"So what exactly are you trying to do here?" Futaba's not-quite partner in not-quite crime (was it really crime if you were screwing over criminals. Well, yes but since they were crooks already it wasn't as if they could call the cops which made it not-crime) Yuuki Mishima asked as he took a look at the semi-slag that was the end result of the hacker's first attempt at getting the camera spy setup working "Mining for crypto currency?"
"No!" Futaba growled as she scanned back and forth, Mishima was the only person in the orbit of the Phantom Thieves who understood tech to any degree. They could all use it but understanding it was another level that they were just not prepared for. The strongest computer they owned beyond Futaba's mini-network was probably Makoto's laptop, and she didn't really do anything with it beyond schoolwork. College work. Same thing.
"Well uh..." Mishima mumbled "I don't really know what you could do here other than stripping out the insulation in the walls and pumping... I dunno, liquid nitrogen through it and using that as a heat sink? That much processor power isn't gonna be easy. Or legal. Does Sojiro even know you're doing this?" The admin of the Phansite asked.
"That's what I said..." Futaba groaned as she desperately tried to piece a version of events that wasn't going to throw him into the deep end of the Tojo Clan's scheme to get 30% off insider information "I... got a part time job thing doing video editing, basically putting a lot of stuff together at once-"
"Oh, so you do need crypto mining equipment." Mishima interrupted.
"I'm not digging for funbucks!" The orange haired gremlin shot back.
"No- I'm just saying you're probably gonna need a graphics deal better than this and that's the same sort of deal they use for crypto stuff," the raven haired tech guy waved his hands off "Also for super high end computer games which makes it a real pain in the ass to get."
"Oh," Futaba let out when she remembered that Mishima didn't just exist to be yelled at and demeaned as a vent for her frustrations "So... sorry..." she mumbled out before snapping back on topic "So how much do they cost? Like the highest high end stuff."
"Uhh..." he stumbled as he pulled out his phone "Well... um... a lot?" he admitted "Hey! Since this is for work stuff can't you ask the guys you're working with to buy it?" he suggested. It wasn't a bad idea, since the Tojo Clan were investing in Oracle's ability anyway... but maybe getting in financial debt to organized crime, no matter how cool the bosses were, was a bad idea. Especially when things were in the 'Not sure if this will even work' stage of development.
"...I dunno, I took the job thinking my own equipment could handle it so they're probably not gonna be happy if I ask for an advance just to get the gear," the hacker brushed off with the technical truth "Plus they're like old. Old old. Well, some of them are. It's why I'm doing it on a freelance thing rather then them hiring someone."
"Right, right..." Mishima sighed "But if money's a problem-"
"I'm not talking to that creep of a loan shark." Futaba cut him off. She'd heard a bit about what Yuuki had to do for his Career Week and what his boss had been like, and while he never got the scare Ryuji and the rest of the Thieves got, the orange haired hacker had put him on her personal Nope List despite the fact he'd dated Makoto's sister. In fact, that only doubled the creep factor to the orange haired gremlin, they were like 20 years apart in age or something!
"He's not a creep," Mishima shot back, folding his arms as he defended his former not-quite employer "He's just... kind of an asshole if you catch him on a bad day."
"You told me he makes people do weird things before he gives them money, that makes him a creep!" She insisted.
"Gah! Fine!" he snapped back, flopping dramatically back onto the bed as the springs creaked "Why bring me over if you're just gonna shoot down everything I put out there?" the black haired young man demanded as the two computer people sulked in the cramped room. Only the thankful distraction of their phones buzzing interrupting the silence "Huh, wonder what she wants?" Mishima mumbled as they checked who had pinged them, their ally in the name of digital justice and treasure hunting: Their friends in an MMO guild that they'd never met.
Poison Spider Gum: Hey, you two free?
Number 1 Phan: Yeah, work with Baba is going nowhere.
Poison Spider Gum: You two at work?
Number 1 Phan: Freelance stuff.
Poison Spider Gum: Okay, new raid just got added if you want to try it tonight. Got the usual 4th to drag himself away from work.
Baba Is Me: Who's the healbitch this time?
Number 1 Phan: Not it!
Poison Spider Gum: BDT is ~
Baba Is Me: But he was great as DPS last time
Number 1 Phan: But I suck at healbot and someone needs to do it.
Baba Is Me: Alright, gotta de-slag this or dig out the backup.
Body Double Trouble: What did you do?
Baba Is Me: He speaks!
Number 1 Phan: I thought it was only a rumour
Baba Is Me: Dun dun dun!
Number 1 Phan: The forbidden door has been opened!
Body Double Trouble has left the group chat
Well maybe that was a bit of an overreaction to the normally super-silent fourth member of the Guild of Greatness making his presence known for the first time outside of the terse tone he normally took mid-game, but such was the wonderful world of internet friendships! When the quiet guy spoke, all brains switched off. Not that they were switched on in the first place with how working on the computer had gone.
