Chipped

Chapter 3

-Maxim, Luscia's dad-

"It silence silences"- A Photograph, Shirley Toulson

I scooted over closer to the fire place to get the warmth and pulled the laptop along with me. Cobwebs had been begun to grow in the dark nooks and corners of the sofa I was sitting on; effects of not having a caring hand was clearly visible.

I tapped on relentlessly in the laptop; trying to sober up the conniving  pain in my hollow center by being drunk in mechanics.
From when Luscia was five and from that day when I'd hit her for the first time, I had come in terms with the gravity of the situation. Acknowledgment was tough, but I had to do it.

  and as it comes with the package, I was broke but not without brains.
After the company kicked me out, I had deployed the virus for the first time. I knew it was against law and every bullshit lecture about the far fetched ideas of enthics and honesty would  be stamped on me when anyone became aware, but I had to so it to survive.

Survival is a fucking empty abyss that pushes you away and makes danger fall in love with the heartbroken you.

The virus was pretty simple- it was a sequence that kickstarted whenever you obnoxiously clicked on a relatively innocent link.
The fun part started after wards.
It specifically made me grant access to the storage files. And then bingo! Seriously I didn't tamper with anything else except

Except the files which contained the accountancy details.
Check it out.
I couldn't pay so I just altered with the saved details.
I made my unpaid money appear as paid.
No tuition fees, no school fees.

The sequence did its job well- the pattern was going on for months.
Years.
I knew how much flimsy the entire planning was , just like a glass palace - one stone, and the entire thing will  come  crashing down as broken glass shards.
But it was working.
And THAT'S  what mattered the.most. The Most.

The rest of the money came from the bankrolls, drafts, bonds and the little storages I had.

I turned my head to see when I heard the jingling of keys outside.Luscia entered with a poker face and shot an impassive glance at me- I knew that I really wasn't the cool Dad any longer to her, but instead another sulking fellow around the corner.
Luscia disappeared into one of the rooms, without taking a second look.
I found the ghost of a smile creeping up my face,as I saw Eritrea going in there, instead of Luscia.
Luscia was a reminder to me as to why I had to stay and not drift away. Her tousled brown hair bounced exactly the way Eritrea's did, her laughter brought back the echoes of Eritrea.

Oh, Eritrea. Look at the messs you've created before flying off amidst the stardust and infinite galactic nebulae.

The transience of time and the fast movement of life relentlessly merged with each other as I remembered the last soft touch of her lips on mine.

Fire and ice beneath the mundane sky.