“Vega and Toro were in one of the rooms, talking,” Wu explained for Hargrave’s benefit. “Then someone came in with a knife.”
They all watched the scenario play out in silence. On the screen, it looked like Athena and the Minotaur were having a discussion when they were interrupted by a muscular man with a beard. His short tunic had an anvil on the front, and he carried a butterfly knife.
The encounter was brutal and short. Hargrave flinched when the Minotaur slammed the knife into the other avatar’s throat twice.
“The son of a bitch didn’t waste any time,” Flint said.
“He did what he had to,” Wu said. “It’s hard to second-guess their decisions when we’re out here.”
The remark had been directed as much to Hargrave as to Flint. Everyone at the highest levels of law enforcement would scrutinize everything Vega and Toro did, and he wanted to plant the seed that they were operating under unprecedented circumstances right from the start.
He turned to Patel. “Make this a dedicated screen and link the feed directly to it. We need to have eyes on this twenty-four seven.”
“Who’s the guy with the knife supposed to be?” Hargrave asked. “The avatar looks familiar, but it’s been a long time since I studied mythology.”
“That’s Hephaestus, sir.” Analyst Jada Johnson spoke up for the first time since the meeting began. “God of fire and metalworking, among other things. He forged weapons for the gods.”
Wu had tasked her with going through the various feeds to isolate each avatar and research the images to find the best match. All eyes shifted to the main wall screen, where she pulled up a series of pictures. Most of them showed a bearded man with heavily muscled arms, working at a forge.
“The picture of an anvil on his tunic clued me in,” Johnson said.
“What’s the point of avatars from mythology?” Hargrave posed the question to the room at large. “Why not just hide their identities with generic faceless figures?”
“You don’t know much about gaming, do you?” Patel said, then quickly added, “Sir.”
Wu took pity on the cybercrime specialist, who spent more time with computers than people. “Gamers are drawn to visually appealing characters with backstories of their own in a challenging environment,” he said by way of explanation.
Patel nodded. “There’s an aesthetic. The game has to be challenging, but it should look good too.”
“So using characters from an existing universe makes them visually appealing and also gives them a recognizable history,” Hargrave said, then gestured toward the screen. “Who is the one who got shot?”
Johnson spoke up again. “Thanatos,” she said. “The personification of death. His black wings were the giveaway.”
The figure lying on the floor looked like a Greek warrior with enormous, crumpled ebony feathers sticking out from under his still form. Johnson switched to an image of Thanatos.
Flint narrowed his eyes. “Hold on a sec. The caption says Thanatos was the god of nonviolent death. That doesn’t sound right if he’s supposed to be a killer.”
An explanation occurred to Wu. “Unless he uses poisons rather than guns.”
Flint turned to him. “You mean the one Toro called Doc Tox?”
Wu nodded. “Some toxins are really nasty, but others basically put their victims into a permanent sleep.”
“You think the people trapped inside the game are all part of the Colonel’s crew?” Hargrave asked.
“We haven’t finished our analysis,” Wu said. “Vega and Toro’s avatars have a special meaning. The others might, too, and that could help us ID them.”
“And maybe if we knew why the person behind this is fascinated by Greek mythology, that would help us ID the perpetrator,” Hargrave said.
“Or perpetrators,” Flint said. “It probably took a team of people to pull off something on this scale.”
Wu disagreed. “It may have taken a group to retrofit the facility to support an interactive virtual arena, but how many people would be on board with creating a game where real people actually die?” He shook his head. “I’m sensing a deeply disturbed individual behind this.”
“That’s a lot of people for one person to control,” Flint said. “And a lot of space.”
“The Colonel and his team were lured into a trap,” Wu persisted. “They walked right into the spider’s web on their own. Once they were inside, one person could manipulate the environment using technology already in place.”
