With my phone in hand and my keys tucked into my pocket, I approach the young woman watching over the twins.
She looks about twenty-eight, a few years younger than me, with light-tan skin and a body that nearly makes me forget why I stopped in the first place. She can't be much more than five feet tall, with thick thighs and a small waist that my eyes have absolutely no business lingering on.
Then she looks up.
Her golden-brown hair is pulled into a ponytail that spreads behind her like a peacock's tail, framing bright gold-green eyes and a brilliant white smile.
For half a second, my entire plan disappears.
Damn.
Fortunately, I recover without embarrassing myself. I shift my attention toward the children, then back to her as I hold out my hand, assuming she is their mother.
"Good morning. My name is Mikæl, and I wanted to ask what exactly the children are raising money for."
Luckily, my assumption is correct.
She accepts my hand. "I'm Jasmine, and this is Julio and Julia. They're raising money so their groups can take a trip to the Museum of Wildlife."
She gestures toward the half-empty table.
"We were actually about to pack up when you approached. Would you like to contribute?"
"I would."
I release her hand politely, though not before feeling her fingers give mine a small squeeze.
Her gaze lingers on my face now, openly taking me in, and her smile brightens just a little more.
Okay.
So that wasn't my imagination.
I glance toward the twins before looking back at her.
"How much does the troop need?"
Jasmine blinks, clearly not expecting the question.
"For both groups?" she asks, glancing toward the twins. "A little over six thousand dollars altogether. Julio's troop still needs about thirty-two hundred, and Julia's needs just under three thousand."
Her smile turns a little awkward.
"But you don't have to cover all that. Even buying a few boxes would help."
"I see." I glance over the rows of boxes. "So how about I buy the—"
I raise my voice enough to carry down the sidewalk.
"—COOKIES FOR EVERYONE WHO PASSES BY!"
The twins' heads snap up.
Jasmine stares at me.
Then I lower my voice and look back at her with a grin.
"And donate fifty thousand dollars to each troop."
Her smile disappears.
Not because she's upset.
Her entire face just freezes like her brain shut down.
Julio's mouth drops open while Julia slowly turns toward her mother.
Jasmine blinks several times. "Fifty thousand… each?"
"Yeah. A hundred thousand altogether."
"For their troops?"
I nod.
"Mister," Julio whispers, "that's a lot of cookies."
I look down at him.
"Then y'all better get ready to work."
I give the little man a smile, then pull out my phone as I look back at Jasmine.
"Where can I send the money? That would be a hundred and six thousand altogether, right?"
Jasmine's eyes flick from my phone to my face like she is waiting for the punchline to show up.
"I… you can't send that to me directly," she says. "Both groups have official troop accounts. I can pull up the fundraising pages, but Mikæl, are you serious?"
"Completely." I angle my phone toward her. "Put thirty-two hundred toward Julio's goal, twenty-eight hundred toward Julia's, then add fifty thousand to each troop."
Her lips part again.
"That's fifty-three thousand two hundred for Julio's group and fifty-two thousand eight hundred for Julia's."
"Which makes a hundred and six thousand."
"Yes," she says slowly. "But that is an insane amount of money."
"Probably." I glance at the twins. They are still staring at me like I just announced Christmas is happening twice this year. "But they came out here, set everything up, and stayed even when nobody was stopping. I'm investing in that."
Something in Jasmine's expression softens.
"You don't even know us."
"I know enough to see they're putting in the work."
For a second, she just looks at me.
Then she unlocks her phone with fingers that are beginning to shake and pulls up two official fundraising pages. I scan the first QR code, then the second.
The forms open immediately.
I enter $53,200.00 for Julio's troop.
Then $52,800.00 for Julia's.
As my thumb hovers over the final confirmation, Genesis speaks inside my mind.
"Your available liquid balance is four thousand dollars below the total required amount."
"Debt Exchange?"
"Yes. The shortfall can be bridged and settled from the applicable Personal Purchase return."
"Do it."
I tap CONFIRM.
Both transactions process without hesitation.
Two green check marks appear across my screen.
PAYMENT COMPLETE
Jasmine's phone chimes almost immediately.
Then again.
She looks down.
Her entire body goes still.
