Shittier Twitter

The next evening.

The Venetian's hotel bar was packed. HODL t-shirts mixed with business suits. The energy from the expo hall had spilled over. Everyone was louder and looser.

Maya was sitting at the bar. Scanned the room every few minutes. Told herself she wasn't.

And then there he was. Sean. Walking in with someone.

Her fingers tightened around her glass.

She was staring. It almost looked like he was searching the room too.

She took a deep breath. Made herself sit back. Waited.

Finally he locked eyes with her. He immediately smiled. At her.

He steered them toward her.

"Wait," Sean said to Dave. "I see someone. From yesterday at the Nostr booth. Have you heard of Nostr?"

"The shittier X for Bitcoiners?" Dave was hunched over his phone, typing.

"Let's walk to the bar." Sean's pace had quickened. "It sounds Bitcoin-ish. Right? You own your identity. Nobody can take it away."

"Don't get too excited." Dave pocketed his phone. "I tried it last year. It's a ghost town."

The two men reached the bar.

"Hey!" Sean shot finger guns at Maya. Immediately regretted it.

She took a slow sip of her margarita to cover her laugh.

"Maya." Sean gestured between them. "This is Dave. Dave. Maya."

Dave leaned against the bar. "So, a Nostr evangelist. How's the ghost town?"

"Dave." Sean's tone shifted.

Dave ignored him. "I tried it last year. I don't know why you guys think anyone would leave X for that."

"No one is trying to be Twitter." Maya shook her head. "Twitter's just where it starts. The whole internet gets rebuilt on this."

Dave blinked. "Okay. That's ambitious."

She didn't flinch. "Some people see it early."

"Bitcoin was a ghost town once too." Sean cleared his throat. "You would've called it dead ten years ago."

Dave rolled his eyes. "That's different."

Sean's eyebrows went up. "How?"

The bar noise faded. Maya bit back a smile. Lost.

"You know, I see the guys. Looks like that investor made it, too." Dave pushed off the bar. "You coming?"

Sean looked at Maya, then back at Dave. "I'll catch up."

She was right. Sean hadn't found anything, or anyone, cooler.

Dave shrugged and left.

Sean turned back to Maya. "I'm...I'm sorry about that."

She waved it off. "He's not completely wrong."

Sean pulled out the stool and sat down.

"Barely anyone's on it. It's clunky. Most people quit after a week."

"Oh yeah?" He ignored the bartender. "Then why do you like it?"

Maya thought for a second. "Because I don't want to build someone else's thing anymore. I want to work on my own ideas."

"Build?" He sat up. "Like, you code?"

She pretended to flip her hair. "I code."

"Well, then you've got to be right about this." Sean looked right at her. "Dave is in accounting. The fuck does he know?"

She laughed. "You know, it's not the job. You don't need to be a developer. I just think Bitcoiners who prefer Twitter might as well be shitcoiners. It's a tell."

Sean blinked. "Wow. It's that serious?" He grinned.

Maya leaned forward. Her eyes sharp. "Do you like Twitter?"

Sean shook his head. "You won't find me paying for a blue checkmark."

"Okay." Maya raised an eyebrow. "A mark of integrity."

They laughed. Louder than either expected.

"Okay." Sean leaned in. "For a non-developer, explain Nostr to me. What isn't Dave getting?"

"Hmm." She squinted. "Ever watched Silicon Valley?"

He let out a chuckle. "Should I?"

"Yes, but let me think."

"I can keep up. Try me."

"Okay." She cleared her throat. "Say I've got a better app than the one you live on. To use mine, you leave yours. Your account, followers, photos, everything you put into your online identity."

"So nobody leaves."

"Exactly. You have to be first, not the best." She opened her hands. "So we're all trapped in these evil algorithms. Just ruining civilization as we know it."

"Absolutely." Sean adjusted the stool under him. "And these tech giants are too powerful now. We're screwed, aren't we?"

"Not necessarily." Maya set her glass down. "Nostr makes your name a key. Only you hold it. So you travel, and everything comes with you."

"So everyone can leave. If you're not trapped...the app's gotta be good."

"Good won't be enough." She leaned back on the bar. "It'll have to respect users. Not exploit them."

"That makes sense. But I can't imagine big tech ever letting this take off."

"They'll try to bury it. But they can't kill it." She lifted her chin. "It's permissionless. No one can stop it."

"Permissionless?" He repeated it slowly.

"Means nobody's a gatekeeper. Any idea you have, you can build. Any money you have, you can send. No bank, no government, no company in the middle. On tech with your rights baked in. No one can take them."

"Ah." Sean smiled. "So it's about people's rights. Trying to save the world?" "You're not?" She didn't blink.

Maya's phone buzzed. The noise rushed back in. Her attention broke.

Sean tried to meet her eyes. "Maybe this was what I was missing."

She was typing into her phone.

"You know, I tried stopping by the booth again. A few times." He was waiting for her to look up.

"There's an after-party tonight. Downtown. For Nostr people." She drained her drink. Grabbed her purse.

She held his gaze. Didn't break it. "I have a dinner now, but maybe I'll see you there? Everyone's coming." She pulled a party invite from her purse. Tossed it on the bar. "Will you come?"

"Yeah." He flipped the card over. "Sure. I didn't know about it."

"Well." She was off the stool, heading toward the lobby. "Maybe hang a little less with the shitcoiners and you'll catch all the cool stuff you've been missing."

"How exciting." He turned to face her. "I'd hate for the zap to be the peak of my trip."

She winked at him.

Sean watched her go. He couldn't look away.