Chapter 171

Back in the elevator, Cherish leaned her head against Louis’s shoulder. “Are we going to do this all night?”

“No,” Louis said. “Whenever you’re tired, tell me and we’ll go home.”

“I’m not tired,” Cherish said. “I’m just… overwhelmed.”

“Me too,” Donya said. “When I was in high school, some people sent me hate messages on Tengri after I posted about my faith. I reported them, and some accounts were suspended. But I still cried for several days. I thought there was something wrong with me. I never thought people like that would face any real consequences.”

“Now they do,” Savannah said. “And I love it.”

“I know,” Donya said. “But it’s still a lot.”

The elevator doors opened. They walked outside. The signal jamming vehicle was still parked nearby. A few people outside the blocked-off perimeter were watching them and taking pictures.

“Should we do something about them?” Maeve asked.

“Let them look,” Louis said. “I doubt they can take any pictures.”

Willa asked, “A signal jammer blocks camera too? I thought it only blocks wireless transmission.”

“It doesn’t,” Louis said. “The truck has something else for cameras. They can take all the pictures they want. They won’t get anything usable.”

“What will the pictures look like?”

“Mostly black. Maybe some lines and noise.”

“And they can’t fix them?”

“No, Willa. I doubt even you can.”

Willa paused. “I need to see that truck. The tech inside must be fascinating.”

“Why not? We are not in a hurry.” Louis gestured to the truck. “Let’s go.”

They walked to the truck. A Dominion Guard came up to Louis.

“Sir?”

“Willa wants to see how it works,” Louis said. “Give her a quick tour.”

The guard nodded. “Of course. Come with me, ma’am.”

Willa followed the guard. The others gathered around the trucks. Cherish looked at the crowd. More people were arriving.

“Louis! Can I get an autograph?” a woman shouted.

“Angelique! Marry me!” a man yelled.

“Gladice! You are my hero!” another shouted.

Louis looked at Angelique. “We need a better system.”

Angelique smiled. “Or we can just ignore them.”

Savannah glared at the crowd. “They are so annoying.”

“I know,” Louis said. “But they are better than the trolls.”

“Much better,” Gladice said. “At least they are saying nice things.”

“Still, they are loud.” Maeve covered her ears.

“Let’s get back in the cars,” Louis said. “We have work to do.”

Willa came back to the group. Her eyes were shining.

“That thing is amazing,” she said. “It jams wireless signals and floods camera sensors with light outside the visible spectrum. It’s a weapon of mass surveillance.”

“Or counter-surveillance,” Louis said.

“Same difference,” Willa said. “I’m impressed.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” Louis said. “Now, let’s go.”

They got back in the cars. Maeve put on her helmet and mounted the Ducati. Louis started the Mustang and turned on the siren.

“Next location is a residence in Marina del Rey,” the lead SUV’s comm said. “Another real IP. Name is Arthur Chen. Age 44. Married. Two kids. An architect.”

“Maybe it’s not him,” Donya said. “Maybe someone is using his network.”

“Maybe,” Louis said. “We’ll find out.”

The cars drove off, leaving the crowd behind. Louis looked at Cherish in the rearview mirror. She was staring at the city lights outside the window.

“You okay?”

She looked at him. “Yes. I’m okay.”

“Good.”

“Louis?”

“Yes?”

“What will happen to him? To Robert?”

“He will be taken to Santa Catalina Island. The Dominion has a maximum-security facility there. He will go through the behavioral lab. They will assess him. And they will decide what to do with him.”

“Assess him?”

“Yes. They will find out why he sent that message. They will analyze his psychology. His history. His motivations. And they will decide on a suitable treatment.”

“Treatment?”

“Yes. Maybe it will be a prison sentence. Maybe it will be a re-education program.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means they will try to fix him. To change him. To make him a better person.”

“And if they can’t?”

“Then he will stay in Santa Catalina for a long, long time.”

“Will he ever get out?”

“I don’t know. If the algorithm says he is no longer a threat, maybe.”

“What’s an algorithm?”

Willa answered from the comms. “It’s a series of rules for machines.”

“What do you mean?” Cherish asked.

Willa explained. “Imagine you have a recipe for baking a cake. The algorithm is like that recipe. It tells the machine what to do, step by step.”

