Julie walked into the lounge room, Tinga in her arms. Annika looked up from the newspaper.
"I wish she wasn't so sensitive to every little thing," Julie said softly. "I may have to make her number one on the list for having their own room first, rather than B'E and Tom."
Annika smiled.
"Whatcha doing?" Julie asked.
"Looking for my own place."
"What?"
"It's a little crowded here," Annika observed. "And we're starting to pull in a lot more money now."
"Well, that's good... but don't you think you're counting chickens before they hatch?"
"Possibly. But I didn't say I was going to move out tomorrow. Just... looking at the moment. Besides, I'd get the couriers to start sending stuff to wherever I move, as I'm the one who deals with it, so I want to make sure that wherever I go I can afford to stay there long term."
"So... you're just looking at possibilities at the moment?"
"Just possibilities. Two good months of profit - and it's definitely going to be a large one this month, even though it's not over yet - is exciting, but it's not definite that things are going to remain that way."
Julie nodded.
"Well, I hope it is going to remain that way."
"So do I," Annika paused for a moment. "Of course... we may want to look at more technical staff. You know, someone to give you a hand with programming the game. Or maybe with a new game. I've had some thoughts..."
"Mmm?"
"Perhaps we could start a subscription -"
"Annika, you know how I feel about that," Julie winced.
"Hear me out," Annika insisted. "I agree that subscribing to an individual game is a silly idea. It commits you to playing that game, and if you're just a casual gamer, then you don't want to be tied down to the one game, or feel obligated to play it because you're subscribing. No, my thought was a subscription to all the games."
"Huh?"
"I know that you've designed other games," Annika said. "You can't tell me you wouldn't put them online given the opportunity."
"Well, no..."
"So, we put them up. Get some more technical staff and start a subscription line for people who want to play all your games. That way they only pay one subscription, but they have a choice between, two, three, four... however many games you want. We can still have free games, or versions available for people who don't know if they want to pay the money or not."
Julie looked thoughtful.