"Hey, Tim, how's it going?"

"Fuck, Carl, I was just thinking about messaging you this morning! You reading my mind again?"

"Tim, I worked for social media, not the NSA."

"C'mon, man, it's basically the same thing. Let's see, latest update on your job info says—What the fuck, Carl, you work for Fire now?!"

"Yup, been with them for—"

"And you didn't fucking tell me? Or Max? Or even Alec?"

"You guys all still keep in touch?"

"Eh, not as much as we used to, but the group chat lights up every month or two. We can talk about that later though. How the hell did you land that gig? I was just reading some article about how they're like, the most impossible company to get hired by on the fucking planet, and you managed to sneak in?"

"Yeah, I just arm wrestled my way through HR."

"Hey, you brought it up first this time, not me."

"Figured we could get it out of the way."

"Nah, c'mon, Carl, I'm not gonna bring out the classics so soon after so long! It's been…"

"Uh…"

"Man, it's been way too long."

"Yeah, sorry. Just… I don't know."

"Hey, it's cool, I get it. Why don't you fill me in on what you've been doing in the fifty years since—Wait, are you fifty now?!"

"Nah, next year."

"Shit, that was close. Thought I missed it. Alright, we're gonna do something for sure for that, so put something—I'll send you a calendar invite."

"I don't need an invite to my own birthday, Tim."

"Carl."

"Alright, alright, send me the invite so I don't double book it."

"Sent. Anyway, what have you been up to? Last we talked… I think… Uh… S… Sandy?"

"Sammy."

"Shit, I was gonna say th—Anyway, anyway, I think she was like… Four? Or five? And… Bobby was a couple years younger…"

"Wow, was it really that long ago?"

"Hard to remember exactly? Connie'd probably remember it better than me. I know she and Annie have been kinda doing the pen pal thing."

"She says hi, by the way."

"Hi back. Tell her Connie and I still want that burger recipe."

"I'll tell her, but…"

"Look, it's my grandma's recipe. I can't give it away outside the family."

"Annie's been saying the same thing about her burger recipe lately."

"What? But it's her recipe, isn't it?"

"I don't make the rules, Tim."

"Yeah, I remember. Feels like we got off topic again. So it's been like ten-ish years, you've still got two kids?"

"Yup."

"Still in the desert?"

"Yup."

"And you're a fucking Director of IT at Fire fucking Entertainment."

"Feeling like you're really just focusing on one thing out of all that."

"Carl, the first year New Era was out, I practically never took my headband off."

"I'm sure Connie was pretty happy about that."

"Eh, she's been into those VR soaps."

"Oh no."

"Oh yeah. The interactive ones."

"Ugh…"

"Hey, it's practically your fault. If all her friends weren't so obsessed and using the social media integration…"

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

"Yeah, yeah, don't remind me. What a dumpster fire."

"Annie's not into that, I'm guessing."

"Nah, she's… Well, she's the same as always."

"I'm happy for you, man. You're really a matched set."

"Thanks, Tim. So what have you been up to?"

"Wait, wait, we're not done with you yet. What else you been doing besides family and work?"

"Um…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"That's pretty much it, I guess? Between the two, I've been pretty busy, especially the last couple years since Sammy's started high school. Went fishing a couple times with my dad—they're doing good—and Annie and I managed to sneak off for a couple vacations, but mostly…"

"Well… It sounds like you're really focused in there, Carl."

"Yup, you know how I am. But how about you?"

"You know, this and that. Ben's fourteen now—just started high school too—so that's a thing. Connie's job got automated, so—"

"Wow, I didn't even think about that."

"Yeah, never imagined the day I'd be letting a robot scrape around in my mouth after The Matrix, but here we are."

"Yeah, huh. Kinda crazy to even think about how far things have come."

"For sure. So she's on stipend now and makes knitting videos on social media."

"Knitting?"

"She picked it up because her great grandma or someone passed down some old needles for it, and now she barely ever stops."

"Huh. Never imagined she'd be the type. Er, no offense?"

