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"Thirty-five thousand!?" I leaned forward from my SUV's backseat, gripping the phone in my paw much harder than I needed to. "You're telling me that an eighteen-year-old raccoon managed to cause that much damage to our own servers?"

"Seventeen years old, actually." Replied Dan Heidelberg, my vulpine lawyer, in an equally impressed tone. "The police chief has already contacted the boy's parents. The file that Gomez provided me says the brat's name is Anton Joseph Mitchells. He's had a previous run-in with the law, where he and some punks tried performing a smash-and-grab shoplifting spree two years ago. Only got probation because he cooperated with police. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like he's doing the same thing here."

"Is he remaining silent?" I asked.

"Mr. Mitchells says he isn't talking without his parents or a lawyer, if they bring one." Dan explained to me. "He may not know how to hide his footprints, but I'll give the boy credit for knowing his Miranda rights."

"Did his probation expire?" I asked.

"Just last January," he answered, as the SUV's driver pulled us into the police precinct's underground parking, "but that doesn't mean he isn't in serious trouble. Mr. Mitchells may be a juvenile, but the damage he's done and the anti-hacking laws broken will mean he's going to juvenile hall, and then prison once he turned eighteen." Dan sighed on the other end of his phone. "But you don't plan to sue him, do you, sir?"

He already knew my answer the moment our call disconnected. Making my way out from the backseat, I straightened my pants legs and swayed my tail more freely. A sigh escaped my Labrador muzzle, and I entered through the precinct's checkpoints until an officer at the lobby's desk guided me to an interrogation room.

Behind the two-way mirror sat a hunched figure, looking like a high school student pulled out of a good night's sleep. He wore a plain t-shirt and shorts, and looked wide awake. Those startled eyes glanced at the window, trying to peer in at whoever stood on the other end.

Suddenly, a door opposite the window opened. Two older raccoons stormed in, while a middle-aged antelope in a business suit walked in, carrying a briefcase. One was male, still dressed in what appeared to be a mechanic's clothes, while the other wore an old coat over her nursing uniform. Boy, they were livid.

Any attempts at forming apologies repeatedly fell on deaf ears as Anton Mitchells' mother and father berated him. They asked him how he could do such a thing. They asked how he could perform such a reckless stunt with their family's computer, risking his chance at being placed in juvenile hall.

"We let you use the computer for one night and this happens!?"

"Mom, Dad--"

"We can't believe you did something so reckless--"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorr--"

"Don't interrupt your mother, Anton!"

Meanwhile, their lawyer--who I'd later learn was named Liggins--continued pouring through some paperwork and murmuring something to the parents as they reprimanded their son.

"I got the paperwork ready." Dan appeared behind me, as did Officer Gomez, a muscular tiger who seemed eager to almost end the yelling coming from the interrogation room.

"Are you sure about this?" Gomez asked me. "Heidelberg here told me what you're interested in doing. Don't you think the brat's going to break it in the future? Street rats like him always break the law, in the end."

"We'll keep that in mind, Officer." I coldly replied.

Giving us a reluctant nod, Dan and I followed Officer Gomez into the room. The adult raccoons paused their argument midway, and sat down in chairs between their son, while the antelope lawyer sat in an extra chair provided by the precinct. All four stared at me in particular, no doubt because I appeared like the one their son crossed. They were partially right.

"You must be Mr. and Mrs. Mitchells." Dan cordially shook their paws, then greeted the stoic antelope gripping his suitcase. "You must also be their lawyer, Mr...?"

"Antony Liggins." He introduced himself, then stared at me across the metallic table. "Mr. MacNair, I'd like to say it's an honor to meet a talented person like yourself, I just...wish it were under better circumstances."

"Quite right." I sighed. Officer Gomez stood watching us in the background of the room, while Dan watched me wearily. "Listen, I am not going to lie. Your son has cost me valuable money. He broke into my company's corporate servers and damaged some of it beyond repair. Although the information on it is thankfully backed up, and the servers themselves are insured, it's still going to take time to replace them, install further security, etcetera, etcetera. No doubt too that the company's insurance premiums will go up because of this whole fiasco."

Anton's father almost said something before his wife and Liggins both motioned for him to be quiet. Then, Liggins said, "Anton is a brilliant young man. What he did was stupid, illegal, and costly, but it would be cruel to ruin his life at this point. My clients understand this and are prepared to do everything to make sure this never happens again."

A smile crept up my muzzle. "Oh, I happen to agree."

The double-take that Anton, his parents and to a lesser extent his family lawyer, performed was almost worth cancelling my handsome date tonight. I just hoped the end result would be further worth it.

"Before coming over here, I looked at the ransomware virus he placed in those servers." I glanced over to Dan, and the older fox pulled out some recently printed paperwork. "His coding is amateur, but still impressive for his age. He reminds me of myself when I was his age. A bit of a troublemaker, wanting to go beyond my limits, too smart for my own good, a little desperate to have a secured future. The biggest difference is that I did my programming for good."

Dan presented the paperwork to Liggins, who read it over and showed it to the parents and eventually a dumbfounded Anton.

"What's this?" The mother asked.

"What's the catch of this thing?" The father asked.

"My client is prepared to drop the charges against your son." Dan explained to them. "He hates seeing talent go to waste. With your permission and the permission of this precinct, we're offering Anton a remedial internship of sorts. He'll be given a chance to learn how his hacking skills and coding can be used to improve digital security. If he can stay on the straight path and impress Mr. MacNair, then there's the possibility of us offering him a job at the company."

I leaned forward to look Anton in the eyes. A glint of mischief reflected from them, but also relief, immense relief, and curiosity of how much he could learn further.

"So, he won't be getting into trouble then?" His dad asked.

I nodded firmly. "Only if he breaks the law again."