Chapter 36

The next weekend Deana came over and spent the weekend at our house, so I got to spend a lot of time talking to her. She and Linda got along great, and we spent about an hour in the game room as I showed her the outlines I had for articles that were not done yet. “Pete, these are really great. But you know I can’t be your editor anymore, right?”

“Yeah, dad mentioned that. Conflict of interest.”

“Yes, but my boss said for me to just pass them along to him and he would do it himself. He really likes the articles you submit, each time it is a new way of thinking of things. And you are actually getting a lot of fan mail over them. He wanted me to offer you a permanent writing gig, with your own column every month. But I told him you were joining the Marines in a few months and will need at least a year before you can really dedicate the time to that.”

I nodded. “Yeah, that is about right. But I should have at least eight other articles by the time I leave ready to go, so you can just run one of those a month. And I will see once I finish all my training where I am. I might be able to send them off then more regularly.”

We talked a bit more about the wedding, and I said I hoped they were not holding things off because of my schedule. “Oh, nonsense Pete! Your dad and I already talked it through, and once you leave for boot camp I am moving in here. I will probably work out of the dining room until I can arrange to get an office down here, but we will make it work. We will have the wedding right before Thanksgiving, so you can be here with us.”

“Oh Deana, you don’t need to use the kitchen! Just use this, the game room. I can remove the leaves in the table there and make it smaller, and we can move most of the stuff out and you can set your desk in there.”

“But Pete, this is your office!”

“Yeah, and one that before long I’m not going to be using anymore. I’m gonna be serving for at least six years, and more than likely the absolutely closest I would be to here is Irvine, a three hour drive away. I might come up on weekends if that happens, but I certainly will not be living here. And odds are I’ll be even further away. Go ahead and use it, I’ll make sure most of my stuff is packed up before I go.”

She gave me a big hug and kiss on the cheek, and Linda gave me one also. The rain had stopped so Linda and I put on our jackets and decided to take a walk. “That’s a great thing you’re doing, Pete” she said.

“Hell, is not like I’ll be using the game room after August. This way she can use it, and I know the room will still be getting some use. I’ll just shove everything in the garage.”

There was a small arcade on Van Nuys Blvd, so we went inside and played games for an hour or so before heading home. I had just walked in the door when my dad called me over. “While you two were out Mr. Cummings called. He wants you to run two public demonstrations. One for the solo Oubliette modules you made, and another for the multiplayer one. He said same arrangement as before. Two room suite, all meals and money for expenses.”

Linda gave me a big hug, and then Deana came out of the game room holding the cordless phone. “And I just got off the phone with my boss. We were planning on having a round table discussion about ‘thinking outside the box’, and he wants you on it. A payment for taking part in a one hour presentation, and a half hour question and answer session afterwards.” Wow, another all-expenses paid convention, and more money! “OK, tell him it’s OK. Looks like my last convention is going to be a busy one.”

I called Holly and told her the news, and she said she would call Jack. Linda then called Mandy, and she said she was not going to go. Seems that weekend she and Chris were going to the beach with Peggy and Mike, and do some other things together.

Linda and I were cuddled on the couch in the game room, talking about the upcoming con. “Wow, so it will just be the four of us this time, the only difference is Jack instead of Keith. Seems like our last one together will be a lot like our first one.”

“Yep, and I’m pretty sure Jack and Holly will have no problem sharing a room together. We are just gonna have to see where I end up stationed before we decide on any future repeats.”

“Well, Holly and I can still get together. She’s only going to Long Beach, after all, we can still see each other on weekends. And I have a feeling that Mandy and Peggy would still like to go, this one was just bad timing is all.” I agreed, and Linda curled up into my lap and we spent the next hour just making out. All hands remained outside of clothing, and we were simply enjoying being with each other.

On Saturday Jack and Holly joined us, and Deana sat in as we spent about three hours playtesting the Ranger familiar concept. Deana liked the idea, and added in a few suggestions for higher level Rangers. At 5th level they could start to sense the emotions of their familiar (fear, anger, curiosity, etc), and at higher levels they gained increasing control of them, even to the point that they could give mental commands and get brief mental images of what they saw. And at higher levels, the chance to get another familiar was based on their wisdom.

I spent the rest of the night writing up everything, and just before going to bed I handed Deana the finished article. She read through it and said it looked like I had another one they were going to publish.

I then surprised her when I handed her several others. Creating random names with a phonetic chart, common magic items, and strange magic items, such as the dagger of healing, a wood knife that only cuts wood, and others. And the use of skeletons of other species as enemies, and a follow-up on “Dungeon Ecology”. And then about doing that I had been doing for years, and using real world locations and places as settings for adventures. How I had used floor plans for real world buildings as dungeons, and even for a Gamma World game once I had set in a future version of Disneyland, even using an old park map I had copied and changed for the locations. She read one after the other, and said those were likely all acceptable also.

