The Daily Dormouse. (aka Bike, est. 2007) Part 2620 by Angharad Copyright© 2015 Angharad

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This is a work of fiction any mention of real people, places or institutions is purely coincidental and does not imply that they are as suggested in the story.
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I felt a degree of self-loathing. I’d reneged on a promise I made all the children, that they had a home with me as long as they wanted. This latest act by Trish took my breath away. If I’d understood it, she was jealous of the recognition Sammi had achieved and possibly being cleverer, she had put a nasty on the system that would cause the system to collapse or something similar. She might be a genius but her actions were that of a spoilt brat.

Trish stood looking at the floor with occasional peeps at me, but she couldn’t hold my gaze. “Well, what’s it to be?”

“What d’you mean?” tears were still running down her face.

“You now have ninety seconds to remove whatever you put on the bank’s system or face the consequences.”

“You promised me you’d never tell me to go.”

“You signed up as a member of a family but you’ve betrayed that family because you were jealous of Sammi. You can’t bear anyone to be better at anything than you, can you?”

“I can,” she said quietly, sniffing. “I’m sorry, Mummy.” She started to sob and my heart was splitting. There was no way I’d throw her out but I had to make her think I could, this was tough love. I had to be tough or she would be totally uncontrollable in a couple of years. Effectively, I was trying to save her from herself.

“How do I know I can believe you, you lied to me before.”

“I love you, Mummy,” she sobbed and held out her arms for me to hug her.

“Prove it, remove your bug.”

“There isn’t one,” she sobbed and threw herself down on the office floor. “I’m sorry,” she sobbed and snorted lying on the floor. “I just wanted to be important, like Sammi is.”

“The man who crashed the aeroplane into a mountain a month ago said he wanted people to remember him. He killed nearly four hundred people, so the families of those he murdered will remember him and curse him every day of their lives. He was important for five minutes. Is that how you want to be?”

“He killed all those people?” she gasped.

“Yes, he deliberately crashed an airliner into a mountain with lots of innocent people on board including his colleagues from the airline, mothers and their babies, other children—none of whom had ever done him any harm.”

“But why?”

“Because he could and wanted to show he could.”

“That’s sick, like that woman killing the giraffe.”

“Much sicker, I’m afraid—but it happened.”

“Those poor people,” she said and burst into tears again.

“Yes, poor people.” I paused to let her reflect on what I’d told her. “Is that what you want to be—important like that pilot?”

“No,” she said quietly shaking her head.

“So there is no bug, which is why Sammi wouldn’t have been able to find it?”

She nodded.

“Would you have told me before tomorrow?”

“Probably.”

“Get up and go and wash your face,” I pointed to my personal toilet and washbasin in a little room off my office—the perk of being a director. She slowly did as I instructed. While she was washing her face I phoned Henry’s office and asked if he could see us as Trish had something to say to him. His secretary said he was frantically trying to get a cyber protection expert at short notice. I told her he didn’t need one. She told me to come straight up.

Trish emerged from my private bathroom. “We’re going to see Gramps and you’re going to tell him the truth and ask him to forgive you.”

She nodded and the tears started again. I handed her a tissue and pointed at the door. The lift took ages to go up to Henry’s floor, and the walk felt like I was leading the condemned to the gallows. I needed her to remember how unpleasant it all felt to try and stop ever playing games like this again.

We were told to go straight through to his suite and I made Trish knock on his door and go through before I followed. I made her stay a distance from him as her first instinct was to run to him and have a hug. He sat impassively behind his large desk. “You have something to tell me,” said coldly to her.

“Yes, Gramps. I’m sorry, Gramps, I didn’t mean to cause trouble.” She fell to her knees sobbing. I was close to tears myself but had to stand firm. She had to learn this lesson, I knew Henry probably felt as choked as I did.

“Tell Gramps what you told me,” I prompted her.

It took her several seconds to compose herself enough to be able to speak coherently. “There is no time-bomb, Gramps. I told you a fib.”

“I know.” She looked astonished, I know I did. “You see, I had everything checked you did, including removing the time-bomb you sent to some hackers.”

“Why?” she asked.

“Trish, you might be very clever for a ten year old, but you are ten years old. This bank is two hundred years old, we have a reputation to uphold and much as I love and admire your cleverness, you are still a child and I can’t risk the reputation of this bank, my reputation and that of other members of this family like your father and your mother on the actions of a ten year old girl. It would be unforgiveable if something went wrong because of it. So I had someone check everything you did. I didn’t tell you before because I know how important it is to you to act like a grown up, I even agreed to pay you for what you thought you were doing. In actual fact you were playing with a dummy system your sister created to train our staff. You didn’t spot it as a dummy—so I think you have a little way to go to catch Sammi. With computers, she really is something special.

“I’m afraid because you tried to deceive me, I going to have to sack you as my temporary cyber protection consultant. Working for your family requires a degree of trust and I’m afraid you broke that.”

“I’m sorry, Gramps, will you forgive me?” she managed to get out before she burst into tears again.

“I will on two conditions.”

She nodded.

“First you never try anything like this ever again with anyone.”

She nodded and said she wouldn’t.

“Second, you come over here where I can see you.” She rose on wobbly legs and walked round his desk. “And give me the biggest hug you’ve ever given anyone.”

She paused processing what she thought he’d said, then flung herself at him and sobbed all over him. I had to look away or I’d be crying with them.

“I think you owe your mother an apology too, don’t you?” Henry said quietly to her and she nodded and walked over to me.

“I really am sorry that I let you down, Mummy. Will you forgive me?”

I waited for a moment as much to stop myself weeping as much as for dramatic effect. “If you promise me with all your heart to never do anything like this ever again, then yes, I forgive you.”

“You won’t make me leave?” she said loudly enough for Henry to give me a very old fashioned look.

“No, darling, I promise never to do that as long as you keep your word.”

“I will, Mummy, I love you.”

“I love you too, sweetheart,” I said as I wrapped my arms round her and felt a moisture in my eyes.