Chapter 82: Up My Game II

"Of course," the manager said. "When would suit your schedule."

"11AM," Xavier said.

"We’ll have it ready for you."

He ordered a cab to the dealership.

He opened the Uber app and selected premium. Confirmed the pickup.

[ REBATE SYSTEM ]

Transaction Detected: $28 spent on Premium Uber

Base Multiplier (Tier 2): 2x

Total Return: $56

[ Net Balance: $2,403,980.00 → $2,404,036.00 ]

He grabbed his jacket and headed out while the driver was still two minutes away. Stood outside the hostel in the morning air and looked at the street.

Porsche Panamera, he thought. Midnight blue. $145,000. He watched a regular campus cab pull past. In my previous life I drove whatever the delivery company assigned me. He pocketed his phone. Different life. Different vehicle.

En route he called the tailor. A recommendation from the USB document’s section on Kenvale’s professional services district, a firm called Hartley & Sons that had been operating for thirty years and whose clientele included most of the commercial district’s senior professionals.

"I need two suits," Xavier said when they answered. "Business. Nothing that announces itself. The kind that fits correctly and says nothing except that it fits correctly."

"When can you come in," the senior tailor said.

"This afternoon," Xavier said. "After 2PM."

"We’ll be expecting you."

The dealership was on the commercial strip on the east side of Kenvale. Clean showroom, polished floors, the particular atmosphere of a place that sold things expensive enough that the environment had to justify the price before the vehicle did.

The sales manager. A man in his forties named Richard who had clearly spent years calibrating his expression to show enthusiasm without desperation. He met Xavier at the entrance.

His expression did something interesting when he saw Xavier’s appearance.

Xavier had seen that expression before. He let it happen and kept walking.

"The Panamera," Xavier said. "Is it out front."

"Right this way," Richard said, recalibrating smoothly.

The car was exactly what the photos had shown and something more in person. Midnight blue that shifted slightly depending on the light. Not black, not navy, something in between that was its own specific choice. Low profile. Clean lines. The kind of vehicle that didn’t need to try.

Xavier walked around it once slowly.

In my previous life, he thought, I drove a 2009 hatchback with a broken passenger window I’d covered with plastic wrap for six months because I couldn’t afford to fix it.

He touched the door handle.

Different life.

"Test drive," he said to Richard.

"Of course..."

"Just the keys," Xavier said. "I’ll take it around the block."

Richard looked at him for exactly one second.

Then handed over the keys.

Xavier got in. Adjusted the seat. Hands on the wheel.

He started the engine.

The sound that came out was not the sound of a 2009 hatchback with a cracked exhaust.

VROOM!!!!

Clean. Deep. Controlled. The particular sound of something expensive that knew exactly what it was and wasn’t trying to prove it to anyone.

Xavier sat with it for a moment.

Six years of pizza delivery, he thought. In cars that sounded like they were apologising for existing. He put his hands on the wheel. This is what the other side feels like.

He pulled out of the dealership smoothly. The engine was quiet in the way that very expensive things were quiet. Not silent, just controlled. Confident without performing confidence.

He drove three blocks, turned, came back.

Yes, he thought. That’s the one.

He parked. Got out. Handed the keys back to Richard.

"I’ll take it," he said. "Full purchase. Today."

Richard blinked. "Today."

"Today," Xavier confirmed.

[ REBATE SYSTEM ]

Transaction Detected: $145,000 spent on Porsche Panamera

Base Multiplier (Tier 2): 2x

Total Return: $290,000

[ Net Balance: $2,259,024.00 → $2,549,024.00 ]

[ SIDE QUEST COMPLETE ]

First Vehicle Purchase

Reward: +500 EXP

[ EXP: 44,450/50,000 ]

$2,549,024, Xavier noted. After spending $145,000 on a car.

The system just paid me to buy a Porsche, he thought. This is genuinely the greatest mechanic ever conceived.

He handled the paperwork at Richard’s desk with the quiet efficiency of someone who had done financial transactions significantly larger than this in the past week. Richard kept his expression professional throughout and almost succeeded.

The car was his by 12:30PM.

He drove to Hartley & Sons.

The tailoring firm occupied a narrow shopfront on Meridian Street. Two floors, dark wood panelling visible through the window, the kind of place that had decided on its aesthetic before Xavier’s parents were born and saw no reason to update it.

The senior tailor. Mr. Hartley himself, seventies, the particular precision of someone who had spent a lifetime measuring things exactly. Looked at Xavier when he walked in and did what tailors did. Assessed. Not the age. The frame. The posture. What the body needed versus what it was currently wearing.

"Two suits," Xavier said. "Business style. Nothing loud."

"Sit down," Mr. Hartley said. Not unkindly. Just directly.

Xavier sat.

Mr. Hartley talked about fabric for three minutes. Xavier listened and made two decisions. A dark charcoal and a deep navy. Both with clean lines. Nothing that competed with the room it walked into.

Measurements took twenty minutes. Mr. Hartley worked with the focused silence of someone who considered conversation during measurements a distraction from accuracy.

"First suit ready Friday," Mr. Hartley said when he was done. "Second the following Monday."

"Friday is fine," Xavier said.

He paid the deposit.

[ REBATE SYSTEM ]

Transaction Detected: $40,000 spent on suit deposit — Hartley & Sons

Base Multiplier (Tier 2): 2x

Total Return: $80,000

[ Net Balance: $2,509,024.00 → $2,589,024.00 ]

He drove back to his hostel in the Panamera at 4PM.

Parked outside. Sat in it for a moment before getting out.

$2,553,824, he thought. Two suits on order. A Porsche Panamera parked outside a student hostel two blocks from Riverside University.

He almost laughed.

Up my game, he thought. Vincent’s words.

I think that qualifies.

He got out and locked the car. Headed toward the entrance.

Mama Elizabeth was at her window when Xavier pulled up outside the hostel. Fuck he had forgotten about her because of the dopamine of buying new stuff.

She looked at the car.

Then at Xavier getting out of it.

Then back at the car with the particular expression of someone whose entire mental file on a person had just been thrown into the air.

She opened the window fully.

"Xavier," she said.

"Ma," he said.

"That car." She pointed at it like it might deny being there. "How did you get money for that? Hope you’re not into any bad things."

Xavier looked at her steadily. "It’s not mine. I’m holding it for someone. Business arrangement."

She looked at him.

Looked at the car.

Looked back at him with the expression of someone who had raised or looked after enough young men to know exactly what a convenient explanation sounded like.

"Hmm," she said.

Which was not agreement but was also not further questioning.

"Food is by your door," she said. And stepped back from the window but didn’t close it fully. Leaving it open just enough to keep an eye on the car from inside.

Xavier turned toward the entrance.

The lounge window faced the street. Three of his neighbours were visible through it. Different ages, different faces, all with the same expression. The particular attention of people who had lived in the same building long enough to notice when something significantly outside the ordinary appeared in the car park.

Neighbours, Xavier thought, walking to the entrance without acknowledging any of them. Getting involved with neighbours has never once in the history of shared housing produced a happy ending.

He went inside.

Friday, he thought. First suit. Then Hale & Associates.

Let’s see what 2% does when the presentation matches the substance. He then ran some random donations.

[ REBATE SYSTEM ]

Daily Cycle Complete

Donations processed: Global Youth Foundation, Rural Healthcare Trust, Women’s Education Fund, Digital Access Initiative, Community Nutrition Network

Total Spent: $6,200

Total Returned: $12,400

[ Net Balance: $2,547,624.00 → $2,560,024.00 ]