Dean was already set up and ready to go about half an hour before the start of the show. Pat showed up five minutes before.

  “So I’m here going ultra-hardcore and on time bro,” Dean says.

  “Yes, I know,” Pat says, “Story of my life.”

  “So what’s good?”

  “I have been following this online storm of this Michael guy,” Pat says, “Dude has been having it rough.”

  “Man, I’m just here going at it all by myself,” Dean says, “But, yeah, that’s what it is.”

  “My boy has been having it rough too,” Pat says, “Almost hard to believe.”

  “Naah, just doin’ what needs doin’,” Dean says, leaning in, “So the other guy is struggling more than me, huh.”

  “He is,” Pat says, “But it almost looks like the whole thing is staged----------------.”

  “Like in what way?”

  “So this last stream of this guy is chaotic,” Pat says, “He is about to lose his shit-------------and then this other guy appears who just hauls him off. The camera falls to the ground, so there’s only some screaming and some struggle.”

  “You’re shitting me, right?”

  “Wish I were,” Pat says, “I really wish I were.”

  “So how long ago are we talking about?”

  “So yesterday,” Pat says, “In the morning, so a bit over 24 hours.”

  “It makes no sense,” Dean says, “So how has this video been doing?”

  “A train-wreck that’s spinning out of control------.”

  “That good, huh,” Dean says, “The way that you describe it almost makes me jealous in the sense that I would have wanted to think about that one myself.”

  “I know, right.”

  “So I bet you did some digging,” Dean says, “What did you find?”

  “That’s just it,” Pat says, “Dude made some money just slamming down code, and started bragging about it on social media. Starts spending it, and when he starts doing monthly challenges is when things really take off.”

  “Like what? Like hardcore stuff like this?”

  “Basically,” Pat says, “Most of it is pretty low budget and low key--------it seems that this was the first time that he put serious money behind it.”

  “But nothing viral to speak about,” Dean says, “So I bet that you have this nagging feeling that this viral hit isn’t exactly like all that he has done before---------.”

  “Let’s just call it my working theory.”

  - 2 -

  “So what have you learned this far?”

  “I have become soft over the years,” Dean says.

  “Soft but not weak,” Pat says.

  “Yeah, totally,” Dean says, “I have become accustomed to having a cushion in my back.”

  “And a cookie with your tea,” Pat says, “Am I hearing that you were on your way to becoming fat and lazy?”

  “Fat and happy, my man,” Dean says, “I’d prefer that any day over being skinny and depressed.”

  “That’s the lamest thing that I have ever heard you say,” Pat says, “That makes no sense in any way whatsoever.”

  “Didn’t you tell me that you got out of breath when you put up the hammock in your backyard?” Dean says, “And then you got light-headed when you were cutting back branches and all that shit?”

  “Yes on all accounts,” Pat says, “But that’s besides the point, because it’s not a survival skill---------.”

  “I’m just saying: I’m doing it------I’m living my best life,” Dean says, “And this gonna sound totally lame: but I’m gonna say it anyway--------.”

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

  “Don’t tell me that you feel alive-------,” Pat says, “Or that this was the little push in the right direction that you needed all along.”

  “Well, yes and no,” Dean says, “So here’s the deal: this whole thing really is way harder than I ever imagined-------and I don’t think that I will ever do something like this again in my lifetime------------because you’d think that there would be some huge payoff---------.”

  “Well I think it’s there------” Pat says, “Content for the pod.”

  “Yeah, what else------” Dean says, “But doing this again would just be that--------doing the same thing again------.”

  “So what’s your point-----.”

  “There’s something about going through this sort of hardship------” Dean says, giving it some more thought, “You know that I have always been envious of those kids who had it really hard, and because of that they had this mentality that literally nothing was going to hold them back------.”

  “Totally-------” Pat says, “You won’t believe how often I go and think: if I was just a bit tougher, and a bit more hard-boiled.”

  “While in fact it’s those kids would probably have been envious of our situation----------.”

  “Probably, but not necessarily,” Pat says, “You know that most folks who have money, they made it themselves.”

  “So the fact that we’re fairly good off proofs----------ok, got it.” Dean says, “I honestly lost my train of thought.”

  “Me too,” Pat says.

  “So what did that video show exactly?” Dean asks, “That last one of this Michael guy?”

