Roselyn looks back at Dad, not backing down. He must have said something that forced her smile into a look of contemplation. How else could she explain what she has done to manipulate him into believing her actions were necessary and just?

  She finds some words.

  “Surely you can appreciate what I did. I found a way to help you live in comfort and, as a bonus, cause some problems for your former company that wronged you!”

  I watch Roselyn’s thoughts overcome with strong emotion as her voice rises, shaking under the weight of held-back tears.

  “I did this for you! Now you don’t have to be miserable and bored, staying at home every day. You can be happy again!”

  Dad struggles to process the turn of events, still in apparent shock. After a slow five seconds pass, he finally notices my presence in the apartment. He turns to look at me and witnesses the unwilling knowledge on my face about Roselyn’s invasion of United World.

  “You. How could you let Roselyn do something so recklessly stupid?”

  I’m startled that this has somehow turned on me. I was ready to get Dad’s help, not his blame!

  “Me?” I splutter.

  “Yes, you,” he accuses. “You knew all about this, and you didn’t stop her!”

  I protest, “How have I ever been able to control what she does?!”

  He jerks back a reply.

  “Drag her home by her hair for all I care. How hard is it to stop her from getting on the ‘Most Wanted Terrorists’ list?!”

  The uneasy sound of drama on the TV catches my attention, and I move my gaze to the screen. The electricity meter above it is still glowing a calm green 100 percent, like everything is fine.

  The presenters are discussing the chain reaction of drastic consequences that an attack on United World’s facilities would trigger. The neighbourhood may have tight security from above, but it was far too easy for terrorists to simply walk in through the front and do damage. Power failures across hospitals and nursing homes would cause many deaths. Food from the countryside could not be processed, packaged, or distributed. And in the desert and snow regions, the extreme heat and cold could also lead to fatal casualties.

  Nothing they say is untrue, but it is just like the media to take a schoolchildren prank and make it seem like the world is ending. They even conveniently freeze the footage of Sam, Dom, and Roselyn on a frame where Sam isn’t doing one of his ridiculous spy moves. Why show the intruders as impulsive kids when they can instead send the country into a panic over the threat of warfare?

  Dad interrupts my viewing of the emergency broadcast, prompting me with a single word.

  “Well?”

  I don’t remember being asked a question.

  “Well, what?”

  That spikes his anger again.

  “What are you going to do to fix what happened?”

  I can’t possibly think of a way to undo Roselyn being caught on camera in a place she shouldn’t have been!

  “Well… I am hoping to have an interview with someone from United World for my Resource Management assignment. I can try to discreetly find out what they know…”

  Wrong suggestion. He snaps back at me, eyes wide, his face alight with disbelief.

  “Do you want to cause more trouble for yourself?! Don’t put yourself on their radar! Just keep yourself clear of them and give them no reason at all to harm you.”

  I have no idea how he expects me to fix Roselyn’s mistakes by doing nothing. There are no more questions worth answering, and my mind drifts to Ernie. I glance around the small apartment, but he’s nowhere to be seen. His bed looks untouched, the sheets still smooth. The spot where his giraffe usually sits is empty, and I already miss the light-hearted presence he brings to the room.

  If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  Dad pulls out his last, saved cigarette with quiet precision and lights it, taking a long inhale, like he’s trying to distract himself from reality for a moment. The smoke rises unevenly, slowly fogging the room, as he stares blankly at the TV, smoking in that panicked, absentminded way he always does when things are beyond him.

  “Where is Ernie?” I ask.

  Unfortunately, now that I want to know something, he goes back to ignoring me. He does not move his head or acknowledge me in any way. Just keeps watching the screen. I should have asked about Ernie earlier.

  Dad turns his attention back to Roselyn.

  “Did you consider what United World will find if they ever do an audit of which addresses have had their quota changed recently?”

  Roselyn gains some confidence in her demeanour, answering him more proudly this time.

  “Yes, I thought about that. We took the time to increase the electricity quota for fifteen different addresses at random, only changing our home’s quota in the middle of the others. I didn’t want to change too many or decrease any quotas, just in case there are people who take the time to let United World know they now have more power.”

