She smiled and held the phone closer to her ear. Her heartbeat accelerated when the voice on the other end spoke. She knew it was ridiculous, he was just her friend, but—

Suddenly there was a shudder through her spine, a crack in her ears, a bright flash in her eyes, and the world went black. Not dark, but black, like drowning in the black emptiness of a gaping hole in the universe.

Voices fizzled through her brain, distorted by static and electronic beeps. She groaned and tried to open her eyes. What’s going on? Blindly, she tried to get up, but she couldn’t. A terrible heaviness had come over her body, a tightening in her heart.

Something pricked her neck, and suddenly, there was light. There was clarity. She was lying face down, and all she could see was a blank whiteness. Voices hummed above her.

“What happened? Why did Subject 08A5GII wake up?”

“She was programmed to talk to Jeff. But there’s been a malfunction with the system.”

“What?”

“Her connection to Reality has been broken.”