Mythic Quest

And that is Hera.

Incredible. I am blown away.

- Thanks. Thank you. - Thank you.

If your game is half as exciting as that pitch, we'd love to invest.

- What? - This is just a vertical slice.

So... So the full game will be much more impressive.

Amazing. You two have built the...

Model prisoner.

You have a spotless record. You volunteered in the library.

You even taught classes in finance to prepare other inmates for their parole.

- Yeah. - Honestly, Mr. Bakshi,

it's a shame to lose you.

No, I don't think you're gonna lose me.

No, but seriously, I sit before you a changed man.

We see that.

You are proof that reform is possible, because prisons only work when...

Costs are down, numbers are up.

Excellent work, David.

Well, thank you, Jacques and Jean-Luc.

Yeah, I can't take all the credit.

As we know, it takes a village,

and, uh, I think these prof reports will show you

just how well this village was run.

Uh, streamlined, responsible. It is...

The most complex game engine ever conceived.

This is our masterpiece.

Yes, and we are solely focused on the now.

So forget about our past...

Indiscretions.

If you give me another chance, I swear I will never...

Toot my own horn. I'll let the numbers do that for me.

But the truth is...

I am...

Way better off...

- Without them. - Damn straight.

- Jo. - Sorry.

Now, let's talk about our future.

How long do we wait?

How... How long are we supposed to wait?

Ian!

- Are you... Are you talking to me? - Who else would I be talking to?

You're the only other person that works in this office.

Can you get off the stupid VR game?

I'm not playing a stupid VR game, Poppy.

I am navigating,

No, no. No more speeches about the Web3 frontier

- and... and "non-fungal tokens." - Non-fungible. Non-fungible.

Which means "unable to be replaced by an identical item."

Much like your kidneys, but keep drinking that green soda.

I saw you injecting yourself with horse hormones this morning.

Okay. First of all, those were amino acids, and secondly...

- - Shut up, shut up. Their offer's come in.

- The... They've emailed their offer. Yeah. - Really? That was fast.

That's a good sign.

Okay, bef... before we open this, I think we should make a pact.

- Okay. - We don't take less than 25.

Twenty-five is... is what we asked for, and that's what they have to pay.

I like this Poppy.

Go big or don't go. Twenty-five it is.

- Okay. Okay. - Okay.

"Ian and Poppy, everyone is buzzing over your presentation…."

Blah, blah, blah.

"…excited to move forward with an offer of 50 million."

Fifty million?

Is this... Is this real?

- Yeah. -

- This is my dream. - Yes!

- This is the greatest day of my life! - Yes.

- And we did it! We really did it! - Yes!

We just made $50 million!

- No. -

What?

We didn't make $50 million because we're not gonna take the money.

What? What?

- But we asked for 25… - Right.

- …and... and they offered us, um, 50. - Correct.

But we're not gonna take it?

No.

No.

No.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

- Yes. -

Look, Pop, there are reasons to take the money.

There are reasons not to.

It just doesn't feel right in my gut.

Your gut?

Your 9...

We, um, spent all our seed money on this game,

in this stupid spaceship office.

I mean, I've been struggling to pay my rent,

but we're not gonna take double what we asked for because of your gut?

Did you want me to say "yes" again, or can you infer based on the conversation?

Your gut is always making these decisions.

You... You said that we would make GrimPop Studios to develop my game!

So this is not for your gut to decide. My gut is making this call.

You're right. You're totally right.

This is your game, and you should make the call.

So what do you wanna do?

I think that we should take the money.

You think we should take it?

I wanna take the money!

Take the money? Okay. That's a lot of money.

- Yes! - All right. Let's take it.

- Yes! - All right. Good call.

- Congrats, Pop. - Okay.

Take... Take the money. It's... It's a big win.

That's... That's... That's... That's a big win, Poppy.

- So... - Ugh.

Jo.

She's just gonna keep calling.

- Hi, Jo. - Where are you?

- Mmm. - Good to hear your voice too.

We're on the 5.

We just left San Francisco, and we are en route.

You just left? You're gonna be late for C.W.'s party.

He's flying in from Europe for this.

If he can make it here on time, so can you.

Sorry. Rach got hungry, so we stopped to get a muffin.

I don't wanna hear what you put your muff in.

- Why? - Ew, Jo. Ugh!

Why you... are so gross all the time?

I promised C.W. I would get everybody here by seven o'clock sharp.

As in if you aren't here on time,

I will cut you with something sharp. Goodbye.

Carol's got issues.

I mean, don't get me wrong, things are good.

I got a new job title, and a raise,

and… …they backed that ol' dump truck up against Carol's house,

but I don't do anything.

Then again, I've been underpaid my whole life,

so if these dumb-ass French Canadians wanna give me beaucoup bucks

for doing nothing,

then I should just take it, right?

I don't know. What do you think?

I think you jump from the first to third person too often.

It's hard to follow.

Mr. Brittlesbee is very busy.

If you're mentally ill, I'd be more than happy

- to drive you to a nearby asylum. - Jo, please.

Uh, Carol, look, you're more valuable to this company than ever.

I mean, Montreal made you Head of Diversity and Inclusion.

- I don't even know what that means. - Uh, well…

I'm just trying to justify a job where I'm overpaid but do nothing.

How do you do it, David?

Me? Uh… I do a lot.

I... Carol, I-I manage the crazy creatives.

I'm, uh, producing significant content for a massive video game.

The crazy creatives are gone.

We aren't really producing any more significant content.

Well, still. I... I do a lot.

My days are filled with endless meetings.

Oh, and you have C.W.'s event tonight.

Yes. Thank you, Jo.

C.W., who's returning from his yearlong, whirlwind book tour,

is hosting an event tonight. Everyone's gonna be there.

And guess who has to manage it all?

Me. I had to organize the entire event.

Well, yes, but I manage you.

- Jo, can you get me some tea, please? - Of course.

You see, uh, Carol, the...

This corporation is… …a complex system of operations that...

Okay, she's gone. Uh, yes. My job is basically nonexistent.

All I do is tread water, and just hope that nobody notices.

See? I knew it. I'm getting a peek behind the white curtain.

Thank you, David.

It's not a white or Black thing.

It's a red tape thing, and I've been navigating it for years.

I can help you, but I'm gonna need a little bit more information.

Um, did they give you any actual responsibilities?

- No. - And who do you report to?

No one.

- And what's your budget? - Nothing.

Ooh, yeah. Well, that's right on track.

David, what is happening?

Oh, you're a figurehead. Yeah.

Look, you're given just enough resources and power to make zero impact.

Your job is to provide cover. You know, maintain the status quo.

It feels empty,

but they give you that salary, and it fills that hole in your soul.

Carol has always wanted golden handcuffs.

It is a conundrum. David wrestles with it every day.

- It don't work when you do it. - I thought I had it.

- No, you do not. - Yeah? All right.

Well, either way, uh, if you wanna keep that gold,

you gotta move those papers around,

you know, fill your calendar with meetings.

I like to call it the "hokey-pokey," right?

You put your right foot in. You put your right foot out.

You turn it all about.

You do the hokey-pokey,

but you always stay in the exact same place.

- You do not move, right? - Okay.

I do, uh, feel like we've talked about everything we need to.

So, um, why don't you, uh, get back to me with your progress?

- Sounds good. - Productive talk.

Why don't we put a weekly meeting in the calendar?

In the calendar. All right. I'm gonna get back to work.