Disclaimer – As always, it's fanficition

The Next Lord of Kobol

Chapter 20 – Changing the Equation

Acknowledgements – Thanks to Kokopelli for the beta work and to the folks at AFC and DLP for the commentatry.

(Eight Years Five Months and Eight Days until the Fall of the Colonies)

"It's been almost a month, Harry. I think you need to snap out of it. I think my Dad had less of a mourning period when I died. Of course his business was falling apart and he was eager to get started turning my virtual avatar into murderbots."

He looked at the ghost, grimaced and slowly nodded his head. Zoe was right, of course, and he said as much to her.

"You made a rash decision after sleeping with a girl. From what I understand, it happens all the damn time. You'll know better next time."

In truth, Harry didn't feel up to a "next time" anytime soon. He'd managed to get some studying in. As he expected, Annabeth Sanders was letting him stay in her smallest bedroom and use their rather slow grid connection to continue his Scorpion Fast Boat simulations and general studies. He also tried to spend at least four hours per day in what he'd jokingly come to call Zoe's House of Learning and Torture.

At times, she struggled to present concepts in a way that Harry could grasp. It was a problem of being too smart to teach subjects to someone who didn't have her intuitive command of the material and Harry would often have to go onto the grid to get different approaches to the topics the ghost crammed down his throat on a routine basis.

"You know, I almost miss the job," Harry said. "I was less busy when I was employed. Can we wrap up early today?"

Zoe waved her hand through the table Harry was doing his printed worksheets on. "It's not like I can really stop you, now is it? Goldkiller match or hot date?"

"Neither," Harry said. "The Chamala shops on the west coast open in thirty minutes. Since I'm not at the scrapyard anymore, I need to burn some

Polyjuice and move some product. There's a loop of six or seven shops I can hit depending on how fast the people behind the counter are."

"Is the money from the fresh fruit and vegetables not enough?"

"Well, I'm splitting it with Annabeth and I might have told her to take a little extra because she's letting me stay at her place."

"You're too nice sometimes, Harry. I don't mean that as a compliment."

"You want me to show some more … spirit?"

"Please tell me that wasn't an attempt at a pun."

"Hey!" Harry stated. "I thought it was funny."

The ghost frowned. "In that case, don't quit your paying job … oh wait! You already got fired from that one! See? Now that's a comeback. You need to work on yours."

"You're right, Zoe. You're really knocking 'em dead today," Harry added. "Was that better?"

"Marginally," she replied. "You're getting better, but I've got decades of witty observations on you. How are you doing at the ship simulator?"

"I passed the startup and shutdown of a ship's service turbine generator. The next module is casualty operations and I suspect that it is going to get much more difficult. I'm good with regular operations, but I suck at casualty response and it annoys me because I'm usually at my best when somethings going wrong."

"Well, maybe you're trying too hard to do the absolute best thing instead of just doing something right. Maybe try it under the influence of one of your wit sharpening potions?"

"That's really just cheating," Harry said, sounding slightly dejected.

"Not if it gives you a taste of success, instead of just suck. I'm on fire today!"

"You would get along well with Zak. Do you know that?"

"Maybe. Outside of Lacy and a couple of others, I didn't have too many close friends. My sense of humor is a lot different now than when I was alive. I don't think I laughed until five years after the war ended."

"I've watched the vid clips, but I'm guessing it was worse?"

"Very much so," she said, and then looked away. "I'd see the Centurions overrunning barricades in the streets where regular people tried to hold them off with whatever weapons they had. Sometimes, they'd do mass attacks to try and lure military units into a heavy fight. Other times, it would be a lone Centurion trying to kill as many humans as it could. The only thing the humans had going for them is that at the onset of the war, it was millions of robots versus billions of humans. The Cylons were already excellent shots and could carry heavier weapons and more ammunition. The humans got better and they as they fought back, but the casualty counts still favored the toasters all through it. I tried to warn anyone that could hear me, but those folks were few and far between. One night, I was looking at Gemenon in the sky above and I saw what looked like fireworks. It was really two battlestar groups slugging it out with four basestars and the lights were nuclear missiles being exchanged."

Harry closed his eyes and tried to envision the devastation. It was the kind of scale, he'd seen when watching the films in his Muggle history class about World War II. Even the last fight where he'd killed Riddle in the bowels of the Ministry of Magic wouldn't come close to the destruction of either the Nazis or the Cylons.

