Chapter One - Part 2

The Flusher squinted at me. "Kid, you got potential; the system has potential. You could probably get pretty far, but, early on you’re gonna find out info that will mess things up for you something fierce if you’re not aware of ‘em."

He looked at me the way all Flushers have to - they gush info and watch reaction hoping to "flush" an expression or reply that will reveal something.

I threw it back at him. "What are you getting at, Kilo?" I knew he’d recognize my deflection as an appropriate ploy as would any chair-riding Flusher analyzing the video in the Monitor Functions Department, headquarters for the Flushers.

He didn't miss a beat, which was unusual; they usually milked the silence, unless they were going for your confidence.

He lowered his voice. "What I am getting at is the Games themselves. Well, at least the higher levels using the better Grinders”. He walked past me and dropped the lid on my toilet giving him a place to sit. "Gank…"

That’s what he called me when he wasn't calling me Kid.

"There’s a whole world outside Game Qualifiers - a world that’s been at war for three years. It’s us, against them."