California, Orange County, Irvine.
After lunch, Andy Weir stood by the office window, resting his eyes on the distant view.
In the small square in front of the building, the orc wolf cavalry statue raised its battle-axe high, while the Lich King on the opposite side pointed his sword afar.
Andy Weir looked down and pulled out a card with the phone number of a publishing house that had reached out to him, wanting to promote his serialized side project "The Martian" for publication.
It was his most prized creation, into which he had poured countless efforts.
Andy Weir stared at the Lich King sculpture, muttering to himself, "My child, how I wish that on the day of your birth, the whole of America would speak your name..."
His wish was beautiful, but reality was cruel.
Andy Weir took out his phone and dialed the publishing house's number, but was met with a busy signal.
After waiting a while, he called again, still getting a busy signal.
