Page 149 of Tapeworld Induction

Jewel loomed over her, displaying her rows of teeth. “Give up! Give u—”

Dylan threw a jab at Jewel’s throat, the only faintly vulnerable point on her cavalcade of a body. “Fuck you! Brainwashed cunt.” She slid down the bed and rolled onto the floor away from her.

Jewel let out a series of unnatural heaves and moans. Of course it wasn’t easy to breathe after a punch to the windpipe, but this felt like something more, hinting at deeper changes the Tapeworld had made within her body. She tried to keep her balance by placing a hand on the nearby bed, but she stumbled and fell to the floor. Her mass lay convulsing and choking.

Dylan reached the mirror of Jewel’s real-world body, the Crypterra device on her head, a tranquil expression on her face – in complete contrast to Jewel’s Tapeworld self, which was clutching her own throat, gasping for air.

Sweat dropped from Dylan’s forehead onto Jewel’s skin. Her heart raced.

Jewel’s tape self, beginning to recover, started to crawl towards her.

The punch with the knuckle-duster should have knocked her out, but it didn’t. Dylan wasn’t strong enough to defeat her, even in here.

She had no other choice. Dylan pulled off the piece of tape stuck to her own temple and exited the Tapeworld, the rushing colours speeding past her eyes as she derezzed.

“Fuck you!”

IRL again, but still in danger.

Dylan shouted in pain. It felt like she’d just been punched in her stomach by an unseen force. She had to hurry before Jewel hurt her remnant even more.

She jumped up from the bed.

Isaak was right there next to her, still where he’d taped in. His handsome face betrayed no emotion, no hint of whatever hell Astrid was putting him through at the same moment inside the Tapeworld.

She caressed his cheek with the back of her fingers, her heart hurting. “I’m coming, boy.”

Dylan ran, jumping and sliding over the hospital beds to reach Jewel’s IRL body. If her instincts were right, Jewel wouldn’t be able to remove the Crypterra Sleeper herself – that was up to Astrid, and hopefully Isaak was keeping that bitch busy.

Dylan touched the grey plastic device, the sharp, angular texture cold like death. The realisation of what she was about to do hit her like a sack of bricks. She had to rip the Sleeper from Jewel’s head, killing her in the process.

When Dylan first taped out, she’d felt so sure she was capable of doing it. But now, hovering over Jewel’s defenceless body, her gut clenched.

You must be certain. You must be ready for the consequences. Her mother’s words. Her mum and dad didn’t know anything when they joined the Apocalypse Revolt, when they played their part in the revolution. They simply hoped that their actions would pave the way to a better world.

Dylan made a split-second decision.

Doing this is a chance to correct their mistakes.

She picked up the lobster phone and connected it to Jewel’s head. She speed-dialled Elodie.

“Talk.”

“I’ve got her bodyguard. On my count.”

She took a deep breath and slapped on another piece of tape, entering the Tapeworld again.

The blue kaleidoscope was faster this time as her consciousness sped through it.

A punch knocked the wind out of her. Fuck.

Dylan had materialised back into the remnant presence she’d left behind. Tapeworld Jewel held her aloft with one arm, and was about to punch her in the stomach again.

Dylan grabbed her phone, still on her call with Elodie, lifting it to her face in a swift motion. “Now!”

A shockwave emanated from Jewel’s shape, rippling through Dylan.

The woman’s muscles went limp, the anger gone from the lines of her face. She dropped Dylan, who scrambled away. Jewel tried to grab her again, but as she grasped the fabric of Dylan’s dress, her hand dematerialised into particles, and her sleptigrade self was no more.