He chuckled. “What a pair we make. We can see the good in each other, but not ourselves.”
“How about we make a deal then? Each day we make sure to tell the other something to help them believe they’re a goodperson. Can be small, can be big, but it has to be something current. Deal?”
“Deal.” She liked that she could hear the smile in his voice. “Now, tell me more about this misunderstood princess. She sounds hot.”
Rose tried to keep her voice serious. “The misunderstood princess who was sixteen for a good part of that story sounds hot??”
There were several heartbeats of silence before Keys said, “And on that note, I’m going to say good night and go to bed. Well, actually, I’m probably going to Hell, but hopefully not tonight. Night!”
Keys hung up before she could respond, making Rose have to bite her pillow to keep from laughing.
CHAPTER 6
Four Months Later
Gl!tch.OS: Look, I don’t give a damn about “semantic clarity”. I care about CONSISTENCY! A 4-space indent is ALWAYS 4 spaces. Everywhere. Period. End of story. You can shove your fucking tabs up your ass if you like them so much.
WiseWave620: Well, you woke up today and chose violence. Fine, you want to go down swinging. Let’s do this!
WiseWave620: Tabs are SEMANTIC. One tab means one level deep. That’s it. That’s the point! Spaces are nothing more than vibes. You’re pressing a key four times and calling it a standard? And don’t come at me with the “consistency argument”. That’s what formatting is for. Your file should store MEANING, not your aesthetic preferences.
WiseWave620: You’re not being rigorous. You’re being controlling.
Gl!tch.OS: Youwant to talk about MEANING? Let me show you what your little “one unit of indentation” looks like when you have your tabs set to 2 and I have mine set to 4—and we’re both editing the same FUCKING FILE! Now the code is a staircase. Nothing lines up. It’s like a fucking lightning bolt across the screen. & the diff is a nightmare! Code review is miserable! And why? Because YOU wanted the freedom to display your indentation however YOU like.
Gl!tch.OS: That’s not flexibility. That’s chaos with extra steps.
WiseWave620: You seriously want to argue lack of flexibility?? Which one of the two of us won’t eat a cheeseburger if there’s more than 4 pickle slices (or 2 if they’re the long ones)??
Gl!tch.OS: Well, excuse me! I want a CHEESEburger, not a PICKLEburger.
WiseWave620: The pickles are the best part!
Gl!tch.OS: Now, you’re getting nasty.
Gl!tch.OS: Ooh, I’m thinking tuna mac n cheese for lunch.
WiseWave620: Tuna?? Really? What are you, a cat?
Gl!tch.OS: Meow…
WiseWave620: Now who’s being nasty??
Gl!tch.OS: Fine. What are you having for lunch??
WiseWave620: I don’t know. Probably going down to the diner to get something to eat. I need real food, not anothermicrowave meal.
Gl!tch.OS: And you got on me for tuna mac n cheese? Get your ass to the diner! No wonder you’re so grouchy this morning.
WiseWave620: Grouchy? Me? Really? I’m not the one who changed the subject and bugged out of our argument.
Gl!tch.OS: Oh, it’s on, bitch. Go feed your little tummy and when you get back, I’ll prove to your little junior developer brain that tabs are just spaces that haven’t grown a set of balls yet.
* * *
Keys landed on his back, coughing as he fought for breath. Even so, the groans and laughs from his club brothers in the audience rang loud and clear. Because, of course, he had to have a fucking audience as he got his ass handed to him by a woman who had a baby less than a month ago.
A shadow fell over him, and Keys squinted up at Angel. “Why are you so freakishly strong?”