“You know Pete, you just have this ability to come up with ideas that seem obvious once you point them out, but that nobody else seems to have thought of. I find it actually rather refreshing, to be honest. And most of our readers seem to think so also.”

“I guess I’m just good at thinking outside the box,” I told her. “I read a lot, and just try to take a bit from here and a piece from there and put it together in a new way. I admit a lot of ideas I have actually stolen from other sources.”

She nodded. “That is how it normally works. But you do it in a way that is almost always unique. Is there any way you can give me an advance peek at the new adventure you are finishing up? I have heard it is yet another new concept that nobody has tried before.”

I nodded, and brought out “The Guild Wars” and set the player sheets on the table in front of her. This was also set up like a tournament module, where all characters were pre-made. She read through them as I gave the background. The city was an oligarchy, controlled by six different guilds. Farmers, Smiths, Merchants, Craftsmen, Men at Arms, all being the obvious ones, and the Thieves Guild being the sixth and hidden guild not publicly acknowledged.

One of the six was trying to usurp total control over the town by undermining and even eliminating the other five guilds, and each party member was recruited from one of the guilds to try and uncover the guild that had gone rogue. She read through each of the sheets, and nodded a few times. “OK, I think I get where this is going. Kinda like you did in the last one. But who is the real traitor?”

I smiled and pulled out six more character sheets. She read through each of them and gave me a puzzled look. “Wait, according to this, they are all guilty!”

“Yep!” I said, nodding. “When the DM sets up the game, they will select one of the players to be the mole, and hand them the applicable sheet that I just handed you. Everybody else gets the first sheet. This way each game will be completely different, and only the DM and that one player will know who it is. This game can even be replayed since it is really almost entirely about the characters and not the setting. There are several alternate encounters in the game book, which will change depending on which is the guilty guild and player.”

“Oh wow, this is really good! First you had the stooge that was forced into that role. Then you had a willing stooge that was actively trying to defeat the party. This time, anybody can be the stooge!”

“Yep. If you notice, there is not a single ‘lawful’ character in the party. And only one good, they are almost all Chaotic Neutral. The Druid which represents the Farmers Guild is the only one that is true Neutral. And the Men at Arms representative is Neutral Good. If any of them are the traitor, it will not violate their alignments as they place their oaths and dedication to their guilds above all else. And there is even a section where you can play the game with all of the guilds being innocent, and the real guilty group is a hidden death cult led by an assassins guild. I think that would be a lot of fun if people are doing a replay, and are constantly looking at each other in suspicion. In that one they are all innocent, but will be suspicious of each other anyways.”

“Oh my, that would be priceless to see! Everybody paranoid and watching each other, and being played that way by yet another group! I can’t wait to see how this all plays out for real Pete. OK, thanks for that peek. I am going to be writing up some notes in the next few days about it. I assume you are going to test it before you leave?”

“Yep, Mr. Cummings is going to have me do a play-test at the convention over Easter Weekend. He has already tentatively accepted it, and so long as the test is not negative it will be published for release at the Memorial Day convention in LA.”

“OK, I was not aware of a con over Easter. Where is that one at?”

“It’s in Oakland, and unless things change that is just four of us again. We are only going there for two nights, and not staying for the entire convention. But the Memorial Day one is going to be at LAX, and we will be there the entire time. I am kinda looking forward to it, as it will likely be my last convention for several years.”

She nodded, and made some more notes. “OK, I will cover each of those personally, even though Northern California is not my usual territory. Jeff is our guy up there, but I doubt he will have a problem with my covering it with you being there. How were you going up there?”

“We were going to drive up on Friday, do the test on Saturday, and return home on Sunday. He offered to fly me up, but it is only about a seven hour drive, and we can spend part of the time exploring the area if I drive. Plus if I flew, Mr. Cummings would only cover my ticket, not that of any others.”

We talked a bit more, and she then blew me away with her next question. “Pete, what day are you shipping out again?” I told her it was 31 August, and she smiled. “Would you be interested in doing a convention from the 18th to the 21st of August?”

I thought about it, and nodded. “Sure, but I can’t remember any conventions that weekend. Which one is it?”

Deana smiled. “GenCon.”

Linda and Holly each gave a squeal, and I know my jaw dropped open. “Wait, GenCon, in Wisconsin? Who would pay for me to fly halfway across the country?”

“Oh, I think between my company and Mr. Cummings, we can make this happen without a problem. We have at least two round tables set up for the con, and I know that Mr. Cummings still has one open slot he has yet to assign. Let me make a few phone calls, and I will let you know later today.”

Once she left, Jack looked at me and said “Would that mean me too? I could probably get my parents to cover the airfare if it does not.”