If they returned like the spirit of Athena predicted, Harry would need to be prepared for battles beyond a scale that the Wizarding world had never envisioned. The handheld Colonial weapons, he looked down on somewhat, but missiles and bombs commanded his respect just by their shear capacity for annihilation.

Finally, he opened his eyes and replied, "I'm glad you were able to find a way to laugh after being surrounded all of that."

"It was either that, or go insane and I can't be certain that didn't happen at some point. Why don't you take care of your late morning Chamala run and I'll have Winky help me with preparing for the next modules you need to work on. Plus, I'm trying to come up with some better cubit making ideas for you going forward."

"Thanks Zoe. I guess it's time to play, 'who do I want to look like today,'" Harry said walking toward his sink. He browsed the packets of labelled with people's names. He selected a man who delivered packages to Amanda's Open Arms and typically stopped by the shrine room to make offerings to the Gods. Harry liked that, but was running out of the material to perform this exchange.

Pulling over a ratty jacket that was too big for his frame, he loaded up the storage pockets with full Chamala extract canisters. It was time to go do something, even if it was selling drugs illegally.

The ironic part is that the drugs were perfectly legal, but it was the selling that was the problem.

(TNLoK)

"Whoa, rough night?"

Maggie practically growled at her sister. "I've been having problems sleeping ever since my visit with Mom. I'm going to stop by the clinic at the University and see if they can give me something. Mom will probably be happy that I'm tossing and turning."

Kelsey spread some butter on her toast and frowned. "Mom still trying to stop you from going?"

"If she is, she hasn't made a move since talking to her lawyer and learning that I was actually right. She left a message congratulating me on being a well-researched disappointment. I can play it for you if you'd like?"

She didn't want to mention the nightmares. The last time she'd had three nights in a row of them was when her father died. She reasoned they were a result of the hard feelings with her mother. The one where Harry asked her mother if he should make her stay and Nancy Edmondson said yes woke her up in a panic attack. The two of them turned into these little gremlin like monsters and started tying her up in rope.

"Oh certainly," Kelsey replied sarcastically. "Nothing makes me happier than my mother and sister going at each other. I just hope Virgon is worth it! I'll actually have a teaching job before all the bridges you've burnt get rebuilt. At least Uncle D is sort of in your corner."

"If you count him saying that it's my life and my mistakes to make being in my corner."

"You still talking on the grid with Harry?"

"Not really he actually wanted to call it quits," Maggie said and huffed. "He left a message that Mom dragged him into his office and started apologizing for the way I treated him. Harry seems okay with it. He's taking it better than she is."

Maggie left out the part where she'd made a snap decision to sleep with him. She could only imagine the shit everyone would give her if that got out. The sex was actually pretty good, not as mind numbing as that one time on the grid, but it figuratively left a bad taste in her mouth. There were some nagging feelings of guilt and she figured that both time and distance would take care of that.

Kelsey offered her the carton of orange juice and Maggie grabbed a glass out of the cupboard. She almost dropped it because her hand started shaking.

"Athena's shield, Maggie!" her sister exclaimed and took the glass from her. "How long has that been happening? I'll go with you to the clinic. Here let me do that. Just grab a seat and take it easy."

"Thanks, Kel. Really, thanks."

"Well someone has to set a good example around here. I figure if I keep at it, maybe the rest of you will fall in line eventually."

"Keep up the good fight, Sis. I'm sure things will calm down after I leave."

"No. I expect messages from Virgon," the young woman said. "I plan on healing this family, all of the family not just the ones residing on Caprica."

Maggie took the half-filled glass in both hands and sipped it. The lack of decent sleep seemed to be catching up with her. "Good luck with that, Kel. It might rank up there with the labors of Hercules."

(TNLoK)

Harry unloaded his third of seven plastic Chamala containers and pocketed the cubits at a shop in the western metropolitan hub of Telsa. A quick check of the time showed that he still had thirty-six minutes before the dose of Polyjuice wore off. As he exited the shop and looked across the street at the alley where he had Apparated to earlier, he was wondering if he should have brought along an eighth, because he was way ahead of schedule.

