Another chapter up ! I will try to update one chapter a week (praying for no Writer Block) :). Also, thanks to my first ever reviewer: lily18, glad you liked it! Now on with ze story :)
Tadj smirked seeing my confused face and a little amused by my choice of word. He suddenly stood up and indicated me to follow him. I did the same taking my bag with me, completely dumbfounded before following him wherever he was going. We walked a little between the shelves filled with various knick-knacks. One caught my attention since it looked suspiciously like a Poké Ball but before I could touch it, the object started shaking vigorously. "Gotham, I wouldn't touch that if I were you, especially if you don't like fire. These Fire type Pokémons are really a pain..." 'Eight-Marvel-of-the-World' said without even looking back. A real Pokémon?! Holy shit! How on earth...? My mind was racing. How did he get hold of an actual Pokémon other than virtually with Pokémon GO? As I was musing over the potential answers, we took a staircase before he finally stopped in front of a giant mural map. I stopped at the right moment this time. "This" Tadj started, "is The Virtual Dimension" he finished making a big gesture with his arms. From behind him, I couldn't quite see much (yeah I'm short and that kind of sucks) so I sidestepped to his left to get proper a view. I was, again, awestruck.
The map of The Virtual Dimension was actually a big holographic projection that originated from a small white cube situated not too far from our position on a shelf. Tadj chuckled at seeing my bewildered expression once more. "You should probably stop acting like some newborn baby seeing the world for the first time." Conscience chastised. On the map, there were not continents like on ours but just glowing orbs like stars scattered in the sky. "Impressive huh?" He asked looking at me downward. I nodded, my eyes fixated on the map in front of me.
"What are the glowing orbs?"
"Those are the planets inside the dimension. Only a select few know the exact number of planet in it but I'll say roughly...ten thousand. That's a lot less then in your dimension." He pointed at one of the glowing orbs. "This is my planet, Gamelia." He touched the orb and it expanded before showing a round planet. It was red in colour with some blue, surely representing different sources of water. Gamelia was surrounded by a ring of debris just like our lovely Saturn. "Gamelia is, roughly, an Earth twin but Earthlings rarely come in our planet nor dimension for...obvious reasons." Tadj scratched the back of his head and I smirked. "Rarely you say?"
"Yes, some choose to come but they don't stay long actually. They prefer their native Earth. So we send them back via our Dimensional Doors." His finger pointed to the far left of the Gamebrary where a seemingly normal door stood.
"Not to offend you or anything, but why would an inhabitant of planet Earth want to go to The Virtual Dimension? And how could they? Do they have access to Dimensional Doors ?" I asked, skeptic. Tadj gave me the 'Kakashi eye-smile' before answering. "Like I said, they choose to. No one is forced if that's what you're wondering. They do not stay because they miss their native planet. As for the Dimensional Doors, they can't use it. Someone from the Virtual Dimension must be with them for it to activate. Otherwise, it acts like a normal door." "Why don't you go and see for yourself?" Conscience asked. But before I could move a muscle, Tadj dropped his hand on my shoulder. "I don't advise you to try. I put the door there for security reasons. If you go there, you will fall to your death." All blood drained from my face as I stiffened. He just gave me that smile that I was starting to despise so much.
"And that door? Where does it lead to?" I nodded toward a door on the far right. Tadj ushered me down the staircase. "We'll use this door quite a lot if you accept the offer." He answered solemnly. Cryptic I see. "You still haven't answered my question you know?"
"About the job or the explanation of a Gamelord?"
"Huh, both of them actually..."
"Don't worry, I'll tell everything I c-" Tadj's answer was cut short by "HUMAN" from Base Ball Bear, my ringtone. I let out a little 'Sorry' before taking my phone from my bag side pocket and picking up. Tadj kept walking beside me, his hands in his jeans pockets.
"Hey Jods, what's up?"
"WHERE ARE YOU?! DON'T YOU KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS?!" I held my phone at a safe distance before replying. I'm pretty sure Tadj cringed next to me.
"Hum, like 7:45 p.m. or something?"
"More like 8:45! You left SIX HOURS AGO! Where are you Tham!?"
"I had a major setback. Some dumb accident on the way but don't worry I'm fine. Anyways, why are you shouting? Isn't your boyfriend with you?" Jeez, she is going to give me a headache...
