Page 25 of Tapeworld Induction

“New tech?’

“Probably, but just higher resolution, nothing groundbreaking.” Talia eyed her suspiciously. “Why are you so interested anyway? I thought you were pretty much tech-celibate.”

“Oh, nothing…”

From her scrunched-up expression, Talia didn’t seem convinced.

The waiter arrived with their drinks. The man had a piercing in his right eyebrow and a scar on his lower left lip. Thankfully, he came at just the right time to completely derail Talia’s train of thought.

“Here you go, ladies. A Bloody Mary and a Passion Fruit Kick.”

Talia grabbed the passion fruit cocktail and started slurping through the straw.

Quick as a flash, Dylan slapped her hand away.

“Oi,” she said, face sour, “we haven’t toasted yet!”

Talia waved her away and addressed the waiter. “So, where are you from? That sounded like a bit of an accent.”

The man smiled awkwardly. “Portugal.”

Flirting with the waiter. Well, at least she’d moved on from her interrogation into Isaak’s celebrity days.

When he left, Talia’s face dropped its smile in less than a second.

The two toasted, drops of their drinks spilling onto each other’s hands. “To Dylan finally getting laid!” Talia shouted. She took a big sip of the passion fruit cocktail.

“Nobody got laid!” Dylan corrected her.

Her friend laughed. “Why are you going red then?”

Dylan tried to avoid her stare.

Talia’s straw dropped from her open mouth. “Something did happen!”

“Nothing happened!” Dylan protested. “But… maybe I fancy him a bit,” she said, dragging her fingers along the straw in her Bloody Mary, putting on a coy smile to complement the smitten-by-his-beard look in her eyes. Rather than leave Talia suspicious about what she couldn’t explain yet, Dylan decided to add flourishes where she could. She may have amped up the enthusiasm, but she did really fancy him.

Talia leaned in eagerly, looking around as if dropping into stealth, ready to hear Dylan spill some beans.

“Really!” Dylan said. “Nothing happened…”

“But…?”

“We chatted on the vidphone, the next day.” She omitted the part about him giving her the tape and her panicking after trying it out…

“Who called who?” Talia asked.

“I called him.”

“What? Why?” Talia crossed her arms. “You should have waited for him!”

“Well, I wanted to ask him about something.”

Her friend’s eyes widened. “Stop stalling and tell me what happened!” she begged.

“I’m getting there! Goddess, you are insatiable.” Dylan sorted the folds of her dress and leaned forward. “He left something behind when we parted for the night.”

“Oooh!” Talia beamed.