Static Crush {M/M} ✔

Chapter #30

 Rayner continues his story with a dark crease between his brows. "Uncovering one secret just uncovered loads more. Really bad company corruption shit. I'm sure your search gave you plenty of details."

"It did."

Scrubbing a hand over his face, Rayner says, "I took what I knew to my Dad, thinking he could do something about it. I don't know why I expected that this, of all things, would bring out his humanity. I guess you just always have that little bit of hope, eh? No such luck. We fought, and I don't know, it seemed as good a time as any to throw the 'I'm gay' card in his face. So I did that. And he told me to pack a bag and leave. That he'd strike my name from the family record. Know how long that took? Six hours. Cyber security firms, turns out, are also really good at expunging the data records they purport to protect. Overnight, I was no one. I had no name, no profile, no security number, no job. Just a few belongings, my car, and the cash in my wallet. Couldn't even access my bank account 'cause I was nobody."

It feels as though Hale's been struck through with a hot poker. The idea of anyone throwing Rayner out, let alone his own father, fills him with a burning fury. He decides that, along with Damo, he hates Rayner's family too.

Damo's voice answers him.

>>Hey. I'm not that shitty.

>>I submit as evidence to the contrary, you shouldn't even be listening to this conversation.

Out loud, Hale says, "So you exposed them."

Rayner nods. "Yep. I might have been living out of my car, but I spent a lot of time working for SafeHouse plugging up the loopholes in their security. I knew I could hack their databases if I tried. So I just...threw myself into tearing it all down."

Hale tilts his head. Rayner's voice took on a dour note that he finds difficult to place. By his account, Rayner should be proud. "Isn't that a good thing?"

"I don't know. Yeah, they sucked, but they also employed lots of people who lost their jobs 'cause of me. I told myself it was the right thing, but was it? Not like it made me any happier, either."

Hale wonders how Rayner feels now. His serotonin levels aren't indicative of depression. He seems neither overly chipper nor cynical in his disposition. Simply even keel.

Hale says, "None of my programming is equipped to answer those questions. But I believe, if your father had agreed to a more ethical approach, if he'd been as good a man as you, it would never have necessitated the action you took." He pauses, raising his eyebrows. "Did you ever hear from him?"

Rayner smiles wryly. "In the middle of it all, I got a deposit in my new account of a few million, with a note 'kindly requesting' I stop all this 'for the sake of the family.' It's a stupid low amount coming from a billionaire. His yacht probably cost more. I gave most of the money away. To charity. To the actually homeless folks, 'cause I still had a car at least. Bought up a big plot of wild land way up North so companies couldn't tear down the trees and build another concrete cinderblock. I didn't want their blood money so giving it away was one last 'fuck you' to my dad, I guess." Rayner chews his lip. "The rest is history. I had a new name and tried to put it all behind me. Had a number of failed relationships, friendships. Theo's the only one who stuck around while I was a mess. And I moved out to a suburb because I was just...convinced I was like cancer. I don't know, this is hard to explain, and it's the whole point of me telling you all this. But I think I know what you mean about...being afraid that you're just made up of broken bits from things that came before. I was—still am—terrified of becoming my father. Yeah, what I did, it was an attempt to set right the wrongs of my Dad. But it was also cruel and vindictive, in a way. And even when I tried to have real relationships, I got so good at pushing people away. So am I that different?"