Sia, still fixated on the monitor, Said, " This is much, much bigger."
She added quietly, "Or it could be one person who ssed with their fingerprints on purpose."
George frowned, clearly skeptical. "You really think soone would go that far? I an, can you actually change your fingerprints?"
Sia didn’t take her eyes off the screen. "I’ve seen this happen before. It’s rare and usually not done by soone who’s just winging it. But it’s definitely possible."
She muttered, "And they might have used soone else’s fingerprints. Transparent polyr gloves with transferred ridge patterns could leave a perfect fingerprint... but not their own."
Just then, the computer let out a soft ding, letting them know it was ready to move on to the next set of fingerprints.
COMPARING PRINT A3 WITH PRINT B1...
PARTIAL MATCH – 38%
Sia leaned in closer, eyebrows raised. "Partial?"
Peter’s eyes went wide. "That’s pretty low."
"Low ans tampering," Sia said, her tone serious. "Or soone’s trying to hide sothing."
They still couldn’t figure out who was keeping their identity under wraps.
The button on the screen started flashing.
"DO YOU WANT TO RUN A FULL DATABASE SEARCH?"
Without hesitating, Sia hit YES.
The lights in the lab dimd a bit, showing that the system was cranking up its power for the analysis. A detailed map of ridge patterns lit up the screen with bright blue and green lines.
The lab went quiet as the database scan kicked off; the only sound was the hum of machines working.
SEARCHING FEDERAL RECORDS...
SEARCHING DICAL DATABASES...
SEARCHING INTERNATIONAL NETWORKS...
SEARCHING PRIVATE LABORATORY ARCHIVES...
With each mont that passed, the tension in the air grew, and they couldn’t shake the feeling that the results might change everything.
Red markers popped up one after another on the screen, each one lighting up the room in a creepy way.
NO MATCH.
NO MATCH.
NO MATCH.
Mateo broke the quiet. "So, either our ghost doesn’t actually exist..."
"Or soone made sure it wouldn’t show up," George jumped in, anxiety creeping into his voice.
Sia’s pen, which had been tapping nervously against the table, stopped suddenly as her focus shifted entirely.
Then, a new beep rang out, sharper and more urgent than the last.
The screen shook slightly before flashing a startling ssage:
POTENTIAL MATCH FOUND – 67%
UNREGISTERED BIOTRIC PATTERN DETECTED
Sia felt a wave of nausea wash over her. "There it is..."
Peter stared, disbelief written all over his face. "Unregistered...? That’s crazy."
"Not really," Sia said quietly, her voice calm even as the tension rose. "Not if soone erased them from every system that exists."
Mateo squinted at the screen, trying to piece it all together. "Let guess, this has to do with soone having ssed with their biotrics?"
"Or soone whose identity has been completely wiped out," Sia answered, zooming in on a specific spot on the screen. "Check this out. The ridge flow looks normal here, but... here? You see the distortion? It’s subtle but shows that sothing’s been tampered with."
The room went quiet as they took in what she was saying, realizing how serious and complicated the situation really was.
Peter’s expression suddenly turned serious. "Soone ssed with their fingerprints."
George raised an eyebrow. "You don’t an a criminal just filed theirs down, right? This looks... way too precise."
"Exactly," Sia replied. "This isn’t sothing soone could do on their own. It’s a lab-grade alteration done by soone with access to high-end tech or chemicals that most people wouldn’t have."
Mateo inhaled sharply, trying to grasp how serious this was. "Who would even be able to pull that off? You think William Arthur had a hand in this?"
Sia leaned back, her eyes narrowing as she thought it through. "It could be soone who worked with William Arthur," she suggested. "Or maybe soone who is a product of his work."
Then she focused on one of the fingerprints displayed on the screen. "This one has a high ridge density... it likely belongs to a woman," she said, her tone thoughtful. "But we can’t say for sure just based on prints."
Mateo agreed, his mind racing. "Still, that does help narrow things down a bit."
The lab fell silent again, with only the machines humming softly in the background, creating an almost eerie atmosphere.
The fingerprints lay there on the table, looking harmless but hiding a truth none of them were ready to deal with.
anwhile, Leo was knocked out in his office, completely unaware that the secret he’d brought in was about to shake everything up.
********
It was already getting late, and the sun had disappeared behind a thick layer of clouds, giving the forest a soft, muted glow. Zayden was taking a casual walk along a winding trail, the sll of damp earth and pine needles in the air, with Zeynep walking next to him. He felt like it was his job to guide her, showing her the paths that twisted through the trees and warning her about the ones she should steer clear of. While they walked, Zeynep asked him which way led to the main road and which paths went deeper into the woods. Zayden answered her questions confidently, not realizing that she was more interested in leaving than exploring the peaceful nature around them. She thought she was a burden and worried that her presence might put him in danger.
"So, do you co here often?" she asked, trying to keep her voice steady.
"Yeah," he said, his eyes lighting up with nostalgia. "There’s a real sense of peace here among the trees. I love being outdoors; I’ve been coming here since I was a teenager to escape the city noise."
Zeynep nodded, though her heart was racing. "That sounds amazing. I’ve always wanted to live in the woods, but I don’t have a place out here. My family doesn’t own any cabins or have connections around. I can’t explain it, but there’s sothing about being in nature that pulls in."
Part of her was lying, though. Deep down, she was scared of the dark shadows hiding among the trees, the wild animals wandering around, and the ghost stories that seed to whisper through the branches at night. She chose her words carefully, wanting him to think she was totally into their little adventure. She feared that if she showed her real feelings, he’d push her to talk about it, which would expose her insecurities about the wilderness surrounding them.
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