The visualizer projected a slow-spinning globe. A vertical black line bisected it into two hemispheres. It’s slow-motion playback ran on a continual loop. Guerrero shifted so he could see Lonni’s face without it being filtered by the shimmering colors of the holographic projection.
“I clearly see the difference between the two patterns, Miss Fasano. Now, tell me what I need to know about the difference.” So far, it appeared his VR equipment manager remained loyal to him over the league security chief, Jack Wainwright. Jack was a ball-busting league crony and the main reason Guerrero had hired a VR manager from outside league circles.
“First, I need to remind you and myself, there’s a decent chance none of this has anything to do with the breach. Since I’ve got no other leads at the moment, I’m following this one to its logical end.”
“Understood.”
“Okay.” Lonni sucked her teeth.
Guerrero recognized the habit as a tell, indicating escalated anxiety.
“The anomalies are in CK’s shoulder, not his KIP. The pattern within the blue hemisphere is a playback from his extracurricular practice session early this morning.”
“And the purple hemisphere?” Guerrero asked.
“That’s a little harder to explain.”
“Permission to ramble granted.” Guerrero studied his VR manager closely for signs of discomfort—any indication she was withholding damming information.
She rolled her eyes. “After orchestrating an extensive plan to lure CK to my lab, I hacked his KIP into thinking I was him.”
“You can do that?”
“Until today, I hadn’t the need. But apparently, yes, I can.”
“Impressive,” Guerrero said.
“Anyway, I also programmed a practice matrix to resemble the same one the Aztecs use everyday.” Lonni paused.
“Except?”
“Except, I made a few allowances.”
“Miss Fasano, please.”
“I programmed it to accommodate two identical quarterbacks.”
Guerrero unbuttoned his suit coat and breathed deeply. “Am I to assume you adequately threatened Mr. Campbell in regards to leaking the information we have a blank KIP in the basement?”
“I threatened to take from him the one thing he loves the most.”
“Very well.” Guerrero was annoyed she’d taken such a brazen initiative without asking him. He was pleased she had made no attempt to conceal the move. She trusted him to trust her. “Next time, Miss Fasano, consult me before you do something so potentially explosive.”
She nodded. “So the pattern in the purple hemisphere is me throwing the ball as CK.”
“And the effectiveness of your hack?”
“The artificial neural network absolutely 100% thought I was him. I had CK himself guide me through the plays so I could simulate them as closely as possible. As far as the VR was concerned, my muscle mass, explosiveness—everything was exactly the same in both of these models.”
“I see. So the only differences were Campbell’s implants.”
“Exactly. And look at this.” Lonni indicated a spike in the purple model of her posing as Campbell. “I actually threw the ball just as far with less effort.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I’m not sure I do either. Somehow, I performed better as CK than he did as himself.”
Guerrero frowned. “But I thought the neural network was supposed to compensate for implants? We fed the computer hours of Campbell’s game tape from college.”
“You’re absolutely right. The virtual CK is based on tape of his past performances and a complete analysis of his current muscle mass and overall health. Either the network has constructed a healthier throwing shoulder for CK than it should have, or the relationship between the implants in his shoulder and the neural network are corrupted.”
“That could explain his complaints about his malfunctioning KIP.”
“Or the source of the corruption could be the source of our breach.” Lonni studied the projection in the visualizer long and hard. “Nothing I’ve found so far rules CK out as a suspect. At the same time, his behavior doesn’t indicate guilt.”
“I agree.” Guerrero wanted to believe Campbell wasn’t privy to what could end up being the most costly instance of cyber-espionage in human history. If the breach went public, Guerrero didn’t want to lose his future franchise quarterback as collateral damage. “It appears you will need to locate additional suspects to pursue, or at the very least, determine what data has been compromised.”
“I’m not sure how I’m going to proceed with either objective.”
Guerrero narrowed his eyes.
“But I’ll figure something out before the end of the day,” Lonni added.
“Good. I’ll keep my ear to the ground for relevant chatter.”
“You, sir? You don’t even wear a cellular implant.”
Guerrero strode toward the door. “I have access to channels that have withstood the test of time for centuries, Miss Fasano, without suffering the distraction of needless technologies.”
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