Entering the Weave

The truck rumbled on through the rain and night, spraying dirty water into the countryside with its huge churning wheels. The driver was tired; he had been driving since the morning and he needed to deliver his cargo before midnight.

On the road ahead was a small white car carrying Francine Jones and her younger brother. She was driving quite slowly because she was shouting at Tom, who had so recently embarrassed her in front of all her friends.

“Why did you have to open your big fat mouth?”

“I didn’t know it was a secret.” Tom slumped down in the front seat.

“Oh really. You think it’s easy being rich and going to that school don’t you? You just don’t care.”

“My friends don’t mind.”

“You haven’t got any friends. That’s why mum and dad forced me to bring you with me tonight.” This wasn’t true, but she didn’t care. She was furious and just wanted to hurt Tom in any way she could.

“Whatever. You drove there. You’re the only one of your stupid friends who’s got a car. Perhaps they already knew.” He shrugged and turned the radio up.

She knew he was right and that annoyed her even more. She knew that she had not been honest with her friends and that she was the only person to blame for that. She shook her head to clear her anger and fumbled to find the radio with her left hand.

She glanced up and noticed a blaze of headlights in her rear view mirror a fraction of a second before the truck blasted into the back of the car. Francine felt her neck snap backwards as they were lifted off the road and the car was sent skidding on its nose before the truck, throwing up bright sparks. The music had been replaced by shrieking metal and the constant blare of the truck’s horn.

Francine felt the car lurch again, this time to the side, and it tumbled end over end through a hedge and finished upside down in a ditch. A sudden crushing silence had fallen and she could see only what was illuminated by the flickering dashboard lights. Her head swam and she felt herself drifting into unconsciousness.

“Frankie?” A small voice wheezed.

“Oh, Tom. I’m so sorry. We’ve had a crash. Are you alright?” She ignored the sharp pain in her legs as she tried to reposition herself to look at Tom.

“It…hurts.”

He was suspended by his seatbelt, just as she was, but his neck was twisted unnaturally and a dark liquid dripped out from somewhere beneath his shirt.

“Tom?” Francine tried to stay calm and say something useful, but the sheer horror of the situation had taken over and urged panic upon her. She tried frantically to wriggle free of her restraints and reach him.

“Tom!”

His head lolled forwards as a rattling gasp escaped his lips.

She awoke with a start.

The dream was always the same, always a perfect memory of the night that she had lost her brother, always a tormenting punishment.

She had fallen asleep at her desk again. She peered out of the window at the darkening sky and guessed that it was probably early evening. She glanced at her computer screen to check the time and noticed a glowing icon at the bottom of the screen.

She clicked it, and reams and reams of numbers scrolled past too quickly to read the details, but the sheer amount of data told her enough to realise that something big had happened. Something enormous.

Pulling her wheelchair closer to the desk, she started to trace a pattern through the information, glad of the distracting complexity of the work because it dulled the sense of loss that she always felt after dreaming her dream.

A satisfied smile flickered on her lips as she locked onto the specific piece of information she needed.

After Kat had gone, Toby started to look for Geigerzalion again. Josh watched him for a while, but didn’t understand anything his friend was doing and before long his mind drifted back to his terrifying fall in the snow. The memory was so vivid and detailed that he found it hard to believe that it hadn’t actually happened.

He had once had a dream in which he had been hanging from the underside of an impossibly high bridge. The girder he was frantically grasping onto was rough with old rust, which bit into his sweating fingers and soon he was slipping and he had to change his grip to keep a hold on the crumbling iron. Eventually his arms weakened and he found himself frantically clutching thin air. He plummeted head over heels down through the rushing wind. The ground lurched up to meet him and then, inevitably, he had woken up, and his arms had ached as if he had done a million press-ups.

That dream had created its own memories in Josh and even though he knew that it had not been real, he always felt as if he had experienced the fall. Who was to say what was real, he thought to himself.

“Do you want to see my Kung Foo?” Toby grinned manically at him.

“Kung Fu? What are you talking about? You don’t know Kung Fu.”

Toby laughed. “Sure I do. But I think mine is a little different to Bruce Lee’s. It’s geek boy speak for programming skills. It makes us feel better about how sad we are.”