Heading to the crosswalk he waited for the signal to cross when a van rolled to a stop in front of him. The side door opened as Harry was unexpectedly pushed from behind. The large, bearded, man waiting in a crouched position in the van grabbed him and yanked Harry's Polyjuiced form into the empty cargo area and threw him into the interior metal frame of the vehicle. A stinging pain shot through his skull and he saw stars for a split-second.

The thug pinned him against the inside of the van as the one from the street who pushed Harry hopped in. The open door automatically began to close and the van accelerated away. The newcomer was a short man with a graying crew cut and an unlit cigarette dangling from his lips. Two solid smacks across his face stung Harry again and then the jacket he wore was rummaged through. The four remaining Chamala containers and the hard bargained cubits were ripped from inside. The clattered onto the floor and rolled away as the vehicle took a turn.

"I thought we'd have a little chat, Mr. Mule. Since I run the mules in this part of the city and you aren't carryin' for me, I think it would be good idea for you to tell me who you're working for."

"I'm just trying to get by. C'mon man," Harry mumbled, wishing he'd picked the hair of someone larger and more intimidating than a short and dumpy man in his mid-fifties.

"Yeah, yeah, things are tough all over. But your ugly mug showed up here nine days ago. Aw! What's with the surprised look there, you old piece of frak? The police might not waste their time looking at the customer databases, but I've got a district to run and I do have people looking at the databases and people behind the counter who let me know when a mule I don't own is in line. Now, I'm gonna tell you how it's gonna be – you are dealing with the Acrennas and we like to think we're a cut above your regular operations, so we're gonna pull into an alley where there ain't no working street cameras. We take all our new friends there. My associate, well you can call him Mr. Temple because when you go to temple, you confess your sins to the Lords of Kobol and you make amends. If you're smart and cooperate, he's only gonna rough you up a little bit. If not, we'll let's just say the only way you're coming out of that alley is on your belly, crawling. So take a minute and decide how you're going to spend your time at temple today."

Harry had heard of the Acrenna crime family. They weren't the top dogs, but were strong enough for Harry to be worried. They had a presence in Delphi along with a few others. Mr. Kelso had paid a nominal fee to the Acrennas to ensure "Continuity of Operations" as they referred to their protection racket, while bitching that they didn't lift a finger to stop the person that'd been stealing from him before he hired Harry. Of course, some of the workers at Harry's former job said that the rumor was that the shuttle wreck contract came compliments of the same people.

No quid pro quo deals were waiting for Harry in that alley and he began sizing up his options. His wand was still up his sleeve with a notice me not charm on it. The man was nice enough to tell Harry that there were no cameras in the area.

Fighting is a definite possibility, Harry thought. If I change into my Animagus form I could easily take all of them. Apparate?

The one referred to as Mr. Temple leered at him and pulled back his jacket revealing a holstered pistol. "Just in case you don't want to talk, I'll blow your frakin' kneecaps out and you'll never walk again."

Truth be told, Harry felt the rush of adrenaline at being scared. Life on Caprica hadn't been like Earth and he'd gotten a little complacent. Channeling Alastor Moody, he funneled that fear into anger and readied himself to act.

Three minutes and two more turns passed before the van pulled parallel to the curb of street and began backing into the alley between two boarded up shops. By this point, Harry had worked himself up into a right foul mood. After all he'd done and experienced, some two-bit crooks were going to start trouble with him!

"Looks like its decision time, little mule" the leader said. "How much pain do you want to be in?"

"I'll talk, just don't hurt me too bad, please."

"Who do you work for?"

"Sirius Black," Harry said, trying to sound defeated.

The man with the cigarette in his mouth looked thoughtful while shaking his head. "Name doesn't ring a bell. Let's see if you're still saying that name in a few minutes."

Mr. Temple used his right forearm to hold Harry still and with his left hand opened the back of the van. If possible, Harry's exit from the van was faster than his entrance, but he was ready to be tossed out – at least as much as this doughy, middle-aged body allowed. It was an alley with no exit. Like his old seeker days, Harry spotted the security camera and was pleased that it dangled uselessly from the mounting.

No witnesses, he thought and then Apparated to the roof of the shop to his right.

"What the ..."

"Where'd he?"

"Look under the van! Rex make sure he doesn't try to go out from under the front!"

Stupefy. Temple collapsed to the ground.

