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"It’s code," Michael said, even though he knew they’d figured it out There was no denying what they saw It was just too fa they’d seen thousands of times, those combinations of letters and nu, slithering lines of code And they behaved as though they were all desperate to create a program "Infected or destroyed somehohich is probably e can see it But it’s code"

"Okay," Sarah said, holding her hands out as if steadying herself "Let’s put our heads together What exactly are we looking at here?"

"And how did we get here?" Bryson added "What happened to that toere in? Where are we? And while we’re at it, where can I get a burger?"

Michael felt like he was in a trance--he barely heard his friends He stared at the frothy purple water below the the air Everywhere he looked, those lines of code bounced off each other There were so ht be ently shoved him with an elbow "Hey, wake up, maestro"

Michael shook his head a bit--he had to recalibrate his vision after concentrating to focus on such s "Sorry It’s just so weird"

"Yeah" was all Bryson said But then a few seconds later he added, "Guess I’er any time soon"

"Guess not"

"The water’s just an illusion," Sarah said, see fiercely since they’d arrived in the strange world, and she had a theory already He wanted to hug her, wet clothes and all, because his mind orthless mush at the moment

"Care to expound on that?" Bryson asked

Sarah looked over at them just as another wave crashed below, buckets of purple water splashing over theer to hear what she had to say

She rubbed her face with both hands, then squeezed as much wetness as she could fro parts of the Sleep I think he’sit to shreds And I think it’s all draining into this place" She waved her arms at the vast ocean around theround of code and that purple building-block stuff that holds it all together If we hadn’t been protected by Agent Weber’s programs, I think we could’ve been in serious trouble"

"Wait, what do you mean?" Bryson asked "You think ould’ve been pulled apart and du but a bunch of code splices?"

Sarah nodded "So like that I don’t know if Kaine … what’s the word … manifested this ocean like this on purpose, or if it’s just so But because of the ere protected, I think we so to--these islands of rock Otherewith the fishes, too And brain-dead, for all we know, back in our Coffins Or so else just as bad"

"That lady ," Michael said "Back in the town Dissolving into those blue spark thingies, just like what happened to Ronika Maybe that would’ve been us, too" He shivered at the thought

"How in the name of Gunner Skale did you coenuine, like he believed her It made Michael realize that he did, too And he wondered if on some subconscious level he’d created this escape--it made him think back to how he’d instinctively ered the Mortality Doctrine and sent hi and just shrugged, s sheepishly "Sometimes I amaze even myself"

The three of the it all in Michael kne Sarah had co through the raw s on an instinctual level It made sense And so did what came next

"I knoe have to do," he said