For The Win (Gamer Girls, #6) - Auryn Hadley Page 0,157

a car, so I'm safe there."

"Good point," Amy agreed. "So, this room is only for employees. No, strike that. It's for what we call the Flawed team. I mean, Flawed's out now, but the title still fits. Most of us came on before Silk released. Some came after. It's not so much about how soon you showed up as it is about how far you're willing to go for the whole."

"We are all flawed and we're not alone?" Rhaven quoted, wondering if that was what she meant.

Amy nodded. "Chance tried to pick me up, and ended up saving me from an abusive boyfriend. Braden, Jeff, Sam, Tim, Mark, and all the rest of us? We all were at pretty much rock bottom when we got a chance. So what's your story?"

"KoG outed me as trans," Rhaven said. "My family says it's not really safe to go back home. Small town, you know? The kind of places that people like me get hooked to the back of a pickup and dragged to death."

"Shit," Amy breathed. "So you went to Denver to get away from that?"

"Adam Degrass' girlfriend is my best friend."

"Lithium," Amy said, showing she knew who Rhaven was talking about. "Makes sense. Their hotel, so kinda like staying with a friend."

"Yeah, but I was going to make a name for myself in the PLG. Thought that if I could just get a sponsor, then I could work up my resume and get a chance at becoming a game developer. Evidently, sponsoring a transgender woman is... controversial."

"Fucking asshats," Amy grumbled. "Well, sounds like you fit right in." She dropped a folder of papers and a pen onto the table, but gestured for Rhaven to follow her back out. "Tour first, and then you can deal with that."

Like a lost puppy, Rhaven followed. Amy turned right, aiming for the archway that Braden hadn't used, which led her right into the same place as the other. Clearly, the only reason for the space between them was so Amy's desk would have a back wall with the company logo on it. And possibly to shield the work space from view of anyone in the lobby.

But back here, this space had clearly once been a warehouse. The devs always called it that, and now the name finally made sense to her. Looking around, Rhaven saw the high ceiling, the exposed metal rafters far above, and the modern walls. At human height, more whiteboards were tacked up everywhere. The classroom sized kind. And then there were the desks. Clusters of them in rows, L-shapes, squares, and more. Some teams were larger than others, so that had to be why they were grouped like that.

"This is new game development," Amy explained. "Braden's desk is there..." And she pointed to where the man sat at his computer, typing away furiously. "That's FPS balance. Behind him is Gavin who does MMO style balance. They usually have to work together. Over there is Tim and Sam. Andy's over in the front corner. And that one desk at the back, tucked away? That's Dez."

"Where's Chance?" Rhaven asked.

"Up front. His office is across the hall from the Think Tank." And she waved for Rhaven to keep following. "So, back here are the dev rooms." They stepped around a wall to find a hallway immediately behind it. Clearly, that wall was just to block the view of the doors. "There are four hotel style rooms. An open door means it's open for use..." And she walked down to one that stood a few inches ajar. "Like this. Bed, shower, bathroom. Nothing fancy, but they're kept clean. If you need a nap, get fucked up, or decide to break up with your boyfriend and have nowhere else to go, they're available."

"I'm not planning to break up with Braden," Rhaven assured her.

"I actually meant me," Amy explained. "That's how I got here. Oh, and back this way is the smoking area. It used to be the loading dock, but all we ever really load is the stuff for conventions, and that's not kept in the building, so now it's just a place to hang."

Amy led her past Dez's desk and to the typical emergency exit type of door. It was metal with a push bar in the middle and a glowing sign above it. Opening that, the women made their way out onto a long concrete porch. The roof extended out far enough to keep it dry in the rain, and there were a dozen