The departure of Javier left a vacuum of silence in the house that I was more than happy to fill with the low hum of productivity. While Jay and Gloria were busy relishing the newfound peace, Alex and I were staring at a flickering cursor in the Dunphy basement.
"It's time," Alex whispered. Her room was dark, lit only by the dual monitors we'd set up under the guise of an 'Advanced Calculus workstation.'
On the screen was a simple countdown for a series of expiring domain auctions. Most were junk, but one stood out. A small, struggling tech startup in Northern California was about to let their primary patent-holding domain lapse due to a filing error. In the original timeline, they'd spend years in court recovering it. In this one, they'd be buying it back from us.
"Three... two... one... hit it," I commanded.
Alex's fingers blurred across the keyboard. "Packet sent. Escrow locked. Mason... we just bought 'Veridat.com' for eight hundred dollars."
"Check the news feed," I said.
A minute later, a tech blog posted a bulletin: Veridat's Data Security Patent hinges on domain-linked verification. Potential acquisition by Google on hold until infrastructure is secured.
"They're going to panic," Alex said, a wicked grin touching her lips. "How much do we ask for?"
"We don't ask for anything," I said, leaning back. My Total Recall remembered the exact settlement figure Google offered in 2012 for the company's assets. "We wait for their legal counsel to reach out. Then, we ask for a ten percent stake in their Series B funding instead of cash. We don't want a payday, Alex. We want a seat at the table."
[INTERVIEW - ALEX]Alex is looking at a pile of textbooks, then at the camera.Alex: "I used to think the most exciting thing that could happen to me was getting an A+ on a Physics paper. Now, I'm negotiating equity in a data security firm before I'm old enough to drive a car. Mason isn't just a miracle survivor; he's a catalyst. He makes the world move faster."
The basement door creaked open, and Phil's head appeared. "Hey, Brainiacs! How's the math coming? I brought 'Mental Fuel'—it's just trail mix, but I've sorted it so the raisins don't touch the M&Ms. You know, because raisins are nature's disappointment."
"We're almost done, Phil," I said, shielding the screen.
"Great! Because Mason, I wanted to talk to you. I'm thinking of getting into 'Cyber-Real Estate.' You know, selling houses in the... what do they call it? The Information Super-Highway? Do you think I need a digital blazer?"
I smiled. "Give it a few years, Phil. I think you're ahead of your time."
[INTERVIEW - PHIL]Phil is beaming, looking like he just won a trophy.Phil: "Mason gets me. He really gets me. Most people say 'Phil, that's a hallucination.' Mason says 'Phil, you're ahead of your time.' I'm telling you, that kid is going places. Probably to the moon. He looks like he could jump there if he really tried."
As I walked out of the Dunphy house, I saw Haley sitting on the porch, looking at her phone with a frustrated expression.
"Everything okay, Haley?" I asked.
"My tutor quit," she groaned, not looking up. "Apparently, 'I don't feel like it' isn't a valid reason to skip the SAT prep. Now my mom is going to go into 'Full Claire' mode and I'll be grounded until I'm forty."
I looked at her. In the show, Haley's academic struggle was a constant source of friction. But with my Total Recall, I knew exactly what the 2010 SAT focus would be.
"I can help you," I said.
Haley finally looked up, her eyes widening. "You? You're a freshman. And a jock. No offense, but shouldn't you be hitting a tire with a sledgehammer or something?"
"I'm a Delgado-Pritchett, Haley," I said, offering a hand to help her up. "We're good at everything. One hour a night, and I'll get you into the top tier."
"And what do you want for it?" she asked suspiciously.
"Nothing," I said. "Just... when you start your fashion blog next year, I want you to mention a certain tech company I'm interested in. Call it a 'collaborative partnership'."
Haley blinked. "A blog? I was going to do that! How did you—"
"I have a feeling about these things," I said.
The Syndicate was growing. The family was stabilizing. And for the first time since the accident, the future didn't just look predictable—it looked like mine to shape.
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