//------------------------------//
// 15 The Review 
// Story: Aria 
// by SprocketProductions 
//------------------------------//

I had a sluggish wake up. Once I managed to stir enough to open my eyes, I lifted myself up and promptly fell off the bed onto the floor with a thud and a painful grunt. Flare had already left for work, and the clock said 00:11. Odd, I didn't think I had it set to 24 hour time. And Flare would've still been in bed if it were 12:11 AM.

"DEAR CELESTIA, IT'S ALMOST NOON!" The words loudly left my mouth seemingly out of my control.

Righting my orientation, I stood up and yawned, rubbing my eyes and stretching. Walking into the kitchen, I didn't bother making coffee, opting instead to grab a caffeinated soda before walking into the home office to power up the computer and check my email. There weren't any new messages except for a peculiar notification from the Internet Interactive Media Network, or IIMN. I always thought they needed a better sounding acronym. The preview of the email said something about a review.

There must've been a new game out that they got a review copy of. I opened the message to reveal the headline: Indie Game Developer Makes Explosive Comeback. It couldn't be my new game, could it? I opened the link to the review and read through.

The article read, "Previously popular indie game developer GalaxyArcade had been making rather generic games, causing the fan base to think that maybe whoever the developer is lost their touch before the new exploration game, 'I am broken' came out on SteamTrain, Game Bolt, and scratch.io three days ago. Contrary to the name, it's a rather uplifting piece, about something of various interpretations, and it's causing me to write this from a less objective perspective, because, well, that's really the only way we can think of to feature the game. Let's get into graphics first. I love the origami like look to everything, it provides for a simple but visually appealing and beautiful. The gameplay is the same smooth and responsive type of control we usually expect from Galaxy, so nothing to complain about there. Where the game shines the most though, is the theme. The fox restores the forest using its own life, so spoiler alert, it dies in the end. Then the forest animals bring it back by sharing their lives. It's a beautiful story of giving to your surroundings for the surroundings to give back to you. Overall, I think I would give this game a 7/10. It's fantastic, but honestly, Galaxy shouldn't have waited so very long to release it."

I smiled and sat back as I looked at the sales of the game. I was showing downloads worldwide, only days after release! My eyes widened as I saw how the review had obviously boosted the downloads when looking at the analytics. I could usually perform a weekly check and see a few downloads each week, but this was seconds since I navigated to the page and it was already out of date. I reloaded it to see five more downloads, then again to see three more. I grinned even more as I watched my game saving my home. I checked social media which showed requests on a new game, walking through what my games meant, which I figured would be a neat little view into my life, and if people would want it, why not? I decided I would make it a free reward for my fans.

The door of the house opened loudly and was then slammed. I stood up and walked out into the kitchen, seeing Flare with a frustrated expression. I flashed a sympathetic look as he pulled out a pink colored slip of paper.

"Again?" I asked.

He nodded, "I'm tired of working my flank off for minimum wage and not being appreciated for it."

"It'll be okay..." I assured him as I hugged him.

He sighed, "What makes you so sure of that?"

I backed off and grabbed him by the hoof, guiding him to the home office and pulling up the review.

"Holy Celestia..." He mused as I began to go to the analytics and reload the page.

His eyes widened, "Holy Celestia!"

"We're not getting evicted." I told him.

He nodded, "Yeah, I gathered that..."

"Couple dollars short of paying off the debt according to this reload." I said before reloading the page.

Ten more downloads popped up at the reload of the page. Flare fainted, literally. He fell over backwards onto the soft carpet unconscious. I gently dragged him out and into the living room, then finally on the couch before getting him a glass of ice water. When I came back, he had regained his consciousness. He thanked me for the glass of water and drank most of it within seconds before setting it down on the coffee table. He smiled at me, admiring the review from memory.

Flare cleared his throat, "I want a job I'm going to keep."

"I can probably help with that." I replied.

We formulated late into the night, only stopping for a meal. We would soon come up with the perfect plan to get Flare a job. He would be going back into pyrotechnics, as was his talent. Of course, he would certainly need help on the interview, which I was happy to provide by use of a Bluetooth headset. The mic sensitivity was set so one could hear both sides of a conversation. It wasn't a perfect solution, but it was a solution nonetheless. The second stage would be completely in Flare's hooves, it would be his duty and only his to move back up in the company until he could help maintain the household. Though, I would always be there for him to provide any help and support I could. We were going to make it through this come hell or high water.