September 9, 2067
Alex Mitchell (Volkov) POV
The morning had barely started, and I was already drowning in tasks. I had no choice but to squeeze every spare minute before noon into handling them.
First on the list: sorting through the pile of chips I'd so generously "borrowed" from Maelstrom yesterday. Sure, I could've dumped all the grunt work on Vega, but I had other plans for them. Lucy and Roxy needed all the practice they could get — in as many different ways as possible. Sasha had also shown interest in pitching in, which meant I was working against the clock.
Then there was the small matter of a promise I'd made to a rather unusual pair of siblings. And as everyone knows, once you say it out loud, you're stuck with it.
About half an hour after I opened the workshop, Sasha showed up. She took a long, skeptical look at the mountain of chips waiting for her, then at the two assistants she'd be working with. The girls had never worked together before, but Yakovleva, to her credit, kept her reaction to just a wary glance.
"Well? What are you standing around for? Waiting for a formal invitation?" I grinned at the young hackers, who were staring at the chips like they might start cracking themselves. "However many you break by three o'clock — that's how much you get paid."
"Dad, you've got to be kidding me." Lucy squinted, turning over the first chip in her hand like she expected it to explode.
"Is it that obvious?" I shot back with a smirk. "By the way, Lucy, while you're busy complaining, the others are already working. Better pick up the pace, or you'll be walking away without a single eddie."
I had to admit, watching her expression twist in frustration was pretty satisfying.
As much as I enjoyed seeing other people sweat, I had my own business to take care of. Leaving my workstation, I headed to Kiwi — Rebecca's DNA analysis should've been done by now. Kiwi already had customers lined up first thing in the morning, but with Gloria's help, they were keeping things running smoothly while still managing to catch their breath between clients.
Once I grabbed what I needed, I made my way back. I'd only been gone about ten minutes, but in that short time, the sisters had already cracked several chips, leaving Sasha trailing behind. The gap wasn't huge — yet — but with every passing minute, it would start to weigh on her. The pressure would push her into rushing, making mistakes, scrambling to catch up.
Which meant my plan was already working.
When I agreed to help sharpen young Yakovleva's skills, my goal was simple: she needed a harsh reality check. She had never worked with my daughters before, and in the netrunning world, they weren't exactly known for taking it easy.
"Sasha." I waited until she finished breaking another chip before catching her attention. "Forget about keeping up with people who are ahead of you — just focus on your own work."
"I don't need you to tell me that." She huffed, snatching up the first chip within reach.
"Oh? Then why are you making such rookie mistakes?" I asked, letting just enough sarcasm creep into my tone. Sasha's personality was strikingly similar to my adoptive daughter's, which made it all too easy to find the right pressure points to steer her where I wanted.
"What are you even talking about?" Alexandra furrowed her brows.
"Rushing is a netrunner's worst enemy. Your priority should always be doing what you're best at — no need to prove anything to anyone." I tilted my head slightly, nodding toward Lucy, who was already laser-focused on cracking her latest hack.
"…Maybe you've got a point," Sasha admitted reluctantly, eyeing the chip in her hands before setting it back down.
Honestly, I'd expected more pushback. It was a nice surprise to see her actually take my advice to heart without a fight. That said, just because she acknowledged it didn't mean she'd fully absorbed the lesson yet. That would take time.
As much as I enjoyed watching them work, I had my own responsibilities to deal with — starting with Becky's situation, which meant some more tinkering. All in all, it took me about two hours to wrap everything up. By then, the girls had already hacked through most of the chips, leaving only the toughest ones for last.
Sitting around wasn't my style, so I figured I might as well lend a hand. Under their curious gazes, I grabbed a handful of data shards and started tearing through them at breakneck speed. At this pace, the job was done in another fifteen minutes, leaving four neatly sorted piles of decrypted chips on the table.
"Well done, everyone. Now, let's tally up the profits…" I glanced at the girls, dragging out the suspense.
"Dad, quit stalling." Lucy shot me a glare, arms crossed.
"Sasha, you pulled in about seven thousand. Not bad. Congrats." I transferred the funds to the stunned netrunner, who clearly hadn't expected such a high payout.
