Chapter Four [Video]

[thebestseller]

Who: Richard Castle and you
Broadcast: Fleetwide
Action: On the Windrose if you want
When: January 10th, morning

[Video broadcast]

So, folks, I woke up to find that my fleet of cleaning droids suddenly doubled. All of them need names- I only have Cameron, Robocop and Leopardon so far. Got any suggestions? I'm a big sci-fi fan so I'd love to name all of them after famous robots, but I'll take anything.

[Action]

[And on the Windrose, Castle could be found following his new troops, a big, goofy smile on his face.]

Don't work yourselves too hard now, hmm?

Comments

[mistyday]

[Her eyes are welling up with tears, but none fall just yet.]

Right.

[She brushes the back of her hand across her eyes. One of the robots boops and runs into her foot.]

Do they ever talk to us?

[thebestseller]

Atroma? Not as often as you might think- they can go months between. And they're smart enough to never send their representatives in person, it's always through video messages.

[mistyday]

But they do talk to us sometimes. So if I... I'll just tell 'em, how grateful I am to them and everything, next time they do...

[thebestseller]

And be a good contestant- be interesting and keep your ratings up.

[mistyday]

My ratings?

[thebestseller]

Yeah. Supposedly, you get ratings based on how much the audience likes you. Of course, we're never shown that, so.

[mistyday]

So we don't know what we're supposed to do to make them like us?

[thebestseller]

Nope. It's all very vague and nebulous. So I figure, I'm just gonna keep on like I normally would and let Atroma sort out how people feel. It's seemed to work fine for me so far.

[mistyday]

I've never had that great of luck with people likin' me though.

[thebestseller]

Well, then, here will be different. We have all sorts of folks here, even ones you'd think would be unlikeable, but they've all stuck around for a while.

[mistyday]

[She sniffs again.]

Thank you for sayin’ so.

[The droid boops against her foot again and she picks it up with a little laugh.]

This one’s name is Rhiannon. I haven’t figured out the others yet, so I guess if you wanna name ‘em after Spiderman’s robot that’s okay.

[thebestseller]

Glad to help. I mean that.

[He grinned.]

Like the Fleetwood Mac song?

[mistyday]

Yeah! [Her eyes light up.] You know it? It's my favorite. Stevie sang it just for me once.

[thebestseller]

That's so cool! I'm not a super fan of theirs, but growing up in the 70's and 80's, I heard a lot of them on the radio and such. Wow, your own private concert...

[mistyday]

Yeah it was pretty much like... the best thing that ever happened to me! Ever.

[Not that the rest of her life is much to compare too but who wouldn't that be the coolest thing ever for?]

[thebestseller]

Being able to meet your idols sure is something. I mean, I schmooze with other famous authors all the time, but being able to meet Ian Fleming would have been a dream... I read Casino Royale when I was 10 and it changed my life. Made me want to write murder fiction with a hefty dose of intrigue and spy thriller.

[mistyday]

You're a writer? That's so cool!

Though... I don't like readin' about murder so much.

[thebestseller]

It's not everyone's cup of tea, to be sure. Heck, my particular sort of murder stores aren't for everyone.

[mistyday]

I like stories with happy endings. Too much death and rot in the real world as it is.

[thebestseller]

Yeah, I can dig that. Wanting justice and at least something of a happy ending is why I work with the police force.

[mistyday]

A cop and a writer! And now I guess you get to add astronaut too.

[thebestseller]

Oh, gosh, I only wish. The writer thing led to the job with the police force, though technically I'm not a cop. I got brought in as a suspect after a killer started basing their murders on my books, helped them solve the case, and somehow wormed my way into a consulting spot.

[mistyday]

Lord, what the hell is wrong with people, that they gotta start murderin' based off what they see in a book? Ain't right.

[thebestseller]

Yeah, it was pretty creepy. The police also had to go through my fan mail and everything, see if whoever it was had written to me to brag. At the time, I didn't take it seriously, but it's pretty unsettling now.

[mistyday]

At least you caught them, right?