Chapter 205 - Two Minutes

August 5, 2013 – Thursday 11 AM – Santa Barbara, California

Tayaw is currently sitting on one of the comfy chairs in the terrace of Gary's mansion, quietly fiddling his laptop on his lap. Gary meanwhile, who is sitting on his own chair near Tayaw, is busy sipping coffee and reading a novel.

The two's peaceful time is aided by the sound of the waves coming from the ocean below and the squawks of seagulls flying above.

The peaceful scenery does not last long however. 

"*Ughhhh* Holy f*ck! I'm bored." Tayaw suddenly says as stretches his body. 

"Then take a break. You've been editing for three straight days now. Ida said she never saw you sleep." Gary suggests.

"Oh. I'm already done editing." Tayaw says.

"WHAT?!" Gary, out of surprise, almost spills his drink on the book he is reading.

"I said I'm done. Around 5 this morning, I think?" Tayaw says.

"That's not the point! How could you have finished that already?" Gary asks.

"I'm a master of editing, baby." Tayaw says braggingly.

"…" Gary gives him a dirty look at the ridiculous reply.

"I'm kidding. Well. You shot the scenes pretty well and there's not much change from my storyboard. Also, I already have a lot of songs I've already prepared. They actually suit the scenes like I imagined." Tayaw explains.

"..?!.. You're done with the soundtra--.. You know what?.. Ugh. Tell me honestly, Isaac. Are you using?" Gary asks.

"Using? Using what?" Tayaw asks, confused.

"Drugs. Stimulants. Coke. Things that you use to prevent sleep." Gary frankly asks.

"… Hahahah!" Tayaw is dumbfounded before bursting out in laughter.

"Gary, you witnessed the 70s and 80s. Do I look like a cokehead to you? I must be the healthiest drug user out there. Unless Ida found something in my room." Tayaw chuckles.

"…" Gary looks at Tayaw to see any signs of deception, but finding none, "Alright then." Gary can only nod in acceptance.

"Instead, do you have something that can help me sleep instead? Some green stuff? I can't bring my supply to the airport. I'm still puzzled why America hasn't legalized yet." Tayaw jokes.

"I don't have any." Gary chuckles.

"Let me see what you finished." Gary brushes off his curiosity, choosing not to dwell on a matter he figured he cannot understand.

"Wait a sec. I'll check one more time… By the way, I can't believe Nathan, f*ckin Barnes did better than I expected." Tayaw says.

"Heh. Yeah. I heard from his manager that he studied 'September Ninth' very closely." Gary says.

"…" Tayaw is speechless that the person he sh*t posted the previous year on social media learned from his film.

"Alright. It's ready. Just press the space bar." Tayaw finally hands over his laptop. 

||| "ALL RISE … The court is now in session. Judge McBride presiding."

"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Calling case number S2943 - unlawful s*xual intercourse, Jessica Feigin versus Ronny Heart. Are both sides ready?"

"Ready for the plaintiff, your honor."

"Ready for the defense, your honor." |||

While Gary watches Tayaw's edit, Tayaw is left with nothing to do, so to pass the time, he takes out his phone and opens Stoppify.

[ "19"  

Isaac Yawat 

A Night in Sorrento 568,741

Nothing But Clear Skies 549,843  

Sinking, drowning 398, 491  

Your Reflection 349,848  

Walking on Air  249,865  

Living In Your Shadow 197,478    

Future Madness  186,452  

Happy Times 93,446 

In Your World  76,513 ]

Tayaw is pleased looking at the streams of the songs of his newest album, '19' which he released in the first week of July. While his songs are not instant hits compared to his country songs, '19' is still doing better than '18'.

He is however conflicted. He knows that '19' only gathered attention due to his popularity not as a musician but as a film maker. 

Tayaw shrugs his conflicted feelings and replaces them with pride. As long as people loved his songs, it is all that matters to him. The songs of '19' after all, are based on some of the most memorable feelings he has had in the past two years.

'Walking on Air' is inspired by the high he received while performing in Nashville.

'Future Madness' is about the fear brought upon by the consequences his actions made to change the lives of the people he knows.

'In Your World' is a song he dedicates to Gonzalo after he got a good glimpse on Gonzalo's life.

'Nothing But Clear Skies' is a song about the freedom he feels warranted by his wealth and newfound creativity.

'Living In Your Shadow' is the song he based on the inferiority he felt in his previous life when he compared himself to his brothers.

'Happy Times' is about his family's happiness.

Finally, 'A Night In Sorrento' is inspired by walking the streets of Sorrento and the Red Carpet in the film festival with Juliana. The actual subject of the song however, is about his imagined wish that his ideal woman, and not Juliana, is the one he spent time with in the romantic Italy. 

'I've released my album, my films are done, the books are in reserve. Releasing them all at once feels like a waste. Their value will decrease too, like that of currency inflation … What the hell do I do next then?' Tayaw is lost.

'While I want to start making 'The Halfling', there's no rush. I'm rather tired making films and writing songs. How about I tour too?

'Nah. Maybe when I release my second country album…

'Instead… I want to try something new… Wait… Something new!~…'

A sudden wave of temptation dawns upon him.

