“Dies,” I said. The younger version of me blanched.
“When that happens while she’s hooked up to the PLSS, it’ll store an imprint of her and autopulse to act as a defibrillator. I have the pulse wired into the transducer, instead.”
“Fine,” I said. “Get me Jai.” I turned away, making myself go over to Josephine. I ignored Avery. “You don’t have to do this,” I said, and she made a faint sound that might have been a laugh.
“Shut up,” she told me. “You’re being a wimp. What kind of leader are you, anyway?”
“A bad one,” I answered. “I keep letting my people get killed.”
“Get better at it,” she said. “I’m going to make this ship fly. You better keep it in the air, got it?” She was white as a ghost now, shadows ringing her eyes. Her lips were dark with blood from where she’d been biting them.
“We’re ready, Joey.” Joeb’s voice came from behind me, right before I heard the PLSS flare to life.
“I keep running but she knows,” Josephine whispered, looking up at Avery. “I keep hiding, but she can find me anywhere. I’m the flame to her moth. Mother Moth . . .”
“Shh,” he said, and smoothed a hand over her hair. “She won’t find you, Josie. I promise.”
I frowned, glancing sidelong at him as he stood. He ignored me, stepping out of the way as J/O came over to hook her up to the machines.
“Jai?” I said.
“Present,” said the familiar voice, and the calm, brown-skinned version of me stepped over to Josephine’s other side.
“You’re the magic guy,” I said, “And this is some serious magic. I don’t care how it works or how you do it, but your job is to make sure nothing goes wrong. Make sure the link is gone, and help guide her to . . . wherever. J/O, make sure the transducer works right.”
Jai shifted me a thoughtful glance, but said nothing. He nodded, holding one hand out above Josephine and closing his eyes.
“Avery—”
“I know what I’m doing,” came the rough response, the dark-haired boy moving to stand at the edge of the cot. He put a hand on the hilt of his sword. “Back up.”
There was that cold hard knot in my stomach again, though I wasn’t sure if it was from anger or fear. I took a step back, watching as Jai focused.
“I can sense the link,” Jai said. “It is intact, and strong.”
“Show them,” Avery said, and Jai concentrated.
At first, nothing happened. Then I saw a glint, like something above us caught the light, just for a moment. It was there and then gone, then there was another, and another; like the thin threads of a spiderweb glinting in the sun. There were maybe ten of them that I could see, tinged vaguely with red and all in a bundle. They started at Josephine, wrapped loosely around her, and arced upward. I looked around, trying to find their source, but they were nonlinear and scattered, winding around all of us and slowly tightening, like they were being pulled taut.
“She’s coming,” Josephine whispered. I heard the click of Avery’s sword as he tightened his hand around the hilt.
“Josephine,” I said suddenly. “There’s something I never did.”
All eyes turned to me.
“Repeat after me,” I said. “I, Josephine Harker.”
Her gaze found mine, and she gave a tiny half smile. “I, Josephine Harker.”
“Understanding that there must be balance in all things, hereby declare that I shall do all in my power to defend and protect the Altiverse from those who would harm it or bend it to their will. That I will do everything I can to support and stand for InterWorld and the values it embodies.”
She repeated it, word for word, though her voice was barely above a whisper by the end and her knuckles were white where her hands gripped the side of the cot. The threads above her blurred as my eyes watered, and for a moment, I was able to see them all clearly.
“Welcome to InterWorld,” I whispered. My voice sounded bitter even to me.
Avery moved, so suddenly I almost missed it, whipping his sword from the sheath and striking in the same motion. The circuitry blade cut cleanly through the strands that wound around us all and I saw one, just before it fell, going straight through the heart of Avery Jones.
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