Dinner had arrived, so they focused on their food for a while. About halfway through, Leo turned serious. "The no-fly list is notoriously flaky. And even if there isn't a terror suspect out there with your exact name, the matching filter is so full of holes that it can peg you for having a name that looks or sounds like someone they're interested in. Now, you'd think that someone with a name like Leovar Agrolkin wouldn't have to worry much about a false match. So did I, until I tried flying to Canada to visit my family. Apparently, they've got someone who drops aliases that come pretty close, though. So I keep getting singled out for, um, "special treatment'."
Shem offered a look of concern, but didn't say anything.
"Is something wrong?" he asked.
She shook her head. "No. It might be right."
"What?"
"I was wondering what would happen if you turned it around, like the union did for Reese's prison scheme."
"Turned what around?"
"Your false positives. If your name keeps coming up snake eyes on their terror dice, you've got a built-in reason for them to ignore you once you point it out. So I was thinking that maybe you're in a perfect position to take Frachetti's challenge. I mean, think about it. You travel around to various FW Diners with the Wobbly Banyan, and the chain is about to get wi-fi. I think you ought to pack a Guy Fawkes mask when you play gigs. What do you think?"
He sat back. "Me? You think I should start making Bank Shot posts?"
"Sure. It's not like you don't have opinions, and you're in a much better position than he is to rally support. Why not?"
"I'll tell you why not. For one thing, I'm not that good of a writer."
"All the better," she said calmly. "Remember, the point is to turn Frachetti's ideas into action. All those people in Guy Fawkes masks may look the same to the government, but underneath, they're from all walks of life. Unmasking the unified front is also part of the process. That's how all the people who stepped up to support V found out they were in the company of people they already knew."
Leo sat back and looked around the room. When the government goons threatened Frachetti at the FW Diner, everyone present had stood together without knowing who he was. Now that they did, what might they be able to do?
"Okay," he said, grinning. "I'm in."
THE END
(This is the 15th and last story is a series that began with "Logical Conclusion/Full Circle".)
