Zooming through the jagged and chaotic skyline were streamlined flying cars outfitted with exhaust pipes, sending air rippling under the sweltering fumes and the scorching sun as they dwindled in the distance.

"You will arrive at the headquarters in 2 minutes," a robotic voice announced.

Ellis Hurell, a 21-year-old computer science graduate in 2026, was trying to find a job related to computers. One day, his dad, the breadwinner of his family, left home and vanished without a clue. Ellis and his mom were desperate, so they spent all their money distributing missing person posters and hiring detectives to track his dad down, but to no avail. When he saw his mom weeping over this tragedy, he decided to find a job, hoping to fund the search of his dad to console and soothe the sentiments of his mom.

However, he was a recluse. He was always a recluse, unable to socialize or communicate, therefore he was reluctant to find a job. Even if he was offered interviews, the companies never hired him. He now have had over 10 failed interviews.

Desperate, he surfed the web and landed on myriad webpages of game companies for a potential job. He then sent mails and CVs to the companies. Eventually, he received a call from a company called Paradoxical Games.

"You will arrive at the headquarters in 1 minute," the robotic voice repeated.

He received a job offer from the company, and he was now on the way to their headquarters.

Slowly, the flying car he was riding neared the headquarters. Outside the windowpane, the grounds erected a gigantic glass dome, which was connected to 4 separate sky-high towers. Alongside a hologram that read "Paradoxical Games" swirling on top of the dome, vivid light projections were piercing through the clouds and sky.

Thin and of medium height, Ellis sized himself up as his reflection appeared on the glass when the scenery outside became darker. Dark circles, unkempt hair and weak muscles were the culmination of years of playing video games and leading a sedentary lifestyle.

"We are now landing at the headquarters of Paradoxical Games," the robotic voice declared.

The landing gears of the flying car touched the ground, with fumes pumping out of the exhaust pipes. Ellis bounced on the seat and hit the roof.

"Ouch," Ellis yelped, patting and comforting his carefully tidied and messily gelled hair dedicated for this interview.

As the car doors opened like falcon wings, Ellis scrambled out of the car and nearly tripped.

He was born into a poor family, so he seldom rode flying cars with expensive fees. The gap between the car and the ground to be overcome was not written into his muscle memory.

"Pishhh! Pishhh! Pishhh!"

Ellis flinched when fountains along the path gush out jets of water. He was so sensitive to objects in the outside world, as if they were new to him. His dilapidated briefcase and his newly bought secondhand blazer were sodden as the water splashed onto them.

"Stupid fountains!" Ellis screamed, stomping his feet on the ground, agonised.

He flounced along the path and avoided water droplets until reaching the entrance gate.

"Please stand up straight and look forward without tilting your head," a robotic voice announced.

Detected by a sensor, a biometric laser then scanned Ellis' face.

"Scanning… Scanning… Scanning..."

Ellis flinched again as the laser glared into his eyes. His eyes were decently big.

"Procedure aborted! Stop moving!" the robotic voice ordered.

The laser scanned Ellis' face again. This time, he squinted his eyes so that the light wouldn't be so sensitive.

As the procedure ended, the entrance gate began clanking.

"Grunkkkkkk…"

A beam of sunlight seeped through the gate and dazzled his eyes as the gap between the gates widened. He was now sauntering into a majestic and cavernous glass dome.

"Holy crap. It's huge," Ellis marveled, forgetting how gimcrack the entrance was.

"Welcome to Paradoxical Games." a synthetic humanlike voice announced, which echoed through the dome.

Stunned by this vista, Ellis widened his eyes and circled his head to comprehend the majesty of the dome.

Paradoxical Games really love white. Just in front of the entrance, they painted the circular reception counter white, the floor tiles white, and the support beams of the dome white. Everything Ellis could see is daubed white.

As he walked past the entrance, employees with piles of papers and mobile devices dash through the dome. Under their feet, robot cleaners scurry and intersect, ensuring the floor to always be glossy and sterile. Staffers became grumpy when the robots stomped on their toes while they were in conversations. All these hustle and bustle results in a cacophony of nuisance and disarray.

On the left side of the dome, there was a glass-walled room filled with racks and shelves of video games. A canteen outfitted with robot servers was situated on the right side, which served drinks that contained 100 types of ingredients.

Looking upwards, an enormous and colorful hologram hovered below the dome, displaying latest news and developments of Paradoxical Games.

"We are releasing our newest game! XB-33!" the synthetic voice blasted.

"Hey! Watch out!" an employee yelled, as he brushed past an inattentive Ellis.

Captivated, Ellis kept on looking around the dome until...

The clock read 8:10! His interview would start at 8:30!

"?!"

Ellis' heart began pounding as he noticed the time, and anxiousness was taking over.

"So there is A, B, C, D... Which tower would my interview be held in?" Ellis' voice quavered.

"A, B, C, D…"

He ransacked his briefcase and shoved his phone out and tried to find the information required.

"It's B! Yes, it's in tower B, 152/F!" he exclaimed, with his fingers still trembling.

He swiveled all around and rested upon an enormous sign that read B.

