“Dude, this is awesome,” Dean says, “You have to do this.”

  “Really?” Pat says, “I can’t just enjoy it through you? I’m perfectly fine here in my house watching the videos and stuff.”

  “No, this is so real,” Dean says, “It’s raw.”

  “So where are you?”

  “I don’t even know,” Dean says, “All I have is this box that has this arrow that shows me where to go.”

  “Like a compass,” Pat says.

  “Old school, basic, like when we were kids,” Dean says, “So right now I’m in a forest--------.”

  “How did you get there?” Pat asks, “You walked?”

  “They gave me this bike,” Dean says, “And a lot of survival stuff.”

  “So that was your day?” Pat asks, “You biked, you made camp, you cooked food.”

  “Basically.”

  “That does sound awesome,” Pat says, “So what about wildlife?”

  “They are supposed to be jaguars and big-ass snakes.”

  “I guess you know when you know,” Pat says, “So what is your big takeaway this far?”

  “Could I have organized this myself?” Dean says, “Certainly, but it just wouldn’t be the same. There wouldn’t be a group of people to share this with. Imagine landing in a slum city, then driving for hours, then hanging out, dining, drinking in a luxury resort by the beach. And then to be dropped off in the middle of nowhere.”

  “Ok,” Pat says, “So there’s a group thing going on.”

  “It really wouldn’t be the same without it,” Dean says, “The only thing missing is a camera crew to document the whole thing in real-time.”

  “I agree. Camaraderie can really turn a great experience into something epic,” Pat says, “You will all have stories to tell when you return, you might stay in touch long after and basically become part of this unique community.”

  “Exactly,” Dean says, “And something like this can only really be done here. If you would do this exact same thing too close to home, then it just wouldn’t work. Then there would just be too many of those moments where you feel like ‘what are we even doing here?’. This far I think this is totally awesome, but I must admit that a part of me is eager to find out what it feels like after two weeks of this stuff.”

  “I was just gonna say: how long will this be fun?” Pat says, “You’re a lot like me. When I go on vacation it’s usually for like 5 days, 10 days max. And you’re on your own throughout all of this. It’s not like you can just kick back and you have some folks to talk to.”

  “You know what’s weird: I thought I would feel like that on the first day, but it has been three days of being on my own and I think it’s freaking awesome.”

  “So you think this is for everyone?”

  “Maybe not everyone, but it’s definitely for more people than you’d initially think.”

  - 2 -

  “So what’s the inside scoop?” Pat says, “Who are those first five participants?”

  “I thought that it would just be a bunch of burned out techies, but that just wasn’t it,” Dean says, “But my initial impression is still that they are all here for a reason--------it’s not just the adventure.”

  “Wasn’t that sort of the idea that modern life has become so soft and cushioned that people just crave any experience to make them feel alive.”

  “That’s what I expected to find initially,” Dean says, “But there are like two categories: either those who are craving for hardship or a sort of general disappointment with the way that their life has unfolded.”

  “You mean sort of that feeling of ‘is this all?’”

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  “I sense that there’s some of that,” Dean says, “Stuck in a career that has gone on for just a little while longer than planned---------and then you get all sorts of funny feelings creeping in.”

  “So wouldn’t the ‘solution’ be to turn things around?” Pat suggests, “To start a new career-----------o wait a minute----------they are no longer in that fat and comfortable position where it becomes easy to shift lanes, because in the back of their mind they have this nagging voice: you ain’t no longer got what it takes….”

  “That’s it, bro,” Dean says, “So this is as much a reset as it is an adventure-------------.”

  “You send me some short bios of everyone involved, and you got it all,” Pat says, “A finance bro, two tech bros, a filmmaker, two grad students and you------.”

  “Maybe I put it too dramatic though, but it sure is a nice group of misfits,” Dean says, “For those two ex-grad students it’s just to mark the occasion because they both plan to move to different parts of the country.”

  “So who did you spend most time with?” Pat asks, “I mean, looking at this, it almost looks like a setup for some sort of dating program------a group of young single folks, a resort in a nice warm tropical place, and who knows, maybe they were taping everything with hidden cameras and stuff.”

