All three of them lost their balance at the same time, their feet slipping. Michael landed hard; a spike of pain shot through his tailbone. He was sliding feetfirst across the pavement, as if being dragged by ropes tied to his ankles. The beam of light, raging and pulsing and sparkling with electricity, rushed skyward, pulling him like a massive magnet as things flew at it from all directions, obscuring its bright surface.
Heavier objects than Michael had already flown away, and lighter ones still bounced along the ground. It was as if the purple shaft was picking and choosing what it wanted. He scrambled, trying to get any sort of traction he could to stop the slide, but nothing worked. Sarah’s arm slipped out of his, then Bryson’s. They scrambled, clawing at the pavement. Then it all happened at once.
The force ripped their bodies off of the ground completely. Michael, facedown, saw the world drop away beneath him; then he twisted to look in the direction he was headed. Toward the monstrous shaft of raging power. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Bryson and Sarah windmilling their arms and kicking their legs as they flew toward the shaft as well. Soon there was nothing but purple light filling his vision, a roar of rushing sound, pinpricks of electricity across his skin.
He spun, then slammed into the side of the pillar, arms and legs spread wide, his hair, his elbows, his knuckles, his back, his legs—all held tight to its almost rubbery surface. He’d expected fierce heat, but instead it was cool and tingly with power.
Then Michael flew toward the sky.
The world was wind and sound.
Michael could barely keep his eyes open as his body rocketed upward with the shaft of purple light. The roar filled his ears, and the air beat at his head and face and clothes, trying to rip him free, but he felt as if his body had melded with the surface.
He turned his head as much as he could and looked down. The ground was far away, the air thinning, making it hard to breathe; the curvature of the Earth was coming into view. He knew it was just a program, but it all felt so real, like he was about to be launched into outer space—like he was being launched into outer space. He closed his eyes and tried to focus on the code, but it was either blocked or he was too panicked to concentrate.
He opened his eyes and looked up. Above him he could see Bryson—the soles of his feet, at least. But there was no sign of Sarah; she had to be above Bryson. Michael tried to lift his right hand, but it held tight to the beam of light, the skin around his knuckles pulled taut. He couldn’t think of any possible explanation for what this thing was, but it hit him that he shouldn’t lift his hand off even if he could. A very long fall would be on the other end of a move like that.
Suddenly everything around him changed.
Not the shaft itself, which was still pulsing and ascending at impossible speeds. But Michael’s surroundings abruptly … altered. And the shift made his head spin. At first there was a sharp turn, not so much of the beam but the world, moving below them until they were no longer rocketing skyward but running parallel to the ground miles away. He flew like a streaking missile, buffeted by wind and noise.
Michael opened his mouth to shout at his friends, see if they were okay. Air filled his lungs, dried his tongue before he could get a word out. Not that they would have been able to hear him. He twisted his neck again, straining to see as far as possible. Ahead, in the distance, a huge black rectangle had appeared, and it was growing bigger the closer they got. As he approached he could see that the purple shaft of light intersected the darkness, then continued on to who knew where.
Michael tried again to open his mouth, this time screaming, though he could barely hear himself. A few seconds later, they hit the rectangular opening and the world disappeared. He could no longer see the purple brilliance of the beam, even though he felt it. There was only pitch darkness.
Silence came with the darkness. Michael tried to scream again, but it was useless. He was blind and deaf and beginning to panic. He thrashed, struggling to free himself from the invisible bonds, but to no avail. His skin hurt where it adhered to the ray of power, and he had to force himself to calm down, worried he might rip his virtual body to shreds.
A light appeared, somewhere far ahead, and the black turned bright once more. As soon as it did, the purple beam reappeared. White tendrils of electricity arced and flashed along the shaft’s surface, the light behind it still pulsing. The sound of wind came back, and the feel of it. The brightness ahead turned into another opening, growing, coming at them. And then they were through it.