"You seem energetic," Liam said, chewing on a leftover waffle as he watched Penelope flit around the room. "Did all the maple syrup fry your brain or something?" Her dad had offered him the leftovers when he arrived and Liam didn't even hesitate.

"No," Penelope said defensively, though she did feel very bouncy. Maybe it was the sugar, or maybe it was the nerves. Soon Liam's uncle Henry would be coming over to the little rented cabin to sit down for his interview. Whatever the reason, Penelope was thankful for the burst of energy. There was still so much to do.

There was a lot of pressure for this interview to go well. She had already announced it on Twitter—though she hadn't revealed just who she was interviewing—and from the constant buzzing of her new phone on the living room coffee table, Penelope could guess that her viewers were excited.

Her last two videos, the live stream and the follow-up she had filmed the night before where she described what she had seen, had been doing particularly well. And judging by the response, it seemed many of her critics were coming around. And the ones who hadn't... well, they were still watching anyway, eager to see where it all went. Even the trolls—or Daevon's stans—were keeping an eye on her, which Penelope didn't mind. Hate watch or not, a view was a view and it only propelled her higher.

And now, this interview was just as much a chance for redemption as it was for Henry.

It had to go well.

While Liam continued to munch on his waffle scraps, Penelope began to rearrange the sparse furniture in the small living room for a proper interview-ready setting. She pushed the leather couch so its back was against the wall of windows. Outside the sky was moody and dark, like another storm was brewing. It made for a good, spooky backdrop.

"Almost ready for your big interview?" Penelope's dad said, appearing at the top of the stairs that led from the loft.

"Not quite," Penelope admitted. She surveyed her work, but she wasn't quite happy with it. Plus, she still had to set up her phone camera and make sure the new microphone she had bought this morning worked. She was suddenly kicking herself as she imagined it being a dud. Why didn't I buy a backup, or two, or three...?

Her dad wrapped his arm around her shoulder. He could tell she was spiralling. "It will be fine. You've done this plenty of times before, haven't you?"

"Not like this," Penelope mumbled, but welcomed her dad's half-hug, leaning into the comfort of him. She had interviewed witnesses before, but never on her own, and never live.

"You'll figure it out," her dad said. "Besides, Liam's here to help you out." He turned back to the kitchen, where Liam was still leaning against the counter.

"Nah," Liam said, smirking. "I just came over for the cold waffles."

Her dad chuckled. "It looks like you two have it covered. Beth and Lyla invited me over to play cards, so I'll be out of the way."

"You don't have to leave," Penelope said. She just felt bad. It would be easier without him in the cabin, but she didn't want to kick him out of his own place.

"Sure I do," her dad said, giving her a squeeze and a shake. "You don't need me clunking around the place while you were trying to film."

Penelope tried to think of some objection, but she couldn't—anything she could've said would've been a lie. Even if he was trying his hardest not to, being quiet was not her dad's strength, and the both of them knew it.

"Thanks, dad," she said at last with a reluctant sigh.

"You don't have to thank me," her dad said giving her a quick peck on the top of her head before going to shove his feet into his old boots that were sitting by the door. "Going to drink beer and play cards is hardly a great burden. And if you really need me, well, I'll be just across the way."

Penelope gave him a small smile as she watched him slip out of the door with a quick wave to them both.

As the door shut behind her dad, Liam dusted the last of his waffle crumbs off his hands. "That was my idea," he announced with a lopsided grin, his mouth still half-full. "I told my mom and she was happy to have him over. I figured you'd need an excuse to get him out of the way."

"Not really," Penelope said. Her dad wasn't clueless; by now, he knew the need for quiet while filming and he was good about disappearing when she needed. But she was glad he had something to do, otherwise, he might've just banished himself to the truck to keep out of the way. "But thanks, I guess."

"You're welcome," Liam said, his mouth pushing into a line at the lack of praise. "I guess."

Penelope sighed. "Sorry. I am thankful. That was nice of you. I'm just... nervous." Saying it aloud only made it more palpable, like saying the name of the thing had brought the thing to life. It twisted around her chest, constricting her breath. Doing her best to shake it off, she returned to furiously pushing the couch around the room. Suddenly she wasn't so sure about having it right up against the window...

"Do you need help?" Liam said, stepping forward. "Or do you intend to fully redecorate this place all by yourself? If you're thinking of painting, I don't think it'll have enough time to dry before my uncle comes."

"Quiet," Penelope said with a huff, stopping to lean against the couch arm. "I just want everything to be just right. You don't get second chances when you're live."

"You don't have to do it live," Liam said. "Why not just film and edit like normal?"

"For starters, I already announced on Twitter that it'd be live," Penelope said with a gulp of air. "And, also, because no one will believe me—or Henry—if it's all slick and perfectly cut. It has to be live."

"Okay, okay, we'll do it live," Liam said, holding his hands up in surrender. "But if you keep at it like this you're going to fizzle out in a blaze of sugar-high glory before my uncle even gets here. Let me help."

