Emmett flowed through the tunnels, steadily moving upward toward the surface. Soon enough he could sense the latent power usage of buildings. He pushed through maintenance tunnels, bypassing doors or breaking through them. When he found an abandoned block of stores, Emmett burst through the basement and then through the first floor. Dusty racks of clothes toppled over, some falling through the floor and into the abyss.

  The swarm collapsed, spreading out again like floodwater. Emmett rose and scanned the room. Even though he could sense things through the swarm, he still wanted to see for himself.

  The man from the tunnels was still with him. He staggered to his feet and brushed a hand through his gray hair. He too peered cautiously around the room and then out the nearby dusty window.

  Emmett walked past him and checked the nearby room before letting his guard down. The old department store was abandoned, and they were alone. The only sound was the faint roar of the highway.

  The nanites had formed around the man’s shoulders and torso, hanging down like a lab coat. It was only then that the name Venture came to Emmett’s mind. It flickered like a spark and kindled more memories in the process.

  “...You can’t be here,” Emmett stammered. “They had you locked up in the lab.”

  Dr. Venture nodded. “And you broke me out.”

  Emmett stared at his old mentor in disbelief. The man was as real and as human as the supers they’d encountered in the tunnels. How could Emmett have broken him free and not remembered?

  Emmett’s head swam. All he managed to ask was, “…How can I not remember?”

  Another wave of exhaustion hit him. Even though Emmett’s limbs weren’t human, they quivered like they would fall apart. Emmett staggered against a nearby shelf, and Dr. Venture dashed forward to catch him. Both men sat on the floor, their legs half covered by the churning swarm. Emmett felt like he was coming unraveled, like his arms and legs might dissolve and leave him drowning in his own swarm.

  It was a long moment before panic passed and Emmett collected himself.

  “Tell me what you remember,” Dr. Venture said.

  Emmett took a breath to steady himself, then he recounted backward how they’d arrived at their current spot—coming across those four supers in the tunnels on the edge of the city… fighting and fleeing through the hallways of the lab… finding the lake of nanites and gathering the swarm… and finally, Emmett recounted waking up in chains in one of the biolabs.

  “What happened before that?” Venture asked, concern bleeding through his voice. “Was anyone else with you?”

  The further back Emmett thought, the less sure he was. His memories of gathering the swarm and escaping were hazy. Why was he imprisoned beneath the lab? Had he gotten captured?

  The answer came to Emmett, but not the memory. He had been captured by Midas and Ava Savanus, but he couldn’t remember why or how.

  After a moment, Emmett shook his head. “I was alone.”

  Venture sighed and then leaned back against a nearby shelf. “I think we can rest here for a half an hour. Can you connect to TINA?”

  Emmett stared at the flood of nanites, watching as they ebbed and flowed with a tide he didn’t consciously direct. He didn’t remember who Tina was… Only that the name should mean something to him.

  “That’s okay,” Venture said. “Can you look inside your mind? …Do you see two separate places? One should be an implant.”

  Emmett nodded, smiling slightly. That much he did remember. He told Venture quickly about how the proto-AI—Bastion—had gotten inside his implant and tried to get into his brain.

  Emmett met his mentor’s eyes. “I stopped him. The implant’s mine now.”

  Venture hesitated. “Was anyone else in the implant with you? Was TINA there?”

  After a moment, Emmett shook his head. “I think there used to be. Bastion said the implant felt like a memorial.”

  Venture stared across the abandoned store, deep in thought. “Do you have a power source for the swarm?”

  All across the room, fusion cells and batteries bubbled to the surface of the black water. Venture shifted uneasily.

  “That’s more than enough. Do you think you can tap into the building’s internet connection? If you can power it, you can get a transmission out to TINA.”

  Emmett nodded, but otherwise didn’t move. Nanites rippled as strands seeped into the walls and floor. They sought wires and internet connections. He had enough experience in cyberspace that he should be able to navigate the internet. Still, Emmett hesitated.

  “...How do I find her?”

  Venture smirked. “I don’t know. I’m not a cyborg.”

  Emmett didn’t say anything. He closed his eyes and concentrated.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  ~

  Going into cyberspace was a lot like exploring the lab. Emmett stretched out the swarm and found wires and circuits, like finding a trail in a forest. He followed those until he came to a mainline. At first, he’d been worried about how much power it would take to connect to the internet, but finding the mainline felt like finding a raging river.

  Emmett hesitated. The only way forward was to enter the mainline—to enter the river.

  If Emmett had time and endless material to work with, he could’ve used nanites to create his own line, like bushwhacking a path that followed the river. But he doubted there were enough nanites in the swarm to stretch very far, and he couldn’t begin to guess how long it would take.

