LIBERI FATALIS: The Therianthrope Chronicles

by Eddie-E

A crossover between Ace Combat, Katmandu and another, surprise famous furry comic. A Japanese scientist during the onset of World War II in Europe devises a groundbreaking theory of evolution whose effects will resonate not only on Earth but also throughout the universe for centuries to come. Rated M for language and mature situations.

25. HONEY TRAP

ACT XXV: HONEY TRAP

An interesting life could always use a little seduction, confidence, ambition, and danger.

Jim Sarbh

February 8th, AD 1955, Texas Western College of The University of Texas (now University of Texas at El Paso), Classroom, El Paso, Texas, United States of America, 01:50 PM

-"Can any of you tell me what a mitochondrion is?"-

This question was asked by Phillip Madison, who normally worked as a senior assistant to Dr. Yoshinori Komatsu at Fort Bliss, but also had an extra job as a natural science professor at Western Texas College. His students, who belonged to the group that was just starting class in the new generation, were listening to the question their teacher was asking, and one student answered that query.

-"A mitochondrion is a small organelle inside our cells that is responsible for energy production. Thus, it is the base of the whole energy system of the cellular energy system, which is crucial for all living beings."- A young male student answered the question.

-"Correct."- Madison told the young man. -"And what else can you tell us about mitochondria, Mr. Barnes?"-

-"Mitochondria have their own DNA, which is inherited from the mother; this particular characteristic makes it singular and also makes it a very interesting subject of genetic studies."-

-"And... anything else you can share with us, Mr. Barnes?"- Phillip Madison asked the student again.

-"I can tell you that the mitochondria is the most complex organelle in the biological system; it has the most DNA organization of all the organelles located in the cell; it can even be compared to a cell-brain."-

The class was silent for a while. Madison was watching the surprised faces of the class who were listening to this conversation, and Madison himself cannot avoid saying something.

-"I must admit that you have a rather... unusual knowledge of the subject for someone who is just beginning a degree in animal biology, Mr. Barnes."-

-"Er, thank you very much for the praise, Mr. Madison."- The young student, named Roger Barnes, responded to the unusual appraisal his mentor was making of him. -"Actually, my dad works in a laboratory doing medical tests, and I've always had an interest in everything related to biology, and that's why I'm taking this degree."- The young man explained the reason for his fascination in the subject.

-"Hope it doesn't go to your head, smart-ass!"-

Another student made an overly rude crack, and the rest of the class started laughing loudly like rabid hyenas. For some people, being smarter than average was a source of ridicule, especially in a place that was not exactly known for producing science people, and that young student was shamed by his classmates because of it.

However, the young student took it in stride, and he just preferred to smile innocently, while letting the bullies who laughed at his expense do it, while he just replied to the question his teacher asked the whole class.

Moments later, the bell indicating the end of the last class of the day rang, which caused all the students to start packing their bags and backpacks to go home, but not before Dr. Madison gave his students one last reminder.

-"Well, that's all for today folks. Don't forget to read Chapter 5 of the textbook and to be here on time for the next class."-

-"Yes, Mr. Madison!"- The students responded to the professor.

Once Dr. Madison dismissed class, the students started leaving the classroom, with some among them, like Roger, going right to the cafeteria to have dinner. Dr. Madison walked alongside his classroom to his office to retrieve a few documents that he forgot, so he would not have to look for them later.

---

February 8th, AD 1955, Texas Western College of The University of Texas (now University of Texas at El Paso), Main Office, El Paso, Texas, United States of America, 02:06 PM

Minutes later, Madison reached the office and opened the door; how was he surprised to find a beautiful woman sitting in front of his desk, apparently reading some papers. The woman wore a nice, but formal suit. She also weared a black skirt that showed her beautiful long legs and she was also holding a black briefcase in her right hand.

Dr. Madison just stood there, about to enter the office, admiring the beauty of the woman sitting right there. She was very attractive, or at least to his tastes. Madison closed the door and started walking towards the woman.

-"Can I help you with something, miss?"- Madison asked the woman, with a friendly tone.

-"I'm here to talk to you, Dr. Madison."- The unknown woman replied.

-"Eh, with me?"- The man, who was approximately 29 years old, inquired rather uneasily. -"What do you want from me, miss, and how do you know my name?"-

-"I am here on behalf of my husband for an offer that might interest you, and I hope you would listen to me, doctor."-

-"That doesn't explain much, miss..."-

The scientist turned college professor responded in a dry and harsh manner, for he knew he could not simply lower his guard in the face of a beautiful woman standing in front of him, and he demanded that the woman identify herself first.

-"First of all, I would like to know your name first."-

-"My name is Kimberly Winston."- The woman responded.

-"And... what did you come here for?"- The professor asked again, trying to keep the friendly tone he had when talking to the woman in mind, but still talking in a terse manner.

-"Well, as I told you beforehand, I'm here on behalf of my husband to offer you an offer, and I think you might be very interested."-

-"What kind of offer are you making me?"-

-"How would you like it if I said I could help you work at the CIA?"-

Hearing the name of the CIA, Madison opened his eyes as wide as he could, because he could not believe that woman knew that he was planning on applying for a job as a forensic biologist at the Central Intelligence Agency, something he had wanted for some time to leave behind all the problems he had to deal with at Fort Bliss in Texas, especially with respect to Dr. Komatsu's project, even though he enjoyed working with that man.

-"Are you serious?"- Madison blurted out a little louder than he expected.

-"Yes, I am."- The woman responded.

Madison took a moment to consider what the woman had told him. After all, it was that he really needed and wanted to work there, and he knew he could do a lot of good. Madison was not going to answer the woman right away.

-"First, I want to know one thing, Ms. Winston."- Madison asked that mysterious woman in front of him in his office at the university where he worked in a firm and uncompromising manner. -"How did you know that I was planning to look for a job at the CIA? That information is supposed to be classified."-

-"My husband, who works at the U.S. Department of Defense, had read about your application to work at the agency, but due to some work schedule issues, he asked me to come on his behalf to see you to talk about the subject."-

-"And what is your husband's name, if I may ask, Ms. Winston?"-

-"Sgt. Joseph Winston, U.S. Army Ranger."-

Dr. Madison was surprised that the woman's husband was a Ranger, although from the experience and training he received since he worked for the army, he knew that he could not be deceived by the credentials that anyone could flaunt before him, considering that the Soviet intelligence services could attempt any dirty trick to obtain classified information from anyone affiliated with the U.S. armed forces. After all, Stalin tried, during the last years of World War II, to kidnap his superior, Dr. Komatsu, in Tokyo by undercover agents working on the payroll of the NKVD, and both his boss and Washington were not going to make the same mistake that the Japanese government did back then.

-"So... your husband is a Ranger, and he also works for the DoD, right?"- The doctor replied, still acting wary towards the woman. -"And how can I be sure that you really are a Ranger's wife, and that your so-called husband, and you, for that matter, are not working for the Russkies?"-

Claudia Mason, who was using Kimberly Winston's identity for the job of getting information from Dr. Phillip Madison's mouth, began clenching her teeth in order to externalize her nervousness, seeing that the doctor turned out to be a harder nut to crack than she thought, and that at any moment, if she didn't watch what she had to say, her mission could end in the blink of an eye... or she could end up in jail accused of being a Russian undercover agent.

-"I assure you that I am a trustworthy person, Dr. Madison, and to prove it, here are my and my husband's IDs."-

As she pulled the paperwork from her purse, she noticed that she was trembling. She knew it was due to her nervousness at being in such a difficult situation she wasn't prepared for, but there was a very slight possibility that the doctor would be able to feel her nervousness. She took a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves, and then handed him the documents.

-"Alright, let's see... Hmmh...well... everything looks legit so far."- Madison said in an authoritarian tone as he read both the papers. -"All right, I'm beginning to believe you're for real, but time will tell for sure."-

-"And you have every right to be skeptical, doctor. After all, consider that Soviet agents may be lurking around here, due to the location of Fort Bliss, and the secret projects being carried out there."-

-"I have every reason in the world to be skeptical about everything that I see. After all, people close to me have had some... not very nice issues with the Russians and anything related to their intelligence services in the past, and I don't want any surprises under my own nose with some Mata Hari-wannabe who wants to get something out of me."-

The doctor said, giving back the identification documents back to the woman, while he started studying again the papers that he had in his hands.

-"But I don't want you to get the wrong idea, Ms. Winston, about me. As someone working for the military, I can't afford to trust just anyone, and I apologize if I may seem too rude to you, miss."-

Claudia, posing as Kimberly Winston, could only agree with the man, knowing that he had his reasons for distrusting any pretty-faced woman who might want to draw near him.

-"I think I understand your concern, Dr. Madison. Anyone would act the same way knowing that the Russians could be spying on you at any time."- She replied in a calm tone. -"And as I told you, I'm here to give you an offer, and not cause any trouble for you."-

-"Then let me ask you this, Miss Winston…"- Dr. Madison said at the woman with a harsh tone. -"Why didn't your husband come here to offer me that job offer for the CIA, instead of sending you, his wife, to do that job?"-

-"As I mentioned, my husband is busy with other things, and because of scheduling conflicts he couldn't come here, so he asked me to go in his name."-

-"In that case, I would prefer that your husband come here to see me in person, rather than sending his wife, or anyone else who does not work directly for the DoD, to deal with official work matters, and even more so when it comes to trying to offer me a job at the CIA."-

Claudia, still under the false identity of Kimberly Winston, did not know how to respond to that. It was obvious that this scientist was not a fool when it came to confidential information, and he would not talk to any stranger, regardless of gender or position. Everything showed that one attempt to obtain information from Dr. Komatsu's main assistant had ended in a complete failure, since it was not foreseen that Dr. Madison would not allow himself to be fooled by a pretty face like Claudia Mason's.

-"So, I guess you don't want to talk with me on the subject of working at the CIA, right?"-

-"If you come with your husband, I may consider it."- Madison responded in a cold manner at the woman, -"Otherwise, I cannot accept a job offer from someone who is not normally authorized to do so, much less the wife of someone who claims to work for the Department of Defense."-

-"If so, can you give me your phone number so that my husband can contact you in the evening and explain the situation?"-

-"As mentioned, I will only consider in-person offers made by authorized DoD personnel. Phone calls are of no use to me, especially if they come from Moscow."-

Dr. Madison was beginning to suspect that the person he was talking to might be a Russian spy, which meant that things could get worse at any time. Seeing that the man was not going to budge, nor allow anyone who he couldn't trust to talk to him, Claudia decided to end the talk and leave the premises as soon as she could, unless she wanted to end up behind bars being mistaken for a spy working for the Soviets, and ruin the whole conspiracy against Komatsu in the process.

-"In that case, I will talk to my husband to see if he can talk to you as soon as his schedule allows. If you'll excuse me, I'll be leaving."- The woman picked up her belongings and paperwork, and quickly walked to the office door to leave the premises as quickly as she could. -"Thank you very much for listening to me anyway."-

-"You are welcome, Miss Winston."-

When the woman left, Phillip Madison had a bad feeling in his mouth. He felt that he was probably being rude to the woman by addressing her in that way, even though she had identified herself as the wife of someone who worked for the U.S. Department of Defense.

But even so, he couldn't let his guard down that easily. Because of his knowledge concerning the incidents that his boss had suffered in Japan during World War II, Madison knew that he could not trust anyone who came to his door and started saying things that would be of interest to him, only to have that person turned out to be a spy, or worse.

And if that meant having to talk harshly to a woman who might be the wife of someone with connections within the U.S. government and that would ruin his own chances of career advancement, then so be it. Even if he wanted to stay away from all the issues surrounding his boss, he, as a matter of professional integrity, had to keep silent about the secrets that had been entrusted to him, even if it might harm him in the long run.

The only thing he didn't know was that this woman was not a Soviet spy, but the wife of someone he knew very well. Not that it mattered in the end, since Claudia was able to go unnoticed because Madison didn't know her physically, unlike her husband. The fact that she wore a wig and clothes that helped her avoid being immediately identified as Richard Mason's wife helped her greatly.

---

February 8th, AD 1955, Northwest El Paso (Mason's family home/Main room), El Paso, Texas, United States of America, 02:50 PM

Upon returning home, Claudia Mason immediately went to her room, and she took off the clothes that her husband, on behalf of Major Fitzroy and Catherine Walburg, had worn in the failed attempt to obtain information from Dr. Phillip Madison. Her face of disillusionment and irritation was more than evident, and for good reason: She was about that close to being arrested if she had persisted in talking to that man, who turned out to be an unapproachable person, so the honey trap scheme did not work with Dr. Madison.

At that time, her husband, Richard Mason, who at the time had gone out to work as an English teacher in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, had returned home. When he saw his wife's car, he knew that Claudia had already returned home, and he went straight to the room to talk to her.

-"Honey, I'm home!"-

Claudia did not react to her husband's shout. She was sitting in her chair in their room, lost in her own thoughts.

-"Claudia, are you OK?"- Richard Mason asked. -"First, it's good to see that you're okay, but, did something bad happen between you and Dr. Madison? What could you get from him?"-

Then she suddenly awakened from her thoughts, and she looked at her husband right away.

-"Nothing. That Dr. Madison turned out to be a tough cookie, and not only I couldn't get a damn thing out of him, but I almost came to the point where he was suspicious of me, and I just walked away before he could had called the cops, or take matters into his own hands."- Claudia responded in clear frustration.

-"Well, you know, you can't blame yourself."- Richard Mason responded as he moved to his bed next to the chair his wife was and sat down. -"We all knew it wasn't going to be easy to get information from that man, and at least it's good to know that you're okay, that's what matters to me more than anything else."-

-"I know that, but it's hard to believe that I can't do anything about it,"- Claudia responded. -"Everything seemed to be going very well at first, until he began to suspect that I was working for the Soviets, and asked me why my husband wasn't the one who should have talked to Dr. Madison, and all that, until I decided to call it quits before things turned worse for me."-

Mason sighed a bit, and then he responded with some unusual calm.

