Total Drama Endless Epilogue, Part 2
"Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job." – Douglas Adams, The Restaurant at The End of the Universe.
...
Saturday August 18th 2057
Vancouver, State of Columbia, North American Union.
...
Paisley rubbed her eyes and squinted up at the grand chandelier again, wishing it wasn't so bright.
She was standing on stage at the Orpheum theatre. A staggeringly baroque concert hall in the midst of seedy downtown Vancouver, on the same block as GSS Vancouver's tower and complex, where they had been staying since the game had began.
The rows of seats surrounding her were empty, the only people present in the room being her former fellow contestants. Two dozen or so semi-strangers, now starting to look groomed and presentable again after spending so long in statis. Most of their faces she could place by now, connect them to colourful cast Peach had known. Others though were proving elusive. Back in Fairview she hadn't often had to interact with strangers. At least not offline. Now over the last week she had been visited and congratulated by god knows how many people.
It was all still overwhelming.
"Nice to finally see all of ya'll together." Jaxson commented to her right.
"I think the number's slightly off." Kayla said to her left. Both of them had stuck close to Paisley since they had woken up without her having much of a say in the matter. Kayla had relaxed a little around Jaxson in the past few days, but not entirely.
"It looks like we got enough people." Jaxson laughed.
In front of Paisley someone turned around, he was either South Asian or Middle Eastern boy a little older than her with neat hair and a light moustache.
"She's right. We're down two."
This was Farid, and Paisley had liked him the moment he had introduced himself to her and Kayla. There was something naturally very warm and reassuring about his demeanour. She had liked him even more after finding out he had played Indiana Jones.
"Who's missing?" Kayla asked.
"Ah…" Jaxson said slowly "That'd be the Rzayevs."
"Who?" Paisley and Farid asked in unison.
"Who'd they play?" Kayla demanded.
"Don't know." Jaxson said.
"What'd you mean you don't know?" Kayla asked.
"I never meet 'em." Jaxson said. "Just heard a lot of talk. Devs, said they got some kind of special case going on. Get to miss out on all the publicity."
Kayla screwed up her face. "How do you not know?"
"I haven't talked to every dev."
"You've been out for like a month!"
"You seen how big this place is Bellam?"
The doors to the lobby swung open and in came someone she didn't have any trouble recognizing. Their host Conner O'Gleeson, no longer the divine spectre he once was. Accompanying him was the real Jeffrey Sawicki, now ancient like his master, followed by Akihide Karatsu and Helen Harris, Aka Shoto and Aech. Two friends of Wade's from in the days of Halliday's Hunt.
These four were the some of the only real people they had ever meet in Endless besides themselves, Chris McLean and the mysterious Rzayevs. Sawicki had naturally played himself, Aech had been Peter Quill and Shoto had taken turns at Chewbacca along with some of the devs. No one had yet told them who had been Yerdey Yisme.
Outside the staff everyone they had meet on their trip had been NPCs. King Shadow, Sideshow Bob, Jabba, The casts of the other seasons, everyone. They had never been real. Just advanced AIs. There had been only one exception, Willy Wonka. That had been fittingly enough, a guest role for the President.
"There we all are!" Conner cried. His voice echoing proudly in the grand hall. "One big beautiful family again!" He sighed. "God just a few more weeks and we'll be on our separate ways."
Just a few more weeks and she'd be home again. The thought of it was buzzing around Paisley's head. What was everyone going to think when she came home a billionaire? No matter how successful she had been, Mackenzie and Tim were going to tease the shit out of her for how friendly Peach had been with Marked Improvement. But of course, she was going to tease them back even harder for doubting her character pick.
She felt herself already smiling with anticipation at the thought of it.
"…I've had an eventful life." Conner continued, regarding them fondly. "Seen a whole lot in my day, been at this job long enough to have interviewed Jimmy Carter. when I got my start there was five channels on TV and the only interactive media was getting up to switch the dial." He chuckled at the memory. "We've come a long way. You've come along way. Contestants… it's been an honour to be your host, and to help pass the torch to a new era of entrainment."
Aech laughed and patted Conner on the back.
"Hey, no need to sentimental just yet-"
"Who's sentimental? I was just making sure you upstarts properly respect my seniority!" Conner snapped.
The other staff chuckled.
"Seriously though." Aech said. "We've still got plenty of time to enjoy each others company, and Prez Parzival made sure they won't be going to waste. We got a lot of fun planned for you amigos."
Kayla's hand shot up.
"Uh Mrs Harris?"
"It's Aech."
"Sorry. But what about Chris McLean? You sure he's not joining us?"
Aech smiled sympathetically and shook her head.
"Negatory Beatrice. Old Man McLean never leaves his home. Z's convinced the only reason he got through to him was because he's the President."
Kayla looked away dejectedly then raised her hand higher.
"But-"
"With all due respect. Now is not the time to worry about these things." Shoto insisted gravely. Then he smiled. "Perhaps a more pressing matter is what you will all be wearing tonight."
The contestants looked confused.
"What's tonight?" Paisley asked.
…
A hundred years ago Granville street had been the central boulevard of Vancouver's nightlife. People had flocked to and from the bars and restaurants awash with the glow of neon lights. Tonight however, it was quiet. The barflies and vagabonds alike had been cleared from the street by police in an area around the heart of the city. Should any of those poor desperate people have wondered what now was the source of their most recent discrimination, they would only need to cast their glassy eyes upwards to the glittering fortress that was GSS Vancouver.
A long convention hall hung over the Orpheum and the old shops that stood besides it, draping the small archaic structures in permanent shadow. The sleek metal structure an extension of the looming skyscraper behind it.
The entire hall was pulsing rhythmically. Even from street level the thunderous bass could be felt. Within the hall itself it was all encompassing. The music bore deep into the party goers. Penetrating through their senses.
There were hundreds of them gathered. All of them of grave importance. Software engineers, rubbed elbows with politicians, rubbed elbows with influencers, rubbed elbows with giants of the entertainment industry. They were the elites of the modern world, the aristocracy of the North American State. All of them with their gelled hair and puffy clothing, painstakingly accurate to those that had existed in seventy years ago in the 1980s. It was the absolute peak of modern fashion, just as it had been since the day James Halliday had succumbed to his cancer. They danced and flailed and mingled under the deep blues of the dance hall, under the strobing disco lights and the disc jockey on his lofty perch. Two vinyl record under each set of fingers. The low sync notes that opened the Eighties flagship dance beat, New Order's 1983 hit Blue Monday, came cascading across the room.
The doors open and a wave of fog flowed from them and their aethereal light. It rushed into the room where it met the crowd and great a cheer rose from them. Into the hall came the royals of the former egg hunters, the Gunters. Shoto, Aech and the President himself, Parzival. One arm wrapped around the waist of his wife Atr3mis, the other planted on the shoulder of his young victor.
The celebrity guests parted around them and applauded.
Wade let go of his wife and took Paisley by the hand. He reached out to Kayla standing next to her and took hers as well. He thrust their hands skywards and shouted to the crowd.
"The fiftieth finalists of TOTAL DRAMA!"
The crowd erupted in elation, applauding wildly.
Paisley beamed back at them, genuinely. The excitement of winning the games were finally beginning to resonate.
She and Kayla had been made up like dolls. Her strawberry blonde hair had been let down and curled just slightly. She wore a crimson dress with poufy sleaves, a skirt that fell to her shins and was tied at her waist with a pink ribbon. Kayla wore a similar dress and had her kinky hair straighten. They were both relatively free of make-up. The stylist that had been assigned to her yesterday had applied what she had called a natural look.
"Everyone's going to want to recognize your face." She had stressed. She might have thought otherwise if Paisley still had her acne, but it had cleared in the time she had spent in the tank.
"You look beautiful." Kayla told her.
