"Yeah, well, it would actually take that long just to do the research for it, if you're going to do it right."
"That was really something, you know," said Arkasian. "Coming up with all that right out of your head, out of the air, complete with the marketing strategy. No wonder Eight Bits Inc. hired your„
And there it was. Arkasian thought that Eight Bits Inc. owned him, and if Step just said outright, I want to quit them and I'm looking for something better, he'd be tagged in Arkasian's eyes as disloyal. Any offer that was going to be worthwhile had to come from Arkasian, without Step asking.
"They just have me writing manuals," said Step.
"Are you kidding?" asked Arkasian.
"I'm not there as a programmer."
"What were they thinking of?"
"Internal politics, I think," said Step. "Doesn't matter, I enjoy the work."
"So you're through with programming?"
Here was the moment.
"I still have the rights to Hacker Snack," said Step. "And I can write programs on any machine that Eight Bits Inc. isn't developing for."
"They aren't developing for the PC?"
"Ray hasn't decided."
"Come here," said Arkasian. He beckoned Step to come around inside the Agamemnon booth.
Unlike the Eight Bits Inc. display, the Agamemnon area -- which was twice as large to begin with, an end-of-the-row double- had something like a private room in it, a three-sided vertical display unit with a lockable door. Arkasian led him inside, into a small roofless space cluttered with empty boxes and packing materials. Arkasian closed the door behind them, and then said, firmly, "Ray Keene is the worst lying son-of-a-bitch in this business.'
Now was not the time for Step to badmouth his boss, not to someone who might later want to be able to rely on Step's loyalty. "I've only been at Eight Bits Inc. since the first of March, and I don't see much of Ray."
"Why didn't you talk to me before you went to work as a manual writer for Ray Keene?"
"I sent my resume to Agamemnon, but I got a form letter back saying you weren't hiring."
"Damn," said Arkasian cheerfully. "We're so big now that we've got a personnel director. Of course we weren't hiring, but we would have hired you."
This was the chance Step had been hoping for- it would never get better than this. Might as well ask for the moon. "I don't want to work for anybody, Arkasian. Not even Agamemnon. If I leave Eight Bits Inc., it'll be because I have a development deal with somebody, and I can work on my own, at home, with an advance large enough to live on while I write code. And I have a one-year noncompetition clause with Eight Bits Inc. Hacker Snack is excluded, though, and also programs for machines that Eight Bits isn't developing for."
"And how much would you need?"
"Depends on how long the program would take to develop," said Step. "That atlas would take a long time."
"What about Hacker Snack for the 64?"
"Two months," said Step.
"And what about Hacker Snack for the PC?"
"I don't know 8088 machine code."
"So include the learning curve."
"Six months at the outside," said Step. "But it won't look as good in IBM's lousy three-color graphic screen."
"I want it monochrome first, anyway."
"Why not do both versions and put them in the same package? That way if they upgrade their machine, they already have the game."
"Why not sell it to them twice?"
"Because they'll feel robbed," said Step, "and if they're thinking about upgrading you don't want them to put off buying Hacker Snack until after they've decided about the upgrade. Heck, they might upgrade just because they already own the colo r version of the game."
"Let me think about this," said Arkasian. "I can tell you right now, I want Hacker Snack for the 64. But different. Upgraded. So we can say, Better than the Atari version. New improved, all that bullshit."
"I'll think of stuff," said Step.
"We haven't decided about the PC, either. Nor would I have any idea how much to advance you on PC
projects, because we still don't know what the entertainment software market is going to be like on what is essentially a business machine."
"A crippled business machine."
"With an inflated, monopolistic price," said Arkasian. "I don't like IBM either. But I think Neddy's right. I think IBM will make the PC go. I think it'll be ten times the CP/M market, and I think people will want color on it. And do you know why I think they'll want color on it?"
"So they can play games," said Step.
"Dead right."
Step laughed. "That's the only reason computers exist, isn't it? To play games."
"No joke," said Arkasian. "And the more game- like the serious software is, the better it'll sell. Step Fletcher, I'll give you a development deal on Hacker Snack for the 64, just to start with. But it won't be enough money for you to quit your job."
"I understand."
"But if Ray Keene is as cheap and stupid a son-of-a-bitch as I think he is, he's going to decide not to develop for the PC. If that happens, you tell me, and we'll do a deal for the PC. A serious deal, maybe even including that atlas idea. You do want to do that, don't you? I mean, I know you were just making it up as you went along, and maybe-"
"I'd give my teeth to do it."
"So tell me when Ray Keene decides."
Step took a deep breath. "I can't do that," he said.
"What?"
"Mr. Arkasian, I work for Eight Bits Inc. I can't tell a competitor things that I find out about Ray Keene's plans."
Arkasian looked at him, perplexed. "Well, I'll be damned."
"The second I quit," said Step, "then I will be able to tell you whether my noncompetition agreement will allow me to develop for the PC or not, and then you can conclude what you like. But until I quit, I can't tell you what Ray decides about anything. I shouldn't even have told you that he hasn't decided yet, and I feel bad enough about that, I'm not going to make it worse."
"Well, then, if he decides not to go for the PC, quit your job and call me."
"I can't quit my job unless I already know I've got something lined up." What Step couldn't say was, There's a chance that you're only offering me work in order to get a spy inside Eight Bits Inc., and I won't do that. "I've got three kids and a fourth due in July."
Step almost held his breath, waiting to see what Arkasian would say.
"OK," said Arkasian. "I'll send you a contract for Hacker Snack for the 64. There'll be an option clause in it.
Hacker Snack for the PC, and a development deal for the PC. If I decide, as I probably will, to take Agamemnon into PC development, then I'll exercise the option on Hacker Snack for the PC. At that point, you come to the conclusion that your noncompetition agreement with Eight Bits Inc. would allow you to develop for the PC, then you can exercise the option on the PC development deal. And I'll make sure the bucks are big enough. What do you make now?"
"Thirty thousand a year, only that isn't enough to live on."
"I know how it is," said Arkasian. "A two-year deal, a hundred thousand dollars. You can't exercise your option unless I've already exercised mine, for the PC version of Hacker Snack, but after that, it's up to you."
"Up to Ray Keene, you mean."
"I'm betting on Ray Keene making the wrong move. Maybe only for six months before he changes his mind back, but if everything works out, your work is going to be coming out with the Agamemnon logo on it."
Step cocked his head. "You aren't just using me to stick it to Ray Keene, are you?"
"I don't invest money to stick it to anybody," said Arkasian. "I invest money where I think I'm going to make a shitload more." Then he grinned. "But if it also makes Ray Keene piss green, so much the better."
"You need my address," said Step.
"Give me your card."
"I don't have a card. I just moved and, well, I don't have a card."
"Write it on the back of mine. And keep one of these for your self." Step pocketed one card, put the Chinqua Penn address and phone number on the back of the other, and returned it to Arkasian. Arkasian took it, put it in his pocket, and held out his hand. Step took it. Arkasian's grip was large and firm and it made Step feel ... safe.