The discovery of the ability to deposit and withdraw cash meant his funds were completely secure. No one could steal them, no one could rob him, and he could instantly convert between physical cash and digital balance. The operational potential was massive.
Whether he needed to make a large payment or just needed small change, the system handled it instantly.
Even if Frank tore the house down and dug three feet into the foundation, he wouldn't find a single cent of this money!
Satisfied, Shane deposited the pile of twenty-dollar bills back into the system. Watching the balance return to $25,061.21 gave him a rush of control.
He dusted off his hands and glanced at the hole he'd smashed in the bathroom cabinet, surrounded by wood splinters.
"Whatever. Can't be bothered to fix it right now."
He shrugged it off. "If anyone asks, I'll just say Frank came back drunk, stumbled around upstairs making a racket, and then left."
In the Gallagher house, blaming unexplained disasters on Frank was always the most believable explanation.
After all, for a father who drank his liver into failure, sold his son to pay a bet, and stole his daughter's tuition money, smashing a cabinet was basically a Tuesday.
Finally, he quickly wrapped the jar with the finger and the roll of blueprints in an oilcloth. He hurried downstairs to his basement room.
In the deepest corner of the basement, behind a pile of junk, Shane cleared away some empty boxes, buried the oilcloth package, and covered it back up with random debris.
"Stay there for now."
He dusted off his hands, deciding not to touch those items again until he knew exactly what kind of trouble they brought.
As for the gun? He shoved that under his own bed.
With the "quest items" stashed, Shane went back up to the living room to check on Liam.
The little guy was still quietly sitting in his high chair, playing with a plastic toy. No crying, no fussing. An angel.
Shane played with him for a bit, feeling a pang of sympathy.
Liam really had it rough.
In the early seasons, Carl and Debbie at least had somewhat normal school lives. But Liam? He was going to bounce around from place to place just to get an education.
If Frank hadn't accidentally "evolved" into Saint Frank later on, this kid would have been bullied relentlessly at public school.
Even in the final season, Lip was screaming about selling the house, leaving Liam thinking he was about to be homeless and wandering around looking for someone to take him in.
Shane checked his diaper—clean—and decided to do another sweep of the basement room. Maybe it would trigger more memories.
He walked down the stairs and looked around.
The basement always had a faint smell of mildew, but since the furnace was down here and his little room had its own heating vent, it wasn't damp in the winter.
The room was simple:
A single bed, an old desk, posters of rock bands and the Chicago Bulls on the walls. In the corner, a few dumbbells and a resistance band.
Looks like this world's Shane did work out.
"Not bad," Shane nodded. "Simple, but it's got everything I need. Doesn't smell too weird either."
Back in the living room, Shane picked up Liam, turned on the TV, and sank into the couch.
With $25,000 in his "account," he had a dream start. His brain was screaming one thing:
Buy! Buy! Buy!
He scrolled through the Temu interface. Everything was priced in US Dollars.
"What's the deal? Temu International Edition is really gunning for that foreign exchange, huh?"
But even with the dollar signs, the prices felt like they were just RMB numbers with a dollar symbol slapped on them. They were dirt cheap.
[Thick Plush Winter Duvet - $12.99]
[Compound Crossbow - $193.99]
[Frozen Chicken Breast (40 lbs) - $6.88]
[Laptop - $199.99]...
Shane did some quick mental math. The exchange rate seemed fixed between 1:7 and 1:8.
He wasn't sure if it fluctuated, but it was definitely favorable.
"Is this my transmigrator perk? A fixed discount exchange rate?"
He stared at a product for a while to see if the price changed. It didn't.
"I'll take it. Fixed rate. Small profit."
He wanted to buy food and warm clothes to improve the quality of life for the Gallaghers. Maybe replace some broken appliances, stock up on fresh food, get Fiona and Ian some decent coats...
But then the problem hit him: How does he explain where all this stuff came from?
Tell them I bought it on Temu? No way. That secret dies with him.
Say I stole it? That could work. The Gallaghers didn't exactly frown on the "five-finger discount."
"Still... I need a safer explanation." Shane pondered, staring at the endless rows of groceries on the screen.
Just then—
BANG!
The front door flew open.
Shane jumped, instinctively clutching Liam tighter. He looked up.
A figure stumbled in, filthy and bringing a gust of cold air with him. The smell of stale alcohol and vomit instantly assaulted Shane's nose.
It was Frank Gallagher.
Frank blearily scanned the room, his eyes landing on Shane on the couch.
He grinned, slurring his words:
"Oi... Sh-Shane... No school today? Heh... You finally... finally realized school is... is for suckers? I... I'm proud of you..."
As he spoke, he shambled over to the fridge, ignoring everyone else. He grabbed two beers, cracked one open with trembling hands—psshht—and downed half of it in one go. Glug, glug, glug.
He let out a massive belch.
Then, he wobbled over to the mail pile, rummaged through it for a few seconds, and just as abruptly as he arrived, stumbled back out the door.
The whole encounter took less than two minutes.
Shane stared at the closed door, stunned for a second, then shook his head.
Well, Frank being Frank.
"Actually... perfect timing! Now I have a scapegoat for the hole in the bathroom cabinet."
Shane felt zero guilt. In fact, he kind of wanted to laugh. Maybe later he'd find an excuse to beat Frank up a little, just to vent. He'd wanted to punch that guy for years.
Putting that aside, he returned to the shopping app in his head.
...
After a moment, Shane forced himself to calm down and suppress the urge to go on a shopping spree.
Priority one: Get some cash to Fiona in a "legitimate" way to help with the bills.
Give her all of it?
Putting aside the explanation problem, the biggest issue was that Gallaghers could not hold onto money. It was like a curse.
Plus, Shane figured Frank had probably already taken out credit cards and loans in all their names.
If he put this money on the table, it would vanish into a black hole of debt and bad decisions.
"Better for me to hold the principal. At least I can make money with money."
Shane analyzed calmly. "I need to give them some to improve things, but not too much at once. A slow drip. And the source needs to be 'reasonable.'"
He cooked up a story:
He'd say he found a wallet while taking Liam to the supermarket. No ID, just cash.
"I'll put... 800 bucks in it. That's plenty for now."
He made up his mind. To sell the lie, he ordered a decent-looking men's wallet from Temu for $1.99.
A split second later, a brand-new brown leather wallet appeared on the couch next to him.
Shane picked it up. The leather actually felt nice. This "physical conversion" ability was seriously cool.
He shoved the empty wallet into his pocket. He wasn't going to put the cash in yet—walking around the South Side with a bulging wallet was just asking to get mugged.
He expertly bundled Liam up in a thick winter coat and hat, then strapped him into the baby carrier on his chest.
Ready to go, Shane opened the door and stepped out onto the street.