[applauding]
Love the enthusiasm. Yeah. Thank you. You know, in the past few years,
we've had some highs and some lows here at Mythic Quest.
Highs like the wild success of our newly integrated,
user-generated content platform, Playpen.
I say, "Play." You say, "Pen." Play!
- Pen! - [David] Play!
Pen.
Yes! That's how we do in Pasadena. [chuckles]
Playpen turns the players into creators,
giving them the tools they need to make their own innovative games.
Games like Cozy Galaxy, brainchild of our own Dana Bryant.
Dana Studios in the house.
[all] Mm-mmm. Mm-mmm.
[chuckles] No?
[clears throat] Uh, we've also had some lows, like COVID...
ending.
When the pandemic lifted and life went back to normal,
the video game industry took a hit.
And we felt it here at home.
Mythic Quest lost a lot of good people when we fired them.
Uh, but we are bouncing back
with the help of our Head of Monetization, Rachel Meyee.
She is gonna make this company more money than that virus ever did.
- Ain't that right, Rache? - No, no, no.
Now, even though Playpen is the shiny, new toy in the MQ ecosystem,
nothing hits like the classics.
Our fearless leaders, Ian and Poppy, returned from GrimPop
and instantly reclaimed their throne. Uh, they also reclaimed my office. [chuckles]
But I am beyond excited to hear their plan for our next expansion,
so please, everyone, give your full attention
to our brilliant co-creative directors, Ian Grimm and Poppy Li!
[applauding]
Guys.
[dramatic music plays]
[employee] Whoa.
What the hell are they doing?
[music continues]
[gasps, breathes deeply]
Poppy! [chuckles] I had the craziest dream last night.
It's still last night.
Yes, I recognize that it's two o'clock in the morning.
- And per our new partnership agreement... - [sighs]
...that we have restricted the sharing
of late-night dreams, visions, and epiphanies.
Also paradigm shifts.
Also paradigm shifts, which is exactly why I'm not crossing the threshold
of your apartment unless you invite me in...
Gotcha. Boundary respected.
My paradigm-shifting idea will just wait until you get in.
- Okay. - Whenever you get in.
Great.
When will you be in?
- Just bloody say it. - Okay. [chuckles]
I have an idea for our next expansion.
I wanna build MQ's version of heaven.
We can call it Elysium.
But the only way that the player can access the new map
is by dying valiantly in the game.
You want me to code courage into the game?
Yes.
That is a highly ambitious,
almost delusional idea that may be impossible to execute.
Yes.
- I love it. It's cool. - Yes. Yes, I thought you would.
- [chuckles] - Okay. Okay, but do you really like it?
Because the foundation of our new and improved partnership
is open and clear communication.
Mm-hmm. I clearly and openly communicate that I really, really like it.
Fantastic. So we should get to w-work on it then...
Yeah, tomorrow, at work.
Right, but technically it... Tomorrow is today.
Okay, so, yeah, I'll see you tomorrow. Good night.
[sighs]
So that was him, huh?
Yeah, emphasis on the was.
Lucky me.
[moaning]
- Get back in there. - Okay. Yes, ma'am.
[chuckles]
[breathing heavily]
On the battlefield, a warrior must give it all for glory.
To the victor, the spoils.
But for those willing to lay down their lives for a noble cause,
a far greater reward.
Immortality.
For only the most courageous few
shall be welcomed through the gates of Elysium!
- Ooh. - Mmm.
Do you... Do you like it?
Yeah. Uh, he loves it. Look at his face.
[imitates explosion] Mind blown.
Really great. Yeah. Super fun.
Yeah, is Dana in yet?
What? Uh... [stammers] Yeah... Well, no,
- her... her car broke down on the way in. - [David] Hmm.
Sorry, David, did you say fun?
- [chuckling] - [chuckles] Yeah. It's...
- Fuck fun. - [Ian] Yeah.
I-I mean, this expansion is revolutionary.
Yeah, totally. Yeah, absolutely.
Uh, does she need a ride?
'Cause I could give her a ride if she needs one.
He's not even listening. I-I-I feel like ever since Playpen launched,
he doesn't care about us at all.
It's Dana this, Dana that. Everything's Dana, Dana, Dana.
- Brady Bunch reference? - Yes. Yes. Yes... [squeals]
Guys, guys, hey, that... It's not true, okay?
It's not that I don't care. It's that Montreal doesn't care.
Look, the amount of users flocking to Playpen is exploding.
I mean, Dana's game alone just cracked one million users per day.
One million?
[chuckles] For real?
- Hmm. - Oh, my God. I have to text her.
