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had even been tossed in as a possibility. But based on everything they knew and the
dangers they’d encountered so far—and knowing that Kaine could be watching every
nook and cranny of the VirtNet—they decided to go about it a different way: by doing
what they did best.
Hacking.
No matter how bad things got, there was one thing in the universe as certain as the
sun rising in the east and people kicking the bucket when they got old: Bryson would
keep gaming. He loved it, lived for it. And since Michael and Sarah knew all of his
favorite games, they knew where to look. And how to do it without anyone ever
knowing. They’d never had much reason to truly cheat at a game before—it kind of
defeated the purpose. Winning by cheating was as fun as not playing at all.
But now things were different, and luckily they knew the programming of Bryson’s
favorite games as well as he did. Because they all had the same favorites.
Lifeblood was the obvious first choice, though just the thought of it made Michael’s
heart hurt. Too many memories.
“I miss this place,” Sarah said when they started. “I haven’t played since the Path.”
Michael didn’t respond; he was officially in the dumps.
Running in the program’s background, the two of them jumped from location to
location within Lifeblood, seeing it all in code, searching for the imprint of Bryson. They
were breaking about fifty-three strict rules and regulations, not to mention VirtNet
etiquette, but it was a good test of whether their new identities would protect them. As
Michael scanned the most likely places their friend would be, he thought that so far, so
good. Except for that minor—major—bump of Agent Weber finding them. But they’d
know if and when Kaine did the same.
San Francisco. Paris. Shanghai. Tokyo. New Africa. The Antarctic Waste. Old Vegas.
Duluth. All the hot spots. No sign at all. Not even a trace of Bryson having visited the
regular places recently.
Sarah squeezed Michael’s hand, all the signal he needed, and soon they were sitting in
the tree house again, swirling code forming back into trees and sky.
“If he’s not in Lifeblood, you know what that means,” Michael said.
“Yep.”
“He’s hiding. He knows something’s up.”
“Exactly,” Sarah agreed. “But there’s no way he’s staying out of the Sleep. We just
need to look in his … shadier locations.”
Michael almost laughed, remembering a slew of escapades. The kicker was an image
of Bryson, naked as the day he was born, being chased by seven mermaids that were so
angry they had sprouted legs. He’d never admitted exactly what he’d done.
“So where to, then?” Michael asked, glad to see Sarah had a hint of a smile on her
face. He didn’t have a rational reason to think it, but her parents’ getting kidnapped
didn’t seem as bad as his finding out that technically he’d never had any to begin with.
“How about The Lair of the Spider Queen?” she suggested.
Michael rolled his eyes. The Spider Queen had always been a target for Bryson. And
he had yet to get so much as a kiss, though not for lack of trying.