Charon's Net

by Gemma Herrero Virto

  "You don't how sorry I am," she said.

  "Don't worry. It's okay, it's an everyday thing," his tone went back to sounding sharp again. He seemed convinced that very few people in the world really did feel sorry about what could happen to people like Manu. "Is there anything else you want to know?"

  "Nothing else, thanks. We'll call you if we need anything," replied Carlos.

  Asier accompanied them to the exit. On walking back through the common room, Natalia saw how the four men were having fun playing a game of mus, without noticing their presence. She thought about how something was not right with the world in which she lived: invisible murderers who killed innocent young girls using fake love as a bait, children who would run towards their death for the sake of a romance that only existed on a computer screen, ‘dangerous madmen’ who could be injured to the depths of their soul because of someone not coming to a party... She left the flat, immersed in her thoughts. The sound of Carlos's mobile phone brought her back to the real world. He took it out, and looked at it, intrigued.

  "It's Gus. Most likely calling to say he's bored," he answered it, smiling. "Hi, what's up now?” He listened for a few seconds in silence as the smile progressively disappeared from his face. "Calm down, we’re on our way right now.”

  "What's happening?" asked Natalia as she followed him.

  "We going to your place,” he answered. "Gus says that Charon is back.

  ***

  Natalia and Carlos came quickly into the living room. Gus greeted them with a mechanical gesture, and turned around to type on the computer. After a few seconds had gone by, they saw it. Whereas on other days there had only appeared five names, today the programme was displaying a message saying that there were too many users with those details, and that they needed to narrow it down further.

  "What the hell does that mean?" asked Carlos.

  "It means he's hiding. I've carried out several searches throughout the day, and there are more every time. There must already be two hundred accounts in his name. He’s spent the whole day creating accounts with his details, and I don't know when he's going to stop," replied Gus.

  "So how are we going to find him now?" asked Natalia, worriedly.

  "That's the problem; I just don't know. Even if we did find out which account he is connected to at a given moment, he can change every so often to throw us off. It's impossible to keep them all monitored,” Gus turned around, taking his eyes off the screen, as if it hurt him to look at it. A spark of rage shone in his eyes.

  "But he can't afford to be changing account. He has to talk with the girls he chooses, and they would suspect," suggested Natalia.

  "Like hell they're going to suspect... You've read their conversations too, Natalia. They’re eating out of his hand; they only see what he wants them to see. He'll tell them anything, like someone is trying to hack his account, for example, and they'll believe him, without further question. You know as well as I do," Gus stood up furiously, and took a few steps away from the computer, as if searching for a way out, and ended by sitting down on the sofa. "Does anyone have a cigarette? I've smoked all of mine.”

  "Don't get like that, Gus. This doesn't mean that we're not going to catch him," said Carlos, putting his hand into his coat pocket and offering him the packet.

  "Well I don't know how, because if we weren’t able to catch him when he was confident, it remains to be seen what we're going to do now that he's become paranoid.”

  "Well, if he's still using the same details in all of the accounts, could he also be using the same password? After all, we think that it too has an important meaning to him," reasoned Carlos.

  "And what do you want to do with that password? Go into each and every one of the accounts everyday to see which one he's using?"

  "Exactly. Would that be possible?"

  "Possible, yes. But, in addition to it being a ton of work, because we don't know whether he's going to stop at two hundred Charons or whether he's planning on going on to infinity, every time we find his account we'll have unwillingly got rid of the messages they may have sent him whilst he wasn’t logged in. And, if anyone mentions to him that they sent him a message which he didn't get, he'll jump to another account and we'll have to start all over again," replied Gus.

  “We must be careful," intervened Natalia. “The fact he’s used this method indicates that he’s scared. If we continue putting pressure on him, it's possible he could get away from us forever."

  "How is he going to get away from us? He needs to continue using those details and, for as long as he continues to do so, we can find him," protested Carlos.

  "He doesn't need to use those details, he needs to kill. That's where he finds the relief to his obsession. The details, the font, the password... They're only strands of the ritual. He does it that way because to him it has meaning, but the really important thing is that the crimes won't stop. If we continue scaring him, it's possible that he will resign himself to changing one of those details, and then we'll have lost him," said Natalia in contradiction.

  "That's not taking into account the fact that ICQ is only one of the hundreds of chat programs there are on the web. If he decides to change programme, it could be months before we find him again, even if he does keep all of the other details,” added Gus. "I don't know what we can do now."

  The three of them remained in silence, trying to find the solution. Natalia lit a cigarette, concentrating, but the only thing that came to mind was the now familiar feeling of failure. There had to be another way; it was not possible for Charon to have thought it all out completely. In that moment, the sound of an incoming message broke the silence.

  "Gus, someone's written something to one of 'your girls'," notified Natalia.

  Gus got up off the sofa and sat back down in front of the computer.

  “Carlos, Natalia...” he said in a faint whisper of a voice. “You’ve got to see this.”

  They both looked at the message, and did not need Gus to give any further explanation of his nervousness for them to both feel it too.

