CHAPTER 16 - PRIYA AND NADINE AT THE BANK

“What do you mean there’s nothing to be concerned about!” Nadine slapped the counter as the bank teller tried to lessen the tension. “There has to be a good explanation for this, mam. Please stay calm” the teller promised half-heartedly. “Can you even see what’s going on! Those aren’t my withdrawals, and they’re happening every hour on the hour. I don’t make electronic withdrawals for those amounts” she gesticulated wildly as Priya looked at the ledger, seeing the palpable regularity of the debits. One hundred units every hour, to the second. “There’s a hacker taking all of my junk! Make it stop right now before I lose my shit!” Nadine ejaculated. The teller tried several things to no avail, and then retreated in terror as she witnessed the intervals shorten to every ten minutes. “Um, let me go grab the manager, be right back” the teller offered, skulking away. Sweat began to glisten on her forehead, and she pushed her hand to her temple as the account continued its descent, “…. Oh no, everything is spinning!” Nadine whimpered. Priya grabbed her by the shoulders and took her to the center of the room, where the desks were. “Don’t worry, I’ve got your back” she said and raised a hand to snap her fingers, then led her friend back to the counter when they both had returned. The teller looked at the screen, squinting and moderately confused, “The last digit of the account number, which was a 1 changed to a 2, how could that have happened? It looks like a random glitch, but it’s closed out the hacker’s ability”. “We’ll take good care of this mam and file claims on your behalf” the manager assured her, and they both left the branch, cutting across the area where the ATM’s stood. About ten steps out, Nadine realized what had occurred, and stopped dead in her tracks, “Newbie … your magic!”. “You must be famished”, Priya said as she touched the ATM machine, and it turned into a food dispenser and opened up, providing a fish taco. “How is that even mathematically possible?” she gasped, then bit into the delicious tortilla. A digital smiley face played across the screen and winked as she took the first bite. “Shhhh” the scientist replied, pressing her finger to Nadine’s lips, “I’ll let you know on the ride home, and while we’re at it, I'll tell you a little bit about Euclidean Husbandry as well”.