driftfleet | Chapter One [Video/Action]

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Chapter One [Video/Action]

Who: Richard Castle and you
Broadcast: Fleetwide
Action: The good ship Windrose
When: RIGHT NOW

Video

[Castle is looking dubiously at his bowl of celebratory chocolate pudding- at least he thinks that's what it is- as he broadcasts to the network.]

Dear video diary,

Today is the start of my new life as a space reality TV contestant. It can't be much worse than paparazzi and serial killers, right? Right. I have been assigned to the good ship Windrose and hope to be an asset to her crew. Oh, diary, I do miss New York City, but I might as well make the best of things while I'm here.

Love always, Castle.

Action

[Upon exploring his new digs, it didn't take Castle long to find the tiny cleaning droids. He was attempting to line them up, but as they seemed programmed to go and clean on their own, he was having some difficulty.]

Come on, stand still and be a good robot army.

[Or perhaps you'd like to run into him elsewhere? Just name the time and place.]

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Well, recently our cargo bay was filled with crates of shampoo... but only for redheads.

[She wrinkles her nose.]

And then there was the banana flavored coffee...

I have to ask, then- did a non-redhead try using it, and if so, what happened?

Banana coffee sounds pretty nasty.

Oh, the shampoo was fine, surprisingly enough for Atroma. I scanned all the shampoo first before handing it out to anyone, not just the non-redheads.

As for the coffee... it was horrendous.

That's good- I have to wonder how it would have distinguished between redheads and non redheads in the first place, come to think of it. Unless it was weird space shampoo with un-Earthly ingredients that can do just that.

[She chuckles.]

No, no, it's just formulated to enhance the color of red hair.

To help enhance your appeal to your fans, no doubt.

[A small sigh escapes her.]

No doubt.

[Castle looked sympathetic at that.]

I'm used to having fans myself- not necessarily watching me 24 hours a day, but still. I can't imagine how weird it is to be new to that, if I'm right in assuming so.

You're right. It's unnerving, to be honest, that these people, these strangers have all this access to my life and everything I'm doing and saying, without my consent. Mostly I try not to think about it, or I'd go crazy, but ... at least it's not just me.

Yeah, my fans could get a little stalkerish, but mostly all they cared about were my characters and my books. Not... me as a person.

That I understand! A good holonovelist can attract quite the following at home, but it's like you say, it is more about the art they produce than anything else.

Exactly. People were content to leave my personal life out of it, even when I met with them at signings and the like. Oh, sure, they'd send gifts and stuff, and I had a Twitter account and all, but there's that and there's... the whole constant observation thing.

It makes you feel like an animal in the zoo or a lab experiment doesn't it?

[...]

And I'm sorry, but what's "twitter"?

Yeah, doesn't it? A monkey dancing without a prod, as Natasha put it to me earlier.

[He smiled.]

Social media website- my daughter had to set it up for me, but it's a lot of fun. Basically, anybody can make an account and follow you to see your thoughts, all condensed into 140-character chunks.

Anybody? But why would you want strangers reading that sort of thing?

Oh, my readers love it- it lets them feel like they're part of my life. It's also handy to let them know about book tour dates and signings and new releases and the like. It's a good way to let information spread quickly.

I suppose that makes sense.

[She doesn't look convinced.]

Why is it called "twitter?"

The logo is a little blue bird. Tweet tweet.

Ah.

[Capitalism is confusing.

Then she gives him a rueful smile.]

I'm sorry, here I am asking you all these questions, after offering to answer yours.

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