By the time the next weekend came, I had learned enough to know what would be my limitations. After analyzing Nammota's style, the scripts, the overall spirit of his heists, I could finally come up with a plan of my own. One that would look entirely like something Nammota would do, while also surpassing his abilities. No one would doubt that the modern-day Robin Hood would be the one behind this, because only a small handful of people could come up with something so grand and daring.

My guilt toward abandoning Lex had lessened, since he now knew I wasn't giving up on him, but that I was as devoted to helping him as ever. Although he knew nothing about my plans, he clearly wasn't liking the idea one bit. But since we were recorded during our phone calls, he couldn't mention it, which prevented us from arguing about it.

Oli came on Saturday morning, and I laid out my plan to him, explaining all the details I'd come up with, as well as the schedule I hoped we could work with. I told him how I intended to pull it off, basing my assessment on what Lex had done in the past. Oli listened for the most part, only interrupting when he needed some clarification over something.

Once I was done with everything, I anxiously waited for his take on it, hoping he'd agree with my insane plan. It was big – huge even – but it was exactly what we needed. Something only Nammota could pull off, something that would divert the focus from Lex, and trick the entire world into thinking the legendary hacker was still out there, free and kicking.

Still processing my words, Oli remained silent for about a minute. His eyebrows were frowned, slightly twitching from the intensity of the thoughts he was processing. Several times, his mouth opened to say something before closing again. His astute bewilderment was almost comical, but I was too anxious that he might completely reject my idea to find it amusing.

"How much per hit?" he eventually asked.

"Almost fifty-six million."

"And how many hits?"

"Twenty at least. Maybe twenty-five if we can pull it off."

"And that's—"

"Just under one point four billion."

That rendered him silent again, as he tried to fathom just how huge my plan was. But just like me, he knew it had to be monumental. Otherwise, people wouldn't truly believe it was Nammota.

"And you really think you can pull it off? We can't waste two weeks on it before realizing it won't be possible," he then pointed out, his tone prudent.

"With everything Lex left behind, and your help, I really think I can. We can. We have to."

"I really like it," Oli declared after a few silent seconds had passed. "It's definitely something Nammota would have done."

"Well, I've been living and breathing Nammota for the past two weeks, I've got a good understanding of how his mind works."

"Also, you've dated the guy," Oli noted with amusement.

"True."

It was still strange to think that the hacker I'd been avidly studying was the same person as Lex. It was what it must feel like to discover the secret identity of superheroes. Like realizing that this nerdy guy from the Daily Planet was the same one who lifted buildings and had vanquished General Zod.

"So, what do you say? Should we start working on it?" I asked, eager to get the ball rolling.

He agreed, matching my enthusiasm, and we were soon off to the Lexcave. There, I showed him all the scripts I'd compiled that could help us, and the issues I'd already anticipated. I told him about Lex's MO, from everything I'd seen and read. Thankfully, he used to keep very rigorous logs of what he did, so it would be easy for us to walk into his steps and pretend to be him.

After maybe an hour of debating about the best course of action, we began the first stage of my plan. We needed to find our targets, and that required some deep research, even though we had a good idea of the profiles we wanted. Oli settled his laptop on the desk with me, and we operated in tandem. Because of our mutual experience at Kelex, we were used to working together, and our efficiency was great.

It was very enjoyable to not be alone anymore and to have some company. Earlier in the week, I'd felt so socially deprived, I'd made sure to be out of the hidden room when Katya arrived, so I could hang out with her for a couple of hours. Despite her insistence, I'd assisted her in her tasks, and we'd spoken about various things. The way she talked about her daughter reminded me of my own mother, with her very maternal tough love and goal to have grandchildren soon. Seeing her leave had left me a little sad, but at least I'd refueled my need for human interactions.