She grinned modestly.
"Thanks… so do you."
Wade cleared his throat both girls looked up to see him extending a hand towards Paisley.
"Miss Parker. Could I trouble you for your first dance?"
Kayla giggled. Paisley shot her a look.
"How could I refuse?" She asked.
It was partly a legitimate statement. The president took it for flattery and steered her onto the dance floor. Out of the corner her eye she saw Kayla accept a similar offer from the first lady.
The President guided her along as New Order front man Bernard Sumner's sardonic voice came rumbling around them.
How does it feel
When you treat me like you do
And you've laid your hands upon me
And told me who you are?
Wade was continuing to beam down at her. She had to admit for as disastrous as his policies could be, he wasn't the worst looking guy. Certainly, better than when he had won his contest. The first pictures of him that had been made public after that was of a sleep deprived eighteen old. He had been pale and nearly hairless like someone just out of The Matrix. A fittingly common look for OASIS junkies. The well built twenty-nine-year-old in front of her with his chestnut brown mullet and neatly trimmed facial hair had come a long way from that boy.
Still, he smiled at her.
"I should probably say something." Said a voice in her head.
"You really draw a crowd huh?" She asks him, casting a glance around the busy room.
"I'm the richest and most powerful person on the planet. Can you blame me?" He asks back. "But you know. Tonight, this people are here to see you and your friends."
She did know that. She had intentional baited him into a response like that in the hopes he'd continue the conversation on his own. For once her President actually did what she wanted him too.
"You seem like you adjusting well your highness?" He said.
"Not hard when you've already lived an entirely different life."
"Touché" Laughed Wade.
I thought I was mistaken
And I thought I heard your words
Tell me, how do I feel?
Tell me now, how do I feel?
He pulled her into a dive.
"What do you think of Vancouver?"
She hadn't left the compound but from what she saw outside she hated it. Compared to home Vancouver was strange and loud and terrifying. Even the supposedly impressive mountains and fjords didn't add anything, you could never see them with the air pollution. How could spin that positively?
"It's a lot different from Fairview… and Endless honestly. But I like your offices. Nice to have warm running water."
Wade raised an eyebrow. "None of that back north?"
"We have to boil it if we want any." She explained. "Makes bathing pretty rough in the winter."
He pulled her back up and exhaled sharply.
"I remember what that was like."
"Do you?"
"Oh yeah. It was the same way back in Oklahoma, and you better believe it got cold enough to freeze yours balls off in January. 15 degrees no joke."
"I'm pretty sure it's 15 degrees in this room right now." Paisley said unimpressed.
"I meant in Fahrenheit." Wade clarified.
"That number's meaningless to me." She admitted. "Us Canadians are terrible with imperial."
Wade gave her a fascinated look.
"You guys still think of yourselves as Canadians huh? Wouldn't have expected that. From what Samantha tells me you Albertans never got along with Ottawa."
"…And even you still think of us in Fairview as Albertans do you Wade?" Asked the voice in Paisley's head. "Wouldn't have expected that, considering you're the one that stole that identity from us."
"It's complicated." She said.
He laughed and twirled her around.
Those who came before me
Lived through their vocations
From the past until completion
They will turn away no more
"You know. I'm real proud of you Paisley." Wade said. "You're exactly the kind of person I wanted to win."
Now she was surprised.
"Why's that?"
Wade grinned again. It was the same look he kept giving her. Probably trying mimic a father figure like Steven Keaton. He couldn't really manage it.
"I wanted to give another kid the same opportunities Halliday gave me after I won his contest. Wanted to rescue them from their old life. Which let's be real here Paisley, was probably pretty shit am I right?"
"There were things I liked about it." She said.
"Well you'll like being a celebrity much better." Wade insisted. "I mean serious talk, I've seen the charts. Princess Peach was already a popular character before Endless but since she's made it through the Merge demand has exploded for all kinds of merch in the OASIS. I'm talking, Character skins, accessories, model packs, AI personas, including ones for Sex dolls."
Paisley had difficulty hiding her revulsion.
"No kidding?"
"Don't take it the wrong way kid, it's a sign of endearment. The whole world loves Peachy, and they'll love her more when they find out she wins." Wade said. "Once that finale airs and your victory ceremony gets streamed out live. You'll get to soak all that goodness up for yourself! Trust me. It'll seem intimidating at first but you'll learn to love it! Want to know how I know? Because I did when I was in your shoes Paisley. And I know that the two of us have a lot in common."
The fake grin on Paisley's face grew wider.
"I'm faltered…"
"Thanks. Now stand back! I love this part!"
And I still find it so hard
To say what I need to say
But I'm quite sure that you'll tell me
Just how I should feel today
The song lapsed into a musical break and Wade pulled away from her. He began to tear into the glowing dance floor. Flexing and gyrating between moves made famous by the likes of John Travolta and Michael Jackson. A space widening around him as onlookers paused in wonder.
"Mind if I take over?"
The first lady had appeared behind her, Kayla by her side. She slid past the girls and joined her husband. The two of them. Undulating and thrusting at each other shamelessly. Paisley turned to Kayla and saw her dark skin was iridescent with sweat.
"Want to hit the punch bowl?"
"Please." Kayla smiled.
They fought their way through the crowd. Being stopped every minute by diplomats and devs offering their congratulations.
Fortunately, when they finally made it to the punch bowl, the only people there were former contestants. The most welcome sight being Farid.
"Ladies! Good to see you!"
"Thanks! Love the tux!" Paisley said. Farid smiled at her. He was wearing a tuxedo very similar to the one Indiana Jones had worn at the start of Temple of Doom. They had been some talk from her stylist about dressing Paisley up in an outfit inspired by her avatar as well but she hadn't thought she'd been cut out for it. Big pink ballgowns weren't Paisley's style. Farid however pulled off the Indy look perfectly.
There were two girls next to him. One was Tails's player, Aria Ishimine, a bubbly mixed-race girl from Hawai'i with bronze hair and tanned skin. The other was a husky white girl with shoulder length blonde locks, nose, ear and eyebrow piercings and wearing a dark blazer over a white dress shirt. This was Hannah Smith, Amethyst's player. That had been something Paisley had known even before Farid had told her. Out of everyone Hannah was the player that seemed to most effortlessly embody her avatar.
"I can't believe you guys got to dance with the first couple!" Aria gushed. "What was it like!? Tell us everything!"
"Did the president offer to let you suck his dick Parker?" Hannah asked.
Paisley nearly choked on the punch she had just poured herself.
"The fuck's wrong with you?" Kayla asked Hannah. The girl ignored her, cackling.
"Jesus. The look on y'all's faces. Lighten up a little? You're at a party for fuck's sake."
Paisley wiped her chin "If you want a serious answer Wade is Wade." She said. "What you see on screen is what you get in person. How was Samantha Kayla?"
"Oh she's real fun. Artie's a great dancer!"
Paisley looked at her in confused.
"Artie like short for Art3mis." Kayla clarified.
Paisley laughed in embarrassment. "Right. I was thinking…"
Kayla smiled knowingly. "…Of Wednesday Addams's pet bug?"
The two shared a laugh.
"God I don't miss that thing." Paisley said.
"You didn't have to share a room with it." Farid teased.
"Hey Peach had to track that stupid thing across three different dimensions alright?" Paisley countered.
"Speaking off Wednesday, you meet her player Luisa yet?" Kayla asked. "She's goth but like perky goth, super nice girl."
"I might have." Paisley said making another attempt at the punch bowl. "Everyone keeps coming up and introducing themselves to me, it's hard to keep track of them all."
"No shit. You're famous now." Hannah said. "Everyone wants to get on your good side. Desperate pricks. Here come more now."
Two East Asian girls approached them. One short and bespectacled, the other tall and willowy with long bushy hair obscuring one of her eyes.
