Chapter 18 Xave #2
“Whoever put his ID in the system used an AI algorithm to create those changes,” he explains.
“The blurred parts are what we call AI noise, and they’re one of the visual ways you can spot AI on images and videos.
A smart person would have taken the time to fix them, but whoever did this is obviously not a smart person.
” He picks up a pen and twirls it around his fingers a few times.
“They also didn’t bother getting rid of the digital watermark, so I’m assuming this wasn’t done by a tech person because that’s a rookie mistake.
Or they’re so arrogant they didn’t think anyone would check the file. Either way, they’re a dumbass.”
“Can you trace who did it?”
“Not directly, but I know the algorithm they used, when it was done, and where.” He stops spinning the pen and drops it on his desk. “And you’ll never guess where this image was created.”
“I want to say here, but that feels too obvious.”
He grins darkly. “Sometimes the most obvious answer is the correct one.”
“Can you trace the exact location?”
He shakes his head. “Just the vicinity. So it was either on campus or in town, but I can’t pinpoint where without more data.”
“And all this is in the drive?” I ask.
I would have bet money that I looked through the entire thing when he gave it to me, but Jace’s organizing skills are as chaotic as he is, and it wouldn’t be the first time I’ve overlooked something because I didn’t see it in the chaos.
“The staff file and his identity are, but I was still looking into it, and him, when I handed it over, so the different photos and everything I found beyond the basics aren’t.” He shoots me a pointed look. “I’ve been waiting for you to ask about them, but I got bored, so I’m telling you now.”
“Why would someone upload a slightly altered photo of him in the database?” I ask.
“To help him hide in plain sight.” Jace rocks back and forth in his chair a few times.
“The photo was altered enough that it wouldn’t show up on any searches if someone decided to look into him.
And I’m not sure if they did this on purpose, or if it’s just a happy accident for them, but it’ll also make it harder for people to remember him if he looks different in his picture than he does in real life.
People will trust the photo over their memories, so it’ll be like he was never actually here. ”
“That’s actually brilliant, but it seems risky considering all the facial recognition we have on campus. He could have easily been flagged as a threat if the system hadn’t recognized him and thought he was an intruder.”
“He could have,” Jace agrees. “But whoever created the algorithm kept the margin of error within the built-in fail-safes of the system. It was essentially created to trick the school’s main systems.”
“So whoever did this was smart enough to stay within the margin of error specific to the school, but not smart enough to fix the pixels or remove the things that make the photo traceable.”
“Pretty much.” Jace grabs the silver butterfly knife next to his mouse pad and flips it open and closed a few times. “Which leads me to believe that the person who created the algorithm and the one who created the photo and uploaded it are different people.”
“So what do we know about Jeremy Reynolds?” I ask. There’s no way in hell he didn’t do a deep dive on the guy.
Jace grins and spins the blade around his fingers. “A lot. Including that his name isn’t actually Jeremy Reynolds.”
“Of course it isn’t,” I say when he pauses for dramatic effect.
“And he’s dead.”
“He is?”
Jace brings up another file on a different screen, only this one looks like it’s part of a police report. “Bro offed himself in his accommodations three days after the attack. Single gunshot to the temple. Campus LEO ruled it a suicide.”
That’s exactly how the fourth member of the team that kidnapped us died.
Is that a coincidence? Or was that someone tying up loose ends?
“Fun fact,” Jace continues. “Jeremy Reynolds, a.k.a. Jeremy Ryan, worked for multiple private security firms before taking a job as a steward here on campus over Thanksgiving break.” Jace taps one of the keys on his keyboard, and multiple police reports pop up on his third screen like a slideshow.
“Dude’s been arrested for burglary, assault, assault with a deadly weapon, battery, stalking, and some minor things like vandalism and uttering threats.
Nothing ever stuck, and all these reports were buried after he was released, but they were easy to find when you know where to look.
And I know where to look.” He snaps the blade of his knife closed.
“Does any of what I told you sound like a guy who’d randomly attack Damon for shits and giggles? ”
I shake my head, a heavy feeling settling in my stomach. “It doesn’t sound like someone who’d off himself a few days later, either.”
