Will scowled and began to pat himself down and check his pockets.

"Now that's uncalled for," Ryder feigned being offended.

Will finished patting himself down and addressed Ryder. "You missed Ellie's sixteenth."

"You know how it is, kid," Ryder shrugged. "Busy, busy, busy."

Will jerked his head to the flatbed. "What's in the truck?"

"Stuff."

"Stuff, huh?" said Will. "And where did you get that truck?"

"Don't you worry about it, kid." Ryder tossed something to Angus, who quickly stashed it away into another box.

"Now tell me what you are selling," said Ryder.

"Who said I'm selling?" said Will.

"Is that a droid in the bag or are you just happy to see me?" Ryder pointed out.

Will glanced at his backpack, which had a faint boxy shaped outline.

Angus exclaimed, "You did mention that! What are you selling?"

Will frowned at Ryder. He grabbed his backpack and went to the stacked boxes near the back door. He sat on one box and used others as a makeshift table. Ryder and Angus came around and sat down beside him.

Will dug around his pockets and brought out the ether cube. Ryder gave a low whistle. "Well, look at you, cuz. All grown up and tackling droids."

"NeuroSynthX," said Will. "680 series."

Ryder leaned forward. "Where did you get it?"

"Don't you worry about it," said Will.

Ryder chuckled. Angus, however, looked ecstatic and quoted a price. "Five grand, no, seven."

Will gave a small sigh. He wasn't about to cheat Angus; he needed to tell him about the fracture.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

"Relax, Gus," Ryder interrupted. "Look carefully before you lose your head."

Will leaned forward and showed the stout boy the small crack running through the cubit. Angus deflated and quoted a new price. "Ninety credits."

"Even ninety is too much," Ryder puffed away on his stim-cig.

Will scowled at Ryder. "It can be patched. This cubit can still be saved."

"You don't even know if it runs," said Ryder.

"And you don't know if it doesn't."

"About nine hundred if it is patched," Angus muttered to himself.

"Patching costs money, and all the risk is on the buyer. No go," said Ryder.

"Am I selling it to you or to him?" snapped Will. He turned to Angus. "Gus, give me a price."

Angus looked nervously at Ryder. Will frowned and shot Ryder a glare, who shook his head. Angus remained mute; he wasn't going to gainsay Ryder while he was here.

Will sighed and picked up his backpack. He carefully stuffed the cubit back into his pocket. "Alright then, I guess I'll take this somewhere else."

"Now hold on a minute," said Ryder. "I can take that off your hands for ninety credits worth of Infils."

"There is an embargo still going," said Will. "I'm going to hold on to this for a bit. Wait for the price to shoot up."

"I wouldn't be too sure about that," said Ryder. "That junk is going into the stabilizer pile anyway. A hundred Infils."

Will snorted. Ryder was getting involved only because he wanted to get his hands on the etherite. Probably would resell them to shard embedders. Will didn't want to be anywhere near anything that illegal.

"So, what do you say?" asked Ryder.

"Alright," said Will. "I don't mind selling it to you. I think two thousand credits."

"What?" Ryder looked pained.

"Two thousand tower credits."

"Will... Come off it."

"That's the price."

"Now come on, kiddo. We are family."

Will nodded. "Alright, cuz. Let's make it an even thousand."

"Two hundred," Ryder countered.

"Nine hundred," said Will.

"Five, that's as high as I'm going."

Will paused. He really didn't want to sell it to Ryder, but he needed the money. He could use that five hundred.

"Five," agreed Will, "and you are coming to Ellie's induction."

"Now hold on a minute," Ryder protested.

"What? I thought we were family," said Will.

"Fine, fine. I'll be there," Ryder sighed and held out his hand for the cubit. "Five hundred Infils—"

"—tower credits," Will interrupted.

"Tower credits," Ryder bit out. "And I'll be there for little Ellie's induction. Deal?"

Will grinned and dug around his pockets for the ether cube. He brought it out, and Ryder's face fell. "Ah, fuck."

"What?" asked Will, mystified.

Ryder glanced over Will's shoulder. "Um, you hold on to that cubit for me, cuz. I'll get it later."

"Wait, what?" spluttered Will. "Where are you going?"

Ryder climbed into the truck and took off at top speed. The metal walkway scraped under the truck's tires, and the flatbed sped off onto one of the bigger bridges.

"What the hell was that?" muttered Will.

"Sorry about that, Will," Angus said quietly from beside him.

"Yeah, I'm sorry too," said Will. He had nearly sold the cubit too. "Now, what was he looking at..."

Will gazed into the distance. A few bridges over, there was a thin middle-aged woman glaring at the speeding truck.

"Oh, shoot," said Will. He patted Angus's shoulder and ran off towards the woman. "Mom!"