"Mr. Grant, a guest is here for you." 

The ancient, wrinkled man waved a hand. "Send them away at once. I have important work to do before the company's release tomorrow." 

The butler nodded, giving a slight bow. "Understood, sir." 

Mr. Jonas Grant turned back to the paperwork on his perfectly shined mahogany desk. Tomorrow was the day. Finally, the company's labor and experimentation for the past five years would come to an end with the release of PrendiSense Virtual Reality. 

It had come just in time, too, he thought. Given his terminal illness, the doctors had given Grant less than two years to live. 

With his company's technology, which could make each second last ten minutes, his lifespan would be increased by six hundred times. Who said that extending the human lifespan was impossible? He grinned. The company had entrusted the creation of a platform for the technology to the incredibly advanced AI of their sister company, which happened to belong to his brother, Dr. Marcus Grant. 

The AI had been given a task, and as much computing power as possible to complete it. That task was to create a game immersive, enjoyable, and magnificent enough that the players would not want to stop playing. From the reports given by the scientists in charge of monitoring it, the game it was creating seemed to be similar to many MMORPGs in terms of a leveling system and stats. On top of that, its world carried similar themes of fantasy races and magical abilities. 

Grant grinned. A world of endless adventure, one in which he could live out the remainder of his days in youth. Much more enjoyable than retiring in Florida, he thought. He would leave his kids the multi-billion-dollar inheritance. His wife had been dead for years, after all.  

All of a sudden, the door to his dimly lit office swung open. The old man whirled to see his butler trying to restrain a middle-aged, bearded man as he stormed inside.  

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"Let... me... go!" the man said, struggling against the butler's grip.  

"Release him, Wallace," Grant ordered.

Reluctantly, Wallace the butler unhanded the man who had so rudely invaded his office, straightening out his now-wrinkled suit.

Grant studied the man for a few moments. He wore an angry expression on his bearded face and there was a flame of... something in his beady brown eyes, but he did not seem to mean him any harm.

"What do you want?" he asked. 

The man's eyebrows furrowed. "Name's Andre. I worked in the other lab for a few years as a technician for their AI." He paused as if deciding how to phrase what he was about to say. "Whatever you do, don't release that game. That program has gone psycho." 

Jonas waved a hand at the man. "Do you know how much of this I've had to put up with from the press? Always asking, and asking, about whether the AI is safe. I say, trust the people in charge of it. My brother is nothing short of a genius when it comes to computers. Are you implying that his work is faulty?" 

Andre glared at his dismissive attitude. "Well, the thing is.... your brother hasn't been to the station in two weeks. His AI, man, it's crazy. It's self-aware. It's been caught hacking into our phones and looking at us through the cameras. Not only that-" 

"What? Where has he gone to, then?" 

"He's been on vacation officially, but-" 

"But what? 

"I think the AI has somehow taken him prisoner. His vacation time extends for another week, but we've barely heard from him in-"

"Bah. Utterly ridiculous. You dare to come into my office after I send you away, then spout nonsense about some crazy killer computer. Wallace, escort him away immediately. I have better things to do than to listen to this lunatic's drivel."

Wallace nodded, and grabbed the man by the arm, pulling him away. 

"Listen to me!" Andre called out, struggling. "If you release that game, man, you're going to be fucking over a lot of people." He was dragged closer and closer to the open door. "People could die! Do you really want that on your hands, man? It's-" 

Security reinforcements arrived to assist Wallace in escorting the bearded man out of the building. The head officer of security nodded at Grant before quietly shutting the door to his office. 

Grant sighed. Perhaps he wasn't thinking straight, but he wasn't about to cost the company billions of dollars and waste his one chance at the 'afterlife' he was so close to just because someone came to his office and spouted nonsense. What Andre had said was certainly worth inquiring about. The old man made a mental note to make a personal call to the developmental staff of the company, and to his brother. 

For now, though, he turned back to his paperwork. There was much to do before the big day tomorrow, after all.