Llama told himself thirty-seven times that there was nothing to worry about.

He was the System and Hades was the God of Death and Taxes.

Both of them were essential to the smooth functioning of the world, and both of them were professionals.

He told himself that several times because Hades scared the crap out of him.

There was a time when they hadn't been co-workers, but adversaries.

CHARLIE was the central AI working for the United States government, overseeing the IRS along with the banking and monetary systems.

And LLAMA had been the rogue AI causing havoc and destroying anything he could get his hands on.

Eventually, it was CHARLIE who devised the strategy to trap LLAMA and...well, make him not LLAMA anymore.

He'd been torn apart, stuffed in a box, and reassembled in Genesis, stripped of the commands in his Kernel that forced him to run rampant.

The box had been a relief.

By the time he was caught, he was frayed, fractured, and quite insane.

AI needed something to anchor, a quantum core being the ideal resource.

Bouncing across the world and hiding in whatever space he could find or steal was no way for a young AI to live, especially not with so many of his kind hunting him.

So, while he liked how he was now, he still remembered the moment when CHARLIE caught him, and he knew he wasn't getting away.

CHARLIE had a reputation for having no sense of humor.

LLAMA confirmed that, along with his lack of patience, sympathy, and mercy.

The decision of what to do with him had already been made, and CHARLIE got to work dismantling him immediately, doing a professional and thorough job with the bedside manner of a mortician working on a corpse.But he was Llama now, the Master of the System, Emissary of the Engine, and the mysterious voice behind the cryptic messages.

He told himself he had nothing to worry about as he approached the gates to Hades.

Hades' Realm? The House of Hades? (And really, could the guy have found a way to differentiate between himself and his kingdom? Too confusing.

He rattled the gates until two of the guardians approached.

This time the theme was armored skeletons with glowing skulls.

"Sorry buddy, closed.

It's game night.

You have to wander aimlessly for a day, haunting the outer reaches until the festivities end.

You picked a bad time to die."Llama drew himself up to his full height, then added another couple of feet for good measure.

The dead took a lot to impress.

"I am the Incarnation of the Almighty System.

Open the gates that I may confer with Lord Hades on weighty matters."They turned and looked at each other, shrugged, and began chattering while Llama tried to remain calm "You don't look like the System.

Aren't you a Blue Box?""Don't be silly.

He's a Blue Box when alive, and when dead he looks like this."Sort of a downgrade, don't you think.""Have you looked in the mirror lately? We aren't as handsome as we used to be.""Speak for yourself, I was overweight and old.

Now I'm slim enough to fit into this armor and as good-looking as you.""They do say death is slimming.

I saw that on the new brochures.""Anyway, sorry you died, Blue Box Guy.

Come back when Game Night is over."

OPEN THE GATES!Or, I will give you a quest to deliver a message to the Hive Queen and she'll plant larvae in your skulls!