Chapter 17: The Spread of Martin's Work
"Benjamin, where are you?"
"Honey, I'm... still at the office!"
"You're still there? Do you even know what time it is? Are you working overtime now?"
"What? Overtime? Sheena, where's Sheena! Good grief, is it already ten?"
"Honestly, you should get your boss to give you a raise."
"On my way home now, honey! I just got completely absorbed in a manuscript!"
Hanging up, Benjamin set down the stack of pages, his excitement surging. Martin's imagination is unbelievable. The story is so vivid!
Computers, the internet, VR gaming... every scene was thrilling, the world-building incredible, and that climactic battle... The whole story unfolded in his mind like a movie. In fact, Benjamin thought, this book's pacing feels just like a well-structured two-hour film.
"Wait a minute... Kung Fu Panda was written , too." He slapped the steering wheel in realization as he drove home. "Martin has ambitions far beyond books."
Jennifer had returned to her dorm at USC.
"Strange... Rachel's actually here? And not at a party?"
Jennifer's roommate, Rachel, was a self-proclaimed party lover who spent her free time hopping from one themed event to the next. She rarely returned to the dorm before midnight and sometimes didn't come back at all. But tonight, Rachel was quietly reading a book on her bed.
Since when is she this studious? Jennifer wondered, moving closer to satisfy her curiosity. "Rachel, what are you reading?"
"Aah! Jennifer, you scared me!" Rachel clutched her chest in fright, gasping as her heart pounded.
Jennifer burst out laughing at her roommate's reaction.
As her laughter subsided, she leaned over to see what book had captured Rachel's attention.
"What are you reading that's got you so absorbed?"
Rachel held up the book. "It's something I picked up for my little sister. I figured I'd read a few pages to pass the time, but it totally sucked me in. I even forgot about the party tonight."
"Your sister? Isn't she only nine? And you're this hooked on a kids' book?" Jennifer was now seriously intrigued and reached for the cover.
"What book has you so captivated... Kung Fu Panda?!"
"Yeah, it's Kung Fu Panda. What's with the shock?"
"Wait, the author is... Martin Meyers?"
Ignoring Rachel's response, Jennifer stared at the author's name, stunned. Suddenly, it all made sense why Martin had brought up the book earlier. So he's already been published... no wonder he's so confident.
In Sherman Oaks, Los Angelesโ
This well-to-do neighborhood was known for its safe streets and luxurious homes.
Inside one such mansion, seven-year-old Elizabeth Olsen was persuading her sisters to join her in roleplaying Kung Fu Panda characters.
"Ashley, you'll be Tigress!"
"Mary-Kate, you're Viper! And Mike, the bodyguard, can be the evil Tai Lung."
"And me, I'm the Dragon Warrior, Po!"
"Come on, Tigress and Viper, let's stop Tai Lung together!"
Her older sisters exchanged a resigned look, humoring their younger sibling's wishes. They knew that if they refused, Elizabeth would be pestering them all night.
In Wyomissing, Pennsylvaniaโ
Inside a large house on an 11-acre Christmas tree farm, young Taylor Swift was sprawled on her bed, pouting.
"Dad, Dad, please read more! I want to know if Po beats the bad guy in the end!"
Scott Kingsley Swift smiled fondly at his daughter, gently patting her head. "Taylor, you have music class in the morning. It's time to sleep, honey."
"Oh, please, just a little more. Just a tiny bit, Dad, pleeease?"
Taylor held up her little finger, signaling just how little she wanted, her pleading eyes impossible for Scott to resist.
He chuckled. "Alright, just a bit more."
Scott knew he was powerless against his daughter's sweetly persistent pleas. She always won him over.
Back on the film set, the farm scenes were progressing smoothly. Martin performed excellently in his scenes with Dennis Quaid, who was so impressed he sometimes forgot Martin was only acting.
"Nancy, this kid's incredible! Where on earth did you find him?"
"He's my brother's son," Nancy said proudly.
"Really? And this scriptโdid you say he wrote it?"
"That's right, Martin wrote the script."
Dennis's eyes widened in astonishment. "How old is he?"
"Dear heavens, I'm blown away! When I was his age, I was still playing in the mud. This kid's a prodigy!"
"I think so, too," Nancy replied, beaming with pride.
The farm scenes wrapped up quickly, and in three days, the crew would head to London to film scenes of the twin brother, Beck James, living with his mother in England.
After two months away, Martin returned to school for a brief visit, not to attend classes but to say goodbye to his friends and request an extended leave.
"Martin, you're going to London? Wow, I'm so jealous!" Lindsay Lohan's eyes sparkled with admiration and envy for Martin's upcoming journey to England.
"Martin, you know what? I finally finished programming 'Bee'โit's a game I made! I even upped the difficulty. When you get back, come over, and we'll play it!" Mark Zuckerberg announced excitedly. Acting and travel held no interest for him; his heart lay with computers.
"Martin, I got into a fight the other day with that punk Potter from Class 7. He said your book was garbage, and I won't stand for anyone talking trash about my boss!" John grunted, his voice gruff. Ever since Martin had put him in his place, John had become his loyal follower and self-appointed enforcer.
"Guys, I'll treat you all to a feast when I'm back!"
With a grin, Martin waved goodbye to his friends, heading off to his next adventure.
๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ฃ๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ข๐ค๐ข๐๐ฃ๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐๐ญ๐ฅ๐ง๐๐จ๐จ ๐ข๐ฎ ๐๐ง๐๐ฉ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐๐ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐ฉ๐๐ค๐จ๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ค ๐จ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ค๐ง๐ฉ ๐ข๐ ๐ค๐ฃ ๐ฉ๐๐๐จ ๐๐ค๐ช๐ง๐ฃ๐๐ฎ. ๐๐ค๐ช๐ง ๐๐ค๐ฃ๐ฉ๐ง๐๐๐ช๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ฃ๐จ ๐ข๐๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ง๐๐๐ก ๐๐๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ฃ๐๐!
๐ฆ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ป๐ธ๐ ๐๐ผ:
โข ๐๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ฏ ๐ ๐ผ๐ฒ๐ฒ
๐๐ ๐ฎ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐ป, ๐๐ผ๐ ๐๐ป๐น๐ผ๐ฐ๐ธ:
โข ๐๐ ๐ฐ๐น๐๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐๐: ๐๐๐ฉ ๐ญ๐ด๐ฑ+ ๐๐๐ซ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐ฉ๐๐ง๐จ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ค๐ ๐๐ซ๐๐ง๐ฎ๐ค๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ก๐จ๐.
โข ๐๐ ๐ฐ๐น๐๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐ต๐ผ๐๐-๐ข๐๐: ๐๐๐๐๐๐ซ๐ ๐ ๐จ๐ฅ๐๐๐๐๐ก ๐จ๐๐ค๐ช๐ฉ ๐๐ซ๐๐ง๐ฎ ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐ฉ๐๐ง ๐๐จ ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช ๐๐ค๐ง ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช๐ง ๐จ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ค๐ง๐ฉ!
๐ฌ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐๐๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ผ๐ป๐น๐ ๐ณ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ ๐บ๐ ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐๐ถ๐๐ ๐ฏ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐น๐๐ผ ๐ต๐ฒ๐น๐ฝ๐ ๐บ๐ฒ ๐ด๐ฟ๐ผ๐ ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐๐ป๐ถ๐๐. ๐๐ณ ๐๐ผ๐'๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ฎ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ฒ๐, ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ท๐ผ๐ถ๐ป๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐!
๐ ๐ ๐ค๐๐ฃ ๐ฃ๐ค๐ฌ: ๐ฅ๐๐ฉ๐ง๐๐ค๐ฃ.๐๐ค๐ข/๐๐ค๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ง
๐ฌ ๐ผ๐ก๐จ๐ค ๐ผ๐ซ๐๐๐ก๐๐๐ก๐: ๐๐ฎ ๐ผ๐๐ซ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ ๐๐ง๐๐ฃ๐จ๐ก๐๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ฃ ๐๐ง๐ค๐ข๐ฅ๐ฉ! ๐๐ฃ๐ก๐ค๐๐ ๐ฉ๐๐๐จ ๐๐ญ๐๐ก๐ช๐จ๐๐ซ๐ ๐ฉ๐ค๐ค๐ก ๐๐ค๐ง $30โ๐ฃ๐ค๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐๐ฉ๐ ๐ 10% ๐๐๐จ๐๐ค๐ช๐ฃ๐ฉ! ๐ ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ ๐ช๐จ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐ค๐๐: ๐๐ข๐๐ข๐๐ฅ๐๐๐๐๐ฅ.
๐๐๐ฉ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ฅ๐ค๐ฌ๐๐ง ๐ค๐ ๐พ๐๐๐ฉ๐๐๐ ๐๐ค๐ข๐๐๐ฃ๐๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ฉ๐ ๐ข๐ฎ ๐ผ๐๐ซ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ ๐๐ง๐๐ฃ๐จ๐ก๐๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ฃ ๐๐ง๐ค๐ข๐ฅ๐ฉ, ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช ๐๐๐ฃ ๐๐๐๐ค๐ง๐ฉ๐ก๐๐จ๐จ๐ก๐ฎ ๐ฉ๐ง๐๐ฃ๐จ๐ก๐๐ฉ๐ ๐พ๐๐๐ฃ๐๐จ๐ ๐ฃ๐ค๐ซ๐๐ก๐จ ๐๐ฃ๐ฉ๐ค ๐๐ฃ๐๐ก๐๐จ๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ฉ๐ ๐๐ช๐ข๐๐ฃ-๐ก๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐ช๐ง๐๐๐ฎ, ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฉ๐ช๐ง๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ซ๐๐ง๐ฎ ๐ฃ๐ช๐๐ฃ๐๐ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐๐ฉ๐๐๐ก. ๐๐๐๐จ ๐ช๐ฃ๐๐ฆ๐ช๐ ๐ฉ๐ค๐ค๐ก ๐๐๐ก๐๐ซ๐๐ง๐จ ๐ง๐๐จ๐ช๐ก๐ฉ๐จ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฉ ๐ง๐๐ซ๐๐ก ๐ฅ๐ง๐ค๐๐๐จ๐จ๐๐ค๐ฃ๐๐ก ๐๐ช๐ข๐๐ฃ ๐ฉ๐ง๐๐ฃ๐จ๐ก๐๐ฉ๐ค๐ง๐จ, ๐๐ง๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช ๐๐ญ๐ฅ๐ง๐๐จ๐จ๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐๐๐ช๐ง๐๐ฉ๐ ๐ฉ๐ง๐๐ฃ๐จ๐ก๐๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ฃ๐จ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ฃ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช๐ง ๐ง๐๐๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ญ๐ฅ๐๐ง๐๐๐ฃ๐๐!
๐๐ฆ๐ต๐ผ๐ฝ: ๐๐๐ฉ๐ง๐๐ค๐ฃ.๐๐ค๐ข/๐๐ค๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ง/๐๐๐ค๐ฅ