“No, it doesn’t. And isn’t it suspicious that the last living member of your kidnapper group died the exact same way?”
“Yeah, that was the first thing I thought when you said that.”
“I looked into Jeremy’s financials,” Jace continues. “And someone paid him a shit ton of crypto right around the time he started working here. I can’t trace who or where it came from, unfortunately, but that also doesn’t seem like a coincidence.”
“That attack was a targeted hit,” I say, stating the obvious. “And the fact that he’s dead is probably why there haven’t been any other attempts. They either took out their insider, or his past caught up to him and took him out before he could finish the job.”
Jace nods, his expression grim. “There are too many missing pieces to know exactly what the fuck is going on, but so far, all roads are leading back to Damon. He’s the common denominator here. The giant X on the treasure map of answers, if you will.”
“Yeah,” I agree. “Have you been able to find out anything more about Blake and whether it’s him?”
“I don’t think it is,” Jace says, his tone careful.
“I don’t have concrete proof either way, but the deeper I dig, the less clear the connection is.
The first reference I could find to Blake is from just over four years ago.
Damon’s only been a student here for three and a half years.
It’s possible he was tapped for the job when he was still in high school, but unless he was gathering intel on people at his old school, the references make it sound like this Blake person was actively working with them four years ago. ”
“Yeah, that doesn’t fit,” I say slowly. “But it’s also not impossible.”
“Exactly. And everything I’ve found that could possibly link him to Blake is like that. It’s all possible, but highly improbable.”
“So he’s most likely not working with the Kings, but they’re definitely after him. Or at least one of their staff was.”
Jace nods. “And what I’ve found is making me think Jeremy was just using the Kings as a cover, and they had no idea he had a side gig as an assassin.
Everything about Jeremy’s employment is hinky, but the altered ID and the fact that he had an insider with the ability to get that ID into the system means someone put a lot of time and money into getting him on campus.
And as much as I’d love to blame the Kings and go nuclear on them, I don’t think they’re involved this time. ”
“Go nuclear?” For him, that’s the same thing as saying burn the fuckers down and toast marshmallows while we watch it happen, and he only talks like that when something is personal.
He shrugs. “You might not be able to admit it yet, but Damon means something to you, so he means something to us. You know how we roll. Anyone who fucks with ours is fair game, and he’s one of us until you tell me he isn’t.”
“Do the others know?” I ask as something deep inside me settles.
I didn’t realize it until now, but lying to everyone has been taking its toll on me, and it means everything that Jace has so easily accepted that Damon isn’t just a guy I’m fucking, even if I have no idea what he is or what I’m going to do about it.
“Not officially, but they’re not stupid.
Jax definitely suspects that you’re boning him, but that’s also a ‘takes one to know one’ thing and not just a ‘you’re being obvious without realizing it’ thing.
Killer and Felix haven’t said anything, but there’s no way anyone missed how you almost lost your shit when I suggested that your boy and Eden might be fucking last week. ”
I shoot him a flat look.
“Don’t give me that face.” He grins. “Not my fault you fell for my test and didn’t even realize that’s what it was.”
“You’re annoyingly observant,” I grumble. “You know that, right?”
His grin widens. “Yup.”
“Well, at least we know Damon isn’t part of the blackmail scheme,” I say, still processing everything Jace told me. “But now we know that someone is after him for something completely different, and there’s a good chance they’ll try again.”
Jace nods, his expression serious again. “But the good news is I think I know where things might go down. Or at least where they could go down.”
“What do you mean?”
His fingers fly over his keyboard, and an event flyer pops up on his screen. “He’s got a gig in two weeks.”
I quickly scan the flyer. Right there in giant font is his stage name, and the animated caricature of him in his famous mask takes away any ambiguity over whether it’s him or another person using the name Helix.
“And the really sus part is that this event was literally only announced an hour before the flyer was released and tickets went on sale. I’m not an expert in event planning or raves, but I’d imagine that’s pretty short notice for something like this, where you need to rent spaces and hire staff and get permits.
And before you ask, yes, I checked to make sure this isn’t a case of them replacing a different act and marketing it like it’s a new event.
There’s no record of it anywhere I could find prior to the big announcement. ”