-"What we do know is this is not as easy as it looks in the movies, that's for sure."-

-"And what do you plan to do about this, Richard?"- The wife said in a very upset manner at her husband. -"You don't want me to try again and talk with that man with another pretext at hand, do you?"-

Richard tried to think of another idea he could come up with to overcome that situation, but seeing that trying to talk to Dr. Madison would be practically a mission impossible, or even suicidal, whereas he would not be willing to fall into classic spying tricks, and also bearing in mind that his wife was not a spy to begin with, the only thing he could do was to talk to Major Fitzroy by phone to tell him about that setback and ask him for some other alternative plan.

-"At the moment, nothing, but I need to talk to the people who are helping me in this, and ask them for some backup plan, and depending on what they tell me, you may have to do something else, or nothing at all."-

-"I just hope it's not something more dangerous than what I did, and hopefully I'd never have to do this kind of crazy shit again!"- Claudia responded angrily, because that bad experience in trying to draw out information from that man had made her reluctant to try again.

-"I understand your frustration and your anger, honey, but let's not make this whole thing turn into a mess."-

-"And what if you and your friends doesn't have a better plan for me? Just what will I do? Just go and try to talk to that guy AGAIN?"- Claudia said this in an angry and upset manner.

-"I don't think you're going to have to talk to him again. Just let me talk with my contacts, and I'll tell you what you might have to do."- Afterwards, Richard walked up to his wife, and kissed her on the forehead. -"Just give me some time, honey."-

-"For our sake, I hope so, Richard."-

After that, Claudia Mason rose from her chair, and after dressing in her usual home clothes, she walked to the door of the room to leave.

-"I will go to the kitchen and prepare the meal, maybe that will help me to forget all this madness that happened today."- Claudia told her husband Richard with a frustrated expression in her face. -"You try to talk with your friends, and I hope they don't think about putting me in a similar risk again."-

-"Don't worry, I'll talk to them, dear."-

Claudia Mason left her bedroom and walked to the kitchen in order to prepare the meal for the rest of the family. Meanwhile, Richard Mason, after hearing what happened to his wife at the Western Texas College, laid back in his bed to rest, and at the same time he was thinking what to say to Maj. Fitzroy.

Although it was possible that the Major had already contemplated that something like this might happen, he knew that Fitzroy wouldn't be too pleased that Dr. Madison was more unsociable than they imagined. Even knowing in advance what the scientist's personality was like, Mason never imagined that Madison would be more cunning and farsighted, and trying to gain secrets from him through unconventional methods would be next to impossible.

RING! RING!

After about fifteen minutes passed, Richard Mason, by a bizarre coincidence, received a phone call from Maj. Fitzroy.

-"Hello?"- Mason answered.

-"Hello there, Dr. Mason!"- The loud Texan officer said with his thick local accent. -"Hope you have a good day!"-

-"I hope so too, sir."- Mason replied with a depressed inflection in his voice. -"However, your definition of a good day differs from mine at this time."-

-"Why do you say that, Dr. Mason?"- Fitzroy asked the scientist. -"Let me guess, did something went wrong with your wife's attempt to get information from Dr. Madison?"-

-"To be honest, yes."- Mason responded in a dry manner. -"Madison turned out to be someone who can't have secrets taken away from him in any way, not even by using a pretty face like my wife's, and she was this close to being arrested if my wife decided to get out of there as soon as possible before Madison considered calling the police, thinking she might have been a Russian secret agent."-

-"What a shame."- Fitzroy sounded disappointed. -"I don't know what to say to you, Dr. Mason, but at least it's good to know that your wife is safe."-

-"Well, at least that's a positive thing, no doubt about it, sir, but that doesn't preclude the fact that the plan failed, and I think we need to find another assistant from whom to get information."-

-"Yeah, you are right, and I had already factored in that possibility, in case Dr. Madison decided not to open his mouth in any way."- Fitzroy reassured Mason. -"Anyway, Komatsu has about seven assistants that he completely trusts, so that leaves six to try to talk to."-

-"Yes, I know that, although it would have helped us a lot if we had learned something from Dr. Madison, who is the senior aide, than to try to talk to the other six, who may not know as much about the project as Madison does."-

-"And may I know the names of Dr. Komatsu's other six assistants?"- The Major asked to Dr. Mason. -"Unfortunately, I don't have the data with their names at hand, since I'm at home right now, and I left the folder with that information in my office at the base, so if you have that data, I would appreciate it very much if you would tell me now by phone."-

-"Sure, here it goes, sir:"-

Darrel Driver.

Frank Woods.

Ed Johnson.

Nick Larkin.

James Reece.

Mel Thompson.

-"Yes, I remembered those names."- Then, the soldier gave more instructions about the next steps of his plan. -"In that case, I will talk to you tomorrow again tonight at 8 PM to tell you what the next steps will be regarding who your wife should talk with any of these six guys, and where it would be good for her to meet with them."-

-"Excuse me for what I'm about to say, Major, but I don't think my wife wants to try this again, with all due respect."- Mason retorted in a serious way at his senior officer. -"The whole experience seems to had scared the hell out of her, and I don't know if she ever wants to getting involved in the honey trap business once again."-

-"I know, but if we don't have Claudia involved in it, it's much harder for us to get to the bottom of what Komatsu is working on."- Fitzroy insisted to his subordinate. -"We need a woman to get close to these assistant guys, and Claudia is the only one we have at hand."-

Mason, visibly and soundly upset by that man's attitude toward him and his wife Claudia, replied in a very bold way to the Texan Major, regardless the consequences for him.

-"In that case, why don't you ask your secretary to do that job too, huh?"- The doctor said aloud to Fitzroy by phone. -"She seems to know a thing or two about espionage, and I don't plan to risk my wife, who knows nothing about such things, on another mission where she could end up in jail, or worse."-

The otherwise belligerent Major Fitzroy, who would not otherwise have tolerated such a manner of addressing him or his employees, strangely did not say a word about the suggestion that Catherine Walburg, his personal secretary, should be the person doing that job, and not Claudia Mason, Dr. Mason's wife.

And after that very awkward break, Fitzroy resumed the conversation and gave his response on the matter, strangely enough in a more neutral and reassuring tone.

-"I'll have to think about it, Dr. Mason,"- the Major said with a smile of his face, a smile that Dr. Mason could vaguely feel, tone-wise, through his phone. -"I'll talk to Catherine tomorrow morning, and see what she thinks of your idea, and how willing she would be to participate directly in this endeavor. Although to be honest, I doubt very much that she wants to participate in this as well, since Dr. Komatsu's assistants seem to know her very well, considering she is the one in charge of contacting me for anything related to the lab."-

Mason was more than surprised to learn that Major Matthew Fitzroy was actually serious about his proposal to involve Catherine directly in the conspiracy, rather than her just supporting both of them from the comfort of her desk with ideas, or in the case of that last attempt with Dr. Madison, lending clothes for Dr. Mason's wife to wear.

-"I didn't expect you would consider my idea seriously, sir. I thought you might think it was rather insane to bring your secretary directly into this."-

-"In fact, it's a good idea, doc, and having another woman in this would make things much easier for us."-

-"So I guess my wife won't be completely out of the picture, right?"-

-"At the moment, no. But, to avoid stressing her further, and thus ruining our plans if she makes an unforeseen mistake, it is best to let Catherine take care of the next assistant on her own, and if necessary, call your wife to take care of the others, or to help Catherine when needed."- Fitzroy replied with a very eager tone to Richard. -"How do you like my idea, Dr. Mason?"-

Richard Mason considered at length the Major's suggestion of letting Claudia, his wife, rest from any work related to the whole conspiracy, and that the next "mission" be done by Catherine Walburg in her place, and only to call Claudia if necessary or to help the secretary in due course, as well.

-"I don't see anything wrong with that, Major,"- Mason replied. -"But I'd rather talk to my wife about your idea, and if she says otherwise, I'll let you know right away. I do not want to engage my wife in matters that are not her concern where she might be in danger, and she is very important to me, if you would appreciate that, Major Fitzroy."-

-"Well, in that case I will talk to Catherine, and in case she also decides to refuse, I will also let you know so that you can prepare your wife to work with the next assistant."-

-"Roger that."-

-"Is there anything else you want to tack on, doc?"-

-"Nothing more, sir. I'll talk to my wife later on about this."-

-"Understood, doctor. Then, I look forward for you later. See you soon!"-

And with that, Major Matthew Fitzroy hung up the phone, leaving Richard Mason quite bewildered, and quite amused by the idea of Catherine Walburg, the secretary, involved directly in the conspiracy, and to add an extra to Mason's surprise was the fact that Major Fitzroy was serious about his proposal, something he didn't expected to happen.

But even so, the fact that his wife was not completely out of the Major's plans made Richard somewhat uncomfortable, even if she was not going to participate in whatever Fitzroy and his secretary Catherine were planning on their own, as he did not want to endanger his wife in a mission focused on seeking retribution against Dr. Komatsu, his former boss, and also just to satisfy the racist whims of that Texan soldier.

-"I just hope that woman Catherine is a better spy than my Claudia, and that she doesn't have to get involved in this shit again."-

---

February 8th, AD 1955, Northwest El Paso (Mason's family home/Kitchen), El Paso, Texas, United States of America, 02:50 PM

After finishing talking with Major Matthew Fitzroy, Richard Mason went to the kitchen, where his wife Claudia, the maid Isabel Dominguez, and his two children, Frederick and Louise, were waiting for him to eat as a family.

Mason was really craving for some food at that moment. After all that talk with Fitzroy, he had a lot of things he had to sort on his mind, not just the worries about his wife's involvement in the plot against Dr. Komatsu, but also the risks involved in that whole conspiracy itself. The fact that Dr. Madison proved to be more astute in foreseeing that someone might try to extract information from him highlighted the stakes involved in the whole conspiracy, and there was a chance that Dr. Komatsu's other assistants would be just as smart in anticipating a similar scenario.

But for the moment, he just wanted to forget all that, even for a few brief moments, and instead he wanted to concentrate exclusively on his family, which was the most important thing for him.

Claudia, on the other hand, didn't want to discuss the subject in front of her children and Isabel, and she also wanted to wait to finish eating first and then talk to her husband about what he talked about with the Major a few moments ago.

With regard to the food the Masons were going to eat, the afternoon meal was simple, as it was just some kind of roast chicken with mashed potatoes cooked in milk and some vegetable side dishes.

-"I heard you speak a few minutes ago on the phone."- Claudia asked to Richard. -"I guess it was about you-know-what, wasn't it?"-

-"Indeed."-

-"And what did you and he agree on, dear?"-

-"I will explain later in private in the room."- The man explained to his wife. -"For the time being, let's eat something to forget all that, shall we?"-

-"Well, OK."-

Obviously, the children had heard all that, and the first person to ask a question about it was the youngest daughter, Louise, who was about to eat some food before she spoke.

-"What happened, mommy? I heard you were out somewhere this afternoon, right?"-

-"Well, yes."- The woman explained to her daughter. -"I just went to do a little errand, that was all."-

-"And how did it go?"-

-"Sort of. A little tired, nothing else, although I would have liked to have been able to do more."-

-"And why did dad take so long to leave his room for the meal?"- Frederick, the eldest son, asked as well.

-"Well..."- Richard tried to think on the best excuse he could think of at that moment. -"I was talking to an important person from my job, and he took up a lot of my time."-

-"But I heard like you were screaming something, wasn't it?"-

-"Yes, but what happened is that person gave me a hard time, and that's why I yelled. You know, dealing with difficult people really makes you angry and all that."-

-"I see."-

Richard tried to change the subject of the conversation, to avoid his children to ask more inconvenient questions, and to concentrate better on family issues, which was what he was most interested in knowing instead.

-"On a different note, Frederick, how did you do in school?"-

-"All right, I guess."- The boy answered. -"The teachers in the school are a little boring, but otherwise fine for me."-

-"What? What do you mean by boring? What happened, sweetheart?"- Claudia asked to the boy.

-"I don't know."- Frederick replied with a bored smirk in his face. -"Perhaps many of my teachers are too simple for my taste."-

-"Well, I don't blame you for that, son."- Richard said back at his son. -"Considering that you have always had very good grades in almost any place you have been, it is normal that you think your teachers cannot offer you anything interesting that you can learn."-

-"I guess."-

-"Let me see what I can do about it, and I will tell you later about what possibilities you might have to enter a school for gifted children, where you will feel better than in a public school here in El Paso."-

-"Would you really do that, dad?"- The child responded excitedly to the possibility of attending a school for children more in line with his intellectual abilities than a public school.

-"Everything to make you feel more at ease, Frederick."-

-"Oh, thanks, dad!"-

-"And what about you, Louise?"- The father now addressed to his daughter. -"Did you have a good day at school, or do you have problems too?"-

-"None at all."- The girl answered, smiling slightly and again a bit pensively. -"The teachers are great, and I am happy."-

-"That is wonderful, darling."- Richard said happily.

-"Well, let's cut out all that boring chat about school and work and start eating something, will you?"- Claudia interrupted the talk in order to ask everyone to start eating the meal. -"I'm already very hungry, and I think your father is hungry too, right?"-

-"OK!"- Everybody agreed with the housewife.

-"Then, let's get started!"-

And so, the Masons began to eat quietly without incident, enjoying all that healthy food that both Claudia, with the help of her maid Isabel, had prepared for the whole family.

And at the same time, eating as a family had helped the couple, Claudia and Richard, to forget for a few moments the bad day they had regarding the failed mission of obtaining information from Dr. Madison.

---

February 9th, AD 1955, Fort Bliss (Major Fitzroy's office), El Paso, Texas, United States of America, 10:00 AM

-"Good morning, Catherine, how have you been?"-

Catherine Walburg was working as usual, typing up some memos, and she was listening to jazz music on the radio, while her boss, Major Matthew Fitzroy, had arrived at the office as he greeted her.

The tune Catherine heard on the radio was Chicago Breakdown by Louis Armstrong, something that made the job of writing all those documents more bearable for her, especially when it came to working in an atmosphere as masculine as it was working on a military base.

But Fitzroy, on the other hand, could only sneer at that music, particularly because he had always regarded jazz as "black music", and found it hard to believe that Catherine, a white woman, would like to hear that kind of music.

-"By the way, Catherine, you have an awful taste in music, if you ask my opinion."-

-"Why?"- The secretary asked with a deadpan tone in her voice. -"Just because the artist is black?"-

-"Because I don't understand how someone like you can lower yourself to listen to that shitty music."-

-"Well, no more than you do when you listen to your corny country music that even my grandmother would not listen to on her worst days, if you ask me."-

-"That is exactly what I like about that music."- He said in his typically sarcastic tone.

