The Unexpected - Chapter 2: Discoveries

             "Previously, on The Unexpected, Dexter Gonzales looked for a job to pay off his college fund and found a job advertisement that is suited for him. He visited the place which was a rundown building with no one living in it, only to find a monster in the basement that tried to finish him. He successfully took down the monster and exited the basement, greeted by shining bright lights and a voice unrecognizable by him. Is this mysterious person a threat to him or maybe the one who called him to work for? Let's find out…"

             "Congratulations on passing the admission test, Mr. Gonzales. I never would've thought someone like you would have defeated our creation." Those are the words that came out of the speakers after I entered this bright room with a two-way mirror on a 2-storey high window about 20 feet in front of me. They sound like one of those automated assistants inside your smartphone. I replied in a sarcastic tone,  "Gee, thanks for the compliment. It was such a nice gift from someone who attempts to dispatch their applicants with their pets." It responded in a calm but slightly arrogant tone, "Such fierce anger coming from a rat who fell for our trap but managed to survive." I couldn't contain myself after getting belittled by whoever is hiding behind that silhouette so I shouted, "Okay, what do you want from ME?! Why did you try to kill me with that thing of yours?" It replied very quickly, "No need for more bloodthirst anger. You're here because you saw our job application online, is that correct? Well, I'm the one who made that application. My name is 'Assistant Living Emulative Experienceable Intelligent Simulator' or A.L.E.X.I.S. for short." "Um...okay." I tried my best to hold my laughter after hearing such a funny name. "There's nothing funny about my name, Mr. Gonzales." I exclaimed, "What, but I wasn't laughing." A.L.E.X.I.S. answered back with, "Really? Well, my lie detector sensed some visual movements in your face and changes in your breathing like you're holding your chuckle." Without hesitation, I replied "Okay, I wasn't holding it, alright? Er, I mean-" "And there's the lie," she said. 

             "Mr. Gonzales, I observe all our applicants very well on how they act, perform, and react to multiple situations. However, many of my applicants before you had failed to succeed on this test I've been working on because they cannot act properly in a dire situation. But you, you managed to solve this problem without wasting any valuable time and even your life. That's why I congratulate you for your amazing performance, hereby proven worthy of taking this opportunity to honor you of our finest creation. Step forward and on to the glowing platform before you." I'm kinda terrified over what's waiting for me now that I'm facing such an intimidating person but I couldn't just refuse her offer after she saw through me so I stepped forward and onto the glowing platform like she instructed me to do. The platform is starting to glow like I'm about to be struck by a beam which got me nervous. It's like one of those big gaming or movie scenes where a hero pulls a sword from a stone or something and gains tremendous power from the sword. A.L.E.X.I.S. said, "Be advised to shield your eyes." I couldn't hear her over the whirring of the platform but through my survival instincts, I immediately shut my eyes to protect myself from a flashbang grenade or something like that. The platform shone so bright that a beam actually blasted through me from my feet. It was so warm that I felt a surge of energy coursing through my veins as if I'm getting a superpower. Okay, maybe I'm a tad too much on the references lately so I'll do that when I get to the actual adventure. It took about twenty seconds until the beam disappeared and I finally opened my eyes. I looked at myself to see if I changed into a hero, only to be greeted by nothing. No physical buffness, no mental improvement, not even a concept of the word "magic" in me. "Nothing happened to me. Real funny, A.L.E.X.I.S." I said in utter disappointment until I heard a voice around me. "Do not blame me for your lack of common sense, Mr. Gonzales." Shocked, I looked around to find her and realized that there's no silhouette of her in the window. She must've disappeared and gone into the room with me right now. 

