“I spent a lot of time out in the Ruins. A family there took pity on me for the first few months and took me in, but I knew I needed to be able to stand on my own two feet if I was going to get my identity back. I slipped into Novus Atlantis several times over the months, and I’ll be the first to admit that I was driven to do some things that I shouldn’t have done,” Aster Lockwood said, stroking his bristly beard. “I had to survive. I needed to go home. But, as time went on, I realized that it didn’t matter how much money I saved up or what I did. It was all useless if I couldn’t get back into Heliopolis and regain what had been stolen from me. I’d spent my whole life in Heliopolis, with PATET watching over me, and now I found myself a complete stranger to it. Someone else was wearing my name.”

“Do you know how it was possible for them to have stolen your identity?” Laith asked, remembering his discussion with Patina Grove. “Do you have any idea how they were able to get it done?”

“Yes,” Aster said. “I think I do. Cassia once mentioned to me that she had an old family friend who worked in PATET HQ. Apparently, he had helped her get her study abroad applications completed when she first came to Heliopolis to study at AUH. If memory still serves, his name was Grot.”

“Why didn’t you alert the authorities in Novus Atlantis or Grove’s family about what happened?” Laith demanded. “It seems to me that you were able to get back into the city numerous times after the incident, including the morning after. So, why didn’t you go to someone for help? Someone who knew who you were?”

“I’d never met Cassia’s family before,” he admitted with a shrug. “She was very particular about that. She told me that when the time was right, I’d meet them, but that in the meantime, she wanted to keep me to herself.” He cleared his throat, avoiding Laith’s gaze. “Obviously, I misunderstood the meaning behind her words there. So, I didn’t know her family, and the only people I really knew in Novus Atlantis were the people that she knew. Her friends. I was honestly frightened to approach some of them, though I tried in a moment of desperation later on down the line and realized that they knew nothing of what had happened. They couldn’t vouch for me, either. The word of a criminal doesn’t really hold a lot of weight for the authorities. And, speaking of the authorities, like I said before – I wasn’t in their database anymore, either. As far as they were concerned, I was just some nobody from the Ruins. At the time, the whole place was being run pretty tight. I guess it still is. Because of the higher crime rates over there, police would randomly stop pedestrians to check their identification cards, speak to anyone who seemed shifty, that kind of thing.”

He sighed and rubbed his eyes tiredly, taking a moment to think. “To be honest with you, Detective, I did make it all the way to the Emerald Farm building once. I never got past the lobby, though. There was a security system that used ID cards. I didn’t have mine anymore. So, I loitered around there for a while in hopes I might see some old colleagues step out for lunch or a break or some random errand, but someone must have called me in, because before I knew it, the police were throwing me back out into the Ruins again. I never got another chance at it. Besides, it’s a bit tough for police from any city to get involved when the crime took place out in the Ruins. Not their jurisdiction. Trust me, I tried talking to as many of these people as would listen to me. All the doors kept slamming in my face, and while I was more than willing to keep trying, survival is kind of a day-to-day thing when you’ve got nothing but the clothes on your back. For a while, it really was just all I could do to get a good meal a day.”

“What did you do to get by?” Laith wondered, mostly because he was curious what life was really like in the Ruins, but partly because he wanted to know if Aster Lockwood had a smooth-flowing, well-planned answer for every question he thought to ask. Or maybe he’s just a quick-thinker. Well-spoken. Maybe I’m looking at this too hard.

“Odd jobs, mostly,” Aster replied, tapping his fingers on the surface of the table. “I’d trade labor for meals sometimes. Sometimes I’d get paid with money, and sometimes I’d get paid with items that I could barter for money or food or other necessities. Several months into my Ruins experience, I found myself a little apartment in an abandoned building and stopped living on the streets, which was lucky for me, because winter was starting to rear its ugly head. I guess that’s one of the good things about living in the Ruins. With a little searching, you can find yourself a place of your own. No need to buy, or rent, or any of that nonsense. As long as it’s not taken, it’s yours for the taking. And there are dozens – hundreds – of empty homes and apartments in the Ruins, many of which are still in a good enough condition to be fixed up and lived in, if you can do the work. All you have to do is make sure you can keep your new home and yourself protected, and you’re good to go.”

