“Hunter.”
He didn’t want to get into a fight with his barely thirteen-year-old brother. They were supposed to be enjoying themselves. He’d pushed back all his assignments to spend the week with him. Their parents had gone on a seven-day cruise to Hawaii, a well-deserved vacation that Hunter had gifted his parents, along with watching his brother, his fifteen-years-younger little brother.
The day his parents sat him down and revealed their expecting news had rocked the teenager’s world off its axis. First was the immature reaction: disgust. How would he explain to his friends that his parents had sex? They were too old for that, at least to a fifteen-year-old who was just beginning to understand the lure and attraction to the other sex. Then there was the reality that a crying, helpless child would rob him of the parents he had exclusivity to. He’d now have to share, and he knew it wasn’t going to be a fifty-fifty split. But now with age and maturity, he could not imagine his life without the smelly teen. But to have his brother constantly on the gaming system—speaking to who knew who—and only stopping for a quick bite or bathroom break, he questioned his offer to put him up for the week.
“Kyle, I have plans for us today. I got tickets to the Aggies verses the Longhorns bowl game. Get cleaned up. We have to leave in an hour.”
“Football? You know I don’t care about football or any other kind of sport.”
“Yes, football. You need to get out of that gaming chair. I regret letting you bring it with you. You need fresh air and to be around real people, not just the virtual ones.”
“I do have IRL friends.”
“IRL?”
“In real life.”
So now he had another acronym to understand. His mother had warned him. She gave him a cheat sheet on how to communicate with Kyle. Too bad he’d tossed it in the trash thinking he knew how to talk to a thirteen-year-old. He wasn’t that old. He was only twenty-eight. He kept up with the latest trends. He had to in his line of work.
He’d practically fell into doing voice-overs and audiobooks. He was working at a clothing store while in college, when an author suggested he read for her. He laughed it off at the time, but she was determined to have his voice narrating her book. He struggled with doing it justice, but after her patience and guidance, he’d mastered it. Not only did he do all of her recordings, he was also sought out by several best-selling authors. He changed his major in school and had never regretted it.
But today, his voice was not being heard since Kyle had resumed his game.
Reminding him once more of their timeframe, he left the spare bedroom Kyle had claimed and sat at his own desk. He’d purchased the necessary equipment and soundproofed his basement after his talent was in demand. Now he had the luxury of working from home and perfecting his art.
Not surprisingly, he had to interrupt Kyle’s game once more when they were scheduled to meet his UT alums. He’d purchased the highly expensive tickets months earlier, determined to get his brother out of his solitary life. Even though Hunter worked from home, he had friends in the RL, as his brother called it. He’d dated, even thought he’d fallen in love once. Maybe his brother had a point… Maybe living in an alternate universe was good sometimes.
* * *
“Talk fast.I have to get off the system in ten,” Kyle said through his headset.
He didn’t like the person he was communicating with, but he’d accepted the challenge and had to see it through.
“Have you found her?”
“Are you sure it’s a girl?” He’d not seen anything to identify the sex of the infamous hacker.
“Yes. Now answer the question. Have you found her?”
“Maybe. I need more time to make sure.”
“You have until tomorrow, Yottabyte.”
“Or?”
“Or you will find out how much I hate to lose.”
Kyle understood the threat. The game they were playing wasn’t something that he could reset. It was real and not just some innocent role-playing, as he’d initially thought. Nor could he live up to his moniker. In the world of bytes, Yottabyte was the highest and most powerful. He’d promoted himself as the best of the best, taunting GigaByte to outhack him. Only he hadn’t drawn her attention, just those who wanted the real hacker.
When the person tagged him on the dark web, he thought it was a witch hunt. Everyone wanted to know who GigaByte was. The likelihood of him discovering who it was only made the lure more enticing. So like a fool, he’d accepted the challenge. He was surprised when the tools he’d learned were actually working. He’d first learned to hack while playing video games. He would find the higher-ranking opponents and erase their gaming history, capture their currency, and move higher up the ranks. After learning and mastering game hacking, he delved into the dark web. He’d heard about the evils that lay beneath the web, but he hadn’t factored on what he’d see—selling anything someone might want—sex, drugs, illegal guns, and identity theft. If he’d been wise, he would’ve backed right out, but he was curious—so instead of leaving, he watched and learned.
And it was that curiosity that had him currently speaking with the devil incarnate.
“I’ll find her.”
The robotic voice once more issued his threats and logged off.
Kyle nearly jumped out of his seat when Hunter tapped his shoulder.