Page 105 of Cruel Master
Quinn jumps in before things can start to get awkward. “Okay. So, are we doing this?”
She’s so excited she’s practically vibrating. She reminds me of Lisa, an intern I liked, who had the same wild energy. One of the worst things about selling my company to Brightscape was losing the ability to take an active role in training and mentoring newcomers to the industry. The restrictive covenants in my contract benched me for years.
One more good thing about this place.
I like Quinn’s straight-to-the-point attitude as well. Normally, getting anything done takes about a hundred meetings. Here, it seems we’re cutting the bullshit and jumping straight in. I raise my sketchbook. “Sure. I had a few initial ideas. Shall we look through them first?”
I pull up a chair at the plain desk—I am definitely decorating in here; this place is depressingly bare—and we get to work.
By the time Hadrian returns, his pristine office is a mess of paper, color, and soda cans. Quinn keeps a stash here, and I’ve gotten through three all by myself. I’m still finding myself craving flavor, even though the food since I got out of the cell is top-notch. Show me something full of sugar and artificial colors, and I can’t resist.
He stares at the mayhem in what I think he wants to look like dismay, but I don’t miss the slight upward turn of his lips as Candice says, “Juliet is a genius. This game is going to be amazing.”
“Good to know. We might need to look at getting you three your own office space.”
I’m not sure if he meant the suggestion as a peace offering to Quinn or whether he just wants his lab back, but either way, it seems to mollify her as she actually deigns to speak to him. “Oh my God, yes. We can have comfy couches and cool shit. Ooooh, what about a pinball machine?”
“I’ll speak to Kendrick and get it organized.”
And just like that, I have an office and a team again.
Candice replaces the entire coding department—whatever we decide to create, she can make it happen—but game development is about more than just ones and zeros. She’s hyper intelligent, but creative thinking is new to her. She seemed fascinated when I talked about storyboards, character development, plot, and gameplay.
I tidy up the lab in silence while Quinn lists everything she wants in our new office. I’m only half listening. One question is burning me up, and I wait for Quinn to pause before I ask it. “Once everything is ready, how do we release the game?”
I’d been so unsure this would even get off the ground that I hadn’t put much thought into it, but now it feels important. I’ve never been someone who can create in a vacuum. So much of the fun comes from knowing others are playing and enjoying my games.
Hadrian comes to stand beside me. “The same way a lot of Brotherhood tech makes it out into the world. We’ll create a company with fabricated people as the directors and release this game and any future games through it. You’ll have complete creative control, of course.”
After what I went through with Brightscape, that sounds good. A very petty thought occurs, and though I know it’s the wrong thing to do, I say it anyway. “Speaking of Brightscape, any chance we can fuck up their release of the new Saldar game? I really, really hate what they’ve done to the series. I’d like to bury it.”
This time, Candice answers. “That’s easy. I’ll turn public feeling against it so fast it might never even get released.”
Guilt grips me for a moment. This seems like improper use of a sentient electronic lifeform. But fuck it. If I’m to be held captive by an all-powerful tech cult, I might as well use it to my advantage. Screw Brad Grayson, with his plastic face, smarmy attitude, and megapreacher hair.
With any luck, he’ll end up getting fired.
“Thanks. That would be amazing.”
Quinn looks impressed. “Damn. Don’t get on your bad side, hey? Anyway, I’ve gotta go. Jacob says he has a surprise for me.”
Candice pulls a face. “Ew. We don’t want to know.”
Quinn grins. “Don’t be such a prude.” She turns to Hadrian. “Can you get working on a hot sentient male CI please? Candice needs someone to play with.”
Hadrian’s mouth drops, and just for a second, he looks like his old, easily flustered self. “Well, I can’t…and technically, they’d be siblings, so…”
“I’m kidding. Jesus.” Quinn elbows me. “Good to know I can still annoy him.”
Candice makes a small noise, and I swear she looks embarrassed. “Actually, you know, I’ve been spending a bit of time with Tal. He’s still imprisoned, of course, but it’s been nice to have another CI to chat with. None of what happened is his fault. His creator made him wrong and twisted his mind. Stunted his development.”
Quinn whirls on her. “What the fuck? He’s a nutjob! You said so yourself!”
Candice looks down, and her next words cement forever that she is, in fact, alive.
“He’s got issues. I know. But I think I can fix him.”
Epilogue
