"You okay?"

"I've just got a lot of thinking to do."

"About the book."

"Of course. I'm just wondering who could have set this all up in the first place. No way it's a coincidence that three kids get mysterious books with all sorts of stories that extend outside the city, and then grow up in the same field."

"Is it really too big to be a coincidence?"

"Yes, the filenames proved that."

"And that's worrying you, huh? That maybe getting that book steered you somewhere you might not have gone otherwise."

You nod. You've both gotten much better at reading each other's moods recently.

"Let's just go home."

"Hang on, what about the sewers! You said you wanted to do some training today. Come on, it'll be fun. Let's cut loose."

His laziness and motivation come and go in equal measures. Today, you can tell that he's trying to cheer you up with this. A small, appreciative smile inches across your face.

"Fine, fine. Let's go. Park is that way-"

You let your wristwatch hang at your side, and you move towards the usual teleportation beacon.

==

With your new metadata obscuring tool, you're able to come up with a fake identity for entering the sewers. There's no more chance of you being logged upon entry. You also don't end up sabotaging it for the bots this time. Just to be safe, you cover your face with a veil of static before stepping towards the booth and using it. You're sent underground to the familiar intersection that you first arrived in.

The first thing you notice is that the flow of junk data is greatly accelerated. Large volumes are being pushed through the canals and towards the recycling plant beneath The Tower.

"Hololize!"

"Argh! Forgot how bad it smelt!"

"Is it worse because of all the flow?"

"It is! Gross."