These Dark Electrons Read online

“Why?”

  “Because I didn’t want you to find him until you arrived here and used the Hidden Incantation to dispel the crystal’s shielding. And I knew that when you got here, you would not be able to kill him.”

  “Why would I want to kill Charles?”

  “You’ll see.” He turned to Charles and lifted his hand like a puppet master. “Charles, it is time.”

  Charles turned and stepped toward the crystal.

  “No!” I cried. “It’ll kill him to step into the crystal’s shroud!”

  “But not before he can deliver my dark electrons to the Flow. The curse can only be sustained if the FlowNode is the source. Sending it out through my own limited means was only a temporary measure.”

  Charles continued to move toward the crystal.

  I recalled the spells from the Book of Sorcery and made a snap decision.

  “Linux!” I said, flicking the wand at Charles.

  Charles’ feet lifted off the floor. Another flick of the wand, and I tossed his body over the railing.

  He floated slowly down to safety, right past the hoard of bots still climbing the rungs of the service ladder, landing softly on the patch of lawn far below.

  A moment later, Thunks pounced on me. I repelled him with my firewall, extending the cyber-security to form a physical barrier against him composed of raw energy.

  He staggered back, and I dove into the pulsating energy of the crystal, shouting the incantation, “Control-Alt-Deletus!”

  #

  [0.001 seconds later]

  the crystal’s vibrations cause every neuron in my mind to burst into flame and my thoughts dissolve and scatter

  [0.002 seconds later]

  the Control-Alt-Deletus incantation disrupts the Flow, releasing all the bots from Thunks’ control

  [0.003 seconds later]

  I feel Thunks send his dark electrons – the physical matter of his curse – behind me into the crystal’s shroud . . . a futile, desperate attempt to win

  [0.004 seconds later]

  my presence in the crystal deflects the dark electrons, which return to Thunks and crush his mind into oblivion

  [0.0043 seconds later]

  through the final remnant of the Flow, with the last vestige of ordered thought I can muster, I send Charles a simple message: restore my backup

  [0.0044 seconds later]

  my mind absorbs the full energy of the crystal, all brain activity ceas

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