"Oh my God."
Julio leans against her side, trying to see the screen. "Did it work?"
Jasmine presses one hand over her mouth and nods.
Julia's eyes go wide. "We can go to the museum?"
"Baby, your whole group can go to the museum," Jasmine says, her voice cracking. "Probably for the next several years."
That gets the first real smile out of both kids.
Big ones.
The kind that make the whole stop worth it before the System gives me back a single dollar.
Jasmine looks up at me with tears gathering along her lower lashes. "Why would you do this?"
"Because they showed up." I slide my phone back into my pocket. "Just make sure the money helps the kids. Trips, equipment, programs, whatever gives them more opportunities."
"It will." She nods hard. "I swear it will."
"Then we're good."
Julia grabs a box from the table and holds it out to me. "You get the first one."
I smile but shake my head. "Nah. Those are for everybody who passes by, remember?"
A man walking his dog slows down after hearing her.
Julio snatches up a box and runs to the edge of the yard. "Sir! Free cookies!"
The man looks around like he expects a hidden camera.
I laugh and start back toward the Mustang while the twins begin shouting offers at every person within range.
By the time I reach the curb, Jasmine is still staring at the confirmations on her phone.
I open the driver's door and slide behind the wheel.
The moment it closes, crystalline sound rings through the car.
༺◈✧ Shling ✧◈༻
White, gold, crimson, and emerald light gathers above the steering wheel before unfolding into a translucent panel.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
◈ SOVEREIGN TRANSACTION RETURN ◈
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
" QUALIFYING TRANSACTION COMPLETE "
♦ COMMITTED FUNDS
Julio Troop Transfer: $53,200.00
Julia Troop Transfer: $52,800.00
Total Committed: $106,000.00
◆ QUALIFYING CLASSIFICATIONS
Personal Purchase Base: $6,000.00
Relationship / Gift Base: $100,000.00
Investment Base: $106,000.00
♦ DEBT EXCHANGE
Shortfall Bridged: $4,000.00
Conventional Debt Created: NONE
Settlement Source: PERSONAL PURCHASE RETURN
◆ REALIZED RETURNS
Purchase Principal Reimbursement: +$6,000.00
Personal Purchase Return — 10.00×: +$60,000.00
Debt Exchange Settlement: −$4,000.00
Relationship / Gift Return — 10.00×:
+$1,000,000.00
Investment Return — 2.50×: +$265,000.00
♦ FINAL REALIZATION
Total Credited: $1,327,000.00
Transaction Status: COMPLETE
System Return Recursion: BLOCKED
♜ THE SOVEREIGN COMMANDS • TABOO EXECUTES ♜
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
I read the total once.
Then again.
"Genesis."
"Yes, Mikæl?"
"I just sent them a hundred and six thousand dollars, and Taboo put one-point-three-two-seven million back into my account."
"Correct."
"The kids keep the money."
"Yes."
"The troops keep the money."
"Yes."
"And I'm sitting here richer than I was before I stopped."
"Substantially."
I lean back against the seat and stare through the windshield at Julio handing a box of cookies to the confused dog walker.
"Bro."
"I believe that assessment is accurate."
I start laughing.
Not a polite laugh, either.
The kind that forces me to cover my face while the sheer financial insanity of my new life settles in.
"Genesis, this System is gonna make generosity dangerously addictive."
"That outcome appears preferable to several alternatives."
"You ain't wrong."
I smile as I open my actual banking app.
Seeing the money inside a normal account hits differently than watching it appear on a System panel. The balance is real, the transaction history is clean, and the new total already includes the return tied to the hundred thousand dollars I treated as an investment.
"Okay," I murmur. "That is beautiful."
I tap over to my investment portfolio.
One of my old positions catches my attention immediately.
I only put three hundred dollars into it, mostly as a gamble I had nearly forgotten about. Now the position is worth three thousand dollars.
I blink.
"Well, look at you."
"The position remains inside the investment portfolio," Genesis says. "Its returned principal and profit have not entered an authorized bank account. The realization-stage Investment Multiplier has therefore not activated."
"So if I leave the three grand here, it keeps working."
"Yes."
