I sat on my chair with my arms crossed.
I was really pissed off, and concerned.
Luckily, my PC could still power on, but the monitor wasn't working, so I couldn't really check what the real damage might be. Brian, after seeing that I was okay, took the PC downstairs to connect it to TV. He told me it seemed to be okay but Windows went into some sort of disk recovery mode and the scan, and whatever recovery process it was running, was taking an excruciatingly long time.
And there was Senne.
She was pacing back and forth in my room, stopping suddenly at times as if she suddenly realized something, only to shake her head and start moving around again.
"Explain yourself."
I felt I had given her enough time to think things over.
"I don't quite get it, to be very honest with you."
"I'm not sure I can count on your 'honesty'."
"I did feel a tingle for a moment."
"Like the one on your hand again?"
"Actually—" she paused for a moment, then continued, "more than a tingle. Like a jolt. Or a surge? Yes, that sounds about right. A surge of power."
I rubbed my temples with my thumbs.
"It seems this 'surge of power' isn't good for electronics."
I looked at my phone, which, again, was thankfully working, but the screen warped and flickered randomly every now and then.
"I'm sorry about that."
"If this happens again, we are cooked. I just hope Brian can get the PC fixed."
"I'm truly sorry."
There was sincerity in her voice. I couldn't stay too mad, but this was a practical concern we had to address.
"Look, according to you, if we really take off, you may get your power back. But if we are breaking our gear every time you get this 'surge of power,' we won't be able to stream at all. I can't be replacing stuff every week. We simply can't afford it."
Senne put her hands in her pockets and started walking around the room again, this time in circles.
"Stop that, you are making me dizzy."
She didn't stop, though, but when I was just about to reprimand her again, she stopped suddenly and clapped her hands, as if she had a eureka moment.
"Bree."
"What is it?"
"Why don't you get a job?"
"For Christ's sake! Now don't YOU get started!"
"But we need money."
"This IS my job."
"But you aren't making money…"
"I DO."
"Then why are you always saying we are so broke?"
"Because… whatever. We need more viewers, which we are not going to get if we CAN'T stream."
Senne walked over to me, leaned forward to bring her flaming face close to mine, and whispered.
"Let's stream together. It seems I can help attract viewers."
"I… don't know if that's a good idea."
"Why not?"
"We only found out that they can see you, but it was all of a sudden. We don't even know how it happened. Others couldn't see you when karuhi could before, but somehow, today, they could."
"We've got to find out a way to do it."
I checked my phone again. The screen was still doing its weird thing, but I could still manage to operate it. Someone clipped and posted the video of my stream, which has gained an incredible 186 views already, but it showed nothing. Literally nothing. The video description said, 'you can't see anything in this clip but I swear there was a ghost during the stream.'
Browsing through comments made something clear, although incomprehensible. The viewers during the stream claimed they saw something—Senne—but none of the footages that were supposedly taken during Senne's 'appearance' actually showed her. Nor was there any sound of her yapping recorded.
"What are people saying?" Senne asked.
"You might be disappointed, but they can't actually see you."
"But they did!"
"But you are not in any of the clips. They can't even hear you."
"But they did!"
I knew Senne was, probably, right in some sense. The chat's reaction felt genuine. It didn't seem like they were collectively messing with me.
But the practical risk was too real. I'm seriously doomed if any of my equipment break down. Even if somehow Senne could help draw the viewers, miraculously, if it meant something could go out of control and my PC could explode or something, I would not be able to stream at all—possibly for months until I could come up with some money, somehow.
"No, Senne. We can't do it."
"LISTEN TO ME!"
Senne's flame flared up, growing just slightly bigger, but—
"Why… how…" I stuttered.
"What is it now?!" Senne yelled.
"Why are you floating?"
Senne looked down, saw her feet off the ground, maybe by an inch.
"Oh."
Then she landed back onto the carpet, gently.