Master Slake had taken a seat at the head of the table, where the large bear bent over to place a napkin in his lap. The man comically thanked the bear, and the creature went off to do some other chore.

“Sit,” Slake bellowed, like some king sitting down with his minions. “There’s more food here than you could ever eat. Even within the Sleep.”

Hunger won Michael’s obedience completely. Sarah tried to grab his arm but he slipped from her grip and went to sit down by Slake. As soon as he did, a squirrel pushed a plate full of steaming food in front of him. Its beady little eyes looked up at Michael briefly; then it scurried away.

Sarah joined them, sitting across from Michael, and gradually her face changed from disgust into something like desire. The smells were just too delicious, Michael thought.

“Please take my hands as we say grace to the spirits of our ancestors, man and beast.” Master Slake held out his hands, and his guests took them.

Slake closed his eyes. “To the ones who came before us,” he began. “We ask your presence to look upon us in favor this day. We ask for a blessing upon our food and drink. Two travelers have come to our humble sanctuary, where we serve the needs of those who enter the dark forest. Bless them, dear spirits. Bless them with strength and hope. That they may defeat the demons that beset them, that they may further journey along the Path. Amen.”

Slake released their hands, opened his eyes, and began to eat—he picked up a turkey leg and attacked it like a starving dog. Grease dripped down his chin, and a piece of meat hung from the corner of his mouth.

Michael had to look away. His thoughts were occupied with the words of the prayer, and he had to ask the obvious question.

“You said something about demons,” he said, picking at his food so he didn’t have to look at their host as he ate. “Was that just … normal prayer stuff?”

Slake chuckled. “Oh no, my boy. Certainly not. I sincerely meant every word said to our ancestors. I hope that you can kneel at their feet before the demons rip you apart.”

Michael almost choked on a piece of meat. He swallowed it down and cleared his throat. “Want to tell us more about these demons?”

“Oh, my son.” The man wiped his mouth with a sleeve. “They are the least of your worries. The outside world is beginning to learn something that you—both of you—have yet to realize. Even though I know you are both adept at code, surely as good as your friend … Bryson, I believe?”

The little hairs on Michael’s neck were rising.

Sarah had a fork squeezed tightly in her fist. “What are you talking about?” she asked in a threatening voice.

“Please,” Slake replied smoothly. “Let’s not get hostile. There’s no need. I’ve had enough of that in my life. Years of gaming can find you with many enemies. I was … quite good at it, you know. Until I somehow found my way here, onto this Path. I can’t seem to escape the damnable thing. I’ve accepted it now. I feel as if I have a new role to play. To help those like you. To convince you to leave—to find your way out when you can and never come back.”

Michael stared at the man, desperately curious now.

But Sarah spoke first. “Wait … you’re a gamer? Not just a Tangent?”

Slake gave her a long, almost sad look. “It’s a pity you can’t tell the difference yourself. Truly a pity. I was one of the best. Perhaps the best ever.”

Michael couldn’t help but close his eyes and scan the coding, as hard as it was to read. He analyzed the man sitting at their table, searched the programming for something, anything, that might give him a clue about what this guy could be talking about. He caught bits and pieces of the stranger’s history, fetched a couple of NewsBop stories, saw something odd in his digital nameplate. And then it hit Michael, and he snapped his eyes open again.

“What the …,” he whispered. “You’re Gunner Skale.” The revelation thrilled him and scared him at the same time. “What are you doing here? Why did you vanish from the VirtNet? From the public?”

Sarah was looking back and forth between them. “Are you serious?”

The older man yawned and scratched his head. “Busted, as it were. I know I must seem lowly compared to my glory days. But I’m content, I promise you. I believe I’ve met a higher calling. I’m human, Michael. Sarah. I’m human, playing in a nonhuman’s world. The program speaks for itself. Two people as smart as you should’ve figured things out long ago. The Path should’ve taught you.”

He paused, and the wheels spun inside Michael’s mind, like gears and cogs clicking into place.

“You should have seen it,” Skale continued. “You’ve been in Kaine’s presence. You’ve been in many a Tangent’s presence. You’ve been among other gamers, countless times. The difference in programming is ever so slight, but it’s there for the taking if you know where to look.” He paused. “I think your friend finally realized the truth, and it was too much for him to handle. He panicked and lost his way on the Path because of it.”

Michael finally had the answer, but it was Sarah who spoke first.

“Kaine’s not a man at all. A man couldn’t do what he’s doing. He’s a …”

Michael said it at the same time.

“Tangent.”

CHAPTER 17

NIGHT ON THE COUCH

1

Skale went right back to his meal, leaving Michael and Sarah to contemplate the bombshell realization that the man they’d been chasing wasn’t human. Michael had already forgotten about the demons.

Kaine. A Tangent. It was impossible. Utterly impossible. How could a program have fooled the world—the VNS, even—into thinking it was a gamer? How could it have become self-aware? Could it be possible? A knot grew in his stomach as he thought about it. Had artificial intelligence taken such a leap? Or was someone controlling Kaine behind the scenes?

Then he remembered the voice.

Michael, you’re doing so well.

“Aren’t you going to eat?” Skale asked, pausing with a knife halfway to his mouth, a piece of meat on its tip. “I’d hate to offend my friends after all their hard work.”

“But—” Michael stopped himself.

He needed to think this out. Not only Kaine, but the man sitting in front of him. Skale had gone from being the most famous gamer in the VirtNet to a lost pawn within Kaine’s firewalls. And based on her silence and furrowed brow, Sarah felt the same way. Hunger still gnawed at Michael, so he dug in, taking a huge bite of bread, then starting in on the poor chicken. Once again he wondered why it had been baked in the oven while the other animals got to run around free.