<div class="floatright">(https://drscdn.500px.org/photo/233996993/m%3D900/v2?user_id=15258111&amp;webp=true&amp;sig=b90ebac02e9dda10b2f9bec799e0a04e2130f8be0e462e8165ad848d1cc01eb2)<br/><div align="center"><strong><em><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: times new roman;"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 12pt;">Mateo Lucas</span></span></em></strong></div></div><br/><div style="text-align: justify;">Everyone was already engaged in their new assignments. It was hard to call it an assignment when it was pretty much a break from typical work and their daily routines. They were playing games, plain and simple ... Building up a review to be precise. Mateo could've hired professional reviewers, but this was different. His team needs to be able to bounce off ideas with Naught Otter's. Mateo's role was to make certain the entire project wouldn't stray too far from his own vision.<br/><br/>Mateo already strolled into his public office. A grand space with glasses from roof to floor at the opposite side of the door, with his grand desk a few feet from those gigantic windows. To the left side was a two seat couch, a lazy chair and a gamer's chair, with every possible console and controllers entangled in a web of wires under the shelves that held the flat SUHD 103" screen. His public/private testing ground for products that required a proper setting. This is where some of his most successful concepts came to be. Through a meeting and a presentation.<br/><br/>To the right side was a long desk with 12 chairs, one spacious enough for the leading heads of each department. Past it to the corner against the marbled wall was a stand of shelves that held a mix of games' cases and a plethora of magazines. Nothing out of the ordinary, except for one particular and oddly breaking the contrast of his office was a closet on the far right corner from the door. A closed that housed reading materials. Books, novels and short stories by renowned and obscures writers. Compared to the dominant hard wired presence of gaming culture, Mateo always believed that a spark of inspiration is easily obtained through the roots of storytelling.<br/><br/>Mateo closed the door behind him and went for the couch, slipping in a right side lean on the cushions and picked up a tablet off the coffee table on the other side. He began an aimless browsing of the day's happenings and updates throughout the world. Sleeves rolled, and slowly buttons of his shirt came off one by one while he took his time hopping from one tab to the other. A knock on the door disrupted his surfing, and as he glanced up at the door, he called out clearly unhappy about the interruption, "What?"<br/><br/>The door handle sunk down and Wilson's head popped from the door's frame, "Don't think I forgot you." He chirped with a devious flicker in his eyes. "I was hoping you would." Mateo rolled his eyes and gestured with his hand to beckon him, knowing what Wilson up to. His trusted and rather annoying assistant smirked and came in holding a smart phone in his hand. "I saved the best for you." He said playfully as he approached the CEO. Handing him the phone, and as soon as Mateo woke the screen, a game was already in view. <em>Trust your Heart,</em> the title read.<br/><br/>"And why is this for me?" Mateo said with furrowed brows and an inquisitive tone, to which Wilson replied with a lot of enthusiasm in his voice, "It's an interesting game. It's a social simulator. It randomly generates a scene and allows you to interact accordingly. So far there's over ten thousand original scene with its variations."<br/><br/>"Ten thousands?! Ten thousand scenarios for a dating simulator?" Mateo was both astonished and offended that his assistant picked him a dating simulator.<br/><br/>"A social simulator. You don't get to fuck every character. It's a masterpiece so get off your high horse and try it for once." Wilson feigned offense, though his genuine enthusiasm remained strong in his tone.<br/><br/>"Sheesh, Sorry. Maybe they ought to put you in this game while we discuss Empty Abyss." Mateo said, his eyes already focused on the game, contemplating the possibility of a simple app to deliver what his assistant just claimed. His hand began flipping through the menus to set the variety of options. When he noticed Wilson still standing with a wide grin, he lifted his face and shooed him with his hand, "Anything else? Daddy needs some privacy to get acquainted with his new girls."<br/><br/>Wilson rolled his eyes, a smile couldn't escape his lips when he turned on his heels and left the office, leaving Mateo with his new game that he thought was going to be a quick test to see what the game was capable of. However, those few minutes he thought he would put in turned into an hour.<br/><br/>The game was brilliant, short scenarios constructed over the simple concept of 'what if'. The character models were interesting. They weren't motion captured, nor were they cheap hand drawn animations. Hard effort was put into the graphics, as much as they put into the little stories included. Some of these simulations would end in a raunchy sexual scene, but what captured him was the surprisingly hopeless scenes. Scenes that would never have a positive conclusion. Remarkable in how they captured the essence of humanity in too many scenes. What started as a short side leaning session turned into an intent sitting-up-straight-hunched-back-staring-into-phone session.<br/><br/>He saw enough to put down the company's phone and reach out for his own and swiped to the text messages. Nessa's number came into the screen and he tapped with a single thumb a quick message:<br/><br/><em>How about an unofficial dinner to get better acquainted?<br/><br/>8pm The Black Forest, Saturday.<br/><br/>How does that sound?</em><br/><br/>He did not hesitate to hit the send button. He'd seen enough to want to know more about the minds behind such a fascinating project. Not that he didn't fancy seeing these two ladies again. Not that he wanted to see that fucking daring smirk of the blonde, or the reluctant resistance of the brunette ... Or their fucking smoking bodies that he struggled to not stare at them. No, this was a meeting because he enjoyed their game and wanted to know them better and pave the path for this joint project.<br/><br/>Trying not to thinking too much on the real reason behind his impulsive invite, Mateo already sunk back into the game. Then the random generator presented a scene ... Two girls, perfectly voluptuous ... and shared an apartment ...<br/><br/>This is going to be interesting.</div>