Josh rolled his eyes. “Fair enough. Have you found Geigerzalion then?”

“Nope. I don’t think he wants to be found. In saying that though, I can’t even open one of those pipes, but I think we should prepare for the next time you meet him.”

“I’m starting to get tired of saying this, but what do you mean?”

“Well, what happens if the next time you meet him you actually land?” Toby raised his eyebrows knowingly, letting what he had said sink in.

“Right.” Josh nodded slowly. “Can you make me fly?”

“Course I can.”

A few minutes later Josh had donned the virtual reality glasses and found himself whizzing around an empty football stadium, swooping from the top of the stands and down between the goal posts. It was magnificent and Josh loved it. The sensations were not as intense or the visuals as vivid as when he had been chased through the tunnels with Geigerzalion, but the exhilaration was almost enough to make him believe he could feel the wind on his face.

He controlled himself in exactly the same way as he had in the pipes and before long he had mastered all manner of aerobatics. Toby even made a game of it by adding some flaming hoops for him to fly through and then a shower of meteorites for him to dodge.

“You’re really good at this, Josh.”

“Well don’t sound so surprised.”

“But, you’re normally rubbish at computer games.”

“No, I’m not. I’m not that bad at ‘Shiver’.”

“Yes. Yes you are.”

Toby wanted to equip him with a weapon next, but Josh insisted on something more defensive. So Toby created a sphere of golden, shimmering energy that would surround him if anything he didn’t like came too close. He had as much fun testing this out in the football stadium as he had when he learnt to fly. Toby introduced some flying boulders and every time one hit him he found himself catapulted away from it, sent sprawling in his crackling sphere to the other side of the pitch. It was difficult to remember that he was really sitting in his friend’s bedroom bedecked with a pair of virtual reality glasses.

It was the most fun Josh had had for ages and it almost made him forget about where Kat had gone.

Josh grinned to himself as he walked home the next day when he realised that he wanted to spread his arms out and pretend to fly along the street making aeroplane noises.

When he got home, Jackie was eating a bowl of cereal in the kitchen. Her hair, which was not allowed to leave the house without numerous oils and gels applied to it, stuck up and out as if an ostrich had tried to make a home in it.

“Hi, Josh. Where’ve you been?”

“I stayed round at Toby’s last night. How about you?”

“I was at Ally Brimble’s party. It was so cool. Everybody was there Josh. Eddie White and Tania Parkinson had the biggest row. Apparently he helped Karen Rogers with her homework in the library and Tania thinks he’s …” Jackie rambled on, happily retelling the scandalous goings on of the night before. Josh listened with half an ear for any mention of Kat, but there was none and eventually Jackie’s gossip ran out of steam.

“Was Kat there?” Josh asked as nonchalantly as he could.

“Who?”

“Katrina Sandler.”

”Oh that gothic freak.” Jackie curled her lip. “I don’t know why people think she’s so interesting. Goths are just so yesterday.”

“Was she there?” Josh asked through tight lips.

“Why do you want to know?” Jackie had not been paying much attention to her brother before, but now her curiosity had been piqued by the chance of some gossip. “Do you fancy her?”

“No. I don’t” Josh’s response was probably too vehement.

“You do! I can’t believe it. What do you see in her?”

“I don’t fancy her. I just wondered if she was there or not.”

“Well, if you tell me why you want to know, I’ll tell you whether she was there or not. Fair?”

“It doesn’t matter.” Josh stomped out of the room and furiously ran upstairs.

His face was still burning by the time he reached his bedroom. He knew why he was so cross with his sister, but he desperately didn’t want her to know the reason. He slammed his door and leant back against it, puffing his cheeks out.

“Good morning Joshua.” A jumble of old clothes on his bed said.

“Arrrrrrghhhh!” Josh banged his head against the door. “What?”

“Sorry to startle you.” Trevor Lewis Oakhampton pushed himself into a sitting position. “I really didn’t mean to. You have a very comfortable bed.”

“But… what are you doing on my bed? How did you get in?”

“Well, to answer your first question: I was sleeping, which is an interesting experience. And the answer to your second question is: through the window.” He motioned towards Josh’s open window.

“You broke in?”

