“Be at peace, all of you.” She spoke barely above a whisper. “The VNS is going to save the world from its demons.”

CHAPTER 12

THE EXORCIST

1

Conversation moved across the chamber in a wave of hushed whispers. Michael’s group was just as eager to discuss what had just happened. Bryson and Helga turned to Michael, but Michael held up his hand. He didn’t want to miss something vital.

Information. He needed to know everything possible. And then he planned to do something about it.

“I ask for your patience right now,” Agent Weber said, her words booming from the speakers. “If you will give me but a little slice of your time, everything will be explained. I come today as a representative of the VNS, an entity that exists to protect one of mankind’s most valuable resources, the VirtNet. As you know, we’ve recently suffered a devastating loss to our internal structure, setting us back considerably.”

She sighed and frowned, a little too dramatically, playing up how difficult the situation was. Michael wanted to scream. She was the one responsible for the damage! She’d given them the Lance device!

Weber continued. “Because of that setback, the Tangent known as Kaine has been able to apply his Mortality Doctrine program without restriction. As a result, programs have been inserted into the bodies of humans the world over. Sadly, the results of Kaine’s actions culminated in the bloody savagery you saw here today. I am happy to say that we came here with good news, and now it has only been amplified by what’s happened.”

She nodded at someone and the hologram of her was replaced by a 3D image of a large room full of people, each working at a small station of glowing screens and blinking machines. It was such an unexpected image that Michael’s anger was replaced by genuine curiosity.

“The VNS has put their hardest-working, most effective programmers on the task of diving into the deepest, darkest realms of the VirtNet in an attempt to unravel the mysteries of this Mortality Doctrine. After much work, and with the help of many brilliant minds, we’ve finally been able to reverse-engineer the program, effectively terminating the connection that allows its continuity. The Tangent program thus ceases to exist.”

The vast hologram at the front of the room changed once again, from a view of Weber’s room of workers to that of a street, where a man stumbled along the sidewalk, holding another man in the crook of his arm in a choke hold. The aggressor was waving a gun wildly as he struggled to hold on to the second man. Even without audio, it was clear that the man with the gun was yelling at everyone around him. Then the image froze.