After the morning she had, she could use some good news.
[screams] What the hell, man?
If you text her so much as an emoji,
I will fire you faster than you can say "microaggression."
These are company secrets, not couple secrets.
- But we work for the same company. - Same company, different sides.
You're management, she's creative. So zip it.
- Zip it. Stop talking. - If you could zip it...
- You're always talking. - ...that would help.
I barely talked this meeting... Whatever.
Okay, I'm sorry, I just thought we should give her something.
Oh, don't worry. I'll be giving her something later.
- [chuckles] - Ew. What?
Sorry, that came off way too sexual. Uh, no, I-I just meant a trophy.
See, a trophy shows that we value our creators
without showing our creators their actual value.
I call this the "Platinum Performer." Hmm?
Yeah, I was thinking more that we could, like, pay her
since she creates the content that we all profit from,
- and we would be nothing without her. - Uh, no... [chuckles]
...we provide the platform, and she will be nothing without us.
No, you would be nothing without us. We're the ones who are underappreciated.
David, I need your enthusiastic and undivided attention or I'm gonna scream.
Oh, my God. You guys, look, this i... this is a good thing, okay?
I mean, you're always asking for more time, right?
There's no pressure on the expansion,
so you can have all the time in the world to, you know, noodle.
Oh, here she comes. I gotta go. How's my hair look?
- Uh, super fucking weird. - It's too long.
Aren't you a little bit old to be having a midlife crisis, David?
A midlife crisis, me?
- This man is wearing diamond earrings. - Oh, I didn't notice those before.
- Those are nice. - Oh, thanks.
He looks like a wide receiver for the LA Rams.
- Hey. [chuckles] - Thanks.
- No, that's not a compliment. - Awesome.
Whatever. I'm pulling it off.
He's not pulling it off.
- ["My Lovin'" playing] - May I help you?
I need to speak to Dana.
Uh, Ms. Bryant's very busy.
Is she?
Ms. Bryant is in flow,
which you wouldn't understand 'cause you're not an artist.
The only thing that flows on you is that ridiculous hair.
Okay. Jo, look, I-I know you work for Dana now,
but... [sighs] ...come on, we have history. Hook me up.
I wanna give Dana this trophy, huh?
Unfortunately, Ms. Bryant is busy all day,
but I'd be happy to pass along your cheap bauble to her.
Uh, excuse me, it's a very high-end platinum alloy.
- Hmm. - Give it to me.
- Let go. - You let go.
[grunting] How are you so strong?
- David. - [grunts] Brad.
Come on. Give it to me. Let go. [grunts]
Jo... [sighs] ...please.
David, I work for Dana now,
and though I'm fond of you as a person and I respect you as an elder,
I would push you down a well if I thought it would put a smile on her face.
Jesus. All right. Fine.
["My Lovin'" plays, ends]
[sighs] What did David want this time?
Corporate blowhard wanted to award you a trophy, but I eliminated the threat.
A trophy?
- That's good. - Not good.
I don't need a trophy, I need a working transmission.
My car broke down, and I don't have the money to fix it.
How can I have the number one game on Playpen and no money?
It's 'cause you're locked into a rookie contract.
So get me out. You are my money guy.
I'm working on it. I just needed the right leverage.
This trophy is a good sign.
We must have hit a significant player milestone of some kind.
I'll ask Rachel.
He... Dude.
Don't text Rachel.
She is not on our side. She is management, you are creative.
You're not supposed to care about the data.
You're supposed to be mysterious, quixotic, impossible to please.
Let me handle it. [inhales deeply] This is more of a Brad-David situation.
[sighs]
Actually...
it's more of a predator-prey situation
where I sneak up on David when he least expects it.
The last thing he thinks is, "Was that a twig snap?"
[sighs] It's not even a challenge.
Just make it quick and painless.
Actually, I do not care about the painless part,
just get me out of the contract.
[dramatic music playing]
What is he talking about? "Take all the time you need"?
[stammers] How could David say that to us?
How am I supposed to fight against boundaries if I have none?
Yeah, he... he doesn't tell us when we noodle.
We say when we noodle.
That's good. That's good, Pop, you should say that to him.
- You know what? I'm gonna text it to him. - No, no, no, no, no.
- [exclaiming] - Whoa.
- Damn it. [exclaiming] - What are you doing?
I'm just trying to slap the phone out of your hand.
- Why? - Because we should let our work
do the smack-talking for us.
Let's make Elysium so good he can't ignore it anymore.
Yeah. Let's remind that stringy-haired bitch
that we are not to be underestimated.
Just because Playpen is doing well
doesn't mean MQ Original can't be just as relevant as ever.
We're gonna deliver on time and on budget,
and David Brittlesbee is gonna rue the day
that he gave us the exact working conditions we've been asking for,
- for the last 15 to 20 years. - [chuckles] Yeah.
- [both chuckling] - Did you wanna smack it again?
- I kinda feel like the moment's passed. - Yeah, me too. I'll just...
- Cool. - [chuckles] Thanks.
- You are such a good partner. - Thank you. Thank you.
- I'm working on it. Let's get to work. - Okay. All right.
I'm gonna get working on a heuristic that tracks courageous behavior.
[gasps] That's great. Great idea. You know, I...
I feel like I'm... I'm tapped into the muse
and I've... I've got so many ideas. I'm just, like, bursting at the seams.
I say we work all night, obviously. Let's start now.
- Um... - Yes, let's go.
No.
Uh, actually, no, I-I can't tonight.
Oh, okay. Fine.
Uh, do you have... you have plans with somebody?
No.
No, I... I just... I-I-I'm working on having a better work work-life balance.
A better work work-life balance? You just said work twice.
- Mm-hmm. - That's okay.
I'm trying to be a better partner, which means embracing
even your most delusional ideas,
like you having a personal life, but I love that lie for you.
Thank you. Thank you.
You know, I'm just trying to listen to my body more
and what it needs because, uh...
[chuckles] ...my body has needs.
Okay.
But you know, I'm still... I'm still totally committed to the expansion.
And I... And I can still grind when I need to.
Believe me... [chuckles]
...I can grind all night...
Poppy's got a boyfriend.
Really?
Oh, is that why she's been doing all those obnoxious double entendres lately?
Yeah, it's been going on for a while
and I've known about it from the very beginning,
but she keeps lying to me about it.
I feel like our partnership is the strongest it's ever been,
but clearly, I'm wrong.
Mmm. Know that look.
Yeah, nothing hurts like the pangs of jealousy from a cheating lover.
We are not lovers, and I am not jealous.
I am not attracted to her, nor will I ever be.
You don't have to be attracted to someone to have sex with them...
- [chuckles] ...just ask my ex-wife. - Jesus Christ,
why would I talk to you about women?
Look, you gotta catch her in the act, okay?
Tail her and nail her. Sneak up on her when she least expects it...
- Twig snap. - [yelps]
Jesus, Brad. You almost made me drop my trophy.
I thought it was Dana's trophy.
Was this all part of your desperate attempt to make her happy?
No, I don't need to make her happy, she's already happy.
Why wouldn't she be happy? [chuckles]
All right. How do I make her happy?
Three words: Profit sharing, duh.
[chuckles] A profit share?
Yeah, um, little news flash, Brad, Dana's under contract with MQ, okay?
She's waived her rights to profit sharing, so...
Yeah, he's right.
- We paid for her school... - Yeah.
...and that contract is ironclad,
which you should know because you wrote it.
See, when you worked for corporate you screwed over the artist,
but now you work for an artist, so you kinda screwed yourself.
Mmm.
So, I'm not hunting David...
I'm hunting myself.
The most dangerous game.
Did he say he was hunting me?
That guy's weird.
[toilet flushes]
- What up, girlfriend? - Jesus Christ.
- How long have you been standing there? - A while.
I didn't want to bother you while you were in flow. [chuckles]
- Ew. - [chuckles, sighs]
It's so fun to have inside jokes with friends.
[chuckles] Well, enough chitchat.
- Let's go. - Ow! Ow! What are you doing?
My boss has requested your presence
- for a clandestine meeting. - [groans]
Jo, I can walk myself.
Ms. Bryant instructed me to use force whenever necessary.
- [sighing] - Thanks, Jo.
You bet.
- Sorry. Hi. - [sighs] Hi. What's happening?
Everything's fine. I just realized we haven't really talked
about where we're drawing the line between work stuff and personal stuff.
So, I thought we should do that.
Oh, okay.
Uh, you wanna have that conversation now?
I want to draw the line here.
- Oh. - Whatever happens at the office
stays on that side of the line,
and we do not bring our personal problems to work.
Okay. Yeah. Boundaries.
Sure. Totally.
We should definitely have those, otherwise, stuff gets messy.
So messy.
Sorry... [chuckles]
...why is it messy for you?
Because I'm caught between my boss and my best friend.
- Ooh. Best? - Jo... [chuckles]
...could you give us a minute?
- You got it, boss. - [chuckles]
- You okay? - I'm fine.
- Okay. - Thanks.
