Christmas Full Throttle
Part 11: The Perfect Lie
They met where the Christmas market was the loudest and you could still stay unnoticed. Between music, laughter, and the rhythmic clatter of the carousel chains.
“Okay,” Lea said. “We put everything on the table.”
Jonas pulled out his phone. Mehmet did too. Sofia already had hers in her hand.
Three screens. Messages. Timestamps. Words that suddenly felt heavier than they had an hour ago.
“I looked at the texts again,” Jonas said. “From the Unknown. From user017_xd.”
“And?” Sofia asked.
“The Unknown is always precise,” Jonas said. “Locations. Order. Timing.”
Mehmet nodded. “And he always knows where we just were.”
Lea crossed her arms. “user017_xd, on the other hand…”
“…asks questions,” Sofia added. “Or throws in things that unsettle us.”
Jonas took a deep breath. “I think we went down the wrong path.”
Lea looked at him. “Explain.”
“We assumed the Unknown was helping us because he sounds so logical,” Jonas said. “But that’s exactly what makes him perfect.”
Mehmet frowned. “Perfect for what?”
“For a lie,” Lea said quietly.
For a moment, no one said anything. Only the music from the stage rolled over in waves.
“A perfect lie feels right,” Lea continued. “It’s clean. Clear. Without contradictions. And that’s exactly why you believe it.”
Sofia bit her lip. “So that means the Unknown…”
“…is leading us,” Jonas said. “Not toward the truth. But away from it.”
Mehmet snorted softly. “Then everything so far was wrong.”
Lea shook her head. “Not everything. But the target.”
Jonas scrolled through the chat. “Look at this. Every time we were close to discovering something ourselves, a message came in.”
Sofia leaned closer. “And every time it sent us somewhere else.”
Lea nodded slowly. “Distraction.”
At that moment, Jonas’ phone vibrated. Everyone looked at it at the same time.
Unknown: “You’re thinking too complicated.”
Unknown: “Focus on the host.”
Mehmet let out a short laugh. “Wow. Timing.”
Lea looked at the message, then lifted her gaze. “That’s exactly what I mean.”
“The host is too obvious,” Sofia said. “He’s loud. Visible. Replaceable.”
Jonas nodded. “Like Tom.”
Silence.
“Or like the Santas,” Mehmet said. “Backup Santas.”
Lea looked toward the stage. The host was jumping around, throwing his arms up, laughing into the crowd.
“He’s part of the system,” she said. “But not the head.”
Jonas’ phone vibrated again.
user017_xd: “If someone tells you where to look, look somewhere else.”
Sofia got goosebumps. “Okay. That was… clear.”
Lea exhaled slowly. “user017_xd is chaotic, unclear, sometimes annoying.”
“But honest,” Jonas said.
Lea nodded. “And the Unknown is calm, helpful, logical.”
“And manipulative,” Mehmet said.
The phone vibrated again.
Unknown: “Last warning. Stick to the plan.”
Jonas locked the screen. “He’s threatening us.”
Lea looked at the others. “Then we know now what we have to do.”
“Nothing he says,” Sofia said.
Lea gave a crooked smile. “Exactly.”
They stood there for a moment. Right in the middle of the bustle. Right in the middle of the noise.
And for the first time, it felt like they had found the right opponent.
Not the loudest one. But the one who stayed in the background.