-"Well, I don't.- The woman replied with an equally acid wit to the Texan man. -"At least I'm not in the business of hearing a bunch of inbred hillbillies trying to sing."-

-"Well, sorry if my musical tastes are not to your liking, Catherine."- Fitzroy responded with his also typical caustic wit. -"At least it's better than listening to slum music like yours."-

The secretary knew she wouldn't get anywhere playing along with the man and she just decided to let him talk his way out of it. Afterwards, she asked her boss a few questions.

-"I figure once you act that way, things aren't going so well for you, are they?"-

Fitzroy was silent for a few moments, and then he made his reply, but this time in a more somber tone.

-"Indeed, Catherine. Certainly, it is."-

-"Let me guess: Dr. Mason's wife couldn't get anything out of Dr. Madison, did she?"-

-"Yes."- The Major admitted. -"It seems that Dr. Komatsu's chief assistant turned out to be more shrewd than we thought, and if it weren't for Dr. Mason's wife knowing she was in danger, she might have ended up in jail while being mistaken for a Soviet spy."-

The woman opened her eyes as wide as she could, for she did not imagine that the situation faced by Claudia Mason, the wife of Dr. Richard Mason, was this serious. Although also for her own personal opinion, such an outcome was to be expected coming from that man, for the following reasons.

-"As I mentioned , Dr. Madison is not the type to be easily fooled by a pretty girl, even though I didn't expect things to escalate so quickly."- Catherine reminded the Major about her warning on regards of Dr. Madison she gave the last time Catherine, the Major and Dr. Mason discussed that plan. -"I was at least hoping Miss Mason could have invited Dr. Madison to lunch in the cafeteria and talked some more directly with him."-

-"Yes, but the whole plan went straight to the shitter, and now we are at the same place where we started, unfortunately... sigh"-

The man responded in an angry tone. Then...

-"Fuck, I need a damn smoke right now!"-

Fitzroy then took one of his box matches and started to light his cigar. Catherine waited until he had it lit, and when he exhaled some smoke, she said in an irritated tone:

-"Major, please, use a cigarette instead of those things. The amount of cigar smoke you spit is enough to suffocate someone who doesn't like the smell of those things."-

-"Huh! Someone like you would not understand the taste of a good cigar in the morning."- The military man then showed his cigar to the woman in a very defying way. -"It is more soothing and hypnotizing than a cheap cigarette, especially after breakfast, and before you start work, you know."-

-"I think you only smoke to show off how macho you are."-

-"Very funny, huh?"-

Then, Fitzroy changed the topic, since he didn't wanted to argue with that woman, as he had plans for her.

-"Well, leaving aside all this crap about music and cigarettes, I'm going to need your help again for our little plan, seeing as we can't force Dr. Mason's wife to keep working on this, at least for the time being."-

-"And what would it be, sir?"-

The man looked at the secretary directly into her eyes with a snarling glare, while he aggressively smoked his cigar...

-"I want you to be the one who tries to get information from Dr. Komatsu's assistants."-

The woman, who was typing at the time, stopped when she heard the idea from her superior, and she stared decisively and firmly at Major Fitzroy, visibly displeased to hear that the man intended to use her as his personal spy, for reasons that she and the colonel already knew in advance.

-"Colonel, you already know that many people on this base, including Dr. Komatsu's aides, know who I am, and I doubt that your idea will work."-

-"I know that, but I've noticed that you know some things about espionage, and I think I could use your knowledge to get some juice out of those men. And with a good disguise, such as the one you gave to Mrs. Mason, and some tricks you might know, you may be able to get something... or am I wrong, Catherine?"-

The woman was silent for a few moments, and after thinking about her answer, she responded in the same sarcastic style that typified her.

-"I feel that you think too highly of me, to be frank, sir."-

-"Well, at least I noticed that you have the right knowledge to do this job, so why don't you take advantage of it instead of using a stranger like Mrs. Mason, huh?"-

-"I have my reasons for not talking much about myself and what I know about the subject, but I can tell you that I am not interested in physically participating in your plan; I prefer to just help you with all the relevant logistics and intelligence."-

-"And... may I know the reason?"- The Major asked the woman.

-"Let's just say I had a really nasty experience with that kind of thing, and that's all I'll say on the subject."-

Fitzroy glanced carefully at the woman with a keen eye. He never imagined that this woman would prove to have a mettle that would defy the man's requests, and it was obvious that this woman possibly knows more about the issue of espionage than she wants to admit.

Now, it was all about convincing her to help him in his plan in a direct way, instead of Catherine simply staying in her comfort zone, and preferring the comfort of her office to assisting him in a more personal fashion. It would be difficult, but it would be worth the effort in the end.

Catherine, meanwhile, noticed that the cigar smoke was starting to annoy her, and she had the feeling that Major Fitzroy had noticed it too, since she could see him staring at her with an indirect and somehow uneasy expression.

-"You may have noticed that my cigar bothers you a bit."- Said Major Fitzroy, trying to break the silence.

The woman, with her typical brand of sarcasm, did not hesitate to respond to the Texan soldier in a defiant manner.

-"To say that your cigar smoke annoys me the hell out of me would be an understatement, Major."-

-"Hah! As if I were asking your opinion about it, Catherine!"- The soldier replied with scorn at the woman. -"I smoke when I want and when I feel like it, so live with it, will ya?"-

The woman, seeing that this man would continue to smoke in her presence in order to ruin her life, came up with an idea to escape from her plight in which she was at that moment, even if it meant swallowing her own pride and even taking unwarranted risks.

But if it meant that Fitzroy would stop bothering her, and above all that he would stop smoking under her nose, not to mention hurting that man's pride in passing, all that would have been worthwhile.

-"In that case, Major, why don't we make a little bet, huh?"-

Matthew Fitzroy was a little intrigued by the woman's statement...

-"A bet?"- The man asked Catherine. -"What kind to bet do you mean?"-

-"I propose you the following, Major:"- The woman issued her challenge. -"If I accept your idea of spying on Dr. Komatsu's assistants and everything goes smoothly, you will quit smoking here in the office permanently, at least when I am here."-

-"And what if you lose?"-

-"In that case, you could continue smoking as usual, and I wouldn't say anything else about it, although to be perfectly honest, if something were to go wrong, your Cuban cigars would be the last thing I would worry about, if you know what I mean..."-

Major Fitzroy stared at Catherine's face, and as he looked her in the eyes, he could see that the woman had no intention of losing the bet, as far as she was concerned.

-"I like your style, Catherine, I really do... "- Fitzroy said with a chuckle. -"But if there is one thing I cherish more in this world, it is seeing a woman who knows how to handle herself against men like me. I really like that resolve of yours, to be fair."-

-"I am a woman first and foremost, Major. And I am not afraid of standing up to men. That is a lesson I learned the hard way in the past..."-

Catherine could not restrain to make a disgusted face in front of the arrogant man, and she seemed to be disgusted with almost everything that came out of Fitzroy's mouth...

-"So tell me, Major, are you willing to accept my bet, in exchange for my agreeing to work for you personally?"-

Fitzroy remained silent for a couple of seconds, and then he replied with a smile in his face.

-"It's a deal, then."- The man agreed with Catherine's bet and her conditions. -"If you win and get something good out of those guys, I agree to stop smoking here in the office permanently in your presence. Just make sure you try not to lose, because if you don't get anything from them or something goes wrong because of you, I'll be the winner then."-

-"All right, you got a deal."- Catherine replied at the man. -"I also accept your terms, but don't think I'm going to lose, and I guarantee you'll be more than satisfied with my work, Major."-

Major Fitzroy declared triumphantly. -"I am quite sure of that."-

The woman smiled then at the man. Then, Catherine though for herself, mostly bragging about what she pretended to do with the Major's ego once she wins that bet.

-"At least I'll be able to wipe that stupid smile off that idiot's face once he sees what I can do. Especially when he realizes that he will never smoke on my face again..."-

---

February 9th, AD 1955, Northwest El Paso (Mason's family home/Main room), El Paso, Texas, United States of America, 03:45 PM

Everything that was happening at Fort Bliss had become alien to the Masons, especially Claudia, who no longer wanted to know anything about becoming a spy or any kind of plan that involved being some kind of honey trap for men anymore.

That was something the woman wanted to discuss privately with her husband Richard, while they were both in their bedroom resting and listening to music on the radio.

-"How can they come up with this kind of ideas?"- Claudia asked Richard, as she sat on the bed next to her husband. -"I don't want to do this anymore, Richard."-

The husband couldn't agree more with his wife's opinion, although he knew that her help was still needed, even if on that occasion Catherine Walburg would be the one to work in her place, even if Claudia was not completely out of the picture.

-"sigh... I agree with you, Claudia, but at least it wouldn't hurt to keep helping us even if it's just once more, but this time with someone easier to deal with than Dr. Madison, don't you think?"-

Richard sought to appease Claudia, who seemed to be uncomfortable with the idea of having to spy on Dr. Yoshinori Komatsu's aides once again.

-"No, I'm not doing this again, Richard... I'm scared as hell from all this shit, more than you can imagine..."-

Then, Claudia explained what she felt in that time when she was dealing with Dr. Madison in the WTC.

-"When I was with Dr. Madison, and I saw that he didn't look like he was tempted to be hired by the CIA, and seemed willing to call the police, my heart felt like it was about to explode at that moment. I was lucky that things didn't escalated any further, and I don't ever want to try my luck that way again."-

Richard sighed once again, feeling sorry for his wife. Her sadness and discomfort were more than visible that time, as she had no experience in that kind of risky work that involved spying on other people, and if it weren't for the luck that smiled on her that time, she wouldn't have been home with her husband to tell the tale. And it was obvious at that point that the experience had traumatized her enough not to try such feat anytime soon.

Richard then hugged his wife from behind, and tried to reassure her from her fear.

-"Thank you, Richard."-

-"Everything for my dear wife in order to be more serene, isn't it?"- The man joked, amused that he had managed to cheer his wife up with his wit.

Claudia then turned herself towards her husband and kissed his cheek, not wanting to miss the chance to make her husband happy as always.

But there were also other things more important than the conspiracy itself that concerned her, and which were of a more intimate kind for Claudia, and which she had to discuss with Richard as seriously as it was for her to help her husband in spying on Dr. Komatsu's assistants.

-"There's something else I need to discuss with you, honey."-

-"What would it be, Claudia?"-

-"Do you remember that you discussed with Frederick yesterday about the possibility of enrolling him in a school for gifted children?"-

Richard tried to remember for a few brief seconds...

-"Well, yes."- The man replied. -"Why do you ask, dear?"-

-"Today I spoke with one of Frederick's teachers, and he told me about a very famous school that caters to children like him."- Claudia explained what she did in the morning in the school when his son Frederick was attending. -"There is just one small problem..."-

-"And what would be that little problem, Claudia?"- The husband asked with a worried tone at his wife.

Claudia sighed briefly, held her breath, and after thinking about her answer, she responded.

-"That school is located in England."-

-"England? In the UK?"- Richard Mason responded somewhat surprised and shocked at the possibility of having to move to another country, especially in Europe. -"Can I at least know the name of that school you are talking about, Claudia?"-

-"Bruern Abbey School."- The woman said the name of the place. -"It is located on the outskirts of Oxford, and is one of the most prestigious in the UK, and one of the best on dealing with children like Frederick."-

Richard didn't know what to say at first. Moving abroad with his family was not the best news that could be heard. Especially to move even further from the US, without even being able to visit America regularly or go back to the place where they had lived for so long, in this case, El Paso.

But on the other hand, moving to another country was the perfect chance to distance himself from all the problems that existed in El Paso, especially everything that had to do with Komatsu and his project, and being able to move to the UK was a natural fit, considering his own credentials, which would allow him to look for a job, and possibly a better one, in England, instead of having to work twice as hard in El Paso and Ciudad Juárez as he had been doing at the time since the day Komatsu kicked him out of his project.

In short, moving to England allowed him to kill two birds with one stone: to help his son Frederick have a better education, and to stay away from Komatsu and everything related to the army as far as possible.

Now only Mason had to solve two problems: He still had to help Major Fitzroy with his conspiracy, assuming everything went well, and find a job in England where he could receive a better salary than he had in his current jobs in the U.S. and Mexico at the same time.

And obviously, he had to discuss the matter with his children. Moving to another country wasn't going to be easy for them, after all, and he didn't want to force that decision on them without prior consultation, even if Frederick was interested in seeking better horizons than continuing to study at a mediocre school in the U.S.

-"I find the idea of moving to England attractive, Claudia, because it would allow us to get away from the problems we have here in El Paso, but we also have to talk about this with our children to see what they think."-

-"Do you think they will accept the idea, Richard?"-

-"I don't know, but we need to chat with them one of these days, and ask their opinion after all, If only to put up a convincing argument for them to convince them that this is a good idea."- Richard reasoned, thinking about how he would have to approach the children to talk about the idea. -"Anyway, I have to agree with you about the Bruern Abbey School. I'm sure that place would be the best for Frederick."-

Claudia then smiled at her husband, and with renewed confidence, she got up from the bed and approached Richard to kiss him.

-"Thank you, honey. I hope we can find a compromise between this and everything else we have to do."-

-"Well, let's just hope all this stuff gets done, so we can get out of here. I'm going to miss the city, but the further I get away from here, the better it is for my career, for Frederick, and who knows, maybe for the whole family."-

-"I hope so, Richard."-

-"In that case, I will start asking about the paperwork to travel to the UK, and the required documents. I will also need to phone that school to find out more details about the curriculum, and anything else I might need to know about that place."- The man told his plans regarding to moving to England with Claudia. -"I understand that many of the schools there are also boarding schools, so that could be a problem for Richard, who is not used to that kind of setting."-

-"Let's just hope he gets used to it soon, honey."-

-"Yeah, but if I were in his shoes, being in a boarding school is not exactly the kind of place I would want to go to study, no matter how prestigious that place is."- Richard expressed his worries about his son having to stay in such kind of schools. -"Keep in mind that Frederick was born here in El Paso, Texas, and this place is not exactly famous for the best possible reasons, as if being Texan wasn't reason enough to be possibly bullied there."-

-"Well, I don't think he'll have any problem with that, as long as he doesn't do something stupid over there."- Claudia calmly reasoned.

