Chapter 31
“This is bullshit.” Brian crossed his arms and mumbled. Brian had been protesting ever since they left the market, insisting that they had the evidence needed to exonerate Gabriela.
Geraldo ignored his protests as he wiggled his fingers into the snug fitting fiberoptic gloves. The lights at the tip of his fingers illuminated, allowing him to manipulate the images around him. He tossed the drives to the tech at the station.
“Key up the video surveillance from 0200 to 0203.”
The tech did as she was told, and the surveillance video played out on a giant wall of light of the holo projector.
“Merge it. Make it three dimensional.” Geraldo’s breath hung in front of him in a thick cloud with every word he spoke. The holo room was always cold, even with all the computers running it stayed at a constant four degrees Celsius in order to keep the massive computers needed to process the data funneled through them from overheating.
The tech brushed strands of black hair that had escaped the hood of her parka from her face as she worked. The wall of images expanded and filled the room.
The holograph shimmered when Brian stepped though and stood beside him. “What are you hoping to find?”
“Something that doesn’t belong.” The two of them stood in a near perfect rendition of the market store. The young clerk was slouching over the counter motionless, frozen in time. “Deep fakes are easy to do, but almost impossible to do right. There are too many small details that must be changed, and missing even one can ruin the fake.”
Geraldo walked the aisle, Brian close behind him. He checked over every item that Gabriela would pick up, using the gloves to enlarge items and manipulate them.
The holographs were incomplete. The system only showed them what was filmed in the video. “Have the system render the unknown variable, fill this video in please.”
“It will take a bit of time for the algorithm to process that much information,” The Tech warned.
“It’s fine. I got plenty to work with here.”
“I can’t believe you.” Brian stepped through one of the aisles, blocking Geraldo. “You are really going to stoop this low?”
Geraldo took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. It was taking all his willpower not to break Brian’s perfect jaw. “Stoop to what?””
“Come on.” Brian crossed his arms. “You and her have been competing for the same jobs for years. Is it just a coincidence that you think she hacked Taurus? Is it just serendipity that Tanya made you special investigator over this? And the first person you finger is a career rival?”
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“She was exempt from the lottery.” Geraldo explained as he moved past him.
“How do you know that?”
“She had a child. A girl.”
“Bullshit.”
“She told me herself, and I saw the picture she kept tucked under her mattress.” Geraldo paused when he saw the stunned look on Brian’s face. “She never told you about it, did she?”
“No, and that’s why I have a hard time believing that she would tell a crip about it.”
“Maybe you aren’t as close as you think.” Geraldo gave him a grin and walked on. It was a bittersweet moment for Geraldo. He had finally found something that got under Brian’s skin.
“The render is ready,” The tech announced. The complicated algorithm began to populate the unknown variables of the images with a highly detailed rendering of the most realistic possibilities based on the images’ parameters. The missing portions of the holograph that were left gray began to fill in, completing the store around them.
“Play it,” Geraldo snapped.
“The truth is, Brian,” Geraldo explained as the two of them followed Gabriela’s image through the store. “I don’t hate Gabriela, it’s the opposite, actually. I admire her. I always have, even before working with her. She is tenacious and skilled. And her skepticism and callousness keep her removed from being emotionally invested in the cases she investigates.”
Geraldo paused the program when Gabriela opened the cooler that the beer was kept in. He framed her reflection with his fingers and pulled them apart, enlarging the image. There were no obvious details that the image of her reflection was altered in any way. He brushed the image away and resumed the program.
He stopped the program once Gabriela reached the front counter, and he once again framed his fingers over a reflection, this time from the lens of the security camera that peered over the clerk’s shoulder. It wasn’t meant to surveil customers, but to keep tabs on the employee. The camera that filmed them from the door had a perfect angle on the other camera's lens. Slowly Geraldo pulled his fingers apart and enlarged the image. The woman staring back at them was not Gabriela.
“That callousness keeps her from seeing only what she wants to see, Brian.” Geraldo finished and stepped aside so that Brian could see the image himself.
“Jesus Christ,” Brian mumbled.
“Like I said,” Geraldo added. “Deep fakes are easy to do, but almost impossible to do right.”
The girl in the image looked vaguely like Gabriela, she was about her same age, same height, and same hair color and style, but her face was too angular. The woman's features were clearly of anglo saxon descent.
“Capture this image. Find out who this woman is and find her.” Geraldo pulled off the gloves while the rendering around them began to dissolve. He walked towards the room's exit. Geraldo handed the tech his gloves. “I want you to call me the moment you find out who she is, do you understand?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Want me to start running patrols looking for our mystery woman?” Brian asked as soon as he caught up.
“No, it’s late. You need to go get some sleep. I’m going to need you fresh for tomorrow.”
“What are you going to do?”
“There is a couch in Tanya’s office, I am going to do the same.” Geraldo turned around, looking Brian eye to eye. “If Gabriela contacts you I need to know first. Not Tanya, or that jackoff Andrews. Do you understand.”
“Perfectly. And you let me know the minute you find something.” Brian added.
Geraldo patted Brian on the shoulder and gave him a nod before he turned and left.