“I didn’t break anything. Apart from this model of a Lancaster bomber, but I’ve fixed it.” The tramp beamed at Josh, holding up a ball of sticky tape with some plastic pieces in it. “Look! Good as new. I used to fly one of these. I remember…”

“I know who you are.”

“Well I should hope so, young Joshua. We only met a couple of days ago.”

“You’re the chairman of Tech-Tonic.”

Trevor looked puzzled for a second, but then his face cleared with certainty. “No. No I don’t think so. I am a hu-man not a chair-man. And where is Tech-Tonic? Is it in Africa?”

“No, it’s not a place. It’s a huge multinational company that makes… stuff.”

“Ah yes. Well we all need stuff don’t we.” The tramp tapped his nose earnestly.

“Yes, yes whatever. Tell me why you’re here and then get out.”

“Do you think I could trouble you for one of your lovely cups of tea? My throat is a little dry from sleep. Do you find that?”

“Well yes. Sometimes. Look I can’t take you downstairs, my sister’s there. She’ll go mental if she sees you.”

“But why? You can introduce me to her.”

“Look, just wait here and I’ll get you a cup of tea.”

Josh ran downstairs and back into the kitchen. Jackie was still there, tidying up her breakfast things.

“Decided to tell me why you want…”

“Shut up, Jackie. I’m not bothered.” Josh switched the kettle on and threw a tea bag into a cup. He leaned back against the kitchen side and determinedly ignored his sister. She looked a little taken aback but she seemed to realise that there was no sport in this game anymore. “She wasn’t there anyway. Probably out with some of the other weirdoes. Ally was disappointed she wasn’t there.”

“She wasn’t there?” Josh couldn’t help the surprise in his voice.

“No. But why do you want to know? Please tell me Josh. You know I live for this sort of thing. I won’t tell anyone. Was she meant to see you?” An idea occurred to her. “Was she meant to be with you last night? Oh, hang on.” Jackie looked slyly at him. “Did you stay at hers? And this is just a clever ruse to keep me off the scent.”

“Yes. If that’s what you want to think.” He stirred milk into the tea, which was not nearly strong enough. He smiled at her and went back to his room.

Trevor had tried to smarten himself up, which had only resulted in the attachment of a comb to his matted beard.

Josh silently offered the tramp his tea while staring fixedly at his comb, which was well and truly stuck.

“Thank you very much.” He took a gentile sip of the steaming brew; complete with a straight little finger.

“Why are you here?” Josh enunciated the words as if talking to a child.

“Ah, yes. Well I think you’ll remember that I told you that testing things were going to happen to you. You have met the first test with honour and courage. I salute you.”

“I haven’t done anything.”

“Oh you have. Gaia has felt a… shifting. You have made contact.”

“Contact?”

“You have made contact with the entity.”

“The entity? You mean Geigerzalion?”

“Yes.”

Josh rolled his eyes. “What has Gaia got to do with Geigerzalion?”

“Gaia is to do with all things. I thought I explained that.”

“Yes, well. You may have explained something, but every time you open your mouth I become more confused.” Josh’s patience was wearing a thin.

“I’m sorry you feel that way Josh. One thing that you must understand however is that this entity is not of this world. Gaia has no influence over it. You must be careful in your dealings with it. It is strange.”

“And you’re not!”

The tramp looked startled. “I’m not strange. I am the quintessence of nature, in fact.”

“Look. I don’t want to be rude, but you’ll have to go. I’ve got to get to the park and I need a shower.”

“Very well. I have things to do as well.” He stood up and straightened the sleeves on his jacket and his face suddenly took on a serious aspect and even with his unkempt hair and filthy appearance, Josh could see how capable this man had once been. “Be careful of this entity, Josh. You have potential and I don’t want you to get hurt..” Then he opened the window and jumped headlong through it.

Josh ran to the window to see the tramp sprawled on the ground. “Are you okay?”

“Yes. I’m fine.” He staggered to his feet. “See you soon, Josh.” With a cheery wave he limped out of sight, groaning slightly.