"Miss Parker, Miss Bellam!" The small one chirped excitedly. We're Shizuko Hamasaki and Stacy Chen, the players of Yao and Yae. We've come to offer our congratulations to you."
"Um… thanks." Paisley said. She turned up to Stacy. "I don't know anything about your character but it was nice to have her on the team."
Stacy gave her a confused look.
"Oh no." Giggled Hamasaki. "I was Yae. Stacy was Yao."
"Oh.. um." Paisley looked surprised. "Sorry. Stacy you were fun in the merge."
"Thank you." Stacy said quietly.
Stacy and Hamasaki bantered for a while longer before leaving with Aria to rejoin the dance. Paisley let out a long sigh.
"They seem nice." Kayla said.
"I know. But that's been my whole week." Paisley said. "Am I allowed to say I'm looking forward this being over or I am being a bitch for thinking that?"
"Probably both." Hannah told her.
"I mean kind of feel you, but this has also the best week of my life." Kayla said happily. "I mean like… god I'm gonna be real sad when this is over. We gotta stay in touch after, hang out in the OASIS every week and everything."
"Definitely." Farid said. He looked up.
"Hey I see Jaxson."
"Do you?" Paisley asked nervously.
Kayla and Farid looked at her.
"I thought you liked him?" Kayla asked.
"I do…kinda of. I've just seen a lot of him lately." Paisley said. "I was hoping to get a break from him tonight."
Kayla gave her and look then smiled.
"Want me to dance with him for you?"
"You'd do that?"
"Course, tonight's your night. Enjoy yourself."
Paisley beamed at her.
"I owe you big."
"Yeah, probably." Kayla said, then disappeared to go track down Jaxson.
Farid chuckled.
"I thought she didn't like Jaxson?"
"She doesn't you can tell." Paisley said. "Don't know what it's about. Maybe an LA thing?"
"Class divides." Hannah said indifferently. The other two looked at her inquiringly, so she elaborated.
"LA's got exactly two sides, The third world ghettos ruled by the Cartels, and the gated neighbourhood where the rich and famous sit back and get off watching everyone suffer around them from a safe distance. Kayla's from the former, Jaxson's from the latter."
"I don't know if rich people enjoy watching poor people suffer." Farid argued. "Theirs nice rich people. Look at how were being treated."
"We're being treated nice because we're a commodity." Hannah said. "We played a part in their game and made them a lot of money and good publicity."
"I choose to believe it's not that simple." Farid said dismissively.
Hannah piled up a plate of food and popped a strawberry in her mouth.
"Eat the rich." She grunted. "I'm gonna go find my Shorties. I'll catch ya'll nerds later."
And she too disappeared leaving the her and Farid alone. The two enjoyed a comfortable silence. Paisley sipped at her punch and savoured the party atmosphere. The love song from Top Gun. Take my Breath Away by Berlin had just ended and a new song had begun, Every Breath You Take by The Police.
"They're really using all the classic prom songs huh?" Paisley asked. Farid laughed away.
"Yeah… Have they played Take On Me yet?"
"Think I heard it while Stacy and Hamasaki were here."
She took a sip of her drink and people watched.
"I think there's more people in this building than live in my town."
Farid seemed impressed by the thought of that.
"How big's your town?"
"It's around two and a half thousand." She told him.
He whistled.
"That small? How do guys keep the place running?"
Paisley smiled nostalgically. "It's kind of run down honestly. But… I don't know It's nice. Everyone sort of knows everyone. You grow up along side the same kids all your life."
"This must seem entirely different." Farid said thoughtfully. "I get why your excited to get home."
"Thanks." She said. "Although I guess things we'll be different there too, now that I'm gonna be famous."
"We'll all be famous." Farid said, and he sighed and looked over at her with another smile.
"Almost as overwhelming as that night in the desert huh Princess?" He asks, doing a fairly decent pass at a Harrison Ford's voice.
She laughed.
"God, fucking Peter Quill and Lenny and that whole spiel of theirs. 'Yeah no pressure Princess but there's an entire planet of billions of people out there that basically thinks you're a worthless slut.' They scared the piss out of her honestly."
"Indy didn't fare much better." Farid said. He paused then asked her. "I loved my time on this show but You know what I never want to do again?"
"What?"
"Be any sort of super famous character in any sort of real-world environment."
Paisley laughed. "Right!? Peach keep running into people that just knew everything about her and she had no clue why."
"You want a weird experience?" Farid asked. "Have people like Deadpool and Homer Simpson come up to you and say they're big fans, and you have no idea who they are."
"Peach was getting weird looks from the Hogwarts kids even before Beatrice started being a little bitch to her."
"Springfield was worse for that."
"Ugh Springfield." Paisley threw her head back and stared up at ceiling in mock exasperation. "I find the guys that coded Sideshow Bob's at this party there's going to be fight."
Farid laughed. She laughed at him laughing and her.
Another silence settled over them
"So. You said you've got a family back home?" Paisley asked.
Farid made to answer. Just then another song started up and a loud voice shouted.
"HOLY FUCK! IT'S BEDS ARE BURNING!"
They looked over to see they had new guests. Four men had arrived at the table. Two of them they recognized. Neil Mathewson and Lennox McFarlin. The players of Bentley and Dipper respectively. Lennox waved at them.
"Sorry I just fucking love Midnight Oil mate." He said.
"It's fine." Farid said. He turned to Neil. "Hannah said she was looking for you shorties."
"I know she's over on the other side of the party getting food." Neil said.
"There's food here." Lennox pointed out.
Neil scratched his soft rust coloured hair then shrugged.
"Apparently the food's better at table six."
"I'll have to check it out then." Farid said. He got up to leave. "I'll see you around Paisley."
"See you."
"Parker how's the party been?" Lennox asked.
"It's been fun. Who's your friends?"
Lennox nodded to the two strangers.
"Harry and Tom, two of the devs for the show."
Paisley raised an eyebrow.
"You guys didn't program Bob did you?"
"Sideshow? No God. Sorry about that by the way." One of them said. "We did work on the early locales. stuff like Unusual Nickeleodeon, Huh Harry?"
"That place was our baby." The other dev, Harry said. "A couple other guys greenlit those homages to some of the classic unofficial fan seasons like Infinite and Cruise but we wanted to have a whole world that was pure childhood fanfiction energy."
"That would explain NickEarth." Paisley said, she gave them an impressed look. "How you get that passed Wade? Seems like something that wouldn't fly in the church of Halliday."
The devs chuckled.
"Samantha was our woman on the inside." Harry explained. "She pitched a lot of our ideas to Watts for us. Even got us able to do a few locations based on old Canadian shows."
"I noticed those." Paisley said brightly. "You guys didn't reference any of the fan worlds for some of those shows on the main OASIS did you?"
"A little."
"I helped build some of those."
It was the devs turn to look impressed. "No kidding." Tom said.
Paisley found herself blushing modestly. "I mean… you know. They're a bunch of junky assets scrapped together with bad coding… But it's cool I guess you've seen them. You guys did a great job with Endless..." She grinned apologetically. "…Even if I broke my character rig. Hopefully that wasn't a huge thing."
Both of the developers groaned at the memory. She winced. "That bad?"
"Worse." Tom said grimly. "You know Wednesday killed your player avatar when she dropped that statue on your head? I mean… made the file shut down and everything. When you woke in Peach's body I thought we were going to have to restart the entire simulation."
"What! When was this?"
"The Carboniferous. You were still on memory suppressants."
"Oh…" Paisley said. Then she reflected on it. "So I was myself in Peach's body… but I didn't know I was myself and all the characters were trying to convince me I was Peach… That's a weird thought. How'd you fix the file?"