He then focuses his mind on the corner of his vision which his 'View Points' is displayed; the thing he did his best in avoiding for almost 20 months. The thing he ignored even whenever he went inside the -white void- to either use Earl Thompson's guitar or Dolan Nungo's fountain pen.

His effort of avoiding looking at it is rewarded by his heart shaking in shock at what he sees. 'View Points – 915,897,643' 

"A-almost a billion…" Tayaw softly exclaims.

"What?" Gary beside him, is distracted by Tayaw's uttering.

"Nothing. I was just thinking to myself." Tayaw says. Gary's attention goes back to the movie. 

'How did this happen? ...' Tayaw's brain starts running, looking for an explanation.

'The last time, I've spent 100 Million View Points from the fairytales on Peter McKinsey's 'artist record' so it reset in November 2011.

'From there, I released 'The Halfling' which sold almost 62 million copies to date after 20 months. It's safe to assume I've got at least 120 million View Points from that if the people who bought copies lent or gave away their copy after reading. There parents telling their kids the story of it must also earned me some points. 

'Then September Ninth. It sold more than 100 million tickets worldwide. But considering there are a lot of people who saw it in theaters more than once, then it's safe to assume there should only be 50-60 million View Points from theaters.

'BUT, the Blu-Ray of it though… it sold 22 million copies. If there are new multiple viewers of those copies, I can estimate I got at least 50 million View Points from the Blu-Ray.

'Then my country songs with 14 songs. And if multiplying those to let's say… a quarter of rural America's population which is around… 15 million that enjoyed at least one of my songs, then I've got .. let's say.. 45 million View Points.

'Then 'Gold, Blood, and the Deer'. So far, it sold 40 million tickets, and if there are repeat viewings, then I get around 15-20 million View Points.

'Then Snow White. There's 2 million ticket sales so far. If there's repeat viewers, especially kids, then 1 million View Points.

'In total, then that's around… 300,000,000 View Points… Where's did the remaining 600,000,000 View Points come from? They couldn't have come from my songs and the ones I've sold, right?...'

Tayaw cannot wrap his head around it. 

'… Wait…' A light bulb spark in Tayaw's mind.

'STRAWBERRY FRONT!' Tayaw realizes.

'The songs I gave them are also popular! Not only them, there are also the people who bought worse songs than the one I gave Strawberry Front!' 

The next moment however, he still finds something lacking.

'That's not really all, right? If I multiply the 6 songs I gave them to a considerable percentage of rural America's population, that's still only around 100,000,000 at most. The songs I sold to the record labels, while they're doing fine, they're not that popular… So… where then is did the 500 million View Points come from?' Tayaw thinks again.

*MUSIC* Tayaw is distracted by a familiar instrumental music coming from his laptop. Tayaw then looks at Gary swaying with the soundtrack he put in the film and another realization dawns upon him.

'THE SOUNDTRACK!' Tayaw eyes widen.

'I've got original songs in 'September Ninth', 'Snow White', and 'Gold, Blood, and the Deer'! If the viewers of those films ALSO enjoyed the songs in it and it stuck with them, then wouldn't that count?' Tayaw's confusion is finally clearing up.

'Holy sh*t! The white void is f*ckin generous!' Tayaw slaps the arm of his chair.

"What's the hell's wrong with you?" Gary is distracted again by Tayaw's actions. 

"Sorry. I just thought of something." Tayaw apologizes.

"How many things are you thinking about in just a couple of seconds?" Gary pauses the film.

"Just a connection of thoughts. GO ahead, I won't disturb you anymore." Tayaw says.

"Uhuh…" With that, Gary resumes watching while Tayaw resumes thinking. 

'Should I do it?...' Tayaw is finding it harder and harder to resist the urge to play the giant roulette.

'Whatever. I've already shamelessly released the novels anyway. But... I've not released the films either. I've not used Peter McKinsey's songs too. What's the use of the points the void keep giving me if I don't use it?'

Tayaw gives up and the next moment, he finds himself once again in the white void after a long while. He then accesses the giant roulette immediately and takes a deep breath as he stands before the silver, gold, and diamond platforms.

"Diamond Platform… 100 million.. Nah that makes my wait for the billion longer.

Gold Platform… 10 million. I might get something I won't be able to use immediately, who knows.

Silver platform… 1 million. Yeah… I probably spent waaayyy more than 1 Million View Points in practicing guitar and drawing storyboards. This might be replenished in a day or less.

"Alright. Silver it is." Tayaw finally decides.

He picks up the shot-put sized roulette ball and throws it to the wheel. Tayaw then watches the familiar proceedings from the deduction of his View Points, to the spinning of the roulette, until a white tile rises up from the table.

'Random Skill Set x 1'

'Random Equipment' texts appear on the tile.

"hmm.. No pieces this time...." Tayaw is excited for the skills and the equipment.

*WHOOSH* the white tile then smashes to Tayaw's head.

Tayaw waits for the headache, but it never comes, to his relief. Random images then start appearing in Tayaw's mind and he can only close his eyes and wait until the skill is imbedded in his brain. 

A moment later, Tayaw opens his eyes and he is back in the real world with an excited grin appearing on his face. "Games. F*ckin video games…"