A desperate step

(The next day, Elena over a LIFI call to Leo)

Elena : Leo, baby, listen to me very carefully, this is extremely important! I'm going to wire you 1.2 million dollars and I am going to need you to secure the arc ship spots for yourself and your brother immediately! 

Leo : Mom, that's a lot of money! Where did you get that sort of income? 

Elena : T-that's not important right now, you said the price is going up every moment right? So hurry! Don't waste time- 

Leo : Mom why are you breathing so heavy? And what about your ticket? We can't just leave you behind….. 

Elena : Leo if I wanted to get myself into an interview I would have called your elder brother. It's very important to me that you use this money to secure two spots on that ship for yourself and Luke. Everything else, we will talk later tonight. Okay? 

Leo : ...… 

Elena : Don't worry okay? Just do as your mother says, promise me you will, okay? 

Leo : Okay, mom– just be safe. 

Elena : I will, don't worry *sob* 

Leo : Mom are you cryi– 

—--x line disconnects x—--- 

[ Bank Of America - Your account ending with number xxx4567 has been credited with $1,200,000 in your account. Please contact your branch manager if you think this is a mistake ] 

Leo sucked in a breath of cold air looking at the number of zeros in his bank account, he was worried about his mother and as to where she secured this sort of money from, however, it did feel surreal to him to look at so many zeros in his bank account. 

This was an astronomical sum that he would have never thought of earning in a lifetime, yet, it now sat in his bank account waiting to be spent in one big transaction. 

"What's going on Leo? you look paralyzed," Luke said as he took note of his brother's complexion. 

For a moment Leo wondered about whether or not he should tell his brother about what was going on, but something within his gut screamed at him not to. 

Unlike him, his elder brother was the 'MAN' of the house, he made all the financial decisions and had the final say in all matters. 

Although it was always in the best interest of the family, Luke was known to be upright in his morals and Leo knew that in this situation he would most likely refuse Leo the right to buy those two tickets if he could not convince him that they could afford a third for their mother. 

Somewhere deep down their mother knew this fact too and it was for this precise reason she had decided to contact Leo rather than Luke and wire him the money. 

"No, it's nothing. I just need some fresh air, I'll be right back" Leo said, lying half-heartedly as he zoomed out of the apartment. 

Luke frowned but did not think much of it as his 20 year old younger brother was known to have a slight teenage temperament. 

While on one hand Elena underwent her surgery, Leo negotiated the price of tickets for himself and Luke with the shady dealer and after an intense debate was able to shave off 50,000 dollars from the 1 million asking price to secure both tickets for 950,000 dollars. 

[ Team Arc - Congratulations Leo Skyshard, your role as a 'Sewage Cleaner' has been confirmed aboard the Arc Ship#3. 

You will be flying with us as a class F passenger. 

Please make sure you report to the designated boarding station before 20th October 2142 with baggage weight not exceeding 3kg. 

Clothes and dental kits will be provided onboard but for more details please check the official arc ship website. 

Greetings, 

Team Arc ] 

Reading this message gave Leo an odd sense of relief. If the broker he had contacted did not come through and turned out to be a fraud, he would have lost close to a lifetime worth of savings over absolutely nothing. 

Since there were no government contracts or legal guarantees over such shady backdoor deals, all Leo could do if the guy scammed him was to find a baseball bat and beat him senseless for scamming him. 

However, nothing of the sort happened, the message on his mobile was proof that the broker had came through on his end of the deal and that he indeed got the spot on the ship. 

Luke, who also got the same message on his phone, frowned instead of smiling after looking at the message as he immediately called Leo to ask what was going on but his younger brother would not dare pick up. 

"What have you done Leo? What stupid deal did you make to get the ticket?" Luke wondered as he put on his ragged coat and stormed out of the apartment to look for his foolish younger brother, completely unaware that it was their mother who had sacrificed a kidney to get the two kids a spot onboard the ship.