Ronika explains that Kaine has come to the club before but that he “wouldn’t dare cross [her]” (84), as she saved one of his Tangents, a digital representation of a life form, from Decay, a process wherein the digital representation begins to decline as would an organic body. Recoding a Tangent is illegal, Ronika easily admits. Michael doubts that Kaine feels bound by loyalty. Ronika contends that this isn’t loyalty but opportunism: Her skills are rare, and Kaine wouldn’t risk alienating her, in case he needs her help again.

Ronika agrees to answer the teens’ questions in return for an open-ended favor. She confirms that Kaine is up to “something secret, hidden deep inside the VirtNet” (87), but knows few details. The Path, she explains, is the sole avenue to the Hidden Ravine, where Kaine is purportedly conducting his experiments. She advises them to try playing Devils of Destruction, a battle-simulator game played by older gamers than Michael and his friends. There is a “weak spot” in the game’s coding: If the teens can find it, they can hack their way onto the Path.

A horrible scream starts ringing out. Ronika and the teens flee from an enormous shadow creature, which was sent by Kaine. Ronika identifies these as KillSims, a term Michael recognizes from Tanya. Ronika explains that they are a type of “antiprogramming” creatures whose bites destroy their victims’ digital lives. Gamers would either have to begin their life in the VirtNet anew or abandon their games; some victims suffer brain damage in their real bodies, as well. The KillSims trap but don’t attack Ronika and the teens. The four sneak their way out toward the main club, running as quickly as possible when the KillSims see them. 

The humans are losing until Bryson discovers that squeezing the KillSims’ eyes until they burst kills the creatures. The three teens are safe, but Ronika’s digital life has been consumed. When they return to the Wake, Michael feels as battered as if the battle had been real.

Michael’s vicious headache endures, and he feels persistently nauseated. He frets over how close he came to being one of Kaine’s victims. He’s surprised to learn that the pain increases his determination to win against Kaine. It takes him days to feel better. He connects with his friends, relieved they still want to search for the Path. They begin researching Devils of Destruction, which is based on history. Michael finds himself surprisingly engaged by the details of wartime tactics.

Michael finds a note taped to his door demanding that he return to the alley where the VNS originally abducted him. He finds a short, bald man who demands a report on their progress. He introduces himself as Agent Scott, but seems to know suspiciously little about Michael’s task. He urges Michael to “assume everyone [he meets] is [his] enemy” (111). Scott says the VNS cannot help the teens if they get into trouble, but warns that Kaine is “fishy.”

On his way home, Michael experiences a brutal headache worse than what he experienced with the KillSims. He experiences strange visual hallucinations that leave his surroundings unrecognizable. The episode passes, but he fears that “something terrible” has happened to his brain following the KillSims’ attack.

Michael searches for Ronika’s real-world analogue and finds Wilhelmina Harris, who has been in a coma since the attack. Her prognosis is not good. As he falls asleep, Michael realizes that Helga, his nanny, did not return home for the evening.

Michael wakes the next morning feeling afraid of, but also excited by, his mission. He enters the Sleep and meets his friends at the Gaming Depot, a hub where gamers swap tips on hacking the game. Bryson and Sarah are annoyed that Michael didn’t tell them about his debilitating headaches sooner. They fret about Wilhelmina Harris’s fate and the possibility that the “KillSims are just the start” (119) of what they will face.

The three strategize how to get through Devils of Destruction; if one of them dies in the game and must return to the beginning, the others will wait. A ticket-seller denies them entry, as Devils of Destruction is only open to those aged 25 and up. The teens are confused by this, as the game would be more popular with teenagers wanting to break in if it was for adults only. They try to hack into the game, to no avail. 

Michael tries to storm his way through the ticket-seller, but a girl named Ryker points guns at him. He rushes her, knocking the guns aside, then wrestles them away. The ticket-seller triggers a safety mechanism that has ropes slither from the walls and toss Michael in the air. Michael shoots the ropes with the gun he stole from Ryker. Michael plans to shoot the ticket-seller, but Bryson hacks her first—she is a Tangent, not a real person.

Ryker warns the trio that they are “as clueless as can be” (136) as they enter the game. The three teens walk down a long, frigid hallway before entering the game. Their digital forms wear snowsuits heavy with gear. Sarah worries that VNS will deny knowing them if they are caught doing any of the many illegal things they’ve done on their quest. The friends stock up on weapons from a cache and worry what might be so alarming in the game as to merit the adults-only rating.

The three begin charging through the frigid landscape, an experience Michael finds miserable. They climb a hill and see a vicious, trench-lined battlefield below them. Michael and Bryson are confused by the illogical nature of the carnage, but Sarah contends that the point of the game might not be historical accuracy but just senseless violence—hence the adult rating. They realize that the guns they got from the stockpile don’t work; the game privileges hand-to-hand combat.

The friends begin searching for the Path Portal. Sarah tries to calmly remind them that if they die, they will just be returned to the entrance of the game. Michael fights a woman who is consumed with rage, wrestling a long pole away from her and then beating her brutally with it. He is quickly attacked by a larger man, who cuts Michael’s throat, killing him.