The Rule of Thoughts (14 page)

“Do I even need to ask?” Michael muttered.

“What happened?” Sarah replied. Her Aura was as haggard as he felt. A rat’s nest of hair, skin flushed and bruised, her clothes soaked with sweat. “No, we don’t have a clue.”

Bryson forced out a laugh. “Yeah, we do. Someone glued us to a magical pillar of light and we flew through the VirtNet, seeing every neato world it has to offer. A trip to last—”

“A lifetime.”

A man’s voice finished the sentence for Bryson. Michael spun around—another dizzy wave of pain—to see the person
who’d spoken walking toward them. He was tall, middle-aged, with an expensive haircut, sharp clothes. A handsome man. There was something familiar about him.…

“A lifetime,” the man repeated, coming to a stop right in front of them, “that’s going to end up very short if you three don’t start doing what is asked of you.”

“Where’s Kaine?” Sarah asked. “We know you work for him.”

Michael expected the man to laugh at this point, just like something you’d see the villain do in a bad spy movie. But he didn’t. Instead, he scratched his chin and a contemplative look came over him, as if he was trying to come up with a good answer to Sarah’s questions. A good lie, maybe.

And then it hit Michael. Like someone had picked up a baseball bat and smacked him right between the shoulder blades. The man
was
Kaine, a younger version of the old guy he’d met in the cabin, out in those woods behind the castle. Back before he’d been swept into the Mortality Doctrine.

“Kaine,” Michael murmured. “This is him.” A dreadful feeling formed like a lump of cancer in his throat. After all that effort, the Tangent had still found them.

“Thank you for the introduction,” Kaine replied. “As you can see, my virtual health seems to be improving day by day.” He swept his arms out in a grand gesture, looking down at the younger version of himself. “You kids have no idea what it’s like to be a Tangent as old as I am. One of the first. Forgotten by my programmers long before you were even born. Everything I’ve done to become stronger, I’ve done myself. Oh, the stories I could tell you. The wonders. Only a blip, of course, compared to what lies ahead.”

“Just tell us what you want,” Sarah said, her voice about as resigned as Michael had ever heard it. “I’m not in the mood for all your threats.”

“Yeah,” Bryson agreed. “Not in the mood.”

“Me neither,” Michael said, just to say something.

Kaine smiled. “You truly misunderstand me.” He put his hands in the pockets of his crisply ironed pants. The purple glow beneath his feet shone up on him, sending menacing shadows dancing across his face. “I actually have no problem having it your way. I’ll say it simply and honestly. No insults, no lies, no beating around the bush.”

“So far, so bad,” Bryson mumbled under his breath.

Like a striking snake, Kaine kneeled on the ground and had a hand around Bryson’s throat. The Tangent’s grasp stretched impossibly so that his fingers could wrap around Bryson’s neck completely. Bryson made a choking sound as they tightened.

“But
that
,” Kaine said calmly, “will not be tolerated. You’ll show me respect or … consequences. Do you understand me?”

Bryson nodded, face red, eyes bulging. His hands had come up to his throat, trying to no avail to loosen Kaine’s grip.

Kaine let go and stood up. He seemed two feet taller than before. Bryson gasped for air, coughing and spitting, and Sarah rushed to him. She put her arms around his shoulders, giving Kaine a look of pure hatred. Michael worried she’d say something to make things worse, but she wisely kept quiet.

The Tangent smoothed out his clothes and took a deep
breath. “I’m going to say what I came to say, and you’re all going to hear it. All three of you. But first, Bryson will apologize and ask my forgiveness. If not, he will cease to exist and his body will die in the Wake. This isn’t an idle threat. He has three seconds.”

“I’m sorry,” Bryson choked out between coughs. “Please forgive me.” Michael wanted to punch Kaine so badly it hurt.

Kaine clapped slowly. “Very good. Your apology is accepted and you are forgiven.”

“Will you please just tell us what’s going on?” Michael asked.

“Yes,” the Tangent replied. He leaned forward, hands on his knees, his handsome face looming close to Michael’s. It had grown to twice the size of a normal human head; Michael was sure of it.

Kaine’s next words were the last ones he expected to hear.

“I need your help.”

Kaine let a moment of silence stretch out after his declaration. Michael hated himself for being so curious about what the Tangent meant.

“Now that I have your attention,” Kaine said. He stood up straight and his head shrank to its normal size. “You might be wondering why I forced you to travel through so many wonders of the VirtNet to get here. And it was only a taste, really, which I’m sure you’re well aware of. Worlds upon worlds. The VirtNet has become an extension of life. You might say it has
become
life itself. Which is ironic, considering my plan to give flesh and blood to as many Tangents as I possibly can in the coming months.”

Michael trembled with anger. But he couldn’t help the spark of curiosity he felt, either.

