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completely freaked out that she couldn’t stand it any longer, Aislen grabbed her backpack, ran out of the room, down the stairs, and out the front door—away from everything that was haunting her.

CHAPTER 4
     
    Raze arrived at Headquarters in Palo Alto twenty minutes early for his meeting with the Infiniti 8. The 8 had pre-arranged this appointment back when they first approved the Parrish Project and assigned Raze to implement and complete it.
    The headquarters of Infinium Incorporated was as sterile on the inside as it was on the outside, purposefully designed to look as generic as possible. With all its bland glory, it should have stuck out like a sore thumb, but despite the looming size of Infinium’s headquarters, it managed to hide in plain sight among the more aesthetically pleasing Fortune 500 buildings around it. This suited II’s needs perfectly.
    The austerity of the interior made a different impression than its external facade. When one entered the building with its clean lines and functional surfaces in white and stainless steel, one walked into a clear space. The internal arena of Infinium represented the Zen mind: a blank slate, a mind without identity or belief, virgin and open to every possibility. It was the perfect environment to accomplish the company’s mission.
    He walked down several long corridors, made a few turns, descended a flight of stairs, made a few more turns, and went down several more flights of stairs deep into the inner hub. It had taken him almost a year to maneuver through the intricate labyrinth of the building without getting lost.
    Raze had been employed by Quantum Gaming Systems, a subsidiary of Infinium Incorporated, for almost 2 years before he’d been invited into these hallowed halls. He was a 20-year-old kid, who after years of being told he was a loser by pretty much everyone, was still in awe that he ever landed a job. He didn’t know at the time that II was going to offer him a very serious promotion and that life, or rather, reality, was never going to be the same for him.
    It all began with a letter. Just before he turned 18, he received an invitation in the mail—snail mail—not just his email spam box.
     
    Dear Raziel Tanis,
    We have been watching you play AnnihilNation on the Now and via match replay videos on YouTube for quite a while now. Your skill and strategy is impressive. We would like to extend this personal invitation to attend Quantum Gaming Systems National Gaming Championships. It will be held in San Francisco next month. If you accept this opportunity, we would also like to meet with you in person to discuss other opportunities. Please contact our offices and we will make all the arrangements. Please do not let expenses dissuade you from contacting us. Food, lodging, transportation and entertainment will be paid for by QGS. We hope to hear from you soon.
     
    Sincerely,
    Grant Parker
     
    The director of QGS himself signed it, in ink. Raze could feel the indentation where his pen pressed into the paper. It seemed too good to be true, but Raze picked up the phone and dialed the number listed on the letterhead.
    “Quantum Gaming Systems, Grant Parker’s office, can I help you?” a sexy sounding receptionist greeated hi.
    “Uh...yeah...I think so,” Raze was a little taken aback that the number actually worked. “My name is Raze Tanis,” he said, more as a question, than a statement.
    “Oh, yes, Mr. Tanis. We have been expecting your call. Are you calling to reserve your space at the championships?”
    “Uh...yeah...I think so,” he answered again. You gotta be kidding me? This is for real?
    “Very good. Mr. Parker will be pleased to hear that. Let’s get some information from you so I can make the arrangements.”
    And, no shit, just like that, he was heading out to Cali. Raze emptied his bank account, packed some clothes and his tournament game controllers, told his family to go fuck themselves, and flew halfway across the country to