It seems like an innocuous exchange. Itisinnocuous—all comments pass through Webizode’s moderation. Profanity is removed. Insults and innuendo are blocked. Trinity, though, cannot help scraping away those layers of idle comments to find the insult hidden within, and she’s found it here as she always does when I make a geek-culture reference that she doesn’t get.
“You promised to stop doing that,” she says.
I throw up my hands. “I’m drunk, and I’m blathering nonsense.”
“You do it on purpose. You know our audience, and you play to them, and you make me look like an idiot.”
“Not watching a TV show hardly makes you an idiot, Trin. In fact, it makes you smart. Unlike me, you don’t waste your study hours watching Netflix.”
“Because I need to study. You don’t. You’re a freaking genius.”
And that’s what it comes down to. What it always comes down to. Trinity has decided that I’m smarter than her and that our Webizode audience prefers me. She’s…not wrong.
Damn it. I hate saying that. I’ve gotten to know Trinity much better in the last six months, and I consider her a friend. Yet themore I get to know her, the less I envy her. Yes, she’s gorgeous. Smart, too, or she wouldn’t be in our doctoral program. But she has an insecure core that desperately needs to be more than a pretty face. She is accustomed to being the center of attention, and when the spotlight slides my way, she deflates, her anxieties twisting into anger that homes in on me, as if I’ve stolen that spotlight from her.
“I didn’t mean it, Trin,” I say evenly. “You know that. I’m making a fool of myself.” I wave at the screen. “Time travel? I don’t even know what I’m saying there. Lunatic fringe.”
“They love it,” she says. “Check the stats.”
I peer at the counter and frown. The episode has been up for fewer than eight hours, and it’s already gotten more views than last week’s.
“That can’t be about me babbling incoherent sci-fi references,” I say. “There must be something else.”
I zoom through the comments. I don’t get far before I find what I’m looking for, and I groan anew. Then I fast-forward the video. About halfway through our segment, a dim light appears over Trinity’s shoulder. It gradually becomes brighter until there is very clearly a translucent amorphous blob hovering there.
“Ghost,” I say.
“What?”
I point at the shape. “This is a ghostly orb. At least, it is according to our viewers.”
Trinity reads the comments and then squints at the screen. “That thing?”
“Hey, you’re the one who said this place was haunted. There’s your proof.”
She gives me a hard look. “I said this house gave me a weird feeling, and you’re never going to let me forget that, are you?”
I tap the screen. “Looks like a ghost to me.”
She rolls her eyes. “It’s light glare. Even I know that.”
“Well, more clicks will make Webizode happy.” I shut off the monitor. “I’ll make you a deal. I won’t bug you about ghosts again, and you won’t bug me about time travel.”
“Fair enough. You want the shower first?”
“I want coffee first. And after.” I purse my lips. “Think I can rig the brewer up to the nozzle and shower in it?”
She rolls her eyes and heads for the bathroom.
Theorb is back. It’s right where it was in the last segment, hovering over Trinity’s shoulder.
I’d set my alarm to get up before Trinity could check our latest episode. I wasn’t looking for the orb. I’d forgotten all about it. I just wanted to comment-skim, make sure I hadn’t said anything else to upset her.
After the last episode, I emailed our contact at Webizode and asked whether they could delete any future comments on my geek-culture references. They refused. It’d be a game of Whack-A-Mole, really. Delete one, and another commenter would gleefully jump in, thinking they were the first to recognize it, claiming whatever cosmic cookies the universe awarded for that.
I knew Webizode would refuse. That was just my opening gambit, so they’d be more likely to agree when I asked them to instead delete comments about Trinity failing to recognize my references. While they said yes, I was still checking.
I only get through the first page before someone mentions the orb. I check, and sure enough, there it is.