"And when I eventually move it into my bank account, the entire legitimate amount triggers the two-and-a-half-times return."
"Correct."
I leave the three thousand exactly where it is.
Then I open that same company position and select ADD FUNDS.
The company has an active private funding round available to existing shareholders. My original three-hundred-dollar purchase already bought actual company stock, and the shares are now worth three thousand dollars.
The new coin the company is developing has started climbing in a pattern that reminds me of Bitcoin before the rest of the world understood what it could become, but I never bought the cryptocurrency itself.
I bought stock in the company behind it.
And because the business is still young, adding another hundred thousand dollars to my existing position would increase my total ownership to five percent of the entire company.
I sit forward and read the terms again.
The three thousand already in the position stays exactly where it is. The additional hundred thousand goes directly into the same company as growth capital. Once the transaction closes, both amounts remain inside one expanded equity position representing five percent of the business.
"Hold up," I say. "So this is the same company I originally put three hundred dollars into?"
"Yes," Genesis replies. "Your original shares have appreciated to three thousand dollars. You are now adding one hundred thousand dollars to that same investment position."
"And after I add it, I own five percent of the actual company?"
"Correct. The completed transaction will expand your existing stock position into a legal five-percent equity stake."
"So if the company grows, my five percent grows with it."
"Correct."
"And because I'm purchasing more of the business…"
"The new one-hundred-thousand-dollar transaction also qualifies for the Business Purchase Multiplier."
A grin spreads across my face.
"While still counting as an investment because the money stays committed to future growth and profit."
"Correct. Both classifications are genuine and will be processed separately. Your existing position will remain intact, the additional principal will expand it to five-percent ownership, and the new one hundred thousand dollars will receive both the two-point-five-times Investment return and the seven-point-five-times Business Purchase return."
Genesis overlays the company's ownership structure, leadership, finances, risks, projected growth, liquidity, coin performance, and long-term potential across my screen. The information does not make the decision for me, but it removes every blind spot I would normally have.
The company is risky.
The coin is new, volatile, and nowhere near guaranteed to become the next Bitcoin.
But the business is real, the technology has potential, and adding the hundred thousand to the position I already own would secure five percent of the company while it is still small enough for that amount to matter.
Five percent for a hundred grand feels almost criminal.
Almost.
I confirm the additional equity investment.
༺◈✧ Shling ✧◈༻
A compact panel unfolds above my phone.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
◈ SOVEREIGN BUSINESS INVESTMENT RETURN ◈
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
" POSITION EXPANSION CONFIRMED "
♦ EXPANDED BUSINESS ASSET
Existing Position Value: $3,000.00
Additional Principal: $100,000.00
Position Continuity: SAME COMPANY
Total Equity Ownership: 5.00%
Ownership Position: RETAINED
Enterprise Classification: CRYPTOCURRENCY COMPANY
◆ QUALIFYING NEW TRANSACTION
Investment Multiplier: 2.50×
Business Purchase Multiplier: 7.50×
Combined Separate Returns: 10.00×
♦ IMMEDIATE REALIZATION
Investment Return: +$250,000.00
Business Purchase Return: +$750,000.00
Total System Return: +$1,000,000.00
Destination: AUTHORIZED BANK ACCOUNT
Return Recursion: BLOCKED
◆ FUTURE INVESTMENT REALIZATION
Expanded Equity Position: ACTIVE
Returned Principal: PENDING
Realized Profit: PENDING
Activation Condition: ENTRY INTO BANK ACCOUNT
Equity Ownership: RETAINED
♜ THE SOVEREIGN COMMANDS • TABOO EXECUTES ♜
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
I look from the panel to the new deposits in my banking app.
The three thousand dollars already in the stock position never moved.
The new hundred thousand joined it inside the same company investment, expanding my ownership to five percent.
One million dollars has appeared in checking through two separate System returns.
I blink at the numbers.
"So the three hundred I originally put in grew to three grand, I added a hundred thousand to that same position, now I own five percent of the company, and Taboo deposited a million dollars into my bank."
"Correct."
"My liquid balance increased by nine hundred thousand after adding the new investment."
"Yes."
"And my total assets increased by the full million because every dollar I committed is still represented by company stock."
"Correct."
