I am looking at the Adriatic. The sea is balm for the soul. Apparently some people prefer mountains. They are mentally ill and should be institutionalized.

Which incidentally, raises a very new question. It is not possible, I think, to institutionalize somebody like me at acceptable costs and risks. Somebody like Rademacher? Forget it. Seriously contemplating that is a sign of a need for institutionalization. In fact, even a prison would be prohibitively difficult.

We are partying on the Titanic without knowing it. Or rather without publishing it. The thinking part of the government must know. And so must the Network. And they know that the other knows.

Such are the times. I cannot look at one of the most beautiful sights in the world without contemplating civil war.

I haven’t seen her in years. Well, we went out in college a few times, right before she met that tall, slim guy. Now she is divorced, as I heard from a few mutual friends and through social media. Frankly, I have no idea, how to approach the situation. Her kids might not even remember me. The younger one for sure won’t. But then, I am on the run. I can’t afford to be choosy.

--

I contemplated selling the car before visiting her, but that would mean either stealing a car or proceeding in my own, as well as giving up the redundancy of having a car in storage. And I won’t lead the cops to one of my friends if I can help it. I am ready to kill my enemies and people who know too much, yet don’t take my orders, but I am not a traitor.

I pet my two furry companions on the head.

I have never been here, but I’ve seen images online. This is close to a tourist destination, but not a destination itself, so they have parking space, but it is just a dusty plot of ground. I even remember to wear a large, in my case almost empty, backpack to not raise suspicions by having no visible luggage. I need not ring the bell. They are sitting on the porch.

P: Hi, Zora.

Z: You look changed.

P: You don’t.

I am aware that that is the polite thing to say to a lady. But it is not necessary to bent the truth in this case. Her jet-black hair had never been natural. The rest of her looked more defined, but not really changed.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

„Cats!“. The kids, Stjepan and Natalija, race towards us. That I have no problem with the names after years should tell you that there are old scars.

They hesitate a bit. I put the basket with my furry friend down.

P: You can pet them gently. I haven’t been knowing them for a long time. We met during the troubles.

Z: I didn’t take you for a pet person.

P: I wasn’t. A lot has happened. I ended up in an evacuated town.

Z: They were just left behind?

P: In this particular case, no. Their owner never made it out of town.

I look at the children. Her gaze follows mine.

Z: Probably not a story to be told in fron of the door. Come in. Coffee?

P: Yes, please.

Z: A lot of milk and sugar?

P: Yes, please.

She remembers.

--

I am not lieing to her. But I’ve been leaving out some stuff. I am pretty sure that she has noticed that, but probably not my reasons.

Z: So, you’ve become a wizzard and fought monsters.

P: More detected monsters. The fighting was a result of our failures.

Z: This is a tall tale.

I take her coffee pot into my inventory. She is very good at controlling her face, but her eyes widen. And I can read auras.

Z: Where?

I put it back onto the table.

P: I could do the same thing with the whole table. Do you want me to?

Z: I … Hell, yes.

I do exactly that.

P: It even stops time to put things in storage. I think I won’t need a fridge anymore. Except for ice cubes.

Z: How did this happen?

P: Somebody within these mysterious organizations put out a video game to train people in the magic you need to detect monsters without telling them that the premise of the game was a contingency plan for real life.

Z: Do you know how powerless we felt? My office closed down and they encouraged us to find a place where we wouldn’t need rations. I put friends from the country side into my apartment in the city and put the children into the car.

P: I met monsters that took a cannon to put down and got into situations I considered hopeless. But I always could fight back or had fought back. So, no, honestly answering, I don’t know how you felt.

Z: Like when I was fleeing again, like in my teenage years, only that nothing was truly safe.

What can you tactfully say to that? Play the nerd card.

P: Technically, during the whole cold war …

Z: But that did not seem real.

P: Would you have liked to fight monsters?

Z: Well… No, let’s admit it. Yes, I would.