Lily skipped home from the interview, excited to tell her sister the news. They would be touring the country, maybe even the world together. And nothing was going to keep them apart. The shocking flash of Mr Sharp nearly shoving a fireball in her face creeped up in her mind, but just a bit of shaking her head wildly got the shock out. She wasn't sure if it was something she should bring up to Linda. It would only upset her. 

Before she climbed the steps to her apartment, she spotted her sister at a nearby payphone, her sun protective umbrella above her as best she could while talking. Lily approached her.

"Linda! Linda! The interview went great!"

"Shh!" Linda was clearly focused on her call. Lily took the umbrella and kept her sister protected from the sun while waiting for her phone call to finish.

"What was that phone call about?"

"I told you I'm getting a job."

"What kind of job?"

"I can freelance as a writer for articles. I just need money for a laptop."

"A laptop? What's it for?"

“Haven't you heard of the internet? With a laptop you can publish stories, articles and any form of writing really in the blink of an eye. Most newspapers are making the switch anyway."

"Wow. I didn't know new technology was that cool!"

“It's not that big a deal. And I’d hate to ask this, but to get the laptop can I… borrow some money?”

"Anything for my sister to be happy! I do have some money saved up in the bank."

  “And I'll be sure to pay back every penny."

"But…"

"No buts!" 

The following day, Linda and Lily walked under a parasol together and traveled by trolley to "Electronics Warehouse." A lot of major stores made their place of business warehouses as it kept costs down and there were plenty to choose from. Many warehouses were emptied out and easy to convert after so many economic events. 

As they were walking up to the store, they saw a tent stand with a sign that read "Cheap Phones and Cheap Service.”

"Look Linda, I always wanted my own phone! I always wanted to spend long hours chatting with others."

"It's not what we're here for."

"It kind of is? Plus it’s cheap?"

“I've read about those offers, the phones are terrible in every way and the service won’t be all that cheap after a month or so. You have to sign a contract with their company, and they can bill you behind your back. Now can we go inside already?" Lily just moaned in both annoyance and confusion.

The inside of the warehouse store was massive, and every inch was decked and stocked with gizmos and gadgets ready to be sold. Computers, phones, TVs, music players, DVD players, home appliances and all sorts of extras in many forms to make each product better. To Lily, it was both exciting and confusing with a bit of overwhelming mixed in. For Linda it was like she was in paradise.

“Wow, look at those dishwashers. So many dishes in one wash. You could hold off washing dishes for weeks, then pop 'em in and you're done in an instant.”

“I thought we were here for a laptop, Lily said as she hugged her sister's arm.

“A girl can dream can’t she?” Linda replied as they moved on. 

They soon came across the displays for their personal computers and laptops.

“Good lord, a 770 Ti, with half a TB of memory, CPU, GPU, RAM. Pretty”

“What does any of that mean?” 

“It means it is too much for our blood." Lily took one glance at the price tag and was about to faint. She couldn't imagine the amount of singing, waitressing, and dishwashing she would need to do to make enough money for that.

“You sure know about technology and stuff, sis.”

“Well, even since the days at the library, computers have always caught my eye. You saw how much I studied up on them didn’t you?”

Yeah! You were a techie kid as they say.”

“Well, computers and tech have a way of leaving you behind if you don’t keep up. And people are always saying to keep up with trends is the best way to make real money.”

“Does making money matter that much to you, sis?” Linda stared back a moment with a puzzled face, but then switched to a slight smile.

“Hello! Can I interest you two in anything?" Said a store clerk as he approached.

"Um, we’re in the market for a laptop, but we're on a tight budget."

"Mind if I ask what kind of budget?" Linda explains their finances. "Oh, um, pretty much everything in the store is priced out of that range. Might I recommend opening up a credit line.”

“Absolutely not.”

“I have a credit card." Lily added, "Will that be enough?"

"I'm sorry, we don't take that card here. We could get you a new one and help pay for-"

"Have a nice day…" Linda took her sister by the wrist and walked away, leaving the worker stammering with his words. 

“Well now what do we do?”

“There’s always the yard sellers, sis.”

Not only did the store have tons of wares, but they rented out tables and spaces for others to sell theirs, kind of like a flea market. A few were just looking to sell off their old home appliances, others were peddling small bits, inventions and possibly stolen items as their livelihoods. It was just another way of income for all involved. 

The twins wandered with purpose for a while, only to find items being sold unrelated to their quest. Mostly junk and random electronics. Nothing even worth all that much. 

Then Lily grabbed her sister's arm and dragged her to a certain table with a dusty laptop for sale.

“Buy something, anything… My two boys are hungry,” said the old woman at the table.

Linda groaned internally, then took a look at the woman's wares. There wasn’t much to show but a few old bits and bobbles even Linda wasn’t sure where they’d belong. The most notable thing was this dusty laptop. 

"Man this is so heavy it should be registered as a lethal weapon. And it looks at least fifty years old."

"It used to belong to my eldest when we sent him to college. Now he's a lawyer and has forgotten all about us. Never sees us and never sends money home."

“Do we really need a sob story for this?” 

