Chapter 16: Offline (2/2)
Marcus lit a cigarette blowing the smoke in Rodger's face giving a dull look. ”I know, I hate it all. Those fans are pissing me off. One day I might just flip.”
”You haven't been taking your medicine, have you?”
”They don't work.”
”Of course, anti-depression pills don't do anything if you don't take them.”
Marcus lightly shoved Rodger off as he turned around at the head of the bed slouching over spitting smoke all over. ”I'm going to order a pizza. You can collect it yeah?”
”Of course, you don't want anyone knowing you live in a shitty apartment with a prick like me.”
”Great.”
Marcus threw a towel over his shoulder ready for his shower. Rodger spun back around leaning against the wall. ”Do you want me to, deal, with Alton?”
Marcus placed his hand on the doorknob, he gave it a little thought shaking his head. ”No, there is no need for that. I still believe he will take my offer.”
”What a saint…”
”Alton, he's not like his overambitious teammates who want to be superheroes. His motivation is more… human. Once he realises, he can't make any money from his current gig he will jump ship. And now I've dumped that annoying bitch Dannie on them he will most likely be pulling his hair out.”
”Percy.”
”What?”
”His name is Percy.”
”I don't care.”
”Whatever, I don't know what you hope to achieve with this kid… you, you won't forget about our promise right?” Marcus didn't respond as he ducked into the bathroom starting up the shower. Rodger leaned back sighing melting back into his chair. He began to investigate and look more into team Rhapsody. A small notification popped up on his screen warning him. Rodger scratched his skinhead yelling out. ”Marcus! The streamer I've kept an eye on has gone through his meltdown. You want to deal with it?”
”Where is it?!” Marcus yelled from the shower.
”An Arcade. Quite busy there.”
”No! Let the streamer have his fun.”
”Wouldn't that make V.I.R.A.L look bad?”
”Perhaps. But it also works in our favour. When the new streamers become a problem, the mass will flock to the reliable. I think fifteen years of being number one is reliable.”
Rodger smirked pulling up the camera feed waiting in anticipation opening a bag of popcorn. ”Well then, let the meltdown begin.”
****
”Hell yeah, new high score!” Percy roared jumping around getting slightly too excited for everyone's comfort.
”Told you this was going to happen.” Zinnia hissed giving Alton her best-disapproved look possible.
Alton huffed getting more pissed off refusing to give her the time of day. ”Fuck off you did.”
Zinnia tapped her foot annoyed. ”This kid goes to my school. He's so bloody annoying. Always preaching about how amazing Vanguard is. He is the definition of a fanboy if I saw one.”
”Well we've got to think of something, I can't keep giving the kid quarters.”
”We cannot have him on the team. Let's just leave him. He's got the whole arcades to himself. If we run now, he'll never see us again.”
”We can't just ditch him! You saw the stream; the whole world thinks we took him on under the kindness of my own heart. If we ditch him there will be a major backlash. Vanguard knows that.”
Zinnia punched a wall angered. ”Damn it, what the hell did the meanie talk to you about anyway?”
”Doesn't matter.” Alton shut down glossing over Zinnia's shoulder. ”Hey look, streamer at three o'clock.”
Zinnia turned around seeing a streamer in black and pink hoodie-wearing bunny ears. The drone following her looked tainted as small puffs of purple haze emitting from it and the girl glossing around them. ”Doesn't she look weird.”
”Maybe we shouldn't be discussing a private problem so publicly.” Alton turned around trying to make sure the streamer didn't see them. As he looked away, he couldn't help but keep watching. The streamer looked wild. Her eyes were twitching as she gazed around the room like a wild animal. ”Something doesn't seem right here…”
The streamer held her head swinging it around mumbling nothing under her breath. Eventually, she began screaming as the purple haze began to spiral out of control. Before any of them could react or do anything the haze erupted blowing the area away…