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Michael was so bewildered that his knees eak, alht onto the floor And not because it was nonsense But because it was the singlehe’d ever heard

"Think on that," theback from the bars "Think about whether so is and o

"Wait!" Michael yelled "Just … tell me who you are"

"I can’t tell you now, Michael It would be … emotionally difficult for you But I wanted you to see my face Soave a brief nod, then walked away, not looking back

"Wait!" Michael yelled again, but the only ansas the echo of his own voice

Michael sat on the cot, so dazed by the man’s visit that he felt separated fro in some ethereal world thatthat he could only compare to those horrible moments when he’d Lifted out of the Sleep into another person’s body

And then he heard the tap-tap-tapping of high heels

He couldn’t believe it How did she dare show her face?

He looked up just as she walked into sight on the other side of the bars

"Really?" he asked "You caent Weber stopped Her face was cos you don’t understand Especially about s have come to pass the way they have"

Michael’s heart beat rapidly, and his chest rose and fell with heavy breaths He couldn’t even speak

"Everything said in here is recorded," she continued "I have to be careful But just know that what you think about me is not true You and I are on the sa" Her eyes flared a little when she said that, as if she wanted hie "And the role of the VNS is much more complicated than you think"

She leaned very close and whispered so softly that he could barely hear "The VNS created Kaine, Michael But now he’s gone rogue And he deliberately led you to that building in Lifeblood Deep so that you’d go there in the real world I didn’t switch you I swear it on my life No one at VNS can be trusted anymore And Kaine wanted all evidence of his connection to them destroyed" She took a step back, as if, with only a few sentences, she hadn’t just spun the world like a top

Michael stood still, treer And he stared harder into her eyes Oh man, how he missed his friends He could do this, he could handle thison the cot,his hand

"One o," Weber said "And this is very iht, then back at Michael "You can never destroy a huence Do you understand ent The Decay may scramble theether This is going to …" She see "I think it will s are ever going to be ht"