My weekend passed in a blur; I was barely able to chat with Yena or Zeke, as our parents did indeed make the most of my time home. I helped my mom and dad with a lot of chores around the house, and we spent the nights in, doing board games, watching movies or catching up on TV shows we all used to watch together. Sunday night they took me out to a local all you can eat sushi restauraunt, and I’ll admit I definitely went a bit overboard; thirty pieces of sushi and sashimi is a lot, and my stomach was not happy with me that night. I will admit the look of horror on my mom’s face and grudging admiration on my dad’s face was worth the pain though.
From limited texts, I heard that Yena spent the weekend with her dad at the local dojang, as they sparred and refreshed their TKD chops. Her father used to compete when he was younger, until the business world pulled him away. He still spent a couple of nights a week practicing, in a homemade gym downstairs, complete with their own mat. When they got the chance, their competitive sides got the better of them and they loved to go to the local studio and get some matches in with some of the teachers. It was great experience for them, and for the students it was a chance to watch different styles of attack and defense, so it was a good education for them.
For Zeke, from what I heard his mom worried over him, and did her level best to ‘feed him right’, as she was convinced the cafeteria at Penn State was ‘starving her poor baby.’ Zeke didn’t complain, as his mom’s cooking was delicious, and she always made enough for a small army division when he was around. If I didn’t know better I’d swear Zeke’s mom had an ancestor somewhere that was a true Italian grandmother; she definitely had used the ‘you are too skinny!’ line in her own way for both Zeke and myself over the years. I absentmindedly wondered if we’d have to roll Zeke into Colin come Monday morning.
I made sure my bag was packed with a week’s worth of supplies, and my mom ensured I had a grocery sack of snacks for while I was up there. “Even though it’s all inclusive, those places may still try and rip you off” was her thinking, and so she ensured that we weren’t solely reliant on them to keep us fed.
And so it was at “Why am I up this early” dark-o-clock that I fired up Colin, and let him warm up for a bit before I drove over to Yuna and Zeke’s houses to pick them up.
Yena’s dad Kenji was waiting outside when I got there, dressed in a business suit, with his own car warming up; he also had an early flight and was leaving when we were. He gave Yuna a big hug, telling her “I Love you, my Peace Blossom” which was his name for her since her mom’s passing, as her mom loved having flowers in the house. He looked at me and Zeke sternly and said “You be sure to take care of Yena, yes?”
“Of course, sir!” I said, respectfully, with Zeke echoing me. “But you know that she is more likely to take care of us.”
Kenji chuckled, conceding the point. “Still, a father always has to worry about their child; it’s our responsibility.”
Not really having a way to respond to that, we can only nod sagely, as if we truly understood the wisdom he was gifting us with.
With that, Kenji sent us on our way, as he had to head to Boston to make his flight. We all dutifully piled into Colin who was just starting to be able to produce enough heat to make the car mildly comfortable. Yena punched the address into her phone, and we were off.
It was a quiet ride at first, with us all apparently deep into our own thoughts, but it was Zeke who broke the ice finally.
“So, about these challenges; what do we think they are? How hard do you think they’ll be?”
“Honestly, I’m not sure.” I admitted “But for the potential of a million dollars, I don’t think they’re going to be ‘complete a few quests and win’ kind of challenges, do you?”
“Aw man!” Zeke complained “You know I hate the puzzle rooms!”
Yena laughed “Who says they’ll even be puzzle rooms? We don’t even know WHAT it is. Maybe it’s some new immersive FPS, and we just have to win our matches?”
“Well in that case I’m doomed” I replied gloomily, “you know how slow my reaction times are in those games.”
“Eh” Zeke said in reply, “You’re usually the tactician for our team, so as long as you have the strategy calls right, we’ll be okay.”
“Oh, no pressure then, okay!” I said, mock wiping my forehead with sweat. That got both of them to laugh, and the mood lightened back into companionable silence for a bit.
I threw the next question out there out of curiosity. “So, if we did actually manage to pull this off, what would you do with that million dollars?”
Zeke and Yena looked at each other, as if debating who would go first. Yena shrugged and said “I really don’t want for much; Dad has taken care of everything for so long, I’d like to do something to help him lighten his load. Maybe I’d use some of it for a really nice vacation for both of us, force him to take time off from work and just slow down for a change.” She had a wistful look on her face as she said that; I knew that there were times she barely saw her dad for weeks as he bounced from trip to trip for business, but they made sure to chat every night to stay close, no matter what time zone he was in.