“I suppose life in the Ruins can be quite difficult regardless,” Laith noted thoughtfully. “For example, how would you go about obtaining clean drinking water, or water to wash up with? And what about electricity?”

Aster Lockwood seemed to recognize his interest. “Well, it’s not quite as bad as I was led to believe, to be fair. Some areas do have running water. Wells, groundwater sources, rainwater and snow collection units – they’re quite resourceful out there. Since a lot of the previous infrastructure is still in place, all it takes is some tinkering here and there and entire neighbourhoods can have running water. They set up some water recycling methods, too. As for the electricity and heat, that’s also quite simple. Makeshift turbines, stolen parts, old generators, firewood. Anything goes, really, as long as it gets the job done. Not everything is clean energy, but I don’t think there’s enough pollution for concern.”

Laith wanted to ask more – he’d certainly missed a lot when he’d been out in the Ruins via the Rinvestigator – but stopped himself from pressing the matter. Instead, he focused again on the investigation. “Mr. Lockwood, you’ve been telling me that the Novus Atlantis databases didn’t have a record of you anymore, and that you were no longer recognized. However, when I recently sent in your photograph to the Novus Atlantis PD for identification, they identified you without any issue,” he said, watching the man’s face carefully for any reaction. “Would you happen to know how that might be?”

Lockwood didn’t seem to be phased by this information. He nodded thoughtfully, then shrugged again – a noncommittal and almost carefree gesture that was starting to bother Laith. “I guess that’s something you could ask them,” he said. “All I know is that I’ve been out there in the Ruins for around five years now, and throughout those five years – three of which I spent near Novus Atlantis, trying unsuccessfully to get myself back home – they didn’t know who I was. Fingerprints, facial recognition, the whole lot – nothing was recognized by their systems. Damned frustrating was what it was,” he added, this time showing his anger with a loud huff. “You’d think it’d be harder to be erased from existence in this day and age. It happened overnight for me.”

“And you don’t know the name of Cassia Grove’s accomplice the night of your attack?” Laith asked. “The man who took you out to the Ruins?”

At this, Aster Lockwood seemed to freeze slightly – just for a second – before returning to his usual relaxed pose, though it wasn’t nearly as persuasive as it had been before. “No,” he said slowly. Then, as if thinking better of it, ran his hands through his mess of hair and said: “Well, that’s a lie. I do know his name. But… The man has connections. And I’m not just referring to the family friends and criminals that Cassia knew. I mean powerful, wealthy, legitimate connections. People at the helm of some of the biggest organizations across the cities.” He shuddered visibly and seemed to shrink into himself slightly. “I’d rather not point any fingers and have the repercussions come my way,” he said. “I’ve only just gotten my life back. I don’t want to get into any more trouble. Just arrest the man who took my identity and arrest Cassia Grove for her part in this whole mess. That’s all I want, Detective. I just want my life back.”

Laith pulled up a photograph on his Slate of the Aster Lockwood in the hospital and showed it to the man sitting across from him. “Do you recognize this man?” he asked.

The Novus Atlantis Aster Lockwood studied the photograph for just a moment before swallowing hard and nodding. “Yes,” he said with certainty. “I wouldn’t forget that face. That’s him. The same man who attacked me that night in the Ruins with Cassia. How did you…” He trailed off, then connected the dots, pushing the Slate back towards Laith. “He’s the man? The one who’s been using my identity?”

Laith pursed his lips, not quite believing the surprise in his interviewee’s voice, and nodded.

“The man you saw in the photo is identified by PATET as Aster Lockwood,” he said. “Or he was – up until you came back to Heliopolis.”

Yet another coincidence Laith wasn’t interested in filing away as a possible glitch.

