Page 319 of Light Leech

“What we mean to say is that it looks like the Neon Idol is back! Despite a few weeks–”

“Months–”

“Whatever it’s been since Naoma’s recent release, she hasn’t had the weekly releases to match competitors like 3Rochi, whose pop-up she visited today in Chuyen!”

“You know they’re not competitors, right?”

“Of course they are. They’re not the same person.”

“But they’re under the same record label.”

“Didn’t you hear about her departure from Reef Records?”

“That was a fabrication. There’s no way she killed the Anton Jackson.”

“Because she didn’t, you shac. He went off the grid after some mess in the Red.”

“No way that’s real.”

“Jump into your neurospace right now!”

“Jump in yours you neurolove wannabe–”

“Violet whore!”

Naoma paused the playback, dying of laughter. “What is this guk?”

It was kind of funny, but her laughter amped it up to be a complete comedy act. “What?”

“They—they–” Looking at my dumbfounded chuckle, she started to cry laughing.

“No way you’re laughing this much.”

“It’s–”She clenched her stomach. “–I–”

“Are you on some kind of fix?”

She nodded, laughing. I felt a sting of fear, almost a need to reprimand her, but what did it matter? We were in a mess of social drama, so what damage did it do to boost her up a little if it earned some laughter like this?

It wasn’t the real Naoma.

If she needed a fix to boost her joy, she had to be struggling. The thought of a fix had my mind reaching for a socitab, but I held back. I held back for her.

“Sorry,” she said as she caught herself. She still struggled to breath without a laugh but slowed with a few seconds of silence. “I’m good.”

“You sure?”

She nodded, still smiling. “I didn’t want to use one, but it’s a low level giggletab.”

I smiled. If she was going to use a fix, at least it was one safe with kids. She used laughter to cope more than I had expected. “It was pretty stupid though, wasn’t it?”

She nodded. “I must have found the wrong newscast.”

“I think you found the top sponsored coverage on the neuronet.”

“Classic influencers commenting without any professional knowledge.”

“At least we can see what the public thinks.”