Was Vought Wrong?

A cold smile crept across Lin Mo's face. These so-called family members had attacked Soldier Boy together. The smiles in the photos now looked like a cruel joke rehearsed in advance.

Joanna studied the other people in the photos and suddenly said, "They don't like him."

Lin Mo turned to her at once, wondering if he had misheard.

"Who?"

"The people beside him."

She pointed to the members of the Payback team in the group photo.

"But they're smiling."

What surprised Lin Mo was how closely Joanna had looked.

"Why do you say that?"

Joanna had begun to notice subtle human reactions. The researchers had always assumed they could safely observe her through the glass, forgetting that she was observing them too.

She noticed how a person's breathing changed with fear and whether their heartbeat quickened when they lied or grew nervous. A photograph could not reveal a heartbeat, but something about those expressions still struck her as unnatural.

"They're smiling wrong."

Joanna said it matter-of-factly.

Lin Mo did not comment further. The cameras in the Observation Room were all on.

At the end of the press conference, Vought announced a nationwide memorial for Soldier Boy. His uniform and shield would go on permanent display, and some of his films would be broadcast again on television.

The company also planned to establish a charity in his name to help veterans and military families.

A man betrayed by his company, attacked by his teammates, and handed over to the Soviets was about to be packaged as the perfect martyr.

The real Soldier Boy would wake up in some distant facility. Or perhaps he would not—the team that might find him might not even exist.

After the broadcast ended, the research center resumed some of its work.

The announcement over the speakers, however, told every department to remain where it was and await further instructions.

Lin Mo heard the researchers in the Observation Room begin talking quietly.

"What happens to Payback now?"

"They'll have to reorganize."

"Without Soldier Boy, there's no reason to keep them together as they were."

"The company needs new faces. It can't keep the market going on old movies forever."

Another researcher lowered his voice.

"The Homelander project will get more resources."

"That kid's ability data already exceeds every other sample in his age group."

"Headquarters will probably speed up his training."

"How much faster?"

"Fast enough to get him ready for a public debut as soon as possible."

Lin Mo did not look up. He seemed not to have heard.

The researchers' assessment matched what he had expected.

Soldier Boy's death would make the Homelander project even more important.

Vought needed a new symbol. It also needed to make sure that symbol did not become the kind of problem Soldier Boy had become.

Joanna was still watching television. A photograph of Soldier Boy in military uniform appeared on the screen again.

"Is he really dead?" she asked suddenly.

Lin Mo fell silent for a moment.

Joanna kept her eyes on the screen.

She was not asking out of grief. She did not even know what connection she had to the man.

But something she could not explain made her reluctant to accept Vought's statement. If Researcher Vought told her one day that Lin Mo was dead without offering any other proof, she would never believe him.

Lin Mo glanced at the Vought logo in the lower-right corner of the screen.

Then he said, "Vought says he's dead."

Joanna slowly turned toward him. Sharp as she was, she caught the narrow wording.

She could tell there was something odd about his answer.

She stared at Lin Mo for a long time.

"Vought says he's dead," she repeated.

"Right."

"You didn't say he's dead."

When Lin Mo did not deny it, Joanna moved a little closer and spoke softly.

"Why?"

This is tricky. Lin Mo rubbed his chin and thought for a moment. He could not simply tell Joanna that Soldier Boy was alive and that Payback had betrayed him.

The news on the screen was a lie carefully constructed by the company.

He could not say any of that aloud. The cameras were still watching. Vought would wonder how he knew what had really happened. Or they might decide he was developing the ability to read minds and start experimenting on him. That would be a headache.

Besides, Joanna still understood Vought as something vaguely like a family.

She knew the researchers could be cruel. They drew her blood, restricted her movements, and used time with Lin Mo to force her to submit to experiments.

But she had not yet connected those actions to the nature of the company itself.

As far as she knew, perhaps some researchers were simply unkind and some orders were simply unpleasant.

Vought itself remained a vast, abstract presence that provided for her. This was not the time to tell her the truth.

She might decide the entire company was her enemy and attack the researchers, destroy the facility, and try to escape with Lin Mo.

Or, unable to bear the collapse of everything she believed, she might place all her trust in Lin Mo alone. Her dependence on him would become even more extreme.

Besides, Lin Mo had no way to prove what he said.

"Because I didn't see it," Lin Mo finally said.

"See what?"

"See him die." Lin Mo shrugged and spread his hands, telling the truth.

Joanna pointed at the screen.

"But they said they did."

"They only said he died on a secret mission. They didn't explain how."

"And they haven't shown us his body, have they?" Lin Mo shook his head, putting on a skeptical look.

Joanna thought carefully for a few seconds and reached a conclusion.

"So he might not be dead?"

Lin Mo glanced at the closing credits on the television before answering.

"Maybe there are things we don't know yet."

But Joanna did not stop. Her next question caught him off guard.

"Then does Vought lie?"

Lin Mo looked at her.

Joanna's eyes were clear and intent.

She was not deliberately challenging the company. Perhaps, for the first time, she had realized that what the television said might not be the only truth.

Lin Mo could have brushed her off safely. He could have said the television sometimes got things wrong, or that a secret mission's details could not all be made public.

He could have said the company was protecting national security. None of those answers would alarm the researchers.

Vogelbaum might even have approved.

But doing so would leave Joanna believing Vought was an authority that was always right. When she discovered more lies in the future, she might realize something else.

Lin Mo would have helped the company deceive her. Then again, she might believe he had known no more than she had and had been misled by Vought too. After all, they were alike.

Lin Mo was silent for a long time.

"People lie."

He paused to give Joanna time to absorb that. She raised her eyes slightly and waited quietly for him to continue.

"A company is made up of people."

"So a company can lie too."

Confusion flashed through Joanna's eyes. This was a way of thinking she had never encountered. She tilted her head, her clear eyes full of honest bewilderment, and asked softly,

"Why would they lie?"

"For lots of reasons."

"They did something wrong and don't want anyone to know. They're afraid of being punished. Or they want people to do what they say."

"Or they think the truth would cause bigger problems."

Joanna seized on the heart of it at once, her tone earnest and insistent.

"So Vought did something wrong?"