I'm positive it's over, that we're dead and this entire experience is my last. That I should have pushed harder to stop this exploration, should have done something. The

embed in my arm twitches, the faintest red light appearing in my peripheral vision and a woman's voice-that voice from the white light that started all this-says, "Terminate Soulblade Stage?"

"No!" I gasp that word even as light flares around me and I can breathe all of a sudden. My chest ...