[Mission 002: in progress.
Objective: Go to the meeting and listen to what Elena wants from you.]
The Marble Dome, the place where Logan and Elena were going to meet, smelled of everything except cheap food. The lamps hung like gleaming jewels and the tables literally reflected the faces of the people who sat at them. Logan sat at the table by the window, where the light favored him just enough not to look like a beggar.
—Well… how does the suit look on me, Fay?
Fay looked him up and down with the exact, necessary coldness.
—I'll tell you honestly, cleanliness and money don't look entirely bad on you, Logan. They make you seem human and that's strange.
—Ha —Logan said, raising an eyebrow—. Thanks for the compliment, fairy.
Indeed, the suit he had bought that afternoon made him look odd, as if he were wearing something that didn't belong to him.
Then she arrived, punctual like a proper businessperson; Elena entered with extreme calm. She had brought someone with her: a man who was more like her consultant, wearing a gray suit, a neutral look and a particular hand posture, since he never crossed them.
Elena sat right in front of Logan.
—Thanks for coming —Elena said—. I wasn't sure you'd accept.
—Man, for two thousand dollars we all talk —Logan replied, fitting in a joke to break the tension.
The consultant examined his card, then his hands, and murmured data in Elena's ear that Logan didn't quite understand.
—Listen, Logan, I want to get straight to the point, I saw the broadcast you did and how you hacked all the televisions in the upper neighborhoods, that's an achievement not everyone gets —Elena said, crossing her legs and leaning on the table.
—Yes... well, that's a long story —Logan answered.
—Haha relax, your reasons for doing it aren't important now, I just want to propose a small test —Elena continued.
Logan raised an eyebrow.
—What kind of test?
—Listen carefully, there's a broadcast tonight; it's a channel preparing a report with false evidence about the alleged scam of my robots. If that broadcast airs and people believe it, it could cause me a lot of problems. I want you to cut it, and make what is seen something people remember as a joke. I'll pay you a good amount.
[Target time: twenty seconds within the live broadcast.
Reward: $3,000–$5,000, depending on effectiveness.]
Logan felt his heart make a leap as if it knew the rules of a fight but hadn't yet been handed the gloves.
—Interrupt the broadcast? —he said—. With what? I'm not a professional hacker. Also, why me and not someone else?
—For the first, you don't have to be one, not in person at least —the consultant interjected—. Your role is to act at the moment of the signal. You only need three things: presence, timing and a good reaction. And for the second, there's something in you that no one else has shown so far, I mean the lack of fear to be authentic.
Fay projected statistics while a waiter placed a glass of water in front of Logan.
[Probability of success: 12%.]
—Such low odds? Go ahead and give me a gun, I'll shoot myself and we'll be done faster —Logan said.
—What do you want me to do? You're not familiar with the system yet, you will definitely need support —Fay replied, materializing slightly.
—Hmm, so support, huh?
Logan thought of Nico automatically; Fay requested the number and dialed quickly. Nico answered from somewhere where the fans seemed alive.
—Hello? —Nico's voice sounded on the receiver.
—Nico, it's me. Logan. I need an urgent favor.
—Oh, look who's calling back. What broke this time? —Nico said, teasing.
—I have to cut a stream. I need you to insert something live. Can you do it? —Logan spoke quickly.
—Another one? —Nico laughed—. And now what, another empanada as payment?
—I'll pay you a thousand dollars —Logan offered the figure like it was the most normal thing.
—Done —Nico answered without hesitation—. Send me the feed coordinates and give me five minutes' margin.
There was a brief pause.
—Ah, and Logan —Nico said in a worried tone—, one question: what do I do if I accidentally put my cat in the microwave?
Logan closed his eyes for a second, then hung up without replying.
The preparation was a short, tense montage. Nico worked on his panel remotely, Fay guided the timing and Logan practiced improvisation in front of the window.
---
The rival was a mid-level streamer with too many subscribers and a team ready to draw blood if necessary. His report promised to expose opaque contracts in the creation of Walls' robots and purchases of influence. Elena didn't want violence or anything of the sort; she wanted to neutralize the effect.
Nico opened the digital door to the stream system at exactly the appointed time while Fay marked the clock with blue lines.
[Pre-injection of the virus in: -00:45. Status: partial link established.]
Logan felt his breath hitch. His role was to act as naturally as possible. Go up, smile and look at the camera with naturalness. Nico planned to hack the background screen so a commercial featuring Logan would appear.
—Really, that's all? —he muttered—. I'm going to be a belt advertisement?
—It's not the idea that matters —Fay said—. It's that people comment on the ad and not the accusation.
[Injection of the virus in: -00:10.]
—Well... then lights, camera, action —he whispered.
The report's signal broke for a fraction of a second and, suddenly, the presenter's serious face was displaced by an ad showing Logan in a ridiculous pose, his voice dubbed with effects. The chat exploded with laughs, emoticons and questions.
For twenty seconds the logic was fulfilled: the accusation turned into an absolute joke.
[Partial result: objective achieved. Diversion duration: 20.34s.]
Elena, watching the broadcast from her executive landing, smiled. She winked at her consultant, who simply nodded.
—Good —she said in a low voice to Logan—. This shows you can be someone reliable. We'll do business then.
Fay, however, materialized and added a note that did not sound celebratory.
—Logan, this is serious, someone infiltrated our mission!
[Alert: An infiltration was detected in the broadcast code. Origin: monitoring channel tagged corporate. Possible implicated: URANUS.]
Logan fell silent for a second, staring at the floating screen.
—URANUS?
---End of Chapter 4---