-"Also, I'm worried about the plane tickets. I don't think that traveling to the UK by plane will be cheap."- The husband voiced his concerns about how expensive the trip there would be and how much it could cost.

-"Can't you get a discount from one of your jobs, or from the army?"-

-"I would have to inquire about that first, Claudia."- Richard replied. -"I've never asked for that kind of discount from the government, and I'm not the kind of person who likes to do that kind of thing."-

-"I guess you can't ask for support from your work in Ciudad Juárez, can you?"-

-"Nope."- The man answered. -"They wouldn't even give me a penny if I ask them. In fact, it is a miracle that they can pay me what I ask for my services at that school, and they barely pay their own Mexican employees. I doubt very much that they can do the same with those who work out of town, much less with those who come from the U.S."-

-"In that case, when this is over, you can ask for help from the army so that we can move to England. At least they should owe you one after you help them with all this, right?"-

Richard thought that for a moment, and saw that his wife's idea was very right. After all, that was the only thing he could ask of Major Fitzroy after he and his wife were risking everything to help him in his plans, as bad as they were.

-"You're right about this, Claudia. The next time I talk to that man, I will explain my situation, and I hope that at least he will help me get a discount for the whole family to travel to England. It's the least we deserve after we have to risk our necks for him."-

-"And also ask him for any kind of support he can give to us when we get there."- Claudia threw in a recommendation to her husband.

-"Good idea!"- Richard replied. -"Now it's just a matter of talking with the Major, and telling him what we want to get in return for continuing to work with him."-

Claudia sighed, and after that, she lay down on the bed with a tired look on her face.

-"Well, I hope things go well, honey."- The woman said to her husband. -"I don't want to have to do another one of these jobs again, and like you, I am concerned about the future of our children. If we can move to a better place, it will be much better for everyone, dear, and leave behind all these ridiculous conspiracies."

-"I hope so too."- Richard Mason responded with a smile on his face.

-"I'm going to go meet the kids and explain to them the whole moving idea. I hope they'll be fine with the idea of moving to the UK."- He said, while getting up from the bed and walking towards the door.

-"And I hope they'll be fine living abroad, Richard, because there's no turning back if we end up moving England."-

-"I know."- The man replied. -"Now you rest and leave all this to me. I wish we don't have to go through this anymore, I promise you."-

Afterwards, Richard returned to the bed, and kissed his wife in her lips in a very passionate way. Feeling her husband's passion, Claudia closed her eyes and enjoyed it all...

---

February 9th, AD 1955, Fort Bliss (Komatsu's Personal Research Laboratory), El Paso, Texas, United States of America, 03:12 PM

Phillip Madison, Dr. Yoshinori Komatsu's chief assistant, was the first person to arrive at the lab, before his own boss, who had not yet arrived at site, once Madison finished his shift as a professor at the Western Texas College (WTC).

While the other employees and assistants working at the science center arrived, the young assistant checked to see that everything was in order, nothing was missing, and that all the specimens Komatsu and his men were working with were in good health. This routine had to be made every day, and he had to make sure that every animal was in a minimum good condition. This was now happening since the U.S. Secretary of Defense and Dr. Ellington were supervising the whole project at least for a week.

And as for Dr. Komatsu, the Japanese scientist arrived at the laboratory a few minutes later, with a very worried expression in his face.

-"Good afternoon, Madison."- Komatsu spoke.

-"Good afternoon for you, Dr. Komatsu."- The young Texan scientist replied with his usual polite tone as a response.

While Komatsu was always worried about a lot of things, partly due to the workload he had on his hands, and the fact that the Secretary of Defense and his scientific assistant, Dr. Reese Ellington, were overseeing his project, it was clear at the time that there was something else that seemed to trouble him quite a bit.

-"Judging by your face, something seems to be troubling you quite a bit, doctor."- Madison said at his senior. -"What is it?"-

After a moment of silence without saying anything, Komatsu decided to talk to his assistant about the subject that was bothering him.

-"I want to know something, Madison, and I hope you'll be honest with me."- He stated.

-"What is it?"-

-"I heard this morning that you had a problem yesterday at your other job at the Western Texas College with a certain person who offered you a job."-

Madison was deeply surprised when his boss mentioned that incident with that woman, named Kimberly Winston (aka Claudia Mason), who said she was the wife of an official working for the U.S. Department of Defense, who was offering him a job at the CIA. Obviously, and fearing that the offer might have been an attempt by some Soviet secret agent to extract information out of him, Madison rejected the offer, and he was one step away from calling the police if that woman had not left his office as quickly as she came.

What he didn't grasp at the time was how his boss had found out about that incident. He sensed that Komatsu was highly suspicious about that incident, and that he knew something more. He was always aware of his boss' background by now, and he had a feeling that the Soviet intelligence services could had spied on him somehow, considering that terrible previous run-in Komatsu had with Russia's military intelligence services when he was living in Japan and working in the secret subterranean bunker in Tokyo during the last war.

-"So why are you telling me this?"- Madison asked.

-"You should know that answer too, Madison."- Komatsu questioned his aide. -"I'm going to guess that woman was a spy, wasn't she?"-

-"Well..."-

The main assistant hesitated to reply to his inquiry about that event, until he gave his opinion about what really happened that day.

-"...I must say that I did suspect that the woman I met yesterday might have been a Soviet spy."- Madison continued. -"I found her offer suspicious, and she didn't say much about her husband. Also, any spy could had said the same thing to a potential target, since all that agent had to do was to say who her husband was and everything else worked by itself."- He explained.

-"Well, at least you had the foresight to be suspicious of her intentions, and reject that woman's offer."- Komatsu explained to his assistant, while congratulating him. -"I have no doubt that the Soviets want to retaliate against me after what happened in Tokyo, and they are not going to give me a break until I die."-

-"I'm sure you do, sir,"- Madison nodded. -"considering how vindictive the Russians could be."-

-"At least, no more than you Americans can be..."-

That last sentence made the young Texan scientist quite uncomfortable because of its meaning. It was obvious that Komatsu was making a veiled reference to the atomic attack on Hiroshima, his hometown, and Nagasaki, as a kind of American revenge for what happened at Pearl Harbor, even if Komatsu was never someone who fully supported his country's war effort, and the only reason he ended up working directly for the Imperial Japanese government was in retaliation for incidents where he was involved in Germany and China.

But the fact that Dr. Komatsu's parents lived in Hiroshima, and died in that nuclear attack on that city, coupled with the fact that he was arrested by the American occupation government, and then sent to America to work basically as a slave in the service of that country's government, meant that Komatsu did not have a good opinion about the American government, or its people.

And that was also something Madison was fully aware of, and he couldn't blame his boss for holding those views about the U.S. either. He, after all, also didn't agree with what his country did against Komatsu's country, considering that it was the civilians who paid the consequences of the mistakes their government made.

Moreover, he also had to admit that the Americans, as much as they hated to admit it openly, were indeed notorious for having a vindictive, winner-take-all mentality, as Yoshinori Komatsu contemptuously described Americans. When all is said and done, Komatsu ended up on the losing side, and therefore, he had to pay the consequences, simply because he was Japanese.

-"I don't blame you for thinking that way, doctor, but I don't think it's fair to generalize about a whole country just because of the mistakes of a few."- Madison concernedly said at his senior.

-"Normally... sigh... I would agree with you in other circumstances, Madison, if it weren't for the fact that almost every American I've dealt with has been either racist louts, arrogant and self-righteous politicians, or folks who treated me worse than a black slave during the American Civil War."- Komatsu blatantly described his contempt about Americans in a very crude way.

-"Forgive me for saying so, doctor, but to say that you have been treated much worse than a black slave from the time of the American Civil War would be an overreaction, to put it mildly."- The young Texan science man replied in a worried tone at Komatsu.

-"But the truth must be said, young man, and you can't deny the fact that I was sent from Japan to America to do work for them against my will. Just like those black slaves that were sent to this continent to do hard labor for the white man."-

-"If you ask my opinion, sir, there are still many blacks here in America who are treated the same or worse than they were at that period, and to be truly honest, doctor, I find your comparison to them in very bad taste."-

On hearing that heartfelt criticism from his valued assistant, Yoshinori Komatsu realized that perhaps he had gone too far, and perhaps he had said something that he, being Japanese, did not have the full context of, as opposed to his American aide, Phillip Madison, who most likely witnessed the poor treatment that African Americans suffered in the U.S.

-"You are right, Madison... damn!"- The Japanese man of science cursed to himself, while apologizing to his aide. -"I'm really sorry for saying such stuff, Madison... but... but... sigh... I am feeling REALLY DAMN emotional right now."-

Madison was deeply concerned about his boss' statement, and he simply didn't know how to react to it. After all, it was not easy to say that his boss was not a fair judge of people after all. And he could not blame him for thinking that all Americans were racists, considering that his own countrymen did not bother to hide their prejudiced opinions, as was the case with some men, such as Major Matthew Fitzroy.

However, he did think that his boss' attitude was very xenophobic, which didn't make him any different from Fitzroy, except that Komatsu preferred to put all Americans, regardless of ethnicity, in the same league as racists, and that included blacks, Latinos, and even other Asians like Komatsu himself.

The latter also made the young assistant think that his boss might have misanthropic ideas, which was even more worrying, given everything that this implied in relation to the project itself.

-"I think we're getting off-track with all this business about who's more vindictive, and whatnot."- Madison rebuked his boss. -"The talk was originally about a possible spy who was trying to get information out of me by offering me a false job offer at the CIA, and now we end up talking about slavery and discrimination. I don't think it will help you to talk about those issues while the conversation is going in another direction, sir."-

-"I'm very sorry, Madison."- Komatsu apologized to his aide. -"You're right about that, but I couldn't help but express my feelings on the subject, and I needed to talk to someone about it."-

-"And I also find your attitude about not only us Americans, but about humanity in general, doctor, judging by similar comments you've made in recent years on certain occasions when you're in a similar state of mind, worrying in many degrees."- The young man said what he thought about Dr. Komatsu's mental health. -"I would recommend that you go to a psychologist if you have to."-

That innocent suggestion to seek psychological help caused Komatsu to raise his voice when he believed that Madison thought his boss was going crazy.

-"Are you suggesting that I'm losing my mind, Madison?"-

The young man gulped when the Japanese doctor yelled at him loud, since he was just two steps close to him, which caused his ears to buzz...

-"Are you also saying that I'm becoming mad, and that I need a shrink, UH?"-

Once Madison regained his composure, the young Texan answered his boss' question about his state of mind...

-"Oh, no sir, I'm not saying any of that!"- Madison responded to his boss in a nervous, desperate, hurried, and worried tone, with his hands shaking profusely, since he was very scared by the reaction Dr. Komatsu was having to his innocent observation about his mental health.

-"... You're one of the most intelligent people I've ever met, you know? You're way too smart to ever believe that I'm going crazy."- Komatsu said in a much calmer tone to his subordinate, after he calmed down.

-"This is true, doctor, but sometimes, your attitude about humanity worries me a lot, and even more considering that we work with animals, which sometimes makes me consider whether this whole project might serve a different end than the original one for which I volunteered to work for you."-

Komatsu interpreted, or seemed to interpret, that observation as a very subtle analogy to bestiality, something that the Japanese scientist had heard throughout his life regarding the ultimate goal of his theory, and which he really abhorred hearing, for more than obvious reasons, and Madison, as much as he was his most esteemed assistant, was not going to be spared from his ire.

-"I must warn you... about something... Madison."- Komatsu stated to his young assistant, in a tone that implied he was going to reprimand him. -"If you imply, or allude to, or even think about, or imagine, or conceive, that this whole thing is about me having sex with animals, not only you will be fired, but you will regret the day you decided to meet ME!"-

Madison walked back many steps when he saw his boss's angry face after he subtly implied that the whole project was a cover for Komatsu to have carnal relations with animals with human intelligence. The very thought that he, a man who hated any cruel treatment of animals, engaging in sexual violence against an animal, considering the example of Raghu, the Bengal tiger who suffered from it at the hands of his original caretaker in India, and whose case infuriated Komatsu at the time, was something that even made him feel ill physically, and the fact that his assistant hinted such thing was something he could not believe, much less condone.

-"I... I'm truly sorry about that, doctor!"- Madison stuttered after seeing his boss' enraged face. -"That was not my intention at all!"-

-"Then why the hell were you thinking of saying such ludicrous nonsense about me, huh?"- Komatsu yelled back at his junior. -"Do you know how many years, since I was in university, I have been hearing such nonsense about my theory?!"-

-"I repeat again, it was not my intention to offend you, sir!"- Madison tried to calm the angry doctor. -"What I was trying to say was that possibly you had other different plans for the project, considering that we are working with animals, in view of your very... negative opinions about the human race, but at no time did I suggest, or even think of suggesting, that you would engage in carnal intercourse with animals, or anything of that nature!"-

-"Then, what kind of idea did you come up with in your stupid head to say that about me, huh, Madison?"-

-"Well... eh..."- Madison hesitated a bit, as he didn't know how his boss would react to what he was going to say. -"I wouldn't want to say this, but..."-

-"Go on, say it, kid, spit it out!"-

The young scientist did not know what to say, so he only said what in his opinion the whole project seemed to him to be before his eyes.

-"I wouldn't like to think the same way Mason was thinking that caused his dismissal, but I think some of us have our doubts about the true intentions of this project. And I want to make it clear in advance that I am not religious or narrow-minded like Mason, but I can see from your behavior, Dr. Komatsu, that you do not share the goals of this project with those the government expects of you."-

-"What do you suggest with that, Madison?"-

The young Texan scientist takes a deep breath and tells her what he thinks about the project.

-"We all know that one of the goals of this project is to give intelligence and speech to animals, right, doctor?"-

-"Indeed it is, Madison."- Then, the Japanese man retorted back. -"Why are you asking the obvious after several years?"-

-"There is one thing we want to know: When that event occurs, what will happen next?"-

Komatsu squinted a bit and then, he raised his eyebrows in surprise after he heard that question coming from his aide's mouth...

