The silence in the ancient stone chamber was broken only by the angry, constant buzzing of the surveillance drone outside. It was circling the mountain, its special sensors looking for any heat, movement, or power source that wasn't natural rock. Julian (in Eliza's body) stared at the hidden access panel. They knew exactly who sent it: Sol-Ah, using her secret, non-Titan security team.
"We have to move," Julian stated, his spy instincts taking over. "But we can't leave this car. If we leave Julian's vehicle, the last signal will confirm we were here. We need to turn this car into bait, but still keep it." It was a messy problem—how to run away without moving the most obvious thing you own.
Eliza (in Julian's body) paced, her mind now racing with the cold, financial logic she'd absorbed from Julian's memories. "The drone is looking for a signature that disappears. If we give it a new signature, a strong, fake one, it will follow the new noise." She stopped pacing and slammed her large hand onto the hood of the black sports car. The expensive metal barely moved.
The Logic of Deception
Eliza began tearing apart the dashboard of Julian's luxurious sports car. It felt wrong to damage something so expensive, but her new brain told her it was a necessary cost of doing business. She found the car's internal GPS transponder—a tiny, powerful device used to find stolen cars. She carefully ripped the chip out and handed it to Julian.
"This chip transmits a special Titan frequency," Eliza explained simply. "If we move this chip and attach it to something else, the drone will assume Julian's car is wherever that chip is going."
Julian, using Eliza's small, steady hands, quickly went to work. He opened a small satchel that contained basic operative tools. He sealed the GPS chip inside a specialized, heavy-duty metallic box designed to block outside signals. He left only a tiny antenna sticking out. He also wired the box with a small, self-contained power source that would keep the chip transmitting for exactly 72 hours. He made sure every wire connection was tight and clean.
"This box is our ghost car," Julian muttered. He felt a surge of professional pride, even in the wrong body, as he worked the circuits.
The CEO's Sacrifice
The next step required a sacrifice. They needed something large, fast, and common enough to blend in, but strong enough to carry the metallic box. Eliza walked over to Julian's enormous luxury car, its black paint gleaming even in the dim light. She reached for the car's spare tire—a heavy, rugged component stored in the trunk. The tire was huge, designed for high-speed performance.
"We're sending a decoy," Eliza announced, her voice firm. "This car is now the lure. We take the spare tire, stick the transponder inside it, and launch it down the mountain in the opposite direction."
Julian looked horrified. "You want to throw a priceless, expensive piece of equipment off a cliff? And risk the only thing keeping the drone away?" His CEO instincts rebelled at the thought of destroying property.
"Yes," Eliza replied without hesitation. "It's a necessary cost. Sol-Ah is tracking the object that emits the signal, not the location of the signal. If the signal is moving fast and chaotically, she will think we've already escaped in a high-speed, off-road vehicle." She used Julian's money to buy them time.
The Mechanical Launch
The drone's buzzing was now dangerously close. They had minutes, not hours. They worked in frantic, coordinated silence. Eliza (as the CEO) used her immense strength to haul the heavy spare tire and the transponder box to the cave entrance. The strength of the body was terrifyingly effective.
Julian (as Eliza) used his knowledge of physics and Eliza's operative skills to set the launch. He attached a thin, high-tensile wire to the tire. He didn't want the tire to simply roll; he wanted it to fall and bounce chaotically—mimicking a desperate, uncontrolled escape. He secured the transponder box tightly to the inside rim with strong, black tape.
Eliza positioned herself behind the huge tire. "Ready on my mark. The moment it drops, we kill all power and hide inside the altar niche. Sol-Ah's team will track the sound of the crash, not our body heat."
The Chaos of the Decoy
"Now!" Eliza shouted. She gave the massive spare tire a tremendous shove, leveraging the power of Julian's strong legs and back. The push was almost too strong. The tire, with the expensive transponder box taped firmly inside, rolled out of the hidden cave entrance and immediately plummeted down the steep, rocky slope.
It was not a smooth descent. The tire bounced and scraped, hitting rocks with loud, sickening thuds that echoed for miles. The noise was immediately picked up by the drone outside. The high-pitched buzzing changed pitch—the surveillance unit was now focused entirely on the noise and the rapidly moving GPS signal. The drone was fooled.
As soon as the tire disappeared, Julian slammed the hidden cave door shut. He and Eliza flattened themselves against the cold stone floor, tucked into a small niche near the Ancestral Altar. They were holding their breath.
Sol-Ah Takes the Bait
Back in her sterile corporate monitoring room, Sol-Ah watched the signal. The initial static near the mountain had suddenly changed. It was now a powerful, rapidly moving signal, complete with sharp spikes of acceleration and impact reports—the clear signature of a vehicle crashing and tumbling down a ravine.
"They're running," Sol-Ah announced, a cold smile touching her lips. "They've panicked and crashed the vehicle on the lower road. Send the ground team to the recovery point immediately. I want the vehicle and the occupants secured, dead or alive."
Sol-Ah had taken the bait perfectly. The frantic, chaotic signal confirmed her belief that "Julian" was a clumsy amateur who had lost control under pressure. She redirected all her focus and all her assets away from the hidden temple and toward the crash site miles away. Their trick had worked.
The Unsettling Touch
Eliza and Julian remained pressed against the stone, listening to the drone retreat, its sound fading as it followed the crash site. The adrenaline was slowly draining away, replaced by the deep exhaustion of the past 72 hours.
They were still in absolute physical contact, a necessity due to the fading Link Pain. Julian's small body was wedged tightly against the muscular mass of Eliza's host body. Eliza felt the slight, quick rhythm of Julian's heart beating against her back, a fragile thing hidden inside her powerful frame.
"We bought exactly 72 hours," Eliza whispered, the rough stone cool against Julian's neck. "Three days until Sol-Ah realizes the wreckage doesn't contain the transponder chip. Then she will know we are still here."
The Shared Silence
Julian didn't respond immediately. He was processing the fact that Eliza, the woman he thought was simple and weak, had just executed a brilliant piece of corporate deception, leveraging his own business assets against him. He realized that the Memory Swap was making her a terrifyingly effective strategist.
The silence grew deep and intimate. Julian found himself instinctively tracing the outline of Julian's (her own) powerful shoulder muscle through the expensive suit fabric. He was no longer just feeling for the Link Pain; he was seeking the comforting stability of that strong, powerful frame.
The awkwardness was thick. They had just performed a highly stressful, physically demanding task, relying on each other absolutely. The lie of hate was getting harder to maintain when their very survival was built on perfect, intimate teamwork.