Page 60 of Tapeworld Induction

The hilt of the Gunkatana, resting on the black pedestal, began to vibrate.

Both of them recoiled from the sword. She looked to Isaak, but he didn’t seem to have any idea what it meant this time.

Then the sound of a bell rang through the landscape.

She noticed something behind Isaak that she hadn’t seen before. She stared at it, then pointed a black-polished fingernail towards it. “What is that?”

Isaak glanced backwards.

Hovering just behind him was a spherical black spot, approximately the size of a football. The inky blackness of it reflected nothing. The more she looked at it, the darker it looked, like a sky devoid of stars.

The impossible black sphere made no sound, but seemed to be growing as she looked at it.

Isaak held up a hand to tell her to stay calm. Keeping his mouth closed, he then gestured in the air, his movements deliberate and slow – as if he was trying not to spook whatever this strange ball was.

A blue portal took shape with a hum that cut out as quickly as it appeared.

Isaak dropped the calm demeanour and grabbed the Gunkatana from the pedestal.

“Let’s go, Dylan. Run!”

Fuck.

She raced for the portal. Next to her, Isaak matched her speed.

Beside them, the high chairs and the table island imploded into cyberdust – all of it blinking out of existence, particles flying to the black sphere as she and Isaak dashed towards the tape-tube. The thing was consuming all of his summonings.

And it was on its way towards them. They were almost at the portal, but—

“Kitty!” She turned to see the cat hopping behind her. It started to float in mid-air, being pulled towards the black spot.

No.

“Isaak, wait! The cat!”

He turned, half his body already inside the portal, the blue stuff dripping around him like sticky petrol. He looked as horrified as she felt, but shouted, “There’s no time, come on!”

Dylan looked at Kitty again, reaching out a hand to grab her. But the cat didn’t look worried.

“I’ll see you later, Dee—” A surge of green light materialised around the cat, eclipsing her. By the time it closed, she was no longer there. Had she found her own way to escape the black spot?

Dylan stared as the ball, now almost as tall as her, devoured whatever it came into contact with. Then Isaak grabbed her wrist, the skin of his fingers rough on her skin, and yanked her through the portal with him. She fell through it, and near instantly they came out of the tape-tube corridor, his volcanic mountain hideout replaced by a night-time cityscape, the concrete slabs of a pedestrian walkway beneath them. Looming large above them were skyscrapers done up in cascades of neon signs, an amped-up version of IRL London, with impossibly tall, towering buildings.

They were lying next to each other on the pavement.

“Are you okay?” he asked her, as he got up and looked around.

She pushed herself up on her elbows and nodded meekly.

What the hell just happened…?

“The tube’s gone, Dylan. I really hope that thing isn’t gonna be able to find us here.” Breathing heavy, he took off the black faux-leather jacket and tossed it aside, and it dematerialised before it hit the ground. His t-shirt was tight around his biceps. She admired the way it wrapped around his chest and abs as he attached the Gunkatana to a loop of his belt.

She sat, smoothing over her stinging knees. The rough landing on concrete had scraped them open. Her white dress was stained with a few drops of blood.

“What… What about Miss Kitty?” she asked.

“I don’t know…” He offered his hand to help her get up.