  −Hi, I’m Alex, a guy from San Sebastián. I was really bored so I started searching for someone to talk to. Do you have a free moment?

  The three of them remained staring at the monitor, not daring to say a thing. At last they had him; he was talking with them... After so much time spent searching for his ghost, here he was, ready to stick his head into the trap they had laid out for him. They had hoped for that moment for so long that the tension left them paralysed.

  “Come on, Gus. Say something to him, or else he’s going to go,” said Carlos, overcoming his nerves.

  Gus looked at him as if he did not know what he was talking about, and at last he answered:

  “Me, talk to him? But I don’t know what to say to him... And what if I do something wrong and he doesn’t reply?”

  “Something wrong like not saying anything right now. Come on, greet him,” Carlos’s voice was firmer this time.

  “Damn it, Carlos, it’s really him... A messed up killer of little girls and you’re expecting me to greet him... There are many things I’d like to say to him, but ‘hello’ is not one of them. He’s going to be able to tell, and it’s going to ruin everything.”

  “Come on, what the hell’s wrong with you now?” Carlos seemed to be getting increasingly angry. “This was your plan, and now that it’s working, you’re backing out? I don’t understand you.”

  “It’s just I can’t. I thought I’d be able to do it, but now I don’t know what’s happening to me...”

  “I don’t care whether you can or not. You have to do it, and that’s that.”

  “Well I’m not going to. Who do you think you are, giving me orders?” Gus’s tone was steadily rising. He stood up, confronting Carlos.

  “God damn it, that was all I needed to hear,” Carlos also stood up. “What do you mean, who am I to give you orders? Well I am the one paying you, nothing more nothing less.”

  Natalia sat down in front of
the keyboard and began to type. Carlos and Gus stopped shouting and looked at her, intrigued.

  “You mind telling us what you’re doing?” asked Carlos.

  “Buying us a little time for you to both stop your cockfighting and for us to be able to continue working,” replied Natalia as she typed. “He’s not going to wait forever, and I’m not going to allow him to get away just because you’ve both decided to ascertain now which one of you is more macho than the other. Can’t you kill each other later?”

  They fell silent, looking at what Natalia was writing. She finished the message and read it out loud, so that they could give their opinion:

  −I’m just conducting research on the Internet for a school assignment. If you could wait five minutes for me to take note of some data, I will be with you shortly.

  “What do you both think? Shall I send it, so he can wait while you carry on fighting?”

  “But how are you going to send that? She’s supposed to be a fourteen year old girl, not a language academic,” replied Gus as he sat back down in his place and began to rework Natalia’s message. “You need to speak more normally. If he ever gets to read this, he’s never going to talk to us again. Either he’ll sense that it’s a trap, or think that she’s an incredibly pedantic girl. What do you think now?”

  “That I should have let Carlos thump you,” expressed Natalia, feeling hurt.

  “God, Natalia, it was just a joke,” apologised Gus. “Come on, read it.”

  −I’m looking up a few things for a school project. Can you wait five minutes?

  “Do you see how simple it is? There’s no need to make it so florid. Shall I send it?” Carlos and Natalia nodded. “Okay, and now what do we do?”

  “I don’t know; for me, it’s been made perfectly clear that you can talk with him. In fact, you just have,” Natalia pointed out.

  “Sure, but that’s not the same thing as holding conversations with the guy every day and trying to convince him that I’m in love and all that,” objected Gus.

  “I know it’s not the same thing, but someone has to do it,” intervened Carlos. “And you are the one with the most time and who best knows how to use the Internet. I wouldn’t even know how to request a conversation. You have to do it, Gus. We can’t waste this opportunity.”

  “And what if I do it wrong and he realises?”

  “We’d be no worse off than we are now. We’re not losing anything by trying,” Natalia encouraged him.

  “It’s just that it puts my hair on end thinking about talking with this guy while he’s planning on how he’s going to take out my eyes.”

  “You don’t have to be worrying about that. You’re only fulfilling a role. You won’t have to show up for any date. He’s never going to be any closer to you than he is right now,” said Carlos, trying to reassure him. The sound of Charon’s reply made them look back at the monitor, expectantly. “I hope he’s not got angry at me for having made him wait.”

  −Okay, I’ll wait as long as you need. Right now I don’t have anything else to do. Will you authorise me?”

  Gus agreed for him to add him to his list of contacts, and in turn sent him an authorisation request. A few seconds later, the confirmation arrived.

  “It seems we have him. We’ll be able to see him whenever he logs in and, on top of that, we know which account he’s using, if we need it,” Gus sighed, resigned. “Well, if you’ll both give me a cigarette to calm me down, I’ll start allowing myself to be hunted.”

  Five minutes later, Gus began typing out the first message, feeling the nerves twisting his stomach. He had to manage to get into the role; otherwise he could end up being blocked again at any moment.

  −All done. We can talk now, if you still have time.

  They waited a few seconds in silence until the reply came.

  −Of course, do you want to move on to chat? It’s just that I don’t like speaking in messages, it’s much slower.

