Hell's Glitch (initial draft)

I_K 1.4 Interview

Chapter 4

Interview

I looked out the window, staring at the incline as Tina drove down the sloped San Francisco street. There wasn't really anything on my mind. A quiet dread crept over me. It had been a week since I broke the History's Mightiest Kingdom XV world record and I was still as broke as I was last week. This week had no money to be earned in runs for games that I played, only some recognition, which didn't gel with me at the moment. I never did a run for free, at least one that would be shared with the general public. There was too much money out there to waste my time doing otherwise.

"Aww, cheer up," Tina cooed, but I wasn't ready to upgrade my sour mood to a cheery one. "It won't be THAT bad."

"You can't know that."

We were talking about our next destination, my new gig.

"I know because you're still going to get paid to play videogames."

I shook my head and snorted, the only proper response to her naivete.

"You really don't get what I do, Tina. Being a QA tester is pretty much like being a janitor or better yet, a garbage man. I'll be rummaging through the shittiest build of the game repeating the most mundane actions in order to find bugs. It's nothing like running."

"If you're playing for thousands of hours at a time looking for glitches and bugs to exploit, it sounds the same to me."

"Now you're just teasing," I said only slightly annoyed. I did have a tendency to take my running far too seriously since I had won some good cash in the past. I was actually glad that Tina was there to remind me that I was a silly person.

Finally, we rounded the corner to the street we needed to be at.

"Is that it? That little white building?" she asked.

I affirmed and Tina pulled up to the building and parked. The street was thankfully flat. Rolling to my doom while Tina struggled to catch me was not my idea of fun, but neither was QA testing. On second thought, maybe a steep hill would be nice.

I'd already opened the door and maneuvered myself on the step by the time Tina came around with the wheelchair. I had strong arms but I still preferred to utilize Tina's help when I could. She was a gentle hand, unlike myself. I leaned on her and let her guide me to the chair. I wasn't a complete slouch and made sure to use my free arm to support a good portion of my own weight.

Tina patted me on the shoulder before wheeling me up to the door of the tiny white office building. Before entering, she spun around and pushed the door with her back.

"They have a button, you know."

She scoffed and said, "You know those things don't always work. Besides, this is quicker."

She went through the second set of doors the same way and we were greeted by an empty receptionist desk.

"Looks like I've picked a winner," I said dryly.

A sign warned us not to proceed before being met by a receptionist.

Ten more minutes passed before we saw or heard from anyone. An elevator bell dinged down the hall and moments later a tall blonde nicely dressed man greeted us. I cut him off before he introduced unnecessary information into my life.

"I'm looking for Winston Lawrence. I'm his 10am interview."

"Oh yes. You're Ximana Ortiz. It's early, but Mr. Lawrence is expecting you. You can follow me down this hall."