Holly just grinned. “Of course. Pete’s standard agreement with Mr. Cummings always includes a two room suite, and all expenses for four. That is because he was a minor, and goes nowhere without Linda and me. Of course, on paper the rooms are one for Linda and I, and the other for Pete and whichever male guest is along. But as you know, we never stick to that.”

We decided to sit down and play Dungeon, and an hour later Deana came in and asked me to join her in the dining room. My dad was there as well, and she pointed me to take a seat. “OK, I got Pete here with me on the speakerphone. Pete, we are on a three-way with Mr. Cummings, and Bob Fletcher, my boss. GenCon is a no-go, your dad said it is simply too close to your ship out date. But we have an alternative. How about Origins? This year it is going to be held in Detroit, July 14th through the 17th.”

“Pete, I was already discussing the logistics of this with your dad a few days ago,” I heard Mr. Cummings say. “We have already decided to push back the release date of ‘The Guild Wars’ until July, and instead use the Memorial Day convention as a second playtest. This is by far the most complex module we have ever released, so one more test would be a good idea.”

I agreed, and told them I had no problem with that. We talked for a few minutes, and decided a three hour block would be best for the public play. “But I want Jack to be the traitor in the group” I said, getting a double take from Jack as I said that.

“OK, but why Jack?”

“Well, we have done games with Holly as Kaos. We all know there are bootleg tapes of that game floating around. And I am pretty sure that Linda is also well known enough that I can not use her either. For this it should be best if I can coach the traitor in advance, and figure out how to do it without being obvious to the others. They can just work off a cold read, since they will be playing things straight. But for the public display, it would be best if the traitor is not done cold.”

He quickly agreed. “Pete, this is Bob here. There are two presentations we want you involved in. The first is the end of the first day keynote, going over most of the articles you have written in the last year. ‘Thinking Outside the Box’ is going to be the subject, and we would like an hour of you going over your various ideas and how to install more creativity. We also want you to participate in the end of convention keynote. That is going to be more of a round table setting, and a few awards will be given. We are thinking you might have a five minute speech prepared about how you came up with the Kaos setting, and maybe present one of the awards.”

I said that would not be a problem. At that point, my dad spoke up as my manager and they started to discuss logistics and compensation. I smiled and waved at him, then said goodbye to Mr. Cummings and Mr. Fletcher and we all left the house. Jack looked puzzled as we all climbed into the Blue Whale. “You are not going to stay there and find out what you are gonna get from them dude?”

I took Linda’s hand in mine and squeezed, and shook my head. “Nope. My dad is still my agent, and is going to remain so for several years to come. Since I have no idea where I will be in a year, it only makes sense that he still handles those kinds of things for me. I still have to sign off on any agreements, but by now he has become very good at getting me the best deals possible.”

“Yeah, I guess that makes sense. Can I ask how much you make?” And he once again looked surprised when I said that I think I made around $200 to $250 for doing a presentation, in addition to room and expenses.

“But honestly, I really have no idea how much it is. My dad and Mr. Cummings always reached an agreement that my dad said was good enough, and I would sign the contract and do it. He just puts the checks into the bank. For me, it is more about going to the convention with all expenses paid than the money itself.”

We decided to grab dinner at a local pizza place, and as we waited we discussed going skating, or going to a movie. Jack and I let the girls win, and decided to see the new Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta movie. I went and grabbed a newspaper from outside and we quickly found a drive-in that was showing it. So with the pizza finished we grabbed some snacks and went to Northridge to see “Two of a Kind”.

We all cuddled up with our girlfriends, and as much as I loved ONJ, this was by far her worst movie yet. She was almost an evil character in the movie, and the chemistry she shared with Travolta in their last movie together was missing this time. But we all agreed it was a decent movie. Tootsie was the second movie, and we all decided we did not want to see it again.

Less than an hour after the movie ended, we were parked in a deserted park I knew of in North Hollywood. Holly and I had already had a conversation when Jack was in the bathroom earlier, and had decided that any petting would be restricted to a “Strong second-third base” level. Touching almost anywhere and everywhere, even to the point of orgasm for our respective partners. But nothing oral below the waist, and all under blankets and not obvious. Neither Linda nor Holly had a problem with that.

So in a parking area under a large tree that blocked us from the street lights, Linda had me sit with my back against her door as she cuddled in my lap in front of me. Jack and Holly had a blanket over themselves, and I had a tape on the stereo I had prepared playing as we all started having fun with our lovers.

Since Linda had worn a skirt that night it was not hard to bring her to two orgasms with my fingers, and it sounded like Holly had at least one in the back. Linda had just started to unzip my slacks when I saw a car pull in at the other side of the parking lot and cruise our way slowly. The spotlight on the side scanning around the grassy area between the parking lot and the freeway told me exactly who it was.

“Hey you guys, get decent. We got cops coming.”