Chapter 23
Four days later, the gravity of the situation had intensified. Aida, Yumi, Felix, and Luciano had reconvened at Yumi’s apartment
when the news broke. Italy had been placed under a nationwide ban of public gatherings, religious services, and football matches.
The streets of Rome were hauntingly deserted. Museums, cafés, and even hairdressers had been forced to shut their doors, a
tangible sign of the crisis gripping the country.
“I never imagined it would come to this,” Yumi said, her voice laced with disbelief. “The entire country on lockdown. Everything
closed. The Pantheon, the Galleria Borghese. Hell, even the Vatican is shut.”
“How will we do our jobs?” Aida asked, looking at Luciano. “Will we even have jobs?”
“I think so. Dolores sent me an email this morning with more details for my next assignment. Surely, they know what’s going
on. It seems they are still planning on having us do work in some way.”
Aida stiffened. “They still want you working? Now?”
Luciano nodded. “Apparently.”
Aida found that suspicious. “Does Dolores seem . . . at all concerned?”
Luciano frowned. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, the world is shutting down, people are terrified, and yet she’s acting like nothing’s changed. Like she expects us to go on as usual.”
“Well . . . I suppose.” He hesitated. “She’s always been practical.”
“Or programmed,” Aida murmured.
Felix gave her a sharp look. “You think she’s one of them?”
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 your computer 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.
After the toast, Luciano cleared his throat. “It’s been good to spend time with you all. But Aida and I have an important
date that needs to happen before I leave for France.” He held out his hand to Aida. “Ready?”
She blushed at his forwardness.
“What are you waiting for?” Felix nudged her.
Aida stood and took his hand. She stuck out her tongue at Felix. “Nothing.”
“Find me tomorrow,” Yumi told her as they were leaving. Aida knew this was polite speech for call and tell me everything.
Aida promised, then briefly set her location to remain at Yumi’s apartment before setting off with Luciano into the night.
Aida linked her arm in Luciano’s as they traversed the dark Roman streets. Fewer tourists meant their path through the cobbled
streets to the Spanish Steps was undisturbed.
“I wish I were staying,” Luciano said. “But I think her idea might work. And we’ve been out of options for so long.”
“I know. I just wouldn’t want anything to happen to you.”
“I’ll be fine. My aide never spends time with me at my locations, so no one will see me use the drive,” Luciano said.
“If Pandora’s in London, how will we get to her?”
“This virus scare can’t last forever. We’ll be back in London before we know it.”
As they approached the Spanish Steps, the grandeur of the location struck Aida anew. The steps, often swarming with tourists,
were unusually quiet, casting the area in an almost serene light. Luciano led her around the corner to his uncle’s apartment,
tucked discreetly on a narrow street. When they finally entered, Aida was met with an unexpected sense of elegance and calmness.
The space reflected a life steeped in art and solitude. Artifacts of a rich, carefully curated life lined the walls. As the
door closed behind them, the noise of the city faded into a distant hum.
Luciano moved to help Aida out of her coat, but she caught his hand, pulling him toward her. The tension that had simmered
between them during their walk was now impossible to resist and she pressed against him, her hands roving through his hair.
The taste of him was familiar and intoxicating. His coat slid off with a soft thud as he gripped her waist, drawing her in
as though he’d been waiting for this moment as long as she had.
Their lips barely broke apart as they moved through the apartment, discarding their clothes along the way, a mad rush of months of pent-up desire finally unraveling in the space between them.
When they reached the bedroom, they collapsed in a blur of entangled limbs.
Aida could feel herself dissolving, her body arching into his embrace, every sensation heightened.
Her fingers dug into his back as she lost herself in the moment—every touch, every breath was like fuel to a fire that wouldn’t stop burning.
Aida became deliriously hollow, with Luciano filling her, her senses reaching upward, above them, soaring over the Roman rooftops, straining against the sky, endless stars, pinpricks of light pulsing, pumping in that voluminous dark, culminating in a collective hot sigh.
Afterward, they lay together in a haze, the quiet hum of the night filtering in through the open window. Aida felt as though
she were floating, her body weightless and content. Luciano’s fingers traced lazy patterns on her arm, but they didn’t speak.
They didn’t need to.
Later, when he walked her back through the quiet streets, they still said very little, the spell of the night still thick
between them. Aida didn’t want it to break.
But it did when he pulled away from their final lingering kiss. “Be safe, Aida.”
“You too.” She watched him go, the lightness she’d felt replaced by a worry for what might come. When would she see him again?
Would she?
Reluctantly, she headed down the street and let herself into the MODA palazzo.
The following days unfolded like pages from a dystopian novel, each bringing a new decree that tightened the grip of isolation
around Rome. On March 11, the city’s vibrant pulse was muted as a partial nationwide lockdown was declared. The usual hum
of life in the streets, the chatter from coffee bars, the rush of the metro—all were silenced. Movement was restricted, borders