She rolls her eyes. ‘That’s not what woke means.’
‘Ladies. The quiz?’
‘Right. So there we were, most likely to win the quiz evening, just like always…’
‘With a very small bet riding on it with our table mates, a lovely young couple from Australia.’
‘Poor fools. And?’
‘A question came up on the board. An anagram. This is where Lucy Lou dominates. She’s got one of those analytical minds, sees letters in a way that?—’
I’m going to be here all night at this rate. ‘What does her analytical mind have to do with me?’
‘It jogged her memory. Tia Amboro.’
‘Yes?’
‘It’s an anagram!’ Lucy Lou crows.
‘For what?’ I try and fail to unscramble the letters.
‘I am a robot.’
My mouth falls open. ‘No!’
‘Yes! Here, look at this.’ Lucy Lou hands me a piece of paper with her scribbles. I follow the letters. It’s true. But what does this mean?
46
On shaky legs I slump at the table in the staff kitchen and call Lily. ‘Tia Amboro is an anagram for “I am a robot”.’
‘What!’
‘The three Lucys worked it out; well, specifically Lucy Lou who has an analytical mind and is good with?—’
‘The three who – never mind. What the actual heck?’
‘You need to post this on the Reddit thread.’
‘Me?’
‘You. I don’t want to risk it coming back to me after that cease-and-desist email but if I’m right, none of that matters anyway. Are you posting?’ I’m hyped up and shaking with nerves.
‘I’m posting, I’m doing it now. But what do you mean if you’re right?’
I inhale a steadying breath and try to calm the erratic beat of my heart. ‘It’s a joke, a con.’
‘What is?Bang, Bang!?’
‘Yes!’
‘When she shared that AI author photo, that cemented it for me. First of all, the book doesn’t even hide the fact it’s robot written; in fact, it exaggerates it. Then she announces the release ofBang, Bang 2!– with the exact same cover. No serious author would do that. It’s a game!’
‘But why? Who would play a game like this?’
‘I don’t know, but staying on this island has taught me a few things, about what people do to pass the time, and this is someone doing this for kicks. Or proving there’s a way to beat the system. To infiltrate it. I feel it.’
‘And making a ton of money to boot. Are you sure?’
