ALLEN'S POINT [Editing]

[ 08:00:00 ]

-III-

-08:00:00-

After a brief negotiation with Rhode, he realized that he can't stay there from eleven to seven, which he usually does in other internet cafes--his money won't allow him. He got a 3-hour ticket containing six combinations of characters, which would be handy when he tried to open a computer unit later. He tucked it unconsciously inside the left pocket of his denim pants.

Allen's Point cafe was a big air-conditioned room that had 15 degrees Celsius temperature. There were rows of computer units side by side which represent dividers themselves. These rows of computer units looked like the spine of an anaconda chopped into five, with its spinal cords intact, to fit the four-sided room.

Except that it doesn't look square at all. It looked almost round inside, Marvin thought.

But of course, it would be a hallucination, a trick of the light, and well, his mind was as weary as his heart. Even if he can tell his uncle that he can "Play all night without losing his sight," his brain was too tired and longing for at least forty winks.

So, it must be a Boinkie-Toinkie-Boo!

But tomorrow's not a worry for classes because it's Christmas break, and now's the time to go nocturnal and...

...play all night till you lose your sight! The voice of his uncle came.

And what you can do tomorrow... Do it today as the saying goes! Am I right uncle!? Marvin mentally replied to a memory no matter how lunatic it seemed. That's a pretty good sign of insanity Marvie! You, really, are a Boinkie! He added contradicting the first thought.

He continued his path to find a comfortable seat. The first and the second divisions of the room were deserted yet the clamoring sound from the third division invaded it as if those were false resonances from invisible beings who inhabited that area. As he reached the third division where the noises came from, he saw that it was indeed, full of gamers and almost all of them were playing DOTA. About 15 to 20 gamers were there, congested in that area and that strong smell struck Marvin's nostrils; a mixture of cigarettes and some perfumes he could barely imagine for what purpose it was worn. Except that, at the back of his mind, it was cannabis. A smart guy like Marvin doesn't need to taste one to know it is what it is supposed to be. And flunking school subjects was a different thing, much like a miscommunication between an envious teacher and a poor student who never experienced having a red mark in his life even if he was close to having one sometimes. Well, it's done, and what else could he do? His teacher doesn't have the ears to listen.

The DotA gamers were the only ones breaking the silence of the night with their colloquialisms and barbaric war cries.

And that was good.

The noise was good. It is for a person with a troubled heart and a troubled mind [lack of rest is another thing, of course].

Marvin smiled while imagining himself being absorbed by the game and doing all those weird debates and unimaginable gesticulations. Marvin was absentmindedly looking with a grin at a particular guy who was doing most of the moving, while he imagined it. The guy's name was Jarred, and he didn't seem to like Marvin's grin at all. Jarred paused and looked at Marvin with a faltered expression of euphoria. Marvin came back from his fancy and was pulled back by the most unfriendly stare he had ever seen in his life.

Jarred grew furious at Marvin's expression. He abruptly stood up. Vehemently, he shoved the other gamers aside and made his way toward Marvin. Marvin was dumbstruck by the sudden shifting of the situation. He froze on the very spot as if he was a specimen for cryogenics.

What the fuck are you looking at!? Jarred roared as he reached for Marvin's shirt. Marvin's heart was pounding beneath the foundations of his chest. For an unknown reason, he felt extremely thirsty; his tongue was dry, and his lips were parched. The dryness of his mouth has made speaking and reasoning both impossible.

"What the fuck are you looking at!? Harve I thhold you nort to loork at me hhever, hhEVER that WAYeeee???!!!" Jarred's eyes were bulging from their sockets as if they would burst out at any moment. No, it didn't, but it changed color. Yeah, darn it did! It turned cobalt blue, from hazel brown, and then settled for bloody red. Then suddenly its irises dilated into two big empty darkness. Emptiness. No! Those were a pair of holes! Two black holes on his face like the twin holes of a shotgun, preparing to blow his head off and decorate the room— The Time Condensing Chamber—with his blood, mostly with his brains! But that was not it. The two holes did not blow his head OFF but rather sucked his head IN like a pair of black holes in the universe preparing to merge into a supermassive black hole and basically suck him entirely without leaving something for the mortician to dissect. Jarred started to laugh sinisterly and his statements no longer made sense for the human mind to interpret. It was an "other-worldly" language.

"Arryyeee sShhhhakklllooww Reyyhhaaa!" It came out as a whisper, not from Jarred's mouth; it came from another universe.

"No! NO!" It was the only thing Marvin could muster, and it only came out from his vocal cords as a squeak of a mouse. Then there came the last human statement that his mind had interpreted.

Yoouowww Vaashthard! Ey Will Killl youw fir reeeellll!!! Hhhheeyyy!!! Lissshen!

Lissshheeenn!!!