Stupefy. The driver slouched in his seat.

Stupefy. The disbelieving stare of the leader was taken care of and the last of the criminals toppled onto his compatriot.

Glancing to the street, Harry made certain that no one had noticed, falling quickly back into his days of Constant Vigilance. Moody would still give me shit for being in this spot in the first place, but maybe I'll salvage this situation. At least my stunners were silent.

(TNLoK)

The wait had been annoying, or maybe the fact that she was tired and irritable from the lack of sleep contributing to it, but the doctor who saw her took his time and listened to the things happening in her life with the transfer to Virgon and her mother's reaction to it and nodded his head slowly.

"You're under a good deal of pressure and stress right now, Miss Edmondson. After hearing what is going on, I believe it's more than the usual first year at University problems of grades and adjustment. At this point I could either give you a prescription for anxiety or sleeping, but I'm not going to do both right now, so which is more important to you right now – the stress or the insomnia?"

"I guess the sleep," Maggie said, slowly. "If I can get a decent night's rest, I can handle the stress."

"Fair enough, young lady. I also want to set you up with an appointment to see the counselors. Never doubt the importance of family, but sometimes a friendly ear from a professional who has no stake in your decisions is worth more than a few pills in a plastic bottle."

"My mother is a psychiatrist," Maggie confessed. "So I might have a little bias there."

"Understandable, but it is all I have to offer at this time is treatment for the symptoms. The underlying problem is the one you have to get right with yourself and the Lords you pray to. If you're not willing to speak with a mental health professional, may I suggest visiting temple and receiving some spiritual assistance?"

Neither sounded like a great option to Maggie, but since she could count the number of times she'd been to temple since coming to Cap City on her fingers, she decided to go with the counselor rather than a priest or priestess. The more rational side of her brain said the person employed by the University would be more likely to take Maggie's side of putting her schooling first whereas the religious orders would want her to make things right with her family before leaving the planet.

If I tried to make things right, I'd probably be forty before I could finally leave! I just hope the sleeping pills help.

Kelsey smiled at her when she emerged from the doctor's office.

"Good news?"

"Stress and anxiety," she answered.

"I should switch my field from education; I could have figured that out for free. It might be easier to get a job."

"We have to hang out for a few minutes for them to fill my prescription."

"So, do you want me to say anything to Mom or keep it zipped? I'm willing to bet if she heard about this, she dial things back a few notches."

"No," Maggie said. "Please don't say a word about this. She'd take it as proof that I can't handle things and that would just lead to more stupid shit."

"Your call, Sis. I'm here for you."

Maggie gave her sister a playful punch on the arm. "You're the best, Kel."

"I know," the woman said and tossed her hair dramatically. "It's hard to be this utterly fabulous. You wouldn't believe how much of an effort it is."

(TNLoK)

He'd' been shocked when he used a summoning charm to get his coins that the thugs' briefcase floated out as well. One quick unlocking charm and Harry was looking at almost two years' worth of scrapyard wages. The cubits would make it easier to focus on his studies and his ultimate goal of getting out to the stars. The four stacks of paper bills taunted him and reminded Harry how he was having to mule Chamala, carry crates of fruits and vegetables to the market, repair broken items and conjure others for sale - all in return for a pittance.

Money never really mattered to Harry in the past.

But now it did.

It was a necessary evil.

Emphasis on necessary.

He considered his life's work. The majority of his life he'd done the right things for the right reasons.

Don't push back against Dudley, there will be consequences.

Don't push back against Draco, there will be consequences.

Tell the snake to leave that plonker, Justin, alone. Oh ignore the stares and whispers; you're not the heir of Slytherin.

Sirius Black is coming to kill you and the Dementors will suck out your soul.

Hey look! The Triwizard Tournament is here along with a whole new set of stares and whispers. Maybe it's an even year thing.

No! Welcome to fifth year and the Ministry actively trying to destroy your reputation. Stares and whispers rise to an unprecedented level.

Why did I like that castle so much in the first place?

Right, still better than Vernon and Petunia.

Years of doing the right things for the right reasons and here are the results. Stuck on another planet with hardly any money to show for it and still four years behind on your education. Don't forget the Obliviated girlfriend while you're at it!

Nice guys really do finish last.

When I spoke to Mom using the Ressurection Stone, she said to be successful; I need to break down my problems into manageable chunks.

