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There was a solid week of hell for all of us at the guild house. Not one moment was spent alone. Not even if we begged for it.

The threat Echidna brought to our doorstep was too real to downplay. Our existence required us sticking together. Either that or she may get bored enough to erase us from existence.

And so with all that weight on our shoulders we could do only one thing. Train.

Hoy taught Henry tactics night and day. Even tormenting him into paying attention to his surroundings and possible threats at our various meetings. Trip falls, wire traps, Holo-room hazards, etc. The list went on. And though I saw how it wore Henry down I could see him changing.

His movements and choices were more calculated and his demeanor became much calmer than before. When talking tactics he made observations about the terrain and possible vantage points as well as ambush spots. So he improved alot.

But compared to his hell I was in purgatory. Between Beth's beatings and Lily's horrifying lessons on coding. I was being double teamed. The physical battles always left my body worn out and needing a cool down. But then Lily would wear my mind out.

Coding in this world isn't like it is with computers. You actually interface with the network yourself. Not through a motem, computer platform, or otherwise external hardware.

No. This required my mental capacities and "digital" touch.

Lilies first lesson was how to interface with the network.

She held up her hands in front of my face to show they were normal. And then placed them on the wall of the guild house. The wall quickly turned into a putty like material with zeros and ones running throughout. Entering and exiting where her hands were.

"This is your first lesson. You have to learn how to interface with the world. Everybody does this differently. So what I do may not be what you do. But I know a few tricks to get you started." She said as she slowly pulled her hands away and the wall returned to normal.

She motioned for me to touch the wall. And I did so.

Its surface was cold to the touch. Firm and unmoving like a wall should be.

"I want you to focus." She said as she turned to face me with my hands on the wall.

"Not on the wall. But what codes you think make up the wall. The One's and Zero's of creation in this place. The codes you would use to create it like this. Texture, density, even reaction types to different impacts and elements." She said as she began pacing around me slowly.

"Close your eyes if you need to. Dredge up any and all memory you have of coding. Even if it's old or outdated. It'll be useful." Lily said.

I closed my eyes and pictured the ones and zeroes. Running along the screen of my computer at home. The landscapes I wanted to make. The codes I needed for them. A wall wasn't hard. But the textures. The crinkling wallpaper made me begin to sweat with effort as my brain worked. It worked to remember and forge the codes I needed. The wall was hard, simple and delicate. But at the same time it was detailed, tough, and durable to some extent. Multiple layers of coding fed through my mind as I focused on my hands.

My fingers dug slightly into the wall. Feeling the grit of the drywall on my skin. Even if it was digital. Was helpful all the same.

I kept thinking of codes and rewriting them every time a new detail came to light. Lily stepped out once in a while to check on the others. But she tried to give me tips and tricks every now and again.

I didn't know how long it took for me to fill my head with a working formula. But the feeling I got at that moment. It was like I became the wall itself.

I soon opened my eyes and saw what Lily had meant for me to do. The wall was rippling around my hands like drops falling into a pond. I could see the code I made running down my hands and into its surface like small streams of golden water. Each stream making the wall ripple and churn from my efforts.

Seeing the results you could say I was pleased. But that wasn't all. I was motivated. I closed my eyes harder and focused more on the codes. Every one and zero. Every little thing I could think of to improve my process. Shortcuts, hacks, bio-grade engineering, coding, everything my father had left book wise in his study when he left was my only tie to him.

And those codes would help me leave this place.

I smiled. The sharp teeth that filled my jaws appeared ominous as I exerted effort against the wall. Both mental and physical. Pushing against its code. I wanted to break through it.

I was a hacker at heart. And this walls secrets. Would be mine. "You are mine." I growled as I opened my eyes and saw my hands finally sink into the hardwired mainframe of the wall. The rippling surface giving way to me as my hands sank into its surface and it's codes began to run through me just as much as I ran through it.

I began to read and understand more for who knows how long. Till I felt a pulling jolt and was slammed back from the wall.

My breathing was heavy and I looked up to see the others panting heavily like they just got a workout. "What?" I asked.

Lily shook her head. "I've never seen anyone make that much progress. Making the wall move. Sure. But you breached the barrier!? You could have been killed! I'm surprised the system isn't trying to punish you right now! Let alone destroy you like a virus!" She hurriedly said between pants.

Henry looked at me with a cocky grin. "But that was a hell of a show. Haven't seen something like that before. What did you use?" He said standing up and stretching a bit.

I smirked. "Bio- code. Old age coding used to make nanites. Not used anymore of course. Nano tech was destroyed when BL00D washed over the earth. Nobody wanted an accident to happen again so they destroyed all the research on it. Well... almost all. I managed to get my hands on some files for it when I was ransacking computer databases and warehouse files. But it turns out this stuff runs off of it. Like a bio- mechanical code. Codes for dna mixed in with everything else makes everything a bit more... complex. But not impossible."

"Perhaps one day we'll see how the world outside likes our knowledge. And if I keep digging... I feel like I might find us a way out of here." I said leaning forward with my arms resting on my knees.