"We had to send it back to Japan to get the original Nintendo devs to look at it." Henry said. "Didn't want to take any chances. Some of the higher ups started getting all these ideas, like that the character persona and your real personality would start mixing." He scoffed. "Course that was bullshit though right? You're fine aren't you Parker?"
"I think so." Paisley said. "Peach definitely didn't get herself mixed up with me… but she knew something was up."
"All you teammates struggled to make sense of it as well." Tom assured her. "Almost destroyed the narrative."
Lennox folded his arms.
"I proud of old Dippy Fresh for noticing the glitchs in the Matrix on his own." He looked to the developers. "Let me guess? Any time our lot thought of something that wasn't canon there was a lag while the program had to pull something out of its ass. That right?"
"Right on the money." Tom said.
Lennox laughed.
"Fucking Brilliant. Yeah nah, Dippy would have probably managed to bust the whole system if it hadn't been for that Korean tot."
"You were surprised too?" Paisley asked him.
He laughed and shook his head.
"I was all fucking ready once I woke up to beat the piss out of the edgy fuck that had played Rick and I find out she's a fucking child." He complained, then he grinned.
"Course Sanchez fucked her over too the fuckwit. Realized he was in video game and offed himself. No wonder the kids so pissed."
"In hindsight we should have figured something like that would have happened with the Rick build considering how damn meta that show got in the end." Tom said. They suddenly quiet panic registered in him.
"…Don't tell her anyone admitted that. If I get sued by an eight-year-old I'll never live it down to my mom."
"Yeong-Ja's not here unchaperoned, is she?" Paisley asked with mild concern.
Her eyes made an effort to decern any individual people from the mass of party goers. Ideally the tiny Korean girl.
She could make out several other of their former contestants. Jaxson and Kayla dancing together quickly jumped out at her. Behind them chatting ideally were some of the oldest contestants, Russel Brown and Hallie Strombanopolis, formerly Fluttershy and Athena. When she had first woken up she had been keen to meet the players of some of Peach's closest allies but she had been slightly disappointed by the reality. Not that either of them hadn't been pleasant to her. It was just that Hallie was a 45 year old Greco-Canadian civil court lawyer and Russel was a 64 year old African-American welder and first generation Brony from Alabama. She liked them, but trying to befriend them felt like trying to befriend friends of her parents and bringing them on one of Mackenzie and Zoey's joyrides.
Marcy Yang and Yara Eddé, formerly Master Tigress and Janna were close by. She had had an easier time talking with them so far. They were closer in age and Yara had some interesting things to tell about her life in a Brazil, which to Paisley who had spent most of her life in one town seemed like somewhere on another planet.
Elsewhere scattered about June Xiao (Julie) was making some sort of slurred speech to Carrie and Jessica (Perry and Susie) The others Shorties including Tomoko's player Matsunaga Keiji were at the other concessions table arguing with Lapis's player Steven Rabinovitch which didn't surprise her. Peach had liked Lapis but Steven seemed the confrontation type which put her off of him. Even if he and Hallie were the only other two Canadians in the cast besides Paisley.
Wednesday's player Luisa was with Doof's player Carlos taking to what looked like a Latino influencer, Angel and Rylee (Ramona and Winry) were sharing a laugh, Old Conner was chatting with someone she didn't know and Jeremy Opoku, a beanpole thin fourteen-year-old from Ghana that had played Letsplay Lenny was in the centre of the room, taking a page from Billy Idol and Dancing with Himself.
"I don't see her." Paisley said.
"Seems like she's got that woman with her." Lennox said.
"What woman?"
She looked again. This time she saw a figure under the cool shaded lights that made her wonder how she could have possibly overlooked her.
Yeong-Ja's companion was tall, dark and statuesque. At a glance Paisley found it impossible to place her ethnicity. Though admittedly she had little practice at such things and suffered a similar problem with Farid. The mystery woman had a collection of features that could have belonged to places as far apart as Spain and India. Sun-kissed skin, a long straight nose and dark eyes. Her raven hair was done up in a very 1980s wave, highly fashionable. As was her dress, a slender evening gown, deep green and iridescent. When the woman moved it shimmered and glowed softly in the low light. Micro LED's woven into the fabric, again, highly fashionable, and expensive. Who ever this woman was, she was important.
She and Yeong-Ja were immersed in conversation. The little Korean girl's stylist evidently had failed to cox her out of the periwinkle sweatsuit she always wore and she looked quite out of place amongst the party goers. Not that her odd friend seemed bothered. She looked down, speaking to the girl, then Paisley saw her briefly crouch down so that she met Yeong-Ja's eye level, then hand the girl a business card.
"Weird." Paisley said. She looked to the two devs. "Who is that?"
"No clue." Tom says.
Paisley frowned. "I thought you guys worked here?"
"This is a big fuckoff complex." Henry protested through a mouth of food.
"You should go talk to her Pais." Lennox said causally. She gave him a look.
"Don't call me Pais. And go talk to her yourself."
Lennox smirked at her over the cup of punch he was currently pouring himself.
"She won't give a fuck about me. My avatar didn't make it past the merge. You though? You're prom queen tonight Parker. Everyone wants to talk to you."
"I know." She said shortly. The other two smiled.
"What's wrong Princess?" Neil asked innocently. "Just hate brown people?"
"What!?"
Neil laughed.
"God you're as easy to fuck with as Hannah said."
"Fuck you!" She shot back at him. "Maybe I will talk to her just to get away from you assholes."
Neil laughed harder. Then waved.
"Have fun Pais."
She threw him the bird and disappeared into the crowd on the dance floor. Sorely missing Bentley. Clearly the Shorties were intent on being an abrasive bunch regardless of what level of reality they existed on.
"Paisley!" Someone called.
"What now!?" She snapped.
"What's wrong?"
She spun around to find Kayla, President Watts and the First Lady staring at her. Paisley's face flushed red but her muscles relaxed.
"Nothing." She did her best to sound sincere. "Nice to see you guys again."
Samantha smiled genuinely. She looked nearly as beautiful as Yeong-Ja's stranger friend. She worn a burgundy evening gown and her dark hair was permed for the special occasion. Notably it did nothing to hide her face, or the large port wine stain birthmark that took up most of its left side. The birthmark had apparently once been a source of deep shame for the First Lady but in the time since had embraced it as part of her personal brand.
"I'm sorry we got separated earlier. You girls probably already know how invested me and my husband get in things."
"I make no apologies for my slightly obsessive tendencies." Wade insisted. "They're what's gotten me all the best things in life."
His wife laughed then turned back to the two girls.
"How are you two enjoying the party?"
"It's been so much fun you guys." Kayla gushed.
"It's like being at the prom in Pretty in Pink." Paisley said. Samantha's expression brightened and immediately the geeky teenager who had competed in Halliday's contest emerged from the stately woman she had just been speaking to.
"No way! Pretty in Pink was exactly what we were going for! Most impressive Paisley!"
"Like I said kid!" Wade laughed. "I knew you won for a reason, you're on the same brain wave all us High-5 share! Now come on! There's some people here I think you girls are gonna be psyched to meet."
He shepherded them through the party goers, giving time for Paisley time to compose herself of the idea of meeting yet more people she hadn't heard of and likely wouldn't remember. It was all getting quite repetitive.
"Sorry about the wait guys. I told you the girls were here somewhere."
She looked up to see who Wade was addressing. They had stopped into front of an older couple, mid sixties maybe, a lean silver haired man in a garishly bright blue tuxedo and a faux tan stood before them. A woman the same age beside him, possibly his wife. She wore heavy makeup and an Indian inspired dress, her curly orange hair bound in loose bun that reminded Paisley strongly of the Teacher from The Magic School Bus. Both were smiling, the man particularly ecstatically. Something about the expression seemed familiar.
