Convergence - The Last Science #2.1 - In Plain Sight

Interlude VI - Fame and Fortune - IV

  "It's a small town, how hard is it gonna be to figure out who that is?"

  "Not everyone in the town was supposed to be there, and plenty who were left."

  "That person was a little kid," Nate added. It wasn't dangerous information; they couldn't remove all details of Natalie without too much alteration to the book. He knew she must have survived though. There was no way she would have died in the fighting, as powerful as she was. Wherever she was, Natalie was obviously in hiding, and Nate wasn't about to out a little kid like that. "We erased it for their sake."

  Phil nodded. "Fair enough."

  "For the most part, I think you'll be happy with how little we've redacted," Linda continued. "And my client would like to note, to this group at the very least, that his own involvement is very minor."

  "I'm not even in half of it," Nate added, smirking. He didn't mind. Just bringing the story into the world would be more than enough to catapult him to fame.

  "What other edits can we expect?" asked Samantha.

  "For publication, we moved a few sections to create a better flow, since events were recorded when the author had the opportunity rather than in any sort of planned sequence. I'm sure your own editors will want to take another look at it, and you are most welcome to give it another pass, pending our explicit approval on all changes."

  "Of course."

  "What's the narrative line?" asked Phil.

  "What?" asked Linda.

  "The centerpiece. What's the story about, besides just what happened?"

  "Well, it is a diary."

  "Yeah, but we gotta have a narrative to build this around. Even Anne Frank has got an arc."

  "It's a love story," Nate cut in suddenly.

  Phil stared at him. "...Uh huh."

  "Trust me. Cinza had some bits where she remembered old things, like how she and Ruby met." Nate realized he was giving away too much already, but they needed something to latch on to. Linda seemed a bit lost, since she was used to dealing with corporate corruption. "You can put that at the beginning, and follow them all the way to the end. They're the focus." He nodded to himself as he kept talking, trying not to think about how he was kind-of betraying them. Well, they did it first... I'm just trying to get back what's mine. "They'll give you an arc."

  "Cinza being the author?" asked Samantha.

  "Yeah."

  "Cinza and Ruby. Grey and red." She smiled. "Smoke and fire."

  Nate grinned. These people were pros, and they hadn't even read the book yet. "Perfect."

  "And they were a couple, for sure?" asked Phil.

  Nate rolled his eyes. "You might actually want to censor those parts a bit. Cinza got uhh... descriptive."

  He laughed. "Are we talkin' PG-13 or porn?"

  "PG-13, thank god. Maaaaybe R at a couple parts."

  "I'm sure it'll be fine. We can sell it as authentic."

  "The LGBT community will love it," added Samantha. "This couple as the face of the story?"

  "Gonna get smeared."

  "Oh, come on. It's twenty eighteen."

  "Yeah, what country do you live in?"

  "Pity they aren't around to interview," Samantha sighed.

  "Yeah, all we got is this clown," added Phil, grinning.

  "I'd make a great clown," Nate shot back.

  "Sure, kid." He frowned. "Why are you doin' this, anyway?"

  "The public good, obviously."

  "This is off the record, remember?"

  "...Money," Nate said, reluctantly.

  "I thought your family was pretty well off? Richest in the town or some shit."

  "It all burned up," said Ted. "And they were officially declared dead. Assets reclaimed by the state."

  "Shit. Sorry, man."

  "We're currently working on a petition to return those assets to their rightful owner," said Linda. "But even that will be a pittance. Most of the Price family's assets were tied to their land and holdings. Since their home was completely burned down, and the value of the entire region has plummeted significantly, Mr. Price has very little to his name."

  "So this is your way back to the good life. I get it."

  "I mean, I really am doing it for the public good too," Nate added. "I think this story's really gotta be told."

  "Fair enough. Don't sweat it, kid. We'll make sure it gets told right."