15
The line to use the SlipGate was fairly short; only three other people stood in front of him, under bright lights that shone down from a high ceiling. Windows in the walls to his left and his right looked out on gardens with colourful flowers.
In gray dress pants and a high-collared blue shirt, Ben stood with his arms folded, his hair pulled back into a short little ponytail. He had accepted the invitation to speak at the Tareli infosec conference despite his better judgment. A part of him wanted to shrink away from the spotlight, but it was time to stop apologizing for his past.
Ben shut his eyes and turned his face up to the ceiling. You have every right to be there, he told himself for the fifteenth time since leaving the house. They wouldn't have invited you if they didn't value
