The laptop’s fan whirred. A clicking noise could be heard from the inside of the chassis. Either the thing was broken or it could be just the fans oiling up after a month of unuse, but probably the former. Gale could definitely probably almost certainly buy a laptop with his salary from Ollie anyways. But there was no way he would throw away a perfectly usable laptop.

Sitting on the desk, his eyes tracked the cursor as it moved across the screen. As he clicked the browser button with a big red fox, tendrils fed him the voices of the couple upstairs shouting at each other again.

A door slammed upstairs.

Gale didn’t flinch this time. Couldn’t afford to. His chair was already on its last leg.

It was his win. They thought they could make him flinch with those sudden sounds. But no. Not this time, stupid couple upstairs that always fought everyday.

Clicking on the address bar, he searched for the TD Bank website and then clicked the first search result. The green logo’d website loaded and flooded Gale’s retinas with indescribable information that he knew nothing about.

4.99% prime interest rate.

Invest online.

And then the familiar dreaded ‘savings account’.

What would a savings account even do for an immortal being? Give him money after he retires? Ridiculous. Immortals couldn’t even retire if they wanted to.

Look at Erin. It was research this, research that, for probably millions of years. All the while looking like she didn’t have muscles on her face that would express her emotions.

Reaching for the wallet beside him on the floor, he pulled out the debit card that Emmerson had given him after he came back from the Eclipsed. The plastic was still pristine, ignoring the crumpled up corners of the card from the countless fights it lived through.

He typed the sixteen digits into the access card number field and hit enter. The page refreshed to a new screen asking for a password.

Right.

Gale stared at the blinking cursor in the password field. He had the password on a piece of paper.

Tendrils spread outwards looking for that piece of paper. Nothing in the washroom, bag, and even the bed. Nothing in the hallway either. Of course not.

Dammit. He lost the password.

Then he noticed the “forgot password” button. Surely, a big corporation like TD would let him forget his password and set up a new one.

Gale clicked it and the page loaded with a red text error: “Due to recent large fraudulent activities in Canada, please call 1-800-TD-HELPS or visit your nearest branch location to reset your password.”

Clenching his hands and crumpling his body, the annoyance meter was creeping up little by little. The world of adults was surely more unfathomable than felling a spider mech or a flesh warrior.

This meant that he needed an adult and who better to ask than Emmerson himself.

[Gale: what’s the password for my bank account?]

Ten seconds passed. Twenty. Now, ten minutes. No reply came through from Emmerson.

Don’t worry, Gale. There’s a different adult he can message. Oliver Glory himself!

[Gale: can’t contact Emmerson]

Two seconds later, three dots appeared and a message came through.

[Ollie: Emmerson is in a rift raid right now. What’s up?]

[Gale: can’t get into my bank account]

[Ollie: You could just go to the bank to reset it]

Gale suddenly picked up his laptop. But before he could hit his head with it, he stopped. It was a perfectly good usable laptop that did him no harm. The problem was this website not giving him his password.

Last resort was to go to the bank. Had to be. The one thing he didn’t want to do today or any day if he could help it. Banks meant people, people meant talking, and talking meant explaining things he didn’t understand to people who expected him to understand them or the rules that no one ever told him about.

Last time he talked to a person that was behind a desk, he got denied to go to high school even though he was still a high schooler.

Absolutely ridiculous world of modern Earth.

Time to do this.

[Mission Accepted: Get Banking Credentials]

[Reward: 500 points]

“Guide, seriously?”

[Current mission is of utmost importance to host’s survival on this planet. Priority of this mission is calculated to be at position 0]

Gale groaned, standing up, and then letting himself fall onto his bed. Slashing monsters and abominations felt so much easier than this. At least those didn’t require a brain.

Picking himself back up, he put on the definitely broken ripped jeans he got from the Salvation Army and the oversized black hoodie. Even without a thick coat, Rachel’s ring would keep him warm in the freezing weather of Toronto’s winter. Still, kids were weird for calling this kind of jeans fashionable.

Now, it was time to march towards war against the bank.

Gale headed for the door and stepped into the narrow hallway. Fluorescent lights buzzed and flickered overhead. Fortunately, they turned off during the night to not disturb the residents.

Locking the doorway and heading to the elevator, Gale saw a man coming in his direction.

Big guy, at least two heads taller than Gale, with a belly that pushed out against a puffy jacket and hands shoved deep in his pockets. The hallway wasn’t wide enough for both of them to pass comfortably.

Gale moved to the right, pressing himself against the wall to pass by quietly. However, the man didn’t even bother to move, and they bumped into each other, shoulder against the man’s puffy jacket.

“Hey.” The man’s voice came out rough. “Stop right there.”

Gale stopped and looked up at him.

“You’re not even going to apologize?” the man said.

“You bumped into me,” Gale said. “Why don’t you apologize?”

The man stepped forward, closing the distance between them until Gale could smell the coffee on his breath. “Listen here, pipsqueak. You’re smaller, so you should’ve avoided me.”

