Chapter 28: Working it Out.

Piper's eyes flickered open as the sensation of a warm hand on her wet cheek stirred her from her light slumber. She didn't move, but just stared off into space, blankly, seeing only dark hair in a dark room.

"What do you want?" Piper groaned groggily.

"I want us to talk," Alex said bitterly.

"Sorry, I'm still asleep, life without coffee is really starting to hit me now with a vengeance. Is there any chance you have another stimulant?"

Piper yelped in surprise as Alex's hand slapped hard against her dress, and right against her clit. Instantly Piper jolted upright.

"I'd say that works," Alex shrugged.

"Yeah, I guess it does," Piper grimaced. "Does this mean you're not going to leave me?"

"That depends on what you have to say. But why did you get the impression…"

Alex lost her words as she stared on into Piper's somber eyes in the thin moonlight. She looked sadder than a puppy who lost his master and couldn't do anything besides mope around and stare off into blank space. Alex couldn't let that happen, not to Piper. She meant far too much to her.

"Hey Piper need to know the truth, I want that much from you."

Alex eased back off her feet onto the matching leather hassic and stared on into Piper's eyes, filled with hurt.

"Look, I know this is all so shitty, but I really want to know what happened. That thing with you and your parents… That just isn't fucking right," Alex scowled as she gestured out with her arms passionately in her speech. "I've been on my own a lot of time, but I've never seen some shit like that, especially between a parent and their kid."

She paused and lowered her head, regaining her composure.

"Look I just freaked out a little, and I needed some space," Alex said, barely above a gentle whisper. "All I know is that I love you, and my instincts are like a hungry cat, lashing out and hissing at your parent's as soon as they started talking."

Piper laughed, "And you say I'm the poet."

"Yeah. But listen Pipes, I really need to hear your side of this story. I just need to know why. Why did you do such a thing to all those people?" Alex's asked in a tone that was more sympathetic and understanding than Piper knew was possible. She knew Alex would probably hate her, but she just had to tell her the truth, she had to break free of her bonds of confinement and come to grasps with how things really were.

"I know you'll probably hate me for what I'm about to tell you, but I just couldn't stand what Merlot Oil was doing," Piper began. Alex sat upright in a near lotus position, eager and attentive as she adjusted her glasses.

"Go on, please."

"Well it all started when I read an article on the mysterious increase of noxious chemicals in lake superior. I was merely curious at first, and just wanted to try out my new software that I'd programmed to track the epicenter of expanding diseases. I made a few adjustments and I had myself a tracking device for the chemicals. At first it was all just fun..."

Piper trailed off and stared down at the floor.

"But it really wasn't fun was it."

Piper met Alex's steely gaze.

"No, it wasn't. I ran several thousand simulations and isolated the most probable source of the consistent chemical output. I traced it back to an area I was sure had to be a chemical dump pipeline off of Lake Superior based on the water vectors and current distribution of detected chemicals. The spot was only about 5 miles away from the oil refinery that belonged to Merlot Oil. They were fracking local shale and refining the oil there for many local shipments. So I hack into their system and examined all their specs. But there seemed to be a missing piece in the blueprints that didn't account for the movement of 50,000 liters of raw chemical extract on a daily basis. Then I knew exactly what was going on."

Alex shook her head in dismay. "So they were the ones poisoning the lake?"

"Yes."

"So you destroyed them?"

"Not at first. At first I tried holding a protest, writing articles, and trying to spread the news through the internet. But quickly all my attempts were shut down. I can't explain it, it's as if hundreds of people were secretly working against me to bury my efforts. I couldn't believe how little people cared, it just seemed so impossible. Then I saw what was happening; everyone in my town was being paid to keep quiet. More than half the city worked for Merlot oil, and the politicians weren't going to do anything that would turn the main employer for the city against them, so it seemed to be a lost cause by everyone."

"So you destroyed them?"

