The Fixer (short story)

 was the eighth story in The Boulevard: Volume One.

Summary
Tucker, an ageing Hollywood producer, lies in bed with Dodie. Spontaneously, he asks her if she's ever seen Starpocalypse, an older movie he recalls from his childhood he bought the rights to a while back. Being decades younger than him, she hasn't, but she encourages his interest, saying he should focus on that rather than his interest in secret societies. He insists, however, that this newest group is the one. The Faction. They worship skeletons.

He's excited, they used to have real influence in the town, and a fixer he knows told him about them. He leaves, insisting that Dodie stay in the suite to avoid scandal. How ironic. She pulls out her phone, a dearth of returned calls from directors on it, and finally decides to return her mother's call. They talk briefly, a mother insisting she return home, a daughter refusing to do so, a hint of scandal. The classic Hollywood story.

Tucker meets with A-C Kincaid and asks to be put into contact with the Faction, he wants to become a member. Kincaid says that he'll need to be vetted and to get their attention. He suggests that Tucker destroy something to increase its significance. Tucker returns to Dodie and says he's figured it out - Starpocalypse is just waiting to be ruined with a terrible sequel. A hack writer, low budget greenscreen, and he wants her to be in it. Hesitantly, she agrees.

Six months later, the movie is made, Dodie with a minor role, and the critics consistently lambast the movie. Online forum users do the same, calling their childhood ruined. Still, though, some people seem to have liked the movie. Kincaid calls him, saying that the Faction has seen the movie and that the two of them should talk. They agree to meet at Tucker's penthouse - Dodie can let him in.

Dodie steps out of the shower to find Kincaid already in the living room. As they wait, they make small talk, and he asks her if there's anything that she wants. She tells him of how when she was 14 she dated older boys who had her run drugs. Someone ended up dying, and while she got off easily, the issue is still there on her record if someone were to look. She honestly wishes that this had never happened, that part of her life just gone. He asks her if this is what she really wants, and when she says yes, she vanishes.

Tucker walks into the apartment and is unsettled and can't tell why. Kincaid says that he was just cleaning up - a woman that Tucker knew. Tucker has a vague recollection, but nothing too specific. Anyhow, the Faction. They saw Starpocalypse, and were impressed, but the choice of movie was a poor one. It was a creation of the Faction, a propaganda bomb to be used to make the world apathetic. But by making the sequel he had ruined the cultural cache of the original.

Kincaid finally sums up their conversation by saying that the Faction plans to induct him. He'll be inducted to the rank of Little Sibling and then taken to The Boulevard to settle in.

Characters

 * Tucker
 * Dodie Sinclair
 * A-C Kincaid

Worldbuilding

 * Kincaid suggests making the movie Uncle Kristeva vs The Homeworld in reference to The Ancestor Cell, though states it's not the Faction's finest hour, and the public would be underwhelmed.

Continuity
to be added