"I'm ninety five percent certain that all is as it appears," Angus said as he sat back from the laptop screen. He pushed his glasses up on his nose. "But that's not necessarily an all-clear signal."

"What do you mean?" Trent asked.

"She could be the real deal, and be fully offering what it appears that she's offering, but might not know enough to handle a deal like this properly. Although I admit that I find it unlikely. I've followed Tabby for awhile now and she seems very smart and hardworking, very dedicated. The fact that she's formed her own LLC to publish her own games and has been doing this for over a decade and is successful...all point to things going well," he answered.

"So, your official advice?" Mae asked impatiently.

"Respond professionally, request further details and a chance to talk over video conference of some kind. Let her lead the conversation at first, ask you questions, see where she goes with it. I'm a part of her chattrbox and post somewhat frequently on her forums, so I can say with confidence that she tends to be rather informal. And this email only reinforces that. I don't think that means she's unprofessional, though. If you feel like enough time has gone by without getting to the real details of the matter, gently bring it up. By the end of the conversation, you will at least want to discuss ballpark estimates of things like expected time frame, advance, royalties, as well as publishing platform, how much control she intends to have over the project, how much you're willing to give, length of the series, future projects, cover art...there's a lot to cover."

"It would be the sickest thing ever if I could make the cover art," Mae murmured.

"Actually...your style of drawing isn't that far off from Demontower's art. I think if you took some more time, developed it a bit more, worked with Trent and Tabby...you might have a shot," Angus replied.

"Seriously?"

"I think so. Tabby is known for fostering indie artists, developers, writers...just indies in general."

"Shit, okay...I'm going to e-mail her back, see how soon we can talk over skype. Uh...I'll be back," he said, grabbing his laptop and getting up.

"Good luck!" Mae called as he headed back upstairs to his office.

Feeling in a daze, Trent sat down at his desk, plugged his laptop back in, and then sat there trying to compose his response for almost half an hour.

In the end, he decided for the straightforward approach. Tabby seemed to be like himself, and Mae, in that regard, in that she would appreciate it. Once he'd written and edited it, Trent fired it off, then considered what to do with himself. Waiting was going to be a bitch. It's not like he could expect her to respond right away. She might put it off for the rest of the day, or a few days. Or hell, maybe she'd change her mind.

He realized that he didn't have skype, so he downloaded it. Then, after another moment's consideration, he downloaded his email app to his phone so that he'd get a notification when he got a new message. Once he did that, he lingered for a few more minutes, then headed back downstairs. No sense hanging around his laptop away from everyone else if his phone would let him know when he got a response.

Downstairs, Bea and Angus were talking about something, Mae and Gregg were missing, and Ann was laying on the couch, reading something on her phone.

"Hey, how'd it go?" Bea asked as he rejoined them.

"Well, I think I did a decent job replying. What's up with you two? You look like you're talking about something important," Trent replied.

"I finally got a solid lead on a car for him and Gregg. Also, Gregg's in the basement with Mae checking out her setup." She returned her attention to Angus. "So, like I was saying, it's twenty five hundred, and I think that's a good deal, and you shouldn't try to haggle. I already did, and talked them down from thirty five hundred. But I've seen the vehicle. It's in good condition, and they put a bit of work into it."

"And Pete's inspected it?" he asked.

"Yes. Pete's inspected it, and they name-dropped me, so they know not to fuck around, because my dad and Pete go way back, so I trust the results of the inspection. It's got eighty thousand miles on it, and that's really not bad," she replied.

"Huh, why are they getting rid of it?" Angus asked.

"It was her brother's and he died and now she legally owns it, and needs some cash. Not, like, desperately, or I wouldn't have talked her down."

"Huh, what'd he die of?" Angus asked.

"...cancer," Bea said. She swallowed suddenly and looked up, blinking rapidly. "Fuck," she whispered.

"Oh shit, I'm sorry, Bea," Angus said.

"It isn't your fault. It's fine. It's totally fine," Bea replied. She stood up. "I just need a minute."

"Bea-" Trent said as she sniffed and wiped at her eyes.

"I just need a minute," she repeated, much more firmly, and walked out of the room, upstairs. He left her alone. A few seconds later, the bathroom door shut. He'd gotten good at reading her, and he knew when to push, and when to let her go. It was rare, but it happened.