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

Gale didn’t step back. This guy’s stance. The way he squared his shoulders. Stepping into his safe bubble comfort space that Communications 201 mentioned.

This man was invading his territory like a bear challenging another bear.

“Are you asking for a fight?” Gale asked.

“All I want is an apology.”

Clearing his throat, Gale spoke once again. “Tell you what. I’ll let you off the hook if you come to the bank with me.”

“What?”

“The bank. I need my money. And you’re going to help me.”

“You fu-“

Before the thug could speak, Gale grabbed him by the collar and pulled him down to his height.

The man’s eyes widened instantly. But instead of panicking, the man bore all his weight onto Gale.

Big mistake. Gale didn’t even budge as he put the man’s arms behind his back and clamped his knees down his lower back. “The bank. Now.”

“Ok, ok, ok. Ow!! I’m sorry!! Look, I’ll give you everything I got. Just let me go. Ok?”

That’s more like it. This man will give him every piece of effort he got in wrestling with the bureaucracy of the big bank.

Again, he won. He found the missing piece to solve the puzzle. Gale smiled, big time. He started chuckling until a full blown laugh escaped him as the man below him started trembling at the sight of his hysterical laughter.

The TD Bank on McCowan and Kingston smelled like a rainforest with a lemon scent. The best kind of scent that made Gale make a big inhale as soon as him and Yohan, the man from earlier, entered the branch.

Yohan stood beside Gale at the teller counter, rubbing his shoulder and massaging his flank, probably hoping for the pain to go away faster.

That didn’t matter. He needed to learn his lesson to not be a bully to those smaller than him. The man was lucky that Gale didn’t go all full dark hunter on his butt.

The teller lady looked between them with a clearly forced smile that wanted to ask more questions. She was young. Maybe mid 20s with her hair pulled back into a bun. Her name tag said, “Jennifer.”

“So,” Jennifer said, still smiling, “What can I help you with today?”

Yohan cleared his throat and leaned against the counter. “My boss here forgot his password. Needs to reset it. Fast.”

Jennifer shrank.

Gale elbowed him, enough to cause him to flinch. That sounded so mean to the poor lady in front of them. And what’s with the boss? He didn’t have enough money to give him a salary. No way he was giving Yohan even a penny.

Jennifer’s fingers moved across her keyboard. Click click click. “Okay, no problem. I’ll just need to verify his identity first.” She looked at Gale. “Do you have ID? Government issued card?”

Gale looked at Yohan. “What the hell is that?”

Yohan’s eye twitched. He sighed and grumbled, something about kids these days and living under rocks. “Did you live in the woods or something?”

“The woods is better than the city,” Gale said. “That’s a fact.”

Yohan facepalmed. Actually facepalmed. “Just give the lady your wallet. She’ll figure it out.”

Gale pulled out his wallet and placed it on the counter.

Jennifer stared at it. “Sir, I need your ID card, not your whole wallet.”

Pushing the wallet even further to her, Gale smiled wide.

Jennifer flinched. Just a little. She picked up the wallet carefully, started fishing through it.

Credit card. Debit card. A receipt from that grocery store. A piece of jerky that Gale’s been saving.

Then Jennifer pulled out a card with Gale’s face on it.

“G1 driver’s licence,” she said, holding it up. “This works.”

What the hell is even that? Gale asked himself internally as he took back his wallet.

Jennifer typed something into her computer and then looked back at him. “Can you confirm your date of birth?”

“October 2nd.”

“And the year?”

“2042.”

Yohan’s head snapped toward Gale. “You’re 28?”

“No. I’m turning 19 this year.”

Yohan opened his mouth. Closed it. Opened it again. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

“It makes perfect sense,” Gale said.

Damn. That was a great explanation.

“I see.” Jennifer stopped typing. Stared at her screen. Then gave Gale back his licence. Then back at her screen.

“Due to recent fraudulent activity across Canada,” Jennifer said, reading from her screen now, “I need to verify your identity using your emergency contacts.” She scrolled down. “On file, it lists three: Emmerson Mort, Oliver Glory, and Rachel Ann.”

Emmerson was in a rift. Ollie was busy. Rachel said she’d help if he needed it, and technically this counted as needing help.

“Rachel Ann,” Gale said, wondering what she was actually doing now. She did say she needed to catch up with her best friend.

Jennifer picked up the phone and dialled the number from the screen. She held it to her ear. Waited. Waited some more. Then put the phone down. “No answer.”

“Umm. Wait. Let me text her first,” Gale said, then pulled out his phone and texted Rachel.

[Gale: the bank is trying to call you to confirm my identity]

Three dots appeared immediately.

[Rachel: My bad. Ok go ahead.]

“Try again,” Gale said.

Jennifer dialled again. This time, on the third ring, someone picked up. Presence Between’s tendrils spread into the phone to be able to hear the conversation.