"It's now 8:15!" the robotic voice announced.

On the far side of the dome, capsule elevators are connected to the four surrounding towers, in which game engineers and developers and everyone work. Ellis' footsteps coalesced with that of others while he was bolting towards the elevators. As Ellis got nearer, tiny human figures turned into teeming crowds awaiting their turns to ride the capsule elevators.

Capsule elevator was a huge technological breakthrough in the 2020s. Within 15 seconds, the capsule could travel from ground floor to 150/F with a staggering speed. However, what was more promising was its intake speed of passengers. People no longer had to wait during peak hours. When one capsule departed, another would appear and wait for its passenger, so the queues would always be flowing.

Ellis had to jostle and push through the crowd before finally made it to the end of an elevator queue. After a few minutes, it was his turn to ride the elevator.

He screamed out his desired floor so that the elevator could receive it.

"Erm... 153! No! 152! 152!" Ellis screamed.

Ellis stepped into the capsule, leaning his back against the wall and folding his arms. The glass capsule door closed vertically with a clank.

"Floor registered, 3.. 2.." a robotic voice announced.

Ellis squinted his eyes and tightened his muscles because he had ridden nothing as innovative as these elevators.

"1... Launch activated," the robotic voice informed.

High-pitched sounds grew louder and louder as if a laser gun was charging up. Following a series of vibration, the capsule leaped and slung through a pipe with a certain degree of curvature. Ellis clutched the handles as blustery cold air slapped and hit his face, deforming his skin and leaving him screaming and shuddering throughout the ride. Starting with an initial upright position, his journey ended with a supine position.

"Ah," Ellis shrieked.

Ellis crawled out of the capsule and panted as soon as the door opened. When Ellis reared his head up, dozens of employees looked at him and scoffed at his peculiar pose.

Embarrassed, Ellis scrambled to his feet, feeling dizzy and light-headed. He then pushed through and darted away from the crowd, attempting to regain his composure.

"Hey! You left your briefcase inside the capsule!" A girl yelled.

"Crap, if I turn around, it will be super embarrassing!" Ellis wondered and frowned.

Ellis took a glimpse of his watch, and a hologram appeared. It is now 8:28. His job interview will start 2 minutes later, and he hadn't even found the venue. Ellis would lose his job opportunity.

"URGH! What should I do?" Ellis muttered, nonplussed.

"Here! Your bag! You will accustom yourself to the elevators later on," The girl smiled.

Ellis avoided eye contact and looked at the floor when he took his briefcase back from the girl.

"I didn't laugh at you," the girl whispered.

Ellis froze. He couldn't fathom what had just happened. He was lost for words. As a recluse, he had never encountered such situations. He dropped his jaws, waiting for his brain to comprehend and load.

"Here... Your bag... Here... Your bag..." His brain kept on recalling the scene, and he didn't know how to control his emotions towards the opposite sex.

As Ellis was still standing in awe, the girl stepped into the elevator and maintained eye contact with him when the elevator doors closed.

His heart thumped.

"Gook gook... Gook gook... Gook gook..."

"BAM!" the doors slammed shut!

"Beep Beep! Beep Beep!"

Ellis' watch started beeping along his heartbeat, pulling him back to the reality.

"Huh!" Ellis gasped.

He widened his eyes and dropped his jaws when he found out the time was 8:30 sharp.

"I am late!" Ellis screamed.

Ellis took his first stride and dashed through the long corridor in which the elevators were located. At the end of it, a whole new environment emerged as if the corridor and the new environment were segregated. Hundreds of cubicles were squeezed into a humongous air-conditioned room and divided into columns and rows, with employees tapping on their keyboard and playing with their devices. Although the number of employees was huge, they did not produce a single sound because sound insulators were installed and a plain white rug was placed.

However, retro and 8-bit sound effects were emitting from arcade machines on the far side of the room.

"Everything is so big here!" Ellis wondered, stunned by the size of the room, forgetting why he was here.

"Mr. Hurell! Mr. Hurell!" someone called at some distance away.

Ellis jerked at the call and remembered his purpose.

He started moving around the aisles between the cubicles, peeking into each of them to ensure the sound was not coming from them. Finally, he emerged from the square of cubicles and went into an outer area of the room. In front of him, department heads were sitting inside glass-walled rooms working, while one was standing outside reading his watch before looking up.

"Are you Mr. Hurell?" The staff asked.

"Yes, I am." Ellis whispered.

"Come on in, take a seat, please," the staff whispered.

When Ellis and the staff sat down face-to-face, Ellis examined the room without paying attention to the staff, squirming.

Assortments of objects were placed inside the room. A wide glass cabinet on the right side of the room was filled with awards and certificates. In 2026, awards were no longer trophies or medals as holograms had eliminated them. Triangular and rectangular plastic bases were casting projections upwards, clearly indicating what awards were obtained. A flower pot with thyme was placed on the desk, but it was no ordinary flower pot at all. The plant it held could be changed with a press of a button on the pot.

"My name is Mr. Turner. First off, tell me about yourself," Mr. Turner said.

"Uh…" Ellis stuttered.

