Chapter 24 #2
Still working on it, Yumi replied. MODA’s encryption is dense, but I’m making progress. I’ll let you know as soon as I have something.
Luciano’s message arrived shortly after. Any word from Yumi?
Not yet, Aida texted back. She’s still cracking through MODA’s encryption. Fingers crossed.
Three days later, a new text from Yumi popped up in their group chat. I found her!
Grazie a Dio, cazzo! Luciano’s vulgar response of relief made Aida smile. Dolores walked in on me just as I finished my upload, and I pocketed the USB. I was so worried she might have noticed.
Aida was beyond relieved. Finally, a breakthrough. Let’s hope they don’t figure it out before we can get to her. Is she in London?
Yes, Yumi replied. Once Luciano’s data cracked through MODA’s layers of encryption, I was able to pinpoint her location. She’s living in Hackney,
near the big church by the morgue. She’s going by the name of Helen Harrow. I didn’t want to say anything until I was sure,
but I’ve been tracking her digital footprint since the upload—IP pings, security footage, even local grocery transactions.
It’s all pretty routine. She works at a small grocery store, walks to a nearby park, and keeps to herself. No sign of anything strange.
Now we only need to get to London, Aida said.
Dolores told me they may have us return to quarterly meetings soon, so let’s wait for that. Better to go when we’re expected
to than to make an extra trip that might get noticed.
Luciano was right. Just a couple of days later, Trista—whom Aida had barely seen for the last few months as she had shown
little desire to mingle with the rest of the locked-down household—appeared at the door to her office.
“You’re to return to London in the morning.”
Aida tried to act surprised. “I didn’t realize the lockdown had eased up so much?”
“Things are more lax in London,” Trista said. “A car will be ready for you at eight.”
“Very well. Thanks for letting me know.” While she feigned boredom with the idea, she was a mixture of emotions inside—excited
to see Luciano and terrified that MODA might know about them finding Pandora.
Her aide strode into the room and deposited an envelope on her desk. “Mo sent this for you.” She turned on a heel and left.
Aida opened the envelope. Inside was a single puzzle piece of blue sky.
They had been wondering about the missing piece, and Dante had torn the room apart trying to find it.
Eventually, they decided the puzzle was faulty.
But of course, Mo had taken it. She turned the piece over.
On its back was a smiley face drawn in pen.
She snapped a photo and sent it to Yumi.
Looks like you have a new bestie now, she texted, alongside a bunch of laughing emoji.
Aida replied with a smiley face rolling its eyes.
When she checked into the hotel in London, there was a note that after she had deposited her bags, she should make her way
to the suite for her interview. Aida hoped she wouldn’t be alone with Mo this time.
Fifteen minutes later, she stood before the elevator, watching the numbers move ever downward. With every number, calm wrapped
itself like a cloak around Aida. A god was in the elevator. She sent a silent prayer to Sophie for her aegis. Beneath the
heavy relaxation, she knew she was terrified.
The doors opened. Inside were Luciano and Disa. His eyes grew big at the sight of her. She quickly diverted her attention
to the goddess, who was wearing an extreme, formfitting bodysuit made entirely of mismatched men’s ties. Aida had watched
all the 2020 spring haute couture shows online during the pandemic and recognized the look. Perhaps her reaction could be
forgiven. She ignored Luciano as he exited the elevator. “Disa, your suit, is that . . .”
“Gaultier,” Disa said. “His final show before he retired.”
“I wish I were brave enough to wear something like that.”
“Few are.” As usual, her tone was brusque, as though she abhorred conversation. She didn’t indicate that she had noticed Aida’s
moment of recognition.
Aida followed Disa through the massive suite until they reached the familiar conference room with the round table. She was relieved to see that Mo was, in fact, accompanied by Fran. She took the chair opposite them, and Disa sat to her left. None of them were masked.
“It’s been a minute, hasn’t it?” A sly smile crossed Mo’s face. “Go ahead, you can take that off,” he said, indicating her
mask.
“I suppose it has been a minute,” she said, glad for the calm that enveloped her. She removed the mask, only because she knew
that if the gods intended to hurt her, it probably wasn’t going to be with a virus. She wondered what had happened in Luciano’s
meeting. She reassured herself with the thought that they had let him leave after his appointment.
Fran folded her hands in front of her. “We’ll go over the projects you were working on before the pandemic hit. And I understand
the world has unlocked enough for you to do some work at Palazzo Barberini.”
“I was lucky to do that, yes.”
“Very lucky. A fortunate easing of the oppression that has weighed upon us all.” She glanced at Mo, her brows knit in annoyance.
“It’s a miracle, to be sure.”
“Now, don’t sound so disappointed, Fran. You might be an introvert, but people like us—” he indicated himself and Aida with
a wave of his hand “—crave human interaction.”
Fran opened her mouth to respond, but Disa cut her off with a sharp clap. “We don’t have time to dally. We have a full schedule
today.”
“My, my. Look at you, suddenly all order and organization.” Mo shook his head at her in wonder.
“Enough,” Fran said, like a mother scolding her children. “Miss Reale, please give us your account of Palazzo Spada.”
Palazzo Spada. Aida had gone over her notes on the plane, but she was surprised at how much she remembered, considering that the job had taken place over six months before.
She and Luciano had long talked about when the forgetting happened, and it seemed that it began within a few months after they did their MODA interviews.
With the pandemic, this was the longest she had gone between her meetings.
There was a profound sadness in knowing this interview would mark the beginning of the forgetting of the museum, the memories slipping from her consciousness as the final data—the interview and whatever thoughts the gods might have—was uploaded into Pandora.
Pandora. She and Luciano had agreed that they would let the events of the interviews determine if they should attempt to find
her. Neither of them had known when their meetings would be held, so they couldn’t really plan, but knowing that he’d also
had his in the morning gave her hope that they could try to find the automaton that afternoon.
The interview went much as all her previous ones, save that Fran and Disa seemed far more annoyed than usual at Mo, who was
fully fixated on Aida’s every word. He was as snarky as ever, but there was something underlying it, something Aida interpreted
as affection. It suddenly occurred to Aida that he must have had some sort of hand in reducing the number of COVID cases and
the subsequent easing of restrictions, and they were unhappy about it. Had he done it for her? Maybe he really did consider
her a friend.
Finally, the interview was over, with no indication that the gods knew about their discovery of Pandora. “I’ll walk you out,”
Mo said, rising from the table.
“No, you won’t.” Fran’s voice was dark and commanding. “You will remain here. Disa is correct. There is much to do, and your
work for MODA takes precedence. Miss Reale, please go ahead and collect your bags. We’ve arranged for you to return to Rome
right away. Thank you for your illuminating report.”
Aida thanked them, replaced her mask, and let herself out of the suite. When the calm disappeared again, she frantically texted
Luciano to let him know she had to return to Rome.
Why don’t you go ahead and try to find her? she suggested.
I’m not doing this without you. And I think she might respond better to a woman. Let’s figure out how to return to London.
An hour and a half later, Aida boarded the plane with both relief and disappointment. Relief that MODA was not aware of their discovery of Pandora, that Disa didn’t notice her recognition of Luciano, and that she did not have to spend time with Mo.
But they still were no closer to bringing happiness back into the world.