“Hello, this is Jennifer from TD Bank,” Jennifer said into the phone. “I’m calling to verify the identity of Gale Hathie. Are you Rachel Ann?”

Yea, this is Rachel. Is this for identity confirmation?

“Yes, that’s correct. Can you confirm that you know Mr. Hathie and that he is who he says he is?”

Confirming. That is the one and only Gale Hathie.

Jennifer’s expression didn’t change, but her eyes flicked to Gale.

“Thank you. And can you describe your relationship to Mr. Hathie?”

Friend? Maybe more than friends? I don’t know how to say it. Hahaha. I know him. We’re really close! Really. Do you need more info?

Gale saw Jennifer’s eyebrows go up just slightly before she controlled her expression again.

“Yes, can you confirm your birthday and your first security question, which would be your favourite food?”

December 12, 2042. Kimchi fried rice with spam.

“I see. Thank you, Miss Ann. That’s all I needed.” Jennifer hung up and typed something into her computer. Then she looked at Gale, and her smile became a little more real this time. “Alright, Mr. Hathie. Identity confirmed. Let’s get that password reset for you. Though we do offer biometric options via phone. Would you prefer that so you don’t lose your password again?”

Gale nodded vigorously.

“Can I go now?” Yohan asked, which was met with a low growl from Gale that made him freeze.

“Great. Now, Mr Hathie. Open up your phone. All phones in the past 10 years come with biometrics authentication which can be used for any app and website, courtesy of Glory Tech Industries.”

Gale pulled up his phone and then searched for ‘bio’. The first result was an eye looking logo with a B on it.

“Now, I do assure you, Mr. Hathie. This isn’t your normal password locker.”

What even is a password locker? Gale didn’t know any of it.

The teller continued, “this is a universal authentication hub similar to how Cloudflare hosted basically everything on the internet decades ago. It has never had a password leak before and is using state of the art Quantum Entity Bit Locks patented by Glory Tech Industries.”

All Gale could do was nod.

“Now go ahead and create a biometric signature by pressing the + button on your screen.”

Pressing the + button, it showed him three options: eyes, fingerprint, or face. He picked fingerprint, and it prompted him to press his fingers on the mark for exactly 30 seconds.

Putting his finger on the mark, he waited for 30 seconds until the circle changed to green.

“And that’s it. We just need to connect your current bank account to your biometrics, and you’ll be set to use it as a replacement for a password.” The teller held his phone in his hand and connected it to a cable at the bottom.

A message popped up in Gale’s notification centre.

[Bank Account Connected.]

“All websites and apps use this as an authentication method. You no longer need to register using an email address or other authentication services,” the teller said. “Is there anything else I could help you with?”

Gale pulled down Yohan’s collar and whispered into his ear. “Tell her I want to withdraw $200 in cash.”

“You could’ve told her that instead of me,” Yohan whispered back.

“Shhh. Just say it.”

Yohan cleared his throat and then said, “The boss here wants to withdraw $200. Now do it, lady.”

Gale gave him the thumbs up.

The teller sighed, now probably used to whatever this was. She got up and took 10 twenty-dollar bills from the machine that whirred into action the moment she hit enter on her PC.

Sitting back down at the desk, she counted the 10 twenty dollar bills one by one and then handed them to Gale, who put the bills into his wallet. “Will that be all?”

Gale whispered again, “Tell her we’re done and thank her.”

“The boss gives his thanks.”

[Mission Complete: Get Banking Credentials]

[Reward: 500 points]

Standing up straight, Gale waved for Yohan to follow him. $200 was a lot of money. He could buy so much peanut butter and bread loaves. But most important of all, he now had the money to buy the McDs he’d always seen from afar.

“Can I go now?” Yohan asked.

“No! Now you’re going to help me get McDs,” Gale laughed menacingly.

“But they have self serve kiosks! I just wanna go home!” Yohan groaned.

“Come on. It’s good,” Gale dragged him by the collar once again, towards the McDs near their apartment.

His phone buzzed suddenly. Pulling it out, it was Rachel’s text.

[Rachel: Are you done with the bank stuff?]

[Gale: yup, I’m done. what wrong?]

[Rachel: Just checking in to see how you did.]

[Gale: I did great! I had a helper who helped me with adult stuff.]

[Rachel: lol.]

[Rachel: Don’t forget. Fran’s tomorrow. Need a ride?]

[Gale: yes pelase!]

“That your girlfriend?” Yohan, who had been looking over his shoulder, asked.

“Not sure. We’re more than friends, I guess? She’s nice.”

“Must be nice being so young.”

“How old are you anyways?”

“…28.”

“Hey, we’re the same age.”

“Didn’t you say you’re 19?”

“Right. That’s my real age and 28 is my government age.”

Yohan shook his head, sighing exasperatedly. “Aren’t you even cold?! Let’s take the bus!”

“It’s only a 15 minute walk. Don’t be a baby.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep