Sophia crossed her arms, her brows furrowing. “He’s… a spy?”
Juma’s lips twitched into a smile. “Told you.”
“That…” she frowned. “…he’s a rather horrible spy if we found out so easily.”
Juma laughed. “Maybe. But let’s look on the bright side – we were worried over nothing. Saintarelli isn’t going to desert because he has a mission to complete.”
“I suppose that is one benefit.”
Sophia gave Juma a long look.
“Something on my face?”
“How is it that an orphan from the Middling district can read Marién?”
“The Fathers at West Sycophant Church are polyglots. Father Goma understands Alhamisi, Marién, Elvani and Khel. Father Shiga knows Qe’al Mot, Leporima, Golos and Jezik. The old coots sat us down and made us learn everything. It was absolute torture, believe me.”
“…and how did you know how to decipher the hidden message?”
“It’s called Jigsaw Encryption. I read about in Kaleidoscopic Cryptography. My brother Kuri and I used to spend time at the Annals in the Middling District, reading book after book. The Archivist gave us that book one day, and we spent the next few weeks leaving secret messages for each other everywhere. I never thought people still used it as a legitimate way to hide messages.”
Child of Destiny alright. He even has the childhood for it. Sophia’s silent bewilderment of Juma was well deserved. It was amusing watching the boy fail to understand the impressiveness of his feats.
“Somehow, you consistently manage to impress me, despite how little right you have doing so.”
“My, what kind words. One might think you have a heart that isn’t made of stone.”
“And once more I remember that those rare moments you sparkle are nothing but a charlatan’s ruse hiding your muck-covered nature.”
“And once more you need to lighten up. We’ve confirmed that Saintarelli isn’t planning to desert. That’s great. Time to move on. I need to work on my aim with the long-rangers. I’ve been practicing more with SR-411 –”
“You seriously can’t be thinking of just leaving the matter as it is?”
Juma frowned. “Saintarelli is a spy. Mystery solved. What more is there?”
“Shouldn’t we report this?”
“And get us all executed?”
“Executed for reporting a spy?”
“Remember what General Hoplite said? What applies to one of us applies to all of us. If one of us is executed, we’re all getting the guillotine.”
Sophia bit her lips. “But –”
“No buts. Let it go. At best, we can just use this to tell Saintarelli that we know his secret, and he should up his skill level to make the Brigade stronger. But if you aren’t comfortable with him being a spy, and want to get back your reputation, it’s something you can settle with a PvP.”
“We still don’t know where Saintarelli is.”
Juma shrugged. His gaze turned in my direction. Directly, where I was hiding and invisible, his gaze landed there, for two full seconds. “I’ve got the feeling he’s a smart dude. He’ll turn up, and hopefully, with his tracer and comms back online.”
“But –”
“No more buts! Training! Let’s go! Now. Come on.”
The room was left empty. Deactivating [Phantasm] I let out an irritated breath. Walking over to Neo’s open and broken box, I sorted through the documents, picking up the papers and pressing my lips tightly together.
They bought it.
There were no letters. Only an idiot of a spy would communicate via letters, encrypted or not. I’d managed to piece together the fake letters using Neo’s memory of Marién, along with some cryptography knowledge he possessed. The handwriting used was mine, not Neo’s, which was just a precaution in case somehow, they knew what Neo’s handwriting was supposed to look like.
It was a short and simple plan using a mix of truths and lies. Simple enough that I almost didn’t believe it would work. Neo was a spy, true. His father sent him here to spy on someone, true. Yet, his father had never written him any letters.
Well… I don’t think they’ll be bothering me anymore. I should put Neo’s comms and tracer back online.
[Communication System Re-Enabled]
[Live Tracing System Re-Enabled]
Godscript Notification!
[You have {3} unread messages.]
[You have {2} new friend requests.]
I hit the read button.
New Message!
Title: How about we catch some lunch?
Time Delivered: 13:24:33 PM, 12th Syco, 2141AE.
Sender: Juma Al’Amir [Lance Brigade Captain] [Recruit First Class] [NMR Kill Count: 108]
Details:
Hey, Saintarelli, it’s getting close to lunchtime. Meet me at Mess Hall 7, I got the cooks to make us some bean cakes. There’s also Marisian cuisine if you’re interested. I’m loaded up on enough coin to pay for both of us. I’ll be waiting outside at 1500 hours sharp. Don’t be late!
He was inviting me to lunch? The nerve of this boy…
I hit the next message.
New Message!
Title: You’re a fucking dead man
Time Delivered: 11:51:10 AM, 12th Syco, 2141AE.
Sender: Vik Vistorel [Lance Brigade Member] [NMR Kill Count: 26]
Details:
What the fuck Saintarelli? What the hell was with you making googly eyes to Juma? The entire brigade thinks we’re secretly fucking each other in the showers cause of you. You’re fucking dead to me! Hear that? Dead. I hope the cunt and bastard find you and put a round through your skull. Fuck you. Useless piece of shit.
Well that went splendidly. I’d barely been impersonating Neo Saintarelli for a day and I was already changing his life.
New Message!
Title: Dude you’re awesome
Time Delivered: 11:23:42 AM, 12th Syco, 2141AE.
Sender: Miles Chamberlain [Lance Brigade Member] [NMR Kill Count: 40]
Details:
Dude that was awesome! The way you stuck it to that bitch Sophia was gold. Stupid Prominents and Eminents always looking down on us cause we’re Middlings, but if it weren’t for a lot of us working away in the Warehouses, doing all the farming and mining and producing, they wouldn’t have those silver and gold spoons in their mouths. I’m glad someone like you could say all the
