The Twin

You voted, and FACE won. You told him to stop hiding, and Olympus came to watch. November first, 6 a.m.: the doors below are shut, but the mask talked until dawn. All night, it told Olympus his secrets, every single one true. It told them about the cows, sweetheart, Maia says. Even the two you ate.

At 5:12 p.m., his freeze ends. On the rooftop across from his window, Hermes goes live with his real face, and props the mask's live on a second phone right beside him. Side by side, he laughs. Let Olympus spot the fake. Twenty thousand tune in, and two thousand new followers arrive in ten minutes. But which of the two lives is the copy?

At 5:31 p.m., his screen goes black: his live streaming is turned off. See? the mask says, in his voice. He copies me. Even my live.

Here is the trap: on YouTube, a channel's live streaming ability may be temporarily or permanently turned off for various reasons, and one of them is when your live stream matches another copyrighted live broadcast. Hermes streamed the mask inside his own live. His became the copy. Olympus believes the mask, and by nine, four thousand followers are gone.

Then Maia, who has never posted a thing, writes under the mask's live: That's not my son. Tomorrow, I show my face. Now the choice: let his mother vouch live, and Olympus may believe her, but her face goes public. Stop her, and he fights his copy alone. At 11 p.m., someone knocks at Maia's door. Your mother, on camera? Aphrodite smiles, ring light in hand. Let me hold the phone, darling.