Free The Rule of Thoughts by James Dashner Page B

didn’t want me to know I was a Tangent.”
    “Okay. I guess. So what does it mean that she found us here? That’s the big question.”
    Michael shook his head in frustration. Someone’s appearing at their secret location raised way too many concerns. “I have no idea. What’s weirder is why she’d be all secretive and spy on us. Why would she have come to me at that apartment, then?”
    “She’s probably trying to hide from Kaine, too.”
    “Well, we needed to find her eventually anyway. Once we’re with Bryson again, we have to make sure the VNS knows what Kaine did to me. I keep thinking about that crazy lady on the train. What if … what if Kaine hasn’t just put other Tangents into humans, but is also controlling them somehow?”
    Sarah’s face paled a bit. “Or maybe he’s just programming the Tangents to do what he wants before he …  does the Mortality Doctrine thing to them.”
    Michael’s mind went back to the train incident and the warning he’d been given. Three days. Three days had already passed and they’d still eluded captured. The next time Kaine found them … Well, Michael didn’t want to think about it.
    “What are you pondering over there?” Sarah asked.
    Michael sighed, trying to breathe out all the turmoil boiling in his chest. “I’m just thinking about your parents again. They could be anywhere—how will we find them? Not to mention mine. At some point I need to go back into Lifeblood Deep and look for them and Helga—even thoughKaine claims they’re dead, deprogrammed, whatever. And … I’m just second-guessing bringing Bryson into this. Second-guessing everything.”
    Sarah stood up and came over to him. “Bryson’s in it whether he wants to be or not. We need to find him before Kaine does. As for our parents … look, we know Kaine’s behind it all. Going forward is the best thing we can do for them.” The pain in her eyes showed she was trying to talk herself into believing that, too.
    Michael looked up at her. “Then let’s get Bryson.”
    Sarah nodded. “That’s what I wanted to hear.”
    Sarah sat down across from Michael at the table and they both closed their eyes as if they were initiating some ancient ritual. And then they dove into the code.

    There were hundreds of ways they could’ve conducted their search for Bryson, and it felt like they had considered them all in the day or two before Sinking. They’d discussed everything from posting a message on the Boards to wandering the mall, hoping they might bump into him. Seeking him out in the Wake, like Michael had done with Sarah, had even been tossed in as a possibility. But based on everything they knew and the dangers they’d encountered so far—and knowing that Kaine could be watching every nook and cranny of the VirtNet—they decided to go about it a different way: by doing what they did best.
    Hacking.
    No matter how bad things got, there was one thing in the universe as certain as the sun rising in the east and people kicking the bucket when they got old: Bryson would keep gaming. He loved it, lived for it. And since Michael and Sarah knew all of his favorite games, they knew where to look. And how to do it without anyone ever knowing. They’d never had much reason to truly cheat at a game before—it kind of defeated the purpose. Winning by cheating was as fun as not playing at all.
    But now things were different, and luckily they knew the programming of Bryson’s favorite games as well as he did. Because they all had the same favorites.
    Lifeblood was the obvious first choice, though just the thought of it made Michael’s heart hurt. Too many memories.
    “I miss this place,” Sarah said when they started. “I haven’t played since the Path.”
    Michael didn’t respond; he was officially in the dumps.
    Running in the program’s background, the two of them jumped from location to location within Lifeblood , seeing it all in code, searching for the imprint of Bryson. They