The Romantic Adventures of Joe Hawley and Zubin Sedghi

The Conference in New York

Joe arrives early, as usual. Zubin shows up just before the meeting starts.

The conference rooms are filled with hundreds of people: journalists, investors, and other video game developers. Zubin walks through the crowd, and makes his way over to Joe.

"Hey," says Joe.

"Hi," replies Zubin. "How's it going?"

"Good," answered Joe. "Are you ready for the presentation?"

Zubin nods. "Yeah. Are you?"

Joe nods. "I am."

Zubin smiles. "Great. Let's go."

Zubin walks into one of the meeting rooms.

As soon as Zubin enters, the room erupts with applause. Zubin waves to the crowd, and takes his seat on stage.

After a minute or so, the audience settles down.

Zubin stands up and addresses the crowd. "Let's get started."

He then turns to Joe. "Joe, would you please join me up here?"

Joe walks onto the stage. He then sits down across from Zubin.

"Thanks for coming," said Zubin.

Joe nods.

"The first thing I want to say is thank you," began Zubin. "Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to come here today. You're probably wondering why I asked you to give this presentation."

Joe smiles. "Yes. Actually, I am."

Zubin nods. "Okay. Well, I wanted to ask you to do it because I think you're very smart, and I trust your judgment."

Joe hawley then began his presentation to the vast crowd of CEO's, developers, and directors.

"Hello everyone," begins Joe. "My name is Joseph Hawley. I recently received an award for being the best video game developer in the world."

A large number of people laugh. Zubin shakes his head and smiles.

"I'm kidding," continued Joe. "I actually made that up. I have no idea if that's true. But I did make the worlds greatest video game: The Big Game. I created it using my own technology, which allows me to create games that are totally unique."

Joe points to a small device sitting on the table next to him.

"This device is called my invention," he explains. "It's a little black box, that can transform any normal television into an interactive screen."

The crowd becomes quiet.

"Now, imagine what would happen if we used these devices to play video games together."

The crowd becomes silent once again.

"If we could play video games together, we wouldn't need monitors anymore," explained Joe. "We could simply sit in front of our TV screens, and watch our friends play against us. We could even invite celebrities to join us, and make it more interesting."

Joe shows a picture of himself playing with a famous actress.

"Imagine a football game where you get to run around the field, and challenge an NFL star. Or how about a basketball game, where you get to shoot hoops with Shaq. If you were lucky enough to be invited to play with Michael Jordan, you might even win."

The crowd cheers.

Joe continues. "Or maybe you'd rather play golf. What if you could play with Tiger Woods, and beat him at his own game?"

The crowd cheers loudly.

"Of course, we don't only want to play with celebrities," explained Joe. "Everyone wants to play with their friends, too. That's why I created the Big Game. It's a video game that anyone can play, and it's completely free."

The crowd cheers.

Joe smiles. "I know I'm right. Because I invented it."

Joe shows a photo of the Big Game's website. Thousands of people log on every day to play.

"By the way," he added. "The Big Game isn't just limited to video games. We can use the same technology for anything. For example, we can turn a regular movie into an interactive experience. Imagine watching a scene in a new movie, and then being able to pick the actor who plays the role. Or imagine sitting in a movie theater, and selecting the ending that you want to see. Think about that.

It then hit everybody, Joe Hawley was lying about all of this. Joe hawley does not even know how to program and works at a bank in wisconsin, and all of this has been untrue. Zubin stands to the side, shaking his head. he regrets letting joe do the speech. The crowd begins to boo at Joe, and call him out for being a liar. Joe has realized that he fucked up.

Joe stands up, and starts shouting. "Wait, wait, wait! Calm down!"

Joe grabs Zubin by the hand. "Let me explain. Zubin, please let me explain."

Joe then pulls Zubin aside, and whispers in his ear.

"Don't worry," whispered Zubin. "Everything will be okay."

Joe nods. "But I lied."

Zubin looks confused. "How could you lie? Are you crazy?"

Joe lets out a sigh. "I'm insanely crazy Zubin, and we gotta get outa here before they kill us."

Zubin rubs his chin. "Why would you lie about something like that?"

Joe shrugs. "Because I thought it was funny."

Zubin laughs. "You're insane man."

Joe nods. "Yeah, I guess I am."

Joe turns back to the crowd. "Okay, okay. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt anybody's feelings. I'm really sorry."

Zubin looks puzzled. "What are you talking about? They're all yelling at you!"

Joe holds up his hands. "No, I'm sorry. Please, listen to me. I didn't mean to lie."

Joe takes out his phone, and starts dialing. He then motions Zubin to follow him.