-"Knowing the government of your country, I think they could get some military benefit from all this, which was also one of the intentions of this project when I was in Japan. After all, it would be better to send a humanized animal to a war with a rifle and a gun, as long as it was created in a laboratory, than to send a human being to do the same job."-

-"And haven't you thought that there would be people who would oppose such an idea, because it would be unethical?"-

Komatsu looked at his assistant angrily, as he sensed his young scientist was questioning too much, and he thought it was time to stop the conversation before it turned uglier, as it did with Mason.

-"If you want to complain about the project, you should ask the Secretary of Defense and the President, not me..."- Komatsu replied. -"I don't have much authority to decide on that, and besides, I don't think the government is going to publicly admit that they are working on something like this anyway. This is a black project, after all; It is not supposed to be public knowledge."-

-"But... what if what you are doing here is to give human intelligence and also sapience to animals in order to make a new kind of slave?"- Madison asked his boss, while he was very afraid of receiving the same fate that Mason got.

-"Well, in that case, we wouldn't be that different from a god, after all, as I already said before."-

Madison visually disagreed with what his boss said, but at the same time, he knew he didn't want to end up the way Richard Mason did. Even if he had his doubts and objections due to the questionable nature of that project, he, likewise, and perhaps also in part because of his own personal pride, wanted to keep working until the end so that he could see the outcome of that undertaking.

After all, Madison was a scientist, and one of the reasons he volunteered to work with Komatsu was because he was curious about working on such a project, and curiosity, an innate part of the human race, has always been the lifeblood of science.

-"I will be honest, doctor: I may not agree with what you are doing, but, as long as this project does not have an even more sinister end than expected, I am willing to stand by you until the end."- Madison said with a resolved, deadpan glance in his face. -"I am a scientist, and my main job is to seek and find things that will help the human race in a positive way, and I believe that this project has more beneficial consequences than just using intelligent animals for war. I hope not to be wrong with that, and that we don't all end up doing what should be God's exclusive territory."-

-"So are you willing to follow me, whatever the outcome, Madison?"-

Phillip Madison sighed, and he shrugged his shoulders...

-"I suppose so."- The Texan man replied. -"Now, returning with the spying issue, what do you suggest I do if something like what I said happens again, doctor? Do you think I should discuss it with Major Fitzroy so that he and the army can take action?"-

-"No."- Komatsu said with a serious tone. -"Do not bring up any of this with Fitzroy in any form."-

This caused some consternation in the young Texan scientist, since the most obvious thing was to make the military authorities aware of the possible presence of foreign spies in El Paso.

-"And why not, sir?"- The young aide asked loudly. -"We can't have Soviet spies walking all over El Paso just like that, or do you have any reason to?"-

Komatsu didn't say a word for a few seconds, and then, after some thought, he answered his assistant's question...

-"I have a strong feeling that the woman you talked to in your university where you teach was most likely not a Soviet spy."-

-"So where could she be from, huh?"- Madison questioned his boss. -"She could be from Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Poland, or some other Warsaw Pact country. And I doubt very much that she worked for the Chinese or the North Koreans, if you ask me."-

-"Nah, I really doubt it, Madison. The Russians are not going to send a spy from their satellites for something as delicate as this."- Komatsu rejected the possibility of spies from those countries in Texas. -"And let's not say anything about the Chinese or the North Koreans: I don't think they have the interest in this kind of thing, or at least, I don't think Mao or Kim are interested in making animals talk."-

Madison smiled maliciously as he heard that, because of the implications of those words...

-"I can't even fathom Mao Zedong or Kim Il-sung wanting to make a dog talk, to be honest."-

Both men laughed when Phillip Madison made that comment, and after that brief intermission, Komatsu returned to the main point.

-"Well, stupid jokes aside, it's worth not mentioning any of this to Major Fitzroy."- The Japanese man explained his reasons for keeping the latter on the dark about that spy. -"I can't explain the reason for this right now, but I doubt very much that the woman you talked to is a spy working for the Soviets or from the Communist Bloc."-

Madison quickly caught the drift about what his senior is trying to imply with that.

-"Are you suggesting that Fitzroy had something to do with this?"-

-"I don't know, Madison, but knowing that man, I wouldn't be surprised if he had something to do with it."- Komatsu explained. -"Unfortunately, I don't have anything to support that theory, so for the moment the only thing you and I can do is to be alert to any other spying attempts, especially towards you, since you are the person closest to me."-

-"Understood, sir."- Madison replied at his boss. -"I will be on the lookout for anything or anyone that is suspicious regarding me."-

-"Well said."- Then, Komatsu grabbed some papers, and he walked to his office. -"Now, if you don't have anything else to say, we better start working before the Secretary of Defense and Dr. Ellington come to the lab."-

-"As you command, Dr. Komatsu."-

---

February 10th, AD 1955, Downtown El Paso (Kitty Riot Bar), El Paso, Texas, United States of America, 11:00 PM

The Kitty Riot Bar looked much like any other bar in the city: a small building with a huge sign hanging above the entrance. The sign had the name of the bar written in cursive, with the shape of a black and white cat's head, and it was located in the bustling downtown area, a few streets away from the military base, just a few blocks from where the bars and strip clubs were.

Named after a pet cat of the same name who used to belong to the owner of the place, the bar gained notoriety around the city for its strange décor. Most of the chairs were made with seats shaped like cats' heads or hands, and the bar counter also had the image of a cat. The furniture and decorations also made reference to cats and many other felines, like lions, tigers, etc.

The Kitty Riot Bar was frequented by many military men, since officers from here were often posted in El Paso in Fort Bliss, and they really enjoyed the exotic atmosphere of Kitty Riot Bar, since it was different from other similar places. It was rather popular on weekends along the same Texan military clientele.

There was a bar stool close to the bar counter where a blonde woman sat wearing a pink dress. That woman was singing several romantic songs to enliven the hectic ambient of the bar, filled with the cigarette smoke of the soldiers and civilians who visited the place.

Very few people were in the bar. Only a few military personnel were in the place, sitting at their usual table, drinking their usual drinks, or talking about their usual subjects. It didn't help much that that day many people preferred to be at home that night, or preferred to go drinking in other places.

And as if this wasn't enough, the woman singing that night wasn't exactly the best singer in the world, to put it mildly. However, the material she was singing didn't exactly matter to the customers, who were more interested in getting wasted at the bar that night, than doing any serious assessment of that woman's musical talent.

At that moment, a group of young people, approximately seven people, entered the place, in a very party-like mood, and were willing to have a wonderful night, even if that place had seemed a bit... offbeat to some.

One of those young people who entered the bar was Nick Larkin, who worked as one of Dr. Yoshinori Komatsu's close assistants, and who, after having a very hard day in the lab, wished to shed his troubles with some alcohol along his other coworkers, who went to him to drink along that young man.

After the seven men sat down at the bar counter, they began to order their drinks from the bartender, who was ready to take their orders.

-"What can I do for you, gentlemen?"- The bartender, of Mexican origin, asked the young people in perfect English.

-"I'll have a beer, please."- Nick replied. -"I'm a little thirsty right now."-

-"Me too, boys."- One of the young men said. -"And I'm also going to have a martini straight, please, Jameson's straight."-

-"And I'll have a tequila sunrise, please, with beer."- One of the other men, named James Gort, said.

-"I will have a bourbon on the rocks, please, straight."- Another man asked a drink.

The rest of the men also requested different kind of drinks, while the bartender took note of their respective orders in an notebook.

-"Good choices, boys."- The bartender complimented his customers. -"You will like those drinks. I'll bring you your favorite beverages as soon as possible."-

After that, the bartender retired to do his job, and soon enough, he returned to the counter, offering the drinks to the young men.

-"Here you go, gentlemen."- The bartender said, laying out the drinks on the counter. -"Have a good night!"-

The seven people thanked him and then, one by one, they drank their liquor, including Nick Larkin, who couldn't wait for this night to pass without tasting something good.

After having his drink, a beer, the blond young man chit-chatted with his companions, until he decided to move closer to the bar counter. Since that day, Nick was very tired, exhausted from the long day at the base; from the long hours of work, and from the heat. The vast majority of the people in the bar were both soldiers and base employees, and many of them, including Larkin, came from other states. Some of them had trouble adjusting to the intense desert climate of El Paso, and a drink in the evening helped them to cool down after a hard day's work.

But for Nick Larkin, having to work in El Paso, Texas was equivalent to being sent to hell itself and for very good reasons.

That young man, approximately 25 years old, came from a middle-class family in the suburbs of New York. A graduate of New York University's School of Veterinary Medicine, Larkin was interested in a job offer he received from the university after he graduated to work in the U.S. Army on an interesting military project. Like many young people at the time, Larkin accepted the offer, believing that he would work on a project that would even give him the qualifications needed to advance professionally in his career.

After all, how many secret military projects require the services of a veterinarian? Initially he was very naïve when he saw the reduced requirements for working on that project, and he thought he had found the perfect place to work.

What Nick Larkin never imagined was that his first job in the military involved moving from the comfort of the Big Apple to El Paso, Texas in the south, a city near the Mexican border, and that at that time it was a small, boring city whose residents had a reputation for being pretty crude after years of living in the harsh weather of the Chihuahua Desert, and where there was not many diversions except bars, restaurants... and the odd hidden place to spend a good time with some beautiful ladies.

Except that Larkin had no interest in hanging out with prostitutes in the first place.

And if this wasn't enough for the poor New York scientist, he was one of Dr. Yoshinori Komatsu's closest assistants, after a few years of working with him since Larkin arrived at Fort Bliss and gaining his trust, due to his experience with handling animals, and sharing the same goal of bringing Komatsu's theory of Advanced Evolution into practice.

But after several years of not seeing many results from his boss, coupled with the continuous criticism pointed out on the project, and the very few results obtained from such work, Larkin was beginning to gradually lose faith in both that Advanced Evolution theory and Dr. Komatsu. The young New Yorker felt that the man he initially admired seemed more like a mad scientist, and he wondered every day why that man was working there, without Larkin knowing much of Komatsu's personal background before he was sent to the U.S. from Japan.

But that was the least of it. The important and depressing fact for him was that Larkin would have to continue working there for another five years, provided that Komatsu was not transferred or fired first, and every day that he had to live in the hellish city of El Paso, as well as work on something that seemed to be going nowhere, made the young man lose interest in continuing to work there.

And the only thing he could do about it was to drink a beer in that bar in order to drown his sorrows for a while.

-"HEY, NICK! WHATCHA DOIN' HERE, BUDDY?"-

The voice was that of Harry Mills, who worked as a civilian employee at Fort Bliss, and who was an old friend of Larkin's since the latter lived in El Paso. A native from Orlando, Florida, Mills, unlike his New York colleague, didn't have much trouble working in that Texan town, partly because most of his life, since he graduated from university, he had been traveling up and down the country, and he didn't have much trouble staying anywhere, as long as there was a good place to sleep, and a good place to spend the night with friends.

And when he saw the grim face of his scientist friend, the Floridian man seized the opportunity to talk to him, and thus know what problem was plaguing him.

-"Hey, Nick, you wanna talk to me, pal?"- Harry Mills asked after he saw his friend's fatigue and worry.

-"Oh, what's up, Harry?"- Nick replied, after some seconds of silence... and some hesitation.

-"What do you mean with "what's up, Harry", huh?"- Mills responded, while putting his right hand on Larkin's shoulder. -"From the look on your face, you sound like you just came out of a funeral, or some crazy shit like that."-

-"I'm fine, just trying to have a good time."- The New Yorker said with a very deadpan tone, while drinking his beer -"I got out of the base late today, and I really needed to have some fun tonight, and drink a beer or two."-

-"No, that's not it, buddy."- The Floridian man replied. -"You know I know you very well, and I know when you're fine, and when you're not, okay?"-

Larkin sighed a bit, since he knew that Mills was not a man from whom one could easily keep things from, especially personal issues.

-"No, Harry, I'm fine, really. It's just that I got a lot of chores to do today, and I really didn't want to do them, but I had to."-

-"Let me guess."- Mills asked with a inquiring tone. -"That crazy Jap you work with really put your ass to work, didn't he?"-

-"You mean Dr. Komatsu?"-

-"Yeah, who else?"- The lounge lizard said. -"Unless you are referring to that Nazi fucktard, aren't you?"-

-"First, if you are referring to Dr. Von Braun, he was transferred to Huntsville, Alabama five years ago."- Larkin corrected his Floridian friend. -"And secondly, at this point I would have preferred to have been sent there with him instead of having to suffer in this godforsaken hellhole."-

-"Oops, sorry, I'm not really up on how things are down with the army these days."- Mills responded, while calling the bartender's attention. -"You know, because I'm a civilian contractor who only comes to Fort Bliss from time to time to deliver stuff for the base, like food, cleaning supplies and shit like that."-

-"Well, I don't blame you for that. It's supposed to be more or less classified information."-

-"And why are you telling me all this anyway? Don't think you can get into trouble with your superiors at the base?"-

-"I don't think it would hurt for someone like you to know that."-

-"Yeah."- Harry Mills replied with a snarky smile in his face. -"Like I really give a shit where they sent a Nazi anyway."-

Minutes later, the bartender came in, and started to write down what Mills was going to order to drink.

-"Do you want anything special to drink, sir?"-

-"Make it a double scotch, please."- Mills said, and then he turned to his friend. -"Nick, are you gonna have another drink, buddy?"-

-"No, I'm okay."- Larkin replied. -"If I have one more, I'll be unfathomably drunk."-

-"Well, no problem, buddy."- Harry Mills retorted back.

As the two men drank happily at the bar counter, the singer who was barely singing on the bar's upstage finished singing her last song, and then the bar's emcee came on to announce what was to follow.

-"Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention please?"-

Among the noise of muffled voices, the clinking of glasses, and other noises of the bar, the emcee tried to attract the attention of the people present there. After several minutes of trying, he was finally heard by most of the bar's patrons.

-"Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your DEAR attention please?"- The emcee repeated after several seconds.

-"As long as that tuneless bitch doesn't sing again, we'll listen to you, ASSHOLE!"-

One of the patrons, who was already quite drunk, did not hesitate to say, in very vulgar terms, what he thought about the musical quality of the singer who was on stage just a few minutes before, something that brought loud laughs from all the attendees in the bar...