Lily pouted her cheeks, "Linda, don't be rude! See this one is in our cash budget. No need for a credit card.”

But it's so old and clunky, are you sure it even runs Miss?”

“Of course it works, see for yourself.”

“I can't. The battery is dead.”

“I'm sorry, I was never good at that newfangled technology, but believe me it works and it will get your job done. Now please buy it, I need to buy food for my family.”

“How did you know-”

Lily absently held her finger to a small hole on the side of the laptop, the charging port, and small bits of static shot out of her hand and the computer.

"Ahh!" The woman first was scared but then got angry, "If you break it you buy it!" 

"Lily, please tell me you didn't break it," Linda said.

"No I didn't! Look! It's turning on." And the computer booted up properly. Linda fiddled with it for a moment and found that it indeed works for what she needs it for. "Huh, apparently magic can power computers. Who knew?"

"Alright, fine. We'll buy it."

As the two were walking out of the warehouse with their “new” product, another issue came to the forefront.

“Now there's the matter of getting some internet in our home.”

“The internet? I heard you can play games and chat with people across the globe.”

“Yeah, if you had rich people’s internet. With a junk heap like this, I’m not sure if it can connect…” Right then Linda accidentally bumps into someone with a large ton of flyers in hand, making him drop them and letting them scatter on the floor.

“Sorry I wasn't paying attention.”

“It's fine, although I could use some help picking these up.”

"No problem", Linda raises her now sparkling finger in the air, waves it around, and the flyers flow into the air and into a neat stack back into the man's hands.

“Woah! Magic users, don’t see a lot of you in the wild. Thanks for the help! Um, would you care for info on our inexpensive service?”

"Sorry, sir, but I'm not interested in a scam…"

"It's nothing like that. It's just a good way to connect-”

“Yeah, whatever. I'm not falling for it.”

“Wait Linda! He's telling the truth, look!” Lily had one of the fliers in her hands and shoves it into Linda's face. Linda begrudgingly gives the flier a once over.

“As I was saying, we are a charity operation with funding from the government. We provide free phones to the less fortunate. And our service comes with internet and call service, it's not the best and it's not free, but it's the cheapest you can find.”

“Come on, Linda, you said we need internet. We don’t have much to lose on this.”

“It's part of the Telecommunications Project, connecting everyone to everyone!”

“My first article will be about you guys. If it’s true it’ll be a good review, otherwise I’m going to smear your name all over the place. Got a business card?” 

“Umm… Okay. I don’t have one on me, but I don’t have some at our tent. I can explain more there too. We’re over by the exit anyways.”

“You guys are scam artists!” A voice near the exit yelled out.

Scam artist?! We work with and for the government!” Another voice yelled back.

“Yeah! The biggest scam artists of all!”

“Oh lord, not again.”

“What’s that about?” Linda asked the flyer guy.

“Let’s just say my colleague likes to stick her nose in other scam artists’ business.” He jogs over to the argument, with Lily and Linda soon joining in.  

“Yours doesn't seem any less of a scam to me! This is digital snake oil!

“Snake oil or not, you’re trying to steal customers from us! And that’s not happening on my watch, punk!”

Linda raises her voice to one side, “You guys are literally picking on a charity. Seems kinda sick in my book.”

“Sis, don’t pick sides, that’s not gonna-”

“Hush Lily.”

“Miss, we run an honest service here like anyone else. In fact I overheard you were looking for internet service, we can provide something much more suited to your needs than these bozos.”

“Who’re you calling names, jackass?!”

Linda was growing annoyed mainly by the man’s weird corporate smile. She folded her arms as a response to it. “I’ve read about you guys, you go around selling services most people don’t need, or want, or even know how to use. That’s how your company got so big. I doubt what you’re trying to sell me is anything I want.”

“Forget what you’ve read! Just take a look at our flyer! We guarantee we have the best service in town! Way better than the ‘charity’ clowns over here!

Linda takes the flyer and has it burn into nothing with a small candle like flame from her fingertip.

“Hey!”

“Can we please not let this turn into a street fight!” One of the charity workers yelled.

“A street fight sounds pretty good right about now. Thanks for suggesting it.” The man rolls up his sleeves and so does the opposite party of the charity group. Linda gets in between the two and warms up a lightning spell in her hand, clearly visible for both sides to get intimidated by. 

At that moment, Lily began to sing a melody. With every word she sang, a cooling aura that was almost a visible light blue filled the small battleground of argument. Within a minute, everyone felt calm, cool and collected, and once she stopped, the two groups found themselves unable to bring themselves to argue one more word.

“Hmm, magic users, and one with such a nice singing voice.”

“Yeah, how about we stay on our side of the fence from now on, and you guys can do the same?”

“...Sure. For now at least,” the service worker reluctantly said

“I’m probably going to quit,” said his colleague. “I can always go back to the retail side of things.” The two groups dispersed after that.

“Sis, your nose is bleeding,” Linda pointed out.

“Huh? Oh shoot!”

Linda handed Lily her handkerchief, “I still have a few words for those jerks, but let’s just head home. I need to take some meds, and it looks like so do you.”