-25 MINUTES BEFORE THE LAUNCH OF VEIL ALPHA-

  Elena stood on shaky legs, hands pressed to either side of her keyboard. She stared at a series of equations and figures on the curved monitor that took up most of her desk, her lips parted slightly. Sweat beaded across her forehead, despite the cool temperature of the room.

  Her eyes darted across the screen again, willing the figures to change. They didn’t. Of course they didn’t. The solid, unwavering certainty of numbers was what drew her to this profession.

  She glanced down at the time. The Alpha was scheduled to begin in the next half hour. It wasn’t too late. She could stop it.

  Elena went to sit back down, nearly fell, caught herself, turned and brought the chair back to its position. She sat and typed in a command to bring up the launch system code base for Veil. Few had access to the privileged information, but as the Director of Cognitive Transference, or the ‘Director of the Deep Dive’ as the team had taken to calling her, she had full access to the system.

  A message flashed across the screen in red, blocky letters. A message she hadn’t seen in fifteen years working at the Habashi Corporation.

  ACCESS DENIED

  She closed the window, typing in her credentials once more and received the same message. She blinked as she processed the information.

  They had locked her out of the system. Why? Did they already know what she had just discovered, nestled deep among server file configurations far from where it belonged, at least from an organizational standpoint? Buried. Had someone buried this information?

  She glanced at the clock once more. It had already been fifteen minutes since she had first discovered the file. It had taken her two days of searching after she had noticed an inconsistency in the calculations provided by the team of data scientists. A minor differentiation that had passed through ten tiers of careful scrutiny before coming across her desk for final approval. A single mismatched set of data among thousands, but that was who she was. Elena “Hawkeye” Thompson. Numbers spoke to her, and that set had whispered of lies.

  So she began digging.

  Two sleepless days of searching for the missing subsection of code. Fueled only by coffee and a desperate desire to scratch the itch in the back of her mind. Why were the numbers off? She had hoped it would be nothing more than a mismatched algorithm. Something like this was rare — the Habashi Corporation employed only the best software engineers and data analysts — but nothing was perfect.

  Then she had found it and a wave of endorphins had flooded her sleep-deprived mind. She had shifted her glasses, rubbed at the sore spots where the lens sat on her nose for too long, and read the data, quickly identifying a bit of information that didn’t belong. It changed the whole dataset. She re-ran the calculation with the correct values and came to a conclusion that had nearly made her vomit, twisting her stomach in a tight knot of cold tension.

  And now she was locked out.

  Had whoever buried the data also flagged the file so they would be notified when it was accessed? It would have been an easy thing to do. She trembled with the implications, fighting down another wave of nausea.

  She brought up the company’s messaging software to send Kazu Habashi a message, but he was logged off. Of course he was. He would have just finished with the press briefing about the Alpha, hyping the launch.

  Kazu had always come across as honorable and empathetic. He was the only person with higher system access than her own. Someone must have hacked the system, removing her access so the launch would not be interrupted.

  But why? Why would anyone want this to happen? Such a disaster would bring down any business, even one as invincible as the Habashi Corporation.

  Elena stood, sending her chair crashing to the ground. She turned, forgetting to lock her computer for the first time in fifteen years, and ran from her office. She sprinted past her assistant, Allen, who glanced up in confusion at her passing. Running down the hall she passed a group of developers engaged in conversation near the coffee maker, and then sprinted past the elevators.

  There was no time to waste.

  Kazu’s boardroom was one story up, on the top floor of the Habashi Building. She hit the door to the stairs without slowing, shoving on the horizontal bar with both hands. The built in shock absorbers kept the door from slamming open. She shoved with all of her might against it, fighting against the dampeners, until it opened wide enough for her to slip through.

  She took the stairs two and three at a time, crashing into the door to the top floor and holding her badge over the reader affixed to the wall. For a moment she felt a sense of dread as it took too long to unlock.

  Had they removed her card privileges too? The light finally flashed green and the door clicked open. She shoved against it again, opening it enough to slip through.

  She looked down, eyes widening. The red plush carpet was soft under her thin socks. She must have kicked her loafers off in her haste to make it here. She pushed the thought away. It didn’t matter. All that mattered was getting to Kazu in time to stop the Alpha from launching.

  She ran down the hall, proximity lights flicking on as she passed under them. The top floor of the building was infrequently used, it was mostly for hosting foreign dignitaries and top businessmen. She turned two corners, hurrying down the wide, empty halls.

  One more turn and she ran head-first into a wall of muscular flesh. Kojima, Kazu’s head of security, knelt to help her off the ground.

  “Elena, are you okay? Why are you running—” he looked her over, eyes first widening with concern then narrowing with suspicion as he took in her disheveled hair, missing shoes, and heaving breaths. He sniffed, crinkling his nose, but Elena didn’t notice.

  “I need to see Kazu. Right away. It is an emergency.”

  “He is in a meeting and mustn’t be disturbed.”

  “Please, Kojima. It’s important. Ten thousand lives are at stake.” She emphasized each word with careful enunciation, trying to calm the dread that continued to rise like an inevitable tsunami.

  “The Alpha? Did something happen?”

  “There’s no time, please! I must speak with Kazu!” Her breaths came in ragged gasps as she tried going around the large man, who stopped her.

  He looked her up and down one final time and nodded. This was far from the first time Elena had pulled consecutive all-nighters since starting at the Habashi Corporation, but Kojima had never seen her this worked up before.

  “One moment.” He turned and placed his hand against a flat gray panel beside the door. The door clicked softly and he pulled it open, stepping inside and closing it after him door. Elena caught sight of a small group of men standing around the large boardroom table and talking before the door closed.

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  She shifted her weight from foot to foot, cringing. She needed to pee, but shoved the urge to the back of her mind. Ten thousand lives. It consumed her every thought. Ten thousand lives. Ten thousand lives. Time crept by at a crawl, each second felt like an hour. An eternity. She placed an ear against the cold metal door but could hear nothing. Of course the boardroom to the wealthiest family in the world would be sound-proof.

  She groaned, trying the handle. It didn’t budge, issuing a single beep of warning. She pressed her hand against the sensor. It flashed red. She had never had access to this room, her station had no need to access the room, but she still had to try. Time, precious time, was ticking away.

  The door opened and Kojima motioned for her to enter. She hurried into the room, looking around at a room of unfamiliar faces until she spotted Kazu. He stood at the end of the table, a stern expression on his face. His eyes were colder than she had ever seen.

  “Elena? Why are you here? Veil launches in minutes. This is not the time. When is the last time you slept?”

  “We have to stop the launch!” She shouted it, her voice breaking with strain. “We have to stop it, now!”

  “Mr. Habashi, who is this woman? She appears quite mad.” A tall, thin man in a fine suit asked with a distinctive British accent.

  “Elena is the Director of Cognitive Transference. What is the matter, Elena?”

  “We have to stop the launch!” She struggled with herself for a moment, fighting to say something more. Her mind seemed to be stuck in a loop. “Ten thousand lives are at stake!”

  Kazu squinted at her.

  “She found it. I told you she would.” A pale man with a distinctly American accent said. He leaned against the wall.

  “Found… you knew?” Elena looked from the pale man to Kazu, who still stood at the head of the long boardroom table. “You knew they would all die?”

  “That is where you are mistaken. They aren’t going to die.” Kazu spoke with the subtle blend of gentle resolve he was known for. “They are going on a journey. A transmigration.”

  “I saw the numbers. I did the calculations. They will die when they enter those pods.”

  “Yes, their bodies wi—” Kazu was interrupted by another man, who Elena had not noticed in her frantic initial search for Kazu.

  “That is confidential,” the man cut in, holding a halting hand up to Kazu. He wore a military uniform that Elena wasn’t able to identify. Close-cropped gray hair topped a heavily scarred head. His accent was also American. “She must not be told.”

  “She already knows too much,” the other American chimed in. “I warned you about her. We should have cut access to the file days ago when she started digging.”

  “Elena has been with the Habashi Corporation for fifteen years. If anyone can be trusted with this information, it is her.”

  “That is the problem,” the military man said. “No one can be trusted with this information.”

  Kazu stared at the man for a long moment, the two men locked in mutual glares. Elena’s heart felt like it would beat itself from her chest.

  “We don’t have time for this!” she shouted. “People are going to die! Ten thousand!”

  Kazu broke the glare, looking down. The man in the military fatigues smiled, nodding to the other American.

  “Ten thousand and one,” the American in the expensive suit said, a slight mocking tone to his voice. “So kind of you to volunteer.”

  “That is not going to hap—” Kazu was cut off once again by the military man.

  “It is. You should have kept a tighter leash. This is on you. No one can know. The project must continue. We must study the abnormality.”

  Kazu sighed and nodded to Kojima, who hesitated for a moment, a look of confusion on his face. “Take her four doors down. The floor model is functional. Initiate the process.”

  “Doesn’t she need to be cleansed, like the other participants, first?” Kojima asked. Elena’s mind whirled. Was this really happening? Was she about to die? She turned and grabbed the door handle as Kazu replied. The handle didn’t budge.

  “That process was not necessary. It is as she said, the bodies die. The minds, however—” he was interrupted by the same man, who started to speak, but he rose his voice and continued. “She will be gone soon anyways. There is no way back. The secret is safe.

  "You will see, Elena. The mind goes somewhere else. We haven’t determined much beyond that, the technology is beyond our understanding.”

  “For now.” The British man chimed in.

  “For now,” Kazu nodded. “Veil is not a game. It is a… portal of sorts. Those that enter are transformed through a character creation process, much like a game. But it is a siphon, taking information. Getting information back is nearly impossible.”

  “For now.” The British man chimed in once again. Kuza ignored him this time, continuing his speech.

  “There is much to learn. I wish you wouldn’t have gone digging, Elena. Your expertise and experience would have been very beneficial to the study.” He sighed, nodding to Kojima once again.

  “You’re killing them!” She screamed. “You’re killing me!”

  Kojima’s hands wrapped around her upper arms, twin grips like unbending steel. He stepped to the door as Kazu walked around and placed his hand on the sensor, opening it.

  “You aren’t going to die. Your mind will live. We know that much. After this test, we will know much more. You are going on a journey, Elena. I wish you the best, in your new life.”

  Elena struggled against Kojima, but his hands were immovable, like fighting a mountain. She screamed as he began walking her down the hall.

  “You’re killing me! You’re killing me!” she repeated the words, a mantra. Her mind reeled, unable to form a coherent thought, stuck in a loop.

  She was going to die. She thought of her cat, Cheshire. He had an automatic feeder and an automatic litter box, but they wouldn’t last forever. A few more days, at most. The thought shocked her mind out of the spiral, and reoriented her thoughts. Her baby. Tears spilled over her eyes and snot clogged her nose. She sniffed and began sobbing.

  “My baby, please, please no. My Cheshire kitty. Please.”

  Kojima placed a hand against a scanner by a door. She pulled with all of her might, but his other hand held her in place with ease. He looked ahead with cold eyes, but beneath the frost was pain.

  They had known each other. Not closely, but she had been an officer with the corporation for more than a decade. They were far from strangers.

  “Please, my Cheshire cat. Don’t let him starve.”

  Kojima pulled her into the room. It was ten by ten feet. A pod sat in the middle of the room. Thick bundles of wiring ran from the ceiling and up from the floor, into the egg-shaped device.

  “Please.” She whispered the word. Her throat burned from the screams. She was tired. She felt a distinct coldness at her crotch and realized that she had wet her pants at some point in the struggle, but she didn’t care. “Please don’t let Cheshie die.”

  Kojima turned her, guiding her into the machine with a firm hand. She tried to resist. For the briefest moment of time, she managed to stop him from pushing her in.

  “I will see that Cheshire is taken care of. Stop resisting. This must happen.”

  She sighed, allowing herself to be pushed back into the machine. She sat back, a great weight shifting from her shoulders. She wanted to thank Kojima. The words were on the tips of her lips. She felt a strong pinch as something injected her upper arm.

  “Tha—” darkness. A brief moment of darkness, then she was standing on soft grass, rolling hills stretching as far as she could see in every direction. She felt the soft grass below her feet. Her body was a blank, white avatar, like a mannequin.

  A fresh wave of cold horror, stemming from a combination of recognition and disbelief, washed over Elena. This had been programmed into the game. The character generation sequence. A blank slate to begin in a new world. It was real. But how?

  Text appeared, floating in front of her.

  System booting…

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