Larkin and Mills, on the other hand, were the only ones who did not laugh at the drunken man's off-color behavior, and instead thought that, while it was true that singer did not sing well, at least her music was not annoying either, and she did not deserve such insults.

-"I wonder if that pisspot expected to hear Ella Fitzgerald or someone of her stature."- Mills commented about that incident.

-"Heh... like that woman would deign to sing in this shitty bar, and in this shitty town, anyways..."- Larkin snarked at his Southern friend, while still drinking his beer.

Returning with the emcee, the man ignored the drunken man's vulgar comment, and went on with what he was originally going to say.

-"Ehem... Criticism aside about our last singer, we introduce you to our new artist who will delight us with her beautiful voice tonight..."-

-"Hopefully at least this new girl doesn't sing as bad as the previous one, Nick."-

-"Let's hope so."- Larkin responded.

-"From Evansville, Indiana... we present you an up-and-coming jazz star... VIOLETTA LOVE!"-

After the emcee finished his introductions and the audience clapped at the singer, the woman, with strawberry-blonde hair and bright blue eyes, did a brief presentation about herself.

-"Thank you."- She said with a sweet voice, and then she continued with her presentation. -"My name is Violetta Love, through it's not my real name, you know, guys... giggle"-

The audience also laughed when they heard that funny comment from that jazz singer.

-"I was born in Evansville, Indiana, and for many reasons I ended up living here in El Paso."- The singer then smiled in a very naughty way. -"It could have been worse; I could have ended up working in a bar in Ciudad Juárez, if you know what I mean..."-

The audience laughed again because of the joke the singer made...

Well... everyone, except the bartender, being of Mexican origin, did not find it funny that the American woman was making fun of his hometown, and did not hesitate to say what he thought of her to Larkin and Mills, who were sitting across from him, through in Spanish.

-"(Maldita gringa de mierda...) Fuckin' shitty Yankee bitch."-

-"I don't blame you if she badmouths your town, man."- Harry Mills tried to reassure the Mexican bartender.

-"Thank you, sir, but I don't like when people like her can get away with insulting my country or my hometown."-

-"That makes two of us."- The contractor gave his opinion about the issue. -"If you'd only hear how many jokes people have made about me because I'm from Florida..."-

-"And may I ask you why?"-

-"Because here in America, everyone thinks that we are a bunch of weirdos."-

-"In all fairness, the South has been worse about that."- Nick Larkin commented.

-"Yeah, I know that, Nick."- Mills then gulped his scotch in a single strike.

Leaving aside the two men and the Mexican bartender, the jazz singer on stage kept talking on her own about what she was going to do next...

-"Next I am going to sing a song that is in fashion lately since last year on the radio. I think some of you have heard it before... Fly Me To The Moon..."-

And after a brief moment of applause, Violetta Love, the singer, began to sing that song, written by Bart Howard and originally sung by Kaye Ballard in its original version, before Frank Sinatra interpreted the best known version in the 1960s...

Fly me to the moon

Let me play among the stars

Let me see what spring is like on A-Jupiter and Mars

In other words, hold my hand In other words, darling, kiss me

Fill my heart with song and let me sing forevermore

You are all I long for

All I worship and adore In other words, please be true

In other words, I love you

That powerful and feminine voice sang that powerful jazz ballad in a way that had nothing to envy to Ballard, the original singer, and even those spectators listening to that song in that obscure bar in that border town, who were already used to hearing the songs of the other singer who was there a few minutes ago, were more than surprised by the talent of that woman to sing a song like that.

After almost two minutes of her singing that jazz song, the singer Violetta Love finished singing that song in a way that the audience gave her several minutes of applause.

-"That is what I call REAL singing!"- Harry Mills yelled to the rest of the audience, while clapping at the singer.

-"Yeah, I agree with you, buddy."- Larkin concurred with Mills. -"Like, she can actually put a tune to that thing!"-

-"At least she sings helluva lot better than the other girl, to be honest."- Mills then concluded.

When the applause for the jazz singer finally went quiet, Violetta Love addressed the audience again...

-"I have other songs that you might love."- The singer from Indiana said at the audience. -"Does anyone in the audience have any special songs in mind?"

After a few seconds, no one seemed to be willing to offer a suggestion...

Suddenly, Violetta looked at Nick Larkin and Harry Mills, who were at the counter of the bar drinking at ease, and the woman addressed both men.

-"What about you, guys?"- The singer then called to the scientist and the Southern lounge lizard. -"Don't you have any songs in mind?"-

Both men were stunned to see how the woman had turned her attention to them, as they had done nothing to warrant her looking at two complete strangers for suggestions about songs to sing.

-"What? You mean us, babe?"- Mills asked while pointing his finger to himself and Larkin.

-"Yeah, you two."-

Afterwards, they both looked at each other with a look normally reserved in a situation when someone might be puzzled or uncertain about something, and neither knew what answers to give the singer.

-"Well... so..."- Larkin hesitated, trying to give a straight answer to the jazz singer. -"To be frank, I can't think of anything to suggest."-

-"Ditto here."- Mills followed him.

-"What I mean is... I'm sorry, but I don't think I can remember any songs..."- Larkin explained the musician.

-"You don't have a single song in mind?"- The singer asked again, in a concerned tone.

-"No, no, we are not just pulling your leg..."- Mills replied in unison with his friend to make things clear.

The singer was silent for a few seconds, and moments later, an idea seemed to come to her mind...

-"I have an idea, you two:"- The woman pointed her finger to them. -"how about you two get up on stage and sing with me?"-

-"WHA-WHAAAAAAAAAATTT?"-

The two men were at a loss of words, but a moment later, when they realized that the jazz singer, who was a complete stranger, after all, was asking them to sing on stage with her. Mills and Larkin were dumbfounded, as they did not know exactly what to think about that unusual request.

-"Are you serious?"- Harry Mills then managed to remember how to speak again, dissolving the silence.

-"Like... you want us to sing with you on stage?"- Larkin asked again.

-"Sure, why not?"-

-"That is not what I expected, really."- The scientist responded to his friend's confusion.

-"Yeah, but..."- Mills hesitated, and then finally finished what he was going to say. -"Like, ... I don't have any songs to sing."-

-"Me neither, pal."- Larkin echoed again into the same sentence.

The jazz singer from Indiana, in a more conciliatory tone, addressed both men in an attempt to calm them down. Considering they had both been drinking heavily, she had to be careful not to do anything that might embarrass them in front of the audience, or endanger her.

-"Listen, guys... I know it sounds a bit weird..."- She then tried to reassure the two men. -"But, it's only a matter of one song, right?"-

-"Well..."- The scientist said in an uncertain voice.

-"Do you think we can do it, buddy?"- Mills asked his friend to get his opinion on the singer's request.

-"I don't know, man; the last time I got to sing in front of a crowd was during my prom years ago."- Larkin said in lower voice to his friend. -"But I guess it wouldn't do us any harm to try, huh?"-

In this way, the two men agreed to sing for one song on stage with the jazz singer, and, in less than a minute, they got up from their seats to join her there.

While the two men were to meet her on stage, the singer began to introduce them to the audience.

-"I would like to request your attention for these two gentlemen I have the privilege of having here on stage with me tonight."- Afterwards, the singer addressed both men. -"May I ask your names before we begin, gentlemen?"-

-"Oh, that's right, we haven't introduced ourselves yet."- Mills was the first on doing the proper introductions. -"My name is Harry Mills, from Orlando, Florida, and this young man next to me is my partner Nicholas Larkin, or Nick to friends, from New York."-

-"Orlando and New York, uh?"- Violetta did another question to Larkin. -"And may I ask what a man from the Big Apple is doing hanging around here in a town like El Paso?"-

-"I think the question is obvious: I work at Fort Bliss, like many of the people who come here to drink."-

-"And what about you, Mr. Mills?"- The woman asked the contractor.

-"I could say the same thing that my friend from New York has said, though I travel around the country, and you could say that I'm just passing through here in this town."-

-"And if you don't mind sharing this with the audience,"- Violetta said in loud. -"are you guys married?"-

Surprisingly for her, both men replied quickly, in spite of the intimacy surrounding the question.

-"Nope. I'm single, and I haven't really had time to look for a match, to be honest."- Larkin replied at the woman.

-"Same here."- Mills also replied with the same enthusiasm. -"Ya know, because I'm constantly on the road, and I don't have the luxury of having a stable family out there."-

The woman did another quick question...

-"And do you two know each other?"-

-"Yes, of course."- Mills responded. -"We both work at Fort Bliss, like I think the... overwhelming number of all the so-and-so's that come in here."-

-"Very well, that seems perfect to me..."- Violetta said aloud.

Immediately after, the jazz singer addressed the audience, while Larkin and Mills stood by her side, timidly waiting for what they were going to do next with the woman.

-"Well, if there's no objection, we'll start singing a song to lighten the mood."- Then, Violetta turned to both men. -"Are you two sure you can't think of a particular song you'd like to sing with me?"-

-"Nope."- Both responded in unison at the woman.

-"In that case,"- The jazz singer responded quickly -"would you be okay with singing Fly Me To The Moon again?"-

Both men looked at each other, and quickly came to the same conclusion.

-"Yeah, why not?"-

And immediately after, Violetta asked the same question to the audience...

-"Would you be okay with me and these two guys singing Fly Me To The Moon again, ladies and gentlemen?"-

The entire audience responded affirmatively to that question, hardly a surprise, given the singer's talent and her outstanding vocals. With the audience's approval, Violetta turned to the band that accompanied her to start playing that song again.

A bit overwhelmed by that unexpected turn of events, Mills and Larkin were ready to sing, completely forgetting about the drinks they had been having a little while before.

While they were singing, the jazz singer Violetta Love started singing with them from the very first verse.

Fly me to the moon

And let me play among the stars

Let me see what spring is like

On Jupiter and Mars...

And so, Nick Larkin and Harry Mills, completely oblivious to the personal problems they each had on their own, gave free rein to their musical instincts, and, together with Violetta Love, the jazz singer, sang in unison on that hot night at the Kitty Riot bar in El Paso, Texas, that legendary song.

---

February 11th, AD 1955, Downtown El Paso (Kitty Riot Bar/Parking Lot), El Paso, Texas, United States of America, 02:29 AM

It was a night Nick Larkin and Harry Mills would never forget in their lives. Over the course of several hours, the two men sang nonstop jazz songs alongside the singer at the bar where they frequented for drinks, and as ironically as possible, the two men left the bar more sober than one would expect for someone visiting such a place.

But that was the least of their concern. Being able to sing with such emotion and joy, after a long and thankless working day, was more soothing than any alcoholic beverage they might have imbibed that day. It was an unparalleled sensation for the two men, and they wished they could have sung more songs with her.

However, they had to keep in mind that the following day, they had to go work, so both men headed to the parking lot to return to their homes.

-"Phew, that was a hell of a night we had!"- Harry Mills said, as he opened his car door. -"I have never sung so much since I was in college!"-

-"Me too!"- Larkin echoed him, as he was ready to board his car. -"I could not believe how much fun it was singing here with you and that girl!"-

-"Yeah, that was an astounding evening, Nick!"- Mills said while getting in the driver's seat. -"But my throat really hurts from singing for so many hours. I hope I don't end up hoarse from this."-

-"Well, maybe we could sing some songs here again sometime!"- Larkin suggested in a cheerful tone. -"as long as your throat is ready for another round, of course."

-"Any time you want, pal, giggle"- Mills then coughed, the result of several hours of non-stop singing. -"but first I need to suck on some sore throat lozenges before I try anything like that again."-

At that moment, Harry Mills started the engine of his car to drive home.

-"So, see you tomorrow at the base, Harry!"-

-"You too. See you later, buddy!"- Mills waved goodbye to his friend, Nick Larkin.

The Florida contractor, with nothing more to add, left the bar's parking lot, leaving Larkin alone, as he too was about to return to the base to rest.

But before starting the engine of his car, a 1954 Hudson Hornet, Larkin noticed a person standing next to him who seemed to want to talk to him.

-"Hey, I need to talk to you, Nick!"-

Larkin noticed at once that the voice was that of a woman...

...and it wasn't just any woman, to his personal surprise.

-"Violetta Love?"-

The jazz singer, with whom he and his friend Harry Mills had sung at her side for several hours, was at the side of his car door, appearing suddenly and without warning at the side of the scientist, who was about to return to Fort Bliss.

-"What are you doing here?"- The man asked in a surprised tone at Violetta. -"I thought you'd be at the bar working or something, right?"-

-"Actually, I'm done working for tonight, and I just wanted to talk to you for a minute."- She said in a friendly way. -"I saw you were about to get in your car, but I wanted to talk to you before you went."-

-"Oh, really?"- Larkin asked in a timid way. -"And why me?"-

-"Well, for starters, I just wanted to thank you for singing with me tonight, especially with Harry."-

-"To be fair... it wasn't because I wanted to, but because you asked me to, and I simply wanted to be polite, really."-

-"Sure, I got that, but thank you anyway."- The singer responded with a smile. -"And secondly, I'm asking you to sit down with me for a minute."- She said, as she pointed to a nearby bench.

-"I would love to, but I have to get back to base, as I start work at 8 AM today, but thanks anyway."-

-"In that case, wouldn't you like me to join you?"- The woman asked in a flirty tone.

-"Where? In my car?"- Larkin asked nervously.

-"Yes, where else?"-

-"I'm sorry, but I can't bring unauthorized civilians onto the base, even if I would like to, to be honest."-

-"And who the hell said I'm interested in going to Fort Bliss, huh?"- The girl replied in a aggressive tone.

Nick Larkin was surprised that the woman wasn't interested in going with him to the base, which meant that her plans were completely different...

-"So I take it you want to talk to me in my car, right?"-

-"Well, yes, in a way..."-

-"In that case, come in."-

Swiftly, the scientist allowed Violetta Love, the jazz singer with whom he and Harry Mills had sung together on the bar stage that night, to climb into his car. The woman quickly sat in the front passenger seat, only inches away from Larkin, who was readying to start the car's engine.