  Dad looks to be calming down, some of the tension easing from his shoulders the more Roselyn explains the measures they took to cover their disturbance tonight.

  Roselyn continues, her voice steadier now.

  “Alonzo told me that there are such strict data encryptions for privacy that even if they wanted the specific address for changes made, they wouldn’t have the right to view our usage limits data. All they can see are trends, and there’s no way to narrow down a couple of outliers like that.”

  Dad’s outrage returns, and he balls up both fists in fury.

  “Alonzo helped you do this?!”

  Roselyn looks uncomfortable, realising that she shared Alonzo’s name without meaning to. A guilty look flashes through her eyes before she composes herself.

  “Yes, Daddy. I had to make sure it was something I could get away with, and he knows the security and how to increase our power quota using our meter’s serial number. We also searched online forums to find random meter numbers from people who sounded like they wouldn’t complain.”

  Dad looks more overwhelmed than anything else. He takes another long puff from his cigarette, then twists it out in the ashtray with a deep sigh. He runs a hand over his face before letting it go, defeated.

  “Ok, Roselyn. Thank you for TRYING to do something good for me. I need to lie down and process this.”

  He turns off the TV with the remote controller and slowly wanders over to his bed, his back and head dropped, dragging his feet like the last good thing in his life has just been taken away from him. He still has Ernie, but it seems like he feels that he has already lost Ernie to me.

  He lies down in silence, turning his back to the room and curling towards the wall, blocking us out of his sight and mind any way he can for the rest of the night.

  I worry about Ernie.

  “Where is Ernie?” I repeat, looking from Dad to Roselyn.

  Roselyn shrugs at me and turns away, heading toward the corner where the shower waits. She must be trying to wash her guilt away. With Dad tuning me out, I won’t get the information from him.

  I pull my phone from my pocket, ready to send Ernie an urgent message, and see that I already have one from him.

  Marco came by tonight and asked me to sleep over at his house before the party. Dad was fine with it, but I wanted to let you know so that you don’t worry.

  Walking to Marco’s house without adult supervision? I need to check that he made it there without any harm.

  Did you arrive there safely?

  I stare at my phone impatiently, tapping the screen with my fingers as I wait for Ernie’s reply. C’mon, c’mon… a full twenty seconds pass before a text finally appears back.

  Yes, thank you. Goodnight, love you.

  Good, he is fine. I can relax.

  It will be a long wait before Roselyn is finished with the shower, so I choose to skip mine tonight and get some rest. I lower myself onto the bed and stare at the ceiling for a while before pulling the blanket over me, unsure if sleep will come.

  My awkward situation with Mr Hydell almost seems insignificant compared to what I witnessed afterwards. I hope Georgina can find a job soon so she can take care of her daughter. She seemed quite distressed, and I can understand the pain of her financial hardship.

  Then there’s Roselyn. Dom was always the bad influence in the group, but this time, the plan seemed to be all hers. She wouldn’t have done it on her own, and the others are not without blame, but I worry that I won’t be able to stop the life of crime she is adopting as she approaches adulthood. She and Dom really might be a better-matched couple than I had thought!

  I thought that all they did tonight was cause panic and disturbance for United World, but there was real planning behind their actions. She needed to uncover information about United World’s security from Alonzo, find meter serial numbers, obtain exact locations and instructions on how to access the power distribution system at a time when no authentication would be required because the system was already in use and simply unmanned, convince her friends to break in at night, find suitable black burglar clothes, actually carry out the plan, and evade the police on the way out.

  Her motive was to do it for Dad, to provide him with a more comfortable home life through a large electricity quota each day. But now that she is comfortable with breaking the law, her reasons will probably become less and less justifiable until she is caught.

  It might actually be a good thing that Ernie isn’t home tonight. If United World finds out which addresses had their power quotas increased, we are all in trouble!

  All that risk, just to try and make Dad happy, when he doesn’t do anything for himself. It’s time she gives up on Dad and tries to fix her own life.

  Dad’s already paying for his mistakes.

  What Roselyn does next will determine the path for the rest of her life.

  And if Ernie follows her, then I’ll have to find a way to stop him before it’s too late.