Before Paisley could place him he had his arms around her in a bear hug. She flailed helplessly against him. The whole while the man spoke in rapid excitement.
"Sweet mother of John A Macdonald! Never did I expect I'd get another chance to congratulate a new winner of Total Drama! Paisley I'm so proud of you!"
"Alright big guy, I'm not sure if she can breathe." Wade said gently. The older man giggled awkwardly.
"Oh sorry. Some days I don't know my own strength."
He let go of Paisley. She withdrew gasping for air. Kayla who had been staring at the newcomers in confusion suddenly gasped.
"Chris Mclean?"
Paisley who had figured out the strangers identity the moment he had opened his mouth gave her friend an incredulous look. "What?"
Then it seemed her indignation took a life of its own, cackling like a witch from somewhere unseen.
"You think McLean would show his face at a place like this?"
A figure wheeled itself in view. She was an old woman, hunched in a wheelchair and shrouded in a black coat and dress. What little of her face they could see was pale as a ghost. She looked up at the girls and sneered.
"You don't know him like we did."
Kayla's eyes lit up with recognition.
"Oh! Shit…"
"Kayla, Paisley. It is my honour to introduce you to Ms Dyer and Mr and Mrs Fendley." Wade said.
Kayla raise her hands to her mouth.
"Gwen, Owen, and Izzy." She breathed. "Holy shit. You guys were gen one."
Owen laughed a very nasally laugh. The voice of Total Drama's first winner had lowered slightly since his teens but he had held on to the same inflections after all this time.
"That's right baby! We were rockin out at Wawanakwa all they way back in the first season!"
"…And the one after that." Said Gwen.
"…and the one after that." Izzy said brightly.
"Then we took a break." Owen said.
"Then I was forced back the next season." Gwen said, her raspy voice filled with ice plastered over in a thin veneer of amusement. "I swore off the show forever after that and they still found a way to bring me back several more time. Even when I wasn't taking their calls they used my likeness in that damn baby spinoff cartoon."
She snickered then looked up at Paisley specifically. The old woman's eyes were playful but there wasn't even a hint of warmth behind them.
"Once your famous no one ever stop leering. You're their slave till the end of time, your grinning features their precious little doll up until and beyond your corpse is laid down in the earth, feasted upon by the worms and maggots."
Izzy laughed. The others stared at Gwen mortified until the woman doubled over in here chair with a shrill rasping cackle.
"Just a little goth humour." She winked at first her than Kayla.
"Kayla, I love your dress."
Kayla beamed.
"Aw. Thank you!"
The two began to talk. Owen meanwhile still had his eyes fixed on Paisley.
"I've been following your game. So exciting! Oh it's so nice to finally meet you!"
"Didn't we meet in the finale?" Paisley asked.
"Nope! You meet soulless digital reconstructions of our teenaged selves." Izzy said cheerfully. "Kind of existential right? That they can make a version of someone so lifelike you can't tell the difference. Like how do you know you're real?"
Paisley smiled and nodded. She didn't have a response ready for that Izzy-ism.
"So. How it feel? Pretty awesome right?" Owen chuckled. "Winning Total Drama?"
"Yeah… it's a lot." Paisley said scratching her neck. "Still kind of hard to believe…"
"…It actually happened?" Wade asks.
"Pretty much." She said.
"It's been fifty years and still can't believe I won Island!" Owen said. "I mean… It's been so long that Wawanakwa doesn't even existed anymore."
His wife seemed surprised. "What!? Since when?"
"All-stars." Owen sad sorrowfully.
"Pretty sure they faked that honeybuns."
"Oh right."
He chuckled then pecked her on the check and held her close.
"What would I do without you. I basically won my game because of Izzy."
Samantha gave her husband a coy look. "Meanwhile this one almost gave up his run because of me."
"But I didn't, did I? I respected your boundaries and focused on the game." Wade said defensively.
Samantha rolled her eyes patiently. "Yeah… Eventually."
Wade made to response. Some sort of device in his pocket began trilling cutting him off. He checked it then groaned.
"That's Vice President de Marco. I have to take this." He said, kissing his wife goodbye then disappearing into the crowd.
"Paisley how come you didn't find a boyfriend during the competition?" Izzy asked.
"Because Peach had Mario wanting for her at home." Samantha said. Paisley nodded.
"Ah, that's been played out for years. Come on branch out." Izzy protested. "What about Peach and Markus?"
"They were friends." Paisley said. "It never went closer than that."
"What about Jaxson? Now that your different people sparks could fly am I right?"
"He's twice my age." Paisley said disapprovingly.
"Having a special someone is nice though." Owen said. "My Izzy threats me well, ever since she got me on this Alkaline diet, I've slimmed down and felt amazing."
"Well re ionizing your chi and clearing your chakras probably helped too honey." Izzy cooed.
Paisley felt her smile stiffen dishonestly. Back when Wade's competition had been announced she had spent a month listening to Total Drama podcasts while she coded. It was coming back to her now that Izzy in her post season years had graduated from the crazy girl to a Hollywood alternative medicine guru. A fairly sinister profession to someone like Paisley, who had lost several extended family members to anti-vax conspiracies during the pandemics.
"I gave you my dietary pamphlets didn't I Samantha?" Izzy asked sweetly.
Paisley saw the First Lady's lips tighten. She remembered reading in her autobiography that Samantha's parents too had died in one of the plagues.
"I'm sure I have it somewhere."
"I can give another one. Or if you're interested, I have this seminar coming up improving the flow between body and mind through targeted physiotherapy on the body's natural energy points."
The two of them and Owen lapsed into a very one sided conversation. Paisley's attention wandered idly back to Kayla and Gwen.
"How was Jaxson?"
"Good." Kayla said. "Surprised him when I said I wanted to dance."
"No kidding." Paisley said. "He's probably still looking for me."
"Unrelenting, aren't they?" Gwen asked. She dug into her purse.
"I could use a cigarette, why don't you girls join me for some air and maybe get away from your friend?"
…
Jaxson fought through the crowd of laughing faces, keen to find Paisley.
Even after all these years of fame it impressed him how willing the rich and powerful were to flock together. As if the past 40 years of pandemics hadn't happened. Of course, then again it wasn't people like them that died in those plagues. They had the best healthcare available.
The DJ started up I Wanna Dance with Somebody by Whitney Houston and another cheer rose from the dancefloor. There had been a lot of those tonight. He squinted. Still no sign of his Paisley. He hoped she was hoped she was holding up alright. A crowd this big must seem slightly overwhelming.
"Why are you squinting kkamdung-i?"
He sighed. Yeong-Ja had materialized beside him.
"You're not making fun of Asian people are you? Rude monkey! Stop being so racist!"
Jaxson was about to tell her that she of all people had a thing or two to learn when it came to race relations when someone laughed over the din of the party.
"Oh. Be nice."
Jaxson saw that the little Korean girl was holding hands with a woman so alarmingly beautiful it made him do an entire mental reset. He blinked in surprise.
"Yo Shortstack who's your friend?"
The woman smiled enticingly. Either she had effortless charisma or she had spent a lot of learning how to get people to love her with a look. Whatever the case was it was already working on him.
"Yeong-Ja. Go find yourself something from the catering table." The woman purred.
Yeong-Ja grumbled and but did as she had been told, already that was another thing to find impressive about this woman.
She held out a hand to him.
"Do you dance?"
"All the time."
"Wonderful."
She led him gently into the midst of the raving crowd. As they danced, she pressed herself close to him. He's airways suffocated by her perfume. Not that he minded.
"It is an honour to meet in person Jaxson King." She said. He noticed now she had an accent. He couldn't place it. Maybe Armenian or Turkish. "I would like to congratulate you on your performance during the competition."
"Thanks… but you know it wasn't all that great. I got myself killed in the end."
