Tell her

You give Barbara a quick rundown on your streaming plans.

"Oh," she says.

There's something about that 'oh' that catches your attention.

"What?"

"You know MicroStuff is a 'Christian Corporation,' right?"

"Huh?"

"Come on, it's all over our website. They even participated in one of those lawsuits to deny birth control to their female employees."

"Oh. I guess I didn't pay much attention to that."

"Typical male."

"Uh, maybe. So, what's that got to do with anything."

"How do you think fundamentalist Christians would think about being told their universe is a simulation?"

"Isn't that pretty much what they think anyway. We're all just creations running in the mind of God."

"Do you play videogames?"

"Let's see. I'm a computer nerd who's afraid to talk to women. That would be a yes."

She giggles. "You're talking to me."

That's true. In fact, you find it a little surprising how many women you've managed to talk to over the past few days... without, you might add, having your head bit off.

"Anyway," she continues, "you don't love your computer NPCs, right? They're just there, simulating. If all we are is a computer game, the idea of God loving us personally doesn't make much sense. So, your sim idea is blasphemy. But worse is the idea of manipulating the sim."

"Isn't that what they try to do with prayer?"

"Exactly. You're trying to harvest the power of prayer without actually believing what they are certain is the divine truth. Worse, what if you succeed? That would either break their understanding of the universe or prove that you're in league with Satan himself."

"So, MicroStuff is screwing me because of my streaming idea?"

"It isn't like you're keeping it a secret, you know."

You want to follow up on this... and get a source closer to the executive levels of MicroStuff than Crystal is, but you see Jackie heading your way with a stern look on her face.

"Look, Barbara, I'm supposed to be cheerleading for the other team today but can I get your phone number."

"Only if you promise to call it from a burner phone. I'm sure they're tracking you."

"I can do that."

She quickly gives you her phone number... just as Jackie arrives at the home team bench.

"What the fuck?" she demands.