-"All right, now what do you want, Violetta?"- Larkin asked the woman from Indiana. -"If it's sex you want, I don't bring condoms or any protection, so keep that in mind, as I don't want to knock up a girl at this time."-

-"Hey, who said I wanted to have sex with you, nerd?"- The woman reacted with a laugh. -"Even though it is true that handsome guys like you are hard to get."-

-"Well, thank you for the compliment, but please, just get to the point."- The man said, as he tried to give up on flirting with the woman. -"I'm not in the mood for such kind of bait flirting."-

-"I just want to ask you a favor, and I think it might interest you."-

-"And what kind of favor would it be, if I could know, Violetta?"- The man asked. -"Does it have anything to do with music?"-

-"No."- The woman replied. -"I just wanted to invite you to dinner tomorrow at this very bar."-

-"What?"-

The scientist replied incredibly surprised to hear that the woman was not interested in having an intimate relationship with him, but only in having dinner at the next night, which was rare for a woman who was dedicated to singing in a rundown bar in a southern town like El Paso. And considering that he had heard stories on the base of women who had slept with men for much less than that, the fact that a woman merely asked to eat with him was something he didn't hear every day.

-"Okay, so let me just make sure I understand..."- The startled scientist asked. -"You're asking me to have dinner with you here at this very bar?"-

-"Yes."-

-"And why just me, and you didn't think of inviting Harry too?"- Larkin asked the woman on regard of Harry Mills. -"Could it be that you don't like him, or what?"-

-"It is not that."- Violetta replied at the New Yorker. -"I simply want to talk to you alone, and I don't want your friend to get involved in this."-

-"So I guess it must be something private, then, right?"-

The woman replied with firm tone in her voice.

-"You could say that, Nick."-

The New York scientist didn't know what else to say about it, but he also didn't feel like turning down such a request. Besides, Violetta Love, despite being a woman somewhat older than he was, was not unattractive, and he felt that he could not pass up such an opportunity, considering that he was single.

"-Well, I guess I could do it, for starters."- He said as he looked at the still smiling woman.

-"I'm glad you're interested in having dinner with me, Nick."- Violetta replied. -"I swear you won't regret it."-

-"To be honest, who would refuse to have dinner with someone like you?"-

The singer then smiled without showing any teeth.

-"Then I guess the dinner is set."-

-"But what time shall we meet tomorrow, Violetta?"-

-"Does 9 PM sound good to you?"-

-"Sure."-

Then, the woman hurried to say goodbye to Larkin without further ado...

-"See you tomorrow, Nick!"-

The woman got out of the car and walked off in a hurry toward the bar. The New York scientist, still inside his car, contemplated about what Violetta had asked of him.

-"Why did she want to have dinner with me?"- He asked himself. -"Should I take it seriously?"-

And after seeing that beautiful woman, Larkin knew he couldn't pass up the opportunity to have a date alone with her, without his friend Harry Mills getting in the way.

With that in mind, he decided to commit to going on the date for the next day, and immediately after, Larkin started the engine of his car, and headed back to Fort Bliss.

---

February 11th, AD 1955, Fort Bliss (Komatsu's Personal Research Laboratory), El Paso, Texas, United States of America, 09:00 AM

The next day, Nicholas "Nick" Larkin, after that hectic night, went into Dr. Yoshinori Komatsu's laboratory, his immediate boss, and after donning his lab coat, he was ready to start a new day's work.

At that moment, Phillip Madison, who was Dr. Komatsu's second-in-command in the lab and his senior assistant, noticed that Larkin was in a good mood when he entered the lab, and he did not hesitate to have a word with his subordinate to find out the reason for his mood, knowing beforehand that Larkin had gone to the bar the day before.

-"Good morning, Larkin."- Madison greeted his subordinate. -"Looks like you had a great time at the Kitty Riot bar, didn't you?"-

-"You could say yes, in a way."- Larkin responded at his senior. -"Why the question?"-

-"Well, for starters, your voice sounds a little different today, as if you've been up all night talking or singing nonstop. May I know the reason?"-

-"My voice, you said?"- Larkin said in an inquisitive way. -"Oh yeah, that's true! My voice sounds very different today. I think it's because I was singing most of the night, to be honest. giggle"-

-"Well, I didn't know you enjoyed singing, Larkin."-

-"Not exactly; the last time I sang was during my graduation from university back in New York, but due to various circumstances I had to do it."-

-"And what would those circumstances be, if I may know?"-

-"Let's say a pretty girl older than me invited me and a friend of mine to sing on stage with her..."-

Madison was dumbfounded to hear that his colleague had been singing on stage in a bar without any inhibitions, which led him to think out loud about the following.

-"I guess you got too drunk yesterday to do that, didn't you?"-

-"Of course not!"- Larkin retorted in an angry tone. -"In fact, I left the bar more sober than I expected, as I only drank a few beers."-

-"And what did you do on stage?"- Madison mischievously asked his junior. -"Did you sing, or did you do something else besides drinking beer with that girl?"-

Nick Larkin knew that his superior was insinuating that he had had sex with that girl, which was not a nice comment to hear from the man, but he decided to ignore him and play along.

-"Well, we did everything a bar should be, I guess."- The New Yorker said. -"we sang a few songs together, and we danced."-

-"And did you sing alone, or did you sing together?"-

-"That is strange, but we sang together."- Larkin replied. -"There was nothing wrong with that, I guess."-

-"And what happened after you finished singing with your friend?"-

-"Afterwards, my friend and I went to the parking lot, and while he went back to the base first before me, the woman with whom we sang together wanted to talk to me before I started the car."-

-"And let me guess: You both had wild sex inside the car, right, Larkin?"-

-"OF COURSE NOT, DAMN IT!"- The young scientist yelled at Madison. -"Why the fuck does everything have to be reduced to sex, sex, sex and nothing else, huh? Do you think that's all I think about, or what?"-

-"Well... you're single, you don't have anyone in your life, and you've said before that you'd like to find a date, haven't you?"- Madison said in a dry tone.

-"Yes, that's true, but that's not the point."- The New Yorker replied. -"In fact, that girl had no interest in having sex with me to begin with."-

-"Huh?"- Madison said in surprise that the woman Larkin was with didn't seem interested in sleeping with him, contrary to what one might expect from someone who worked in a bar. -So, what the hell did she wanted from you then? Money, favors, or what?"-

-"Well, to be honest, she invited me to have a late night meal with her at the bar today..."-

Madison was surprised, for he did not expect that woman, after all, instead of wanting to bed Larkin, was more interested in eating with him, which seemed even stranger.

-"Wait a minute!"- Madison asked the New Yorker. -"So, you're telling me that the same woman who sang on stage with you at the bar yesterday now wants to eat with you at the same bar? What's the catch about it?"-

-"And I don't know about that."- Larkin continued. -"I mean she only wanted to have a date with me. It makes no sense."-

-"Could she be a spy, by any chance?"- Madison said, considering his own experience on the topic.

-"Nah, I don't think so! She doesn't look like spy material, and besides, if she wanted to get something from me, she would have done it right then and there."- Larkin dismissed the possibility that woman could be a foreign spy. -"Besides, she had a northern accent, which means she was born here in America."-

-"And so what, Larkin?"- Madison pointedly criticized his partner's lighthearted attitude about foreign espionage. -"There are many foreign governments that have recruited locals for espionage work, and there are many people who are willing to betray their country in order to earn some big bucks. Remember that Dr. Komatsu was almost killed by spies working for the Russians during the last war, and in case you don't remember, I also had my run-ins with a potential spy who came to the school where I work to obtain classified information."-

-"Oh, you mean the woman who offered you a government job on behalf of her husband?"-

-"Exactly!"- The chief assistant replied. -"That is why we must not let our guard down at any time. This project may seem like nonsense to some, including some of the top brass in the government, but if Stalin wanted to abduct Dr. Komatsu during the war, it's because that idiot thought the doc and his supposedly "crazy" ideas were more worthwhile than we can conceive."-

After a brief pause, Phillip Madison returned to the subject of the woman with whom Nick Larkin, his subordinate, would have a date later that evening.

-"And what was the name of that woman?"-

-"Violetta Love."- Larkin answered.

-"Love... that's a nice name."- Madison snarked a bit. -"for a prostitute..."-

-"What?"- Larkin was surprised by Madison's misogynistic comment. -"That's what you think of her? You know, I just met her, so I don't know why you are suddenly acting like you don't like her, but from what I recall, she seems like a normal or even a good person, and even if she is a prostitute, who cares?"-

-"Listen carefully, Nick."- Madison pointed his finger on him -"I know that at this moment my statement I made may seem in bad taste, but at this moment I wouldn't trust so easily in anyone, much less in a pretty face, and even more when there are spies involved. I'm not saying she is one, but I'm just asking you not to trust her so easily if she starts asking you for things you wouldn't normally say under normal conditions."-

There was a short pause.

-"You may be right, but that's how I feel. To be honest, I don't think she will try to get anything from me, but you never know."-

-"Well, anyway, I'm glad that you don't have any problem with going to the bar with Violetta."- Madison said. -"After all, you do deserve a break, don't you?"-

Both men chuckled at each other, and then the subject of conversation shifted.

-"By the way, where is Dr. Komatsu?"- Larkin asked Madison. -"I haven't seen him since I arrived at the lab."-

-"Well, normally he's the one who always gets here early to work first, but this time he just unlocked the lab's doors; I haven't seen him since I arrived here too."-

-"Strange that he isn't here."-

-"Yes, it is."- Madison agreed. -"It's possible he's late, but he has never been late before."-

And at that moment, the laboratory door suddenly opened...

-"Good morning, gentlemen. I hope you are in a good mood for work today."-

That voice and that person was Dr. Yoshinori Komatsu, who stepped into the laboratory with some haste, and as soon as he entered the place, the Japanese scientist took off his formal dress clothes and put on his lab coat that he normally works with.

-"My, and speaking of the devil..."-

-"Good morning, Dr. Komatsu!"- Larkin responded at his boss. -"It is unusual for you to be so late, sir."-

-"Sorry for the delay gentlemen,"- Komatsu apologized at his men. -"but the Secretary of Defense and Dr. Ellington, his companion, kept me busy for quite a while before we started working in the meeting room to discuss our progress to date."-

-"Taking into account who they are, I think it's understandable, doctor."- Larkin responded at his senior.

-"Yes, but I think it is very thoughtless of them to want to talk to you before starting work and not afterwards, when we would all be free, don't you think so, doctor?"- Madison added.

-"I understand that perfectly..."-

Komatsu said, and then they all sat down...

-"But I also need to discuss a few things with you first."-

Then, Komatsu handed his associates some documents at their hands.

-"I wanted to share the results of my analysis on the data we reviewed in the meeting."-

Madison and Larkin received in their own hands several folders containing several important documents, mainly reports on the Advanced Evolution Project, and the opinions given by the Secretary of Defense and Dr. Ellington on what they had seen to date.

-"I take it that's the opinion that the Secretary and Dr. Ellington have expressed on this project, don't you, doctor?"- Madison said at his boss.

-"Yes, that is correct."- Komatsu confirmed.

-"And can we know in advance what these documents say, in a nutshell, sir?"- Larkin asked at Komatsu in an questioning tone.

-"Read the documents first, and give your opinions later, gentlemen."-

-"Roger that, doctor."-

Both scientists read, over the course of an hour, the contents of those reports. Reading those sheets was not an easy task for those men, even though they were used to having to read and write similar reports for reasons related to their work, due to the language and military terminology used in the documents, which caused them to have to read all of them very carefully to make sure they understood everything that was said there.

-"Well, let me see if I understand this correctly, doctor:"- Madison said at Komatsu, while giving a quick read at the documents. -"According to the reports, what they have seen so far of this project seems very promising for them, but they need a few more days to give a definitive assessment, so for the moment their stance towards the project remains largely neutral, although this may change depending on what they see in the next few days, right?"-

-"That's right."- Komatsu confirmed. -"Considering the military and... unusual nature of this project, it is understandable that they would be reluctant to to support it,"-

Then, the Japanese man added some additional notes.

-"But, considering my history with the Russians after they tried to kidnap me in Japan, I think at least my project must have some kind of value."-

-"Now, I wouldn't want to be that guy, doctor,"- Nick Larkin rebutted. -"but we must bear in mind that Stalin wasn't exactly a very sane person, sir."-

-"Well,"- Madison shrugged his shoulders. -"neither were Hitler, Mussolini and Hirohito, were they?"-

Madison realized that the mention of Emperor Hirohito or Showa, as that leader was known in Dr. Komatsu's native Japan, may have made the Japanese scientist uncomfortable, which prompted the young chief assistant to apologize immediately.

-"Oh... I'm... I'm very sorry, doctor, I think I went too far with respect to your emperor, sir!"-

-"Bah, don't worry about that, Madison!"- Komatsu reassured at his assistant. -"The truth is that I don't give a damn about the emperor and all of his boot-licking posse, starting with Tojo, who got Japan into the last war..."-

-"It seems you were not the patriotic type, doctor."- Larkin asked at his boss.

-"That's right, Larkin. The only reason I was in the military was because of various issues beyond my control, which led me to end up working for the government of my country."- The Japanese man explained at his assistant. -"But as far as I'm concerned, I care very little for the emperor and anything to do with governments of any kind."-

-"I see."-

-"Well, and changing the subject, because it's something I don't want to discuss right now,"- Komatsu then addressed to Larkin again. -"I heard that you and Madison were discussing something important about a date with a woman or something like that..."-

-"Oh, you mean that?"- The New Yorker responded. -"I was just telling Madison about a date I'm going on tonight with a nice girl I met last night at a bar near the base."-

-"A date, you say?"- Komatsu cheered his junior. -"Well, congratulations then, Larkin."-

-"Thank you, sir."-

-"I'm sorry to ruin the party for you regarding my colleague Larkin, doctor,"- Madison swiftly interrupted both his boss and the aforementioned Larkin. -"but I was just discussing with him my concerns about the person he will be going on a date with..."-

-"And... may I know why?"- Komatsu asked Madison in a stern voice.

-"Well, sir, I told Larkin that it wasn't normal for a girl like that to ask a man for favors, since Larkin only met her yesterday after they both sang, along with a friend of his, on stage at the bar, and it seems strange to me that she has no more intimate interest in him than to invite him to a date, so I thought it was my duty to warn him about her, and her most likely ulterior motives."-

-"Do you suspect that girl might be a spy, Madison?"- Komatsu asked.