After a few hours of intense work with Oli, a break became mandatory, to air out our brains and reward ourselves with much-needed food. Because I was feeling lazy, I suggested we order something, but upon seeing how well-supplied the kitchen was, Oli insisted on cooking something for us. While he took care of our lunch, I sat on one of the high chairs, with his laptop settled on the counter before me, going over what he'd done. The delicious smells of whatever he was cooking had my mouth water.

While I was pretty decent at it, I'd never particularly enjoyed baking and cooking. It was a necessity I had mastered, thanks to my mother and Abuela, but I'd never grown fond of it. It was very clear, though, that Oli loved cooking. He was quite entertaining to look at, as he discovered with wonderment the amazing perks of Lex's kitchen, found new things in the cupboards he explored, scavenged the fridge for ingredients...

Once more, I was reminded of how different he and Lex were. While I would never regret the choice I'd made all these months ago, it made me wonder if I could ever have been happy with Oli. Despite everything that was happening, Lex was, without a doubt, the love of my life. I couldn't think of any other way I could have loved someone more, or find anyone more suited for me. So it was strange to think I'd believed Oli would be a great fit when he was so different from Lex.

"What are you cooking?" I asked when the smell was growing increasingly distracting.

"Chicken Tikka Masala. I still can't believe I found everything. This kitchen is insane."

"Oh my God, thank you! I've been craving some good Indian cuisine, but there's only one that delivers around here, and the average rating isn't encouraging."

"No problem. I took a gap year right after I graduated and spent most of it in India. I fell in love with the people, the colors, the food... It was really an amazing experience."

"It's on my bucket list," I explained, envying his experience. The subcontinent had always been somewhere I'd wanted to go to, but my overall lack of money had prevented any traveling.

"Well, it's not quite the same, but at least you'll get to experience the recipe Mrs. Sharma taught me. It's probably one of my favorite things to cook. And not to toot my own horn, but I've gotten pretty damn good at it."

"You do like to make me travel with food," I humored, referencing our attempt at a date.

"Yeah, that's until Lex takes you to the actual places. I'm sure he'll indulge and take you to India himself one day." There was no resentment in his voice, and there was even a glimmer of amusement in his amber eyes.

He hadn't even said it in an attempt to reassure me, but simply like a fact, as if he didn't doubt Lex would get out and one day take me all the way there. The assurance I could read in his statement comforted me immensely, and I offered him a grateful smile.

As he kept cooking his signature dish, we talked about the work we'd done so far, and I caught up with what he'd focused on. The conversation lasted until it was time to eat, and then I asked Oli to tell me about his year in India. The dish was indeed delicious, and he was very flattered each time I complimented him on it – about every other forkful.

Between the delicious food and everything he told me, I decided I'd force Lex to take me there. We'd take a trip together to India, and it would be adventurous and romantic.

• • •

The day after, on Sunday, we ran into our first issue. While Lex's scripts were insanely good, most of them were now outdated. Since we were targeting the money of some of the most influential people on the planet, it was only normal for their banks to have updated their security system several times in the past four years. Being the best of the best, they had to deliver flawless service.

We just had to be even better.

Before encountering this problem, we had already found potential weaknesses for three banks, but the last one was much trickier. Since nearly half of our targets had their accounts there, we definitely had to find our way around their top-notch security system.

Most of the morning was spent on that, trying to find a breach in what was basically the impregnable city of Troy. But the kind that wouldn't even allow a Trojan Horse in, because they'd learn from the decades of mistakes others had made.

Leaning back in my chair, I let out a frustrated sigh. This was a major setback, and if we couldn't find a way in, we'd have to come up with a new plan entirely. One that might not resemble a hit from Nammota that much.

Just as disappointed as I was, Oli passed a hand over his face with a mumble. "I'm not sure there's a way, Dora."

"There has to be," I replied with determination. "Lex has done it before, so I'm sure we can do it now."

"Yeah, but even then, he's the only one who has ever managed to hack into Imperium accounts in the last two decades. That I know of, at least."

"Wait... Last week, I found a thread where someone was bragging about getting past their security system too."

