Ms. Dibbell takes a sip of her coffee and provides a satisfied smirk in the direction of the monitor of her Windows XP ‘95 version. She realizes that she has earned enough money from her online job as a seller of gamer items in order to pay for her annual income tax. She can now spend the rest of her income with her daughter of three years. Julian Dibbell raises her stylish, bottle-framed, glasses and calls to her daughter, Llewyn. Once Llewyn comes, Julian explains the situation and brags about her success. Julian hopes that her adopted daughter will think of her as a woman who makes the shots on her own terms. She also hopes that her daughter will be inspired by her unconventional success to be creative and inventive in her future days as a grown-up. Julian is surprised by Llewyn’s response, although she does not show it. What is surprising about her response is that she does not ask for any of the luxuries a young girl her age would typically want. Instead, Llewyn desires a new computer program that is comparable to a Sims game. Dibbell is very strict on not over-indulging her daughter. Therefore, Dibbell asks Llewyn whether or not she is sure she would want such a gift, explaining that she would only buy her one gift at a time. Llewyn answers in a very confident tone of voice, “Yes, I’m very sure.” The two companions shake hands in agreement to buying the gift, and decide to leave their apartment immediately. Dibbell answers her emails, while Llewyn puts on her shoes and raincoat. She responds to the messages as professionally as she would respond to her daughter. Her emails are from college professors and the others who would desire Ms. Dibbell to make lectures in front of an audience.
Before leaving, Dibbell takes a book with her so that she can read while Llewyn shops at the mall. Ms. Dibbell would usually read published and un-published works on the liberal issues that stepped outside of the mainstream. Today, however, she was going to spend her leisure time with her guilty pleasure, fantasy novels. She had a bookshelf full of fantasy fiction, which stood beside her office. She had the epiphany that her fantasy stories were extensions of her real life; she would become immersed with the protagonist of the story and feel like she was in a virtual world of her own liking.