Chapter 19 – Sense of revenge

City hospital. A man wakes to the sound of movement in the ward and slowly opens his eyes.

He looks around and sees the familiar Nurse Two standing near his bed with a tray. She notices that he is awake and turns toward him, telling him Well now, dear, hurry up and eat your breakfast. You’ll be discharged soon, maybe even today.

At that moment Nurse One – Katya – rushes into the room. When she realizes the patient is looking at her, she immediately blushes, nods awkwardly and moves closer to her colleague, asking Galya, why didn’t you tell me you were coming to him? Galya shrugs with mild confusion and replies I don’t understand why I should have. I just brought him food. Katya lowers her voice but cannot hide her excitement. You don’t understand. Just look at him… his body, his eyes. I think I’m in love. Galya rolls her eyes and reminds her Katya, you fall in love with every handsome man and then complain that they never return the feeling. Katya insists No, this is different. Look at him. He’s like Apollo. Galya glances toward the patient and finally admits Well, I’ll agree with one thing – he does look like a stripper. Too perfect. All right, enough talking. He can hear us.

The man, still sitting in the bed, slowly nods without even turning his head toward them, calmly confirming the last remark. Katya freezes, her face turning red, then rushes out of the room in embarrassment. Galya exhales quietly and apologizes, telling him Please forgive her. That’s just her nature – kind, carefree and always falling in love. The man answers calmly It’s all right. I’m used to attention and to people judging only my appearance. In my work it actually helps. Galya studies him for a moment, then decides to tease him slightly, asking And if it’s not a secret, what exactly do you do? You’re not a stripper or a model, are you? The man smiles faintly and replies No. I’m a government official. I can’t say more than that. Galya laughs softly and replies Well, not only handsome but important too. I won’t distract you then. Eat before the breakfast gets cold.

She heads toward the door. Just before leaving, the patient adds calmly that she should tell Katya she is beautiful as well and clearly has a wonderful inner world, finishing with maybe she should also try to notice the inner world of the men she falls for. Galya nods with a friendly smile and answers Thank you, I’ll definitely tell her. She’ll be happy to hear it.

As soon as the nurse leaves the room, the man takes the remote control and turns on the television mounted on the wall opposite the bed. He flips through several channels and eventually stops on the news. He lifts the bowl of porridge and begins eating. A moment later the broadcast switches to breaking news about an attack on a military base. The man stops chewing. Slowly he sets the bowl aside, reaches for his phone and begins dialing numbers one after another. No answer. Another number – silence. A third – nothing. After a short pause he calls a different contact, the curator in the police administration. Someone answers.

He speaks calmly, Hello. This is Third. I saw the news about the attack on the base. No one from my team is responding.

The reply is immediate and cold: The unit has been eliminated. You are the only survivor. The unit no longer exists. All records concerning you have been erased. You are free.

The line goes dead.

Third remains frozen in place, the phone still in his hand. Images flash through his mind – the unit landing together in the desert, eating at the same table, drinking beer after operations, surviving dangerous situations that later turned into stories and laughter. His teeth clench. The phone cracks in his grip. Plastic splits apart and falls to the floor while thin streams of blood begin to run down from the hand that crushed it.

He slowly rises from the bed, lets the hospital gown fall to the floor and wipes the blood from his palm with it. His body is perfectly built and covered with tattoos, stopping just short of the face, neck and hands. On the left side of his chest, inside a shield, the number three. A large bandage covers the mark on his neck where Vann’s dart once struck. He pulls on a green shirt, jeans and military boots, throws on a hoodie and leaves the ward without looking back.

Later he sits in a tattoo studio. The artist carefully draws a thick red line through the number three and inks a new number above it: one. The artist glances at him and asks What’s the idea?

Third answers with a single word, Survivor.

