The room sank into silence—complete and absolute—and Agent Weber stared at him.
What could those three words possibly mean that they could cost him his freedom? “Am I missing something?” he asked. “The Mortality Doctrine? What is that?”
Agent Weber leaned forward, her face somehow growing even more intense than before. “Hearing the words has committed you to joining us.”
Michael shrugged—it was the only thing he felt safe doing.
“But I need to hear you say it,” she said. “I need to hear your commitment. We need your skills in the VirtNet.”
That little boost of pride brought Michael back to himself a bit. “I want to know what it is.”
“That’s more like it.” She leaned back and the tension in the room seemed to lift. “The Mortality Doctrine. At this moment we know very little. It’s something hidden in the VirtNet—somewhere off the known grid. A file or program of some sort that could seriously damage not just the VirtNet, but the real world as well.”
“Sounds promising,” Michael muttered, immediately regretting it. Luckily, she let it pass. The truth was that he’d perked up at the notion of a secret part of the VirtNet. He wanted to know where it was.
“This … doctrine could devastate humanity and the world as we know it. Tell me, Michael, have you heard of the gamer who calls himself Kaine?”
The name made Michael’s heart lurch. The girl, Tanya. Her face came back to him, as well as her words. How Kaine was tormenting her. Michael gripped the sides of his chair because it suddenly felt like he was falling off the bridge all over again. How did all these things relate?
“I know of Kaine,” he said. “I saw a girl kill herself.… She mentioned him.…”
“Yes, we know,” Agent Weber acknowledged. “That’s a small part of the reason you’re here. You’re a witness to how bad things are getting. We’ve been able to tie Kaine to this Mortality Doctrine, and it’s all linked to cases like what you saw happen. People trapped in the VirtNet and driven to decoding their own Cores. It’s the worst cyber-terrorism we’ve ever come across.”
“Why am I here?” Michael asked in a dry croak, feeling an embarrassing lack of confidence. “How can I help?”
She was silent for a beat. “We’ve found people comatose inside their Coffins. CAT scans reveal brain damage—as if they were the victims of some sick experiment. They are complete vegetables.” She paused again. “We have evidence that Kaine’s involved. And somehow it’s all related to this Mortality Doctrine program hidden somewhere inside the VirtNet. We need to find both the man and the Mortality Doctrine. Will you help us?”
She asked it so simply, as if she was asking him to make a quick trip to the store for some milk and bread. Michael wanted to run. Actually, he wanted a lot of things just then—time travel would’ve been great, he thought—but more realistically, he wanted his room and his bed, his Coffin, escape to some brainless sports game, beginner level, Dan the Man Deli, bleu chips, hanging out with Bryson and Sarah, a movie, a book, his mom and dad back from traveling, and to never hear about this again.
But one word popped out of his mouth, and he didn’t know he meant it until he heard himself say it.
“Yes.”
About the Author
James Dashner was born and raised in Georgia but lives and writes in the Rocky Mountains. He is the author of the New York Times bestselling Maze Runner series: The Maze Runner, The Scorch Trials, The Death Cure, and The Kill Order. His newest book is The Eye of Minds. To learn more about him and his books, visit jamesdashner.com.