Avatara

Grace rung the doorbell. The doorbell being a touchscreen on the wall beside Walker's front door.

"I'm coming," said a voice via the touchscreen device.

In a moment the door opened and there he stood. Grace held her breath almost in awe. Walker looked as handsome as his avatara. Tall, dressed in a thin crew neck sweater, denim jeans and white socks, he looked more relaxed now, compared to the commotion still going on in the city.

"Hi, come in," Walker said. Grace stood there stunned into a nervous silence. She barely murmured and then looked at the floor as she walked past him. The flat was large and open and the living room stretching across the whole main wall were large windows going from floor to ceiling. Through it, Grace could see the river Thames and large areas of South London on the other side.

"Want something to drink?" said Walker. "I have orange juice, coke or you could just have a water?"

"No, I'm fine," replied Grace.

"You sure?" said Walker.

"Yes," replied Grace. "Let's get cracking. I have a plan."

Walker nodded and he swiftly moved to switch on his TV. A news channel appeared with the fracas occurring at Piccadilly Circus. However, Walker's TV had touchscreen capability and he used it to freeze the pictures and zoom in looking for areas of interest.

"They are showing it all over the news. These avatara don't show well on camera but look at the sheer number of real bodies on the ground. It looks like a massacre. I can't see Knightmare-Grimm though."

Walker's voice tailed off as he watched Grace move quickly towards the screen. Her eyes were intense and her eyebrows furrowed, she looked very concerned and Walker noticed she was hyperventilating.

"Are you ok?" said Walker. He moved to touch her but she shrugged him off.

Grace was shaking like a leaf and had to sit down. "What have I done? What am I doing here?" She stared at Walker and suddenly became scared. "I need to get out of here. He could be killing people."

She tried to rush up and leave but Walker stopped her and they struggled a bit.

"Just breathe Grace," Walker said. "Just breathe. Easy." Her nails dug a bit into his forearms but he did not stop holding her arms.

"Just breathe." He gently edged her back towards the sofa to sit. He then sat on the edge of another sofa chair.

Grace looked towards the floor still shaking and her hair covered her face.

"How do you know my real name?" she said.

"Pardon?" said Walker. Grace's voice sounded muffled, so Walker hadn't heard her properly.

"How do you know my real name!? I have put many lives at risk by giving people this app. I am sat in your flat, thinking that a stranger could help me. And you know my name even though I hadn't given to you."

Walker looked uncomfortable, as if he was going to say something but was struggling to get the words out.

"Are you some creep? You want to do something to me and then kill me?"

"No!" said Walker. "That's disgusting." He stood up and walked towards the screen and switched it off.

"Grace Shelley, I'm a police officer, you've been under my surveillance since you started working under Grimm at Sheldrake."

Grace felt her heart sink in her c.h.e.s.t. Her feelings of attraction to Walker had muddled her judgment and now she was in trouble with the police. If one of those people in Piccadilly Circus died, it would be her fault and she would be going to prison.

"A… are you going to arrest me?!" she said.

"No, I've watched you long enough to know that you are not trying to hurt people. You want to stop Grimm. But this situation is a disaster. Avatara is dangerous and it is now in the hands of many people. Spirits leaving the real body, able to fly and then affect things in the real world. London can't cope with technology like this, no city can."

"I did not intend for this to happen."

"I know you didn't but all actions have consequences," said Walker. "I work with the cybercrime team in the City of London. The soulcasting technology, you stabilised was a game changer but you should have known that Grimm would want to use it to exploit people."

"I'm sorry," said Grace. After a brief pause, she said, "Is your real name Walker?"

Walker grabbed two glasses in the kitchen.

"No it isn't. It's Jasminder Singh. But call me Jazz for short. Tom Walker is my undercover name." It made sense given that he looked to be of Indian heritage. Using an undercover identity with the support of the police, it also made sense why he was registered as Walker at the reception desk. Jazz changed the subject back to the present problem.

"And Byron Grimm is a charming, scheming, sociopath, so of course he could hide his true intentions away from you until he is close to getting what he wants. But when he is close to getting it, he reveals his true self, like a wolf in sheep's clothing. That's why he was removed by the army. But being as dominant as he is, he got the key position at Sheldrake... here, have some water."

Grace did not refuse. She drank a huge gulp, she felt overwhelmed. All the recent events had her running on adrenaline, not giving her time to think, and now she was flooded with all the thoughts and emotions she had been denying.

Jazz dashed two photos on the table in front of Grace. "His real name is Robert Ash. Only fifteen years old. A genius on the dark web, sometimes sorts out websites and encryptions for gangs and others but thinks it's a bit of fun. The wally even does it for free."

Jazz sat down on the sofa chair, across from Grace.

"Gosh what a fix this is, Grimm combined with his avatara," he said. "Where do you think his real body is?" Grace gave Jazz a sharp look but internally she felt huge guilt about Knightmare. About Robert Ash.