Darwin's Quest: The Search for the Ultimate Survivor (22 page)

“I knew you would make it,” he whispered, but loud enough for the cams to pick up.

He held my hand up in victory. A pretty young lady came out holding the trophy. Baako took it and gave it to me. I stood there, one hand held high by him, the other holding the trophy.

With his innate sense of timing, he lowered my arm and stepped back.

“Corter Laurence. You are the first Outerworlder to win
Darwin’s Quest
. And in a season where, for the first time, the viewers didn’t bring most of the cast members back, didn’t determine the Final Two, you were actually voted back once. You really were the bridge between the viewers and actual survival. What do you have to say, on this historic occasion?”

I looked at him as he waited for me. GBC did well with the show.
Darwin’s Quest
was back on top. And I had signed up for whatever. Going on tour after should be fun. But that would play into Baako Silver’s hands, into the producer’s hands. That would justify their treating cast members as simple commodities, as constructs, not made by DreamWorks, but by GBC themselves. We were the new Hell Pigs, the new T-Rexes, the new pterosaurs.

I looked firmly into his eyes, said “Fuck you , Baako Silver,” and walked off the array.

Oh, I’d keep the money, though. I wasn’t that stupid.

.