Number 1 Phan: Poison_Spider_Gum how mad is he?
Poison Spider Gum: Pretty mad. Not sabotage mad but pretty mad.
Baba Is Me: Phew! Disaster avoided.
Poison Spider Gum: So how'd you slag you computer?
Baba Is Me: Trying to do too much with an old graphics card.
Poison Spider Gum: Didn't know you did crypto.
Baba Is Me: ITS NOT CRYPTO
"Really, it's not!" Futaba insisted as Mishima just shrugged his shoulders.
Body Double Trouble has joined the group chat
Poison Spider Gum: Oh, how much you got to get new stuff?
Baba Is Me: Not a lot, and I need this stuff for work.
Number 1 Phan: We've been trying to get it fixed but it ain't happening, and apparently her bosses won't let her borrow money off them for new equipment.
Poison Spider Gum: Hmm...
Body Double Trouble: Let's just get this raid done.
Poison Spider Gum: Yeah, apparently its got this really stupid puzzle boss.
Number 1 Phan: Another one? What is the damage zones gonna be based on graph equations or something?
Poison Spider Gum: …
Body Double Trouble: …
Number 1 Phan: …
Number 1 Phan: Frick.
In reality, once Mishima left for his home and the four got into the game itself, the boss fight wasn't so bad. The designers had the foresight to realise that a large chunk of their player base would either not know or not remember what algebraic formula made what sort of squiggly line and made a little display for when the boss was about to use them thus saving everyone the furious Alt-tabbing to various things while their guild-mates screamed at them to just dodge the curvy lasers. That didn't mean it was easy, no sir. Futaba wasn't a master of languages but she was certain that she knew a few hundred Korean curse words after that heavy gaming session as their healer made the understandable decision that the three of them were a bunch of idiots running around almost getting killed hundreds of times and proceeded to explicitly lay out how they were being dumb.
But it was after the game was over and the computer fans whirred down to a more manageable buzz did her messenger ping again, the same name but not in the group chat. Whoever Poison Spider Gum was, they wanted a little chat.
Poison Spider Gum: So do you still need a new comp for work?
Baba Is Me: Yeah, prices suck though.
Poison Spider Gum: I work in tech, might be able to pull something out of the stuff we're told to trash. I'll charge you for it but it's cheaper than it'd cost on the street.
Baba Is Me: ...Are you guys crypto guys?
Poison Spider Gum: Pfft, no. Our boss just goes through computers like their nothing, always gotta have the cutting edge and we get paid to take the stuff off his hands.
Baba Is Me: He sounds dumb.
Poison Spider Gum: He is. Still means we got tons of real good spare gear if you want some. Totally legit.
The phrase 'Totally legit' gave Futaba the immediate impression that this deal was anything but. However, if she was careful about this what was the worst that could happen? I'd get arrested for handling stolen goods. Okay, what was the second worst thing that could happen? She had the presumed backing of the biggest crime organisation in Tokyo! If someone was messing with her, not that she was suspecting her guild-mate of doing that, then they'd have to answer to the one-eyed knife goblin in the snakeskin jacket!
Baba Is Me: Sounds great! What you got exactly?
Poison Spider Gum: Uhh, gonna need to check first. Maybe I could take a box of stuff over and you could pick out what you need? We can work out the money there and then.
That proposal was the one that gave Futaba pause. She'd been online to know that meeting people that she'd only met in cyberspace in meatspace no matter how well she thought she knew them was a perilous prospect. That and it would require meeting strangers. What she needed was a plan to deal with them, a way to be there without being there for the tech goodies.
Baba Is Me: There's this café that I like in Shibuya, use it for other get-togethers. Can you get over there?
Poison Spider Gum: Sure, its not that far from Yokohama.
Baba Is Me: You're in Yokohama?
Poison Spider Gum: So is BTD, we work at the same place lol.
Baba Is Me: What does he do?
Poison Spider Gum: Assassinations.
Futaba rolled her eyes at the phone. Yeah, like she was really in an MMO guild with a Korean assassin. Still, no harm in playing along a little.
Baba Is Me: Well there is this one guy I might want dealt with...
Poison Spider Gum: Don't, he charges out the butt if you're not part of the group.
Baba Is Me: lol
Poison Spider Gum: lol
Baba Is Me: Anyway, can you get to Shibuya with a box full of stuff on... Sunday?
Poison Spider Gum: No problem, can you tell me which café we're meeting in?
Baba Is Me: Sure, give me a sec. I'll link you the site.
The orange haired hacker smiled as she plotted out her plan of action after giving her new found supplier of computer equipment the address for Leblanc, quickly switching to her much closer comrades.
Hey Ann, can you help me with something?