The morning of the Tech Gala dawned with a clear sky over the High District of Altaris.
Logan, in the three-piece suit Elena had gotten him, looked at himself in the broken mirror. He could see a well-dressed, well-groomed man with hands that didn't know where to put themselves.
—Stop fiddling with your collar so much —scolded Fay, floating over his shoulder—. You look like a spy suffering from a severe case of diarrhea.
—It's just that this shirt is choking me more than you can imagine—complained Logan, tugging at the collar— Do rich people really wear these things voluntarily?
—Rich people don't have to worry about an AI turning them into mincemeat—replied Fay—. Now hold still, for goodness sake.
Paul was moving in and out of the adjacent room, carrying equipment. Elena was standing by the only intact window, looking at the skyline of skyscrapers like a general studying a battlefield.
—The Uranus drones are patrolling the perimeter —she announced— They've deployed triple the security...much more than last year.
—Are we sure they want us to come? —asked Logan— It's obvious they're setting a trap for us.
—Yes, that's exactly what they're doing —confirmed Paul— But it's the only way to make them lower their guard on their main servers.
[Main Mission Activated: Expose the Truth at the Tech Gala]
[Objective: Transmit Alberto Ginflow's message and the Gemini files]
[Time remaining: 3 hours, 42 minutes]
Logan took a deep breath. Three hours. In just three hours, he would be in the belly of the beast.
---
The trip to the convention center was a rather surreal experience. Elena's black, silent car moved through traffic like a ghost in a haunted house, while Logan mentally reviewed every point of the plan.
—Remember —said Elena, adjusting the sleeves of her evening gown— you have ninety seconds from when I give the signal. Not one more, not one less.
—What if...what if something goes wrong? —asked Logan.
—Then —replied Paul from the front seat—, you use the improvised contingency protocol.
—What protocol...?
—Run —clarified Fay—. Run like you're about to get violated on a street corner.
— Okay... so there is no contingency plan— responded Logan, slumping.
---
Upon arrival, the reality surpassed any description. The Atlas Convention Center rose like a mountain of steel and beautiful glass, bathed in laser lights that illuminated the night sky.
A fifty-meter-long red carpet was flanked by journalists, tech fans, and, most importantly, Uranus security guards with their distinctive gray suits and polarized glasses.
—There they are —whispered Logan—. They look like damn androids.
—Worse —corrected Fay— They're humans who were trained to set aside their emotions and act like androids. They're much more unpredictable.
As they got out of the car, the cameras blinded them. Logan felt his "Stage Presence" activate automatically. His posture straightened, his smile became that of a soap opera actor out of nowhere, and he was walking down the red carpet not only as if he were used to it, but as if he had been born for it.
—Logan Flux —he heard a journalist call him—, Are you representing Walls tonight?
—I'm just a special guest —he replied with a soulless smile.
---
Inside, the spectacle was even more impressive. The main lobby was so large it could have housed Logan's apartment ten times over.
Holograms of the latest inventions floated everywhere, from nanorobots performing wonders to autonomous electric vehicles. In the center, a monumental stage showed the Uranus logo slowly rotating.
—There — said Paul through the communicator— That's the main box. At eleven o'clock.
Logan averted his gaze. There was Clara, in a silver dress that stole the attention of everyone around her. She was surrounded by Uranus executives, but even from a distance, Logan could see the tension in her shoulders.
---
For the next hour, Logan circulated through the event, gathering information. With his Emperor's Eye at level 2, he could notice practically all the hidden intentions of those present:
· A Walls executive negotiating quietly with a Uranus rival
·A journalist famous for her "veracity" receiving a discreet envelope from an assistant
·Even Clara's micro-expressions of anxiety every time her gaze met Elena's
[Skill "Emperor's Eye" in use.]
Fay constantly guided him: —To your left is the CEO of Uranus. When he says "technology in the service of people," his lying patterns reach incredible levels, and you don't need a skill to notice it. What a charming hypocrite.
Logan nodded to himself. He was about to head towards the drinks area when a firm hand took him by the arm. His heart stopped for a second.
—Logan Flux —said a voice he knew all too well.
It was Clara. Her silver dress shone under the lights, but even wearing it, her smile was cold as steel.
—Clara —Logan managed to say—. What... a surprise, heh.
—Really? —she arched an eyebrow— After our last encounter in the garden, I had the impression you would seek a... "reunion".
At that moment, the communicator in his ear crackled. —The signal —said Elena's voice—. Now!
