22:59

22:34

The five minutes the elevator took to the 45th floor seemed like an eternity to Roger.

Ten Years Ago

Roger entered the Offenders squad with barely a passing grade after six months of training. Literally slipped through a narrow crack, like a sly fox. In six years of medical school, he had not been taught what a good Offender should know, and if the practical tasks of driving came to him relatively easily, then the psychological aspects of the work were almost impossible for him to comprehend.

This had been predictable, after all, he cared too much about the lives of all mankind to simply, at one point, become the person Medicol made them to be—cold, calculating, ruthless Offenders, ready to use the fenders or bumpers of cars to attack not only adult men, but also mothers with small children and old people.

Not surprisingly, over the next few years, Roger was not favored by his superiors, appointing him to the most difficult areas, wanting to check what he was capable of, then to the simplest areas, brushing him off as irrelevant.

Roger had never been as moved by the problems of his family as by the difficulties at work, and he could never explain to himself why. He remained calm and indifferent when Sandra, whom he had met and married at the institute, just gave birth to their only daughter Lily and fell into postpartum depression from which she could never get out of. He then sent the two of them to his wife's parents, and he himself became addicted to gin and ice. Sandra, on the other hand, was constantly on pills, supporting the spark of life in her, which, it seemed, was always about to go out. She did not want and did not know how to live. She was not interested in anything, did not love anything. When Lily began to speak, Sandra suddenly became interested in her little daughter. For several years she was like a crazy mother and did not even let Roger near Lily. Not feeling fear for her own life, and not even wanting to continue it, she, like a doting umbrella, protected her daughter. Lily, on the other hand, grew up capricious and sickly, justifying her own mother's madness and winding it up even more. The only bad point in their relationship happened the summer after graduation when he spent three months alone with his parents. Sandra and Lily were still resting at the house of his wife's family at the time. He almost divorced her then.

The day when Roger joined the Offenders was the day that Lily became five years old. On that day, he stayed at work late and arrived almost at the end what was supposed to have been a celebration. He did not know exactly what happened that day, but the relationship between his wife and daughter had come to an end: Sandra returned to her pills and Lily closed herself up.

When Lily turned ten, there was another turning point in Roger's career—he was informed that he could be fired if he did not get his act together and start giving his best. It was then that Roger decided to resume his meetings with Dr. Peterson, who, as in his years of friendship with a glass of gin, helped him to understand himself. They had long conversations, which eventually led to the fact that Roger became a completely different person—able to leave sentiment behind the door of his work car. Hard. Direct. Knowing what he wanted. And very soon Roger found himself in good standing with his superiors, and when an accident occurred that claimed two lives, his former leader was removed and Roger was appointed in his place.

When the elevator doors opened, Christian appeared in front of his eyes as suddenly as the guy who had fallen from the 45th floor.

"Good evening, Mr. Stone," he greeted Roger icily, his hands in his pockets. Roger nodded, and his eyes pointed to the bar stool.

Christian hesitated, pushing the chair away from the table. Finally, sat up, stared in front of him and exhaled profoundly. Roger slid the menu tablet over to him and leaned back in his chair, arms folded across his chest. The young man began swiping through the pages, either trying to stall for time, or not daring to order alcohol with the boss.