Page 58 of Oathbreaker

“I’m not hallucinating, am I?” I finally utter through a stiff jaw.

“Nope,” Leo says, finally raising his eyes to mine. When they meet, the reality of this world—this game—I’m stuck in slams into me like a linebacker.

“What the fuck was that? How did they get me on television when I’m right here? Was that live?”

I swing around to Max, who looks like he’s suppressing his excitement when he says, “Deepfake.”

“A what?”

“A deepfake. This was pre-recorded from earlier today, but it’s easy enough to create a good deepfake if you know what you’re doing and have enough footage of the person you’re trying to fake. They got someone who looks somewhat like you to stand in on set, then used technology to alter the face to be a perfect replica of yours.”

They cloned me without needing my genetic material.

“Max, could you please not look so happy about this? There’s nothing to be happy about,” Leo says.

Max has the sense to look chagrined. “Sorry, boss! It’s just that’s really...fucking...cool.” The energy in his words deflates like a popped balloon as we all glare at him. He averts his gaze at the look I give him, which must telegraph the throttling I contemplate unleashing on him.

“So basically, they can just do some computer magic and boom, there’s Hunter.” Leo starts talking rapidly, pacing, and eventually moves into Spanish.

I make my way to my chair, falling into it and staring at the pages on the desk. I don’t see them.

“Who is behind most of the deepfake stuff?” Leo asks the room.

Rio and Max both say, “The Russians.”

Max clears his throat. “And the Chinese. The technology is fascinating in its simplicity,” he adds.

Leo is quiet for a moment. “Right,” he says blandly.

“I should issue a statement. Let the world know the engagement is off,” I say while still staring at the desk. The names of the people connected with my father start to swirl on the yellow legal pad.

“No, H, you shouldn’t do that.”

I squint at Leo. “And why not?”

“Because we don’t want to draw more attention to ourselves. They know you’re around and alive, I’m sure of it. But any action on the offensive will only drive your father further into hiding and likely accelerate whatever the fuck the Winthropes are planning.”

I tilt my chin down, acknowledging his words.

“So in the meantime, I’m to just....”

“In the meantime, you should lay low. That will give us time to figure out a way to capture your father. Once we have him sorted, the rest will fall into place. I’m sure of it.” But Leo doesn’t seem sure of anything based on the look on his face.

I lean back into my chair. “Right. More waiting. More letting them do whatever the fuck they want.”

Leo’s expression is grim, apologetic. He starts to talk, and I tune him out. I tune everyone out.

Leo, Rio, and Max keep talking, but I can’t focus on their conversation long enough to participate. All that circles around my brain are two things.

One, Morris Winthrope, and by extension my father, can do whatever the fuck they want when they want to do it. Unless they’re stopped.

Two, I have to fix this before I can even think of repairing my relationship with Winter.

“They all need to go. My father, Morris Winthrope, and Blair,” I say with a calm I don’t feel. Leo looks over his shoulder at me, and Rio raises his eyebrow. This isn’t news to them. I’d planned on taking them out simply for what they did to Winter. But now, this? This is beyond even what happened to her.

They can do whatever they want unless they’re stopped.

I stand so quickly that my leather rolling chair smacks into the wall behind me. I storm off toward the door.

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