The new cryptocurrency

After getting in the bath to take a shower himself, Mark decided to at least try to see if his granddaughters knew of Ray or Kura. So he went to ask Melinda who was the most social of the two.

She was playing a game on her phone in the living room, since Maria had the laptop reading something. He waited for her to finish the current level she played, as he knew how angry she would get when one interrupted her and made her lose.

When she finished it and was ready to go to the next one, Mark went next to her and drew her attention with a light cough.

“Everything ok, Gramps?” the young girl asked him.

“I wanted to ask you something. About a pair of students. Ray and Kura? I don’t know if you know….”

“Oh, the secret twin lovebirds? I have seen them. There are many stories about them, but why the interest? “

“I just met them today. They brought the groceries. I noticed them acting a bit weird with each other, but what about that name? Secret twin lovebirds? Aren’t they  brother and sister?“

Melinda smiled at her grandfather as she put down her phone and patted the sofa’s cushion next to her for him to sit down. She was about to start her third favorite activity after watching her drama shows and playing with her phone—gossiping.

Maria seemed too focused on what she was reading that she didn’t notice them, but Melinda got closer to Mark to whisper to him just in case. She knew Maria didn’t like when she talked about others behind their back like that or spreading rumors.

“So Ray and Kura aren’t fully brother and sister. They have the same father but not the same mother. Their father was a pilot and had an affair at the same time that his wife got pregnant. His affair did as well. His affair was living in Japan, and the kids were born one week difference, with Ray, who was born first from her actual wife. They didn’t know about each other, and their father kept it a secret for almost a decade until his affair couldn’t wait anymore and visited his wife. Their father was at work but learned about the visit, and so he never returned but ran away God knows where. Since then, the two women decided to raise their kids together as it was apparent that both of them were victims of that man, as he hadn’t mentioned him being married to his affair, and she just learned about it just some weeks before visiting his wife. As for the man, they couldn’t find him even after speaking with the company he was supposed to work with. Some even say that the name that he used with his wife was fake.“

It amazed Mark that someone did things like that, as it sounded like a plot from the shows Melinda was watching. Of course, some part of them could be just rumors that were far from reality, but he knew that his granddaughter when she did the research for something like that, made sure what she learned to be as valid as possible. Still, some details could be wrong.

“So then, what about the two of them and their relationship?“ Mark asked her.

The grin on Melinda’s face went wider as she continued her story.

“They just met each other before they get to their teen years, and the beauty of the one struck the other. Some say the similarities they got from their father made this attraction to be born. Of course, since they are blood relatives, they never started dating or did anything too forward, but they obviously want more from each other. I have even heard that they  plan to leave the town after finishing high school and get married  somewhere far from here.“

At that point, Melinda stopped talking and quickly got her phone and started playing. That action confused Mark, but as he turned his gaze around the room, he noticed that Maria had finished reading whatever article she was focused on.

“Oh, Gramps, everything ok? “she asked Mark as he noticed him.

She didn’t notice him and Melinda talking, apparently.

“I just wanted to spend some time with you as you both will get busy soon with the school. I noticed,  though, that you are busy reading something and didn’t want to disturb you. What were you reading, by the way? “

Maria smiled at him and turned the laptop for him to see clearly what was on the screen.

Mark just needed to read the article’s title, and he immediately got surprised. The title was  ‘TruckCoins: The new hit on Cryptocurrency.’

It seemed like somebody had already found some TruckCoins, and apparently, many people started looking for them. As he read the article, he read that currently, there were reports of 2 whole TruckCoins to be collected or ‘mined‘ in total,  with people collecting at most 0.02 of a TruckCoin each. After reaching that number, the algorithm to find them became more challenging.

He wondered if the reason was that he had used 2 TruckCoins at the STORE, so maybe that made them available to others to find them. He had to ask Truck-kun about it or that inspector of his if they ever spoke again.

“So why the sudden interest? “Mark asked her.

“Well, there were reports of a  new cryptocurrency for some days now, but nobody could mine it until last night. A friend of mine could get some of it. I had helped him design the algorithm for mining it, so he sent me part of what got mined. It is just 0.005 of a Truck Coin, though, but we can get more soon. “

“Then how much does a TruckCoin cost currently? “

Maria scrolled down that had a  diagram. It seemed to be the price of TruckCoin as time passed. The starting date was some weeks before he got the System, and it was an almost perfect line until today that had a sudden rise. The price was at  603.24$, which was nearly double what it was before.

Mark wondered if that meant that increased how much he could get through his STORE, but he couldn’t check it currently.

“So what we earned is just close to $30 currently, but we might make more soon. Also, its price can increase even more in the future. “

“Who is that friend of yours, by the way? I don’t remember you mentioning working on something like that. “

Mark wanted to learn more about collecting more, but he had to ensure that his family wasn’t getting in touch with any dangerous people.

“We had been friends for some time. He had helped me, and I have helped him now and then. Actually, he works at WonderCorp. “

WonderCorp was the same company Mark had taken the receiver to control his steering wheel through his phone.

“He sent me a message today with my share, telling me that he prepared new hardware to help with the mining. I will help him with the algorithm with the mining, and hopefully, we can get more of those TruckCoins. He even had offered me  to work with him next summer as a paid job. “

“Well, for now, focus on school. As for helping him, you can do so, but after finishing your homework, and without pushing yourself. “

“But we… “

“No buts, young lady. As always, we will take care of things. I actually got a new job offer recently that will cover our expenses and more. So try to focus on your  job as a student.“

He then gave her two bills of ten dollars each.

“Those are for you and your sis. I will let you take care of them for both of you, though. “

Maria nodded, but she seemed suspicious of her grandfather. As for Melinda, Mark saw she had noticed her giving money to Maria and had heard him since he didn’t whisper his last sentence, but she tried to make it look like she had heard nothing.

“I have to go take care of some business outside girls for the new client. Order something to eat since I probably will be late; I am leaving money on the counter. “

After that, he went back to his truck and started driving towards Tam’s house. He usually would wait for a few days, but something inside him told him that he had to go today.

The moment he made the last turn towards the house, and when it was in visual range, he noticed a crowd outside the house and an ambulance.

At that moment, the ambulance technicians brought out from the house a stretcher, which had a covered body on it.

It seemed like Mark was too late.