Wellington Park was no more than a field with some flowerbeds in the middle of it and a children’s play area at one end, but it had always been the main meeting place for everyone in West Hackett. The younger children played football in the middle, crushing as many flowers as possible, the older kids sat and smoked on the swings while the grumpy old folks wandered around the whole park moaning about all of them.

When Josh arrived there, Toby was spinning himself around on the old roundabout.

“I’ve found him again! I mean, he wanted me to find him, but I know where he is.”

“And I’ve had another visit from Trevor.”

“Really. Where?”

“He was in my bedroom.”

“How did he get in?”

“Through my window.” Toby looked horrified and Josh felt a curious need to defend the tramp’s actions. “He didn’t break in, I must’ve left it open.”

“Still, that’s a bit scary isn’t it?”

“He’s not scary. I feel sorry for him.”

“You’re too soft. He’s clearly unstable; he could flip at any moment. You need to call the police. I don’t think your dad would see him as just a harmless old man.”

Josh pondered this, but he knew that Toby was right. “Yes, with everything else that’s been happening I’ve not been that bothered that a lunatic seems to be stalking me. You’re right Toby. If I see him again I’ll tell someone.”

“Come on, let’s go and see Geigerzalion. I’ve rigged up another VR unit so I can come too.”

“We’ve got to wait for Kat.” Josh said.

“Oh yeah.” Toby looked slightly disappointed. “What time did she say she was coming?”

Josh realised with a sinking feeling that because Kat had left in such a hurry they hadn’t decided on a time. He and Toby always met around eleven, and he had just assumed Kat would know. Tightness settled around his stomach. “I didn’t tell her.”

“She didn’t ask.” Toby slapped Josh on the back. “Come on, mate. She knows where I live. If she really wants to see you, she’ll come round.”

“Yeah. I suppose.”

They left the park slowly, and Josh couldn’t help looking a few times.

Toby’s room was even more untidy than it had been the night before. He had obviously ransacked various electronic devices to make two virtual reality stations and his previously tidy computer area was now a mass of wires and circuit boards. Two pairs of glasses and gloves lay on top of the mess.

“You’ve been busy.”

“Come on let’s get to work. He’s hiding in ‘Shiver’. It’s so cool.” Toby was doing a quick little dance of excitement.

“Is it safe? There’s an awful lot of killing in Shiver.“

“Yeah, of course it’s safe. We’ve got the force fields and we should be able to use any of the items in the game.” Toby was more than a little excited by this, and he had already got half of his equipment on. “Come on.”

“The fall in the snowstorm felt really real. I don’t want to get blasted by someone playing a game.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ve put a button on the palm of the gloves. If you need to get out, just clap your hands and your glasses will go blank. So you can get out at any time. It couldn’t be simpler.”

“I suppose not.” Josh put on his gloves and glasses and waited for something to happen.

A kaleidoscope of spinning shapes and colours burst into sight and Josh felt his eyes straining to focus before the view solidified into an image of one of the pipes. He looked to his left and saw a figure dressed in army fatigues.

“Toby?”

The figure, had been crouching in combat readiness, sprang up with karate quickness. “Hie!” He bowed.

“What do I look like?”

“You look the same.” Josh thought he saw something in Toby’s virtual eyes. He looked down to examine his own body, but there was nothing to see.

“Toby! What have you done?”

“Nothing. Come on. It’s down here.”

They moved slowly along the tunnel. The walls fascinated Josh. The last time he had been in one of these pipes, he had been going too fast and too frantically to notice them. Now however he could see that they were not solid, but constructed of millions of tiny computer screens. Balls of light continually shuttled from one display to another.

“What are these?”

Toby was peering at some screens on the opposite side of the tunnel and tracing routes between them with a finger. “This, Josh, is the internet in operation. Each screen is what is displayed somewhere in the world on someone’s computer and the light is the information sent between them. This is revolutionary. I think this one’s a bank!” Toby reached forward to touch the screen, but before his outstretched finger touched it a wall of blue, digital fire sprang up knocking Toby back.

“Toby!” Josh scrambled to reach his friend who had been thrown across the tunnel and lay sprawled in a heap. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” Toby laughed as he stood up. “I didn’t realise how literal things were around here. I’ve never actually been able to see a firewall before. I wonder if I can get through it if I just program myself to have a fire proof suit?”

