The garage was my fortress, but now it was also our boardroom.
Two days after the Lily reveal, Alex Dunphy walked in with a heavy backpack and a look of grim determination. She didn't say hello. She just cleared a space on my workbench, set down her laptop, and pulled out a three-ring binder labeled Project M.
"I've analyzed your current revenue streams," Alex began, opening the binder. "The 'cracked screen' business is high-margin but low-scalability. You're trading your time for labor. Even with your freakishly steady hands, there's a ceiling. If we want to move into real capital, we need to transition from service to speculation."
[INTERVIEW - ALEX]Alex is tapping a pen against her chin.Alex: "I looked into his eyes and I didn't see a teenager. I saw a venture capitalist who could bench press a Fiat. Most boys his age are trying to figure out how to talk to girls or how to cheat on a secondary quiz. Mason is trying to figure out how to disrupt the global payment processing market. It's intoxicating. Also, I'm pretty sure I can get him to pay for my college if I play my cards right."
I leaned back, impressed. "You've been busy."
"I don't sleep, Mason. I wait," she retorted. "I've set up a series of shell accounts using a VPN I coded myself. They're technically in my name, but the access is encrypted. Jay thinks you're 'tinkering.' My mom thinks you're 'recovering.' But you and I both know you have about six thousand dollars in liquid cash right now. What's the first move?"
I pulled up a chart on my screen. It was 2009. The Great Recession was still a fresh wound for many, but for someone with Total Recall, it was a fire sale.
"We aren't just fixing phones anymore, Alex," I said. "We're going to start buying up domain names. I have a list. Specific, high-value URLs that will be worth millions in five years. We buy them for ten bucks a piece now, we sit on them, and we wait for the big tech firms to come knocking."
"Domain squatting? It's morally gray," Alex noted, her eyes lighting up. "I love it."
[INTERVIEW - MASON]Mason is looking at a list of names on his screen: 'Uber.com', 'Instagram.com', 'Pinterest.com'.Mason: "I can't buy them all. Some are already taken, some require better timing. But I know the pivots. I know the names of the companies that haven't been born yet. With Alex handling the technical obfuscation and the ledger, we can build a portfolio that would make a Silicon Valley titan weep. And the best part? No one suspects the quarterback and the nerd."
While we worked, the garage door creaked open. Phil Dunphy poked his head in, wearing his "Real Estate King" polo.
"Hey-o! The dream team!" Phil chirped. "What are we doing? Is this a study group? Because if so, I have some brain-power snacks—celery sticks with peanut butter. I call them 'Ants on a Log,' but for you guys, let's call them 'Scholars on a Timber'."
"We're just working on a science project, Phil," I said, sliding a cloth over my screen with a speed that only my physique allowed.
"Science! I love science," Phil said, walking over. "You know, the science of real estate is all about 'Location, Location, Levitation.' Because you want the prices to rise! Get it?" He laughed at his own joke, then looked at Alex. "Sweetie, I'm glad you're hanging out with Mason. He's a good influence. Most boys at school are... well, they're like Luke. I found him trying to see if he could fit his whole head in the dishwasher this morning."
[INTERVIEW - PHIL]Phil is beaming.Phil: "Mason and Alex. It's like Beauty and the Geek, but they're both the geek and Mason is also the beauty. I'm just happy they're bonding. It's important for cousins to be close. Plus, if Mason teaches Alex how to throw a spiral, she might finally stop correcting my grammar every time I say 'supposably'."
Once Phil left, Alex let out a long sigh. "We need a more secure location. This garage is a high-traffic zone for 'Ants on a Log'."
"Agreed," I said. "But for now, we play the part. Tomorrow is the first big game of the season. I need to be the star athlete for the cameras, and you need to be the supportive, skeptical sister-figure in the stands."
Alex looked at her screen, her fingers flying across the keys. "I can do skeptical. It's my default setting. But Mason... if we're going to do this, we need to talk about the 'Javier Factor'."
I froze. "My father?"
"Gloria mentioned he's coming to town for the game," Alex said, peering over her glasses. "And from what I've read in the family emails, he's not exactly a 'low-profile' guy. If he sees his son acting like a financial prodigy instead of a reckless playboy, he's going to ask questions. Questions we can't afford."
My Total Recall kicked in. Javier Delgado. The man who lived his life like a high-stakes poker game he was always winning. In the show, he was a charming hurricane of irresponsibility. But my feelings toward him were... complicated.
[INTERVIEW - MASON]Mason's expression is cold, devoid of the usual charm.Mason: "Manny worships the ground Javier walks on because Javier treats life like a carnival. But I remember the quiet nights in Colombia. I remember my mother's exhausted face when the money ran out and Javier was nowhere to be found. He didn't just leave a wife; he left two boys and a mountain of responsibility. I tolerate him for Manny's sake, but don't confuse that for affection. He's a tourist in our lives, and I don't give tours to people who haven't earned the right to see the inner workings."
"I'll handle Javier," I said, my voice hardening. "He likes grand gestures and shiny things. I'll give him enough of both to keep him distracted. He's looking for the old Mason—the one he can take to a race track and teach how to bluff. He's not ready for the version of me that knows exactly how many times he let Mom down."
"Good," Alex said, shutting her laptop. "Because if he finds out we're using a Cayman Islands proxy to buy 'CloudComputing.net', I'm telling him it was all your idea."
"Ten percent, Alex," I reminded her.
"Eleven," she shot back as she walked out. "I'm factoring in the cost of the peanut butter I just had to eat."
I stood alone in the garage, the hum of the electronics the only sound. The "Syndicate" was formed. The money was moving. And tomorrow, the quarterback would take the field. But the real game was already being won in the shadows.
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