We don't wanna put each other in a compromising situation.
- Right? - Right. Yeah. Uh-huh.
Like, say, you had information about my game.
Mm-hmm.
I would never expect you to share that information with me
just because I'm your girlfriend and I love you.
Mmm. That's good. [chuckles]
Mm-hmm. Good.
Is it good?
Which? The information I'm not supposed to talk about,
or the boundaries we're establishing,
or love?
All of them?
Yes, it's all good.
- It's really good. - I knew it.
- Yes. - Yeah!
- Oh. We gotta celebrate. - Yes. Ooh, we should go to dinner.
There's this new French place I've been wanting to try. My treat.
Rache, I'm glad you're flush from your job,
but I cannot handle another tasting menu.
They finish at like 1:00 in the morning, and I think you getting the gout, girl.
I am not getting the gout.
I just love duck liver mousse...
and my toe hurts.
- [car horn honks] - [Poppy] Goddamn, car. Too low.
- [groans] - Poppy. What the hell are you doing?
[chuckles] Just popping on some fresh undies.
[chuckles] I got a date tonight. Don't tell Ian.
I'm trying to keep work and private life separate.
Not that you two gal pals would understand that.
- Is that your Porsche? - Yep,
I never really learned how to drive it properly,
but-but it is great for holding all my stuff.
Wow. I can't afford a car, and you get a $100,000 closet.
Going to an art show tonight with the bloke I'm banging.
Of course, the real show will be afterwards
in the bedroom when we're banging.
- [horn honking, alarm blaring] - Pop...
Uh, are you...
- Oh, shit. - It's that... It's that button.
Hold on.
- It's the same button that you... - It's the same one.
- I just pressed it. - I know. Press it again.
- The same button that you hit. - Oh! I got it. It's my car.
- Hey. - Oh, hey, Pop,
I learned how to use the shovel as a guitar,
and I think it would be, like, a cute homage to us.
That is cute.
All right, I'm going to head off.
- Oh, you're taking off? - Yeah.
Oh, okay.
Um... [stammers] ...you said you were gonna leave early,
but that usually means like 10:00 p.m.
Yes, but I have to go and celebrate my mum's birthday.
It's tomorrow. But because of the time difference,
that-that means that it's today.
So, technically I'm late for the future.
Okay. You know, you could tell me the truth about where you're going.
You don't have to, of course, you know, boundaries and all.
But, you know, if you wanted to, you could.
Boundaries, boundaries.
- Okay. See ya. [chuckles] - Oh.
Oh!
For my feet. [chuckles]
You have deodorant for your feet.
Yeah.
Boundaries.
- [bag crinkling] - [crunching]
Ooh, Poppy's leaving early today.
I wonder if she and Ian are having problems.
Hey, I can't open this door. Is this a bug?
[grunts] Open... Oh.
Oh, never mind. Just hit this button here.
[chuckles] These games are so complex.
Oh, you want complexity? You should check these people's lives out.
The way they intertwine and clash with each other.
It's like a great soap opera.
I'm addicted to it.
Better be careful. You are an addict.
- That I am. - Yeah.
Thanks, Mikey, for the accountability check.
- Yeah. - [chuckles]
Check in with yourself. I'm sure it's just harmless fun.
- Yeah. - [chuckles]
It's not like I'm gonna wipe out my retirement fund,
you know, buying one too many rounds of office drama.
[chuckling] Can't wipe out what you don't have.
- [chuckling] - [chuckles] Hey, careful, careful.
I, uh, I got nothing, either. [chuckles]
- Zip. - Oh! Door doesn't open. New bug.
- No. Press A. - [door opens]
- Hey. - I know, right?
Where's Dana?
My employer has left for the evening with my best friend
without need for my assistance or friendship.
[sighs] Oh, what a tangled web I've weaved.
[sighs] Ever feel like your own worst enemy?
No.
[groans]
Hey, how you holding up, bud?
Go away. I'm working.
You wanna get a drink? Talk about it?
[sighs] There's nothing to talk about.
Okay.
Well, we could talk about the expansion.
Yeah, you got my enthusiastic and undivided attention.
Come on.
[sighs] Okay. Maybe just one drink.
But...
it's gotta be whiskey.
Oh. Okay. Yeah. That's...
And...
Japanese.
Sure.
- Pre-war. - All right.
You got to tell the bartender all this stuff though, okay?
[both] Date night!
[chuckling]
- Oh, damn. Look at that. - [gasps]
[gasps] I know. They have pâté.
- [gasps] Oh, my God. - You gotta chill
on the organ meats, honey.
Okay.
