Chris didn’t want to leave his comfy bed, but he had to; he smelled bad and needed a bath. Arwenwel hinted at it gently, while Alek just told him outright.

  “You must take a bath; you stink. You smell so bad that you can make me throw up, and I smelled a lot of foul things, but you are beating them all.” He smirked.

  “I’ll take a bath, it’s not my fault that I was stuck in bed for half a month.”

  Arwenwel and Alek spoke in unison:

  “It was your fault!”

  “He tried to kill me, so I had to protect myself.” Chris pointed his finger at Alek.

  “I should be angry with you, you decapitated me, and don’t forget, you severed my left hand first. Stop pointing that finger at me before I bite it off.”

  “Ok..ok. It is my fault, now please can you guide me to a shower?”

  “All this talk of showers made me realize that I should get one too.” Alek sniffed his armpit. “Follow me, Chris.”

  Together, they went to the communal showers. Chris had a shock when he realized that he would need to share the showers with the other new hires.

  “Come on in, there is almost no one at this time of the day. Don’t worry, each shower is enclosed by a barrier. No one can see you.”

  “Thank god. I didn’t want to see your hairy ass; I would have gotten nightmares.”

  “First, it's not that hairy, and second, screw you!”

  “If you say so, but I saw how hairy you can get.”

  “Enough with your jokes, get in the shower.”

  They each stepped into their showers, steam rising from the hot water, until Alek finally broke the silence.

  “What is going on between you and the elf?”

  “Nothing is going on between us; we are just friends.”

  “I saw how you looked at her when she walked in, and she spent half a month by your bed guarding you. It’s clear you’ve got feelings for each other.”

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  “Ok, stop. I admit that I might like her, but she sees me as a close friend, nothing more, nothing less.”

  “Off! Youngsters can be so difficult.”

  “Enough, let's finish washing up and get dressed.”

  Alek stopped talking and went about his business, but Chris now had a lot of strange ideas in his head.

  'He’s crazy. She can’t like me, look at me, I’m your average guy, and she is a brilliant elf fighter. We came from different worlds. Even if she liked me back, it wouldn’t have worked.'

  For half an hour, he stood still and let the hot water splash his face. When he looked in the mirror, he saw his face as red as a lobster. Alek almost choked from laughing.

  On his bed, Chris found a neatly folded change of clothes and a letter from Arwenwel. She wrote that she had to leave to prepare for the ceremony and asked him to wear the suit she’d left. It was a black suit, clean and professional. The type of suit that the employee from Earth would wear for their workplace.

  -Four Hours Later-

  Chris was ready for the ceremony; he combed his hair and was wearing his new suit. He now looked more like an office worker.

  'I've finally found a job. I wonder if ma’ and pa’ would be proud of me.'

  There was a knock at the door.

  'It must be Arwenwel.'

  He hurriedly went to open the door, but got disappointed; it was Alek.

  “Can you at least try to be happy seeing me?”

  “I was waiting for another person.”

  “Sorry to disappoint, but I’m no fair elf lady. You’ll have to do with me, your own hairy buddy, Alek.”

  “Since when did we become buddies?”

  “In my book, we are best buddies. In my tribe, friendships are forged through fighting. The one who bests the other leads the group.”

  “I’m sorry if I’m going to offend you, but your tribe's customs are strange.”

  “None taken. We are not as stubborn as the minotaurs. We should be going; we can’t be late for our first day of work.”

  The two of them went to take the elevator, but they changed their minds when they saw the crowd that was waiting to take it.

  “We should take the stairs.” Chris turned back to face Alek.

  “Yeah, good idea, but there is a little problem, we have to climb ten floors to the awakening chamber.”

  “You can fight for three days straight, but can’t climb some stairs.”

  “Next chance I get to fight you, I’ll pummel you to the ground.” Alek chuckled as he started climbing.”

  “You are kindling, right? Right?” Chris looked up as Alek was getting further away.

  “Maybe I’m, maybe I’m not.” Alek gave a low howl as he climbed.

  'Me and my big mouth.'

  They remained silent for their twenty-minute climb. The awakening chamber was larger than Chris had ever imagined, like stepping into another world. Instead of a floor, grass swayed in the wind, and when he looked up expecting a ceiling, he was stunned to see a blue sky scattered with clouds.

  “Is this another simulation?”

  “I can’t tell anymore. They’ve tricked us once before.”

  The duo continued their journey as they saw in the distance a strange building surrounded by people.

  'Let’s get this awakening over with.'