He couldn’t believe his ears. Was this actually happening? Had he heard correctly? Was this the thing in itself, unabashed, without layers and layers of intermediaries? Was this the golden opportunity of a lifetime simply appearing, despite remaining elusive for so many years? Was this the end of the long search?

He knew he had to handle this carefully. One wrong move could squander the whole thing, leaving him back at square one again. Cautiously, as gently as possible, he phrased the question that would allow him to talk to an actual, real-life youtube commenter:

“So, how’s it going?”