Dustmites hung dead in the sunlit air of the livingroom, whirled into place by little Eri crawling across the floor. He'd lost interest in Kolja by now, focusing instead on placing his toy cars in meticulous lines on the carpet. Da-da car, he'd said, crawling over Kolja's prostrate body. When his father didn't show any signs of participation or presence, he'd quickly given up. Some kids are grand like that. They don't wait around for a firm hand to dictate the moment's contents. Don't need a leader present at all times. Kolja praised Eri for it. This morning he couldn't have done much praising even if he wanted to.

It was Tina's turn to sleep in this weekend. When Eri rustled to life, kicking and fussing in his parent's bed, Tina didn't even have to wake Kolja and nag him out of bed. He'd been up all night, looking at the lines on his Motorola screen. It was all mooning. Everything from shitcoins to stable crypto like Bitcoin and Ethereum were going straight up. He watched it pass $1400, and then $1500. Two hundred more. Four hundred. The last pennies of their life savings ticking away. He didn't know for sure how much money they'd actually lost as the stock exchange didn't open until Monday. But it was enough. Now he'd have to tell her. He couldn't keep it from her anymore. But none of it was his fault. Not really. A victim of humanity's inevitable advancements. Nobody is immune to the roaring powerhouse that is progress.

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Da-da car. Car da-da. Kolja snapped back, looked at his phone again. The rally was still running hot. He didn't even curse himself for betting against the market this time, like all the other times these past ten months.