Patel weighed in. “The tech is cutting edge. The avatars are being generated in a real environment, and the way they’re done is beyond advanced. It’s next-level stuff. The control system would be optimized as well. One person could do it, especially since there are downtimes for editing and uploading the feeds.”
Wu got to the point that concerned him most. “If this is real, Vega and Toro are in constant danger.”
“If it’s real,” Hargrave added, “they’ve both already killed people and will have to keep doing it.”
“Every piece of data we’ve been able to gather points in the same direction,” Flint said. “This shit is happening.”
Wu agreed. They were watching it all play out, and there was nothing anyone could do to stop it. He had all the resources of the FBI at his disposal, yet he had never felt so powerless.
CHAPTER 40
Dani gently pulled back a corner of thick silver tape, gradually releasing its hold from the brown paper that covered an object roughly the size and shape of a brick. The wrapping fell open, revealing a box made of black plastic.
“It’s got a small latch on the side,” she said, flicking it open with her finger as the brown paper dropped to the floor. She held the box in the palm of one hand and lifted the lid with the other.
“It’s a bottle of water,” she said, reaching in to grasp it. “But there’s something underneath.”
“What’s this thing?” Toro said, pulling the other item from where it had been tucked under the water, then holding it up as he frowned.
She recognized the cutting-edge technology instantly. “It’s a new kind of gas mask.”
Her unit had been issued similar masks on her last deployment. They were a fraction of the size of conventional ones and had highly sophisticated filters. The Army had been field-testing prototypes, which had proven successful. But how had Nemesis gotten his hands on one?
“There was a mask for each of us during the first clue, but we were forced to leave them behind.” He glanced at her. “Now we get one back. Why?”
Dani read the dawning comprehension on his expressive face before sharing her own conclusion. “I’m seeing another round of airborne poison in our future.”
She did not bother to point out that Nemesis was living up to his name. The first sign of smoke would pit her against Toro in a battle for the only means of survival.
She noticed him tuck the compact mask into the top of his boot without comment, a silent act that spoke volumes.
She looked away, annoyed with him for making the move so nonchalantly, and stooped to pick up the discarded wrapping paper. “Something’s written on this.”
Toro crowded close to her, anxious to see the printed words that had been concealed on the inside of the brown paper. She considered holding out on him, forcing them to confront the issue of the gas mask before moving forward, but decided to let it go.
For now.
She held the sheet in both hands, allowing him to get a good look. Sure enough, there was another clue.
GO THROUGH THE PORTAL THAT OPENS FOR YOU.
They had no sooner finished reading the words than a metallic clicking sound was followed by a section of the wall sliding to the side, revealing an entrance to another room. She hadn’t realized it was a hidden door when she’d initially scanned the area.
Toro gave her a sardonic look. “Ladies first.”
“So considerate of you.”
“I know, right?” he said. “I’m such a fucking gentleman.”
She steeled herself for surprises and made her way through the open hatch with Toro close on her heels. As soon as they both crossed the threshold, the door clanged shut behind them, locking them inside.
“I’ve never been claustrophobic,” Toro said. “But this whole game thing makes me feel trapped and suffocated.”
Part of their captor’s tactics, no doubt. She felt the same oppressive sense of confinement Toro did but willed herself to remain focused on the task at hand. “Look at that wall.” She pointed to the opposite side of the room and crossed the floor to get as close as she dared.
A row of seven small round hatches the size of dinner plates, each a different color, were set into the wall. A mounted screen above them glowed to life.
YOU ARE SEALED INSIDE THIS ROOM. YOU HAVE THREE MINUTES TO SOLVE THIS PUZZLE. IF YOU FAIL, YOU WILL DIE IMMEDIATELY OR REMAIN TRAPPED IN THIS ROOM. IF YOU CHOOSE TO DO NOTHING, POISON GAS WILL BE DISPERSED INTO THIS ROOM.
She caught Toro glancing down at his boot, no doubt checking to be sure the gas mask was still there. At least one of them might survive if they chose not to play.