  “Yeah, man, totally,” Dean says, “I spend most of my time with this filmmaker Philippa-------she really seems the most interesting------very grounded, with this vibe of ‘I have seen it all’ and the stories that she got going really blew me away.”

  “Isn’t it like the golden age for filmmakers?” Pat asks, “Just upload, the algorithm will promote it and people will watch.”

  “And just rake in ad revenue,” Dean adds, “From what she told me, it takes her a lot of time to create an episode------.”

  “So what was this crazy story?”

  “So she started this documentary about this guy named Chad Barlow,” Dean says, “You heard of him?”

  “Vaguely familiar,” Pat says, “Isn’t that the guy who went on about this whole Fringe Economy stuff?”

  “Exactly,” Dean says, “So it’s basically a variation on that whole debate that was really hot a few years ago about the 1% versus the 99%, and this focuses more on the fringes where the next big thing starts.”

  “So let me guess,” Pat says, “Most of the premise is that the 1%, or those who are close to that, will be most likely in a position to invest early-------securing their foothold.”

  “Not exactly original, right,” Dean says, “But this guy was also painting these destructive scenes that were totally amazing--------which put everything in this whole other light. Philippa showed me, and those were way more powerful than any theory and they really drove the point home that this is one of the huge problems of our time.”

  “Sounds sort of leftist,” Pat says, “Sounds sort of the opposite of the stuff that you and I are all about… What happened bro?”

  “I just said that I found it powerful, but it sort of explains why it never really took off, because it ain’t exactly main-stream,” Dean says, “But it’s definitely grounded in the reality of our current lives and what is left of the American Dream. Even though the Dream has been decimated to this notion of hopefully finding a good job with health insurance, and maybe a house for which you can afford the mortgage----------it doesn’t mean that the Dream has completely died off.”

  “Never has, never will,” Pat says, “I can’t imagine life without some sort of opportunity of locking in on something, and making it big.”

  “Totally,” Dean says, “And the only way to dodge any of that is by enabling an overactive tax-system where everyone makes just enough to have a nice life, but not much more.”

  “So I bet that you didn’t let her in on that?”

  “I didn’t have the heart,” Dean says, “Maybe towards the end of it all when we will return to the resort.”

  “I did some digging as well,” Pat says, “This guy Michael Landry has a huge following on the text-app.”

  “Really.”

  “And I’m pretty sure that he didn’t tell anyone, but he’s chronicling his whole journey as he goes along.”

  “That’s like you and me,” Dean says, “We shouldn’t be in contact because it’s supposed to be just you out in the wild------. So did he mention anything about the pod?”

  “Not as far as I can tell,” Pat says, “I think he doesn’t even know that we exist.”

  “Leave it like that,” Dean says, “I would prefer it if none of this gets out prematurely.”

  “You want me to sit on this?”

  “I got a feeling that there’s some funny business going on,” Dean says, “There’s just something about this whole thing that I can’t put my finger on. Something is a bit off.”

  “Like what?”

  “How can anything be this well organized for 2500 USD,” Dean says, “It doesn’t make any sense.”

  “Economy of scale,” Pat says, “They plan to do this over and over and over.”

  “That’s what I thought at first, but then they would have been running this operation for a good while,” Dean says, “They are just starting out, and from what it looks like to me-----they need cash.”

  “I think this will be a good story,” Pat says, “I will do some more digging into all of this, because if you say it smells then it probably stinks.”

  “I got bandwidth problems here,” Dean says, “Besides I sort of started to like the off-line.”

  “I got you,” Pat says, “How are those college girls?”

  “They are awesome,” Dean says, “Reminds me of when I was in my 20s, and what I would like to go back to--------.”

  “Being a young buck again--------.”

  “That, and that unmitigated notion that you have it all figured out,” Dean says, “I seem to know a few things about life and business, but I’m not so firm in my belief as I was back then.”

  “Sometimes it’s good to fool yourself a bit like that------,” Pat says, “But he, I’ll look into all of the stuff and get back to ya.”

  “Then that’s the pod.”