I hadn’t talked to Dan much at this point. He was tanned, athletic, obviously, with well-groomed dark stubble and brown eyes. It was easy to see how he’d accumulated so many followers with his good looks and soft way of speaking. But at this point, all I’d noticed about him was that his metal water bottle seemed attached to his hand.
“All right, all right. I’m sorry.” Nathan held up his hands. “Let’s get down to business then. What’s the deal, Rene?”
A flicker of tension worked its way up Irene’s jaw. Nathan’s casual use of her nickname did not go down well. The strained atmosphere in the room made my stomach squirm with anxiety and I longed to be alone, working on the latest Akarthis story.
“First. Tech,” Irene said. She opened a laptop and arranged the screen so we could all see it. “This is the website. The Event dot com.” The launch screen showed an image of the monastery with a button to subscribe. Beneath the button were our faces and a promise: Access the lives of those you covet. “This, is what a subscriber sees.” She logged into the site and showed us a page featuring six videos. The footage showed several places in the monastery, such as a small lounge, the cloister, the refectory, all empty apart from the kitchen. Irene smiled and waved at a camera in the corner of the room. “You will expect to find CCTV in the walkways, the snug, the utility room, the refectory and the kitchen. They are fitted with long range microphones so we shouldn’t need to wear a mic. But there are no cameras or microphones in your bedrooms or any of the bathrooms.”
“What about the church and the east wing?” I asked.
“None there either. Just the renovated part of the building.” She used the track pad to click on each video and enlarge it. “Viewers can watch all the cameras together on this screen, or choose a feed. When we go live on the site, it works like Instagram Live. You’ll see a ticker of messages. For the regular footage, there’s a comments box at the bottom of the page so that the viewers can talk to each other.”
“Cool,” Jules said. “It’s like they have their own micro-community.”
“You’ll also be expected to talk to the viewers using the comments box. If you’re not on the live video function on the laptop, you can type in the comments box to chat. And, in addition to all that…” She hauled a box onto the counter. “After our meeting, I’ll place these outside your doors.” She began lifting out each item one by one. “Selfie stick. GoPro with a chest mount. A smaller body cam for inside the house. And a drone.”
“Nice,” Dan said. “We should get decent footage with the drone.”
“Next fitness video?” Jules asked with a grin.
Dan picked up the drone and shrugged. “Would it be a problem if footage from The Event was used for things like that?”
“I’ll have to check with Loup,” Irene said. “I’d imagine there’s a licence fee.”
Dan pursed his lips and placed the drone back.
Irene continued. “I almost forgot. There’ll be a delay of ten minutes between what the camera records, and what’s shown on the website. However, when we want to do live challenges and interviews, we will have to reduce that time to zero, otherwise it won’t work. I can override the upload. If you do anything stupid, like walk through the monastery naked—” Nathan wolf-whistled “—then you must tell me immediately and I’ll erase it. But I won’t do it for every little thing. Watch what you say. Think about what you do. If it’s something you don’t want hundreds of thousands of people to see, don’t do it. Understand?”
“Yes, Fuhrer,” Nathan said.
Irene simply smiled. “Get it all out of your system now, Nathan.”
I watched the two of them and wondered if there was, or had been, a relationship between them. Jules caught my gaze and raised her eyebrows, which forced me to smother a grin.
“Someone needs to be online at all times,” Irene continued. “That means sleeping in shifts, which I know won’t be great for everyone. But it is what it is. This gives us a greater earning potential and means we can charge for membership in countries all around the world. Also, content needs to be uploaded at night. If you record a lot of decent footage during the day, upload at least half of it later, before bed. We will go on walks, exercise, talk, create and so on. These things can be added in the evening. I’ll show the page to upload… Here. You’ve all got a username and password which will be in your welcome box with the other equipment.”
“I’ll be doing sunrise yoga each morning,” Dan said. “It’d be great to have company.”
“Sure,” Irene said. “I can do that.”
“I could try,” I added. “But I’ve never done yoga before.”
“Even better. It’ll be more relatable.” Dan smiled.
“Yes, relatable is important,” Irene said. “We also want to be aspirational at times, but our content needs to appeal to everyone.” Her subtle French accent was like water slipping over stones, sliding through syllables. “And don’t forget to make the most of this location. It’s like a haunted house with a ton of history. Use it but don’t make it too cheesy. Play up on the fear if you like. That shit goes viral.” She clapped her hands together. “I brought a Ouija board that we have to use at some point.”
I noticed Jules raise her eyebrows. Nathan grinned.
“We have two hundred thousand subscribers to the regular channel, and ten thousand to the VIP channel who will receive extra content,” Irene continued. “On top of that, we will receive donations from viewers, for live challenges. The money from the subscribers will be split between the five of us, with Loup taking a ten per cent cut. Donations will go to the individual the viewer decides to donate to. They’ll see a button with your faces on. Cute or what? Also…” Irene pointed to a board on the wall. “There will be a friendly competition, too.”
“Hell yes,” Nathan muttered, staring up at our names on the boards. “Anyone else at eight million followers?”
“Me!” Irene said with a smile. “Also, Nathan, your gaming system is set up how you like it.”
“You’re a star, Rene.”
“The launch begins in two hours. I suggest you get ready. We’ll meet in the snug room ten minutes before it’s due to start. I’ll make a fire and put up decorations. We have a donation from Moet, but we need to keep the bottles visible at all times.”
“Not a problem,” Jules said, rubbing her hands together eagerly.
“Oh, I don’t drink.” Stupidly, I put my hand up as though in a classroom. Nathan’s eyes finally rested on me and he laughed.
“Just hold one every now and then, okay?” Irene said.
I nodded, not sure what else to do or say, beginning to wonder why I was even there when all of these people were both successful and confident, and I currently felt like neither.
“Do we need body cams for the launch?” Dan asked.
“No,” Irene replied, standing up from her chair. “There are enough cameras to catch everything. And I’ll take my laptop so we can chat to subscribers via messenger, too.”