"God, I feel like an asshole now," Angus muttered.

"It really isn't your fault, Angus," Ann said. "It's just...a thing that happens sometimes."

He sighed, hugging himself and hunching forward on the couch, frowning. Trent walked over and sat down on the coffee table. "She's right, dude. Don't feel guilty. You wouldn't hurt Bea, and she knows that. We all do."

He sighed again. "Yeah, I know, just…" He shrugged. "People always say, 'I can't imagine', but in true honesty: I really can't imagine what it was like for Bea to have gone through that. And I was there for it...there's a lot of bad things in the world. And there are certainly worse things. But cancer is just...so fucked."

"Yeah," Trent agreed. He glanced over as he heard the sound of Mae bounding up the basement stairs and sure enough the door burst open and she rushed out into the living room.

"Guys, guys, guys!" she said, panting, "I got a message from Lori and-what's wrong?"

"Bea got sad," Trent replied.

"Oh...why?"

"She got reminded of her mom and it hit hard. She's in the bathroom, just needs a minute. What's up? What's got you all excited?" Trent asked.

"Lori says we gotta get out to Briar Road because it's misty and gray and perfect out there for this one shot she's been dying to get and she doesn't know how long it's gonna last. Can we go?"

"You all cool if we duck out?" Trent asked, getting up. He'd gotten used to stuff like this: just dropping everything and driving Mae out somewhere, as Lori's work was very atmospheric and because she wasn't a Hollywood production studio, she had to rely on the atmosphere actually manifesting.

"Yeah, it's good," Angus said.

"Can I go with them? Watching this movie stuff is so cool," Gregg asked.

"Also yeah," Angus replied. "I've got some editing to do anyway, but also, it sounds like we're going to have a car?"

"All right, Bea! She really came through," Gregg said, grinning broadly. "Jeez, we've never had a car before. I always felt like we were gonna perpetually be walking and bumming rides."

"It's going to be more expensive. We'll need to pay for gas and insurance now, and they're going to screw us on insurance, I'm sure."

"We could just...not get insurance, maybe…?" Gregg asked.

"No," Angus replied flatly. "We aren't playing that game. We've risked enough to last a lifetime at this point and I just want to play by the rules and keep my head down."

"Okay, okay!" Gregg said, laughing awkwardly. "I was just kidding."

"I love you all, but we gotta go," Mae said, already in her shoes and coat.

"Okay, you two head out to the Jeep, be there in one minute," Trent replied and jogged upstairs. The bathroom door was still closed. He knocked on it gently.

"I'm okay," Bea replied automatically.

"I know, Bea, it's just that Gasmask came up and Mae and me gotta go like right now-"

The door opened up and Bea stepped out and wrapped him in a hug. "I understand," she said, "thanks for telling me. I wanted a hug, I was just about to come get one."

He wrapped his arms around her. "I'm sorry you're sad."

She laughed, one of those sharp laughs that catches a person unexpectedly in the midst of a sea of stormy emotions. "Thanks. Me too. It just...happens sometimes." She sniffed, then kissed him and released him. "Go on, or Mae will be mad and Lori will be sad."

"Yep. Call me if you need or want anything," he replied.

"I will."

"I love you."

She smiled. "I love you, too."

"This is, like, wild," Gregg murmured.

"What about it?" Trent replied.

"I mean...two things." Gregg paused, seemed to organize his thoughts. They were both sitting in the back of Trent's Jeep with the rear door propped up, legs hanging over the side. Gregg was kicking his slowly. In the time they'd spent together, he had learned that Gregg was a very restless person. "Like, so, this is gonna fit into a movie? Just Mae standing there in some mist, or walking around?" he asked.

"Yeah. I mean, think about horror movies. Atmospheric shots. Like those two to four second clips of Jason Voorhees just standing there staring? Or moving slowly towards the camera? Sometimes those are done in isolation like this. Editing is basically magic."

"Oh...yeah, okay, I get that."

"What's the other thing?"

"You just, like, drop everything and drive Mae out here when you get the call? Out to places like this all over town?"

"Pretty much. Me or Bea or Ann, whoever's available...you think it's weird?"

