Abby tapped her fingers on the table. “Why can’t the FBI simply arrest Cleary?”

“Apart from the memory stream Creighton accessed, which isn’t usable, we don’t have enough evidence against Cleary for the FBI to monitor him, much less arrest him. Besides, even if we got to Cleary, Pape may already have his instructions. Arresting Cleary, in fact, might trigger their plan immediately.”

My brain was exploring options we hadn’t considered. We couldn’t reach Cleary and Pape soon enough with law enforcement. Somehow we needed to redirect their efforts. I already had access to Cleary’s memory stream. How could we use that to our advantage?

Then it struck me. I knocked my knuckles against the table.

“What is it?” Abby asked.

“An idea. Maybe. It would require the help of a friend.”

Bryson Nichols sat in the Library, sipping a vermouth and rum. He glanced around the walls, looking at the nineteenth-century English paintings for the first time in a while. My favorite century, he thought.

Damien Cleary appeared and sat in the chair across the table from him. “Where are you hiding, Nichols? I take it you can’t be found at the Kensington estate any longer.”

“Unfortunately, no. It’s a shame things don’t always turn out as one may wish. That’s what contingency plans are for, isn’t it?”

Cleary was silent.

Nichols answered his original question. “As for me, I’ll soon be safe. It takes time to execute one’s getaway, you know, even with our mental capacity. I’m surprised they aren’t on your trail, Damien.”

“Depends on how well the FBI can connect the dots.”

Nichols entwined his fingers on the table. “They’ll suspend operations at the lab shortly. It will, however, remain functional. We have only one more upload to perform for now. Unless you’re ready for yours, that is.”

Cleary shook his head. “No, I’ll let you escape into VR by yourself. I’m content staying out here in the physical world.”

“I don’t think the attorney general can protect you at this point.”

“No need for him to. I’ll use our nanites to deactivate my chip, and I’ll melt away. When all of this is over—when much of humanity has converted, and we’re regarded as heroes—I’ll resurface.”

“And I will download back into a nanite body. So it sounds as if you’ll be available to assist with that procedure.”

Cleary nodded.

“Good. Then I will contact you from VR in…oh, twenty years.”

“And if something should happen to me?”

Nichols smiled. “Then I have a backup, of course. I’ve already programmed my reappearance in holographic form at MIT. With instructions from me, someone there should be able to put me in a nanite body.”