Cyberwitch Academy: Learn or Burn

Chapter 30

"Familiars, my darlings. We're going hunting for familiars!" Rhiannon rubs her hands together with glee.

A cat so fat that it appears to have its own gravity appears from behind Rhiannon's fishnet tights. It looks at us, unimpressed then casually leaps up onto her shoulders.

"Your familiars will need to be searched out from the sea of junk data and instructions that this forest represents, you'll need to first identify what it is you are looking for, then sort the forest and then search the forest to find the one shiver that will fit each of the members of your coven."

I must admit, I'm pretty excited about having my own pet automaton.

"However, you choose to do this is entirely up to you sweethearts. You'll all smash it, I'm sure. See you for tea and scones after."

The siren raises a pistol and fires. A countdown begins in the corner of my eye. Three hours.

Three hours and an infinite forest that is supposedly full of living software.

Is there a manual? Tutorials

I feel Ty taking my left hand and Vash taking my right. I look around, kind of embarrassed, what are we like five? But then I see the other covens are doing it too, and we're all walking, real slow and quiet, like we're stalking something, like hunters, but really, I think it's because the closer we get to the tree line, the more it looks like something from a very bad dream. It rises up above us higher and higher, and the howls and shrieks and chattering, and fetid winds all rush up to greet us.

The darkness upon darkness upon darkness of it all. Layers and layers and layers going back into one another of branches and roots and tangled vines, and the ground is thick, up to waist height, with leaves and thorn bushes and all kinds of weird mushrooms and before you know it, like it snuck up on us, we're in it, in the forest and somehow, we can't even see back out anymore.

All the other covens, I instantly lost sight of them, and holding on to Ty and Vash, feels important, but something else too, I'm noticing something, something about the patterns in the dark, the look of all of it, but also the sounds too, it's deafening. This noise, it's throbbing and reverberating, echoing, feedback looping into a high and deafening whine.

This forest is so full of life, and every scrap of it is calling out in some way. Reaching and pushing and crawling toward more energy, more life.

And I remember something about the Game of Life, Conway's computer simulation, and then I remember something about search algorithms and I think, this is all some kind of metaphor for good old fashioned computer science, and that's something I'm very, very good at.

"Where are you in that head of yours, Sula?"

Something shrieks past us, all limbs and motion. Ty screams.

"Keep talking to us Codewitch!" Shouts Vash

"I think I got this." I reply

Don't let go of my hand!

I pull away, instinctively, I need my hands, need space to work.

"Ursula I'm scared!"

"I've got you Ty", Vash says, but all of a sudden it sounds like she's twenty yards away.

"Ty? Vash?"

"Keep calling Sula!"

But already they sound very far off, and I'm alone, walking through the thorns, my feet crushing through great big sproutings of weird fungi. Networks. Living networks.

And I'm back on my train of thought, it's OK if I can just pull this off, I'll get back to my team.

My body is a computer, right? And the forest is a data set. So how do I jack into this forest?