"Really? Do you remember who it was?"

With a frown, I tried to remember the alias. So much new information had been flooding me lately, it was hard to pinpoint this exact name. "I think it was a reference to Monthy Python," I explained, vaguely remembering it. Thankfully, Oli knew this world well enough to see who I meant.

"BiggusDickus?"

"Yes! That's the one! You know them?"

"A bit. He mostly goes by Biggus."

"Well, someone was talking about how only Nammota had found a crack through Imperium's defenses, and he came in and said he'd done it too, but he wasn't bragging about it. I swear, he said it wasn't that hard, and all people had to do was to work smarter, not harder."

"From what I know, he's relatively good. But are you sure he was saying the truth?"

"I don't know... But it's what gave me the idea for the plan. Only Nammota could do it, so they'll have to release Lex if we can pull it off."

"So, what do we do? Do we keep looking for a solution?"

"Maybe we could... ask Biggus how he did it?" I hesitantly suggested.

Oli considered it, weighing the pros and cons. The pros were that we'd save a lot of time; the cons were that he could tell us to piss off and we might expose our plan. It wouldn't look too good if we asked for tips to get into Imperium's security system, and then a heist happened a couple of weeks later, supposedly orchestrated by Nammota himself. But from what I'd seen, the hacking community tended to stick together, so there was hardly a chance BiggusDickus would snitch on us.

"I really don't know, Andy. This one's your call."

Because I needed more time to take such a huge decision, I gave myself until after our lunch to do it. Just like the day before, I worked while Oli made us yet another delicious dish. It was from Morrocco this time, and I couldn't wait to try his chicken tajine. Because it would be simpler than having to ask for someone's help, I did everything I could to find the crack, to unveil what would allow us to breach the unbreachable.

This ultimate attempt failed as well, and after a silent meal together, I took the decision to contact Biggus. Since Oli's alias was much more famous than mine, he offered to do it, arguing TheRedDawn would inspire more trust than Frexx. Especially since Oli had already talked to him a few times in the past.

I agreed, and sitting next to one another, we drafted our first message to BiggusDickus. We waited in anxious silence for the reply to come. Thankfully for our nerves, it came pretty fast.

A surprisingly mundane conversation followed, where Oli and our interlocutor exchanged a few banalities. Little by little, though, we led it to where we wanted it to go. Very subtly, we asked him how he'd done it. We didn't need the entirety of the code. We didn't need the complete map. Just the direction we needed to take, and then we'd figure the rest by ourselves.

Biggus remained vague, though, never giving us a clear answer. When Oli insisted, it seemed the hacker caught our purpose, and he changed his tactics.

"Bro, it's not some information I'm just going to pass around. It's worth billions of dollars. Don't imagine I'll just share it with you like this," he sent us.

"Fine, I get it. It's just that a few people were saying you're full of shit, so I wanted to give you a chance to prove you'd actually done it. I guess they were right," we typed back.

"I got nothing to prove. I know I've done it. But if you really want the deets, you're gonna have to earn it."

Confused, Oli and I exchanged a perplexed look. What exactly would MC ask of us in exchange for whatever secret he was sitting on?

When Biggus's answer came, our question was answered, but more arose. "200k in Bitcoins, and I'll tell you whatever you want to know."

"Ah, shit," Oliver let out before turning to me. "Do you still have some leftovers from the sale of your app?"

"I do. But why the fuck would he want money if he really can hack into Imperium? As he said, what he knows is supposedly worth billions."

"Hmm, you're right. Maybe he just wants to fuck with us? He's known to be a bit of a dick, hence the alias."

I hesitated, rereading the conversation to help make up my mind. Giving Biggus the money wasn't the issue. It wasn't the least important to me, and if that was what it took to get Lex out, I'd give it all away in a heartbeat. But we had no insurance the hacker actually had the information we sought. Maybe he was just being a jerk and would extort money from us before calling us out on our stupidity.

