The World, Dripping | Chapter Three: What The Hell Am I Getting Myself Into?
G-Remy leaned backwards, relaxing his chubby back into the soft, leather-like office chair that Kasia loved so much.
"I have to have that cleaned again, sheesh…" thought Kasia, while struggling to keep the smile.
G-Remy knew he lost the override on the office controls, but he didn't really need it anymore, it was just to add more "shizzle" to his entry. The room speakers started to play a soft, tropical music, while the audience numbers in the lower right corner of the magenta walls were steadily above 22 millions. A huge audience, even for an influencer.
-- So, what exactly do you want me to shine upon? asked Kasia, watching G-Remy from the couch, legs crossed, arms resting on the back, the standard offering pose she was so abusing lately. But with good attention numbers.
-- Well, sighed G-Remy. It's going to be on the field. The kind of field you love so much.
He closed his eyes for a second, which made him look strange, because the Ey was still on, in the same gradient of magenta and blue, making one of his eyes look strangely rectangular. Then he whispered, in a low, but still guttural voice:
-- You're going to broadcast from the Land of the Brave. That's it, I said it!
Audience numbers spiked 2 millions in a fraction of a second, but Kasia couldn't see that. She was spending all her energy trying to cope with the sudden shiver that took over her body. Fear. Uncontrollable, instinctive, primal.
No one has ever done a broadcast from the Land of the Brave. Technology itself was almost impossible and it would have require to bypass all the scanners of the Brave Police. No one ever did that. Not without being caught and executed in a live, controlled broadcast hosted by the Leader himself. As an example.
And suppose you could make up the tech for streaming. Somehow. Then you would have to cope with the real filters installed all over that place. Sensory, biometric and whoever know what sorts of other filters the Brave assembled, so that no one could ever move without being monitored each and every second.
-- Oh, really? she managed to throw that out as nonchalantly as she could, and, judging by the audience numbers, which spiked again another million, she managed it.
Looked like the audience bought into her relaxation, even she didn't accept nor deny yet G-Remy proposal. They were broadcasting for almost 2 minutes now, a huge time in Immediocracy, where the standard stream was no longer than ten seconds.
-- Yes, really, grinned G-Remy and he opened his eyes, touching briefly the Ey, changing its color to a standard red - which meant he was just broadcasting live now, no more private network.
Audience numbers dropped suddenly under 10 million, a normal number for a public broadcast. But they were steadily there, which meant the attention rate was still in parameters. For a stream longer than 2 minutes, that was almost not heard of. Or at least Kasia never heard of something like this.
-- You start in two days, continued G-Remy, this time in his professional tone. The trip plans are in your private stream, please, please, with sugar on top, do study them before taking off, ok?
-- Hm, replied softly Kasia. I'm trying to remember when did I accept the job offer? She gently tilted her head to the right and then continued: Yeap, that's it, I don't.
G-Remy frowned suddenly, then leaned forward again.
"Did he really think I will go on the Land of the Brave without negotiating the shit out of it? Sometimes I wonder if he's really an idiot or downright evil…" thought Kasia, trying to control the shiver. It was milder now. Somehow, her body was starting to cope with the prospect of really going there.
A short silence ensued, while G-Remy was fixating Kasia's smile. No one made any move, they were just looking at each other: G-Remy frowning and Kasia smiling.
Then audience numbers dropped suddenly below 5 millions.
"I bet he will move now, thought Kasia, he has to move now or the stream will drop below the core level…"
-- Well, there's always somebody else willing to make the trip, you know that, whispered in a coarse, rugged voice, G-Remy, while numbers dropped again below 4 million.
Kasia turned her head around, looking surprised:
-- Are they here with us, those guys willing to make the trip? I really, really can't see them, she said in a blank, neutral voice.
G-Remy's face slowly changed its color to a more reddish nuance.
"Somebody's getting angry. Good. He makes terrible decisions when he's angry", thought Kasia.
-- Nope, they're not. There's only us here, whispered G-Remy again.
-- Us and, umm, three point five million users, replied Kasia, with the same neutral voice, pointing towards the falling audience numbers in the bottom right corners of the magenta walls.
G-Remy breathed deeply, closed his eyes again, leaned back again on the chairs and asked:
-- Ok, what?
-- What, what? pushed Kasia, feeling like she's starting to get on top of the game.
G-Remy's face was now very close to red.
-- What do you want?
Numbers spiked again to 4 million. People loved good, live negotiations.
-- Hmm, you not breaking into my office would definitely be a part of what I want, started Kasia, in a more focused, slightly louder voice. You know what that means, right?
-- It can mean many things, replied prudently G-Remy.
-- It means I won't work for you anymore, threw Kasia, and words fell like a hot knife through a pack of butter. And how could I work for you, if I'd be an influencer by then? If this thing happens, you know I'd be an influencer by then.
G-Remy smiled. "Shit, she was waiting for that, realized Kasia. If he's ready to get rid of me, he's getting a ton of attention credits from somebody else. He probably sold the broadcasting rights already. To whom? Who the fuck was in that private network?"…
-- Ok, deal, said G-Remy and then jumped out of the chair, heading with small, elastic steps to the office door.
-- Package severance included, right? asked Kasia, waiting for audience numbers to rise.
And yes, they rose suddenly, touching 10 millions again. People love when they see an influencer being made to pay.
G-Remy stopped and looked at her like she was a big, curly snake, coiled on the sofa.
-- You do that broadcast, and I'll do my part, ok?
The door closed inaudibly behind him and so did the broadcast.
Kasia took a long, deep breathe, feeling how her entire body was incredibly stiff. Her legs were hurting. But not as much as her head, where she could almost see the mad carousel of dozens of thoughts chasing each other.
One of them was slowly getting the upfront. It was a question:
"What the hell I'm I getting myself into?"…
As part of the launching of my novel, "The World, Dripping", I'm publishing the first 4 chapters here, on Steemit. The book is available on Amazon, in 2 formats:
If you do buy it, I would appreciate an honest review.
Previous chapters:
I'm a serial entrepreneur, blogger and ultrarunner. You can find me mainly on my blog at Dragos Roua where I write about productivity, business, relationships and running. Here on Steemit you may stay updated by following me @dragosroua.
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Hello @dragosroua, thank you for sharing this creative work! We just stopped by to say that you've been upvoted by the @creativecrypto magazine. The Creative Crypto is all about art on the blockchain and learning from creatives like you. Looking forward to crossing paths again soon. Steem on!