Duskwood After Story

A Deal

98...99...100%... Compiling finished.

Finally, the new Nymos code I'd written had been compiled. With apprehension, I clicked on the program's icon and began the assessment. One of the changes I made was to strengthen its security defense against camera access attempts. The last time Jake's assailants tried to hack my phone, Nymos failed because of this. Preparation for a counterattack was another aspect of its upgrade. I figured, "Why not take advantage of the opening created by their offense for our own?" Two birds with one stone. If someone tried hacking us, Nymos would instantly deploy malware to capture the attackers' data. Every time they closed a window on their computer, the spyware would also start a stream of goat-screaming audio. Anyone on the green Earth could attest to the horrifying power of a goat's cry. "That'll teach them" - I thought in a moment of satisfaction.

Thankfully, everything functioned as expected after thorough testing. The only side effect was that now I had the yelps of a million baby goats ringing in my ears. I peeked out from behind the laptop screen to see Jake's face. He was too preoccupied with his job to notice how much fun I was having on my own. I called out to him.

"Jake? Can you come here for a second? I have something to show you."

He came over and I began showing him the upgrades I made to Nymos. When it came time to put Nymos' counterattack to the test, I advised us not to use headphones. Initially, he seemed perplexed but quickly understood what I meant.

"This is really impressive, Bailey." – His eyes scanned the screen as he exclaimed.

"Hihi, thank you." – I grinned, feeling proud of myself.

"There's a little cleanup to do here... and here...But I believe we can absolutely deploy this update for Nymos right away," he said, as he worked on my code to make it more readable.

"You think so?" – I jumped in my spot. My eyes widened in excitement.

"Yes. I'm sure. You did a great job." – He looked at me and smiled.

"Yay!" – I threw a fist in the air in a victory stance.

"I'm glad you're finding fun in all this." – He laughed.

Jake started feeding Nymos the new features that I had created. The update was completed in a matter of minutes.

"So, what's next?" – I asked Jake, eagerly to learn the next thing on his list.

"Well. For starters, Nymos will continue to be maintained and upgraded, so feel free to work on any other features you may have in mind. But for right now, I'll show you the methods I use to keep tabs on my pursuers. If you can come over to my spot, please."

"Okay." I picked up my laptop and notebook and came over to the dining table.

It was time for another one of Jake's crash courses in the tools and software he relied on. What a huge mistake it was for me to believe that today's lecture would be as simple and enjoyable as yesterday's on Nymos. For one thing, the subject matter was completely beyond my comfort zone. It occurred to me that even someone who has worked with computers for a long time, like myself, would not be familiar with all the different kinds of tracking devices at Jake's disposal.

For another, I was once again made aware of how risky everything was. Nymos was a lot of fun to work on. It was a test of my mettle. Updating software made me feel that way, but monitoring folks who wanted to arrest me didn't. I paid special attention to every word Jake said. While trying not to bother him too much, I ruminated about topics I didn't fully comprehend. I sank into the chair as soon as Jake concluded his lecture. The top of my head felt like it was boiling. A migraine was looming on a silver platter, menacingly waiting for me to eat it all up.

I pressed on my temples and started to massage them. My eyes were closed in a frown.

"Hey Jake? Can we take a little break?"

"Yes, of course. Are you feeling okay?" – Jake asked worriedly, placing a palm on my face. I instinctively found my head leaning towards his hand.

"Yes, I'm okay. It's just... a lot of information to absorb at once."

"It's understandable." – He got up and brought back a glass of water for me – "Take all the rest you need today. You've already done a lot."

"Thank you." – I smiled at him and took the glass in my hand. I took a sip and exhaled. My head began to throb.

Jake sat on the chair next to me, his face contorted with worry. I don't think I showed him my exhausted side very often, if at all. Most of the time I was this quirky, high strung ball of energy. But that's because I kept it carefully hidden from people. You'd have a harder time hiding things like this if you were living with someone.

When my migraine finally faded, I gazed up at Jake with a wide smile. In silence, he held my hand in his and sat by me the whole time.

"I'm feeling a lot better now!"

"Are you sure? Don't push yourself too hard."

"I'm fine, really!" – My back curled up like a cat as I stretched out my arms over the table – "I've always had migraines all my life. It comes and goes. Nothing to worry about."

Jake still looked concerned. I felt guilty for worrying him so I tried to change the subject.

"You know, I've been thinking about something. Something that might help us."

"What is it?"

"It's just an idea. You don't have to like it..."

"Mhm, just tell me, Bailey."

"Well. I was thinking, we can keep running from your pursuers but for how long do we have to live like that? Not to mention, none of it was your fault. Your old employer, they tried to cover up their wrongdoings by framing you. Why should you endure this for the rest of your life?"

I paused to examine Jake's reaction. He had a bewildered look on his face, not understanding where I was going with this.

"So, as ironic as this might sound, I thought that to stop them from hunting you forever, we can fake your death."

"Fake my death...?"

"Yes, by faking your death, they will stop pursuing you and you will finally be free to live however you want. We can go somewhere far far away and enjoy our life together without worrying about someone trying to hack our phones all the time."

I turned swiftly and laid my hand on his in a reassuring way.

"Oh but please don't think that I came up with all this because I have any problem living with you this way. I have no regrets about the choices I made. This is something I've been thinking about for some time, since you told me you were wanted by the government."

"But how can we do that?" – Jake sat still, looking at me with a million questions in his eyes.

"Hm, I thought you never asked." – I looked at him in all seriousness – "We will strike a deal with Alan Bloomgate. A life for a death."