They waited nearby, hiding behind a crowd of people until Gabby showed up. They wanted to make sure she came alone, though Michael didn’t doubt she would. He’d seen the look in her eyes when she’d first found him in Jackson’s body. She was an innocent victim in all of this, just like him.
Once she was inside the coffee shop, Michael, Bryson, and Sarah crossed the street and followed her in. The place was only half full, and Gabby had already found a booth, where she sat looking around anxiously. When she spotted Michael, such a look of relief spread over her face that he felt terrible for dragging her into all this.
“Hi,” she said when they walked up, eyeing Sarah and Bryson.
“Hey, Gabby,” Michael replied, hating the awkwardness. The restaurant was warm and smelled of burned coffee. “This is Bryson. And Sarah. Guys, this is Gabby.” Her nickname already came naturally.
They all said hello somewhat guardedly as they sat down. Sarah studied Gabby from across the table, and Michael couldn’t tell if it was out of jealousy or mistrust. Or both.
“Well?” Sarah finally pressed. Everyone focused on Michael.
He swallowed, wishing they’d had a chance to order drinks. “Okay, listen. Gabby … I’m sorry about all this weirdness, but everything I’ve said is true.”
Her eyes moistened a bit.
Bryson nodded, murmuring, “Crazy stuff. Crazy, crazy stuff.”
Michael glared at him, trying to convey that he wasn’t helping.
Then, surprising Michael, Sarah took charge. She reached across the table and grabbed Gabby’s hand. “Do you want us to call you Gabriela or Gabby?”
“Gabby.” The girl pulled her hand out of Sarah’s grasp, clearly uncomfortable.
“Okay,” Sarah said. “Gabby, then. Look, the three of us have been friends inside the Sleep for a long time. But then we found out that Michael was a part of the Lifeblood Deep program. You’ve heard how realistic that place is, right?”
Gabby nodded but wouldn’t make eye contact with her.
Sarah continued. “These Tangents … some of them are completely lifelike. And now they’re beginning to become sentient. Michael had no idea any of this was happening.” She looked at him apologetically, but he was deeply relieved that she was doing the talking. “He was a Tangent. But there’s another Tangent—Kaine—he’s figured out this process that downloads the intelligence of a Tangent into a human brain. Essentially the human brain’s just a biological computer. People have been saying this is possible for decades. Am I making any sense?”
Sarah spoke so calmly, and so matter-of-factly, that Michael looked on in awe. He actually thought she had a chance of convincing Gabby. Which was a good sign. They might even have a chance with the VNS.
Gabby leaned on the table. “So all three of you, right here, right now, are telling me that a Tangent named Michael was … downloaded into my boyfriend’s brain?” She turned and faced Michael. “That this … person … is no longer Jax? That Jax was just drained, like a flushed toilet? That’s what you’re telling me?”
Michael felt sick having to explain again. “We don’t know how it works exactly. I’m actually hoping that somehow he’s, I don’t know, stored somewhere. I mean, if it can happen in one direction, why not the other? Maybe he’s still … maybe he still exists. Who knows, maybe we can save him.”
Gabby laughed, but there was no trace of humor in it. “Honestly?” She shook her head and folded her arms, leaning back with a heavy sigh. “I just don’t know how I can possibly believe all this.”
“Just think about Jackson,” Michael said. “Jax. If you really knew him that well … I mean, do I seem like him to you? At all?”
She shook her head. “Nope. You most certainly do not.”
She paused, considering. “So keep talking.”
They talked for another hour. Bryson got coffee and pound cake for everyone, and they swapped stories, showed her things on Bryson’s old NetPad—even pulled out the ancient NetTab for a while to share some of the odd stories they’d researched about possible Tangent sightings around the world. Michael told Gabby about his old life, about his family, about Helga, about everything. Sarah brought her up to speed on Kaine and what he’d done to them. Bryson told her how they needed to get into the VNS and confront Agent Weber.
They talked and talked and talked, and Gabby listened.
Finally, as if they’d exhausted the English language, silence fell upon the table. Michael waited anxiously to see if they’d been able to convince Gabby.
She sighed and put her hands on the table, picking absently at a fingernail. “I know this sounds corny, but I don’t care. I love”—she faltered, flickered a glance at Michael—“loved Jax. I did. I do. It’s so confusing! You guys have seriously screwed up my head forever.”
Michael didn’t say anything, and wisely, his friends didn’t, either.