She laughed politely. "There is no shame in seventh place in a billion-dollar competition Mr King. As your fellow competitor I must respect your superior performance."
He gave her a look. "You competed?"
The woman put her arms around him and fluttered her dark eyes irresistibly.
"My name is Alea Rzayev." She said. "I was the little mermaid girl at the start of the competition. Perky."
"Oh word?"
Jaxson looked at her now truly impressed.
"So you're one of the Rzayevs?"
"My brother Alam was Roy." She told him.
"Damn. You two been like the D. B. Coopers of this place you know? People been wondering about where you been. Your bro here too?"
"Alam is unfortunately not here tonight. He deeply values his own privacy. Especially from the government." She smiled cryptically. "Standard practice in our field of employment."
"Yo aight back up."
He pulled away from here slightly
"You ain't like some kind of Chinese government honey trap are you? Not like you'd tell me that shit…"
Alea laughed a musical laugh.
"I am joking Mr King. I see now why you are such a successful creator with that imagination you have. My brother and I are scientists, we work for a firm in the east. Niagara Falls area." She pulled out a business card, from where he didn't know, then offered it to him.
"You should visit by some time. See our work. Our chief scientist is quite proud of what we've accomplished together. We'll be ready for a demonstration by the 30th and we'd love to have relevant parties such as yourself present for our tests before we go public."
Jaxson gave her a blank look.
"I'm a rapper."
"You're an entertainer."
"Yeah…so like not a scientist."
Alea smirked coyly. Her eyes flashed to Wade Watts who was just visitable in the corner of the room talking on the phone.
"That's the most powerful man in the world back there Mr King. He got that way by memorizing ancient video games and classic movies." She turned her gaze back to him, almost hungrily. "It's the Entertainer, the influencer whose world we live in Mr King. If our project's going to succeed, we need your power."
She leaned close and whispered in his ear.
"We are going to do wonderful things Mr King."
"Uh…okay then." He said glancing down at the card she had given him. "You know tell you what I'll consider it aight?"
She patted him on the cheek.
"It was an honour to make your acquaintance. We hope to see you again."
And she turned and disappeared into the crowd, leaving Jaxson with a gut feeling of deep uncertainty.
…
Outside on the balcony the august air was a dry warm and smoggy blanket that filled the sinuses. Vancouver was just as hazy as it had been since Paisley and Kayla had woken up. It wasn't smog but smoke, Paisley could tell by the smell of it. August was forest fire season and the state of Columbia spend most of it burning, just like they did back home.
Gwen was waiting for them at the end of the long balcony. The old woman already flicking away a spent cigarette bud. How she could stand to smoke in this weather was anyone's guess.
She flipped through the purse on her lap and fumbled out another cigarette from the pack. She caught the girls staring at her, smiled, and gestured out to the city with the cigarette between her knuckles.
"Get an eyeful of that eye soar."
They looked out into the night. Downtown Vancouver glowing before them. One of the most prominent sights was a towering electronic billboard, maybe two hundred metres tall, currently running advertisements for Endless.
"In my day that was the Living Shangri La. Big luxury hotel tower." She said. "There was a renovation, done on the cheap, then it one summer it all burned and those rich assholes went up like kindling."
She retrieved a lighter from her purse.
"The Tower was gutted but the city found it too expensive to tear down, and god knows they didn't want any damn poor people squatting in it. So someone had the bright idea to turn it into a billboard."
She lit her cigarette, The flame of her lighter casting highlights upon the deep wrinkles of her ghoulish expression.
"Marvelous creatures human beings are aren't they?"
"Cute story." Paisley said indifferently. "You read it online?"
"Heard about from Bridgette. She used to live here."
"You and Bridge still close?" Kayla asked.
"Of course. She's a good friend. Always has been. She and Geoff aren't together anymore, none of the couples besides Owen and Izzy made it in the end, but Bridgette did well for herself. Her, Leshawna, Trent. I still occasionally keep in touch with some of the old guard. The saner ones of course."
"What about Duncan and Courtney?" Kayla said. Paisley gave her a look. The girl grinned sheepishly.
"I mean… I know Duncan's dead but you know…"
"I don't think about Duncan anymore. We made some bad decisions then didn't speak after the competition, then thirty years later he was dead. I suppose I've made peace with that. Courtney and I have reconnected though, we've buried the hatchet during the lawsuit. She did us all a favour with that, it helped a lot of us heal."
"That's good." Kayla said. "Sorry for getting a little personal."
Gwen cackled humourless.
"Honey I was a famous reality star at sixteen! I've never had the luxury of privacy! No one has. Part of being famous."
She took a long drag of her cigarette and grinned savagely.
"Every one makes shitty hormonal decisions when their teens, but ours? Ours were immortalized."
"You were just acting though." Kayla said.
Again, Gwen cackled.
"Those sets they had us on may have been faked but I assure you every stupid melodramatic choice we made were all our own. We felt them all. Every last god damn tear. Then the producers bottled them up and shipped them out to the world for everyone to weight in on. Fifty years later I still get emails. People say I'm a slut, wishing me a violent death, wishing death to my family, wishing I'd run away with them. They send me stories and art. Epic novels about how they wish they had the sixteen-year-old version of me in their arms, how they would bend me over their mattress and fuck me with or without consent. Some send me the deep fakes. Once I even got a jar of some man's cum on my doorstop. I almost admire the balls of the worthless bastard, think they caught him two blocks from my house."
"Christ…" Paisley muttered.
"My fault for wanting to be famous." Gwen said dryly.
The old woman exhaled a puff of toxic smoke and drew back her hood. There wasn't a strain of hair on her pale and time ravaged skin. Her bare scalp was tattooed with a tangled ticket of thorny black roses. Weather her lack of hair was a remnant of chemotherapy, a sign of OASIS addiction, or an act of defiance against her old beauty it was hard to tell. They all seemed very probable.
"You two will known about it soon enough. You'll little digital personas are baring the brunt of it now but you wait. Once they reveal your identities say goodnight to everyone you like about yourself. You're right to your humanity will officially be revoked, your old life dead. You'll be the whole worlds plaything for the rest of your life."
Paisley's throat was suddenly very dry. Kayla however smiled.
"Or you could always just get yourself a halfway decent PR manager."
Gwen gave her a piercing look.
"You think this is going to be easy?"
"Doesn't matter how rough fame gets, anything's better than my old life." Kayla insisted. "…Besides, it's not 2007 anymore it's almost 2060. People got ways to hide themselves off from the world. Like Chris McLean."
"Why are you so obsessed with Chris McLean?" Paisley asked.
"He asked us to see him Paisley!" Kayla said impatiently.
"McLean's a hermit." Gwen insists. "He doesn't make time for anyone these days."
"But he plugged into the game." Kayla said, filled with conviction. "He spoke to us. Said there was something he needed to discus."
"He was probably joking." Paisley argued.
"How?" Kayla demanded.
Paisley tried to reply, but couldn't think of any valid thing to see to the girl. Gwen's word's still floating around her head. She merely rolled her eyes and turned to walk away. Muttering some excuse about having had enough air.
Kayla stated put, she watched her friend leave and a sting of betrayal resonated somewhere in her chest.
She pushed it down, and cast her eyes back to Gwen. The old runner-up still judging her with that coy look. She had to fight past it. Whatever past grief the old woman had with Chris, this was more important.
"Take a page from your friend sweetie." The old crone said stubbornly. "Whatever Chris told you forget about it. Nothing good ever came from that man."
"Look I know Chris is planning something. I can feel it. So… Just tell me where he lives." Kayla said folding her arms. "If I don't get the information from you, I'll find it someplace else."
Gwen eyed her coldly then smirked.
"You really don't know?"
Kayla was slightly taken-aback.