“Stop it Toby. You can do your hacking whenever you want to. Let’s go and find Geigerzalion.”

“Yeah, sure.” But as they moved away Josh could tell that Toby was thinking about breaking into the bank.

Soon they came across an intersection that made Josh’s brain lurch. Seemingly thousands of tunnels came from every direction and every angle, all meeting in a huge spherical chamber. Light coursed up and down every tunnel wall and massive beams raced through the centre of the sphere.

“This is a server, I think.” Toby was looking around in awe. “I’m inside the computer.” He whispered to himself.

“Are we going to get lost?” Josh stared at the myriad of tunnels all leading away from this space. He pushed himself out a little into the sphere and tried to find anything that would distinguish it from the thousands of other pipes leading away from the chamber. There was nothing.

“Don’t worry Josh. Remember we can just clap our hands.”

“Can we test it?”

“Sure. You go back. You’ll appear back in the tunnel when you come back, but I’ll wait for you here.”

“Don’t you want to come back?”

“Nah. I’ve tried it.”

Josh clapped his hands together and the world went black and silent. He realised there had been a background humming in the virtual reality and the normal sounds of the real world sounded nicely reassuring. He shook his head to clear it and with a flick of his hands plunged back into the network of pipes.

He got back to the server-sphere to find Toby launching himself from one side of it to another, narrowly avoiding the bright light streams that coursed through.

“Come on Josh. This is great.” Toby deftly dived through a criss-cross of light.

“What happens if they hit you?”

“Nothing much. I fell into one the first time I tried. You can see the data that’s being sent. I think you might interrupt the connection from one computer to another, but the information will get resent.”

Josh leapt off the edge of the tunnel and flew across the sphere amongst the crackling light streams. Soon, undoubtedly due to his practice in the football stadium, he was shooting from side to side faster than Toby.

To begin with they were only occasionally caught in the glare of the streams, and that was an incredible sensation in itself. Somehow the glasses they wore tried to make sense of the mass of information that was being transmitted along the beams, but usually there was too much, so the images and sounds were just a psychedelic jumble. After a while they stopped trying to avoid the beams and actively sought to pass through as many as possible.

“Elephants, tornadoes and Mount Everest.” Toby laughed after a particularly successful run.

Josh started his dive when out of the corner of his eye he spotted something metallic. Its squat solidity made it seem out of place and as he fell he turned to look directly at it. A huge many-legged machine was crawling out of one of the tunnels. It had ropey tentacles that writhed to and fro, probing the sides of the tunnel and the light streams.

Toby was staring at it too, and suddenly he dived after Josh. “Come on Josh, it’s come for us.”

“What? Why?”

They sped along the side of the sphere, heading away from the monstrous robot.

“I think it’s a virus checker, or anti intrusion software or something. It thinks we’re an infection.”

“But why?”

“Because we’re interfering with the data streams. Come on, faster.”

Josh looked around to see the machine scuttling around the curved wall of the sphere towards them, gaining on them. Toby led them to the entrance to a tunnel where he checked something on his wrist and plunged into it. Josh followed as quickly as he could and as he had travelled these tunnels before, he found himself creeping ahead of Toby. He looked back and saw a metallic tentacle squirming towards his friend.

“Toby. Behind you!”

Toby swivelled around and drew his feet up, just as a pincer snapped shut where his ankle had been. In his panic to help his friend Josh found he had slowed and was now easily within reach of the grasping, snapping tentacles. He saw a single shiny dome on the body of the machine and within the dome, he thought he saw a grotesque babyish figure, pushing and pulling levers and switches. Smaller appendages extruded from around the dome and Josh could see tools shining on the ends of them; circular saws, drills, and the blue white flare of a welding torch. He grunted with the extra effort he put in as he flung himself away from the nightmare.

Then suddenly he was caught. Something gripped him by the scruff of the neck and he was hauled backwards. His arms flailed uselessly as he tried to bring them together to clap, but he couldn’t do it. He knew the final fatal blow or cut or burn was only seconds away and he thrashed about trying to dislodge his captor’s grip.

Symbols flooded his vision.

Be still. I am trying to help you.