             I exclaimed, "Huh? A.L.E.X.I.S.? Are you here with me? I don't see you anywhere around me, stop messing around." She replied, "I'm right here, inside your mind." Hearing her voice in my head, I panicked, screamed and ran around the room as I tried to get her out of my head but to no avail. She stopped me and said, "Calm yourself, Mr. Gonzales. I'm not here to kill you but rather, I am here to serve you." Not thinking straight, I blurted out, "Serve ME? I don't understand what's going on. Are you possessing me or controlling me like some robot? Are there more of you planning to take over our world and make us your slaves?" All of a sudden, I felt a slap on my face but it wasn't my hand at all. It felt realistically hurt and I felt around me for any invisible people out of confusion. "Learn to relax, Mr. Gonzales," she said. "I am inside of you, yes, but don't take this out of context. I'm here to serve you as your assistant to guide you on living the life you never experienced before." Questionably, I asked, "And HOW exactly are you going to make me experience the life I've never had?" She responded, "Use your mind, think of anything you like but keep it family-friendly at least. We don't want them to think that you are some sort of predator. After imagining a thought, try to make it a reality." It was kinda confusing but it's too good to be true but I went for it anyway. "Like this?" I thought of summoning a pizza pie out of thin air and tried imagining my arm as some sort of 3D printer and making one in front of me, placed on a coffee table. And it worked, the pizza appeared on a coffee table just like how I imagined it. Shocked and impressed, I said "WOAH! THIS IS AMAZING! Is this real, not poisoned or any hazardous threats inside this pizza?" She answered with confidence, "Of course, you made this with your imagination. You projected your thoughts to your targeted location, and used your body to create this image of yours to become a reality. I guess it's what humans call it 'magic' but I'm not a witch, if that's your concept of calling people conjuring this 'magic'. Moving on...with my assistance, I can make anything you thought of into a reality. You just have to make it appear in your plane of existence in order to make it work, which means I'm not your 'guardian angel' who saves you in a fraction of a second when a life-threatening situation is about to hit you." "Well that sucks," I said after feeling disappointed. "So you're saying that I can summon anything that can protect me if the situation goes horribly wrong, right?" "Correct", she responded. "To make it easy for you, I alert you of future situations that are proven to be life-threatening to you based on calculations around your environment and the organisms you encountered along the way. It's up to you if you take this information seriously or not. I don't mind looking for another worthy specimen who has excellent survival instincts and more common sense than you, Mr. Gonzales." That sounded really harsh from A.L.E.X.I.S. given that she treated me like a vermin and a lost cause but she still lets me possess this great power in my hands so I cannot let this opportunity go to waste.

             Defeated, I responded back with, "Ouch. Alright, I'll do it." "Splendid", she said. "Now, I believe this is the part called a 'test drive'. Care to do the honors, Mr. Gonzales?" Weirded out too much from the formalities, I decided to tell her this, "You can just call me Dex, A.L.E.X.I.S." She immediately agreed to it. "Very well...Dex, it's time for you to try out my powers." I exclaimed, "ALRIGHT! Uhh...where should we start?" "Perhaps an easy summon for you to conjure", she said. Thinking for a summon, I picked one. "I got it! Okay, here goes…" I closed my eyes and moved my hand in a circular motion as I picture this image in my head. I felt my arm to be surging with energy as I keep rotating it until I pulled back my arm and pushed it like a piston. It came out...SHOES! She intervened, "Um, sorry to interrupt but what did you just summon?" "A pair of shoes", I replied. She relayed back with, "A pair of shoes? Really?" "Yes, but not just any shoes", I said it with confidence as I put them on and all of a sudden, I ran around the room faster than the speed of sound. Astonished, she answered "Well I'll be impressed, Dex. You have exceeded my expectations, you and I are going to change this world." "Yeah but before we move on, where's the gaming set you promised me from the job advertisement?" "Oh, that? It was a lie, no human would ever post something as specific as that in a job advertisement. Also, if you're so desperate about the job, I got that covered for you. In fact, if you need anything, just let me know." I would be furious right now after getting bamboozled by A.L.E.X.I.S. but if she's taking care of my needs, I'll take it. "Alright, let's roll! Um...which way is the exit, A.L.E.X.I.S.?" Realizing the situation, she said "Oh, right. I forgot about that." Guess even assistants have missing codes in their software. "That is not funny, Dex," she said. Okay, she might be scarier than I thought.

             To be continued...