Not that well, but Terra is god company too

Well you would try to get a date out of her if Elizabeth was answering the door. Either she was hiding or she had actually gone out. but the result was the same: You had some time to kill (and to ask a certain oni-princess for her phone number ASAP).

So you sit down on a nearby bench and give Terras report a more thorough reading. As she noted on the summary everything seems to be going just fine: VIPERs sleeper agents were going about their business just as planned, (currently very modest) funds were channeled through various shell companies into offshore accounts and there is no gossip among local law enforcement that hints towards them being aware of the hidden menace spreading it’s tendrils across their city. (Probably because you haven’t done anything truly menacing yet.)

But seeing your plans unfold like that is really nice, nonetheless.

And it gives you time to think where to go from here once all the preparations are complete. Do you want to take over the underworld? WAS there even an underworld in this city? One that didn’t consist solely of a few guys selling weed? …. Hmm. Well there is one rather infamous local frat that could be called organized crime, from a certain point of view. But taking them over to become the kingpin of public drunkenness and petty vandalism lacked a certain …panache.

Thinking about what actual use a bunch of fratboys might actually have, the only thing that come to mind is being able to move out and live with a lot of people you could convince to do your chores.

But if you had to chose you’d rather do what Kate did and move in with someone you actually like.

Like one of your friends.

The question is; which one?

Which brings up the bigger point of how much you want to tell your friends. do you want them to know how you are moving up in the world, or room with someone who doesn’t know that side of your life?

Looking at your tablet still showing , another idea idea begins to form. Kate has her own minions now. so it would be only fair if Terra got a few of her own…..

You shoot her a short text saying: ‘ Hi. I’m thinking of taking over a frat-house. Would now be a good time to meet and strategize over pancakes at IHOP? ’.

It is.

You and Terra have a delicious second breakfast. Terra apologizes for lying by omission and letting Kate be the one to break the news about the two of them becoming roommates. you assure her there is no need to apologize for indulging Kates love for secrecy. And then pair of you have a fun time hashing out a few basic ideas for letting Terra change the lives of a couple frat-boys to her liking. More than a hacker with unfettered access to said frat-boys financial data, social-media accounts and official records can do already.

And after a bit over two hours of swapping ideas only two things are clear: 1) Both of you had enough pancakes and hot chocolate for the day and b) you won’t hammer this idea out today.

You both like the basic idea, but the who and the how is a bit nebulous. Maybe it would be a sorority instead of a fraternity. Or Terra would mess with Alan, Derek and Steve whenever they weren’t on the clock for Kate. Maybe peoples lives would change to fit their (hacked) social-media profiles. Maybe they’d get cursed emails.

The important part was that Terra left, looking quite excited to figure out how she wanted things to work.

It will be fun to see how it goes. But for now you are going to give the VIPER-stuff a rest and put some time into keeping up your ‘normal student’ façade. After all: just because the faculty will let you graduate with a perfect attendance record and stellar test scores no matter how often you actually show up or do on the tests, doesn’t mean the other students won’t notice.

And besides: You decided to study that stuff because you found it interesting. So you might as well keep a hand in it.