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with her life?”
      “ Can we help her find Carl?” Michelle asked.
      “ Sure,” Brandon said. “But why would we do that? I could likely help her get funding to build a spaceship to take her to the Sun, but once she got there, she would burn up. It’s the same with helping
    her find Carl. Why assist her in getting killed? I don’t want to see her come out of the Game that way; I don’t think any of us do.”
      “She’s not going to stop hunting for him,” Nadine said. “We all know her well enough to believe that.”
      Brandon chuckled. “We all know her well enough, but all she needs is something more important than finding Carl. Maybe we’ve tried a few things to distract her, but I think we can come up with something that will do it. Let’s all get to work on putting something into place to help steer her on a different path.”
      Brandon looked around the table and everyone nodded in agreement. “Okay, then, is there anything else?”
      “ Is she an Eternal, Brandon?” Lilith asked with concern. Everyone at the table knew enough about Eternals to understand some of the problems associated with that being true. Zack had lost his soul; If Danielle was an Eternal, she would lose her body here on Tygon.
      “ This stays in this room, do we understand?” Brandon asked.
      Everyone nodded.
      “ I know a lot about Eternals, and this is not how they are created. That being said, she does possess many talents that are most often Eternal talents.” Brandon sighed and shook his head. “My best guess is that she isn’t, but one other Eternal was created ‘improperly,’ and this could be a similar situation. I think we will just have to wait and see what this turns into.”
      “ What about Zack?” Michelle asked. 
      “ After Raphael told Danni about the Sever Spike, I had to make it official. Everyone on Tygon knows that Zack is dead and gone. The past couple of days have been very sad for the world; I’ve attended numerous funeral services for Zack.”
      “ You never told anyone he is still plugged in, though,” Lilith said.
      “What’s the point?” Brandon asked. “He’s gone.”
      “ Then you’re unplugging him from life support?” Michelle asked.
      Brandon nodded sadly. “Tomorrow, when it has been exactly five days since he came out of the Game. That’s when I’ll do it.”

 
    Chapter 10
    Melissa
     
      I’vebeen sittin g in this coffee shop for the past three hours. It’s taken years to get this close; I hope the wait is over soon. Sam sits across from me, sipping a white hot chocolate with peppermint. He’s looking at me with that half smile of his; I’m not sure if he cares what happens here or not. Sam’s a pretty simple guy — he doesn’t worry about much. I wish I could feel the same. I was never that way, even before I started to float. 
      It’s been seven years since I knocked on Sam’s door and showed him what I can do. We’ve spent all that time trying to get close enough to meet Danielle, but it isn’t as easy as I had hoped. Famous people are really tough to meet, and she might not be on TV or in the movies, but Danielle is definitely famous.
      I know I’ve overthought it; my mind gets in the way so often and complicates things. It would have been simple just to find out what building she lives in, float up to her window, and knock on it till she noticed me. But I know for a fact that there are some very bad groups of people in the world, and they would like nothing better than to find a person like me. A couple of groups have actually caught wind of me and are on the hunt; it’s impossible to hide from everyone. So I do my best to stay hidden and out of the way. That was hard at first. It took me a few years to control my ability — it would just kick in at the worst moments, usually with others
    watching. It’s not like you can take all the time you need and practice floating around outside your apartment. Thankfully ,