Malcolm ignored his exhaustion as he typed furiously, hunched over his desktop at four in the morning. Dewey had long since given up on trying to get him to stop, instead falling into a restless sleep with a pillow clutched tightly over his head. With a final keystroke Malcolm sat back, rubbing his drooping eyes. He'd finally finished the code.

Malcolm had left the Electric Tiger with one goal: proving his superiority to Reese. He wasn't sure how things had gotten so wrong, and he didn't like the feeling. Malcolm was supposed to be the one who finally made their parents proud with his vastly superior intellect. Except everyone was treating Reese like he was some sort of god just because he'd somehow lucked himself into owning a restaurant. But Reese was an idiot, had always been an idiot - seriously, how could anyone forget? - and Malcolm could beat him at anything. He knew if he had a restaurant it would be a far greater success. So he'd immediately set about finding the money to start one. After all, wouldn't it be so much sweeter to see the look on his family's faces, on Reese's face, when he beat his brother at his own game?

The problem, Malcolm quickly found, was that reputable companies didn't want to hire someone without a degree. They didn't even care how smart he was! Sure, some of them had offered to pay to send him to school, but they didn't understand that he needed money now and he turned them down. He had to resign himself to the more tedious (and low-paying) freelance jobs that established professional coders would never lower themselves to doing.

The world was working against him yet again. After his outburst at Reese's restaurant, his parents had grounded him so that now he was forced to hire Dewey as his proxy to go out to look at venues and interview potential staff. But upon completion of tonight's job, Malcolm not only had enough to start his business, he could afford his own apartment as well.

He sent a quick email confirming the completion of the task before shutting the computer down and pulling his blankets around him, allowing himself a small smile. Tonight he slept in a hellhole lorded over by his inferiors; tomorrow he'd rest in a palace under his own rule.

Author's Note: Obviously, Malcolm is smart and there are certainly ways for him to make money, but he's also impulsive, impatient, and has a sense of superiority. Plus it just wouldn't be realistic for a software firm to hire a high schooler for important/high paying jobs, regardless of how good he might be. So, long story short, I'll be exploring how these flaws and the reality of the situation inform the plot. I hope you enjoyed, please review! It's a small fandom and I appreciate all the feedback I can get for motivation :)

Much love, Miss Luxe