Network 23 Christmas Party
(from alt.tv.max-headroom)

The Network 23 Christmas party was in full swing. Edison had managed to talk Bryce Lynch into attending, although he was spending the entire party sitting in a corner looking bored.

Mingling was apparently out of the question as was striking up a conversation. Several people had tried, but had given up when he'd given them the impression that he was terribly bored and wished they'd go away until they had a topic worthy of his intelligence.

There was music and dancing and the atmopshere was cheerful enough. But Bryce just sighed and wished he was back in his studio where he didn't have to put up with so many people. A small gathering he could've stood, but a lot of these people would go for months without a word to each other, so it was clear their friendship was phony.

Murray's daughter, Annie, walked in. She saw Bryce and went over to his table. She sat down across from him and smiled.

"Annie." She introduced herself.

Bryce looked up and saw the face of the girl from his Neurostim dream. She was the first girl he'd ever seen that was his own age. He stared at her for a long moment, then finally blinked.

"Bryce." He finally replied.

Annie smiled, knowing that Bryce had fallen in love with her.

"Care to dance?" Annie asked, softly.

"I don't know how." Bryce repied, shyly.

"It's easy with this kind of music," Annie replied. It was slow music and had been all evening. "We just hold each other and sway a lot."

Bryce caught on very quickly, and Annie and he never let anyone cut in on them. Truth was, a molecule would've found itself hardpressed to find any room between the two of them.

After the music finally stopped, everyone sat down including Bryce and Annie.

"Are you okay?" Annie asked.

"I'm not sure, since this has never happened to me before," Bryce replied, "but I think I might be in love with you."

"I hope you are." Annie replied. "Because I think I'm in love with you, too." She sat across from Bryce again and the two gazed into each other's eyes.

"Can I see you again after today?" Annie asked.

"You can call me whenever you like." Bryce replied.

"I'd like to go out with you." Annie told him. "If that's okay with you."

"I think I'd like that very much." Bryce replied.

"Would you care to spend New Year's Eve with me?" Annie asked.

"Sure." Bryce replied.

The evening drew to a close. Everyone was getting their coats. Murray brought Annie hers.

"Come on," he said, "your mother's expecting you home in fifteen minutes."

"See you soon." Annie told Bryce.

Bryce nodded, lowering his eyelids and biting his lower lip.

"See you on New Year's Eve!" Annie called back to him when she got to the door.

Bryce nodded, quietly and watched as Annie left with her father.

Bryce bathed and got ready for bed that evening. Max showed up on his TV screen just as he was climbing into bed.

"You seem to be in a good mood." Max observed. "How was the party?"

"I didn't think I'd enjoy it at first," Bryce admitted, "but it turned out rather splendidly."

"I'm glad you had fun." Max replied.

"Where were you?" Bryce asked.

"Oh, I just f-f-f-flitted about on various screens, saw how all the people in the city cel- cel- cel- celebrated their Christmases." Max smiled.

Bryce nodded.

"So, what- what- what- so, what happened at the party?" Max asked.

Bryce bit his lip and blushed, averting his eyes coyly.

Max went bug-eyed and leaned forward as if to listen more intently, then smiled and leaned back, nodding in approval. "You d-d-don't need to tell me. I can guess. You got your first kiss, right?"

"No." Bryce replied. "Not yet."

"Not yet?" Max asked. "Does that mean you have a girlfriend?"

Bryce smiled, thoughtfully. "I guess so. A potential girlfriend."