This money would be a good start. Less time scraping by and more time toward major goals.

It's dirty money – drugs, crime, "continuity of operations," and all that bloody rot!

And?

I have no further objections, the defense rests.

If he has this much just sitting around, he probably works for an even bigger crook, who will have even more sitting around.

Risky idea, Harry.

Riskier than going down to the Chamber with Ron and the worst teacher ever as backup?

Probably not.

Harry ended his internal debate. The old stories about Robin of Loxley came to mind and if he were to use that as a metaphor, he was dealing with the Sheriff of Nottingham and somewhere out there was an equally corrupt Prince John.

Dumbledore would probably advise against it, but he did encourage me to come back to England as soon as I could. I don't really want to steal, but this man was an unrepentant criminal. Sirius? If I know that old dog, he'd tell me to get all the money I think I'll need and then double it just to be sure! The goblins took all my gold because I did the right thing and ultimately Malfoy's stacks of gold bought him the Minister of Magic position. Maybe it's time I start doing the wrong thing for the right reasons and see if the results change.

Taking a deep breath, Harry cleared his mind and prepared for the task of mucking about in a criminal's mind.

"Wakey, wakey," Harry said, tapping his wand on the man's skull.

The man came to and looked around. His two lackeys were laid out still and unmoving. There was a brief moment of fear, but it was quickly hidden behind a mask of anger.

"It's okay," Harry continued. "Sometimes things don't work out the way we planned. It happens. I sure didn't expect this when I woke up this morning."

"You don't know who you're messing with."

"You mean Craig Leyton. I'm not exactly sure where the address on your ident card leads to, but I'm sure that it's a nice house where everyone in the neighborhood respects you and says nice things about you because they know you're connected. But, if we're being honest, I really don't care about a small timer like you, Craig, but now it's my turn to ask you who you're working for. Let's talk about your boss now."

Craig seemed slightly nervous, but compensated with bluster. "Why's a dead man like you wanna know something like that?"

"Since this is where you take all your new friends Craig, I feel like I should confess something to you. I was just going to pick up my handful of cubits along with my extract and leave you guys here, but look what I found."

Harry opened the black metal briefcase and produced one of the stacks of paper cubits bound by a rubber band. "There's got to be at least fifteen hundred cubits here and there're three more just like it. That's a pretty big payday for a little mule like me. You seem like a pretty bad man and I'm betting you work for someone who is even worse. So, I want to talk about your boss and whatever criminal he works for. I'm willing to bet he has more stacks of cubits. So, you're going to talk, but don't worry, Craig. When I'm done with you, you won't remember a damn thing."

Minutes passed and Harry left the three men without their mobiles, laptops, their weapons, and the last day of their memories. He still worried that he might have hurt Maggie because he was out of practice at Oblivation and hadn't been that stellar when he was practicing. This trio of thugs were much better practice partners and deep down, Harry realized that this wouldn't be the last time he'd have to alter someone's memories.

Checking his watch, he saw he had ten minutes left on the Polyjuice. He Apparated back to the alley by the Chamala shop where this all started. Moody's lessons in covering his tracks. If they checked the video from this store, they might find the Polyjuiced face he was using again and that would lead them to Delphi.

Harry didn't like that idea, so he Apparated onto the roof and conjured his Patronus by the back door. It was concentrated, powerful magic and quite possibly the worst thing to have around technology. Harry commanded the guardian spirit to run through the power panel and then into the back of the store. Wherever Prongs went, electronic devices fizzled and died.

Ten seconds later, Harry felt his Patronus pulse and dissipate. The force was strong enough to cause the engine of a passing car to fail, bringing the car to a halt.

The wizard from Earth was impressed with the electrical mayhem and he considered what the result of would be if Prongs ever ran into a Cylon. He'd have to ask Zoe what her thoughts on this were, along with giving her a chance to talk him out of his new idea of turning his greenhouse in the jungles of Delphi into the latest incarnation of Sherwood Forest.

What's that phrase people use here on Caprica? All this has happened before and all this will happen again. By that line of reasoning, I should start looking for a band of merry men.

(TNLoK)

Author's Notes – Hello all. Chapter 21 is about half done and I should have it completed by the end of the weekend. Hope you enjoy and thanks for all the reviews.