  “I thought you said that he was small potatoes?”

  “Not important,” Dean says, “And even if I did----------.”

  “It was like I said: it seemed fake,” Pat says, “But then again: how do you fake something like that? I mean, it’s just like the whole sequence of events-----------this guy was having a really hard time for days on end, and you could just see him turn into a babbling zombie with each passing day--------.”

  “Right off the bat he didn’t strike me as the sort of guy who has like this It-factor,” Dean says, “Not to talk him down or anything, but I don’t believe that he is calculating enough to pull something like that off---------and to succeed.”

  “There will be someone who benefits, and you can sort of map out the whole sequence of events,” Pat says, “It’s just a matter of time until someone actually raises a real alarm--------alerts the authorities and stuff------that’s when it will really kick off. Because then there will also be different stories, different conspiracies and it might actually lead to more exposure to this whole Survival Exp thing.”

  “The question is whether it’s the sort that they want-----” Dean says, “For us on the other hand------no matter which way any of this goes-------it will benefit us. So we should totally ride this wave for as long and hard as we can.”

  “So did you notice any out of the ordinary?” Pat asks, “Any strange folks? Anyone watching you?”

  “No man, nothing,” Pat says, “The only thing that I have been thinking about is how arbitrary it really is where this thing called ‘civilization’ actually starts------------why did it really take off in a place where it’s cold and rainy for most of the year--------why didn’t it start here---------.”

  “People like the cold?”

  “Naah,” Dean says, “I really don’t think it’s like that. I think it’s more that people like the familiar. They like what they’re used to, because it’s something that they can understand.”

  “It might also be expensive to relocate?”

  “Is it really?” Dean says, “Let’s say that you’re with your back against the wall, and there’s like zero prospect of finding a job with decent payment------------.”

  “Then you would probably also not have the money to relocate.”

  “Just as a hypothetical, assume that you have some emergency fund that allows all of that------move out, and buy a house someplace else,” Dean says, “Why wouldn’t you go to a place that’s always warm, where you can grow basically anything and where you don’t need to spend hours in traffic because everything is just a stone-throw away?”

  “Is it really so cheap over there?”

  “It really is,” Dean says, “Most people don’t have much cash, and politics is completely disorganized because people are mostly busy fighting each other.”

  “There has to be a bigger upside,” Pat says, “Just a big ass house in a warm place isn’t gonna cut it-------people want to be where the action is.”

  “Really?” Dean says, “I don’t know man. This is a real quality of life issue man. Assuming that you’re healthy, able bodied and able minded, then the upsides are way bigger to move to an easier place.”

  “It is sort of the big fish in a small pond thing,” Pat says, “That’s a definite upside. I do get that part.”

  “And if you can start something online while living here,” Dean says, “That’s golden.”

  “And you can still hook up to the multiverse,” Pat says, “And you think that I’m joking, but I’m not.”

  “I know man,” Dean says, “In a bit we will have fast-ass internet globally and we can all like connect-------.”

  “Can I share something with you,” Pat says, leaning in.

  “We got a lean in,” Dean says, “This will be good.”

  “So the other night something kept popping up in my feed,” Pat says, “It was an invite to a multiverse event.”

  “So they kept pushing something and you finally caved in—” Dean says, “They sure know how to prey on the weak.”

  “Sure did,” Pat says, “Not to sure though how I feel about the fact that I did cave in.”

  “Okay, I’m all in,” Dean says, “Let me guess. Something gory, possibly illegal.”

  “Understatement,” Pat says, “It was totally over the top. Some dude in an arena, literally turning some poor creatures into—.”

  “You went to a fight club and you didn’t tell me,” Dean says, “That’s weak. I would have been so down with that.”

  “I only stayed for like 10 minutes, but the image of this fighter is just stuck in my mind,” Pat says, “This guy looked insane, maxed out on I don’t know what.”

  “Just a little extra to go a bit harder,” Dean says, “No harm in that.”

  “I always say that I want to have an open mind and all that, but I might come back on that.”

  “So what’s the handle of this guy?”

  “That’s the other thing,” Pat says, “He wasn’t exactly under-selling how he thought about himself. I will leave it in the middle though, because I have this nagging feeling that I watched something totally illegal, and stating this name will turn me into some sort of accomplish.”

  “I guess that’s the pod.”