Blogbuster - A comedy-laced blogger sci-fi thriller

22 - Violet Gears up

Back in the neo-hipster district, everyone was at home — especially the wannabe artists/content writers/self-proclaimed visionaries and geeky, fruit juice drinking tweens who used either sexy selfies or Anime characters for their online avatars. They all worked for some eScroll social mega media startup while reading unhealthy amounts of lighthearted science-fiction-fantasy ebooks and Manga. Even Violet, although she did not fit into that category.

Her category looked more like :

Work/work harder/work the hardest/become the tech-fashion queen of tomorrow. Well, maybe not tomorrow, because that marked the beginning of the Blogbuster show.

That’s why Violet shot around her studio, a tiny fairy on boost. She dashed from room to room, littering the floor with half of her clothes and equipment. X leaned against the wall trying to not get run over by Violet’s blitzkrieg packing.

“I think you should slow down, you have time till tomorrow.”

“Now I don’t,” she said, “I have to get up at seven in the morning.”

Which was one reason why she stopped working for the man. Violet in the morning was as useful as bringing poetry to a knife fight. Her creative engine worked best when she woke up at noon, but for the Blogbuster, and the one million credit-worth content position, she was willing to make compromises. 

She packed her ergonomic rucksack. Aimed for a good mix of comfortable, attractive, semi-armor and DIY wear with replaceable parts. She needed to be ready for any temperature, any situation, while looking damn good for the cameras. Style and substance over everything. In the middle of the packing spree, she asked herself aloud.

“What else ? What do I need to pack ?”

X shrugged. Violet re-watched Stax’ announcement speech. Listened to the three types of missions he spoilered. 

Negotiation test. 

Fan engagement. 

Creative video creation. 

Good to know, but it didn’t say anything about what she should bring to the show. She turned to X and frowned. 

“Neither Roman nor anyone in the Blogbuster team gave me any suggestions on what to bring. Merde, I don’t even know what I have to do at the show. Major fail.”

X took out a cookie and nibbled at it.

“The guy’s a marketer, through and through. I wouldn’t be surprised if he told you the tasks right before the show.”

Violet hoped not. It may be good for show surprises, but bad for her planning. She spent almost a year planning her battlefront fashion show in the industrial zone, and despite her exquisite preparation, it went down the toilet. Incompetent peeps destroyed her masterpiece performance in a snap. Preparation on her side wouldn’t guarantee success, which pissed her off to no end. In moments like these, she wished she could duplicate herself a thousand times and inhabit the world with nothing but Violet Gear S-class clones. But 3D printing human beings turned out to be wishful thinking at this point, so her best chance was to rely on herself, and her all-rounder collection of techwear clothes.

Because, technology + mind power = V in epic mode.

At least according to the algebra of Violet.

She pushed her last pair of anti-dirt socks into the filled rucksack, grabbed one of X’s cookies, and updated her community.

“Preparing for the Blogbuster. Look at my equipment.”

She switched to live video mode and filmed her bedroom. Showed her rucksack, and the equipment she chose.

The community commented in realtime. 

“Wow, it looks like you’re going to war.”

“Be prepared. The scouts would be proud of you.”

“Violet, you’re the bestest. Your laborlove will get you far. ”

“Those mofos don’t stand a chance against you.”

“We should go out once you win.”

“XOXO, Violet FTW.”

The eScroll screen was littered with a hundred other positive rants. Granted, feelgood compliments wouldn’t help her win, but at least she was dressed for success. 

For the rest of the day, she moved in slowmo and prepared her mind and body for tomorrow. Whom would she meet first ? What was the BBB like ? Would the Blogbuster start right away ? Argh, too many questions, all of which electrified her insides. If she could, Violet would ‘unluv’ needless fear.  But emotions didn’t come with fanpages. Not yet at least.

In the past, she tried meditation to cope with the stress, but with so much fire under her butt, even three seconds of sitting proved to be blazing purgatory. So she looked for food comfort. Drank some low-carb soy milk and ate some light snacks. Noodle salad with papaya strips instead of the meat lasagna that was cooling off forever in the freezer. When light switched to darkness outside, Violet hugged X goodbye and received one last piece of advice from him. 

“I know I don’t need to tell you this, but you’re going up against vloggers just as driven as you. And when you have ambitious people competing for the big prize, it’s going to get messy. V, hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.”

Amen.

Violet nodded, gave him a kiss on the cheek and closed the door behind him. The guy acted like a walking self-help book, which often scratched her nerves, but his heart was in the right place. Plus, he was usually spot-on with his diagnoses. That’s why she made a mental note and tagged his statement under survival advice.

Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.