"Yeah he is here but I was worried. You don't usually stay that long out of the house..."
"And I'm not going to be back before two more hours are due I think..."
"WHAT?!" Again, the phone at a safe distance. So overprotective, she is even worse than my own mother was, sheesh. I felt a tap on my shoulder. Tadj was holding up his phone: I have spare rooms. You can take one for the night. No funny business, I promise. I glanced up at him and he was smiling softly, his head slightly to the side. "Hey, you still there Tham?" I nodded hesitantly at Tadj before replying to Jody.
"Yeah. Don't worry, I found a place to stay. I'll be back tomorrow. Surely in the afternoon." "Hum, okay...Please come back in one piece." I chuckled.
"Yes mommy, see ya Jods."
"See ya Tham." With that last reply, I hung up the phone. By then, we were back to the table near the door of the Gamebrary.
"Hum...do you want to continue our discussion or should I show you your 'room'?" I wasn't tired so I decided to go for the former. "I need my questions answered first...but I need to make sure that no one will steal my scooter. Do you have a garage by any chance?"
"Don't worry, I'll take care of it." Tadj assured me. "You can wait for me at the table or you could explore but if you choose the latter, please do not touch anything you find suspicious." He said before opening the door, and closing it behind him.
The choice was pretty easy to make. No, I'm not going to explore. I do find quite everything suspicious and I do not want to open wandering doors that would lead me to nowhere or my death. Just imagining that is enough of a repellent from potential exploration. So I make my way to my chair, taking my phone to play Relic Run whilst waiting patiently for 'Eight-marvel-of-the-world' to show up.
Six deaths later, the door opened and Tadj walked in. "Sorry if I took so long, I decided to prepare your room immediately after I parked your scooter. I figured that as soon as we are done having our chat, you'll want to get some sleep." He took back his seat as I thanked him with a soft smile. "So" he started, crossing his arms over his chest once again, "Where were we?"
"Hum, what is my job specifically?" His eyes lit up as he finally remembered.
"The job, if you accept, is to accompany me during my various travels...inside video games." I gasped. Video Games!? If he hadn't explained bits and pieces before, I was surely going to high tail out of here of fall from my chair (the latter is more likely since my legs won't have responded to my brain's order to flee). But now that I think about it, it actually makes sense: his supposed native planet was called Gamelia and his occupation was Gamelord, which I still don't know what it is. I also remembered picking up that book that intrigued me as I stepped inside the Game...brary? Of course, another proof! How could I not see it? Gamebrary is a contraction of Game and Library! "Slow as always. I wonder how you've made it till graduating high school..." Conscience said. "Shut up you." I said out loud, rolling my eyes. Tadj seemed amused "Huh...I didn't say anything..." Blood flooded in my cheeks as I heard the delighted laughter of Conscience inside my heard. "I'm so going to kill you!" I exclaimed in my head.
"Yeah sorry, I was speaking to myself..." I stopped, recollecting my thoughts before opening my mouth again. "That makes sense since everything has the word 'game' in it..."
"It's not very original, I know." Tadj said with embarrassment but chuckled nonetheless and so did I.
"And what does an assistant do?"
"For it to make more sense, I should probably talk to you about Gamelords." I nodded quite fast, urging him to go on with the explanation.
"Every planet in the Virtual Dimension is named about something specific either known to it, your dimension or both. For example, Gamelia is a planet solely based on the exploration, study and analysis of games which are, the games, common to both dimensions. Gamelords are the people in charge of doing such." He paused, looking at me to make sure I was still with him. I nodded, letting that information sink in. "Gamelords" he continued, "at first are game travelers. They go about in ten games present in Gamelia, all from a different genre, as training to prepare them. After their training is complete, the game travelers come in this dimension to gather information on other games. Not only on this planet."
"There are other habitable planets in our dimension...? Holy cow..." Yet another bombshell dropped on my head. I don't know how many more I could withstand before my brain explodes. Tadj smiled apologetically.
"Did you choose Earth specifically?"
"Hum yeah, it reminds me of home..." Tadj looked away from me, smiling softly. Something was not said but I knew better than pressing on. Everybody has secrets. "So in order to gain the title 'Gamelord', one game traveler must navigate inside a game native to the planet in which he arrived successfully and gather information about everything I mentioned earlier. The game is chosen in advance so the journey will be less stressful."
