him. A heavy sadness weighed on him as they stood there with the hot breeze rustling their clothes, the sun baking their virtual skin.

“Close your eyes,” Helga instructed. “Access the code. Stay close. Then follow my lead.”

She paused, then added:

“No matter how much it hurts.”

CHAPTER 3

A KNOCK AT THE DOOR

1

They floated in a blackness like space, but instead of stars, fragments of code swirled around them, lit up in brilliant light, a whirlpool of information that never ceased revolving. Michael had never seen code like this—so congested, so…tight. Helga had to have figured out where one of the data hubs resided; that was the only explanation. No wonder she’d taken them to the salt flats. It was probably one of the only locations in the Net with enough space for a hub this size. This was how they’d get where they needed to go.

“It helps to translate everything to visual mode,” Helga said. “Gather everything you see even remotely related to the quantum digits I’m about to uplink to you. When you collect it, put it all together, build it up around us. Envelop us. And then we’re going to smash it to bits.”

Bryson smiled his mischievous smile.

“Sounds like fun,” Sarah said.

“It’s not,” Helga replied. Then she reached out with virtual hands and started manipulating the code. Numbers and letters transformed into building blocks, pipes, sheets of thick plastic-like matter, glass panes, cut lumber. They swirled and twisted and flipped, connecting to each other in perfect geometric fashion to create a device that fascinated the eye. Michael watched carefully as she did it. He uploaded the digits she’d just sent him, then began the same process, transforming the code into a visual manifestation of the quantum path she’d set up. It was all new to him, but he had enough experience to catch on quickly.

Bryson and Sarah mimicked Michael, and quickly they had objects orbiting them, growing and connecting, then expanding. Bigger and bigger and more and more complex the structures grew, until Helga suddenly stopped her construction and fused what she’d been building to Michael’s, doubling its size, then to Sarah’s and Bryson’s.