I just... One bite.
Look, I was talking about Poppy's man.
- [Poppy laughs] - [Dana] He is fine.
Yeah, he's like kind of masc, kind of femme.
But he's, like, totally nailing both.
Mmm. Speaking of masc and femme...
This isn't a bar.
No, no, this is where Poppy's meeting up with her lover.
We followed her?
No, no. Well, I mean, not physically.
She uses the company card to Uber, so she's easy to track.
Tailed and nailed.
You lied to me.
Mmm. You're lying to yourself.
Look, if you want to snap out of your funk,
you gotta confront your partner.
Go get your girl...
Or, sorry, woman.
[groans] Still struggling with that one.
[coughing]
- Damn it. - [coughing continues]
You all right?
Hmm. Oh, Dana's here.
I should have brought the trophy.
- We should've brought Jo. - Yeah.
- Oh, fancy meeting you two here. - [Dana clears throat, chuckles]
- [chuckles] - Did you follow me?
No, no... [stammers] ...I love art.
[chuckles] I love artists.
I mean, you know me, I back creative, right?
Said that many times. But this is great.
Um, a lot of great pieces. Anything you're liking?
I could buy it for you if-if that would make you happy.
I don't know. Seems like a rip-off.
Gallery takes 50% for what?
Providing walls?
Well, yeah, but the walls provide a platform, I think.
Which is important, you know? Because that allows the art
to be displayed and enjoyed.
And otherwise, you know, an artist could-could starve, right?
Well, maybe it's about finding the right gallery.
One that takes less from the artist.
After all, this isn't the only place in town with walls.
Thanks a lot.
I mean, how... how do I make her happy?
Uh, David, that's a couple secret, not a company secret.
What are you doing here?
Poppy, I didn't mean to cross a boundary, but David tricked me.
Look, it's okay.
I already knew that you have a boyfriend.
- You did? - Yes.
And I don't care about any of that.
I just don't understand why you wouldn't tell me.
I don't know. I-I didn't want you to...
I didn't want it to be weird.
Weird. Why... Why would it be weird?
Poppy, I'm not in love with you for your body.
It's the body of a 14-year-old boy.
I mean, you got no hips
and I'm pretty sure you're developing a hunchback.
The point is I love you for your mind.
You give me your big, beautiful mind.
That's what I love about you.
We work together, that's our partnership and no boyfriend can ever take that away.
Thank you.
Yeah.
So, uh, that's him, huh?
Yeah.
- Nice. You hitting that? - Yeah.
He's got sort of like a masculine, feminine energy.
I know. It's like fucking two people at once.
- Ian, right? - Hi.
- Hey. [chuckles] - Hi.
Um, Ian, this is Storm.
Storm. Awesome name.
Well, thank you. Yes, it's-it's great to finally meet,
and, uh, Poppy had told me that she forgot to invite you,
but somehow you showed up anyway.
And I guess that is the universe's way of conspiring to bring us all together.
The universe. I love that you think in cosmic terms. That is awesome.
Um, unfortunately, this case, it was a kidnapping.
- [chuckles] That's... - [chuckles]
- That's good. - No, seriously,
it was like a kidnapping situation.
- But, um... - Well, um...
[clicks tongue] ...either way, uh, I am so glad you could make it to my show.
- Your show? - Yeah.
Oh, are you an artist?
I am. Yeah. Well, I do mixed media, uh,
so I play around with traditional and digital forms.
- Awesome. - Thanks.
Uh, this is actually the signature piece.
Right here.
[Ian] Wow.
Yeah, we call it The Mechanic.
- Uh, we? - [clicks tongue] Yeah.
Um, actually, Poppy came up with the whole concept,
and I-I just sort of helped bring it all to life...
That's not true.
[stammers] He did way more than that. You built the whole thing.
I know, but you coded it, and, uh... Just really, we make a good team.
- [chuckles] So... - [chuckles]
Oh.
- Storm. - Oh, yes. Okay. I'm sorry.
Uh, gotta go introduce the piece.
Um, I'll see you later.
- Yeah. - Okay.
- Good seeing you. Thank you. - Yeah.
You guys are, uh, working together?
Sorry, I didn't know how to... [inhales sharply]
[stammers] Hey, Pop.
We'll... I'll...
Uh, thank you all so much for being here.
Uh, but before we really celebrate,
I'd like to take a second to honor this amazing woman standing beside me.
I could not have done this without her.
She is my creative confidant, my-my partner.
Everybody, a big round of applause for Poppy Li.
[cheers, applause]
["I'm Confident that I'm Insecure" playing]