Monster Like You

Epilogue

The third floor of Cerberus Corps headquarters was unusually quiet. Frightening events occurred simultaneously in several areas of the UK. Their synchronicity made one suspect sabotage on the part of the magicians. All the available employees left on business trips, so we missed Kiaran.

But Gervase, despite the global crisis, devoted quite a lot of time to me. All the necessary documents had already been signed, so we just had to say goodbye, but he did not fail to once again ask the question that I had heard from him quite often over the past two weeks:

"Are you sure of your decision? Maybe it was worth limiting yourself to a long vacation? We could arrange this as a leave to care for a newborn. That would be enough time for you to get your feelings in order."

"My feelings are fine, Gervase," I assured him with a smile, as in our previous conversations. "It's just that Cerberus Corps and I are no longer on the way. And you understand why."

"To be honest, I don't understand," Gervase admitted, also smiling. "And I'll never understand. But this is your life. And I am grateful to you for Nathaniel's life."

"You authorized our attempt," I said. "Although we risked it."

"At my age, risking a career is not so scary anymore. And besides," he squinted slyly. "I suspect you would have forced them to do it even if I had forbidden it. And knowing Kiaran and Elsdon, I'm sure they would agree."

I couldn't argue with that. Even after listening to my arguments in the elevator, they were imbued with the idea of saving the real Nathaniel. Elsdon wanted to try to do something more grandiose with the help of the Arch than boring probe exploration. And Kiaran... even if circumstances made me doubt his attitude towards Nathaniel, he proved that the life of a friend is more precious to him than his career.

The whole idea was risky. Elsdon needed an extremely precise adjustment of the Arch, I made him calculate and recheck everything ten times. Kiaran and I watched the camera footage of that evening, probably a hundred times, planning our actions by seconds. Rea, without whom we risked transferring only a lifeless corpse to our time, also prepared for a very long time, trying to determine Nathaniel's injuries and the most necessary help from the recording of the attempt.

We had to do it in four minutes and fifteen seconds. We were preparing for all ten days that remained before the convergence of the streams. And as a result, we did everything in three minutes.

Elsdon opened a portal to the past. Kiaran logged into the system and turned off the cameras. Elsdon opened another portal: a spatial one, from the ritual hall of the magic department to the laboratory of geneticists. Rea did the most necessary things with lightning speed so that we could safely move Nathaniel through the spatial portal back to the Arch. And after that, we returned to our own time, where Nathaniel was already waiting for the medical service team along with resuscitation equipment. Right in the ritual hall of magicians, which Elsdon's colleagues were very dissatisfied with. But the main thing is that we succeeded.

In this operation, I turned out to be the most useless person, but this is the fate of all analysts: our job is to come up with. I went with the others for only one reason: everyone who passed through the Arch took a big risk, I couldn't encourage them to do it, and then sit out in safety.

"At least come in and say goodbye to him," Gervase suggested, pulling me out of my memories.

"I wanted to, but the hospital said that he was allowed to go home. It didn't seem right to break in there."

The director grinned, looking at me reproachfully, and I was embarrassed. Of course, it was just an excuse. I was afraid to meet Nathaniel Fritz Bond. I was afraid that if he spoke, looked into his eyes, and the threads of the web would not let me go.