Josh went limp with relief and as soon as he relaxed he found he could turn around. They had shot up a side tunnel at such amazing speed that they had already left their pursuer waving its tentacles far behind them.

Geigerzalion was pulling Toby with his other hand and he looked almost human. He was wearing the same sort of combat fatigues that Toby was, but his face had a strange shifting quality that made Josh think that it was just on the verge of changing into something else. Toby looked frightened and he was just about to clap his hands together.

“Don’t Toby. It’s Geigerzalion.”

Toby twisted himself round to look at their rescuer and grinned. “Hello. That’s the most frightening thing that’s ever happened to me. I was so scared I didn’t remember that I could clap to get away. I was petrified.”

“Me too. I remembered about clapping, but not until it was too late. I thought that thing had caught me.”

“I’ll never look at virus software in the same way again.”

“Look. We’re not in the tunnel anymore.”

They were still travelling quickly, but now they had emerged into the darkness of a Bavarian winter. Huge, dark pine trees covered the landscape that spread out beneath them and in the distance they could see the lights of a grim, forbidding castle silhouetted against the moon.

“This is Shiver.” Toby said.

The howl of a wolf pierced the cold night air and Josh could make out shadowy shapes racing along beneath them. Although the shapes ran like wolves every now and again one would look up and Josh could see their faces were more like Neanderthals.

“What are they?”

“The Grishnak. They live in the hills that surround the castle and kill any player that tries to escape into the forest.”

A stuttering noise made them look towards the castle and they saw the flash of gunfire coming from the battlements. Geigerzalion swooped down and to the left. They heard the whine of bullets tearing through the air above them. Then a bright red laser cut through the night and seared through the area where the machine gun’s bullets had been coming from. A body fell from the top of the wall accompanied by a man’s scream. Josh hoped he hadn’t seen the legs detach from the torso as it fell.

Geigerzalion veered again and rose sharply. Within a few seconds they had come to rest on a ledge that jutted out from the massive curtain wall of the castle. Josh looked down for a split second and almost fell when he realised how precariously placed the ledge was. Geigerzalion passed his hands over a protruding stone and the outline of a doorway appeared which slowly opened inwards.

Inside, lit by a roaring fire, was a large sitting room. The grey granite walls were almost hidden behind hundreds of small, gilt framed pictures, and the cold flagstone floor was covered with a patchwork of thick rugs. Podgy armchairs and settees were placed facing each other in the centre of the room. The chairs coupled with the warm, flickering fire, gave the room a homely appearance.

Geigerzalion indicated for the two boys to sit.

“Thanks for rescuing us.” Toby started, but Geigerzalion waved him silent and focussed his attention on Josh. Symbols flowed around him, like a flutter of butterflies.

We do not have much time. We are surrounded by flesh eating man-wolves and this castle is populated entirely by warlords determined to destroy each other with the most powerful weapons humanity can imagine. We are not completely safe from the things that are chasing me even here. Yet, more than anything else I need to know one thing.

“Yes? Anything.”

Why are you dressed as a ballerina?

“What?”

You are dressed as a ballet dancer. Why?

Josh looked down once more and this time he could see the pink material covering his front and a frilly lace tutu extending out below that. He looked up and noticed a mirror on the wall, and examined himself in it. He was, indeed, dressed as a ballerina.

“Toby!”

His friend burst out laughing. “I couldn’t resist it. I only thought of it at the last moment. Count yourself lucky, at least you’ve got clothes.”

Josh, now that he realised how he was dressed, felt decidedly uncomfortable. The costume now felt tight in most places and where it didn’t feel too tight it felt draughty.

“I’m going to kill you.” He spoke the words slowly and through gritted teeth. He clenched his fists at his side and stood glowering at his friend. He didn’t care that, clothed as he was, he probably did not look particularly fearsome.

“I’m sorry.” Toby apologised breathlessly.

You do look ridiculous. There was something different about the symbols now and Josh assumed that it represented amusement.

“Oh, great now you’re laughing at me!” But Josh’s anger had mellowed somewhat, and he found himself chortling a little. “Can you change me?” He asked Toby.

“Not without going out of the program.”

I can. And Josh felt a breeze blow over his body. There. You are now skinned in a more appropriate fashion.