After a few seconds, Ellis still had given no response. He did preparations, but forgot what he prepared to say overnight. He decided to say whatever popped up in his mind.

"ahem, my name is Ellis, do you know how to spell it?" Ellis responded.

"Yes, go on," Mr Turner said.

"Ok, so I major computer science in Harvest University, and I know what is hashing, compression, checksum generation, data indexing, Microsoft Office, Linux, Database, Quicksort…" Ellis babbled.

"Uh… where's Harvest University," Mr Turner asked, with a frown on his face.

"Oh, I mean, uh, it's related to Harvard University," Ellis said.

"Is it?" Mr Turner questioned.

"Yea, uh, if you draw a straight line starting from Harvard to Pyramid of Giza, then to the Colosseum, then join back the line, the centroid of the triangle formed is where the Harvest University is locat…." Ellis jabbered.

"… Hmm…" Mr. Turner furrowed his brows, looking askance.

"Uh, I think there's a leaf on your head, how did it land on your head?" Mr. Turner said and pointed his finger, sidetracking their conversation.

Ellis cringed as he tried to brush off the leaf awhile.

"I guess it's from… "Harvest" University?" Ellis protracted, feeling embarrassed.

"…"

Silence reigned between Ellis and Mr. Turner until Ellis' phone rang once during the interview.

A 3D hologram appeared from the phone, projecting upwards, out of the briefcase.

"How's your interview?" - Mom - 8:41

Ellis jerked his head and pretended he didn't see the message, reverted to facing Mr. Turner.

*15 minutes later*

"Ellis, thank you for joining this interview today. We will contact you further about the results, any questions?" Mr. Turner declared.

"… No." Ellis said, after thinking it over.

Mr. Turner then raised his hand, offering a handshake.

Ellis shook his hand hard as he caught sight of it, smiling bashfully.

The door creaked as Ellis was closing it.

"Phew." Ellis exclaimed, and he started walking towards the elevators.

Just when he was midway through the corridor, his mom's message came into his mind. He hesitated for one moment, not sure if he should call her. He took out his phone from the briefcase and stared at the call button on the screen.

"Hmm…" Ellis pondered.

After a moment, his finger landed on the screen and touched the button. A vivid 3D hologram arose from the screen, showing a phone symbol rotating around.

After a moment, the hologram flashed and transformed into a 2D background like home. Then, a contour of his mom pixilated and solidified.

"Hey, sweetheart, how's your interview?" his mom grinned.

"um.. I mean…. uh… it's fine? Actually, I'm not sure mom," Ellis murmured, feeling down.

"It's okay. Don't feel unhappy when you don't know the results yet. Even if the chance is gone again, there are a lot of opportunities out there awaiting you when you are still young," his mom consoled.

"I hope so…" Ellis sighed.

"uh…" Ellis whispered.

"…"

"Will you be back for dinner tonight?" his mom asked.

"um.. yeah." Ellis said.

"Ok, see you later then, sweeth…" his mom said, ended abruptly as Ellis ended the call.

Hands down, Ellis looked up and exhaled, uncertain about what would happen in his bleak future.

Unrelated memories flitted across his mind, in and out, in and out…

"Hey! Your bag! Hey! Your bag!"

Her smile...

Ellis shook his head to get rid of the hallucinations, and then he took a deep breath.

"Dun dun!" the elevator chimed.

Ellis lay down in the capsule and held the handles as firm as possible. He was frightened of this near-death experience.

"152! Oops no! I mean, take me to the ground floor!" Ellis yelled, forgetting he was already on this floor and his interview had already finished.

"Floor 52 registered." a robotic voice announced.

"No! No! Ground! Ground floor!" Ellis screamed.

"3… 2…" the robotic voice said as the elevator door was closing.

"Cancel! Cancel! Abort!" Ellis screeched, flailing his legs and kicking the door.

The vibrations began, and the high-pitched charging noise sounded as white fumes billowed around his capsule.

"1.. Launch activated!" the robotic voice declared.

The capsule launched into a pipe as if a volcano erupted.

"Ah!" Ellis screamed.

His hair was floating in the air; his skin was deforming; his bones were vibrating.

Mucus was flying off his nose and landing on the floor. Luckily, his heart was surmounting this nightmare because the feeling of gravity was offset.

As the capsule door opened on 52/F, Ellis lurched out of the capsule and fell onto the ground.

"Holy sh*t," Ellis panted.

"You will accustom yourself to the capsule elevator later on…"

Scrambling to his feet, Ellis attempted to ride the capsule elevator again. However, the capsule elevator disappeared, and now a solid white wall was in its original place.

"WTF?" Ellis wondered.

He punched his fists into the wall, hoping that something will happen.

"Why am I so unlucky?" Ellis grumbled.

He rolled into a supine position and lay his arms flat on the floor, staring blankly at the ceiling.

"My interviews… my family… my demeanor… my fucking life… Why is everything so FUCKING BAD!" Ellis shouted loudly that echoes were travelling through the pristine and bright corridor.

Ellis was tired. He was tired of his life, and everything.

His eyelids were shutting down, squinting ever so slightly.

"Hey." someone whispered from nowhere.