"Uh…no? Should I?"
Gwen took another long drag from her cigarette.
"When McLean retired, he took a page out of Morrow and Halliday and disappeared into to one of his estates. He hasn't been seen in the flesh by anyone since then but they saw he's in his vacation home in Muskoka."
"Where in Muskoka?"
Gwen gave her another piercing look.
"Where do you think?"
Kayla's eyes grew wide.
"Gwen… Thank you."
The old woman grunted
"Don't make me regret telling you that."
She wheeled herself around and turned back to the night. Reaching for another cigarette.
"You seem like a good kid Kayla. If you're really going to go looking for McLean just promise an old woman something."
"What?"
"Don't let him ruin you."
…
Paisley was leaning against the wall seeming trying to stay out of sight. She looked relived when Kayla found her.
"So Gwen Dyer. Seems like she's really come out of her shell since Island?"
Kayla laughed.
"Yeah she's a barrel of sunshine. But I got McLean's location out of her."
All at once. Paisley stopped seeming receptive. She laughed awkwardly.
"That's kind of creepy."
"This is big though."
"I don't care."
Kayla looked at her astonished.
"I'm sorry I don't." Paisley repeated. "You shouldn't either. You heard what Gwen said, McLean's a crooked old Television producer, he doesn't seem like a guy I want to go out of my way to get know."
Kayla laughed. "Paisley were on the verge of uncovering a mystery here. How come you're not excited about this?"
Her friend gave her an uncomfortable look.
"You really haven't been bothered by what Gwen said?" She looked at her imploringly. "By anything anyone's said?"
Kayla laughed.
"She's just trying to scare us. Don't let her bug you."
"She has experience."
"Look focus on Chris already. It's exciting.…" Kayla leaned forward and whispered. "What if this is about continuing the game?"
Unexpectedly Kayla saw her friend's face flood with horror.
The music changed and another cheer rose from the crowd. The quintessential eighties slow dance, Time After Time by Cyndi Lauper had began to play and people on the dance floor had begun to pair up.
Farid emerged from the crowd.
"Ladies."
"Farid." Paisley said brightly turning away from Kayla. "What's up?"
"They're just playing the slow songs. Figured you show know Just in case you want to duck out of here before people start asking you to dance."
Paisley laughed.
"Actually. Farid… I um wouldn't mind if you say… wanted to dance? You know as friends."
Farid looked somewhat surprised then laughed good naturedly.
"I'd be delighted."
"Paisley-" Kayla began to protest.
"Later." The girl insisted. She took Farid's hand and he led her onto the dancefloor.
Kayla sighed. She spotted Jaxson slinking through the crowd. Sighed again then cut in front of him.
"May I have this dance?"
Jaxson blinked at her confused. "Again? Kayla what's up with you tonight."
"We need to talk alright? It's about the game."
"What about it?"
"I think it's not over yet."
Someone jostled out of the crowd behind them. It was Hannah and some of the Shorties.
"You wanna repeat that Bellam?"
…
In the crowd. Paisley and Farid swayed together. They were both restrained, arms on each others shoulders, bodies apart. The rhythmic motion and the slow melody luring Paisley's mind elsewhere.
Lying in my bed, I hear the clock tick and think of you
Caught up in circles
Confusion is nothing new
Flashback, warm nights
Almost left behind
Suitcase of memories
Time after
Sometimes you picture me
I'm walking too far ahead
You're calling to me, I can't hear
What you've said
It took her a moment to realise Farid was looking at her.
"What?"
"Nothing." He said. "Just surprised you wanted to dance?"
She shrugged.
"Nice to take my mind off things."
He gave her a knowing smile.
"A lot on the mind?"
She sighed.
"Everything's changing."
"You know regardless of what Hannah says. I think you're allowed to feel overwhelmed by it."
"No it's fine. I can get through this. It's just…"
Then you say, "go slow"
And I fall behind
The second hand unwinds
If you're lost you can look and you will find me
Time after time
If you fall, I will catch you, I'll be waiting
Time after time
"…yes?"
Paisley voice had caught.
"What if things are different when I get home? What if my friends don't like me?"
"Your worried they'll be jealous?"
"Look I love my friends but their assholes okay? We get by as underdogs. But…"
"…Now you're not."
"Now I'm famous. It'll effect them, my family, the whole town… what if they blame me…and they're right?"
"Hey…"
He gave her a reassuring look.
"Bab- or my father. He is strict, told me not to sign up for this stupid contest and focus on med school." He sighed. "He'll be mad when I get home. But he loves me unconditionally even if he doesn't always show it."
Paisley sniffed indignantly. "Family doesn't always love you unconditionally."
"I guess so but If your friends have stuck by you your whole life like you said then they will. Because they are your family, even if they don't always show it."
She stifled a laugh.
He looked at her.
"What's the matter."
"Nothing's the matter." She insisted. "I just… thought of something really stupid."
"Tell me."
"No! God… I couldn't it'd sound dumb."
"No I want to hear it now. You've piqued my curiously."
Paisley sighed.
"It's just… I think I realized why I like talking to you. Everyone here expects something from me… except you. Like."
She grimaced.
"Fuck… I can't say it."
"Tell me."
"It's like everyone's looking at me but you're the one that sees me."
Farid smiles.
"I am happy to see you."
A warm silence felt over them. They drew closer, she guided his hands down to her waist and wrapped hers around his neck. They then lapsed into the comfort of each others company.
If you're lost, you can look and you will find me
Time after time
If you fall, I will catch you, I will be waiting
Time after time
Time after time
A harsh glare brought her senses to alert.
A spotlight had been cast down on the two of them. She flushed red.
"People are staring at us." She said in a low voice.
"Let them." Farid said. "It doesn't matter what they think. Just focus on me. All that matters is what you think of yourself."
Paisley laughed.
"That sounds like the advice Markus gave to Peach."
"Was he wrong?" Farid asks.
She gave it long thought. They smiled at him.
"No. I guess not."
And she tune the rest of the world out and danced with him the rest of the set. For a few minutes the entire universe and any imaginary multiverse around it boiled down to her and Farid in their spotlight. Nothing else mattered anywhere. Not the chattering of the crowd, not DJ on his stage and most certainly of all not the growing group of their former contestants who were currently conspiring with the President.
…
The slow set ended and the crowd broke into applause. Paisley and Farid bowed. They the lights flashed and the floor came to life again. The dance tracks had returned, starting with what else but the title track from the movie Footloose.
"I love this song!" Paisley laughed.
"Yeah?" Farid distractedly looking at something behind her. She rolled her eyes.
"Wade's coming this way isn't he?"
"I'm flattered that you already consider us on first name basis Paisley."
Sure enough the President was behind her. She smiled. It surprised her that she was already getting used to him tailing her all the time.
"I'm sorry for interrupting." He addressed them in an unusually humble manner. "You like you were having a wonderful time, like me and Samantha."
"We're just dancing as friends." Farid said. Then he pauses and added. "Mr President Sir."
Wade nodded.
"Whom I being introduced to now Mr President?" Paisley asked humouredly.
"Uh… No one. I was hoping I could have a word with you alone."
…
President Watts led her out in the hallway, where the music of the dance hall fainted to a mild hum. He was looking at here again with that eighty's sitcom father expression. She psyched herself mentally to once more bare the brunt of what Wade probably considered sound advice.
"First of all sorry for running out on you and the OGs." He began. "No matter how much I tell them I want the night off the country's always trying to find a way to fuck itself behind my back."
She shrugged indifferently.
"It's cool."
He nodded again then fixed his eye on her clinically.
"I've been speaking to your friends. I hear you've had a bit of a rough week."
That caught her off guard.
"What are you talking about? You guys have been nothing but amazing to us."
Wade shook his head and silenced her with a wave of his hand.
