The plans from October predicted that the game would be finished by the beginning of this month. No one expected it would take more than three months. However, everything is moving slowly, sometimes with days where nothing gets done. At the beginning of the week, we all had coffee together and agreed that we needed to do something to clearly see the completion of the project and fulfill everything that was planned. Max and Ian insisted everything would go much faster if we rented a space where we could all work together for a month or two, and then after the game was released, the space could still be used if the game succeeds.
In my opinion, there wasnât that much work, but the two of them insisted that we add some features that werenât initially planned. Elena was reserved, currently giving the impression that she had given up on everything, and I gave in. The day after the meeting and our coffee, Max and I went to a private college to inquire about working space. Elena had heard that the college was renting out excess space in its building, and it was affordable. They directed us to a maintenance man named Mika. Mika is the buildingâs caretaker, responsible for all matters related to the building. He called someone from the college administration, though we didnât understand exactly what his role was, and they showed us two spaces that the team could rent. The spaces were renovated and pleasant to be in. Large windows let in a lot of light. The price was reasonable too. We could work late if needed because the building also had a night guard. The only issue we encountered was the payment method. Since weâre not officially registered as a company, it wasnât clear what the space would be rented for. We agreed that a solution could be found if we decided to go for this space.
During the tour of the building, we ran into Xenia. I stepped away from the group for a few minutes to greet her. She said she didnât expect to run into me here. I knew she worked in administration at some college, but I didnât know it was this one. I was also surprised when I saw her. We agreed to meet soon.
About ten minutes after leaving, I received an SMS:
âIf youâre interested in an affordable space, I can rent you a well-equipped space in Novo Naselje. You can contact me at this number.â
The message was from Mika. He probably got the number from Xenia.
Today, I had coffee with Xenia. She confirmed that Mika had asked for her number. When we mentioned him, she shared a short story about him. He started his career in the â80s and always worked as building maintenance. Besides this job, he always developed his private ventures, which often went at the expense of his employer. Redirecting tenants to other spaces is just one example. Problems arise when inspections come because he always has his goods in the utility rooms, which no one controls. The disposal of obsolete stuff in that building is especially creative.
Itâs unclear how Mika ended up doing his job for a private owner the way he used to in a state company. Something must have allowed him to do so, but Xenia didnât find out what.
I arranged another coffee with Xenia for the weekend. She was no longer with her boyfriend. There was no reason not to meet her, except that I think about Boyana Dosen every day, but I never seem to meet Boyana. Maybe I wonât see her soon, and sheâll probably leave Novi Sad in June. Maybe she was just being polite with me.
After coffee with Xenia, I went home. I turned on the computer to send the information we gathered to Elena and Ian. Soon after I sent my message, I received an email from Elena.
Email from Elena:
Weâll talk again about renting the space. Itâs an important decision. There will be some costs, but thatâs not too important. If weâre going to rent the space, we must spend at least five hours a day there. If weâre not serious about it, we shouldnât get into it.
Petar called me today, and we sat for a short while in the city center. He heard somewhere about everything weâre doing. He also heard that weâre open to investment. He says he could arrange for a small initial investment. The investor is a supposedly well-known family who, among other things, deals with startup companies.
Whatâs strange in his story is that, as far as I understood, thereâs no need for the software to actually work or for the final stage to be reached and everything tested. What matters is just announcing new, interesting options and making presentations and demo videos. Based on the fact that we have the first investment and a demo version of the game, we could look for new, larger investments, and then we would share that with this family. He says theyâre very influential and that weâll be surprised when we meet them. So, itâs necessary to create the illusion that something is being made and present the new options in the most interesting way possible. Itâs an interesting concept, and itâs interesting that someone thought of it.
Anyway, I told Petar to talk with you. Iâm not going to be the bad guy… girl. You explain to him how we work. By the way, during that meeting, be sure to take my camera. I lent it to him today. When you arrange to meet, remind him to bring the camera with him, and if that doesnât happen, after the coffee, say youâre going to the city center anyway and pick up the camera from his place when youâre there.
When something stays with him, I have to go to dinner so he can return it. He always finds an opportunity to tell me about his projects, pop art, or conceptual art. Sometimes he says heâs doing one thing, sometimes another, and sometimes what heâs doing is both.
He showed me his latest work. A photo of a dog on a street full of people. At the bottom of the photo, in Helvetica font, it says, âPretending to not see.â I donât know if the separation of âtoâ and the verb is part of the concept. Itâs probably some kind of italo-disco concept art.
Anyway, I see heâs doing well. He has support from some fund and talks about some projects and budgets.
What moment defined him, I wonder. You say that for Sanya, that moment was when he was riding the electric pony in the department store. What could we say about Petar?
My answer to Elena:
What moment in Petarâs childhood defined his behavior? The moment when his mom sent him and his brother to the store. His brother went alone, but Petar stayed home watching TV. His mom thought they both went, so when his brother returned, she gave them each a chocolate. Thatâs the moment.
Iâll talk to him. Iâll take the camera too, donât worry. I wonât return without the camera. Iâm not against this type of game with investors. Maybe thatâs how business is done. If Max and Ian were in charge, thatâs how theyâd run the business, but we wouldnât know that weâre already doing it, endlessly announcing new features. Still, something about it bothers me. I donât know what exactly is bothering me, some general exception. I probably subconsciously feel that itâs not clean business. I mean… much less clean than it first seems. And then complicating things with Petar.
Speaking of work… Iâve signed a business-technical cooperation agreement with Xenia.
Elena, Iâm doing everything to make our friendship strong. Thatâs why Iâm informing you about it right away.
Email from Elena:
Romantically put. đ
But okay, anything that strengthens our friendship is welcome. Doesnât she have a boyfriend?
My answer:
She no longer has a boyfriend.
Xenia isnât bad at all, on the contrary. When we first met, I wasnât impressed due to some of my prejudices, mostly because I was a redneck. I think sheâs sweet.
Email from Elena:
I believe what you wrote is true. This part about you, for sure.
My answer:
I met an interesting man, Mika the caretaker.
What youâre sending me from Petar, all these new things Iâm hearing, surpasses any knowledge and experience I have, My experience is fragile, almost zero Iâd say right now. This Mika guy, I think heâd give us good advice, but we wonât ask him. Iâll tell you about him as soon as we meet.