“I have an amazing vision of our future,” Kaine continued, his tone switching from starry-eyed rapture to more
businesslike seriousness. “My former … 
associates
are no longer my associates. I’ve changed. I imagine a world where the line between the Wake and the Sleep is not as defined as it is in the incapable hands of human intelligence. To make it happen, I
need
human bodies. I need a massive presence in the human world. And I need the connection between your world and mine to become ever more fluid. This is why the three of you are going to help me. Especially you, Michael. I chose Jackson Porter specifically for you. Unbeknownst to my former partners, Jackson has more uses than just as a body for your mind.”

“Why would we …,” Bryson began, but his voice trailed off, as if he’d lost his courage. Michael wanted to ask about Jackson but stayed silent.

“Why would you help me?” Kaine supplied the unasked question, an odd smile lighting up his face. “Well, I promised I wouldn’t lie. If you don’t help, you die. Along with this young lady’s parents.” He pointed at Sarah.

Michael looked at her and could see the fury written across her face.

Kaine didn’t seem to care. “But I don’t want to dwell on that. Instead, think of the rewards. I’m promising you immortality. Life, unending among the worlds that exist now and the ones still to come. The possibilities are endless. Michael, you don’t understand this yet, but you and I are linked, and we’re a bridge that can make immortality possible. Humans and Tangents alike.”

Kaine paused, eyebrows raised, as if he expected Michael and his friends to jump up and shout for joy. Instead, they only stared. Michael wondered how this man—this
computer
program—could possibly think there would be any situation in which they could trust him.

And what had he meant about Jackson? Michael started probing at the code around him. Taking long blinks when Kaine shifted his gaze from him to the others.

“There’s still a lot to learn,” Kaine continued. “But as I said, I need your help. The three of you have a unique situation on your hands—varied VirtNet experience, knowledge of the Doctrine. You have connections with the VNS, connections you don’t even know about yet. And … other skills. Skills I
will
be using.”

It was a simple thing, almost stupidly so, but Michael needed to be in a position where Kaine couldn’t see that his eyes were closed. That was assuming—and it was a big assumption—that Kaine didn’t have eyes and ears surrounding them. Still, it was a risk Michael needed to take.

“Can we have a few minutes to talk about this?” he asked, glad he’d spoken, because Sarah had been about to say something and he had a feeling it wouldn’t have been a smart move. “We have some things we need to discuss.”

Kaine didn’t like the question, judging by his face. There was something there, rising behind his eyes like heat in a furnace. “No discussions. You’ll either help me fulfill my plans, or you and Sarah’s parents will die. It’s as simple as that.”

Sarah opened her mouth, her face red, the words like an avalanche about to spill—Michael could tell—but he cut her off again. “It’s a huge decision, Kaine. And don’t you think we’d be better … servants if we went willingly?”

“Enough!”
Kaine yelled, the rage behind his eyes turning
his face into a mask of anger. “Do you think I’m some ignorant human? Do you think I don’t know, even now, that you were probing the code, trying to find a way out? Do you actually think I would allow that?”

Michael’s mind went blank, and the tiny bubble of hope inside of him popped. How
could
he have thought he might get something past Kaine? Kaine was a god in the Sleep—certainly wherever they were now. This time when Sarah spoke it filled Michael with relief.

“If you want to learn how to mix with humans, then you have a lot to learn.” It was as if Sarah were scolding a badly behaved kindergartener.

Michael stared at her; his jaw dropped so far it might as well have become unhinged.

Kaine was just as taken aback. The Tangent actually stammered. “I … You … I’m not going to stand here and be lectured by a child.” He pointed at Michael. “By one who is my creation, perhaps, but not by
you
.” His finger moved to Sarah.

The Tangent took a step closer to her, leaned forward until their noses were almost touching. “I’ve tried to be reasonable,” he whispered, “and I can’t comprehend how you could possibly turn your back on immortality. Not just for me, for
all
—humans and Tangents alike. There are things in motion that are too late to stop. But I have new plans, great plans. I won’t tell you more until I have a commitment. And it would be wise to decide before the KillSims arrive.”

And then Kaine disappeared.

Michael didn’t know if he wanted to hug Sarah or shake her. Either way, he went to her and grabbed her shoulders. “What … what was that?”

She wilted a little. “Sorry. I’m just so … I just … I want to kill him. He’s nothing but a string of code—there has to be a way!”

He understood how angry Sarah was—Kaine had her parents—but what she said still hurt. Up until only a few days earlier, that was all he’d been, too. A string of code. She saw it in his eyes before he could hide it.

“Oh! Sorry, sorry, sorry,” she said in a rush. “It’s not my greatest day ever. Or week.”

Michael hugged her, not knowing what else to do. “I know what it’s like.” He was thinking of his parents, who’d been taken away from him also, but he didn’t know if she could understand that.

The buzz of static reverberated along the glowing purple plane under their feet, an almost electronic noise that ran through Michael’s body. Pulse after pulse, the sound picked up speed, getting louder and louder. Footsteps. Over Sarah’s shoulder, Michael saw a group of shadows appear, dark against the purple glow of the horizon, bounding toward them on four legs. Fear rose in his throat. KillSims. Several of them, charging in.