potential to be the next best thing, but they lost it when they allowed the community to turn toxic Their community manager was part of the problem. Larry Voltolini was doing the company no favors. Yes, I recommended that he be replaced. I also told them to put more focus on the in-game balance and new combat areas. Wow, they got 100k new subs this month.
JustSayin
Doh! Talk about getting your ass handed to you.
TheGanzaMan
Just because you turned the game into some easy mode version of Hello Barbi doesn't mean it's good, Destiny. You don't have the experience in this industry to be a contracted advisor, let alone anything else.
Lachesis
Funny. They didn't hire you, did they? Huh. Wonder if it's that amazing reporting you're doing for... Who again? I've never heard of GamerNow. College club or something?
TheGanzaMan
It's my blog!
Lachesis
You do know that you're not helping your case, right?
Jason just passed his phone over to Bradley. "Lachesis is Dez. Tell me what you think?"
Bradley's eyes scanned the page and then he just shook his head. "That's a pretty clear tie. She identified herself, and his name isn't exactly subtle. Do you have someone who can verify it?"
"Yeah," Jason said. "Eden. She went to college with him. Mutual friends."
"We fuckin' got him," Bradley breathed.
Chapter 23
Dez was scrolling through the forums again, all too aware that Jason and Bradley were both outside. Something was happening. Probably something bad, so she was trying hard not to think about it. No, if Soul_Reaper had weaseled out of this again, she'd catch him at something else. The problem was that the asshole was just too good. He kept things separate on his forums. Even having access to his private messages didn't help!
It was clear from all the interactions that none of these guys knew each other's real names. At least not the ones at the top. Sure, they had some virtual history with each other, but they didn't even talk about where they lived. Nothing to identify them at all. It was almost like a paranoia. Then again, that was how they'd found her. They'd most likely remembered that.
At some point, Adam, Kate, Rhaven, and Braden all came back. They were smiling, but it looked strained, as if the crap over the last few days just couldn't be pushed away. Zara was still asleep with Crysis, but most of the dev team was getting ready to call it for the night. Not like they had set hours, but it was easier to work if they were all in the same place together, so they tried.
Which meant another day gone. Another long slog that had gotten them nothing but a bigger headache to deal with. News of the Columbus Expo being cancelled was already starting to trickle through the forums, and Deviant hadn't even made an official announcement yet. Nope, Chance had that set to go out in the morning. But the Clairmont saying that due to arson, the hotel would be closed for three months? Didn't take a genius to put the pieces together.
Eventually, Chance came out of his "office" to let everyone know that they should go home, take a day off, and relax. He said he couldn't promise their safety, so he told them all to keep their eyes open, but it appeared that KoG had gotten what they wanted. Dez watched as a few of the team looked at each other, pointed, jerked their chins, or made some other gesture. If she had to guess, she'd say they were still planning to crash with each other so no one was home alone and vulnerable. It warmed her cold, dead heart a little.
Then the door behind her opened. Dez flinched, glancing back out of instinct, and saw both Jason and Bradley making their way in. Jason met her eyes, and then he did the strangest thing. He smiled.
"Chance?" Bradley yelled, waving the man over.
"What happened?" Dez breathed, turning to face them.
Chance jogged their way, but Jason just leaned against the far wall and crossed his arms. The corner of his lip was still curled up. The little lopsided smile wasn't going away, so it hadn't just been him trying to be nice. His pale eyes were warm - which didn't really suit him. Dez could feel her heart hammering against her ribs like a wild animal trying to break free.
Something was coming. Something big. She could see it in every move they made, but what? Desperately, she looked over at Chance just as he leaned