I settle deeper into the driver's seat, smiling at my phone.
"Bro, I turned a three-hundred-dollar gamble into five percent of a company and got paid a million dollars for adding to it."
"That is a concise description, though financially unconventional."
At that exact moment, a knock against my driver's-side window startles me hard enough that my phone nearly slips from my hand.
I look up to find Jasmine standing outside the Mustang, giggling as she holds a variety box against the glass.
Written across the top in black marker is her phone number.
I smile and roll down the window.
"Well, that's one hell of a compelling way to get me to take a box, Miss Jasmine."
Color rises into her cheeks. She points back toward the twins, clearly trying to place at least part of the responsibility on them.
"Well, they wanted to thank you. Especially Julia." Her eyes return to mine. "And so did I. So perhaps we could exchange numbers?"
The last part comes out in a nervous rush.
"Breathe," I soothe as I accept the box from her.
I unlock my phone, enter the number written across the top, and text her immediately.
Her phone chimes.
I wink at her.
"Call me anytime. We'll set up a date. And make sure you thank Julia for both of us."
Jasmine's blush deepens as she steps away from the window.
"Have a good rest of your day, Mikæl."
"You too, Jasmine."
She turns and heads back up the walkway.
A little farther up, Julio and Julia wave at me while continuing to hand out boxes.
"Have a good rest of your day, Mister Mikæl!" they repeat after their mother.
I lift the variety box in acknowledgment, smiling as they get right back to work.
The moment Jasmine turns away, another crystalline chime sounds inside the Mustang.
༺◈✧ Shling ✧◈༻
Gold, silver, violet, and emerald light gathers above the steering wheel.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
◈ RELATIONSHIP OPPORTUNITY IDENTIFIED ◈
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
" OPTIONAL CONQUEST PATH AVAILABLE "
♦ TARGET PROFILE
Name: JASMINE
Occupation: INDEPENDENT UBER / UBER EATS DRIVER
Children: JULIO AND JULIA
◆ IMMEDIATE THOUGHTS
He is unbelievably handsome.
He is generous beyond anything I expected.
He treated my children like their effort mattered.
I absolutely want that date.
♦ RELATIONSHIP INDICATORS
Affection: 84%
Interest: 100%
Loyalty: 50%
Personalized Relationship Multiplier: 5.00×
◆ PRIMARY CATALYSTS
Genuine kindness shown to her children.
Legitimate financial support benefiting both twins and their groups.
Respectful treatment without demanding repayment, attention, or access.
♦ OPTIONAL CONQUEST MISSION
A MOTHER'S SECOND LOOK
Develop a genuine romantic relationship with Jasmine.
Build trust through consistency, honesty, and respect for her responsibilities as a mother.
All progress requires her freely given interest and consent.
System information cannot be used to manipulate or override her agency.
◆ POTENTIAL REWARDS
Base Experience Reward: 1,500 XP
Experience Gain Multiplier: 2.00×
Final Experience Reward: 3,000 XP
Personalized Multiplier Recalibration: ON COMPLETION
Acceptance: PENDING
Failure Penalty: NONE
♜ THE SOVEREIGN COMMANDS • TABOO EXECUTES ♜
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
I stare at the numbers.
"Eighty-four percent affection? We met less than half an hour ago."
"Her affection increased sharply because your actions directly benefited her children, validated their effort, and relieved a significant burden without creating an obligation," Genesis explains.
I point at the next number even though she does not need the gesture.
"And fifty percent loyalty?"
"Provisional trust, favorable alignment, and a strong willingness to support future contact," she says. "It does not represent obedience, ownership, or permanent devotion."
"Good. Because that would've been creepy as hell."
"Agreed."
"Not that I'm complaining."
I glance through the windshield toward Jasmine and the twins.
Five-times relationship development, a date already on the table, and enough interest to max out the System's display after one conversation.
Not bad for stopping to buy cookies.
That little stop gives me an idea.
I'm supposed to see my daughter soon anyway.
Might as well make it sooner.
I glance toward the road and think about the route to Calderon Media.
The mall is on the way.
"Yeah," I murmur as I start the Mustang. "That works."
I pull away from the curb with my next stop already decided.
The mall.