“Good morning, Aunt Anne,” Zoe greeted the older woman while yawning. Anne frowned. “Excuse me.”

“Morning Zoe. How late were you out?” Anne asked.

“I think I was home a little after 10PM,” Zoe answered. “I stayed up late working on another project though. I wish I had time to soak in the tub, but I don’t.”

“You can’t keep burning both ends of the candle,” Anne said. “You need to relax some and make some friends. Maybe even meet someone to date. Even I had a social life when I was starting out on my own.”

“My first and only priority is to build my savings up and pay off my debt,” Zoe replied taking a seat at the kitchen table. “I’ll do what I must and then worry about having a social life later.”

“Being a courier might pay well at the higher levels, but you have a way to go,” Anne reminded her. “Life moves fast. It doesn’t hurt to slow down and smell the flowers.”

“I know. I’ll…I’ll hang out with the other couriers a little if they ask,” Zoe said. She figured she could keep coding sitting in a bar as good as she could here. “Hey! You stole that line!”

“I paraphrased an old movie,” Anne replied. They both laughed.

Zoe looked around the kitchen and noticed an old radio sitting on one of the counters. She got up and walked over to it.

“Aunt Anne, why do you have this old thing?”

“Because it’s old like me,” Anne laughed. “Honestly, I keep it because it picks up on the government weather channels.”

“Really? The channels are not encrypted?” Zoe asked.

“Turn it on and see,” Anne replied. Zoe turned on the radio and sure enough, it started playing the weather. “Neat huh?”

“Yeah,” Zoe agreed.

“I can also pick up some of the first responder channels. The fire departments don’t encrypt their chatter at all,” Anne added.

“Huh. On any particular channel?” Zoe asked.

“I haven’t paid much attention to the actual channels. All this stuff is available in the 480 Mhz range though,” Anne answered.

“Oh! I’m so stupid!”

“What is it, Zoe?” Anne asked.

“Nothing. I just realized I was making one of the projects I’ve been working on much harder than it has to be,” Zoe answered. An app that acted like an old-style radio scanner with decryption would be simpler than trying to code a permanent backdoor into the police network. It would also add the ability to listen to the open fire department channels.

“That’s good dear. Got time for an omelet before rushing off to work?” Anne said.

Zoe smiled at her aunt. “Sure.”

*

“Late night Zoe?” Cee asked as Zoe joined the rest of Henri’s employees for their morning assignments.

“Yeah, it was.”

“It shouldn’t have been. You were done with your deliveries before 10PM,” Henri said.

“I stayed up coding something,” Zoe admitted.

“Any luck with the scanner?” TK asked.

“Not coding it, no.”

“Oh. That sucks,” Newt said as the others nodded in agreement.

“I did realize I was going about it all wrong though.”

“What do you mean?” Vee asked.

“I don’t need a backdoor in the network for a scanner to work,” Zoe answered. Seeing the confused looks on the others’ faces, she smiled and asked, “What do you guys know about radio transmission decryption?”

*

“A bakery for lunch, Zoe?” Terr asked as he and Newt joined her. Zoe looked up from where she appeared to be gazing out at the park across the street. But a closer inspection would reveal that she was focusing on something only her eyes could see. Zoe held up a hand asking for patience.

“Ha! The Phantom worked and I got away clean!” Zoe cackled. She turned her attention to her coworkers.

“What were you doing?” Newt asked.

“Testing some new software that I coded last night and this morning. This is Riverside Bakery and Café. As you can see, it has great outdoor seating,” Zoe said and then took a sip of her beverage. “Besides, doesn’t the bread and other baked good smell wonderful? The lemonade is fantastic.”

“She’s got a point,” Vee said as she and TK joined them.

“I need meat, not bread or pastries,” Terr said.

“You’re just trying to live up to what you think orcs are supposed to be,” Newt teased.

“They do have meat,” TK said. “I smell ham, salmon, chicken, and beef.”

“Wow! You really do have a sensitive sense of smell TK,” Zoe said.

“Ooh! That cinnamon bun looks delicious,” Vee suddenly said as a waitress brought a neighboring table their orders.

“The coffee smells good,” Terr conceded taking a seat.

“Well, that settles that. We’re having lunch here,” Newt said.

“Are you a coffee snob?” Zoe asked.

“I prefer coffee connoisseur,” Terr replied.

“As long as it’s coffee, I’m good,” TK said.

“And people call me a savage,” Terr jested. The others, including TK, laughed while taking seats. The waitress came over and sent them the café’s menu.

“What can I get you to drink while you decide what you want to eat?” the waitress asked. She looked at Zoe. “Want a refill for your lemonade?”

“Yes please,” Zoe replied. The others ordered coffees, teas, and juices.

“I’ll be right back,” the waitress promised.

“Oh my. They even have a nice selection of wine and beer. I’m a beer and wine connoisseur,” TK said making the others laugh. “I’ve never been here before.” The others said the same. “How did you find this place?”

“I was running in the park over there after I finished my morning jobs,” Zoe gestured across the street, “and the aromas coming from this place were too tempting to pass up.”

“It also just happens to be very close to the 79th St Boat Basin where the houseboat you were talking about is located,” Vee pointed out.

“That’s true,” Zoe admitted. “I have enough for the deposit and figured you guys might like to see the houseboat before Tiffany Well’s people start the remodel.”

“How did you get the credits?” TK asked.

Newt snapped her fingers. “The little test you were doing when we walked up?”

“You didn’t do anything that will get you and us in trouble, did you?” Terr asked.

“No! Well, maybe with the purity church,” Zoe conceded.

“Oh. Then fuc…” Terr started to say.

“Ahem!” the waitress said arriving with their drinks.

“Sorry,” Terr said sheepishly.

“That’s alright,” the waitress replied. “What do you guys want to eat?”