Kai sat in the waiting room, his foot tapping nervously, sweat beading down his brow.
"You are going to be fine," Vira floated above him in her pixie-form.
"What if I'm not?" He wiped his brow, then slid his hand through his newly cut short hair. "What if I can never get a job?"
"You've only been to a couple of interviews; you are blowing this out of proportion… Besides, what do you have to lose?"
"My dignity?"
"Very funny."
"I'm serious. I hate being judged by these people. It's humiliating."
"You shouldn't think about it that way. Getting rejected in job interviews is perfectly normal. Think about it: if multiple people are applying for one position, then most of them are going to be rejected."
"Ah… That makes sense…" he grunted. "Still makes me feel like shit."
"You Kai?" A chubby man in a death metal black shirt stepped out of the manager's office.
"Yeah."
The man smiled. "The boss is ready for you." He pointed at the door behind him, then went out, heading down the hallway.
"Thanks," Kai let out a nervous huff, then got up.
***
Kai entered the office, barely sparing a glance at the woman behind the desk, feeling too shy to look her straight in the face.
"Please, sit," she gestured to the chair in front of her desk.
He obliged.
"Kai Holloway, right?" she asked, and he heard her mouse clicks as she pulled up some files on the computer.
"Yeah."
"Oh, no." Vira said within the cover of her telepathic veil.
"What?" Kai asked.
"Never mind, maybe you are right about this one. We should—"
"Why don't you tell me a bit about yourself?" the woman asked, her voice strikingly familiar.
"We really should just leave, so just keep your head down and—"
Kai lifted his head.
"Walk out."
"C-Cathy?"
The blue-eyed blonde behind the desk stiffened, her lips pursing into a tight line. "Do I know you?"
"Ah…" he hesitated. "No…?"
Her eyes narrowed, scanning him as she tried to remember.
It had been two months since their last meeting, and while Kai was still very far from reaching his ideal Beautificated self, he had been getting closer and closer every week—getting leaner and more muscular.
Had she not been so drunk that night, and had there not been so many nights—and so many men—in between, Catherine might have been able to spot the similarities.
"We met briefly… in a club…" he said. "A couple of months ago."
"Aha…" she tapped her long red fingernail on the desk. "I like to keep my career and my personal life completely separate… Is that going to be a problem for you, Kai?"
"Ah… No, not at all." He could see what she meant. She didn't carry herself quite like the party-girl he remembered, wearing a blue business suit, with her hair tied behind her head and exuding an aura of stern professionalism.
"Good." She cleared her throat. "Now… why don't you tell me a bit about yourself?"
"I… Ah… I'm twenty-six, finished high-school when I was eighteen, and spent a couple of years trying to make it as a pro-gamer. I saw some success, but not enough to make a proper living out of it. After that, I went to college for another couple of years and got some pretty good grades, but, ah…" He wiped sweat off his brow. This wasn't just about the job anymore; if he could work here and spend more time with her, there was a chance that one thing would lead to another, and despite her supposed separation between business and pleasure, they could get together. But that chance, as infinitesimally small as it was, only made him more anxious.
"What did you study in college?"
"Law."
"And you dropped out?"
He shrugged. "Like I said, my grades were good, but… I decided it wasn't for me. Getting into law was my father's idea anyway, not mine."
"Is that when you started getting into digital art?"
"No… I have done some form of art or another ever since I can remember, but didn't think of pursuing it as a career until recently."
"Alright, so… graduated at eighteen, spent two years gaming, and two years in college… then, what?"
"Ah…" he swallowed, his mouth dry. He hated this part of the interview. "Honestly… nothing."
"You've been doing 'nothing' for the past four years?"
Playing video games and eating junk food. He lowered his head. "Yeah, pretty much."
"For four years?"
"I've been getting better—"
"At doing nothing?"
"No, ah…" he rubbed his face and took a long breath. "Look, in the past couple of months, I've been trying to put my life together, doing whatever I can think of to improve myself… doesn't that count for something? Can't we just ignore those four years of nothing?"
"Four years is a long time."
"I know, but what do you want me to do? Change the past?"
"I want you to give a reasonable explanation. You have a void in your resume; how do I know you won't fall back into old habits, neglect your work, or disappear without notice?"
He felt his anxiety mounting, twisting his stomach into knots. He had no choice. If he wanted to get this job and work with Cathy, he had to tell the truth—no matter how much it hurt.
"My mother died four years ago…" He closed his eyes. He hated talking about it, and he especially hated using it as an excuse. "In the Lux Junction Accident. You might have heard of it, it was all over the news at the time."
She furrowed her brows, thinking back, then frowned as she remembered. It was a terrible incident—a truck had passed through a red light during rush hour on the busiest intersection in the city. Twenty-two were injured, and eighteen were killed.