"No. Well, yeah. I dunno. There's a lot of people who wouldn't want to be bothered. In my experience, people really hate it when you interrupt them, even if they're doing something like...watching TV. God fucking forbid it be a Smelters game. God Himself can't get most dads off the couch during a game. But, I dunno, this is so cool. I was worried about her."

"Worried how?"

"There's a lotta dicks around here. And even more just...regular, boring people. I feel like most people wouldn't do this."

"Most people don't exactly have the luxury of a functional car, a 'job' like mine, and cash to burn," Trent replied.

"That's true, but even if they did, how many would do stuff like this? I was worried she was going to end up dating someone lame." He paused, then suddenly a spark lit off in his gaze as he seemed to realize something. "Cole! He wouldn't do this. I mean, maybe sometimes he would, like maybe on the weekends. Not because he's a jerk, just because, I dunno, I think he wouldn't see the value in this. He's real, just, focused. You know, a college guy. I guess…" He seemed to lose his train of thought, looking down at the dirt, but then looked back up suddenly. "At some point it became obvious to me that Mae was super weird, but in a great way that I loved. And at some point, as I figured more crap out about relationships and how they go, I realized she had a high chance of ending up with someone who didn't fit with her. I mean, most of us have that chance, but the weirder you get, the higher the chance. So, I guess what I'm saying is, she's really lucky and beat some crazy odds to find you." He frowned. "Guess I did, too, with Angus. I'm gonna fuck that up, I just know it."

"Why do you think that?" Trent asked.

"I'm a jerk, and like, not because I mean to be. I just do stuff, you know? Because I want to. And Angus has really made me see that some of the stuff I do is jerk behavior. He said I have a blind spot for it. And I think it finally clicked over winter just what that means, and how bad it is. Like...dude. Me and Mae dug up a bunch of smelly old junk from the literal woods and a literal junkyard, and at one point breaking into the old Food Donkey, so that I could build a dumb, barely functional robot in our living room. And I did all that because-well, I thought he'd like it. I mean, he's a hacker, a big nerd, he'd love a robot! But mostly I just did it because I wanted to, and I didn't actually stop and ask 'what if he hates this?'. And then I wanted to do it even more when Mae got involved, because a lot of stuff had gotten sad without her around, and suddenly she was back, and it was great, and we were doing dumb crime shit again for fun."

"What happened to it? I mean, it's not there anymore, unless you have it hidden in a closet?" Trent was sure either Gregg or Mae, or maybe even Angus, had mentioned this before, but so many things had happened to him that he had a genuinely hard time keeping track of who had told him what. Or if he'd just imagined something.

"We got rid of it. Dumped it in the woods. And then I cleaned the living room to get the smell out. But, I guess, my point is: I'm learning what a jerk I am on accident, and I'm trying to do better, but it's a blind spot, so I'm scared I'm gonna fuck the relationship up before I can fix it. Because I am trying to fix it, but there are times where I can tell I was a jerk again, but Angus doesn't really want to say anything, and I want to ask him what I did wrong, because I actually want to know, but then I also don't want to ask because I'm scared it'll turn into a fight and bring us one step closer to breaking up. And Angus is my, like, everything." He sighed heavily. "Sorry," he said after a moment, "I guess that was a lot all at once."

"Don't be," Trent replied. "Obviously I don't really know for sure, because I'm only around you two some of the time, but...I think you're on the right path."

"Why?" Gregg asked, staring at him suddenly.

"I guess, practically speaking? Angus is still focused on this whole moving to Bright Harbor thing. With you. And that's, like, a huge commitment. And if he was planning on dumping you, or thinking the relationship was heading south, I think he'd be acting different about it."

"Hmm...maybe," Gregg murmured. He started kicking his feet again with a sigh. "I dunno."

"Besides that, I think you two are good together. And Angus respects you. That's important. He listens to you. I've seen it."

Gregg thought about that. "Yeah, he does...I mean, I respect him, but do I listen to him? Fuck, my brain's all scrambled trying to remember…"

"Based on what I've seen, you do," Trent said, then felt a ripple of fear. "Shit, do I listen to Mae?"

"I mean yeah."

"But, like, enough? Now I'm all paranoid."

"My entire point at the start of this conversation was that you do an amazing job being her boyfriend and like, respecting her weird shit," Gregg replied.

"...that's a fair point. But I'm still paranoid."

