The Exam..?

It was a sharp knock on the door that brought Ian awake. He sleepily glanced at his broken phone on the coffee table and the dirty dishes that were now filled with ants and fruit flies. He sighed as he got up from his awkward position of lying on the floor. He could've sworn he told Alec that he should contact him on his phone so he wouldn't have to go in this shitty room. 

With a thud under his feet and the creaking of his bones from his strange sleeping position, he grumpily opened the door. 

"Sir Gamnique?" Ian's eyes widened - looking at the man now without his signature formal black suit. The man was now in a plain oversized long-sleeved shirt and a wide pair of joggers with the ends touching the ground. His hair was a mess but the prominent eyebags gave it away that he is Gamnique. 

"Why do you look so surprised?" Gamnique asked seriously, eyes darting on the room behind Ian. The younger had to physically block the room under Gamnique's gaze because currently, it was a mess. "Ah, is it because of the clothes?" 

Disregarding the question, Ian asked: "What are you doing here, sir Gamnique?" 

"Gamnique is fine." The man said and motioned for Ian to not block the door. He then started walking inside with a small hum. The man was towering over the room - even with his hunched back which made Ian wonder what the other's height was. 

"Have you seen the news?" Gamnique asked, still wandering around the small space. Ian hurriedly closed the door behind him and walked towards the other man. 

"Sorry, I just woke up and have no television," Ian said sheepishly.

"Not even with your phone?" Gamnique asked, now settling next to the coffee table. His face was without emotions so Ian didn't even know what he was thinking about as he stared at the dirty dishes on top of the said table. 

"I have no data…" Ian trailed off. "...Sorry."

"It's fine," Gamnique said sharply and with a fast swiping motion of his hands, a black cellphone appeared out of nowhere. He grabbed it and held it towards the younger. Ian was surprised when he took it and saw that it was a phone. That's when it occurred to him that Gamnique was a techno savior. 

"It's the latest phone I've designed," Gamnique said, now staring at the stack of paper on the table. "It has unlimited data and load so you may contact me anytime. I've already inputted my number."

"Oh," Ian stared unabashedly at the black phone. It looks so advanced and the screen is so smooth to touch. It has been so long since he has seen anything like this. "Thanks."

"No worries," All this time, Gamnique's voice was flat and face devoid of emotion. Ian couldn't help but think of that character he watched as a kid who was super smart and acted the same way as Gamnique. It was kind of amusing since when Gamnique is outside, he is full of authority - always shouting at others or displaying a stern look on his face.  Is this his default emotion? "Was this done by Craig?" 

Ian nodded. "Yes, he intends that I learn all of that." 

The room was now filled with silence as Gamnique read the papers. Ian went to the makeshift kitchen counter and kind of grimaced since the two instant coffees would now be used when he initially wanted them to be used until tomorrow. With a sigh, he prepared two mugs and handed the other one silently to his guest.

"Thanks," Gamnique said - still reading the papers. He then brought a pen from his pockets and wrote something on the paper which Ian couldn't read because his eyes were blurry. "Tell me Terno, why do you keep squinting?"

This time Gamnique looked him in the eyes and Ian couldn't help but cower because regardless of the way he acted outside was nowhere to be seen, his eyes remained intense. 

"Uh," Ian looked down - breaking the contact. He sat on the floor opposite Gamnique who was sitting on his bed. "My sight is…terrible."

A hum. "That's bad," 

Another silence.

"I asked if you have seen the news because your face is now broadcasted on national television," Gamnique stated calmly. 

Shocked, Ian asked: "What?!"

Gamnique motioned his hands again on thin air and suddenly a large intangible screen appeared in front of them and in the middle of the coffee table. Gamnique clicked a few more times before a blaring headline in bold and capitalized letters bombarded the screen, it reads:

AN EXCLUSIVE GUIDE? ALEC CRAIG WAS SEEN WORKING WITH A GUIDE WHEN HE ENTERED THE DOMAIN IN QUEZON!

Ian furrowed his eyebrows when he saw a picture of him and Alec standing side-by-side. He also saw a pic of them leaving Alec's car.

A publicity stunt or a real exclusive guide? Those are the questions many asked as Alec Craig was noticeably the center of the topic just a few weeks ago with many scared to know when the savior will rampage as his eyes remain a frighteningly bright yellow for years now. Many believed that we all should be prepared should the S-class savior enter a berserk. 

"What the…" Ian trailed off. 

Gamnique was still watching him intently on the opposite side of the screen. "It's why I'm here, to warn you should you exit this room. I have my team shut down all websites which may leak your information but I should let you know that many will probably recognize you."

"Oh, thank you…" Ian said. The screen in front of them vanished when Gamnique motioned on the air again.

"That's all," Gamnique said, standing up from the bed and walking towards the door. "You should probably read what I have written in the papers that Alec gave you."