Piper shook her head. "No. I got frustrated and went for a walk by the lake to cool down. It was a bitter cold afternoon, but I needed it to refresh me. Then just as I did so I saw a brown shape by the side of the shore. I got closer and was horrified by what I saw. In front of me there was the washed up corpse on an adult otter, with three babies crying by it's side. The corpse must have been their mother. She was still alive, but just barely as she moaned at the pain running through her as her babies cried at her side as she lay there dying. The distinct smell of oil extract reeked through the air, and I could see the black shit covering up her face. It was some kind of tarry residue that classified as toxic waste. Seeing this now, I knew Merlot oil needed to pay. So that night I hacked in and resolved the problem."

"What did you do?"

"I accessed the refinery's main system and went to work. I redirected the flow of waste products and blocked up all the pipes. Needless to say the pressure built up and the facility didn't last much longer."

"And all the people inside?"

"There were none, it was a Sunday night and I wasn't willing to kill anyone. But the facility went. But that wasn't enough, I needed to shut them down for good. I emptied the company's funds into a variety of charities and hit their system with a strong enough attack that I knew they'd never come back from."

"Okay," Alex said sounding somewhat relieved. "But how did you get caught for all this?"

Piper sighed, and stared down at the floor. "My Dad's the one who knew, he always was the smart one. I'd been telling my parents about this problem for months, then all of a sudden the facility just happened to explode and their computers were ruined. So as the main protester I was the prime suspect. My Dad knew the truth and wanted to make sure I never hacked again, especially into a company he owned stock in. So he got me with a complete set-up."

"A set-up, what are you talking about?"

"You know sometimes I wish I could have been as lucky as you to have no parents ruining your life," Piper mused somberly. "Basically my Dad had the Judge, his lawyers, and the whole local system in his pocket. He got me convicted of the crime easily and sentenced to 18 years in prison. But they got me off on probation, but covered it with a $1.5 million probation bond. They never really have probation bonds in the system, but somehow he made this exception for me."

Alex shook her head and rubbed her temple.

"Yeah, nice right? It turns out the money was all pulled from a fraction of the profits he had coming from Merlot Oil. He wanted to hide some of the dirty cash, so had it locked to the side in this probation bond while he covered his tracks as fast as possible. With Merlot taking heat they didn't have time to worry about me as they sunk into hot waters and the town got a huge layoff along with their employees nation wide. After that I was now the hated one that got everyone of my peer's parents fired. I was more hated than anyone else, and forever stuck under my parent's thumb."

Piper looked down in despair and agony as she seemed trapped in her nightmare forever.

"Honestly I get why you hate capitalists so much now. I also see plenty of reason for why you hate those monsters you call your parents. As for the oil company, I'm proud of you Pipes."

"Wait what?" Piper looked up in shock.

"Piper, I'm proud of you for what you did. You stood up to an oppressive force when no one else would because you knew it was the right thing to do."

"I thought you said there was no right and wrong."

"I did say that. But doing something so brave and selfless to save all the victims of this capitalist greed was definitely right in my book."

"Do you really mean that."

"Of course, and I'm sorry I got upset with you. I never want you to have to stand alone like that again. I won't let that happen."

"So you still want to be with me? You want me to stay with you after all this?"

"Of course I do. I told you I loved you, and to me that means something so deep it's sacred. I don't say those words to anyone, I've never said them to anyone because no one has ever been good enough for me to see myself in, to be my soul mate," Alex finished softly, barely above a whisper.

"You're saying I'm your soul mate, you love me that much?"

"Of course I do, you're the love of my life, and I want to be with you. Now I don't know how we're going to get through this, but we'll find a way. I don't care if we have to rob a bank to do it, but we're going to work our way out of this."

Alex pulled Piper into a passionate embrace. Piper locked her arms around Alex and held on as the tears washed down her cheeks in waves of forgotten sorrow. She was back with Alex and that was all that mattered.

Author's notes: ...