Chapter 2: The Arrangement

HENRY AND LUKE went to get their tuxes at the rental shop the next Wednesday. They’d been lectured by Luke’s mother on good conservative dress for a prom. They’d ordered plain black tuxes, pleated shirts, and bow ties. The prom was to be a masked ball and they’d ordered black on black filigree eye masks.

No one would ever confuse one for the other. Luke was three inches shorter and possibly thirty pounds heavier than Henry, which wasn’t to say that Luke was heavy. Henry was just incredibly thin.

“I suppose this is how we’ll dress for your wedding,” Henry joked.

“Wedding!? You’ve got to be kidding. Bro, we have so much to do before we can think about finding wives. We have to get our company launched. That means we need to get you some help, too,” Luke said. “How did the most recent test go?”

“Still some bugs,” Henry sighed. “Seems like every time I squash one, another pops up. I’d like to develop an AI to handle the tasks, but at the moment all we really have is some look-up tables and algorithms. Still, it’s better than what we see on most computers.”

“So, we don’t have to worry about you taking over our computers with a sinister AI?” Luke joked.

“Not with this product,” Henry shot back. He looked at his alarmed friend and winked.

He’d been tinkering with computers seriously for ten years. He had as many hacking tools acquired from the dark web as he had legitimate programming tools. He considered it all part of his instruction and learning. He wouldn’t really hack into a friend’s computer, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t if he wanted to. One of the things he’d learned was where to look in the system for both dangerous and benign files.

The previous fall, he’d joined an online group of hackers he’d found who were exploring the use of AI to get through security systems and break into various corporate networks. They’d had some success at it, leaving behind a token as evidence they’d been there and then withdrawing. Henry made note of the applications and their shortcomings. For now, he was simply searching and comparing the program and application files for unused processes that served to slow the computer down. The app did its work and withdrew until launched by the user again.

He felt confident in his ability to get past most encryption and security systems, but that was technically illegal, so he didn’t do it beyond his initial tests with the hackers. There was a lot of gray area when dealing with who owned what on a person’s private computer. He didn’t want to stray into a black area.

Henry and Luke went to pick up the girls’ flowers and confirmed the arrangements for Saturday night. Luke—by way of his father’s auto dealership—had rented a limo to take them to the prom. Isobel and Chastity would enjoy that.

“Whee! Let’s Par-tay!” Izzy shouted when they were in the limo.

“I think you started without me, Bae,” Luke said.

“Catch up!” Chastity said, producing a small bottle of tequila from her bag.

Henry had been instructed to bring lime wedges and salt. Luke held out a shot glass. There was only one, so they took turns doing their shots. When Izzy reached for the glass for a second shot, Luke intercepted it and stuck it in his bag.

“Just one before the dance,” he said. “We don’t want to be sloshed when we get there. Remember, we can leave whenever we want to and there’s a bottle in our room.”

“God! I didn’t know I was dating my mother,” Isobel snapped. “‘Here’s just a little tequila to relax you before the dance,’ she said. ‘I told your father you were going to Chastity’s house after the after party. So be sure to be there when he shows up to pick you up for brunch.’”

“We can do that,” Chastity said.

“Oh, it was rich,” Isobel continued. “‘I’m not telling you to have sex with your boyfriend tonight, but your father thinks he can make a good match for his virgin daughter when we go to Argentina this summer. If you haven’t already taken care of that, this might be a good opportunity.’”

“Mama Perez gave you permission to have sex with me?” Luke exclaimed. “I don’t want to disappoint your mama!”

“Yeah, well there better be plenty of that stuff in our room when we get there tonight. Just so you know, going to our room with you is all the permission you need tonight. Don’t wake me up unless I’m snoring!” Isobel said. “When is that ceremony they’re doing to recognize the project team? I won’t last much longer than that. These boobs can only take bouncing up and down as we dance for so long, you know. Someone’s going to have to help support them.”

Isobel was on quite a roll. Henry wondered if Mama Perez had stopped at one drink before they picked her up. It wasn’t that unusual for Isobel to go off like this, though. There were times when they were all hard-put to keep up with her. Then she’d crash and go silent for a few days and then everything would be ‘normal.’

She wore a red dress and her lipstick matched it perfectly. She’d told them earlier she was going to a spa in the morning and having a full makeover. The dress was sleeveless and off the shoulder, so it left acres of her honey-colored skin exposed. That accented the single strand of pearls around her neck and pearl earrings beautifully. She had chosen a long evening gown that was slit up the side almost to her waist. Even sitting in the limo, she made quite an appealing display, while dangling her red lace mask from her fingers.