"Oli, I don't know. I really don't feel good about this," I finally said after several minutes of pondering.

"Yeah, okay. You're the one in charge, Dora. We can try by ourselves again, I'm here for the whole afternoon." I offered him a sheepish smile, sorry for the time we'd just wasted on this. He gave me an understanding grin, and turned back to our conversation with Biggus, to tell him he wasn't interested, just curious.

With a sigh, I rolled my chair back to face Lex's computer, ready to start over with our exploration of Imperium Banking's defenses. Just as I arrived there, a window popped up on the main screen. Perplexed, I noticed it was the messaging software Lex had on his computer. I'd noticed it before, but without Lex's password – which I didn't know – I couldn't access the conversations in it. Apparently, being messaged unlocked it, though.

"Damn, you two are so bad at this. Like, wow..." the message wrote. The alias, Deathbringer, was completely unfamiliar to me.

"Oli, someone's messaging me," I worriedly whispered. In seconds, he was by my side, reading the message himself.

"Fuck," he cursed.

"Do you know them?"

"Yeah, they were very active until about two years ago. Then they went radio silent."

"Why would they contact me now?"

"I have no idea."

Before we could dwell on it, another message came in, and it chilled me to the bones. "I didn't want to get involved, because I thought you had this, Andrea banana, but I guess I have to step in after all."

Seeing my name right there, when I'd been so prudent the whole time, made my heart drop into my chest, a strong sense of nausea taking over. What the fuck? Who was this?

"Who are you?" I sent.

"A friend of Lex's. Well, I used to be his pupil, but I like to think we became friends."

Stunned, I absentmindedly stared at the message while trying to remember everything I'd read about this. In his numerous logs, Lex had mentioned someone like this several times. He had, indeed, taken an apprentice under his wing, which had surprised me at first. But it wasn't like a full student-teacher sort of relationship, more like an open channel where he'd answer whatever question they might have and help them out now and then. When Lex referred to them, it was either by calling them the Fae, or Death, which could have been short for Deathbringer.

Quickly, I explained everything to Oli, telling him they could be saying the truth, but we still needed to be cautious. "How can I be sure you're not going to fuck with us?" I asked.

"I guess you can never be entirely sure. But feel free to scroll up this convo if you want. Also, I guess I know some stuff only a close friend of Lex would know. Like the fact that he bought an engagement ring for you."

My eyes flew to the diamond I was wearing, wondering how indeed they could know about this very private, very specific detail I hadn't even known about. Having access to Lex's bank accounts could also have given it away, though. It wasn't that hard to imagine what he could have bought at Tiffany's.

Thinking the other suggestion might be more revealing, I scrolled up in the conversation, catching up with Lex and Deathbringer's exchanges. As it turned out, the elusive stranger had been the one telling Lex it would be wise to leave me a video recording in case he got arrested. Death had also offered their help to find out whatever Homeland was working with, but Lex had refused, arguing they'd gotten out of the hacking world for a good reason.

As Oli and I went up, it became clear how close the both of them were. They were tight, and while their conversations weren't that frequent – a few times a month on average – they were still meaningful and important.

"What do you think?" I asked Oli.

"If this is legit," he answered, pointing at the chat window, "we need them. They were seriously one of the best before they stopped. With them, I'm certain we can make it, Andy."

"Okay. But we need to tread carefully until I can ask Lex if they can be trusted." Turning back to the screen, I typed a reply to the supposedly good samaritan. "And how do you think you could help us?"

"I assisted Lex when he came up with his way to get into Imperium's bank accounts. After looking around a bit, I'm confident I can get in again. Also, tell that Oliver guy he needs better security on his laptop. It took me five minutes to get in, and I wasn't even trying hard."

Oli grumbled near me before rolling back to his laptop, ready to investigate the claim. After a few seconds of typing and inspection, he swore under his breath and corrected his mistake. About thirty seconds after he'd started, a new message came in.

"Ah,