"They are wise," Bloom laughed before adding, "and next time the numbers will be flipped around, hahaha."
"Let's stop here, gentlemen," the eldest man spoke and then added, "it's best to start the real test now."
As he said it, the old men took a side while some wearing white caps entered from the door, walking in a serious manner like being soldiers.
They went towards the machine and started operating it. In less than five minutes, the machine was running and a small needle moved via a long metallic arm, pointing towards the crowd.
"Don't panic, I know it seems scary," the old man laughed while stepping back to the stage, "we need just a tiny drop of blood, not more than a papercut, I promise," he said while everyone laughed after his words.
"Now," the man exchanged glances with Bloom and Dockrey, "who among you gentlemen will be the first to test?" he added, looking like he was quite amused by the spirit of challenge the two youngster in front of him were burning with.
"I will," Dockrey shouted as he thought this would be a great chance for him to tarnish the fragile image his rival had created so far.
"Alright, go ahead and take the sting," the old man laughed and everyone laughed after him.
As for Bloom, he simply stood there and said nothing at all. He watched Dockrey walking like a peacock while he unbuttoned his suite and made his arm exposed.
"Click click click" The machine started to work under the control of those specialists before the needle suddenly moved down and up simply injuring Dockrey without seemingly any pain.
"Ahhh, you said it won't hurt, it hurts!" Yet Dockrey suddenly jumped, late by a few seconds before shouting like this; like a little girl.
"Don't whine, do you need your mama perhaps?" Bloom sneered and his rude remark was so loud that everyone heard. Yet not all laughed this time, after all many of those standing here were Dockrey's supporters after all.
"It's just a paper cut Mr. Dockrey," the old man said while his eyes said more like: Can't you take a paper cut kid? How can you hold the girl then?
"I won't forget this," Dockrey threatened before returning to his place with an angry face and puffed mouth.
"Your turn," the old man ignored Dockrey as he turned towards Bloom while adding, "you can take the test now or wait for the results of Mr. Dockrey."
"Let's wait for the results then," Bloom smiled before adding, "I love to see the defeated face upon him before going up there."
"Humph," Dockrey wasn't pleased yet he was so confident of his win.
"Alright, let's wait then," the man nodded, admiring the calm and steady nature that Bloom showed today.
Inside his mind, inside everyone's mind, the image they had of the two youths was flipped miraculously between the two.
Bloom kept himself calm and steady while Dockrey was surrounded by his gang, eyeing Bloom with mocking expressions.
"Click Click Click"
The machine started working under the control of those white capped men. In less than five minutes, the machine suddenly buzzed before something appeared on the projected screen on the wall.
"Assessment of Dockrey: 79%... Very good."
The machine said these words in a soft female tone, and the moment it did, Dockrey laughed with his gang while the entire place erupted in whispering and some even started cheering for their victory.
"Very good assessment, not bad," Dockrey walked away from his gang as he reached Bloom. "Let's see how far you'll go," he smirked while Bloom just shrugged.
"Your turn, Mr. Terry," the eldest man said while waiting in anticipation like some here for the results.
Among all this, Antoan slipped slowly to reach Peri where he whispered something in the middle of the celebratory atmosphere erupted after Dockrey's results were announced.
Then he simply retreated.
Bloom reached the place of the machine where he unbuttoned his suite and during this he noticed the weird glances of Peri.
And strangely to everyone, he winked at her.
For those far away, they thought he did that to Nat, yet those on the stage or in the frontlines realized whom he winked to.
And they felt weird about it!
"Click Click Click"
The machine started working while the needle stung Bloom all of a sudden. He felt a sting then nothing after. "Is this all?" he laughed while giving Dockrey a mocking glance while returning to his original place with Antoan waiting there for him.
Antoan nodded and he knew everything was done as he wanted.
"Does it hurt?" the eldest member of the CEO board calmly asked.
"Like you said, sir; it's a papercut."
The man smiled faintly before muttering: "Good lad."
"Click Click Click"
The machine worked and Bloom didn't even glance at it for one time. His eyes were fixed upon Peri, unlike everyone who was glancing at the machine and occasionally at the screen.
After five minutes, the machine didn't release its buzz, making everyone feel something was off.
"Is the machine broken?" Dockrey suddenly asked, "or does the performance is so weak that it has to revise the data more than once to be sure?"
He pointed rudely towards Bloom while saying those words, and his gang around him did the same with big laughter.
Bloom smiled in return while one of the old men here in the board explained:
"It's quite the opposite. The better the performance the longer the machine will take to assess it."
His words landed to silence everyone, even Dockrey himself. "Bullsh*t!" he simply cursed faintly while shifting his gaze away from the man and the machine behind.
"Youngsters are usually impulsive," the eldest man muttered while shaking his head. "My granddaughter is also like you, don't know what's best for her until she learns her lessons in the hardest way ever," he added while
Bloom joined the fun by saying:
"They are just short-sighted. It's no doubt a priceless thing to have advice from such an experienced man like yourself."