  Gus accepted the chat request, feeling even more nervous. Now he would not even have the seconds between emails to consult Carlos or Natalia. He did not know whether he was ready. He would have to be; there was nothing else for it.

  − Hi again. I was already thinking you’d forgotten me. :-(

  − I’m sorry. It’s because I have to hand in this piece of work in a week, and I haven’t done a thing.

  − What’s the assignment about? Maybe I could help you.

  Gus spun around to face the other two, asking them for a reply. In those moments, he could not think of a thing to say in response. They looked blankly at him, afraid to speak, as if Charon could hear them. Seeing that they were not going to help him, he decided to improvise:

  −History. It’s about the French Revolution.

  −Wow, how boring. Right now I don’t remember anything, but just in case something does come back to me, I’ll send you a message, okay?”

  −Thanks, there’s no need for you to go to any trouble though. I imagine there will be something on the Internet; the problem is that I’m not managing to find it.

  −What year are you in at school?

  Gus froze up at that question. He had not even remembered to look at the information for the account through which he had received the message. If Charon were to ask him in that very moment, he would not even be able to tell him what he was supposed to be called. The nickname was Arwen, and the name was Silvia López. She lived in La Reineta, was fourteen, and a Gemini. All right, with that he would be able to answer anything he was asked.

  “What year are fourteen year olds in?” asked Gus.

  “I don’t know, the whole thing’s all different now...” said Natalia. “I think it’d be the third year of secondary school.”

  Gus returned to the keyboard, praying that Charon would not have suspected too much by his delay.

  −Third year.

  − That took you a while. Did you have to think about it?

  - No, it’s because my mum came to ask me if I wanted anything for an afternoon snack. Sorry.

  - Don’t worry. Your username is very pretty. Have you read The Lord of the Rings?

  Gus thought before replying. He actually had read all the books, but it was not all that believable that a fourteen-year-old girl would have done.

  −No, just seeing how many pages it has makes me feel ill. My brother told me about the name, and I liked it, so I chose it as a username, but I don’t even know who she is in the book.

  − Well, you’ll have seen the films, won’t you?

  − Actually no. I didn’t have anybody to go to the cinema with, and I decided not to go with my brother and his friends.

  Gus looked away from the monitor to find out, from Natalia and Carlos’s expressions, whether he was doing well. Natalia nodded, encouraging him to continue.

  − And you didn’t have any girl friends to go with?

  − No, I tend not to go out. I don’t get on well with any of the girls in my class.

  −You can come over to my place to see them anytime you want. I have them all. :-)

  − Thanks, but it’s going to turn out rather expensive if I have to go to San Sebastián.

  −Well, the invitation’s on the table. Besides, I could always come to you.

  −That’s so nice of you! And you’ve only just met me... You don’t even know if I’m a horrible person or not...

  − So far I don’t think so. You seem pretty sweet.

  − Thanks, you too. Listen, what does your username mean?

  −Haha... Well, I don’t know whether I should tell you. You might get scared. It’s the name of the boatman who ferried the dead across the River Styx, straight to Hades, in Greek mythology. Delightful, isn’t it?

  − Wow, not so much. Why did you choose that name for yourself?

  − I liked it. I hope you don’t think I’m a weirdo and stop talking to me.

  −No, not at all.

  − Well I’m glad. Listen, I’m going to have to leave you because I’ve arranged to meet
up with someone. Would we be able to talk another time?

  − Of course, I sign in for a bit every afternoon when I get home from school.

  − Good, until tomorrow then.

  Charon closed the chat screen and, after a few seconds, disappeared from ICQ. Gus looked again at Carlos and Natalia, waiting for their opinion.

  “That’s it? He’s gone?” asked Carlos.

  “Maybe it’s true that he has something to do. That doesn’t have to mean that he’s ruled us out,” replied Gus.

  “It could mean he’s drawing up a shortlist, and that for the moment he doesn’t have much time. Remember that his list of contacts is empty,” pointed out Natalia. “If he talks to us again in the coming days, it’ll mean that he liked us.”

  “Damn it, this is like a job interview. And what are we going to do now?” asked Carlos.

  “Wait and carry on doing our own thing. If we push too hard, we could scare him off,” suggested Natalia. “For now the bait is set, and it seems he’s biting. Gus has done a great job. He’s portrayed the ideal victim for Charon: young, innocent, no social relationships... An easy prey to his charms. I think it’ll work.”

  Gus went into invisible mode and the three of them moved away from the computer and sat down on the sofas to continue discussing what had happened. Every so often, one of them would turn their head towards the monitor, expecting a message from Charon, in spite of his having said that he would not be back until the following day. Half an hour later, the sound of another message caused all three of them to raise their heads expectantly. Gus opened it, and then turned around, with a huge smile of triumph on his face, to read out what he had just received:

  I’ve just come quickly back in from the street to carry on talking with you, but you were no longer there. I felt badly about having to leave you when we were just getting to know each other. You must have thought it rude of me. To make it up to you, I’m sending you the address for a few WebPages with information on The French Revolution. I hope they’ll be of some use to you.

  Best wishes.

  CHAPTER THREE