Hanna entered their home to see the leather couch and a man’s bare, hairy ass.

It tightened and released in an easy-to-see rhythm. And beneath the gross ass, their mother moaned. She clutched Kyle’s arm in shock. Was their mom cheating on their dad? Right now?! In front of them?!

Hanna, with an obviously horrified expression, looked at Kyle who shrugged.

What the fuck were they supposed to do in this situation? Interrupted them? That would just make things more awkward since it seemed like the two hadn’t even heard them enter.

Not confront them?

That seemed… morally wrong?

That was when Hanna noticed the birthmark on the man’s outer thigh. After sifting through Original Hanna’s memories of going to the beach with her family, she recalled her father had that particular birthmark.

She sighed with relief and cringed. Their mother wasn’t cheating, just fucking their father in front of their kids. Ew!

Hanna pulled Kyle’s sleeve, and they quietly crept up the stairs. Then they entered her brother’s room and closed the door.

For some reason, he locked and unlocked it three times.

“I can’t believe Mom and Dad were just going at it right there for us to see.”

Kyle looked deeply into her eyes. “I want to move out.”

She blinked. Pain shot through her chest.

Hadn’t he just said that he wanted to stay with her?

Yet, here he was, already wanting to move out.

She was about to get upset when he grabbed her hand. “With you. I want us to move in together. Just the two of us. So that we don’t have to experience things like seeing those two naked. Or having Mrs. Ivy walk in on us fucking.”

She opened her mouth. Move in?

“But what about rent? We’ll need to get jobs. We may as well stay here—”

He grinned. “Do you think I can’t make a lot of money on this backwater planet?”

She opened her mouth. Then she thought about it.

“What? You’re not going to throw some alien tech at us, are you? Because that would be a huge mistake.”

“Don’t worry. I’m not planning on that. But my ship has very impressive devices that can analyze the current technology, and extrapolate from data to create slightly more advanced software. All we have to do is find someone to sell it to.”

She blinked. That could work.

“Okay,” she said. “But earn the money first. It will probably take longer than you think.”

He grinned. “I think it will take less time than you believe.”

“You wanna bet?”

Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.

He grinned. “What do you have in mind?”

“If you take longer than a week, then you have to help me study every weekday—aside from holidays—for the next year.”

He smiled, far too confidently. “And if it takes less than a week?”

She shrugged, “It won’t be fair if I’m the only one who chooses the conditions.”

“Then within the next year, I want you to forgive me if I ask you to.”

She opened her mouth. “Is there something you’re not telling me, Kyle?”

He grinned. “Yes, but we’re both allowed to keep some secrets from each other. After all, you wouldn’t happen to want to explain why you changed so much that Kyle thought you weren’t actually his sister, would you?”

Her eyes bulged. “Kyle thought that?”

He nodded.

“Holy fuck. He’s observant.”

Kyle froze. “Ah, Hanna… What do you mean by that?”

She grinned. She’d been considering coming clean with the truth since he’d been so upfront with her. And if she was going to tell anyone this secret, it would have to be this alien.

“You might think I’m crazy, but I am a transmigrator.”

“A transmigrator?”

Right, they might not have those stories where he comes from. “It means that, while I have original Hanna’s memories, I’m not her. I’m not even from this universe. From a universe far more real than this one.” No. I couldn’t tell him that this world was literally animated. “No, those are the wrong words. A universe that’s similar but different. I was just a normal person there, living my life as a cashier with no prospects. Now I’m still a normal person, but I have a wonderful family who can send me to college as long as I can keep my grades up.”

He sighed. “That’s why you’re so focused on going to college and getting a doctorate?”

“That, and I like astronomy.” She grinned. “I’d make time at least twice a year to go to the local planetarium. And considering that I was living paycheck to paycheck, even that much required a lot of effort on my part. So, yeah. If I have what is basically a second chance at life, I’m not going to waste it.”

He frowned.

She smiled brilliantly. “Do you believe me?”

Since she knew it sounded ridiculous—she was already prepared to tell him she was just joking—since who the fuck would believe something so silly?

“Yeah. I do.”

She blinked. “Are you sure? Because even I barely believe me and I’m the one who transmigrated.”

He pulled her into his arms and pressed his lips to her temple. “Yes. I believe you. Because it makes sense, and I’ve already encountered things in this world that shouldn’t exist. What’s one more?”

She smiled happily and hugged him tightly. “Thank you.”

Just as he started to slide his hand up under the back of her shirt, she said, “By the way, when is my actual brother coming back?”

She could have sworn he mumbled, “Definitely, fucking never,” under his breath, but then he loudly said, “To be completely healed? A few months to several years. His injuries were life threatening.”

She nodded and considered that she must have been hearing things earlier. But that left just one last thing they had to discuss… “We have a time and range where the Lusundai was last seen. What are our plans going forward?”

He sighed. “I should have done this earlier, but I’m going to have my device hack into this area’s CCTV footage to try to sus out where the cat traveled that night.”

“And how long will that take?”

He shrugged. “I’m not sure. There is no telling how far this cat roams, but I’ll figure it out.”

His hands continued up her back.

Hanna chuckled and stood up. “We don’t have time for that. We have to eat dinner, and then I have to study.”

“But it’s the weekend!”

She grinned just before she left to go shower and change.

***

Kyle watched her leave then sighed.

She had a point. They were both too busy this weekend to do that... As much as they wanted.

His first step was to set his device to search for traces of that cat. Then he pulled out a second device. This one he set to analyze the current trend in the markets, figure out what kind of program was currently needed, and start working on one that wouldn’t break this world’s ever-changing technology.

And while the two devices were analyzing those, he also did some research himself on the various large companies who might be interested in buying his technology, and the process in which they do that.

One was XXXrosoft, a long-term giant of a corporation. If anyone could afford his tech at the price, he wanted to sell it, it would be them. The next would be Xony. While not as large, they also had a stake in the tech industry. He also considered the small Kid-tendo, but decided to focus on the first two at first. Especially XXXrosoft with their XXXbox.

Then he discovered that Xapple was also a very good choice. Looked like if someone wanted an exclusivity deal, there would be a massive auction.

The real question was, should he sell the program outright or just licenses?