Chapter 127: Waterboarding

‘Hmmm…’ Aiden mused as he strolled into the kitchen while assessing his stats.

–

[Aiden North] – Life Points – [5.315]

⸢Stats

› Mind — S

› Strength — B+

› Stamina — B+

› Agility — B+

› Charm — A-

⸢Skills

› {Type Designing – A}, {Digital Illustration – A}, {Drawing – A}, {Cooking – A}, {Brewing – A}, {Singing – I}, {Dancing – I}, {Writing – I}, {Lettering – I}, {Driving – N}, {Programming – I}, {Riding – N}, {Video Editing – I}, {Directing – N}, {Web Designing – I}.

⸢Special Skills

› {Insight}, {Midas Touch}.

⸢Titles

› {Expand}

⸢Achievements

› {Expand}

⸢Shop

› Browse Catalogue.

⸢Daily Quests

› {Expand}

⸢Exclusive Quests

› {None}

⸢Time-limited Quests

› {Expand}

–

⸢FAQ⸥

–

For one, three weeks had passed since he’d last used any LPs.

Considering he earned 0.25LPs per day, which equaled 1.75LPs per week, he had managed to stack up 5.25LPs.

That in addition to the prior 0.65LPs was what totaled it into what it was now.

That aside, Aiden wasn’t particularly surprised to see the new skill added to his repertoire, nor was he surprised to see its grade being as high as it was.

With the Intermediate grade of his {Programming} skill and his Advanced design skills–case in point, his {Digital Illustration} and {Type Designing} skills–feeding into one another, it made perfect sense that his skills would easily translate over to building a website.

In the same vein, he wasn’t surprised when he pulled up the Achievements tabs and saw what he’d earned.

–

⸢Achievements

› {Gotta have ’em all!} – [Claim 1.5 LP?]

└ Own fifteen skills.

–

Claiming the Life Points, one that then totaled his current LPs to 6.815, Aiden casually dismissed the panel afterwards.

As the LPs weren’t enough to upgrade his {Programming} skill as he’d intended, he simply canned the lid on it and proceeded to begin prepping for dinner.

*

The next couple days passed by and before long, the day of the filming of Death Wish’s commercial had arrived.

The culmination of Aiden and Casper’s script, was what would lead to the last half of what was currently being filmed.

–

{Death Wish Commercial – 23rd, June 2021 | Take 10}

A man sat strapped to a chair in a dark room with a black hood fastened over his head, illuminated by a single spotlight.

Then footsteps walked up to him as the room brightened up to reveal a simple modern kitchen.

It was seamlessly revealed to be a lady in a sequined sky-blue dress reminiscent of that a globe-trotting spy would wear, a can of drink in her hands and her head out of frame.

Then, as the camera slowly panned upwards, she corked it open and began to waterboard the strapped man, gurgles continuously escaping him.

With a deadpan expression, the beautiful lady’s face was revealed as she turned to face the camera and spoke;

“Hi. I’m a government spy who’s been paid to market something rather revolutionary to you, so listen up.”

It was almost as if she was threatening the viewer they’d end up like the person she was waterboarding if they didn’t. Yet she continued, the clear liquid content flowing out of the can;

“Every day, millions of people willingly put dangerous things into their bodies,”

“Things that could ruin your day,” she stated.

“Your week,” she added.

“Your entire damn existence.” she declared with a bit more force than was necessary.

–

[CUT TO: Two handsome models, one holding a bottle filled to the brim with sugar in his hand with the label ‘New Soda’, while the other makes and inquiry about it.]

[Wow, is that the pure, unadulterated sugar?!]

[Even worse! It’s pure, unadulterated sugar, mysteriously produced in a lab!]

[Really?! Give me some!]

–

“And for years, a bunch of marketing fuckboys have sold you a lie,” the camera cut back to the lady who’s torturing tactics hadn’t stopped, her gaze suddenly twisting into subtle disgust.

“That water is for kids,” she alleged.

“For yoga mums and pregnant women,” she continued.

“For the aged and elderlies whiling away the rest of their years in elderly homes,” she shook her head, her disgust more evident.

“Well not anymore!” she squeezed the can, its content surging out briefly, and her prisoner gurgling even harder.

–

[CUT TO: Different colored cans on a table, the featured death skull emanating toxic-looking, deadly fumes as cold condensation slowly rolls down its surface.]

[Presenting… DEATH WISH Sparkling Water!]

