The group worked together on the same structure until it was large enough that they floated within it. It resembled an enormous sphere, almost solid, so that it was smooth on the inside and they could no longer see its outer surface. Above their heads was an open space, and as they continued to work, they released new threads up and out. Michael imagined them completing the outside of the structure, making it larger by the minute. The whole thing was unlike anything he’d ever done, but he understood the theory. Kind of. They were creating a visual representation of quantum code that Helga said would transport them to a normally inaccessible place within the Sleep.

What Michael couldn’t work out was how it was going to be so painful to make the journey.

They kept at it for what felt like another hour, transforming the code, following the odd path that Helga laid out, manifesting it in an ever-expanding, massive structure around them.

“We’re almost there,” Helga finally announced. She was concentrating so fiercely that it looked comical. “You have to stay with me now, and do exactly as I do. And don’t stop working until I tell you.”

Michael followed Helga’s instructions, building and building, letting her take away his creations. Up the hole they flew, then disappeared in different directions. The curved shell surrounding them shone with a bluish glow.

“Okay,” Helga said after a long period of silence and heavy work. “Stop. Now, here’s the access code to what we just built.” She blinked her eyes hard and sent it over. Michael caught it with a thought.

“Release yourself into the structure,” Helga commanded. “I know you’ve never done anything like this before, but remember, right now you’re nothing but a string of data; you’re not your physical self. You have to let any concept of having a body go. Then use the access code and flow into the structure. I’ll go first and you can follow me. Initiating. Now.”

It wasn’t easy. It was weird. Really weird. Every other interface Michael had ever used within the Sleep ignored the literal code of the user himself. You didn’t have to think about it. In other words, within the VirtNet, you felt as real as it was possible to feel. But now Helga was essentially breaking herself down into a long series of numbers and letters, then transmitting it into the gigantic visual structure they’d just built. Not letting himself take the time to think it through, Michael did the same thing. It was so foreign, so against every instinct he’d ever had in the Net, it was like stepping into an alien world. But he did it before they left him behind.