  Before Emmett lost his nerve, he plunged into the river. Immediately, his consciousness began to stretch. The world became a surreal mix of white light and darkness that bubbled like oil and water. Physically, he was in the abandoned store with Dr. Venture, but psychically, he was flowing away. Instead of cool sand like the nanites, Emmett felt tingling warmth, like his entire body was numb and waking up. Panic came over him again—not from drowning, but from watching his physical body recede into the distance.

  Emmett didn’t wait to see what would happen. He severed the connection—

  And immediately came back to the building.

  He was still on the floor alongside his mentor and the bulk of the swarm. His skin was cold and his heart felt like it was going to jump out of his chest.

  Dr. Venture’s wide-eyed expression didn’t help. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

  Emmett took a deep breath. “Nothing. It’s… It’s going to take me a few tries.”

  Venture slumped back against the shelf. “It’s okay. Take your time.”

  ~

  Emmett jumped into the mainline again and again, each time making it a little further away from his physical body. Each time brought a fit of discomfort and nausea when he came back to the real world.

  After the fifth attempt, Emmett retched. Bile dripped into the black flood of nanites and was dissolved and repurposed.

  Even though he still felt nauseous, Emmett was about to try again. Dr. Venture stopped him.

  “How long do you think has passed?”

  Emmett shrugged and wiped his mouth. “An hour?”

  “Not even ten minutes. It’s time dilation—not to mention that human minds weren’t meant to be disconnected and stretched like that.”

  “It’s getting easier.”

  “I know… but take a few more seconds to catch your breath.”

  Emmett nodded and accepted the advice.

  The extra recovery time did help. Time dilation meant that each attempt lasted less than a second, regardless of how long it felt.

  The next attempt was when Emmett lost sight of himself completely. He only waited another moment before he severed the connection. He’d been afraid that if he lost sight he wouldn’t be able to return—

  Instead, Emmett came right back to his physical body. So far, it seemed like time spent away wouldn’t make it more difficult to come back.

  ~

  Shortly after that, Emmett made his first real breaththrough.

  He plunged into the mainline, and was overcome by the familiar surreal feeling of light and tingling warmth. He quickly lost sight of his physical body, but kept flowing down the river.

  He was waiting for something.

  The problem was, he had no idea what it would look like.

  After what felt like an agonizingly long time, Emmett finally found a stream off of the river. It was tiny compared to the mainline, so much so that Emmett almost missed it.

  He leapt out of the mainline and into this new path.

  Again, he felt the strangeness of cyberspace. He could see the structure of the building almost as clearly as if he was there—except he saw it like an architectural blueprint made with power lines and cable lines. He knew it was a business and that it was on the highway just outside the city. But it was impossible to know more without prying into a computer.

  Emmett felt like he’d turned a metaphorical corner, and that feeling was only reinforced when he went back to the mainline.

  Now, instead of an untamed river, the mainline looked calm—still large, but not imposingly so.

  Now, when Emmett looked out at the river, he could see further. Could even see the next streams branching off of it. His perception had grown along with his skill.

  But even though navigation had gotten easier, Emmett still had no idea how to find Tina or the backup lab. At least he had gone in the right direction initially…

  Emmett tried to relax and reach further with his perception.

  If he truly knew this Tina, or where the backup lab was, then he should be able to find them.

  Emmett managed to stretch his sight a little further, but eventually reached his limit. Then he tried calling out. He shouted for Tina and for Clara. His voice echoed into the ether—almost like shouting into the abyss. The names held weight, even if he couldn’t remember why.

  Twice, Emmett thought he felt something. Not a voice… Maybe someone else’s perception. Like catching a glimpse of movement in the forest.

  An agonizingly long time passed.

  Finally, Emmett heard a voice in the ether.

  “Stay there,” she said. “Help is coming.”

  Emmett knew that she wasn’t talking about cyberspace. She meant to stay in the abandoned store. So he severed his connection and came back to the store.

  He’d been gone much longer that time than before, and it took Emmett a moment to reorient himself.

  “I heard… Tina, I think. She said to stay here. That help was coming.”

  Venture sighed. “That’s good.”

  Emmett felt a gaze on him. He looked up and met Dr. Venture’s eyes. “What is it?”

  Venture’s face softened. “I’m worried about you… I’m also grateful. And proud.”

  It looked like there was more he wanted to say, but Venture trailed off.

  Something else caught Emmett’s attention. He couldn’t hear them, but he could sense the signal of Fast-Response drones above the building.

  Dr. Venture noticed something, too. He looked past Emmett and out the large storefront window. His eyes widened.

  Emmett turned. Two men stared through the window. They ignored the nanites all around and looked directly at Emmett and Venture. At a glance, the men looked normal enough, but Emmett could sense electrical signals in them, too.

  ~ ~ ~