Aida exhaled, debating whether to voice the thought that had been gnawing at her. “I don’t know. But we know the gods have been using automatons as their eyes and ears. And Trista never takes a day off, never misses a detail. Now Dolores is carrying on like nothing’s wrong, even while entire countries grind to a halt? It’s strange.”
Yumi straightened. “You’ll need to be extra careful around them.”
“Good thing we already are,” Aida said. She thought back to all the times she had passed by Trista’s door at night and it seemed as though she had been talking to someone. Suddenly, she was sure Trista had been conversing with some of the MODA gods.
For a moment, silence settled over the room, the weight of it pressing down on all of them.
“I’ve heard they are going to start restricting international travel altogether,” Felix said. “You could be stuck here.”
Aida’s heart fluttered. She liked the idea of Luciano remaining in Rome. Their chances to see each other had been few.
Yumi bit her lip, contemplating. “I heard that too and considered whether I should try to get out of the country while I can. My parents are pressuring me to do it, but I’ve decided to stay. I can stay till May. I’m sure it will be better by then. There’s still so much we need to do here.”
“What about you?” Felix asked Luciano.
He looked at Aida. “I don’t know. If we needed to come and go, MODA could pull any string they wanted. I’m not worried yet.”
Aida smiled, happy with the thought.
Yumi uncorked a bottle of wine and began pouring. “I’m thinking you should go back, Luciano.”
“What?” Aida couldn’t believe what her friend was saying.
“Why would you suggest that?” Felix said, winking at Aida. “Clearly Aida doesn’t agree with you.”
Heat rose to Aida’s face. She wasn’t used to her affections being so generally discussed.
“I know, I know. But I think I figured out how to find Pandora. And you’re the one to help me,” Yumi said, looking at Luciano.
Aida wasn’t at all happy about the suggestion of Luciano leaving but was relieved that Yumi had some sort of plan. “What’s this idea?”
“I think we can use Luciano’s next upload to MODA as a way in. If I can hack into it, it might lead us to Pandora. It needs to be you,” she said, looking at him. “If I go through Aida, it will be far too obvious. They know I’m in cybersecurity. It could immediately link Aida to any hack.”
Luciano looked at her, understanding dawning in his eyes. “That’s brilliant, Yumi. I can’t believe we didn’t think of that earlier. It’s risky, but it just might work.”
Fear rose in Aida. “What if they detect it? They could come after Luciano.”
He was more nonchalant. “I’ll feign ignorance. That’s what Sophie’s aegis is good for. Remaining calm in the face of godlike danger. They won’t know I have any idea.”
“I don’t like it,” Aida said, shaking her head. “You’re right, it’s risky.”
Yumi reached across the table and squeezed her friend’s hand. “I’ve been trying to figure this out for months. I’ve exhausted all my other options.”
Aida groaned. “All right, fine. How will it work?”
Yumi pulled a little box from her pocket and held it out to Luciano. “In this is a tiny USB drive that looks like a fob. Mostly unnoticeable. Before you start working, you’ll plug it into yourcomputer and run the program that pops up. Then do whatever you normally do to catalog the happiness. Of course, you’ll want to do this when your aide—what’s her name? Dolores? When she isn’t staring over your shoulder.”
“Do I need to let you know when I do it?” Luciano asked.
“No. Definitely not. You don’t want to raise more suspicion. Don’t worry, I’ll know.”
Luciano took the box from her and slid it into the front pocket of his jeans. “I’ll arrange to go back tomorrow. It probably makes the most sense to leave early with everything going on with the virus. Maybe I’ll get a couple days of work done there before France decides to lock down too.”
Felix asked the question that Aida was sure everyone was wondering. “What happens when we find Pandora? Especially if we’re on lockdown?”
Yumi raised a glass. “We drink. And tackle that problem when we get there.”
Aida lifted her glass with everyone else. But it all seemed so hopeless, even if they did find Pandora.
