strange visions. But these were his best friends, and that just didn’t seem right, especially with what he was asking them to do.
He finished by telling them he felt fine now and he hoped it was over.
“You lying sack,” Bryson said. “I can tell you believe that about as much as you’d believe Sarah and I are married back in the Wake.”
“Which we aren’t” was Sarah’s response. “Just want to make sure that’s clear.”
Michael shrugged as they passed a group of men dressed in full armor. “Just trying to stay positive.”
“Well,” Sarah chided, “if it happens again, you better not wait until the next
day
to tell us or I’ll make you hurt somewhere else to take your mind off the noggin.” She smiled and touched his arm gently. “You have to trust us, Michael.”
All he could do was nod.
Bryson was shaking his head. “I can’t believe that stuff about Ronika. Seriously. Are you sure it’s her?”
“Positive,” Michael replied. “That KillSim barely got started on me and look what happened. According to Ronika, the whole point of those creatures is to erase your mind, remember? Not just your Aura but your mind in real life.”
Bryson stopped and looked at them. “And yet we’re jumping right back into the fire. What if KillSims are just the start of it?”
Sarah and Michael shrugged at the same time. Bryson followed, but he continued shaking his head as if he knew they were making the wrong decision, but he’d do it to appease his friends.
“You want to turn back?” Michael asked him, then tried to make light of it. “Just say the word, brother. I’ll buy you a pacifier and you can go home.”
Bryson didn’t miss a beat. “Nah, I’ll just borrow one of yours.”
And that was when they turned a corner and saw the sign for
Devils of Destruction
.
3
Michael loved how the VirtNet was a visual soup of archaic imagery mixed with the most advanced technology humans had ever known. This section of the Gaming Depot resembled an old boardwalk by the ocean, where arcades and restaurants and old-looking social clubs lined a walkway of wooden planks. Most of the shops here were actual games, though—a faux entrance to an entirely different world.
The sign for
Devils of Destruction
was huge and bordered with burning lightbulbs that flickered and sizzled. The letters were written in dark green—which Michael assumed was a reference to Greenland—with a red glow behind the word
Devils
. On the right side of the sign, there was a picture of a heavily clothed, helmet-wearing soldier, a machine gun pointed to the sky in one hand and a severed head, dripping with blood, hanging from his other fist. It seemed a little over-the-top.
They stopped right under the marquee, their necks craned to get a better look.
“Greenland,” Bryson said. “I’m almost seventeen years old and I’ve never played a game set there before. Must be one happenin’ place.”
Sarah turned to face her friends. “Most of it’s covered in snow and ice, big glaciers. We’re going to freeze our butts off.”
“Or something worse,” Bryson muttered. Then he flashed a playful grin like he’d just told the funniest joke of his life.
“Then keep ’em warm,” Sarah said with an eye roll.
He pointed to the front door, a rickety piece of wood that looked like it hadn’t been painted in ages. More specifically, a door that had been
programmed
to look like it had been neglected. It was all part of the atmosphere. “Well, we’ve studied the maps and we’ve made our plan. Let’s go for it.”
“When you die it makes you go back to the beginning,” Sarah said. “So if it happens to one of us, the other two need to die on purpose. We can’t get separated if we’re going to all get through.”
Michael didn’t necessarily agree with that. “I don’t know. As long as we figure out where the Portal to the Path is, that’s all that matters—we can’t waste a chance if we’re deep inside the battle
He finished by telling them he felt fine now and he hoped it was over.
“You lying sack,” Bryson said. “I can tell you believe that about as much as you’d believe Sarah and I are married back in the Wake.”
“Which we aren’t” was Sarah’s response. “Just want to make sure that’s clear.”
Michael shrugged as they passed a group of men dressed in full armor. “Just trying to stay positive.”
“Well,” Sarah chided, “if it happens again, you better not wait until the next
day
to tell us or I’ll make you hurt somewhere else to take your mind off the noggin.” She smiled and touched his arm gently. “You have to trust us, Michael.”
All he could do was nod.
Bryson was shaking his head. “I can’t believe that stuff about Ronika. Seriously. Are you sure it’s her?”
“Positive,” Michael replied. “That KillSim barely got started on me and look what happened. According to Ronika, the whole point of those creatures is to erase your mind, remember? Not just your Aura but your mind in real life.”
Bryson stopped and looked at them. “And yet we’re jumping right back into the fire. What if KillSims are just the start of it?”
Sarah and Michael shrugged at the same time. Bryson followed, but he continued shaking his head as if he knew they were making the wrong decision, but he’d do it to appease his friends.
“You want to turn back?” Michael asked him, then tried to make light of it. “Just say the word, brother. I’ll buy you a pacifier and you can go home.”
Bryson didn’t miss a beat. “Nah, I’ll just borrow one of yours.”
And that was when they turned a corner and saw the sign for
Devils of Destruction
.
3
Michael loved how the VirtNet was a visual soup of archaic imagery mixed with the most advanced technology humans had ever known. This section of the Gaming Depot resembled an old boardwalk by the ocean, where arcades and restaurants and old-looking social clubs lined a walkway of wooden planks. Most of the shops here were actual games, though—a faux entrance to an entirely different world.
The sign for
Devils of Destruction
was huge and bordered with burning lightbulbs that flickered and sizzled. The letters were written in dark green—which Michael assumed was a reference to Greenland—with a red glow behind the word
Devils
. On the right side of the sign, there was a picture of a heavily clothed, helmet-wearing soldier, a machine gun pointed to the sky in one hand and a severed head, dripping with blood, hanging from his other fist. It seemed a little over-the-top.
They stopped right under the marquee, their necks craned to get a better look.
“Greenland,” Bryson said. “I’m almost seventeen years old and I’ve never played a game set there before. Must be one happenin’ place.”
Sarah turned to face her friends. “Most of it’s covered in snow and ice, big glaciers. We’re going to freeze our butts off.”
“Or something worse,” Bryson muttered. Then he flashed a playful grin like he’d just told the funniest joke of his life.
“Then keep ’em warm,” Sarah said with an eye roll.
He pointed to the front door, a rickety piece of wood that looked like it hadn’t been painted in ages. More specifically, a door that had been
programmed
to look like it had been neglected. It was all part of the atmosphere. “Well, we’ve studied the maps and we’ve made our plan. Let’s go for it.”
“When you die it makes you go back to the beginning,” Sarah said. “So if it happens to one of us, the other two need to die on purpose. We can’t get separated if we’re going to all get through.”
Michael didn’t necessarily agree with that. “I don’t know. As long as we figure out where the Portal to the Path is, that’s all that matters—we can’t waste a chance if we’re deep inside the battle
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