"She was the best person I knew, and after she died, I felt like there was no point to anything," he said, his voice meek and withdrawn. "Why try so hard when, in the end—outta nowhere—everything you care about can be taken away from you, and there's nothing you can do about it?… Getting out of that way of thinking… it's been hard."
Catherine leaned back, giving herself time to consider, and the room grew silent.
Vira bit her lips. She knew vaguely about his mother from intel Aqwyn had gathered, but didn't want to bring it up until he did; and while she considered his confession a form of progress, she also felt there was something else… How can a son who had been so fond of his mother view love—and women—in such a transactional and shallow way?
"Do you have experience with our product?" Catherine asked, breaking the silence.
"Ah… your product? You mean the mobile game?"
"Yes… the one you are being interviewed to work on."
He barely stopped himself from scoffing, like I'd be caught dead playing a mobile game. "I've played it a bit here and there, but I wouldn't call myself a fan… does it matter? I'm not applying for a game design position."
She grimaced. "Why did you choose to apply to work with us, then? If you are not a fan of the product…"
"I think my art style fits with the game, and… well, I need the money."
"Mhm…" she nodded and took some notes on her computer. "Alright… Is there anything else? Do you have any questions for me?"
"Ah…" He was about to say no and get out of there as quickly as possible, but as he thought about it, he realized this could be his chance to learn more about her. "Could you… tell me a bit about yourself?"
She narrowed her eyes.
"If you are going to be my boss, then I should know a bit about you, right?"
She scoffed. "Fair enough…"
He sat up straight, staring at her expectantly.
"I'm twenty-eight, got into the business straight out of college, then went through a number of companies before landing here two years ago, and started working my way up to a management position." She leaned forward. "And that's all you need to know."
He frowned, not sure exactly what he was hoping for but realizing he wasn't going to get it.
"I have your contact info, so…" She got up and opened the door. "We'll be in touch."
He rose, his legs feeling shaky, and made his way out.
She closed the door behind him. He wasn't exactly what the company was looking for—too inexperienced and potentially unreliable—but he was desperate… And she always did like the desperate ones.
***
"Welcome to the company, new guy." Mason patted Kai's back. It was a week later, but the chubby man still wore a death metal T-shirt, just of a different band.
"Ah… thanks."
"I'll be supervising your work until you get settled in, so feel free to ask me anything if you need help. I'm sitting right behind you." He pointed his thumb at the desk on his side of the cubicle, and Kai noticed a family photo framed beside the computer monitor: Mason, his chubby wife, and his two chubby little children, and in the background was—
"Is that from the Aura Gaming Expo?"
"Haha, yeah, my wife and I are big B2B fans, though going there with the kids was a hustle—never doing that again."
"You… play B2B with your wife?"
"Not as much anymore, but yeah, of course, it's how we met."
Kai pursed his lips, partly jealous of his metal-head colleague. The idea of having a wife who played video games was enticing. The idea of having a wife who looked like that—wasn't.
"You play?"
"Ah… not as much as I'd like to," Kai chuckled. "But yeah, I was semi-professional for a little bit. Got to the quarter-finals several years back."
"Really? No way! I've never been into the PvP side of the game, but that's quite an achievement."
The Oathless smiled at the compliment.
"Alright, let's get down to business." Mason spun his chair, and they both sat down face-to-face. "Here's how things work: management sends us guidelines for one character every month; it is our job to create multiple character concepts, then send them back. Management reviews, picks their favorite, asks for adjustments if necessary, and forwards their choice to another team to start on the 3D model. So, if you are lucky," Mason put his arm on Kai's shoulder. "Your character concept can make it into the game."
The Oathless gulped. "A character every month?"
Mason shrugged, "Valkyrie Warz is a gacha game. The more Battle Maidens there are to get, the more money people spend on the random chance to get them. It's quantity over quality, though that doesn't mean we get to slack off—the Maidens gotta be hot, otherwise no one would want them."
"Ah." Kai's eyes glanced at Mason's chubby wife in the family photo.
"Or, as Catherine puts it, 'We have to ensure our product appeals to the target demographic.'"
"Which is?"
"Horny men, mostly."
"Right…"
"But don't worry about any of that for now. It's your first day; get situated, get comfortable, and when you are ready—let me know."
Kai nodded, and Mason spun in his chair to face his desk.
The Oathless lingered for a while before turning to his own workstation. Catherine had agreed to give him the job, but only under the condition that his salary would start lower than standard for his position, then rise as he proved his reliability and competence; and though he was determined to do just that, it wasn't the money that motivated him—but the chance to win her approval.