Scene 9

“So are you going to tell us about your mystery boss,” Noel asks, “or is that classified?”

Marcus passes the salad bowl to Mara. “Guy named Aion. ‘The Meme King’ he calls himself.”

Noel’s fork stops moving.

Marcus looks at her. “What?”

“Aion. Your boss is Aion.”

“You know him?”

She puts down her fork. “Dad. He’s a legend. He started this meme account like five years ago, it blew up. Millions of followers. Then he launched a memecoin off the back of it—nobody knows how much he made—and then he started a bunch of actual businesses.” She runs out of breath. “Dad. You work for Aion.”

“He’s a little...” Marcus searches for the word. “Intense.”

“He’s a little insane.” Pure admiration.

Mara looks at him with a mix of amusement and concern. “Is this the one who paid you five hundred dollars for a few hours of work?”

“Same one.”

She nods slowly. “Is he going to get you arrested?”

“He says no.”

“He says no,” Noel repeats, delighted.