"Lucy, you hit eleven. Nice work." I smirked as my daughter scoffed at the praise, barely stopping myself from ruffling her hair.
"And Roxy…" I let the pause hang for dramatic effect. "Almost twelve. Well done." I placed a hand on the head of the youngest, who'd been the first to figure out which chips were easiest to crack.
"…So, what about you, Dad? How much did you make?" The blonde tilted her head, watching me expectantly.
"Around forty."
The moment I said the number, they all visibly deflated, no doubt doing the mental math on how much they'd just missed out on.
"These were fourth-gen Militech training chips and field medic databases — high-ticket stuff, but a pain in the ass to crack. At least for you." I held up a few of the specialized shards, their unusual shape setting them apart from the rest.
"But since I wasn't doing this for profit, I'm splitting the money with you."
A few quick transactions later, each of them had ten thousand eurodollars in their accounts.
Decent money, sure, but what really mattered was reinforcing the idea that hard work should pay off. I didn't have the patience to sort through every single shard myself, and they'd saved me a ton of time and effort. Besides, it wasn't like this put a dent in my wallet — if anything, I'd lowballed the payout. The actual market price was at least three or four times higher. A single field medic database alone could go for twenty, maybe twenty-five thousand on the streets of Kabuki.
Working for Wakako had its perks — mainly, I never had to worry about offloading my stock. She bought my shards in bulk, just under market price, and handled distribution through her own network. She had the right people for the job — never got her hands dirty with the actual selling.
"Damn… this is some next-level pocket money," Roxy muttered, still processing the payout.
"Yeah, I wasn't expecting that much either," Lucy admitted with a nod.
"What you do with it is up to you," I said. "Donate it, burn it, blow it all on garbage — I don't care. Just don't expect paydays like this every time. Usually, you're lucky to pull in two or three thousand."
"Ain't that the truth," Sasha snorted, no doubt recalling her own past runs. "And even when you do get good chips, finding a buyer takes time. Unless, of course, you're willing to offload them for scraps at the nearest black market in Kabuki."
"I sell everything in bulk, so moving the product isn't really my problem. It's dealing with the damn chips that's exhausting — I'd rather not touch them unless I have to."
"Oh, so you just dumped all the grunt work on us." The little blonde huffed, rolling her eyes in exaggerated exasperation.
"If you don't like it, I won't call you next time." I shrugged, giving her a sly look.
Lucy's expression shifted instantly. For her, this kind of cash was practically free money raining from the sky — no way was she turning that down.
"I repent. I see the error of my ways." She raised her hands in mock surrender.
The other girls burst into laughter, trying and failing to hold it in. Lucy's reaction was just too over-the-top, a stark contrast to her usual attitude.
"Alex, Rebecca and her brother are here for you."
Vega's voice crackled over my internal comms, cutting the laughter short.
"Thanks for the heads-up. Let them in."
I turned toward the door just as it slid open, revealing a rather distinctive pair — brother and sister, finally making their long-overdue appearance.
"Took you long enough."
Sensing the awkward tension between us, I skipped the small talk and got straight to business.
"Anyway, everything's ready."
I held up a small ampoule filled with a synthesized solution for them to see.
"You take this once a day for five days, and your skin will return to its natural color. As for the rest? My advice? At least wait until you're twenty before stuffing yourself with implants. Go nuts after that if you want. The formula's safe, but it does have one side effect — slightly increased appetite."
"Thanks, Uncle."
Rebecca took the injector gun and the box of ampoules from my hands, looking more subdued than usual.
"Don't mention it. Just… next time, maybe think things through before making a decision."
Before she could respond, her brother finally spoke up, breaking his silence.
"Choom, you're a techie on the side, right?"
"That's right. Why?"
"I've got a bunch of guns piling up at home — just sitting there, collecting dust. Problem is, I don't have the right tools to fix them."
"Seventy percent for me, the rest is yours." I stated my price without hesitation.
"Deal."
Pilar didn't even try to negotiate, agreeing on the spot.
"I'll take the weapons after noon. Send them over by drone or courier — I don't care how they get here."
"Actually, one more thing," he added after a short pause.
He sent me a schematic for a rather interesting cyberware implant.
"Think you can get your hands on one of these?"
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