–

“Water, is back,” the lady declared.

“Water, is deadly,” she sneered.

“Water, is rebellious,” she let out the subtlest hint of a devious smile as she followed up;

“So unbelievably rebellious it comes in a can so suspicious, your parents wouldn’t let you near it.”

“And the best part? You might actually like it.” the can finally emptied.

Pausing for a moment, she briefly looked to it then tossed it into the recycling bin in the corner, the scrunched-up aluminum landing into it with a perfect swoosh!

At the same time, a new can was tossed into frame, one she effortlessly caught.

“So don’t fall for the propaganda.” the lady walked towards the screen slowly, slamming the unopened can into place amidst the other two that was revealed in the same motion.

“Stay healthy. Stay hydrated.” she concluded, her lips curling briefly as she pressed her hands onto the counter.

–

[CUT TO: End Card with a with a husky, death metal-type narrator’s voice.]

[DEATH WISH!]

[Drink Like You Have Nothing to Lose!]

“And… cut!”

–

Granted filming the entire ad had taken her ten tries up to this point, with different cuts in between, Clarissa looked completely fulfilled as she finally settled into her usual self.

She was a hundred percent sure this was the take.

Even then, she quickly took the hood off Aiden’s head, a genuine concern to her expression as she watched him cough a few times in between a few words;

“Yep… never doing this… again. Ever.”

“Wrong pipe, my goodness!” he coughed even harder to which his girlfriend immediately remarked with a wince;

“Sorry, dear.”

“It’s… fine. You did… fantastic, by the way.” he managed to respond, an assuring smile on his lips.

“Thank you, babe. Now stop talking, please,” Clarissa replied in appreciation, the worry in her voice evident.

In the same sequence, she began patting his back gently as he doubled over on the chair, his eyes reddening a bit;

“There, there.”

“Oh, thank you sweetheart,” Aiden appreciated her efforts as he slowly pulled himself together after a while.

“Besides, I can’t say you or they didn’t warn me, so…” his voice trailed off as he rose to his feet.

“…well deserved, I guess.” he completed his sentence with a resigned smile, the lady handing him a napkin to clean his face.

Considering the extra whom was supposed to play the actual role of the man that was being tortured hadn’t arrived on time, Aiden had simply opted to replace him after he’d called an hour later that he couldn’t make it.

He’d figured;

How hard could it be to pretend he was being waterboarded.

‘Famous last words.’ Aiden inwardly sighed, realizing he just may have bitten on more than he could chew this time.

As for the crew themselves, or more specifically the three individuals whom had managed to handle everything this time… well they were still reviewing the shot.

Then, after a few more seconds, they finally gave the duo a thumbs-up.

“It came out great.” Brian, the director, who looked to be in his early thirties said, to which Trent, the camera operator bobbed his head in agreement.

As for Simon, well he was in charge of the sound, hence why he’d simply stood to the side, ensuring that the equipment was recording as it should.

And though they actually had a slightly larger crew members than this, they figured it wouldn’t cost them anything to handle this one as it was a pretty direct shoot.

As for all the cuts in-between, well those were things they would fill in the gap for later by shooting at other locations with the complete crew.

“That’ll be all for today, I believe,” Brian then walked up to the couple, his words continuing as he extended a polite handshake;

“Thank you so much for your time, and I apologize on behalf of Troy. I’m really sorry he ended up wasting your time. I can assure you the others won’t do the same.”

“It’s fine. These things happen. I’ll see you tomorrow at the next filming site.” Aiden replied with a reserved smile, his hands clasped firmly around the man’s.

Upon exchanging a handshake with Clarissa as well, the director and the other two packed their stuffs, bade them farewell and took their leave.

“I’ll tell you now, that’s the most fun I’ve had all year thus far.” Clarissa turned over to face her boyfriend as she said, her hands wrapped around his neck.

“Shooting the ad, or waterboarding me?” Aiden jokingly cocked a brow, his tone suggestive.

“No comment.” the lady giggled as she leaned in for a kiss.

“Do you think they’ll do well, though? The ad, I mean?” she then asked a moment after.

“I mean we both know it came out fantastic, but there’s always the possibility of it flopping so… I guess I’m a bit worried is all.” she followed up with a thoughtful gaze.

“Well,” Aiden briefly looked to the ceiling.

“I reckon it’ll do well, but we’ll just have to wait and see.” he added with a mix of an assured yet hopeful smile.

Thank you for reading!