Blue Orbs

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

There was a short moment of silence.

"Fen!" The American suddenly burst out as if he was talking to his long lost friend. This made the tester jolt and shudder, frowning in confusion. "Pardon my sudden outburst, it's just... I've been trying to get in contact with you many... Many times..."

Fen frowned deeper; calling two times was many times? He didn't like the sound of that man's voice as he uttered that sentence, as if he meant something else behind those words. "Maybe it's because of his accent," Fen thought as he sighed and got in the building where he lived.

"I see. So, how may I help you?" He repeated and rummaged in his pockets, getting his wallet out and looked for his key absentmindedly.

"Well, I actually want to offer you a job as a... 'Tester' for our new game" he said and Fen rose an eyebrow in confusion. Was it not a normal testing job? Why the confusing tone again?

"Sure, but can you please give me more deta— ew!" Fen grimaced and made his keys fall. "Why are these so sticky?!" The male thought as he gasped and wiped his hands on his pants.

"Everything alright?" Watson asked, mistakingly talking in English. "Yes... Yes, everything's alright, sorry," Fen replied as he grabbed his handkerchief and lifted his keys from the ground. He then froze a second and rose an eyebrow to himself. "I'm bilingual?" He wondered and quickly shrugged the thought off, pushing it in a corner of his mind. "So, as I was saying, details?"

The man on the other side of the line hummed "are you free tomorrow in the evening?" Fen immediately replied, "yes." After all, it was not like he ever had anything urgent to do.

The male heard Watson let out a happy exclamation as he finally got inside his apartment and threw his keys in the sink. He closed the door behind him, memorizing the address he was given until he arrived to his desk. Fen then noted it down and wished goodnight to Watson.

"Oh wait!" The programmer suddenly  said, "do you have mirrors at your place?" He asked randomly.

Fen blinked in confusion and looked at his shattered mirror, "kind of...? Why?" Watson continued without answering, "is it big? Do you like at yourself there often?" He asked randomly. Fen was starting to get creeped out by the American man, but guessed it may be usual for him to start random and very weird conversations. "No, I rarely look at my reflection." He sighed. "It's awkward to do so," he thought, but didn't say it out loud. Fen was still not very accustomed to his own body.

"Alright! I'm sorry for keeping you awake for so long! Goodnight!" The man let out happily and hung up before Fen could say anything.

"That... That weirdo!" The tester blinked and grimaced in confusion. He threw his phone on his bed before plopping down on it himself. He sighed and hissed a bit at the pain to his hand. He stared as the wound started bloodying the bandages again, sighing. "I want to sleep," he scolded his hand and grumbled.

Fen sat up and opened his first aid kit again, redoing the bandages after having cleaned off the blood. "This is not going to be good if I need to work..." He suddenly realized.

The next day.

"This is it, right?" Fen asked himself as he stared at the huge building standing in front of him. "Probably. I mean, if I'm reading correctly, it is written 'Orb Corp.'" he noted as he stretched and finally walked inside.

Fen's attitude and clothes immediately gave off his listless and careless personality. Seeing such a man walking in, the receptionist could not help but send him suspicious looks. Though, Fen stayed respectful (and pretty mysterious) as he asked her to see Watson Charles. The woman nodded and dialled a number,  throwing him multiple glances up and down, either because she was surprised by his unusual beauty or because of his unusual get up. Or simply because the gamer was plain unusual.

"Mister Watson?" The receptionist finally talked, phone pressed against the side of her face, "there is a man named Fen here requesting to see you. Was there any rendezvous pla— oh, alright. Have a good day," she said quickly and hung up.

"He is waiting for you in the room 201, first door upstairs," she said as she pointed the elevator. Fen nodded and let out a short 'thanks' in her regard before walking off to his destination. A few minutes later, he was standing in front of said door.

'Knock Knock'

Barely a second before he had knocked, the door flew open. Fen jumped and almost tripped, but thankfully, strong arms hurriedly caught him. Soon, a very manly and loud laugh erupted, resonating in Fen's ears. A bit lost, the gamer let himself be helped back on his feet and finally looked up at the man standing in front of him.

Watson Charles. From what he had learned looking up through the Internet, that man was a child in the body of an adult who also had the mind of thousand geniuses put together. That man had invented too many crazy, mind blowing inventions that eventually turned out too dangerous. Though, he had disappeared in activity after moving out of America. His last words to interviewers were:

"Life is a game, so my next goal is to make a game that is life".

The man was in his late thirties, thirty-seven, to be more precise. He was also huge and that was the first thing Fen realized. His own head barely reached the male's collarbone, his face meeting with Watson's broad chest. He didn't look like a muscle man, but his built sure was enormous, at least twice his own. "How can he drag all those bones and muscles around all day long?" Fen wondered unconsciously. Though, Watson was not ugly. His skin was perfectly tanned and his azure eyes twinkled with a lively excitation. But deep within, it was obvious that he held incredible intelligence and wits. Though, the one thing that Fen could not detach his eyes from was his hair. As crazy as it may sound, it was the first time he had ever seen natural blond hair.

In other words, Watson was the complete contrary of slender Fen.

"Are you alright?" The man rose an eyebrow and let go of Fen's waist. The male slowly nodded and only then did he realize how big the hands that were holding him were. "That is a man," he thought, slightly jealous. Watson caught his glance and laughed again, making Fen jump. "Sorry, I know I'm pretty big and imposing, even my voice is loud malgré my accent," he said and invited the professional gamer inside.

"Malgré?" Fen asked unconsciously as he walked in the room and looked around. "A normal meeting room, I guess," he thought.

"Yes, it's French," the man chuckled and plopped down on a leather chair, "take a seat and let me explain to you what we, or more like 'I', expect from you."

Fen did as requested and took a seat in front of him, crossing his legs instantly. The chair was comfortable. It had been ages since Fen felt this relaxed, confused, and anxious at the same time. "You have my entire attention, mister Watson."

Watson smiled at those words and nodded, satisfied. "Well then, simply put, I want you to be the first to test the holographic version of our game, 'Blue Orbs'."