Into The Black

September 30, 2031

The man who would change the rest of Davit Avghanian's life touched cold glass. As he read of
the list of recipients, Davit could not help but notice the humid print his hands made on the podium several yards in front of him. It seemed even the visionary of the Avatar Initiative was nervous. Maybe he, felt the same way Davit did.

Davit owned that this was the most important moment of his life. In the midst of
his reluctant studies and the bribing of his parents to pursue the family "trade", he felt a rare sense offulfillment. All those times alone at home with his nanny may have provided a purpose for him. His online schooling didn't lend much human interaction, but it did give constant exposure to his sector. He could almost smell the synthetic laminate flooring.

"Alexandros Agapatos of Greece!" came from the podium as the crowd quietly applauded.

He's going through regional order, Davit thought. It shouldn't be long before he reaches Armenia.

The Avghanians had emigrated from Armenia to the United States in light of political tension. His
father's investments were beginning to stagnate, that was the only reason. Davit wanted it to be more complicated than that, but it wasn't. He had to stop being so optimistic about other's agendas.

But now, he was only concerned about the words coming from the front of the room. He would
shake the director's hand, thank him, and follow the nearest attendant to the dispensary room.

"Davit Avghanian of Armenia!" sounded from the podium and he finally stretched out from
his seat.

Everything happened exactly as he had envisioned. He walked to the front of the auditorium and
shook the lead the directors hand. In a moment, the attendant escorted him to an elevator. After a quick three floors down, the doors opened to what looked like a glorified parking garage.

He was quickly greeted by yet another attendant with that assured him that his machine was ready. He could not feel his feet as he was led past numerous other investors from other corners of the world. They were all being introduced to their new investments.

Every Avatar, at this stage, was identical to every other one. It was as if he were in a mirror room where the same object was reflected thousands of times. The Avatars were arrayed perfectly, save for the investors with different attires.

Suddenly, the attendant stopped and pivoted to his right. He had black hair that was accompanied with a thick beard. Gray hair had just began to find its way out.

"This is your Avatar, Mr... Afghanistanian?", he paused. "Did I say that right?"

"No, but that's close enough. I don't bite, unlike half of the people here."

"Oh", the attendant tentatively laughed. "They haven't been so bad. They've been rather
enjoyable, honestly. Some of them don't even know what a central processing unit is."

He had a thick Irish accent. Davit could tell he had also traveled very far to be here as well. It
was sad that he became relegated to such menial duties.

"Is that really so?" Davit responded. "That's... actually not that hard to believe." Davit quipped
as he and the attendant shared a quick laugh. "What's your name, brother?"

"My name's Destin Gallahan. I'm a bio-electrical engineer here."

"Nice to meet you."

Davit shook his hand. That was the third hand-shake that day. He had counted.

***********
May 15, 2036
"Anna", Davit muttered. "I've seen the texts."

"What are you talking about?"