This is a Test

Ch 7 - Part I - Fan Participation

While Cashe seethed, the rest played with their tablets. His own was running through one of the weekly updates and he noted others struggling as well. It seemed Dante's had completed, which was logical as he was always playing with his device. The chemist stopped tapping on his screen to coo, "Whoa. Look at this."

He held his tablet and directed toward each member to show his latest discovery. It was the official website of the program, emblazoned with Anoptica's name across the top. Next to it was an image of Dante shown waist high in his spacesuit with his arms crossed before him and a big smile on his face.

"I never posed for this," he said, bringing the tablet back before him so he could admire himself once more. "They must have placed my head on a double. Ooh, and we have followers already."

"Really?" Miranda chirped. Everyone looked at their own tablets, which stated that the update would be concluded momentarily. Cashe figured that meant within the hour.

"How many I got?" Roger blurted out.

"Let me see. They list us by number of followers, along with a summary. The person with the most,... oh, I don't want to brag," the braggart said. "It looks like me, with twelve hundred and sixty," he bragged. "The summary says they think I'm charming, handsome..." He beamed before adopting a more serious face. "It's too embarrassing."

"Do me next," Roger said with an expectant squeal. "Me."

Cashe noted Miranda catching her breath. He decided to keep her in the corner of his eye as Dante said, "Next is Lia."

The noises the group made were not gasps per se, but a collection of quick breaths, snorts, and one guy's outburst of "The fuck?!" Miranda's shoulders and face fell a bit, and Lia looked to the others as if a joke was being played on her.

"Apparently," Dante said, "people love your music. They say your playlists are fantastic."

Lia squinted with a little pout and rocked her head from shoulder to shoulder slightly as if she were processing this information. After a few seconds, she smiled with a nod, looking quite pleased. Cashe knew nothing about music as no styles appealed to him, so he trusted the assessment of the masses.

"You got four hundred and forty four followers," Dante stated.

"What?" she yelped as the translator chirped at her.

Dante curled his thumb into his palm and pushed his hand towards her three times. "Four hundred..." he drawled out, " and fooourty foooour."

Her head shook furiously. "No, no, no..."

"Hey, it's not bad. It's great. You can't judge yourself compared to me. We don't know how they're marketing this."

"It's wonderful, Lia," Miranda said to the woman before turning back to Dante. She smiled as she said, "Please, continue."

"Next is Roger."

Roger's "Whoo-hoo!" overwhelmed Miranda's response of "What?" Her voice had dropped an octave and her smile fell for a second before reshaping itself to its typical serene expression. It had only been a flash, but Cashe had caught it, the look of hate she had directed in the geologist's direction. She was pissed the big oaf was more popular and had shown Cashe her true face, the one he always suspected was there. "That's great, Roger," she said in an overly sweet tone.

Dante scanned his tablet. "Seems that they think he's a guy they could go out and have a beer with. Two hundred and thirteen."

Lia laughed and repeated the number as Roger whooped again. "They can!' he yelled. "I love beer!"

"Miranda," Dante interrupted, "you have one hundred and forty-three people who like you."

She wiggled her shoulders a bit as she straightened up before nodding to those around her. "Well, thank you very much. Everyone is too kind," she said as if Cashe and the rest were among her new worshippers.