Lester began to chuckle, then laugh, then he was doubled over, thumping his thighs. Suzanne shook her head. In just a few short moments, she'd gotten used to the idea, and it was growing on her. Guignol looked grim. "It's not a firm offer -- it's a chance to open a dialogue, a negotiation. Talk the possibility over. A good negotiation is one where we both start by saying what we want and work it over until we get to the point where we're left with what we both need." Lester wiped tears from his eyes. "I don't think that you grasp the absurdity of this situation, fellas. For starters, Perry will never go for it. I mean *never.*" Suzanne wondered about that. And wondered whether it mattered. The two had hardly said a word to each other in months. "What's more, the rest of the rides will never, never, *never* go in for it. That's also for sure. "Finally, what the fuck are you talking about? Me go to work for you? Us go to work for you? What will you do, stick Mickey in the ride? He's already in the ride, every now and again, as you well know. You going to move me up to Orlando?" Sammy waggled his head from side to side. "I have a deep appreciation for how weird this is, Lester. To tell you the truth, I haven't thought much about your ride or this little town. As far as I'm concerned, we could just buy it and then turn around and sell it back to the residents for one dollar -- we wouldn't want to own or operate any of this stuff, the liability is too huge. Likewise the other rides. We don't care about what you did *yesterday* -- we care about what you're going to do tomorrow. "Listen, you're a smart guy. You make stuff that we can't dream of, that we lack the institutional imagination to dream of. We need *that*. What the hell is the point of fighting you, suing you, when we can put you on the payroll? And you know what? Even if we throw an idiotic sum of money at you, even if you never make anything for us, we're still ahead of the game if you stop making stuff *against* us. "I'm putting my cards on the table here. I know your partner is going to be even harder to convince, too. None of this is going to be easy. I don't care about easy. I care about what's right. I'm sick of being in charge of sabotaging people who make awesome stuff. Aren't you sick of being sabotaged? Wouldn't you like to come work some place where we'll shovel money and resources at your projects and keep the wolves at bay?" Suzanne was impressed. This wasn't the same guy whom Rat-Toothed Freddy had savaged. It wasn't the same guy that Death Waits had described. He had come a long way. Even Guignol -- whom, she suspected, needed to be sold on the idea almost as much as Lester -- was nodding along by the end of it. Lester wasn't though: "You're wasting your time, mister. That's all there is to it. I am not going to go and work for --" a giggle escaped his lips "-- Disney. It's just --"