Behind the curtain of ID software.

-Good afternoon, Mr. Carson,- Alice said, looking particularly beautiful today. She had a hairpin in her hair, pulling it to one side, making her look especially charming. She wore a large pink jacket that reached down to her hips and tight jeans.

-You're the girl from the party, -- Richard Carson said, eyeing Alice from head to toe. -- Come in, you've arrived just in time for lunch. Billy is helping Helen set the table, - Richard added.

Alice felt somewhat nervous under the gaze of Mr. Thomas Carson. She entered and sat in the living room as discreetly as she could. Billy had mentioned that his family was quite traditional in many ways, so she decided to remain silently prudent, observing the minimalist decor of the house, with only a potted plant adorning one corner.

Thomas Carson continued reading the newspaper, going through the economic section, the legal section, and the national news of the week, this Sunday. He read quietly, occasionally taking a sip of his beer, while his father in the kitchen secretly swiped a few fries from Helen's pot.

Billy appeared at the door and smiled at Alice. -Hello, - he said, looking at the young woman and hugging her.

-Dad, you haven't met Alice yet, - Billy said, taking her by the waist.

-I haven't had the pleasure of meeting this young lady, - Thomas Carson said, shaking hands with the meek Alice, who was facing Billy's imposing father.

-It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Carson. I'm Alice Davis, sir, - Alice responded.

-Well, come on, I'll take you upstairs; lunch is almost ready, - Billy said, leading Alice up the stairs to his room. Alice got a glimpse of the room and found Billy's Batman bed sheets quite cute.

-Here, - Billy said, handing her a silver bracelet, bought at a store in San Francisco shortly after the trip to Pixar to keep track of budget balances.

-Thank you, Billy, - Alice said, somewhat enchanted and moved by the thoughtful gesture. She put the bracelet on almost instinctively.

-Well, that's not all. I bought you some comics to read during your free afternoons in Berkeley—The Lion King, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and The Iron Giant, - Billy said, holding up the books on his desk, which secretly contained a few dedications on some pages.

-Thank you, - Alice said, feeling even more overwhelmed this time. She hadn't brought anything, and now she felt terrible about it.

-Let's go; my grandpa should be complaining right about now about how his grandson has decided to ignore him, - Billy said.

-Yeah, - Alice replied, following him from a distance, still thinking about the details of Billy's gestures.

Only Billy could think of such rewards for the poor girl who insisted on coming to his house. Although Alice wouldn't be too far from San Jose, Berkeley was only two and a half hours away, very close to Pixar Studios. But it wasn't a short trip, so her parents had encouraged her to stay in the university dormitory.

-Come this way, - Billy said.

The table was set, and his grandmother was still doing the dishes. His father was already at the table, while his grandfather remained in total silence, ignoring Billy and Alice; each one was lost in their world.

-Finally, you're here, my dear. We were waiting for you, - Helen said, eyeing Alice up and down with a furrowed brow. She didn't say anything, though.

The meal was comfortably quiet for all the Carsons except Alice, who came from a livelier household. She tried her best to follow all the manners she had been taught, but the sauce-covered meat ended up smearing her right cheek. In contrast, Richard, who was eating with fervent hunger, hadn't gotten a speck of sauce on his face.

Billy could only wipe her face, leaving Alice with rosy cheeks from embarrassment at the intimate gesture in front of his family. -- You have some sauce on your cheek, -- Billy said before returning to his meal. Alice's blood was boiling, but she simply nodded in response to Billy's unusual attention.

At one point, during the meal, his father received a phone call. He quickly picked up the phone, and upon hearing some words, he stood up urgently from the table, pushing his chair back with a forceful shove, leaving everyone at the table.

From his office, Thomas Carson received news about the game progress sent for distribution by the ID Software team. Together with Pixar, they managed to complete the game in record time.

-I'm glad to hear that, - Thomas said over the phone.

-We've sent different test versions to the companies. They will do the final testing before releasing the product. For now, only Sega has confirmed, and of course, we'll handle the distribution of the game for computers, - said Brian Rilley, one of the four programmers on the team.

-What pleasant news! Regarding the PC distribution, will it proceed? - Thomas asked.

-Oh, John Romero explained that computer games have a limited niche, so we'll be selling through a small PC game distributor. The deal is already in place, and we trust that they will fulfill their promise to distribute it far and wide across the country. While we don't expect high PC sales, we believe that the major console companies will perform better, - Brian Rilley said.

-Have you spoken with Anne? - Thomas inquired.

-Yes, I have. She instructed me to deliver the news to you, and with Sega's approval, the other console companies will likely follow suit. The next step is to establish ourselves as a brand, - Brian Rilley replied.

-Well, Mr. Rilley, in five days, my son will be traveling to Texas to hand over the next project. You can start your vacations for now, but I recommend improving the game engine in the meantime. My son mentioned that the next game will be more complex, and we'll be hiring two or three people. If you have any recommendations, feel free to share them, - Thomas stated.

-Of course, Mr. Carson, I won't hesitate. I'll send a message to Romero and Carmack; they started their own game prematurely, - Brian Rilley said.

-Have a great day, Mr. Rilley, - Thomas concluded, returning to his meal. He didn't receive any calls from Mr. Davis; it seemed that Joe Murrey couldn't attend the meeting.

Meanwhile

-Likewise, Mr. Carson, - Brian Rilley said from his chair. His wife, Alexa Rilley, had overheard the entire conversation and flashed him a smile.

-You heard it, dear. Start buying the tickets for next Sunday. We're heading to the coast of Greece in a few days, - Brian said.

-Yes! - his wife exclaimed with joy. Since they started working for this company, all their problems have been resolved, from their weekly salary to their vacation time. The companies they used to work for were strict and competed for short delivery deadlines that left them exhausted.

-I'll be focusing on improving the game engine. There were a couple of things that we could implement for the characters. Billy Carson mentioned something about automating movements and optimizing code and resources, - Brian mentioned.

Alexa leaned in to give him a farewell kiss.

-Darling, I'll make sure to arrive and assist you. I'll do the shopping and buy the tickets for Greece, - Alexa said, bidding goodbye to Brian.

Brian was a true methodist; his talent lay in executing tasks rather than inventing things. He found inventing to be quite challenging, but his methodical approach made him a genuine programmer. He could accomplish anything given time and study. He was twice as dedicated as his wife, and, most importantly, he could identify errors in minutes.

With his work clear and explicit, he refined the code for the products he wanted. Billy, with his various systems and ideas, such as the straightforward concept of online connectivity, presented revolutionary ideas. However, expressing these ideas was one thing; realizing them was not simple. Brian's talent lay in methodically following each step to address all the errors, like a binary machine. He provided answers, although they weren't always correct. But by fixing the issues through sequence adjustments, only by correcting them, could you reach the desired end goal.

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