"He's annoyingly natural at this," Zack muttered. "I'm choosing to resent him professionally."
"Appreciated," Stan replied.
More laughter.
Maya had been quiet through most of it. Not detached. Not distant. Just overwhelmed in the quietest possible way.
Her heart was still beating too fast.
Because somewhere between the bridge sequence and the final upload scene, the project had stopped feeling like a rushed island skit filmed on no sleep and impossible deadlines.
It had become real. Not "good considering the circumstances." Not "better than expected."
Real. Award-worthy real.
"We made something genuine," she said softly.
The room quieted again almost immediately. She looked around slowly, at the extras squeezed into chairs and against walls, at Zoey holding the camera against her lap, at Zack sprawled across the couch radiating self-satisfaction, at Stan sitting quietly in the corner.
