The stream was already live when Finn checked the viewer count through the System interface.
"Forty-eight thousand," he said. "Before we've even entered."
"I may have mentioned we were going in today," Maeve said.
Finn turned toward her. "You may have."
"I told a few reporters it was worth watching." Maeve smoothed her hair with the calm of someone who knew the System feed would catch every angle it wanted. "It is not my fault the world has taste."
"You told—"
Finn stopped himself before the argument could start and looked at James instead.
James was watching the number climb in the corner of his vision. Fifty-two thousand became fifty-eight, then sixty-one, and the number kept moving like people were not just joining the stream but rushing into it.