Clara must have noticed the change in his expression, because her smile widened. —It seems you have a little problem, don't you?.
Logan nodded and pulled away from her, heading towards the bathrooms as planned. Every step felt eternal. The security guards' gazes burned his back like a flamethrower.
In the bathroom, Paul was waiting for him in the last stall.
—Here's the chip—he said, handing him a device the size of a fingernail— It's your entry pass to the main system.
Logan swallowed. He left the bathroom and headed towards the guest access terminal near the main stage.
He pretended to consult his holographic agenda while sliding the chip Paul had given him earlier into the almost invisible slot.
[Connection established: 10%... 45%... 80%...]
—Come on, come on... a little more —he murmured to himself, sweating buckets.
[Connection completed: 100%]
[Transmission started]
On every screen in the convention center, the corporate ads were replaced by the face of Alberto Ginflow. However, he looked younger, more tired, but with an intensity in his eyes that pierced through the screen.
"Clara..." the video began, and a sudden silence fell over the Gala.
On the screen, Alberto Ginflow looked older than Logan remembered from the photos. His eyes carried the weight of a long-kept secret.
---
—Are you sure about this, Paul? —Logan had asked just an hour before, in the convention center bathroom.
—It's our only move —responded Paul, connecting the chip to the terminal—. Fay has reconstructed his voice from old archives. Nico got the facial model from Uranus's servers and...his diary. We're just converting what he wrote into speech.
---
"I know you don't want to talk to me, so this is the only way I have to redeem myself with you, if you ever find this, it's because I was wrong about the only thing that mattered. I failed as a father. To both of you."
Logan saw Clara, in the main box, stiffen. Her knuckles, gripping the railing, were white.
"I didn't know how to see what was happening around me —Alberto continued, his voice laden with an authentic sadness—. I was so blinded by my work, by my obsession with perfection, that I didn't see the pain in my own daughters."
"I created you to be your sister's protector, Clara. So she would never be alone. But in the process...it was..it was I who left you alone. I treated you like an achievement of my studies, not like my daughter."
— Wh-what?— said Clara, with a nervous expression, her eyes seemed to be seeing a ghost they were so wide open.
Suddenly a "ding" sounded in Logan's ears.
[Mission "Counterattack" Completed]
[Reward Received: 15,000 credits + "Emperor's Flow" (Level 1) + "Legacy of Gemini" (Unique Skill)]
— Wow, that was... pretty easy— said Logan, staring at the screen— too easy, I'd say.
It was then that he noticed it.
The Uranus guards weren't moving to stop the transmission. Instead, they were sealing the exits.
—Fay... —he whispered.
—I know —she replied— They're isolating the area.
Suddenly, the lights flickered. A new video appeared, clearly edited and leaked by Uranus.
This one showed Alberto, in what seemed to be his laboratory, arguing heatedly with a teenage Clara.
"You'll never be like her!" shouted the figure of Alberto in the video. "You're just a shadow, a damn failed experiment!"
Chaos erupted.
But the most terrifying thing was the scream that came from the main box. A visceral, torn sound.
—HE NEVER SAID THAT!
Clara was standing, trembling with a rage that seemed to consume her from within.
The tears that finally welled in her eyes weren't of sadness, but of impotent fury.
—THEY'RE LIES! HE NEVER...! —Her voice broke, and for a moment, the perfect, calculating woman disappeared, revealing the betrayed child— But I'm sure he thought that! I know it! I felt it! In his deepest being, he really believed I was just a miserable copy of my sister!
Elena was struggling with the guards to reach the stage. —Clara, please! That video is fake and you know it! Dad never...!
—SHUT UP! —screamed Clara, activating a device on her wrist— I could never have his genuine love...But there's still something I can do, at least I can still destroy what he did love! You, little sister!
The convention center doors sealed with a dull thud. The emergency systems activated, bathing the place in a sinister red light.
—Fay! —shouted Logan— We have to go, we're no use here anymore!
—To the ventilation ducts! —replied Fay— Now!
As Logan pushed his way through the panicked crowd, he saw Clara, from the stage, look directly at him. Her lips formed two silent but perfectly clear words:
"You- next."
Logan slipped into the dark duct. The last sound he heard before the cover closed was Elena screaming her sister's name, followed by the blast of the first stun grenade.
The duct was cold and dark, but not as much as the foreboding that settled in Logan's stomach. Clara didn't just want revenge on a family that had failed her. Now, she also wanted revenge on him for having shown her the truth.