Gregg laughed. "I get it, dude. Plus...I dunno, maybe I don't know because I'm only dating one person. I don't even know how you date three. My brain would melt."

"It's...complicated. I think it helps that Ann is pretty low-maintenance, I am pretty low-maintenance, Bea is extremely independent, and Mae is...Mae."

Gregg laughed again. "That she is."

Trent began to respond, but paused as his phone buzzed. He pulled it out and checked it. "Aw shit," he whispered as he saw what it was.

"What's wrong?" Gregg asked.

"Got a response from the woman who made Demontower," he muttered, opening it up and reading it.

"That's so cool. I've never talked to anyone famous."

"I mean she's not that famous really."

"I dunno, I saw Angus looking at her Twitter, she's got like a million followers."

"Wow. I hadn't realized it was that many...huh, she wants to skype." He looked up. Mae and Lori were standing together and seemed to be looking over some footage. He fired off a quick response, saying that he was away from his computer but he was definitely interested.

Almost immediately he got a response.

I'm cool with Facetime if you promise to keep my number on the down-low. If you're like busy-busy that's cool, I can wait, but I've got time right now, so I figured I'd ask.

"Well shit," he muttered.

"What?" Gregg asked.

"She wants to Facetime."

"You gonna do it?"

"...you know what? Yeah."

For whatever reason, the phone had come with the app, and it was relatively quick to finish getting it set up. He responded to her and by the time he was ready, he was getting a call from her. He answered it and suddenly his screen filled with a face he'd only ever seen in picture form.

Tabby appeared to be laying in a bed, holding the phone above her. "Hi!" she said.

"Uh...hi. Wow. It's...weird to actually be talking to you," he replied awkwardly.

She laughed. "I get that. Sorry if this is all a little sudden. I've got the kind of brain that when I want to do something, like, I want to do it right now, you know?"

"I do actually know what that's like."

An awkward moment of silence passed as neither seemed sure how to continue, and then Tabby pressed on.

"So, I've seen your picture, I assume you've seen mine. We both look like what our pictures show and this feels pretty legit. At least from my end. I imagine that was the question you've been asking yourself since you first got my message: how likely is it that this is bullshit?"

"Well, I mean...yeah."

"And that's totally cool! I've been bullshitted before a ton of times. I hate it. And I know the burden of proof is on me as I'm the one approaching. But for real, I just wanted to have, like, a conversation, a real-time conversation to get to know each other a bit more before taking the professional talk any further," she said.

"That's fair," he replied. This all still felt so surreal.

"So, uh, what are you up to?"

"Helping my girlfriend shoot an indie horror movie," he replied.

"Wow, really?! That's awesome."

He laughed awkwardly. "Well, I mean, I'm not like acting in it." He paused. "I mean, right now, I did a little acting in the beginning. Mostly I'm just driving her there."

"Dude, that's still cool regardless. Indie creative is my obsession. There's really nothing better for me than a project being made for passion with one or a handful of people involved. Games, books, music, movies, whatever."

"I feel the same way."

"I've picked up on that...I'm curious. Why did you start writing your story? I've seen it mentioned that you began writing it for your girlfriend, but I wasn't sure if that was true or not."

"It's true. She's a fan of Demontower, and here's the part that feels weird to admit, but I hadn't really heard of it or played it until she showed me a few months ago."

"That's even more impressive! To be honest I thought you were kind of a mega-fan who's known about it for years. It has the feel of someone intimately familiar with the series, although I guess if I'm being totally honest, it's not incredibly lore-heavy...maybe it's more that you're just good at filling in the gaps I left."

"Hey! What's happening?" Mae asked. Trent glanced up and saw her and Lori approaching them.

"I'm Facetiming with someone you really want to talk to," he replied.

"Someone I want to talk to?" She gasped, freezing so fast she stumbled to a halt. "Is it Tabby?!" Then she broke into a run.

He laughed and looked back down. "Would you mind talking with my girlfriend? She would never forgive me if I didn't at least try to have you two talk."

"Yeah, I don't mind, she sounds cool," Tabby replied.

"Thanks."

And then Mae was there, climbing into the Jeep, falling into an awkward sprawl in the trunk area, and then getting back up on her knees and getting behind Trent, resting her chin on his shoulder. "Oh wow, hi," she murmured.