Penelope studied Liam. He had been a lot of help with their last livestream, but that hadn't exactly been a work of art. This was different. This was important. This was her responsibility. And ever since Daevon, she didn't exactly want to entrust something this important to anyone else.

But this was also about Liam's uncle. So, he wouldn't let anything go wrong... Right?

"Fine," Penelope said, stepping back from the couch, conceding it to him. "I'm going to leave the furniture arranging to you. Make the place look interview worthy. I'm going to set up the tech."

"Deal."

Penelope stepped back from the couch, conceding it to him. Liam simply pushed it out of the way before he hopped up the steps of the loft, like he was trying to get a better view of the room. He was taking it seriously.

Penelope smiled. The tension eased from her shoulders, just a little.

Leaving Liam to it, Penelope went to the last of the shopping bags she had left by the coat rack. The little computer store had once again been a great help. It had everything she needed, though that hadn't been much. After all, she wasn't trying to compete with Xander Green's film crew and top-of-the-line tech. She just wanted to try to make the interview to look a little more legitimate. Not too much, though. The lack of polish in her videos was actually kind of working for her. Made her seem... scrappy.

And besides, she didn't want to turn Henry off by sticking a big ol' camera in his face as Xander had. But, at the same time, she did want him to know that she was, in fact, taking this seriously. Unlike the rest of town.

Aside from the microphone—the audio was the most important part of an interview, after all—Penelope had picked up a small but sturdy tripod made for smartphones and a simple ring light kit to help combat the awkward lighting of the cabin. She had also grabbed up a small notebook from the stationary aisle in the grocery store, in which she had already scribbled a rough set of questions to ask Henry.

It wasn't much, but she could make it work.

She bundled it all into her arms to carry it over to whatever scene Liam had set up.

He had done well. There wasn't anything incredible that could be done with the small living space, but he certainly had done better than she had, at least. He had pushed the couch back to the window but angled it slightly so that it wasn't flat against the glass, making the scene more dynamic. He had also moved the coffee table to be in front, and added a few other decorative items so that the placement of the furniture looked purposeful rather than haphazard.

"Nicely done," she said with an approving nod.

"Don't sound so impressed," Liam said, scowling at her. "Y'know, I helped Mom decorate the cabins."

"You did?" Penelope said, her eyes going wide.

"Oh, knock it off," he grumbled, tossing himself down onto the repositioned couch. "Now what? What else can I do?" he asked.

Penelope paused. To set up the camera, she had to know where Henry would be sitting...

"You can stay right there," she said.

"Huh?" Liam asked.

"I need you to be a stand-in for your uncle, so I figure out how to angle the camera and light the scene. You're pretty much the same height as him, right?"

"Oh. Yeah." Liam nodded. "Pretty much."

"Great," Penelope said. "Then sit still." Penelope deposited her armful of stuff onto the coffee table and started with the tripod. Taking a few steps back, she extended it and set it up just beyond the coffee table. Once it was stable, she slotted her phone into the specialized grip and opened the camera, so she could get a better idea of how the whole scene looked through the lens.

Liam shifted on the couch, his whole body going stiff. Even if the camera wasn't recording, he seemed uncomfortable under its eye. His gaze darted around the room, looking everywhere but at the camera that was focussed on him.

"So, uh, have you figured out kind of questions are you going to ask my uncle?" he asked like he was trying to change the subject.

"I think so," Penelope said, tweaking the tripod's position. She directed him with her hand. "Can you scooch over? I'll be on the couch, too."

Liam did as she asked, shuffling over to make room for her while still avoiding eye contact with the camera. "You think so?" he repeated. "Don't you have a script or something?"

Penelope huffed, straightening up to glare at Liam over the edge of her phone. "No, no script. I don't like using scripts, you know that. They make me sound fake."

Finally, Liam met her eye. "This is a big deal—this is my uncle's chance to set the record straight. Don't you think you oughta be more prepared?"

Penelope shot up, angry now. "I am prepared!" she snapped, motioning to her setup. "If you wanted production values, maybe you should've kept Xander's business card and given him a call."

"Sorry, sorry!" Liam said, holding his hands up like Penelope might leap at him, ready to fight. "I didn't mean anything, I'm just... I'm nervous, too, okay? The fact that my uncle is doing this is a big deal. I want it to go as best as it can."

Penelope let her guard go down. "I do, too. You know that. I'm just not..." She sighed. "Whenever Daevon made me interview people, he always had these big long lists of questions to get the 'right' answers out of people that he could edit together." Looking back on it now, that should've been her first warning sign. "But I don't want to do that to your uncle. I want to just let him talk. It's not about me, or my questions—this is his story to tell, and I want him to tell it."

"Glad to hear it," came a new voice to their conversation.

Penelope and Liam turned towards the door. Henry was standing there in the cabin's open door, ready for his interview.