The Desire Variable | Rewrite

⸻ THREE ⸻

As suspected, I fit right in with those geeks. That becomes clearer than ever when we come back from our tour and the guys are debating about the best Batman out there. I end up settling the argument when I mention my personal favorite, Kevin Conroy, from The Animated Series. That's one they can all agree on.

Mason and Joseph give me my tasks for the morning, and I breeze through them with ease. So far, working for Kelex isn't proving as challenging as I worried it might be. Aside from my boss, of course.

Then, as if I need more proof that I've found my people, the lunch break comes. That's when I realize I've landed in heaven. These nerds play first person shooting video games in their downtime, and I decide this job is the best thing that ever happened to me.

"We usually play Counter Strike," Oliver explains to me. "You in, young Padawan?"

"I haven't played it in ages."

"Are you worried you'll lose?" Brian asks.

"I haven't played CS in a while, but I can still kick your ass." That swiftly kills his hopes.

I haven't prepared anything for my lunch, still needing to do some grocery shopping, so I buy a few things from the vending machines so I can eat them during the loading screens. I pick She-Hulk as my alias, so everyone gets it's me. After a few rounds, I'm happy to see myself in second place; behind Grizzly, Steven's alias. As the game goes, I get more comfortable, and gain on him. That is, until a player named Luthor joins us. He quickly rises up to my score with his impressive skills. Because of this new player, my team gets slaughtered round after round.

When he kills me for the fourth time in a row, and with a perfect headshot at that, I let out a groan and frustratingly take a bite of my Snickers. "Who the hell is Luthor?" I ask, angrily chewing as my patience runs thin.

Oliver laughs before sending me a compassionate look. "It's the boss."

Lex Luthor. Oh, that is clever...

There I've been, comparing him to Superman, when all along he's been his nemesis. The man is assimilating himself with an evil genius, and that should be enough to kill my curiosity about him. But maybe I'm a little twisted in the head, because I kinda like Lex Luthor in Smallville.

We keep playing, and when the lunch break ends, I sourly stare at the final scoreboard. I'm very close to having done better than Steven, but still far from "Luthor."

Joseph gives me a shoulder tap, so I turn to him. "Don't worry," he signs. "You'll beat them in no time."

"Thanks. I may have a chance with Steven, but not much with the boss."

"He barely ever joins us. Once a quarter, at best. You'll have to settle for the second place when he plays."

His kindness is like a balm for my heart, and it brings a wide smile to my lips. I work for about an hour before receiving an email from someone in the HR department. Time to sign the last contracts for my employment.