mice who have burrowed a series of tunnels into the gorge and formed a society. William thinks they are a secret lab experiment, but Miriam's observations and cached information sources lead her to believe that the mice are part of an upcoming summer interactive entertainment "movie" by FoxWarner. This allows Fairmont High to have an inside scoop on the movie and ensure a high grade for the students. William captures some mice with the Fedex rocket (which he earlier broke, but repaired while the others were testing the new nodes). Instead of allowing Miriam to keep them as part of the project, he releases the rocket which flies back to the Fedex depot – from where the mice could escape into the world. Juan is forced to reveal his drug use as Miriam is suspicious about how he managed to learn Bertie's nodes' interface so quickly. The ensuing discussion leads Juan to realize that he himself is a project of Bertie's. Bertie has been supplying custom drugs to many people and has only really befriended Juan because the drugs have worked amazingly well in him. Juan decides to free himself from Bertie, and like the mice, find his own way in the world with his drug-enhanced talents. This story won the Hugo Award for Best Novella in 2002. External links Review by D. Douglas Fratz Review by Mark L. Olson 2001 short story collections Science fiction short story collections Short stories by Vernor Vinge Tor Books books