The Astral Hacker (Cryptopunk Revolution Book 1) by Brian Terenna (best ebook reader .txt) 📗

“I’m so sorry I couldn’t help you with your hack. I really did want to.”

She sighs. “I know. I’ll figure something out.”

“What did you need the money for?”

“I lost my house and income because of an accident.”

My eyes trail down and land on her cybernetic arm, the light reflecting off its surface. Her look follows mine, and the corners of her lips tug down.

I jerk my gaze away, pretending that I was looking at one of her Buddhas. I’m always careful not to upset people…mostly so they don’t hit me.

She breathes out and shakes her head. “I don’t want to talk about it,” she says, her tone dour.

Must have been bad. I know what it’s like not to want to talk about hard things, though. “What was the full hack going to be anyway?”

“A fifty-one percent hack on BitcoinLife.”

“I’ve heard of it, but what exactly is a fifty-one percent attack?”

“If someone controls more than fifty percent of the computing power that is mining a cryptocurrency, they can double-spend the coin and make tons of money.”

My eyebrows rise.

“No one has pulled off a hack like that in ten years, but I was pretty desperate. Unfortunately, they greatly increased their security after I failed. Another opportunity won’t come up.”

We finish our meal. She clears the plates and then returns.

“Why don’t you shower and get ready for the day,” she says. “I had some new clothes delivered for you. After you’re done, maybe we can talk.”

Sunny follows me into the bathroom, and I pull the curtain closed for a long shower. It’s so nice to be inside a home again. I dry, wrap myself in a towel, and step out.

Sunny sits on the ground, mechanical parts surrounding him. He glances at me as his soldering tool retracts into his arm.

Panic seizes me. “What are you doing?” I whisper.

He holds up his other arm. The back of it opens up, and the stun baton from our attacker extends outward and sparks.

My eyes widen. “Put it away. Nav can’t see this. She’ll know.”

“Sorry,” he says, and the baton disappears into his arm. “I was hoping to protect you better next time we are in trouble.”

I can’t help but love him for it. “Be more careful. She can’t find out about you.”

He nods and picks up his tools.

I dress, happy to have clothes that fit me. We return to the bedroom, and Sunny stands in the corner. Nav is looking at an ornately framed photograph of her and some guy on her nightstand. Her eyes are wet and red. She sees me and wipes her face.

“Is that your boyfriend, Ty? I remember you telling me about him once.”

She doesn’t respond for a moment, then says, “Husband, but not anymore.”

“Sorry to hear that. I know relationships can be hard.” Why did I say that? As much as I want love, I’ve never been in a relationship…besides my imaginary one with Jack Trackton.

“I finally felt like my life was coming together, like I was going to get somewhere. But…things don’t always work out.”

“It sounds like you still love him. Is that your wedding ring you’re wearing?”

She shrugs. “Yes.”

I join her on the bed and decide to change the subject to lighten the mood. “What’s this A?” I ask, pointing to the sheets.

“It’s the anarchy symbol, but I like the term voluntarism.”

My eyebrows rise as I imagine the ruined landscape of Silent City. “You support that?” I ask, surprised. She’s the only person I ever talked to that did. “Wouldn’t everyone just kill each other?”

“Would you start killing people?” she asks.

I frown. “No.” Well…maybe the Archfiend.

“Neither would most people. But you’re right. Some people only behave well because of laws. For those people, we’d pay for private security services. It’s similar to how we’re taxed to pay the police now, but it would be cheaper. As much as Navin reformed our government, police still kill too many people. There are other concerns too. A talk for another time, though.” She looks pensive. “Are you ready to talk about what happened to you?”

Barbra lies gray and lifeless. The mugger hovers over me, his teeth yellow, and his breath stale. My stomach sinks as I learn that I’m a wanted criminal. I look down and pull at my shorts. “I…I don’t know.” Will she still help if she knows I’m wanted for murder?

“Why don’t we reminisce about Silent City for a while first?”

A bit of a sore subject. “I’d love to. I need to tell you some bad news, though.”

“Yeah?”

“Somehow, my account was deleted. StarFeather is gone.”

She gasps. “No. Why would they do that? Did you try to find your character in the archives?”

“They said I violated the service agreement, but that’s a lie. I did check the archives, but it’s permanently deleted.”

She scowls. “I’ll never forget when you first joined. We were floundering without good leadership or planning. Even though you were new, people wanted to follow you. We quickly ascended the rankings after that.”

I loved the feeling of domination. “Remember when you dueled ten consecutive people because they insulted me?”

She laughs. “They had it coming.”

“You beat them all. Blaze, Champion of the People.”

“It’s nothing compared to when you hid in the sewers after everyone in our guild was dead,” she says.

“They sent almost everyone from their base looking for me.”

“Then you blasted through the ground with a rocket launcher, killed the two guards, and took their flag. That was epic.”

I smile at her, feeling just like I used to when we played.

We reminisce for hours, then Nav says, “Ready to tell me what happened?”

My stomach sinks, and I look away.

“Tell me about your parents first then. You’ve never told me about them.”

I’ve never told