Monster Like You

Chapter 20

They say you can't enter the same river twice, but in the six weeks that the hybrid of Nathaniel Bond and the nameless chameleon worked with us, I began to believe that we would succeed. Of course, everything has changed. Kiaran was now the senior investigator, and Nathaniel actually took the place in the team that used to belong to him. He no longer wore a uniform and allowed himself to shave every other time, his hair more often looked disheveled than combed, and he did not miss the opportunity to be sarcastic, sometimes infuriating Kiaran. But he still remembered about our favorite coffee and tea, was completely immersed in the investigation and never failed anyone from the team during this time.

For the first two weeks, Nathaniel was wary, and I myself was constantly waiting for a trick from him. Harsh words, ambiguous behavior. Escape, after all. And the fact that I was now looking closely at Kiaran, wondering if he might be Penn's accomplice, made me behave more restrained. Perhaps because of that, it seemed to me that Kiaran was also behaving somehow wrong.

However, soon the ice gradually began to melt. Nathaniel more and more often arranged playful verbal skirmishes with Kiaran, smiled at me as he once did: politely, but distantly, behaved more and more calmly. He was gloomy only when it came to his prototype.

The corps arranged for him to have a new passport and social security number. He remained Nathaniel Bond, although I suggested he take a different name. For the sake of secrecy, he agreed to change only part: he used to be Nathaniel Fritz Bond, and now he has become Nathaniel Jake Bond. The date of birth was also changed for fidelity. Nathaniel named the new one immediately and without hesitation. I didn't know what exactly she meant to him.

Of course, his appearance in our ranks raised questions. Only two years have passed, and there were enough employees who remembered the former Nathaniel. But working in Cerberus Corps quickly taught people what questions to ask and what not to ask. Several times they tried to talk to me about this topic. With Kiaran, for sure, too. Gervase told both of us to answer evasively: "What kind of coincidences do not happen in life." And everyone understood that there was something behind the appearance of Nathaniel Jake Bond, but knowing about it is harmful for a career.

I was waiting for those who created Nathaniel to somehow manifest themselves, but everything was quiet. Elsdon again completely immersed himself in the project with the Arch and, probably, some other experiments. I have crossed paths with Sincere twice at work all the time, and outside of the workflow, he did not show any interest in any of us.

We talked to Rea more often, but she was noticeably shunned by Nathaniel. Or so it seemed to me? Before, I just didn't look closely, and now I constantly remember her words that British army was extremely cruelly annexing. Wasn't that what the "dark story" in Nathaniel Bond's life was connected with, because of which he left the service? It was said that it concerned magicians, who also practiced magic before joining. True, they called magicians shamans.

I didn't dare to ask, because all the questions about Nathaniel Bond caused his double sharp rejection. But it wasn't as obvious to everyone as it was to me.

That evening we were returning from another business trip and were already approaching the city limits, the lights of the outskirts of London could be seen ahead.

The investigation took place only eight hours away from the city, so we preferred to go on our own, rather than mess with trains and car rentals on the spot. Nathaniel has been driving for the entire eight hours, but we have already found out that he is practically not tired. He needed about three hours of sleep a day, so he turned out to be indispensable for night duty.

When he finished dictating the report, what Kiaran preferred to do on the way for the sake of saving time, he exhaled in a relaxed way and squinted at Nathaniel.