"I will," Ian said, now following Gamnique to his doorway. 

"I will probably see you again soon." The older said and then opened the door. Ian was surprised to see the man accompanied by four bulky men wearing black suits. 

With a sigh, he closed the door behind him and looked at the time which read 8 A.M. He then opened his old phone - the one with cracks and all - and saw that Alec had been bombarding him with messages as early as 4 A.M. He opened one and it read:

Sorry. I saw the news, I didn't take into account that your face would be shown. 

Another message.

I just assumed they would blur your face because I thought they'd only focus on me.

Ian typed out a reply: It's okay : )

He closed his phone and grimaced when he saw that the coffee he brought to Gamnique had not been touched by the older man. With a sigh, he brought it to the counter and covered the top with a saucer plate. He will drink that some other time. He walked back to the coffee table and started to read where he had left off from the previous night.

A new handwriting was present in the paper, judging by how neat and aligned all the letters were, he assumed it was Gamnique's writings. 

If the domain's bosses are not defeated within the seven day period, the monsters, as well as the bosses, in the domains can exit the gate and roam freely in our world. This had caused the deaths and injuries of millions of people - which, severely impacted the world's population. As a result, a group of metamo saviors developed a new system that was introduced shortly after the emergence of these domains. It was the secondary gender and to put it simply, it's just a way to increase population by making people assigned male at birth have the capacity to bear a child. I'm sure you're already familiar with it - seeing as you went to a top middle school in the country. 

Ian furrowed his eyebrows when he read the last passage. What's with people already knowing private information about him? 

The next text is another direct copy and paste from Alec and it starts with:

Guide to the Second Gender!!!

Alpha. These are the second most common secondary gender in the population right now. They have the capacity to impregnate all omegas, and betas that are assigned female at birth. In the early development of the secondary gender, many of the conditions of people were unstable so alphas during that time experienced erratic ruts every three months. Fortunately, over-the-counter medicines are normalized so now, the occurrence of ruts is rare. 

Omega. The most common secondary gender. Omegas have the capacity to give birth to a child. Most omegas are assigned male at birth since they are the primary target population for this project. Like Alphas, they also have heats which has become stable over time for the same reason as ruts. 

Beta. The rarest secondary gender. They are similar to the population of people before the emergence of the secondary gender project. Most betas are assigned female at birth. Betas that are assigned male at birth couldn't give birth to a child. 

It's been so long since Ian had read an information guide for the secondary gender - the last time was in middle school and Ian's breath starts to quicken when he was once again reminded of the past. See, alphas and omegas were regarded to be the ideal secondary gender one should have but Ian was a beta. Middle school was the time they started to test the children for everything - for the secondary gender and for the existence of cores. So, you are practically a celebrity in school if you are an Alpha/Omega with a core - it was childish but it was everything to middle schoolers. 

Imagine a middle schooler's experience when he does not have a core or a secondary gender - it was hell for Ian in the past. He tried so hard to shrug off the past experience but it seems to weigh him down even more. Even if he now had presented a guide's core, he still couldn't help but not think of his past. 

There was another neat scribble by Gamnique on the blank part of the page and it read: 

Alphas and omegas were considered of extreme importance in the past but today, it doesn't really matter, does it? 

Ian unknowingly let out a small smile. Yeah, even with his horrible past, things can still change. He thought to himself. He continued reading the papers until the grumble of his stomach startled him. He glanced at his phone's time and he was surprised to read that it was noon now - four hours after Gamnique left his room. He glanced at the single pack of ramen on his counter and the cup of coffee that was supposed to be Gamnique's. 

As he was about to stand up, there was another knock on the door followed by a shout from a person: "Ian Terno?" 

He quickly got up and opened the door to reveal a man in the familiar black and white suit that belonged to Alec's and Gamnique's company. The man smiled and handed him a rather large box. He stared at it confusedly and the man said: 

"Sir Gamnique asked me to bring this to you," He said. "By the way, you shouldn't open the door so quickly like that because you're quite famous now…who knows there might be journalists out there wanting to bombard you with questions."

Ian sighed. "Sorry, you're right."

With that, the man waved goodbye and Ian brought the box inside and put it on the coffee table. Still confused, he opened his new phone and there it was - a text from Gamnique who already put his number inside. 

Did you receive them?

Another text notification. 

This phone has two SIM card placements so you can just put your old one here as well. 

Ian hurriedly typed out a reply: What's this box?

Not even a second later, he received a reply from Gamnique: Open it. 

He opened the box which was a two-by-two compartment box slowly because it was heavy - which made him even more confused. The moment he opened it, the smell of freshly brewed coffee and pastries wafted his nose. He brought them carefully out of the container only to see that there was still a black matte box on the bottom. He sipped a little of the hot coffee just to appease his hunger a bit and that's when he saw a small note saying: As thanks for the coffee. 

