Everything happened in an instant. There was no white shapeless cloud, no speaches. I stood in the middle of a room that was on fire. Jack was lying on the floor unconscious.
Even though I knew we were virtual expressions of the program, an illusion, I tried to pull him out. When that failed and I realized that I was acting out in panic I stopped and looked around.
The fire, although it seemed real in a frenzy, on closer observation looked frozen. Sure, the flames mimicked the real thing, based on my memories, but they were stationary, unable to burn anything.
I was inside the bug. And I felt truly unprepaired to deal with it.
One step further and I reached the flames. I stretched my arm for one and broke it off.
- This is fine – I noted as I took a seat in the armchair that appeared
