"Tell me all about it," Abby said the second she and Ward were alone.​

     Ward shrugged. "Evan took over for me at the booth so I could take a pee and munch break. I got into this elevator, and I found myself surrounded by four Asian guys."

     "The Azure."

     "They all dressed the same and acted the same, so I figured they were part of some sort of theatrical troupe or something. I didn't give them a lot more thought than that, but, when I left the elevator, they stayed with me and wouldn't let me walk in the direction I wanted to walk. They kept smiling, but they also kept leading me in this one direction, and we kind of struggled, but then we stepped through this glowing passageway and..."

     "You found yourself here."

     "And, of course, I started to go crazy, I totally panicked, but then I got talking to Claudia."

​     "Hi," Claudia said.

     "She explained to me why I was here."

     "Which is?"

     "We're here to celebrate. Do you know anything at all about Infini?"

​     "Francis Forwarder told me a little something about him, her, whatever."

​     "Infini wants you happier than you've ever been before, and, with you, she didn't think that could happen unless I got invited." 

CONTINUE