"Hello…" Tabby replied, then seemed to focus a little more.

"I'm Mae, and it's amazing talking to you."

Tabby laughed. "Thank you...why do you look and sound so familiar?"

"Uh, I don't know, we've definitely never met before."

"I'm positive I've heard your voice at some point over the past week...oh! Oh my God, what a crazy coincidence! You're Mayday! I found your YouTube channel recently and subscribed! I've been going through your videos."

"I-you-you are subscribed to me?! How the hell did I miss that!?"

Tabby laughed. "I have a private channel that's just for subscribing to stuff I like. It's real low-key."

"How did you even find me?!"

"The Suffering. I played it so much when it first came out, and it's one of my favorite games. It's pretty damn dead nowadays. The best way I've found to engage with it outside of just playing it again is to find people playing it, see how they react to it, feel about it. Also, oh my goodness, you two are just a perfect couple! I remember thinking, 'wow, she talks about her boyfriend a lot, she's just so in love with him'."

"I am," Mae confirmed, and Trent felt her reach around and hug him from behind.

"That is really cute. Also, I love your channel."

"I can't even right now," Mae said. "This feels so weird. This is like an archangel telling an ant he likes how the ant carries that dirt."

"No way! It is not like that. The only thing that divides you and I are time and luck, on a creative indie scale. Honestly-" she paused, then reached up and interacted with her phone. "Aw, damn. Something just came up and I gotta deal with it. Okay, uh, it was nice talking with you guys. Trent, how do you feel about continuing with this deal?"

"Good," he replied. "Very good."

"Cool! Same. So, I will continue doing research on the best way to handle this, and be in touch with you tomorrow, if that's okay. We can start ironing out the details."

"That's fine by me."

"All right, sweet. I'll talk to you later!"

"Later," Trent replied.

"Bye!" Mae said.

Tabby laughed as she signed off.

"So that was interesting," Trent murmured.

"That was awesome," Gregg said.

"Yeah, jeez, Mae told me about what's happening and that was really cool. Are you for real going to novelize those games?" Lori asked.

"It's looking that way," Trent replied.

"That's amazing."

"I hope so...how'd the shoot go?"

"Good! And as weird as it sounds, this was the last shot I needed. Everything else is filmed," Lori said.

"Does that mean it's done?" Gregg asked.

Lori laughed. "Oh no. No, not at all. I still have to edit it all together, and make corrections, and I might need to do reshoots. So I guess it's not, like, a definitive 'it's all filmed', more provisional. And then I might need you guys for some ADR work…"

"What's that?" Mae asked.

"Additional Dialogue Recording. Basically I might need you to do your lines over again in post. That is, if everyone's cool with it."

"I'm sure they will be," Trent said. "I know Mae and I will be down if you need that."

"Yeah! Where are you gonna show it!?" Mae asked.

"Oh. Uh...I haven't actually thought of that. Man...where could I even? Should I even?"

"Yes! Like a ton of people know about this. You for real should get on the Possum Springs Official chattrbox. It's got like a thousand people now and the town council are actually in on it and promoting it, and people know about this," Mae replied.

"What if it sucks?" Lori murmured.

"I don't know...that rough cut you sent was pretty cool," Trent replied. "I don't think it's gonna suck, but I also think this is the kind of thing that people will enjoy just because they're in it, or they know someone who's in it, or they recognize a specific location, or know it was filmed in their town. Plus...I mean, I'm not trying to talk down to you, but you are fifteen with basically no budget. I think people are going to be expecting something less than the latest Marvel movie."

"...yeah, probably. I dunno. I'll think about it more. It'll be awhile, though. I want to make sure it's right. And there's still a ton to do. Anyway, uh...I should get going. Thanks for coming out and helping! And good luck with your book stuff!"

"Bye, Lori," Mae said as she scurried off.

"She does that a lot," Trent murmured.

"I think it's her anxiety kicking in and she just makes the most polite, but quickest exit possible because she just needs to be alone," Mae said.

"I kinda figured it was something like that...okay, we filmed. Now what?"

"I should probably get back to Angus," Gregg said. "We had stuff we needed to do today."

"We'll go back home and figure things out then," Trent replied.

They got back into the Jeep and began driving home.