“Okay,” Cherish said. “So it’s like a book of instructions?”

“Yes,” Louis said. “The behavioral lab uses an AI system to predict future behavior. It’s very accurate.”

“So he’s being judged by a machine?”

“In a way. But it’s a very smart machine. Smarter than any human judge.”

“What if the machine is wrong?”

“Then we have human judges to review the case.”

“I see,” Cherish said. “It’s complicated.”

“Yes, Cherry. It is.”

The cars stopped in front of a large house near the beach. Two police cars were already there. A Dominion Guard SUV parked behind them.

“Alright,” Louis said. “Let’s do this.”

He got out of the car. The others followed. The guards met them at the door.

“Sir. The LAMP has secured the house. The owner and his wife are on a business trip to Mexico. One of their kids is hosting a party.”

“Party?” Gladice grinned. “This should be fun.”

Louis nodded. “Lead the way.”

The guards led them inside. Metropolitan Police officers were standing in the living room. About a dozen young men and women were sitting on the couches, looking scared. A young man with glasses and a nervous smile stood up.

“Mr. Collins?”

“Are you the son of Arthur Chen?” Louis asked.

“Yes, sir. I’m Peter. What’s going on? Did we do something wrong?”

“Maybe,” Louis said. “We are here because one of you sent a threatening message to a member of my family. On Tengri.”

Peter’s face turned pale. “A threatening message? Sir, I would never do that.”

“Then one of your friends did,” Louis said. “And I want to know who. Now.”

Peter looked at the other partygoers. They shook their heads. Gladice walked over to the dining table, where a box of pizza was sitting. She took a slice and bit into it.

“Anyone want some pizza? It’s kebab.” She chewed. “Pretty good, actually.”

The partygoers stared at her. One of them, a young woman with blue hair, spoke. “Are you Gladice Simington?”

“The one and only,” Gladice said, taking another bite. “Why? You a fan?”

“I saw the stream,” the woman said. “About what happened in Dixie. I’m so sorry. I can’t imagine what you went through.”

“Thanks,” Gladice said. “But I didn’t come here for your sympathy. I came here to find a troll.”

“I don’t know anything about that,” the woman said. “I promise.”

Louis turned to the police officer. “Have you checked their phones?”

“Yes, sir. No matches so far.”

“How about tablets, laptops or desktops? There are plenty of devices in this house that could access Tengri.”

“Right, sir.” The officer turned to the other cops. “You heard him. Collect all electronics.”

“Hey! You can’t do that!” Peter said. “That’s private property!”

Louis stepped forward. “Peter. We are going to find out who did this. The easy way, or the hard way. If you cooperate, I will make it worth your while. I hate to threaten law-abiding citizens, so you know what I mean.”

Peter looked at Louis, then at the cops. He sighed. “Fine. But I’m telling you, none of us did it.”

“We’ll see about that.” Louis looked at the partygoers. “Now, for the sake of your friends and yourself, I’m giving you one last chance. Who did it?”

The partygoers looked at each other. No one spoke. Gladice finished her slice of pizza and took another.

“You have a good appetite,” Angelique said.

“I’m a soldier,” Gladice said. “I eat when I can.”

Some of the men laughed nervously. Savannah glared at them. They shut up. Maeve leaned against the wall, her arms crossed. Cherish stood beside Louis, her hands clasped.

A cop came back with a laptop. “Sir, we found this in the upstairs bedroom.”

Willa walked over to the cop. “Let me see.”

The cop handed her the laptop. A Dominion Guard officer gave her a handheld device. Willa connected it to the laptop.

“What is that device?” Maeve asked.

“It’s to bypass the signal jamming truck.” Willa opened it and typed.

“Why would you need to do that?” Maeve asked.

“Because we need to use the internet to trace the message.” Willa nodded. “I found something. There’s a Tengri account logged in. PeterPan99. It messaged Maeve_fyres about an hour ago.”

Peter shook his head. “That’s not me.” He held up his phone, showing his Tengri profile. “See? My name is ‘PantieSniffer81’.”

Gladice choked on her pizza. Then she began to laugh. Angelique tried to hide a smile, then gave up. Donya’s eyes widened, and she started giggling. Even the cops smirked. Louis had to bite his lip to keep from laughing out loud.

Savannah shook her head. “You are a piece of work, Peter.”

