“We’ve got answers,” Helga replied. “And some potential plans. But first, I think we all need some rest. Diving in right now will only make everyone miserable.”

As curious and anxious as Michael felt, he couldn’t disagree. He could have crawled under his rickety wooden chair right that second and fallen asleep.

“The Hive was the first thing I wanted you to see,” Helga said. “And then we got a little sidetracked, didn’t we?” She started moving for the door. “We’ll have a few more cots brought in. You can all sleep in this room. In the morning we’ll Sink into the VirtNet and I’ll lay out our plan and our resources.”

The last thing Michael noticed before Helga stepped out of the room was how she avoided Walter’s gaze as she passed him on her way into the main barracks.

4

Michael lay on his cot, hands clasped behind his head, staring at the ceiling. He stared at the shadows crossing its surface, and the longer he looked, the more they seemed to be moving, swirling, concealing something. It made him feel like he was inside the Sleep.

“Well, peeps,” Bryson said from his own cot just a few feet over. “Today was what you’d call a very strange day.”

Sarah was across the office, between her parents’ cots; her dad was already snoring quietly, and Nancy had admonished them every five minutes to go to sleep until she finally went under herself. There was a squeak of movement on a cot, then soft footsteps and a moving shadow. Sarah sat down on the floor next to Michael’s cot and patted his hand.

“Strange doesn’t even begin to describe it,” she said.

“Makes our old gaming days seem downright dull,” Bryson added.

Michael shifted and leaned up on an elbow. Sarah was close and warm, and it gave him some comfort. “I can’t believe you guys don’t hate me,” he said. “Think how sweet your lives were before I yanked you into my freak show.”

“Oh, please, not this again,” Sarah groaned. “Like we’d be better off living at home, not knowing the world was being possessed by Tangents and crumbling around us. At least we have an opportunity to do something about it this way.”

“But that’s the thing,” Bryson said, his face hidden in darkness. “What’re we going to do? Even if we do go to the Hallowed Ravine and somehow manage to destroy the Mortality Doctrine program, Kaine or someone else could just recode it down the road. Plus, there’s that giant Hive, growing by the second. Wipe that thing out and who knows how many people we’d kill? That true death crap.”

Sarah was rubbing her temples with both hands. “Guys, can we talk about something happy for a little while? Something that has nothing to do with the Sleep, or Kaine, or Tangents, or mass murder? Please?”