He raised a hand, then slowly lowered it to point directly at Michael.

“Kill them,” he commanded, his voice booming. “Starting with him. But first, remove their Cores. Let’s give them this true death they keep harping about.”

3

The Core. The link that kept a mind tethered to reality. Part of the NerveBox programming. Almost impossible—not to mention illegal—to code.

Michael snapped into action as Kaine’s army charged. He ran over the slick surface, slipping twice, to reach Bryson and Gabby. “Use the fly program from Invisible Wings!” he yelled, transferring the code to them in case they didn’t have it. “We’ll survive a lot longer if we’re in the air. Pull in every weapon you can think of, fight them off! I’ll take Kaine—I need his link to deconstruct the Doctrine.”

They had to be in the air for this or they’d never last. The first KillSims were almost on them, loping across the ground, growling those awful electronic growls.

“Got it!” Gabby shouted, even as she rose twenty feet off the ground. Bryson and Michael used the same program and leaped up to join her, just missing the first wave of attack right below them.

“What if we can’t do this?” Bryson yelled at Michael, his eyes wild with fear.

Michael understood. He smiled at his friend. “Give it your best shot, man,” he said. “But kill your Aura and Lift before you let them get to your Core. Deal?” Bryson nodded and they both looked at Gabby, who nodded as well. They were in it together.

A gust of wind blew over them, and the three friends turned to see Kaine’s creature flapping its giant wings, rising into the air. Kaine stared straight at Michael. The demons and KillSims had followed Kaine’s lead and had begun igniting their own flying programs. It looked like it would be an aerial battle.

As it all unfolded before him, Michael felt a sudden and complete loss of hope. It was just the three of them against so many. He knew they didn’t have to win the fight, they only needed to hold them off long enough to destroy the Mortality Doctrine code. But how could they even do that? He turned to face his friends, to tell them they should all just give up and get out of there. It’d be much smarter to regroup with more backup.

But Bryson and Gabby were gone. Michael looked up and saw them flying through the odd-colored sky, fighting, twisting, and turning in battle. His heart sank.

Something crashed into the side of his head.