"I… Am I supposed to be offended by that?"

"Not sure…"

"Whatever. Well, so that's that, Ben's in high school—already has his first girlfriend, if you can believe—"

"At fourteen?"

"Yeah, it's mostly just a lot of posting on each others' social media with cutesy stuff."

"And you're not like… You know, worried?"

"About what?"

"Uh, well…"

"Carl, I had a girlfriend when I was fourteen. Remember?"

"Uh… Oh. Um… Yeah, kinda… Rita? Uhhh…"

"Wow, you really do remember? Anyway, all that's fairly normal, ran a marathon earlier this year, job stuff's going good—I'm the CFO now at one of those AI mega trader corps, so I'm at the office all the time, including right now. Got my own corner office, nice view, gorgeous EA, they send my paycheck as a shoebox of hundred dollar bills every couple weeks—

"Sounds like your dream job."

"Yeah, it's cool, though it's not working at Fire Entertainment. Man, I went in to interview for a VP spot there a few years ago, and they didn't even call me back after."

"Huh. That doesn't really sound like us. We're usually pretty on top of stuff like hiring as far as I know."

"I'm over it. Probably retire in a couple years at this rate."

"Might be old enough to drink by then."

"Oh, so now we're bringing out the classics?"

"Gotta make sure they still work."

"It's been so fucking long I actually laughed this time. Ah shit, I gotta go. We should—Actually, do you play at all? I'm guessing not, but…"

"Play what?"

"The only fucking thing anyone plays anymore, Carl. New Era. The game your company makes."

"Oh. Right."

"So you play?"

"Well… I've been playing once in a while on my lunch breaks. Just log in, do some fishing to relax, that kind of thing."

"Wow, I didn't think… Alright, awesome. Send me your account name and I'll add you. Maybe we'll catch up at lunch sometime if our schedules match up. Stomp some noobs or something like the old days."

"Er, yeah, maybe. Actually, do you kno—"

"Great, I'll talk to you. Good hearing from you again, don't let the CIA throw you on paper-pushing duty so much."

"Ugh, there it is. Alright, take care, Tim. Say hi to Connie and Ben for us."

"Will do. Same to Annie and your girls. Later."

Carl sat at the kitchen table and stared into the distance for a short while. The call had been almost exactly what he expected. In some ways, it was like there had been no gap in their friendship.

A sudden shouting from the den drew his attention, mostly due to how it pinged his Dad Sense. He rose and crept closer, once again straining his ears in case this was something he needed to intervene on.

"—not fight over such a trivial matter," Mina was saying quietly as he neared. "Please?"

"Well… Okay," Bobby said, sounding a little sulky.

"Told you so," said Sammy.

"And Sammy, is it not rather immature to be gloating at this moment?" Mina said, sounding a little cross.

"I guess," said Sammy with a note of embarrassment in her voice.

"Is it… Have I become the wedge between you both? If so, I'll return upstairs to—"

"No, stay down here with us!"

"Yeah, didn't you wanna learn about basketball?"

"I'd had some level of interest, but if there's to be any manner of argument over—"

"It wasn't like, a serious argument."

"Yeah, we'll be super nice."

"Well, all right then. Now why's this Becker gotten three shots instead of two after his foul?"

"He got a shooting foul from outside the three!"

"What Bobby means is Becker got fouled by LaJoia outside the three point line, so he gets three shots because the shot that got interfered with could've made three points."

"Ah, so if—I see. There are quite a lot of regulations, but this is indeed a cleverly-organized game."

"You like it? Wanna come watch my game tomorrow?"

"Oh, I don't know… I'd not wish to be a bother."

"No, it's cool. I don't wanna like, force you to go or anything if you don't want to."

"C'mon, Mina, I'm going too. You can sit with me!"

"I… May I?"

"Yeah!"

"Then I suppose I shall!"

Carl leaned against the wall next to the doorway leading to the den with a smile on his face and nodded to himself.

The Weathers girls were really the best daughters any dad could hope for.

All three of them.