Ian chuckled to himself. Gamnique didn't even touch the coffee, why the hell is he giving me all of this? 

He set the compartment box on the floor as he placed the matte black box on the coffee table. He carefully opened the box - like one would when it looked so…posh. In the box were similar types of black-rimmed glasses that were varying in grades. A small red button was at the center and when Ian pushed it, a screen appeared in front of him. On the screen was a robot machine that was waving at him happily. 

"Hello and welcome to GAM's instant eyewear system," The robot said mechanically. "To start, please put on the red glasses in the bottom left corner of the box."

Ian did as he was told. 

"Perfect, now look at the middle of the screen for ten seconds," The robot said and soon, the screen displayed the familiar hot air balloon you see in optical clinics. "Try not to blink nor look away in this process."

His eyes started drying after ten seconds. "We have successfully captured your grade. This next step is just for standard measure - just to see if you have existing eye problems."

The screen changed to a bright light - almost like a flashlight being directed to Ian's eyes. Ian was startled and blinked. 

"Uh-oh, we should try again." The robot said and the light shined in Ian's eyes once again. "Good. Fortunately, you don't have any eye diseases. You only have myopia with a grade of -3.00. You may now take the glasses of a similar grade." With that, the screen shut down. 

Ian smiled to himself slightly as he brought the prescription glasses and instantly, everything was clear to him. Giddily, he hurriedly typed out a reply to Gamnique. 

Thank you so much, I don't know how to repay you.

Another instant reply: It's fine. Just do your job.

-

Three days had passed since Ian came to Alec's office - and the 'exam' day had come. Ian was now walking back to Alec's office building - it was an awkward kind of walk, it was the kind of walk you do when you want to be as little as possible all while walking on the side of the hallways. His head was bowed to the ground - an extremely futile effort of not wanting to make eye contact with anyone. Fortunately, what Gamnique said might be true - that his information was not leaked to the public, seeing as there were no people following him from his apartment. 

A sharp breath right next to him caused him to get startled and his heartbeat quickened - with a turn, he was met face-to-face with none other than Alec - whose eyes were practically teasing him. 

"What were you doing?" He asked, now walking side-by-side with Ian. 

"Going to your office," 

The two walked silently - pausing in front of the elevator. 

"Did any journalist try to contact you?" 

Ian shook his head. "No, I don't think so."

"That's good."

The elevator door opened and the two shuffled inside the empty floor. Alec pressed the floor of his office and turned to face Ian directly. 

"Nice glasses," Alec said. "Gamnique?"

"Yes,"

"It suits you." 

Ian pursed his lips trying to think of anything to reply with and Alec just smiled wide at him - seeing as the gears turning on his head were practically visible on his face. The elevator chimed open and Alec moved forward with Ian following. Ian was confused when they went to the room which Alec said was supposed to belong to him. 

Now, it was decorated differently. There were multiple drawers on the sides, a wide brown cushion in the middle of the room, an office chair, and a table in front of the table. 

"This is where you will be working; even when I said you're going to be guiding most of the time, there will still be paperwork," Alec said. 

Ian turned to him confusedly. "I thought there would be an exam?"

Alec faked shockness, "Oh right, I did say that…" 

"H-huh?" 

Alec let out a loud laugh while plopping down on the wide cushion in the middle - leaving Ian still standing alone in the doorway. "Don't mind that; I already formed a contract anyway." 

Ian sighed - he should've seen it coming as it seemed like everything was a joke to Alec.

"Did you read everything? Any questions?" Alec asked as he stood up, going to one of the drawers and pulling out one legal paper. 

"Nothing really," Ian said quietly. 

"That's good," Alec said, ushering Ian to sit on the black office chair and putting the legal paper on the table. "Read that and sign the contract." 

Alec once again lay on the cushion but this time, he closed his eyes. Ian didn't bother the other because he looked tired today compared to the usual. He sighed as he checked the contract - it was just the standard laboring contract of every employer plus the highlighted statements like: 

Section 5(A). Employee Ian Terno to be an exclusive guide under employer Alec Craig. 

Section 5(B). Employee Ian Terno cannot apply and sign labor contracts with other companies unless it is under employer Alec Craig. 

Section 5(C). Employee Ian Terno cannot guide any other saviors unless otherwise stated by employer Alec Craig. 

He read each one carefully and his eyes almost boggled outside its socket when he saw the monthly pay Alec was willingly offering him. That automatically shut his mind down and immediately grabbed the pen - signing the end of the contract. 

The sound of the pen made Alec open his brightly lit eyes. "Are you done?"

Ian put the pen down but his eyes still reading the zeroes on the paper. "Y-yes,"

"Okay," Alec sighed tiredly, hands reaching out to Ian. "Guide me."