The Game of Lives Read Free Page B

had felt anything like this—and it all crashed down on him at once. Happiness, sadness, nostalgia. He cried into his nanny’s shoulder as he remembered the parents he’d lost, the home he’d lost, the life he’d lost. He had his two best friends, but Helga was the only link to the world he’d known without them. And he’d been sure she was gone forever.
    There were questions, yes. Concerns. But in that moment all he could feel was the sweet, burning warmth in his chest.
    Finally, Helga gently took him by his shoulders and held him away from her. He was relieved to see that she had shed a tear or two as well.
    “I might’ve convinced you,” she said through a weak smile, “but not them.” She nodded toward the others.
    Totally embarrassed, Michael composed himself, wiped the tears from his cheeks. Then he turned to face his friends.
    “It’s her,” he said with all the force he could muster after making such a scene. “I don’t know how to explain it, but I know it’s her.”
    Surprisingly, it was Sarah who showed the most doubt. “Well, you’re going to have to figure out a way to explain it, Michael. We can’t just hand our lives over to this lady. What she did…stealing a body…it’s no better than what Kaine’s doing.”
    The last word had barely come out of her mouth before the rest of the group erupted into chatter, talking on top of talking, until Michael shouted for them to shut up.
    “Listen to me!” he said, looking straight at his friends and Sarah’s parents. “You don’t have a clue what it’s like to be a Tangent. We might be a bunch of code to you guys, but I can’t accept that. There’s more to us. I know it. I’m a person, I have a mind, I can think for myself, and I don’t care what anyone else says. I mean, I could just as easily be programmed as Helga. At some point you have to go with your heart! My parents were real, as far as I’m concerned, until Kaine wiped them out. And Helga…she’s like a grandma to me. This is Helga. I know it.”
    “Grandma?” Helga asked. “Really?”
    “Sorry. Best aunt ever.”
    Sarah walked up to stand right in front of Michael, and she stared at him for several seconds. “You’re sure?”
    He nodded firmly. “I’m positive.” He looked over at Bryson. “Sure as heckfire.”
    Bryson shrugged. “I guess we just have to trust you,” he said reluctantly.
    “You don’t need to worry about us being like Kaine,” Helga interjected. “There’s a difference. A huge difference.”
    It was Gerard’s turn to speak. “Yeah?” he pressed. “So enlighten us. What’s this huge difference?”
    Michael trusted Helga, but he was definitely interested.
    “The difference,” Helga said, “is that we’re here to stop what Kaine’s doing. The difference is that we triggered the Mortality Doctrine only because it was a last resort. And the biggest difference…” She paused for a moment. “The biggest difference is that we plan to give these bodies back. Hopefully very soon. I highly doubt Kaine plans to do the same.”
    “Give them back?” Bryson asked. “How?”
    Helga sat down in her chair. “It’s time I tell you about the Hive.”
    2
    The Hive
. The words jarred Michael, and his group quieted. He looked at Sarah and Bryson and nodded to the chairs. “Can we listen to what she has to say, guys?” he asked. The group didn’t answer, but everyone sat down, ready to hear her out.
    “The Hive,” she repeated, once everyone was settled.“Kaine created it—for what ultimate purpose we’re not completely sure—and he protects it and maintains it, and we’ve figured out how to get there. To break in, I should say. The Hive is the key to everything, the key to restoring things to the way they were, before”—Helga gestured to herself sadly—“all this.”
    “But what
is
the Hive?” Sarah insisted. “We’ve never heard of it.”
    “Ah, yes,” Helga said quietly, “of course. The Hive is where intelligence is