“It’s a joke,” Peter said, looking at Louis. “I swear. I’m not a troll.”

“Then who is?” Louis asked, still trying not to laugh.

“I don’t know!” Peter said. “Maybe someone used my laptop while the rest of us were watching a movie?”

Willa looked at the laptop. “He’s not lying. PeterPan99 was accessed through a separate user profile on this laptop. The profile is registered under the name Eddie.”

Louis looked at the partygoers. “Which one of you is Eddie?”

Peter pointed toward a man sitting near the window. “That’s him.”

The man glared at Peter. “You are such a snitch, dude.”

“Shut up, Eddie,” Peter said. “Did you post that shit with my laptop?”

Eddie looked at Louis. “So what if I did? I’m just expressing my opinion. Free speech, you know?”

Gladice walked over, grabbed him by the collar, and hauled him to his feet. Eddie tried to pull free. She kicked him in the stomach, and he doubled over, gasping.

“Free ass-kicking, you know?” she said.

The cops stood still, watching. Eddie lay on the floor, groaning. Angelique took Gladice’s arm.

“Glads, calm down.”

“I am calm,” Gladice said, stepping back. “But he’s not.”

Willa looked at the laptop again. “This guy is an influencer. Thirty thousand followers. Mostly memes and political commentary. He’s been posting anti-government and anti-women stuff for a while.”

“Is that a crime?” Eddie asked, looking at Louis.

“Threatening the First Family is,” Louis said.

“It was just a joke, man,” Eddie said.

“I don’t think so,” Angelique said. “And neither does the law.”

Peter looked at Eddie. “Why did you do it, dude? You ruined my party.”

“Because he’s a fucking idiot,” Savannah said.

“And a troll,” Willa added. “A cowardly one. Someone has been feeding him information. Look at this.”

She turned the laptop toward Louis. The screen showed a private chat. The other party was Crimson Spotlight. The chat contained details about the eight of them, and suggested talking points for trolling.

“Who is Crimson Spotlight?” Angelique asked.

“Looks like a company,” Willa said. “A digital media company focused on celebrity gossip.”

“I think I know them,” Louis said. “They ran stories about some leaked celebrity sex videos last year.”

“Yeah, that’s them,” Gladice said. “I saw those videos. They were hot.”

“Shut up, Glads,” Angelique said. “This is serious.”

“I know. But I’m just saying.”

“I think we should pay a visit to Crimson Spotlight,” Louis said. “Right now.”

“What about him?” Maeve asked, looking at Eddie on the floor.

“He’s going to Santa Catalina.” Louis gestured to the Dominion Guard officer. “Arrest him.”

Eddie tried to get up. “You can’t arrest me for a joke.”

“You’re being arrested for threats against the First Family,” the officer said, pulling him up. “And for being a stupid asshole.”

Maeve stepped forward. “And for this.” She punched him in the face. Eddie fell back, groaning. His nose was bleeding.

“You broke my nose!”

“Good,” Maeve said. “I hope it hurts.”

The guards dragged Eddie away. Peter watched them go, then looked at Louis.

“Sir, I’m really sorry about this. My laptop… my party…”

“Don’t worry about it,” Louis said. “We’re done here. But you might want to choose your friends more wisely.”

“Yes, sir. Thank you.”

“By the way,” Gladice said. “I liked the pizza. Where did you order it from?”

“Mediterranean Kitchen,” Peter said. “They have the best kebab pizza in the city.”

“Thanks,” Gladice said. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

Louis turned to the police officer. “Give each of them one thousand dollars from the incidentals fund, for the inconvenience. Except Peter. Give him five thousand. I like his username.”

“Right, sir,” the officer said.

The partygoers looked at each other, stunned. Peter’s face lit up.

“Thank you, Mr. Collins!”

“You’re welcome,” Louis said. “Now, if you’ll excuse us, we have somewhere to be.”

He turned and walked out of the house, the women following him. Maeve whistled.

“Five thousand dollars for a username? That’s crazy.”

“That’s the Collins way,” Gladice said. “Generous and unpredictable.”

Willa shook her head. “This is a ridiculous amount of money to be throwing around.”

“You’ll get used to it,” Angelique said. “I did.”

“I’m not sure I want to,” Willa said.

They got back in the cars.