In a hostel room across the city Drogo sits on the edge of a narrow bed with a tablet in his hands. On the screen a headline flashes across the news page – Terrorist attack or special operation? Beneath it a photograph shows burning hangars and soldiers’ bodies being loaded into vehicles. One of the faces is unmistakable. Cerberus. Drogo opens the article and scrolls quickly until he reaches the embedded video. A reporter appears on the screen, speaking about the number of casualties, about the attack itself and the possible attackers, listing vague characteristics but offering no real information. Behind her flashing lights cut through smoke while a restless crowd gathers at the edge of the scene, people stretching their necks to watch the aftermath.

Suddenly the presence inside Drogo surges forward, almost shouting Back. Rewind. I saw something. Drogo immediately drags the timeline backward, stopping the video and enlarging the frame. He studies the crowd again, zooming closer, his eyes narrowing as he tries to distinguish the faces among the blurred figures. Then he freezes. Among the onlookers he recognizes two silhouettes standing slightly apart from the others – Gobby and German.

Drogo stares at the screen for a moment, unable to believe what he is seeing, then whispers That’s impossible… How? A slow smile begins to spread across his face. Well, well… my dear friend. You’re alive. That explains everything. Your ability didn’t pass to me because you never died.

The presence within him stirs again, asking So, shall we go there? Drogo remains silent for a moment, considering the idea, his fingers tightening slightly around the tablet. Then he answers calmly I want to. But no. For now the Ruler’s domain is in chaos, and that’s where I need to move first. Gobby, as practice has shown, is not simple. We’ll solve that puzzle later, after we pay a visit to the Ruler.

The last words leave his mouth almost as a whisper. Something changes in his expression at that moment. His gaze sharpens, the corners of his mouth pull back slightly, and the same predatory grin appears on both Drogo’s face and the essence within him. He has never looked like this before. Something electric moves through him. The calculating maniac disappears, replaced by something more primal – a hunter, an animal sensing the beginning of the hunt.

Drogo tosses the tablet onto the bed, stands up, grabs a leather jacket from the hanger and walks out of the room. Outside a sports car waits in the street. He gets behind the wheel, the engine roars to life, and the car disappears down the road.

In the professor’s living room German, Ulrich and the professor’s wife sit in front of the television watching the news. Smoke, flashing lights and footage of soldiers’ bodies being loaded into vehicles fill the screen. The professor’s wife shakes her head in disbelief and whispers What a horror… and in our time. How is something like this even possible? Ulrich watches the broadcast with quiet approval, clearly satisfied with what he sees, while German behaves exactly as one would expect from German – sitting slightly forward, calmly writing something in his notebook. The professor’s wife glances at him and asks German, what are you writing? Without looking up he answers The sequence of events. She frowns, confused, and asks Why would you need that? German replies calmly To reduce risk next time.

The moment the words leave his mouth he stops writing. His expression changes slightly. The Logician within him instantly calculates the consequences of what he has just said to someone who does not know they were responsible for the attack. Without hesitation he corrects himself, adding To reduce the risk of ending up in a situation like this. It’s terrible that things like this happen nowadays. The professor’s wife nods in agreement, satisfied with the explanation.

In the kitchen Gobby sits at the table eating large amounts of food, though without any enthusiasm. The professor stands nearby watching him quietly. After a moment he asks Gobby, how are you? Gobby shrugs slightly and answers Everything’s fine. We did well… I guess. The professor studies him carefully and then says When you finish eating, could we go up to my office and talk for a bit? Gobby nods slowly and replies Yeah… I guess.

A little later they sit opposite each other in the professor’s office. The professor looks at him for a moment before speaking. Gobby, I’ll be honest with you. Over the last month your life has changed completely. How do you feel inside these changes? Gobby shrugs again and answers I don’t know. Probably normal. I mean… I’m doing the right things. Aren’t I?

The professor leans back slightly and replies If we look at your life from the perspective of social norms, then there is nothing about it that could be called “right.” Not exactly wrong either – it simply doesn’t correspond to what society considers normal. Gobby looks down for a moment and says Yeah… that’s exactly what I don’t understand. From an anime perspective I’m some kind of superhero fighting evil. At least that’s what I was told. But two months ago I was just a chubby guy who liked snacks. So it’s hard for me to answer what I actually feel right now.

