FAI

by Jake Lingwall

  “I love you too, Kari,” David said.

  The corner of his eyes filled, showing emotion as he leaned in to kiss her. She kissed him back until the auto-auto slowed down at their restaurant.

  “Well, we should probably go. Can’t miss my first dinner reservations ever,” Kari said.

  “They’ll ban you for life,” David said.

  “Don’t say that. There’s enough pressure already. This is our first adult date in the real world. Lots of pressure.”

  “Anything could happen.”

  She let him help her out of the auto-auto onto the streets in front of the nicest restaurant where she could order a hamburger in Phoenix. David whistled as he saw where they were.

  “Can we afford this place?” David asked.

  “I hope so,” Kari said.

  “Did Vision send you the money or something?”

  “Vision offered to send it. And with a healthy bonus, but I declined it,” Kari said.

  “What? Motorcad is going to kill you!”

  “Oh, he’ll be fine. Now that we can put our faces on the Academy, applications and donations are rolling in. I asked Vision to donate it to the families of the people who died at the lab,” Kari said. “Besides, I never liked that deal anyway. I’ll make money the old-fashioned way.”

  “Salary from the Academy?”

  “No, I don’t teach for money. Coding is what I love to do, so I’ve decided to work on select projects . . . I’m going to start taking clients again. Here and there.”

  “Well, you are Freelancer,” David said with a smile. “World’s greatest hacker.”

  “Not anymore.”

  “What?”

  “I’ve decided to retire Freelancer . . . that name just has too much history and attention. It just doesn’t fit me anymore. I don’t want to be famous, or have fans, or put people close to me in danger. I’m going to work on select projects under a different handle. It’ll let me focus on doing what I love, without the overhead.”

  “What is the world going to do without Freelancer?”

  “It’ll be fine. There are plenty of other people out there that can solve problems. Besides, I’ll keep the handle tucked away, just in case I ever have a reason for it again.”

  “You’re serious about this.”

  “Yes, I am.”

  “Wow! This feels big . . .”

  “It’s no big deal. Freelancer had been slipping anyway. By my count, she was down to being the second-greatest hacker,” Kari said.

  David looked at her, puzzled for a second, before a smirk spread across his face.

  “Broccoli Rob?” he asked.

  “Broccoli Rob,” Kari repeated. “Now, should we do this?”

  The End

  FROM THE AUTHOR

  Thanks for reading! Bringing Kari’s story to life has been one of the best experiences of my life, and it’s truly been a pleasure to be able to share these novels with you. I’m grateful for my alpha-alpha reader, and first-pass editor (Jill and Julia!) and for everyone who supported the series on Kindle Scout, as I surely wouldn’t have been as successful without them.

  If I could ask you for one more favor, it would be to leave a review of this book (and every book in the series if you’ve made it this far) on Amazon. Reviews are tremendously important and help novels succeed. I would greatly appreciate the assistance!

  This is the end of the Freelancer series (for now . . .), but I have other books coming soon including Epoch Shift, the first novel in a fantasy series, which takes place on a distant planet a thousand years after a failed colonization attempt. Sign up for my newsletter at JakeNotJacob.com to stay up to date with my books.