Free The softwire : Virus on Orbis 1 by PJ Haarsma Page B

already snoring.
That was fast,
I thought.
    “Theodore?” I whispered, but no one answered.
    “Theodore?”
    Why wasn’t I asleep? I was certainly tired. I rolled over, and that’s when I heard someone knock on the door.
    “Hello?” I tapped the sleeper’s controls. The lid slid back. Everyone was still sound asleep.
    Another knock.
    “Ketheria?”
    I went to the bedroom door. It wouldn’t open. My vest! I needed that stupid skin to open the door.
    “Hold on, Ketheria,” I whispered. I had to get to her.
    I put the skin on over my pajamas and went back to the door. It still wouldn’t open. I put my hand over the sensor, and just like before, I could see the computer codes blocked — so much for a self-correcting computer. Now the bits of data were fighting with each other. They weren’t even trying to get through the glitch. The code pulsed and distorted, shooting streams of green and yellow in every direction. I went to remove the block, but the code swarmed around it.
    “Freak, freak, freak,” the data chanted, flashing angry childlike faces.
    This is computer code,
I thought. I reached out and swatted the faces away. I saw the block and flicked that out, too.
    The door disappeared.
    Instead of the storage foyer, however, I stood in front of a beautiful bright green forest. The trees were just like the one I had seen earlier on the ring. There were trees as far as I could see. Some with green leaves, some with orange. I even saw a tree with purple leaves.
How did I get here?
    I saw a girl running through the forest in her plastic nightgown. “Ketheria, wait!” I shouted. But she only ran deeper into the forest.
    I would not let Ketheria go by herself, so I stepped into the forest and chased after her. The grass felt cool and damp under my feet. I bent down to touch it. Ahead of me I saw huge bushes and yellow rocks. I even saw a six-legged creature with a long bushy tail staring down at me from a tree. The whole scene made me nervous, yet I was intrigued by everything I saw.
    “Ketheria, come back!” I shouted. “Look, there’s some kind of animal here.”
    Ketheria, however, would not listen. She ran from tree to tree, trying to touch each one. I followed her, hoping to sneak up on her, when a monstrous shadow drifted across the trees. I looked around but saw nothing. Where was Ketheria going? I needed to find her. I did not want to think what would happen if whatever had made that shadow got to her first. I pushed on, my throat very dry.
    In the distance I saw Ketheria stop at a bed of vibrant pink and blue flowers. I almost caught her when she bent down to pick one, but she saw me out of the corner of her eye and bolted.
    “Ketheria!” I called after her.
    The trees grew taller and taller, and the forest became denser. The deeper I went, the more the forest changed. I saw things I’d never seen in any database: ponds of slimy gold goo, strange gnarled vines that moved out of the way as I approached, and low silver clouds that danced among the trees. The clouds looked like they were playing a game with each other. I also began to sense that more than one . . . thing . . . was watching me.
    The shadow passed across the trees again.
    What if I couldn’t find the way back before I found out what was following us? I stood on a rock to get my bearings. The sky was much bluer now. It was almost glowing, but there was nothing to guide me home. I saw Ketheria go deeper into the forest.
    “Ketheria! That’s too far!”
    I chased after her, but she was moving very fast now — much faster than I knew she could run. And then she was gone. With a jolt, I realized I was now alone.
Where did she go?
    “Ketheria?”
    Someone giggled behind me. I whirled around, and in the distance I saw Ketheria sitting on the yellow rock I had just stood on.
    “Ketheria?” I moved closer.
    Her faced blurred as if she were trying to take on a different shape.
    “Ketheria? Why won’t you stop? You’re making me angry,”