The professor nods slowly. I understand. You still don’t know what comes next or what kind of future you want. Gobby thinks for a moment and then replies Exactly. The only thing I know for sure is that I don’t want to be separated from Deda again.

The professor pauses briefly and then asks By the way… would it be possible for me to speak with him? Gobby agrees, and together they begin the process of entering the trance again – this time without the help of any medication.

Darkness surrounds the throne of Deda. The professor stands before the massive wooden figure and calls quietly to him, asking My friend, are you here? Deda’s voice answers at once from the throne, calm and familiar: Of course. I was always here, and now I am here with Gobby as well.

The professor looks at him carefully and continues Since you are with him all the time, tell me – what kind of changes are these? Deda pauses for a moment before answering, his tone thoughtful. I am not the specialist that you are, my friend, but I have noticed one problem that perhaps you will be able to solve. Do you remember the first day when Gobby left that room after hypnosis and found a note on the table? It said: “Sorry, Gobby, but for the next two weeks you are my target.” The professor nods, remembering. Deda continues From that moment everything began. German, sharpening the abilities of his Logician, kept placing Gobby into disadvantageous situations – small accidents, distractions, moments where he could stumble or lose focus – all so German could approach and strike. Do you even remember the pizza delivery? When he mixed the sedative into the food? Ah… that German.

The professor replies quietly Yes, I remember.

Deda leans forward slightly and continues At that time Gobby began to feel something new – excitement and adrenaline. Every day we tried to figure out how we would survive if such a situation became real, if instead of the kubotan German used as a final strike there had been a real weapon. Gobby barely slept during those two weeks while we searched for a solution. Eventually we understood something important – trying to win through attention or by predicting German’s moves would never work. He is simply more cunning. So we decided to change the problem itself. Instead of predicting his attacks, we started adapting to them.

Deda gestures toward his own wooden body. Gobby began to refine his ability – transformation. That idea came from me. After all, I am a tree, and a tree adapts to its environment when it must. Gobby started increasing the speed of transformation in specific areas of the body, learning to make vulnerable places invulnerable. Gradually we reached the point where, during German’s attacks, the place where the strike was aimed would change in less than a second. The structure hardened. The impact point became untouchable.

Deda’s voice softens slightly. During those weeks Gobby experienced something pleasant – adrenaline mixed with excitement and joy. But real combat is different. In real battle those feelings disappear and never return. There is only emptiness. Destruction always leaves emptiness. The adrenaline remains, but the joy does not. And because of that Gobby now feels a kind of hunger – a hunger for those emotions. But we both know they will not return. This is not anime, where heroes feel happiness after victory. Here each victory increases the emptiness. Eventually it can consume a person.

He pauses before adding more quietly Gobby will not be the same as he was two months ago. But that does not necessarily mean it is bad. Emptiness can always be filled with something. You and I are here for that. And now German as well. Would you like me to show you something?

The professor, pulled from his thoughts, answers Yes, of course. Deda rises from the throne and slowly turns around. The professor sees that the entire back of the wooden figure has become black and smooth – like wood that has been deliberately charred and then polished.

The professor studies it carefully and asks What is this?

Deda answers calmly You know that I am Gobby’s instinctive part. When something happens to him, it reflects in me. Before, when Gobby received injuries that left scars on his consciousness, some of my branches or roots would break or wither. The damage destroyed parts of memory, fragments of emotion. Small stumps remained, like branches cut from a tree. Later, if something good happened to Gobby, new branches could grow in those places. That was how we understood life.

His voice grows quieter. But now something different is happening. The branches and roots do not break anymore. They simply fall away from me, leaving no scars behind. I cannot explain it yet, but I know that Gobby and I are changing. Still, do not worry, my friend. All the warm memories and feelings remain protected in my heart – and no one can reach that place.

As Deda finishes speaking, the trance begins to weaken. Far away, in the professor’s office, Gobby’s body stirs as he slowly wakes from hypnosis.