☀️ ☀️ ☀️

“Tell me what you’ve got,” Captain Fox said, taking a seat at her desk. Laith had been waiting in the armchair across from her desk, bouncing his leg repeatedly, deep in thought, and her arrival had shaken him from the hundreds of questions rushing through his busy brain.

“I have an identity fraud case,” Laith said, rubbing his forehead. “And another suspect with a motive to kill Cassia Grove.”

“This guy, he’s the real Aster Lockwood?” Olivia Fox asked, her voice tinged with confusion.

“According to him, yes,” Laith replied, his mouth forming into a thin line. “According to PATET as of this morning, yes. According to PATET yesterday? No. According to the Aster Lockwood in the hospital and the fingerprints we ran? No.” He sighed, raising his hands and dropping them on his lap again. “Your guess is as good as mine. But I figure that the one in our interrogation room is the real Lockwood. It makes sense, given the missing information. Lines up with the dates that he was attacked and the fake Aster Lockwood came back to Heliopolis in his stead. No wonder there were no photographs from before that time period.”

“So, if this man is Aster Lockwood, who’s the guy in the hospital bed?”

“The original Aster Lockwood calls him Cassia’s accomplice. Apparently, that is the very same man that helped her attack him and steal his identity – and his wealth.” Laith tapped the desk with his hand. “And that – that’s where I think we now have another suspect with a new motive. If you think about it, the real Aster Lockwood is the perfect suspect. Cassia Grove gets murdered in her home and the fake Aster Lockwood gets attacked and kidnapped, and at this point in time, there’s only one person who would want the two of them gone.”

“It would make sense,” Fox admitted. “Still, I don’t think, given the choice, that we want the killer to be one of the most influential men in the city. And we can’t exactly advertise the fact that PATET can be so easily manipulated. People would panic. They would stop trusting the system. We’ve had a peaceful few decades; we don’t need turbulence just as things are settling into a brighter and more sustainable situation.”

“What exactly does that mean, Captain?” Laith demanded hotly. “Are we supposed to sweep all of this under the rug? People have the right to know about PATET – and the Specialists. I’m surprised they don’t already know just how much power these people really have! Just look at Grot Antrum. He’s not even a Heliopolitan citizen, and yet he’s been able to manipulate the system in order to allow criminals to get away unidentified and facilitate identity fraud – and who knows what else.”

For a long moment, Captain Olivia Fox stared at him unresponsively, and Laith decided that that was entirely much worse than her usual nightmare form. He didn’t know what she was thinking, didn’t know what it meant that she was so silent, so still. A staring contest ensued, and Laith blinked tilting his head expectantly. Finally, Fox snapped out of it and sighed, shaking her head.

“We’ll see what we can do,” she said carefully. “But a lot of this isn’t my decision to make. You have to understand, Detective, that there are much more powerful people who have now been made aware of several concerning facets of this case, and as a result have taken a personal interest in this investigation and its results. It has been made very clear to me that we are to say nothing to the public until we run all of our press releases through some kind of crisis control specialist,” she said with an irritated wrinkle of her nose that told him she was just as unhappy about this as he probably was.

“We should be talking to Grot Antrum,” Laith pressed. “He’ll let us know more about this whole PATET situation – and he’ll either corroborate the story of the newly-returned Aster Lockwood or we’ll know we’ve got a liar on our hands. Which, quite frankly, would be baffling, even if I don’t necessarily believe everything that guy has told me so far. All of it is so implausible… impossible to prove or disprove… A lot of it just doesn’t make sense. But maybe Antrum can shed some light on it.”

“We can’t talk to Grot Antrum,” Captain Fox said slowly.

“Don’t tell me you’re keeping me away from everything related to the PATET issue,” Laith said, the exasperation clear in his voice. “It’s related to my case, too. We’re so close to finding out what’s going on here. We need to talk to Antrum in order to–”

“Laith,” Captain Fox interrupted, “Grot Antrum is dead.”