“How can we trust you?” Sarah asked. “After you led us to the Path, led us right into the trap Kaine set for us?”
Weber showed no anger this time, just a look of genuine frustration. As if she had a thousand things she wanted to say and no time. “If the three of you would just take a moment to reflect on the sequence of events, I think you’d see that we were fooled just as you were. We tried to find Kaine, and we used you. And it worked. Not in the way we hoped, but it did work. We got our answers—we know more than we ever could have otherwise. Now our problem is to figure out how to stop him before things get out of control. His influence is spreading even though we don’t know his ultimate goal yet. And I’m not just talking about the Tangents he’s humanizing.”
“What else?” Michael asked. He reminded himself not to trust her too quickly, but she seemed sincere. He could see the stress in her every movement. She was scared, and that was a good thing in Michael’s book. “What could be worse than that?”
Agent Weber shook her head. “I didn’t say anything was worse. But the problems inside the VirtNet are just as bad as the problems in the Wake. Kaine is taking over, in ways you’ll realize soon enough.”
“We will?” Sarah asked.
“Yes,” Weber replied. “Look, I went well out of my way to visit you, Michael, after we realized what had happened. We’re all on the same side. I had to tread carefully for reasons we don’t have time to discuss right now. I knew you would come to find me after our admittedly odd conversation over the communications uplink. The timing is good, and I need you—all three of you—more than ever.”
Michael started to say something, but she held up a hand to cut him off.
“No, please,” she said. Any sign of wanting to intimidate them had washed away completely. She was almost trembling. “We don’t have time, I’m telling you, we don’t have time! I need to get you three inside the VirtNet, and I need you to use those skills of yours. You’ll be protected like never before, I promise.”
“Wait,” Bryson said. “What do you mean? You want us to go inside … here?”
Weber seemed relieved. “Yes.” She turned and motioned toward the heavy metal door at her back. “Everything you need is waiting in there. It’s all set up.”
The place looked like a morgue. Two rows of at least twenty NerveBoxes were lined up against both walls, looking just like the coffins from which they’d gotten their nickname. The low hum of machinery filled the dimly lit room, giving the place an otherworldly feel. It was almost like they were already in the Sleep.
“I’ve prepped three Coffins for you,” Agent Weber said, marching toward the back of the facility. Michael and the others followed. “I’m afraid I don’t have much information to give—Kaine has eluded my best people from the start, and the deeper we dig, the more elusive he becomes. I wish I could’ve brought you in immediately, but it was just too risky. There are people who’d be very … upset if they knew I was bringing you in at all.”
Michael didn’t let on how much doubt he felt. A huge part of him thought it would be the most absurd thing ever to trust this woman and get in a Coffin that was under her control. But this was the VNS. If he couldn’t trust them, whom could he trust? And if he left now, he was sure he’d spend the rest of his life in jail. At least this way he had a fighting chance.
“You haven’t even told us what you want us to do,” Bryson said. “And don’t tell me that our only instructions are to jump into the Sleep and stop Kaine.”
Agent Weber frowned at Michael’s friend. Somehow it was the sincerest expression she’d borne yet, half pity and half remorse. She appeared to feel genuinely guilty that she had to ask them to risk everything once again.
“No, I don’t expect you to stop Kaine,” she said. “In fact, quite the opposite. If you do find him, it’d be way too dangerous for you to try anything by yourselves. I can’t afford to tag you like we did when you went on the Path.”
“Because of your enemies inside the VNS,” Sarah offered.
Weber nodded but then seemed to regret it, catching herself. “They’re not enemies. They just feel—they very strongly feel—that using a Tangent is out of the question. No offense, Michael, but you’re a creation of Kaine now. You can understand why some people would find it hard to trust you.”
Michael shrugged. What she was saying made more sense than he cared to admit.