Budget bonanza

<The Richards' Quarters>
<2100>
"Honey, I'm a bit confused. We've got a glitch in our budget."
Zack frowned at the datapad he was trying to use to work out their
combined income.
Cubie poked her head out of the kitchen. "Why? What did you do
now?"
Zack shrugged. "I don't know, but apparently we're rich."
Cubie was behind him in an instant. She snatched the pad from
Zack and studied it. "Ah, I see what's going on. It's the bonus
Zorn arranged for our part in keeping the D-gun out of Darken's paws."
Zack stood up and peered at the pad. "Where? I didn't see any
deposit from STCP."
Cubie pointed to a string of zeros that split the screen into an
upper and lower half. Zack frowned. "THAT is a deposit? I thought
it was some sort of screen divider. But it's nothing but a bunch of
zeros."
Cubie scrolled the tiny screen to the left. After another
lengthy parade of zeros, a one finally appeared. Zack spotted the +
symbol next to the one, and broke out in a sweat. Even Cubie was
amazed.
"Do you realize what we could buy with this?"
Zack tried to close his mouth before he collected any
flies. "We could buy this ship."
"And the company that owns it. And the planet it's based on."
Cubie's arm went limp, and the pad fell to the deck.
Zack had a dreamy look. "Wow. We're zillionaires!"
Cubie frowned suddenly. "This has GOT to be a mistake. No way
Zorn paid us ten octillion dollars."
Zack looked at Cubie hopefully. "Perhaps it was deposited in a
high-interest account?"
Cubie shook her head. "I doubt it." But then a wicked gleam
glinted in her eye, and a vicious smile broke out on her face. "But
I suppose a new dress and a new suit might not be unreasonable
purchases, followed by a nice dinner somewhere. I'm sure we can
reimburse STCP later, if it DOES turn out to be a big mistake. Heck,
the interest we accrued while talking about it is a small fortune in
itself."
Zack snatched up his battered chrome jacket. "Let's go!"
The cheerful octillionaires headed out to hopefully wreak havok
with STCP accounting. Who said you couldn't fight the law?
~Zack & Cubie~
~Fools with money~
OOC: It is GREAT to be back. I've missed you guys and gals.