The drive to the city took only 5 minutes, but as they entered, they found themselves stuck in the usual morning traffic. The valet slammed his fist into the steering wheel

“Damn!” He swore as he massaged his hand “Terribly sorry, master Glare, but this may take a little while”

Jason brushed off his words and kept his gaze out the window. They may have been tinted, but they still allowed whoever was inside to lookout. He watched as the tiny balls of water dropped harmlessly onto the glass and rolled down. He watched as the people outside busied along the side-walk, from destination to destination. But something, in particular, caught his eyes

The car was nearly in front of a small, dark alleyway and inside were two men who looked to be having a conversation. One of them had his back turned away, but he could clearly see the other.

He was a relatively short man, looked twenty-five. He had jagged brown hair and was missing a tooth, but one characteristic, in particular, was that he had a long scar that ran across his forehead. He handed the unknown man a brown paper bag and in return got a small bundle of money. He greedily stuffed it down his pocket, then departed down the alley to the other side

Jason watched as the unknown man withdrew a needle from the brown bag and without a moment of hesitation injected himself with it. The man stood like a statue for a few moments before his body visibly relaxed. He started to walk the same way the other man left, but he didn’t even take more than 3 steps before he stopped dead in his tracks and drooped to his knees. The man clutched his chest tightly and it looked like he was attempting to call out, but nothing came out and after a few more moments, he dropped face down onto the ground dead.

Jason shook his head in disgust at what he just witnessed. Drugs and trade were a very common sight in this city. So was murder, rape, theft, gang warfare and those were just a few of the many injustices that this city held.

As the people walked by, unaware of the corpse that lay in the alleyway, Jason eyed each and every one of them. Who were the honest? And who were the liars, killers, and thieves? Who were the vile and the villainous? Who were the ones who sinned out of anger, lust, greed or even gluttony?

“This city is sick” He growled, under his breath

“Excuse me Sir?” asked the valet

“Nothing” he replied, as he looked away from the window

“Are you sure, sir? It sounded like-“

“I said it was nothing” he repeated, this time a little firmer

The valet was indeed intimidated by that. He immediately dropped the matter and returned his focus to the road. They made it through the traffic rather quickly after that and arrived at the AlphaTEK headquarters in only fifteen minutes.

“Here we are, sir” the valet announced as the pulled up next to it

The building was around a hundred stories tall, the tallest building in the city and probably this side of the world. It was crafted out of dark grey titanium and navy blue-tinted glass, both of which odd colors for a building, but made the skyscraper sparkle in the daylight and it’s a brilliant array of lights lit up the nights’ sky

Before Jason could even exit his door, the valet was already there with an umbrella in his hand to protect them from the rain. He stepped out of the car and took the umbrella from the valet’s hands

“I’ll take it from here.” He said as he started to walk off.

The valet nodded and returned inside the car and drove off to his next destination. Jason entered the building and closed the umbrella once inside.

The foyer was beautifully decorated with white and black marble floors, lustrous lights and somehow, the air always smelled of primrose. He walked to the center of the foyer where a large, circular desk, behind which sat four secretaries that typed away at their computers effortlessly and answered various calls through their earpieces. One of the female secretaries smiled when she saw him approach

“Hello Mr. Jason,” she said, as she typed “Your dad and younger brother are waiting on you. Said it was a surprise and that you’d just need to go up and see”

Jason sighed “Thank you,” he said with a small nod, “Hold this would you kindly?” and he tossed over the umbrella with a flick of his wrist. The secretary reacted fast, but she did need to momentarily take a pause from her work in order to catch it

At the far end of the foyer was an elevator. He pressed the button to call it, and within seconds, the door slid open to reveal a large, brightly lit box that seemed like an invitation to heaven. Jason stepped in, pressed the button for the top floor and leaned against the elevator’s wall as the door slid to a close behind him.

The ride up was fairly short, but to Jason, the elevator’s music made the trip seem like an eternity. He didn’t really like pop music, give or take a few songs he found catchy, so he was very relieved when the doors opened once more to his destination.

He stepped out and into an ominously dark room, the only light being that of the elevator. But the doors soon closed and plunged him into complete darkness. Then, out of a corner of the darkness, came the sound of a kicked can, followed by a rustle, then suddenly a bright light flashed on and sent him into a sea of complete white