"Paisley, I work in politics. I smell bullshit a thousand miles away."
She swallowed her objections and let him continue on.
"My life looks amazing from the outside and so much of it is. I have amazingly blessed. But being President of North America's a fulltime job. There are literally thousands of miserable people trying to ruin this country Paisley. Egotistic and luddites fighting change and demanding glory. I had to decentralize my strategic command bunkers and build an entirely new large-scale complex in the Adirondacks because the guy I've got running NORAD in Colorado is a doomsday obsessed nutcase with a fetish for Ancient Rome, and apparently, I can't even fire him because the military might use that as grounds for a Coup. That's not even touching the economy, regulating the OASIS, overseeing the Vonnegut, the war in Quebec, foreign affairs! Managing the Pan-American and Quad alliances! Overseeing a globe spanning geopolitical chess game with a militarized People's Republic of China with enough nukes in under its belt to put the Soviets at their height to shame! It's…"
He rubbed his eyes and groans.
"It's a lot. And you don't ever get a break from it. Life isn't all just playing video games anymore. But as Samantha and your friends reminded me… I forgot how scary it was to spend your whole life as a regular kid, then wake up one day and realize you're a billionaire. So again, and please be honest this time. Is this too much for you?"
There was part of her, the one still deeply Canadian that wanted to ignore his sincerity. Force her emotions down and prioritize being polite to the Wade. But she made that feeling so encoded into her blood step aside and took his question seriously. She thought about it for a few minutes. The most powerful man on Earth standing there, waiting for her answer patiently.
"It's different." She settled on. "It's been a lot to get used to but I can do it, no bullshit I can. I mean that. If I could survive the better part of the year as Princess Peach I can get used to whatever you want for me."
"Want I want from you is what you want." Wade insisted. "What can I do for you?"
"I guess it'd just be nice if I got some more time before the world knew I was famous." She said. "Call my family let them know I won before they see it on the news."
Wade smiled at her then sighed.
"Guess that's one thing different about us kiddo. I never really knew what it was like to have had a family."
"You grew up with your Aunt thought right?"
"Yeah… then Nolan Sorento blew her up trying to assassinate me."
She knew. At this point the assassination attempt against Wade back when he was a Gunter was less personal tragedy and more historical event. She might have even been forced to study it in school.
"I'm sorry." She said, trying to attach a human connection to the story. Wade went easy on her and shrugged indifferent.
"All good amigo. Sorrento died in a prison riot years ago."
He looked at her thoughtfully.
"What you friends are asking for is to delay the public reveal until December 17th. The anniversary of the start of the competition. Maybe we'll have a virtual coronation for Peach on a private server but no one know your identity until the end of the year. In the meantime, you guys would be left to own devices, it'd just mean that you'd have to stay off any public OASIS servers… and unfortunately, I wouldn't be able to give you your money until the public reveal for legal reasons. What do you think about that?"
Paisley couldn't respond for a moment. It was like a flashbang of joy had just gone off in her head.
"I-you-Yes! YES! That'd be amazing."
Wade gave her a funny look then chuckled.
"Didn't expect you to spring for that without a little negotiating but whatever makes you happy."
Then he opened his blazer and pulled something out.
"Speaking of putting things off do me one quick favour and turn around."
She did as she was told and faced away from him. She felt him place something around her neck and looked down.
He had given her a locket. The chain and rim were a rich gold and there was a deep blue gemstone embedded it in. She popped it open and there was a compartment inside lined with red velvet maybe half the size of her palm. She closed it again. It looked nearly identical to the brooch Peach wore on most of her outfits.
"Beautiful isn't it? From me and Samantha." Wade said. "Originally I was supposed present you that on stage but Samantha suggested it might seem more sincere this way. Real gold by the way."
"Thank you." She breathed.
Wade smiled, and for a moment she saw something in him she never had grounding up in his shadow, his humanity.
"On behalf of the whole Half-5, thanks for playing our game Paisley."
He held out a hand. She smiled warmly and shook it.
Wade's device pinged again. He cursed and with a few words of apology disappeared off to another part of the building. Leaving her happier than she had been she had become herself again.
"Paisley!"
She looked up to see about half the former cast approaching her. Jaxson, Farid, Hannah and the other four Shorties, Yeong-Ja, Lennox, Steven and Luisa, with Kayla leading the pack.
"What you'd say to his offer."
She beamed at them.
"You guys rock!"
Kayla's eyes lit up.
"You said yes?"
"Of course, I did!" Paisley did.
Kayla squealed and threw herself around her. This time Paisley was more than happy to reciprocate.
"Thank you guys!"
"I knew you'd change your mind eventually!" Kayla gushed. "I'm so excited for this trip, it's gonna be so much fun!"
Paisley paratactically threw the girl off of her.
"What trip!?"
Hannah and Neil snickered.
"You that slow Parker?" Neil asked.
"Did… he not tell you?" Kayla asked.
"Wh…What the fuck are you guys talking about!?" Paisley demanded.
"The contest you fat white fucking idiot!" Yeong-Ja said. "Kayla says it's still going."
"That's got to be what Chris said he wanted to talk about!" Kayla said. "We get our own Total Drama Drama Drama Drama Island!"
"…And this rich beauty's offered to drive us." Lennox said.
"I mean my RV's pretty much autonomous but it'll get us there." Jaxson said.
"To where?" Paisley said faintly.
"To Wawanakwa!" Aria chirped.
"I thought like Muskoka was like in the middle of the woods but turns out its on the main road front here to Toronto." Kayla said.
"Yeah. The Old Trans-Canada Highway." Jaxson grinned.
"…So we get to see the rest of the northern states on the way." Kayla said.
"Then maybe I'll get to play in a season that's not fucked against me." Yeong-Ja griped.
"Isn't it exciting Pais!?" Kayla asked.
"NO!" Paisley shouted.
Her friends recoiled.
"No?" Kayla repeated.
"What are you insane!? We've been playing this game for mouths, now you want to make it longer?"
Kayla looks at her feet.
"I just thought it be nice to have more time to get to know each other."
She looked up at Paisley.
"Do you really want to get away from us that badly."
Wave after wave of conflicting emotion blew through her. She looked from contestant to contestant, Kayla, Jaxson, Farid.
She covered her face with her hands and stayed that way for a moment. Part of her was temped to stay hidden in there, but despite her better judgement she came back out.
"How long does it take to drive from Vancouver to Muskoka?" She croaked.
"Judging by how long it took to get up here from LA? Maybe about a week knowing the roads." Jaxson said.
"Is it safe?"
"Should be."
"You don't know?"
"It'll be safer than traveling the lower forty-eight."
Paisley turn to address Kayla specifically. The girl was watching her nervously.
"What if you're wrong about Chris?"
"Then we go home." Kayla said plainly.
"How long are we gone if you're right."
Kayla shrugged.
"Guess we got to be back here by December, don't we?"
Paisley sighed deeply and ran her hands over her face again. It was good she wasn't wearing much makeup. If she had any mascara on she'd have turned herself a raccoon by now.
"When do we leave?" She asked defeatedly.
Kayla beamed at her.
…
Latter that night, while the hip and famous parted into the early hours of the morning Paisley retired to her room heavy heartedly to pack the things she had brought from home when she first arrived back in December. They would be leaving the following morning.
Her backpack and clothes were all still there. Sitting there in the room's closet where had put them three lifetimes ago.
She picked up a red flannel. The same one she had worn the day her golden ticket had arrived.
As she flipped it over something fell from the breast pocket. She picked it up.
It was the tiny picture of her family. The one she had printed on a whim with Grant at the gas station.
She stared at the picture a very long time, then sighed, folded in and placed it inside her new locket, where it could stay close to her heart.
She would see them all again soon, she promised.
There was just one more thing to do.