Josh looked in the mirror and saw that he was dressed as a soldier just like the other two. “That’s better.” He couldn’t resist pretending to draw a gun and shooting his image in the mirror.

“Is this where you are living at the moment?” Josh looked around the comfortable room. He saw that the door through which they had entered had dissolved back into the solid stone of the wall and there did not seem to be any other exits.

Yes. It is only temporary. It is not the most savoury of places to reside, but the amount of activity produced by the game seems to provide me with a shield from prying eyes. This room is theoretically accessible from within this world however and it will not be long before a persistent hacker worms his or her way in. When that happens, my pursuers will be able to see me more easily and I will have to find somewhere else.

“Do you know who’s after you?”

Not exactly, but I think I have found the source of them.

“Where are they from?”

There is an anomalous region of the Internet, which I can show you. My pursuers are located in this region, but I cannot enter.

“Can we?”

That is my hope. I do not want you to go into any danger, but it is my only chance I think. At least we may find out with whom we are dealing.

Toby, who could not understand the symbolic conversation, was wandering around the room, examining the pictures that were dotted about on the walls.

“Ask him what these are Josh.”

They are my windows into the World Wide Web. Through these pictures I can see many things and go to many places.

Josh passed on as good a translation as he could to Toby, who nodded. “I thought so. So he can go through these pictures?”

Yes.

“Can you show us this place you were talking about through them?” Josh asked.

No. These pictures are dangerous to me in themselves. They are a connection to the outside, which an intruder could use if they had the right knowledge. But we can use them to get close to it.

“Well, let’s go then.”

You are ready now? After escaping the virus killer in the server? I thought you would want to rest.

“We’re ready. This isn’t real. We don’t need rest,”

This is more real than you imagine Josh. I know that if you look closely at things they may give the impression that they are computer generated, but soon your mind will stop seeing the pixels and convince your body that you are in a real world.

“I know we’re in a virtual world, and our bodies are sitting in Toby’s bedroom. As long as we remember that, surely we are in no danger.”

Geigerzalion sat completely motionless and the symbols faded to nothing for a few moments. When they eventually reappeared Josh could not decipher their mood.

This is far from being a game, Josh. You must never forget that.

“I understand.” Josh looked away. He thought that Geigerzalion was being too protective, but a vague feeling of unease settled on him as he remembered the pain of crashing into the trees in the snowstorm.

I do not want anything to happen to you Josh.

“I really do understand. We will be careful. But we are ready to see what you want to show us.”

Very well.

Geigerzalion stood and went over to a picture that showed snowy mountains. He did something to the frame and it started to expand until it filled the entire wall. Josh could feel the biting cold that rushed down off the peaks. More of the room had disappeared and within a few seconds the three of them were standing on the top of a steep slope looking over a wide valley. The sun, setting behind the massive mountains, gave the valley a red glow. Behind them the room in the castle winked out of existence.

Looking into the valley they could see tall smoky towers rising above a winding river with huge factory buildings crouching beneath them.

Josh could feel a difference in this place. Even though Shiver had been brilliantly rendered and visually perfect there had been subliminal indications that the world had not been real. Here Josh could see nothing that allowed him to tell the difference between the real and the virtual. He shivered as a particularly cold gust of wind whipped by.

They made their way down the treacherous icy slope towards a road that led to the front gates of the factory compound. They clambered down in silence because the light was waning and as it got darker the climb became more difficult and both Josh and Toby lost their footing frequently.

Once they had reached the valley floor Geigerzalion called them to a stop. He was almost transparent now; his breath billowing in the cold air seemed to have more substance than him.

I cannot continue any nearer to the buildings. Even here my power is weakening. You must go on alone.

“What do you want us to do?”

You must discover to whom this factory belongs. Just find that out and come back. That will be enough for today. Perhaps then we can find out why they are pursuing me.

“What are you going to do?”

I will wait here. Please be careful Josh. Geigerzalion’s normally vivid symbols were weak now.

Josh nodded. “We will.”

They set off for the snow-dusted road and Josh looked over his shoulder for one last look at Geigerzalion, but either he had turned completely transparent or he had gone, because Josh saw nothing.

He suddenly felt very cold and alone.