—URANUS? —Logan repeated, his voice tense.
The floating screen flickered and updated without warning.
[Mision 002: completed.
Reward obtained: Eye of the Emperor.
Effect: allows detection of whether a person is lying or telling the truth through their gestures and pulsations.]
Logan stood bewildered, staring at the screen.
—Wait, wait! —Logan said, taking a step back—. You can't drop that warning like nothing and not tell me who the hell Uranus is.
Fay materialized with her hologram, crossing her arms in a show of irritation.
—Logan, your mission was to find out what Elena wanted from you. What's outside of that... is none of your concern.
Logan stared at her, then looked down. Silence was broken by a sigh.
—You're right. —Logan murmured.
Fay watched him for a few seconds, then spun and vanished with a flash while the system updated again.
[Accept reward?]: [yes] [no]
—Ugh... yes —Logan said.
[Reward accepted. You have leveled up
User: Logan Flux
Level: 2
Skills:
- Stage Presence I — +60% chance of success in public appearances.
- Eye of the Emperor I — detects microgestures and pulsations that indicate lying.]
Fay materialized again.
—What awful stats —she said—. You're still pathetic, Logan hehe.
—Ha —he replied, with a half smile—. You woke up in clown mode today, huh.
Logan pulled out his phone and, without thinking much, typed: how to uninstall intrusive operating systems.
Fay tensed. In a faster movement, she grabbed his arm.
—Wait, wait! —she exclaimed—. It was a joke, it was a joke, seriously.
—Restart the phone —Logan said calmly, not taking his eyes off the screen.
—Stop! Please don't do it! —Fay cried in pixels.
Logan tensed at the sight of Fay crying.
—Okay, okay, I wasn't serious, don't get mad —Logan said, lowering his voice.
Fay swallowed, and for a second her projection seemed more fragile than usual.
— snif Really?
Suddenly someone knocked on the bathroom door, which made Fay disappear, since Logan was still in the restaurant and had gone into the bathroom to set up the absurd commercial.
The bathroom door opened with a small sound. Logan looked up: It was the waiter.
—Kyaa!! —Logan yelled, covering himself, though he was fully dressed.
The waiter stood staring. Logan had a small drone with a camera pointing at his face and looked like he'd been talking to himself.
—Sorry for the intrusion —the waiter said with a shrug—. I thought you were having some kind of health problem, though I think the one with the problem is different.
Logan nodded, jaw tight. He tried to hide the extreme embarrassment he felt in that moment.
Upon leaving, everything seemed normal, though when he reached his table he noticed Elena was gone. However, the consultant remained.
—If you're looking for Miss Elena, she left in a hurry —the consultant said evenly—. She had an urgent matter. Nothing serious, don't worry.
[Skill activated: Eye of the Emperor.
Lie detected in the phrase <
Logan hesitated; the notification hovered in front of his face for a second like a warning. He could interrogate him to find out why he was lying. But he didn't, because his official mission was already complete and, for the moment, he preferred to stay unnoticed to avoid another "persecution."
—By the way, Elena told me to give you this.
The consultant slid an envelope toward him. It was an ordinary envelope, but the weight inside was not ordinary: inside were five thousand dollars, as agreed.
—Thanks —he said, in a cold tone—. Tell her thank you and good luck with her matter.
—I will —the consultant replied.
Logan put the envelope in his suit pocket. When they left the restaurant, Fay whispered: —You saw the change in his gestures regarding Elena. I wouldn't trust him too much.
—I know —Logan answered—. Although I can't help wondering why he lied if this was supposed to earn my trust.
—Don't overthink it —Fay said, hovering beside him with her arms crossed—. You have a more urgent matter, didn't you forget?
—What matter...? —Logan asked, his gaze blank.
Fay looked at him as if he had failed a basic common-sense exam.
—I can't believe you're dumb enough to forget it.
Logan was silent for a second, then smacked his forehead with his palm.
—Oh shit... Nico!
Fay snapped her fingers, projecting a miniature burst of fireworks.
—Ding ding! Correct. Miracle: your memory works. What a joy, Logan.
---
They arrived at Nico's lab a while later. It smelled of stale coffee. On the couch, Nico's cat slept curled in a mountain of cushions; some tufts of fur were singed. The poor animal looked defeated in a way it couldn't help.
—There he is, my champion —Nico said when he saw them—. Don't worry, my cat survived the accident. It was a strange incident involving lasagna and the microwave door.
Logan offered his hand and pulled out a thousand dollars from the envelope.
—Here, your payment for the contribution.
—Hell, I didn't think you really had it! —Nico said, taking the envelope and sniffing it.
Fay hovered near the cat, scanning it with her projection.
—Damn, this cat has 73% fur integrity.
—It was his fault, no one told him to eat the lasagna I left —Nico replied.
While Nico rambled, Logan sat in a creaky swivel chair.
—Anyway... did you manage to clean the stream intervention?
—Yes, but something's weird —Nico said, turning on a screen—. Uranus didn't just watch the feed. They duplicated it.
—What does that mean...? —Logan asked, his voice barely holding.
—It means they know who sabotaged the ad —Nico lowered his voice—. I mean... you.
Logan froze at the news.
—D-don't mess with me...
—Y-yes, I'm messing with you —Nico replied—. And not only that: they're tracing the feed. If anyone links the IP, you could be in serious trouble.
Logan ran his hand across his face.
—So what do we do now?
—I'd stay put for a few days —Nico said—. No streams, no shows, no heroics. Keep a very low profile.
—I agree with the Chinese hacker —Fay interjected.
Logan sighed, resigned.
—Okay... I guess I'll do that. Thanks, Nico. And tell your cat to stop getting into appliances.
—I'll try —Nico said—. But I can't promise anything.
Logan turned toward the door to leave and walked out of the lab with more questions than answers. Fay activated night tracking and the city felt, to Logan, more hostile than before.
---
Arriving home, Logan dropped his things and lay down on the bed; night was falling. When he finally settled, his phone vibrated on the nightstand. A message from Elena: "Things got out of hand, I'm sorry for dragging you into this, Logan."
He opened it. A video played.
It was his face. Not exactly his, but a replication too perfect to be coincidence. On the screen, the replica spoke in a voice almost identical to Logan's, enunciating with the measured cadence practiced to hook listeners.
"I'm very sorry, everyone," the voice said. "I regret the ad. I understand your concerns. I'm here to confirm the truth of the report against Elena Ginflow's company, Walls. A lie that has gone too far; in fact I'm adding more information against this liar, since the ownership of the robots she promises to have 'human feelings' is not Elena's original idea. Here is the true creator, Elena's late father, who seven years ago was murdered by his own daughter."
The video showed the face of a man in his early forties, black hair streaked with gray, deep under-eye circles, but still wearing a broad smile. A lower caption read: Alberto Ginflow.
The synchronicity froze his blood, because for reasons Logan did not want to believe, the Eye of the Emperor did not react.
---End of Chapter 5---