"Why is the game is chosen in advance?" I ask.
"To avoid any sort of...irreversible casualties." Death, I thought and that made me shiver. "You're not going to drop someone some place he has never been to and expect him not to die in the next few hours. We are given the name of the game and generic information potentially important for our first journey outside our home planet concerning said game." His first game must've been one of the Pokémon's then. He did have a Fire type Pokémon.
"So where do I fit in all of this?" Tadj's eyes glinted with mischief.
"As I said, the first game is determined by our instructors but the next aren't. They are actually randomly selected by the door you asked about, The Gaming Door. Gamelords are in this case, in need of help." My eyes widened in understanding.
"They need someone with average knowledge of Earth games so their next trip aren't complete disasters..." He smiled giving me the thumbs up.
"Exactly, Assistants. That's where you come in." His index finger aimed at me. "I think you will make an extraordinary job as an assistant and of course, you'll get paid. So...what do you say?" He extended his arm, his hand waiting mine to shake in acceptance. He did promise an exciting adventure and God, did I want to accept but something, or rather someone, was not going to be pleased: Jody. Shit.
"I want to say 'Yes' definitely but, huh, what about my roommate...?" Tadj's arm retracted to the edge of the table where his fingers were drumming on it. He seemed to be thinking. After a minute or two, his eyes lit up, and he hastily asked for me to call Jody. I frowned but complied. As she picked up, Tadj easily snatched the phone from my hands and made his way to the door. "Hey!" I said indignantly. He could have asked politely to take my phone.
"Hello Miss..." Tadj started before closing the door behind him, leaving me to ponder what he might be discussing with my best friend. But that also let me time to think.
Tadj was very nice from what I've seen of him anyways and genuine. Everything he said, as crazy as it is, made perfect sense thanks to his explanations. Also, I could not deny the fact that I've always dreamed about entering video games and living the story with the characters, being part of the adventure. This is a dream come true! But is it worth letting Jody all to herself? A small nagging part of me was cowering in shame. Jody was my best friend since we moved in America when I was three and the Browls were close friends of my parents, they even stayed close after the...accident. Even taking me in when I was fourteen years old until Jody and I moved into our studio one year ago.
My bond with Jods only grew stronger. We shared and talked about everything: feelings, fears, expectations, etc. She became the sister I never had and my most trustworthy confident. Could I really let her go...? "You know Jody would be happy for you. You kept bothering her with this dream of yours..." Conscience snickered and I smiled but the fear of her seeing it as a betrayal was still present and made me anxious. The fact that Tadj still didn't enter the Gamebrary added to my worries. What are they talking about for fuck sake? I hope she didn't threatened him... I wonder what lies he has been feeding her for the past ten minutes...
My patience was thinning and I was about to tiptoe to the door for a session of eavesdropping when the door opened, revealing a grinning Tadj. "What did you say to her?"
I asked, doubtful. "I told her the truth." He said nonchalantly.
"Wha...?! Why did you do that?!"
"Because I knew she wasn't going to believe me." He replied smugly. I face- palmed. What a moron. "She laughed a lot but was a bit mad that you didn't tell her about your secret boyfriend."
"What the...? YOU IDIOT!" I was up, ready to punch him in the gut.
"Ahahah, she said that you were too, ahahah, lazy to apply for a job because" He wiped a tear from his eyes, "you kept playing video games every day and that you had me tell her this crazy story so she wouldn't come after you hiding at your, ahahah, boyfriend's house." He clutched his sides, still mocking me. I was pissed. So much about thinking about her feelings, I thought.
"And you couldn't deny these allegations, you donkey?!" He pouted, hearing the nickname making my ire slowly decrease.
"When she didn't hear your voice, she threatened to locate and castrate whoever was answering your phone in your stead." He replied, shivering.
"Sounds like her..." I rolled my eyes, chuckling. "So, when do I start?" I smirked. Tadj seemed surprised but quickly masked it with a grin of his own. "Tomorrow."
Here is the second chapter, I hope it was enjoyable to read :)
R&R if you can, I'll like to know if it's a nice story so far ^^