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Zeke spoke next, but I was pretty sure I knew what he answer would be. “Well, I definitely would give some of it to my mom, or maybe I’d pay off her mortgage, so she wouldn’t have to work as much. I know her car is also nearing the end of its useful life as well, and it hasn’t even lived as long as Colin has!” I flipped him the bird in response, and he chuckled. “But other than that, I’d put whatever’s left aside so when I finally get a chance to work on the game I’ve always wanted to, I’d have a bit of seed money to get started.” Ever since Zeke was little, he was fascinated with computer games, and learning how to code from an early age, using the school’s computer lab (his mom could never have the money for a computer at home). My dad had gotten him a cheap laptop when his school district upgraded from their old ones they gave the kids to the new ones, and they had ‘generously’ offered to let teachers buy them for themselves if they wanted. Zeke was so moved by the gesture I thought he might cry. From then on, he was up all hours of the night, learning and practicing on game design and game theory, until he was ready to write his game.
“Me, I’d definitely help my parents with their mortgage as well. I know they bought when it was kind of cheap, but I see the wince on both their faces whenever that monthly bill comes due. And, you know… I’d get a new car. Finally.”
“About damn time,” Yena muttered.
“Hey!” I said, defensively. “Colin’s been great, he’s managed to hold up for my commuting and gotten me through high school. I was the only one of us to have a car during all that time, remember? I don’t seem to recall either of you complaining too loudly when we had to use Colin to go to a concert, or the movies, or shopping, or whatever we wanted to do?”
They both shook their heads, chagrined.
“I don’t know what I’d get for a new car though; I’d like to get something sporty, but I feel like it’d be a big change to go from a minivan to that.”
“You should totally get a ‘Vette.” Zeke deadpanned. “Most practical vehicle ever.”
We all cracked up at that.
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After two and a half hours, a fuel stop, a snack stop, and a couple of missed turns, we arrived. At first it looked like your traditional office space; a large parking lot that was maybe a quarter full of higher end cars, trucks and SUV’s, surrounding a four story office building, all mirrored glass and steel, looking very futuristic. There was something about the way the building looked that had me uneasy; I couldn’t put my finger on it, but something about the building gave a sense of… hostility? Anger? I told myself it was my brain being foolish; it’s a building, buildings can’t make you feel anything! We parked in the visitor’s spot (I sincerely hope they didn’t tow Colin given how out of place he looked compared to the rest of the surroundings) and made our way to the front lobby.
Going through the automatic doors, we walked into a upscale office waiting space – the furniture was all black leather, glass and chrome, tastefully arranged in that office space way that it ‘promoted creativity’ or ‘synergy’, or whatever corporate-buzzword phrase of the week they were using.
A large black receptionist desk made out of what looked like onyx was near the rear wall; to the right were a set of smoked glass doors with one of those keycard readers. Above the desk in what looked like some sort of brushed metal was the logo for Snowfall Technologies; a winter scene of a tree covered in snow (obviously) – but if you were to look closer, you’d see the ‘snowflakes’ actually were little computer chips. I always thought it was a cool logo.
Yena walked up to the receptionist, the leader of our group here. “Excuse me, we’re here for the test…” was all she got out before the receptionist held up her hand to stop her. She pointed at the GNAT on her hand, and said “Please make yourselves comfortable. Someone will be out shortly to escort you in the building.”
“Oh, um, thank you.” Yena said, a bit flustered. Zeke and I looked at each other and shrugged. We walked back over to one of the little couch areas and sat down; I’m not sure what they were made out of, but they were crazy comfortable. I idly wondered what one of these chairs cost, and if I could get one for my house after this testing was done, if we won. Then again, I probably didn’t want to know what something like this cost. Zeke also looked comfortable; after about a minute I thought he was about to fall asleep right then and there, a contented smile on his face.
After a few minutes of waiting, I heard the click of the door buzzer, and I turned my head to see the door open, and someone about our age come out, dressed in a really nice suit, with mirror polished shoes, crisp shirt and tie. It was a pity the security badge really threw the overall look off, as it was decidedly bright compared to everything else. He looked to be maybe 5’8”, very thin, with round spectacles on and a nervous smile. He walked over to us, his hand extended. “Oh good, you made it! I’m so glad. We’ve been waiting for you.”
Yena jumped up and gave him a hug. “Ted! You’re here!”
And just like that, I met the son of one of the richest people on Earth.