-"I would hate to say this, sir, but there is that possibility, considering your background, especially what we talked about a few moments ago about Stalin and those spies, and what I told you about my exposure with a likely spy four days ago, doctor."-

-"Personally, the girl doesn't look like a spy,"- Larkin explained about Violetta. -"and I doubt a professional spy is going to bother with someone like me, considering I'm relatively unimportant in the grand scheme of things regarding this project."-

-"You are right, but a spy will go for the weakest link, and if she thinks you are that link, she may try to get whatever information she wants out of you."-

Obviously, all that talk about spies was beginning to wear on the New York scientist's patience.

-"Oh, please, Madison! I get your point, but all this fucking paranoia about spies, spies and more damn spies everywhere is already starting to piss me off!"- The man complained loudly at his senior. -"Besides, what kind of spy would buckle down to work in a backwater bar in a place like here in El Paso, Texas, huh?"-

-"Considering that both El Paso and this base are the place where Dr. Von Braun was and where he started working when he came here to America, I don't doubt that some foreign spy will try to find information by any means, even if it means having to go to places like that bar."-

-"Yes, but that's long gone,"- Larkin rebutted. -"and, considering that Stalin has already kicked the bucket, I think the Soviets have other priorities than knowing about a project that's going to make animals talk, isn't it?"-

Larkin and Madison broke off their discussion, which was taken up again by Larkin when he saw that his partner did not seem to respond to his questioning.

-"Besides, when I joined this project and signed my NDA, there was no rule against having personal dates, right?"-

Komatsu joined the argument, due to his position as project chief and immediate boss of both men, in order to give his opinion on the subject.

-"Well..."- The Japanese man added. -"While there are no restrictions on non-family personal relationships in the NDA that you signed when you joined this project, you are asked to avoid discussing confidential information with strangers, as is the case with anyone working in the military. I don't have a lot of experience with that sort of thing, but from what I see, I don't think there should be any downside to Larkin seeking a close relationship with someone."-

Larkin smiled, seeing that Komatsu, his boss, didn't seem to have a problem with having that date with Violetta Love, something he rubbed in Phillip Madison's face.

-"See?"- The New Yorker said. -"I told you your paranoia was overblown, buddy."-

-"But still, you should be careful if that woman asks you too many questions, Nick."- Madison warned his friend again. -"Russian women are not characterized by being ugly, to put it more subtly."-

-"And since when can a woman with a northern accent, who sings perfectly in English, and who doesn't seem to be the least bit interested in my work, be a Russian woman, huh?"-

Komatsu has had enough of the argument between them and decided to interrupt them at once.

-"Gentlemen, please, you both know that you shouldn't be having this argument about a girl Larkin is going to meet. There are many things to do and many things to discuss, so please, let's change this stupid subject for once."-

Komatsu told them, hoping to put an end to the argument. The Japanese man was the project chief and he exercised his influence as their boss, and hoped that they would stop arguing and start focusing on the work instead.

-"OK, doctor, as you wish."- Larkin replied.

-"Yes, sir."- Madison followed suit.

-"Well, if there is nothing else to discuss, let's get back to work as soon as possible."- Komatsu asked both men about something of utmost importance for him. -"Let's start first with Raghu, I haven't been able to talk to him for several days. Do you know how he is?"-

-"Well, he's doing relatively well... for a tiger as old as he is."- Madison replied about Raghu's health.

-"Yes, I know that, and I regret not being able to talk to him in the last few days because of the Secretary of Defense and Dr. Ellington, they take a lot of time away from talking to my old friend from my days in Japan."-

-"You are very fond of that tiger, aren't you?"- Larkin asked his boss.

Komatsu sighed a bit and did not hesitate to answer his question...

-"Yes, and who wouldn't be? Raghu is quite an unique tiger, and although we have been able to replicate his abilities in that little kitten, as well as have enough blood and tissue samples from him for further analysis, it will hurt me a lot the day he is no longer with us..."-

After a brief pause, the Japanese scientist, visibly saddened at the thought that his feline friend's days might be numbered, resumed his talk.

-"He is more than just a lab animal or a simple animal for me... but a true friend who has been with me through thick and thin, including the day Hiroshima was destroyed..."-

Then, Komatsu turned his gaze to one of the laboratory's windows, while he looked at the mountains near Fort Bliss, with a more than evident melancholy...

-"And now, we must make sure that his last days are spent with the utmost dignity that we humans can give to such a majestic beast as Raghu."- The Japanese scientist said, with a very sad tone in his voice. -"It is the least we can offer him, after all the damage we humans have caused him."-

Seeing the sadness of their senior regarding Raghu's inevitable fate, both Larkin and Madison could only say words of encouragement to Komatsu, to the effect that they too were with him and that they too felt the same sorrow for Raghu that the man felt.

-"We are really sorry for him, doctor. It would be a pity if Raghu died, to be honest, because you don't see such intelligent animals like him every day."- Madison gave his sincere opinion about Raghu.

-"And, considering all that he and you have been through during the last war, it is very unfortunate that Raghu does not have much longer to live..."- Then, Nick Larkin added his own words on the subject. -"But still, we share your pain, doctor, because we have worked with Raghu all these years, and I can say, without mistake, that I am very proud to have been able to work with such a special animal as Raghu, and I think we should all feel the same way..."-

Larkin did a brief pause, and he did even shed a tear for Raghu...

-"Isn't that right, Dr. Komatsu?"-

The Japanese scientist was surprised that he was not the only one who felt the same way about Raghu as he did, and he appreciated the words of his assistants as he saw the suffering Komatsu felt for Raghu and the thought that sooner or later, that tiger would no longer live.

-"I appreciate that, my friends, it is nice to know that I'm not the only one who cares for this magnificent feline."- Komatsu said, happy for their comments.

-"Well, doctor, the point is that that tiger has been like a good and loyal friend to you. After all, you and him have been through many pains along the years."- Madison said. -"And I don't think we'll ever have an animal like him, to be honest."-

-"And you do deserve some consideration, doctor, because you have been loyal to Raghu all of these years."- Larkin added.

Komatsu just smiled, feeling happy to have the loyalty of his men, knowing that he did have a good team with him and that Raghu was well taken care of.

-"Thank you very much for your words, my dear aides... I did not expect to hear words from men who do not share my same feelings with those animals we work with."-

-"What are you talking about, doctor?"- Madison replied with a smile at Komatsu. -"If we didn't enjoy what we do, we wouldn't be here in the first place."-

-"True enough."- Larkin followed his friend. -"I, for one, went to veterinary school in college back in my native New York because I wanted to help animals, and I wanted to do more than that, and if giving animals intelligence helps them communicate with us, I'm willing to help you in any way I can, doctor."-

Komatsu was moved by the words of his assistants, and could not help but thank them for everything they had done for him...

-"Thank you very much, my peers... thank you very much indeed."- Komatsu said with tears in his eyes. -"I look forward to working with you with the same enthusiasm and determination for many years to come."-

After that, the Japanese scientist smiled at his assistants, who were smiling back at him, feeling happy for him because he felt as if he had received all that he deserved to receive from his two very loyal assistants.

-"Well, in that case I'm going to talk to Raghu right now..."-

Yoshinori Komatsu then went to the room where the wild animals were housed, in order to talk to Raghu alone.

-"Wish me luck, guys."-

-"Good luck, doctor!"- Both men cheered him up. -"And please, give our regards to Raghu."-

---

February 11th, AD 1955, Downtown El Paso (Kitty Riot Bar), El Paso, Texas, United States of America, 08:37 PM

Nick Larkin was very nervous that night, and it was no small thing, as he knew this was going to be his first date he was going to have with a woman in many years, and he knew he couldn't leave anything to chance, so he dressed in the best suit he could get his hands on, and groomed himself in the best possible way, not to mention that he smelled the most expensive perfume he could afford, even if he had to buy it at a drugstore that was located near the bar.

Another thing that made him uneasy was the warnings his colleague Phillip Madison had given him about the woman he would be with that night, Violetta Love: What if she really was a spy as he claimed? What if she tried to extract some kind of confidential information from him in some way or another?

But on the other hand, while he could not be unprepared for such possibility, Larkin knew that acting paranoid was not going to lead him anywhere, especially when it came to his love life, so the best thing he could do was to enjoy life and let things go on as normal.

Then, Nick Larkin decided to go to the bar where he would meet Violetta, and walk with a confident stride, knowing that he would be fine.

After parking his car, Larkin headed to the bar, where Violetta would be waiting for him inside. The two had agreed to meet at 9 PM that day. Once at the bar entrance, the young New York scientist sat down at a table at the bar, instead of at the counter like the night before, so as to have a little more privacy this time.

Surprisingly for Larkin, Violetta arrived at the bar on time. The jazz singer was dressed in a more formal outfit than the one she had worn the night before, and she looked more like a professional singer than a plain songstress from a seedy bar like the Kitty Riot, which caught the man's attention when he saw her in the act. Seconds later, the singer from Indiana greeted the scientist warmly.

-"Hi, Nick!"- Violetta began the chat. -"Hope I didn't take too long to get here!"-

-"No, on the contrary."- Larkin responded -"I'm surprised you made it in time."-

Without further ado, the woman sat down on the opposite side of the table from where Larkin was sitting, which caused Larkin to not know what to say on the matter, due to his lack of experience with women.

-"Well, now that we are here, what are we going to do?"- The New Yorker said something at his female host. -"I guess you're going on stage to sing today, aren't you?"-

-"Not this time, Nick."- The woman replied with a smile. -"Today is my day off, and that's why I invited you to spend the night with me here at the bar."-

-"Well, that would explain why you're not so rushed right now."-

-"I know."- The woman followed up with the chat. -"And it's good to have you here with me, Nick. I had a good time with you last night, very good indeed."-

-"Well, I had a good time as well, and I hope I can have another good night with you now."-

-"If you keep that sweet and confident attitude about you, I'm sure that I'm in for a treat..."- The woman answered, with a playful sternness. -"And since I'm the one hosting this reunion, how about I treat you with some drinks, huh?"

-"That sounds like a good idea. I'll have a beer, if you don't mind."- Larkin replied with a smile, as he had found a charming girl to hang out with, as he was starting to feel a little depressed in the world of work, and he didn't know if he always would have such a great time being social with women, as the middle-aged singer was doing.

-"You don't seem to be much of a hard drinker, do you?"- Violetta asked the man.

-"To be honest, no."- The scientist explained his reasons for not drinking stronger spirits. -"I don't like to drink drinks with a lot of alcohol, and I'm more of a beer drinker than a heavy drinker. Maybe because I had a bad experience drinking one of those drinks when I was in university."-

-"May I know what happened, if you don't mind, Nick?"-

-"Well, I am going to explain what I remember, and what my classmates told me days after the incident."- Larkin then explained. -"I remember me and my friends had a party at the fraternity I belonged to at New York University, and the last thing I remember was that I had several martinis. What no one warned me was that those drinks were very dangerous and you had to drink them in moderation, otherwise you'd have to deal with the consequences."

-"And then what happened?"-

-"According to what my classmates told me, I was so drunk after drinking several shots of that drink that they had to drag me back to my dorm, and I remember that the next day I felt so bad that I threw up everything I had eaten and drank that night, and I had a horrible hangover that lasted for two days."- Larkin answered, feeling hurt by the story. -"It was hard to go back to school after that, I had to see a doctor, and I was diagnosed as suffering from alcohol poisoning."-

-"So, your alcohol poisoning was so bad that you couldn't work for two days?"-

-"I just couldn't work, that's all."- Larkin tried to explain as best he could. -"Since then, I avoid drinking such drinks; I don't want to have another night like that for the rest of my life, even though it meant that many of my friends laughed at me for not tolerating a few martinis."-

-"I'm sorry to hear that, Nick."- Violetta looked at the scientist. -"Sometimes men can be overconfident with the alcohol they consume, without weighing the consequences."-

-"I wasn't. "- The New Yorker explained again. -"I learned my lesson since then, back in college, and I just didn't drink any more of that stuff, but it's pleasant that you didn't misunderstand me.

-"I'm glad you learned from your mistake, Nick. giggle"-

-"Yeah, I know."-

After that, Violetta ordered a drink for herself and a beer for Larkin, and they chatted some more about various topics, as they knew the night was still young in the Kitty Riot.

-"By the way, you mentioned yesterday, when we were on stage, that you work at Fort Bliss, right?"- Violetta asked Larkin first.

-"Yeah, that's right."-

-"And what exactly do you do there, if I may ask?"-

-"I'm a military scientist."- Larkin responded.

-"A military scientist?"- The jazz singer replied in awe. -"Now that's something... interesting. Aren't you one of those people who go around testing rockets or the like?"-

-"Uh, I think you're referring to other people, who no longer work there, as far as I can tell."- The scientist clarified his job. -"My work is something more... mundane... to put it in a way. Nothing spectacular or remarkable, but I get paid very well."-

-"I guess you work on top secret projects, don't you?"-

-"Well..."- Larkin rolled his eyes a bit. -"As far as I can tell, you could say yes, but I don't think it's anything truly spectacular. In fact, it's pretty boring stuff, if you care to know."-

-"And why do you say it's boring?"- Violetta asked that man. -"Were you expecting something more interesting, like testing secret weapons or stuff?"-

-"Of course not. In fact, I'm not interested in that sort of stuff connected with killing people, to be honest."-

-"And I guess you can't tell me what you really do there at the base, can you?"-

-"Nope."- Larkin confirmed. -"Actually, I can't say exactly what branch of science I'm in, other than that I'm a doctor."-

The word "doctor" obviously brought to that woman another mental image that she wanted to know, more than anything else to find out if it was not what she believed it to be.

-"You're not one of those guys experimenting on humans, are you?"-

Larkin, who was drinking his beer when he heard this question about experimenting with human beings, almost spit out his drink, due to the negative implications such a question implied.

-"LIKE FUCKIN' HELL I'M SOMEONE CRAZY ENOUGH TO BE DOING SUCH A THING, WOMAN!"- The young New Yorker almost yelled at Violetta when she mentioned human experimentation. -"WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK I AM, DR. FRANKENSTEIN OR WHAT?"-

The woman from Indiana realized that asking such questions to a doctor working in the military was not something that could be considered in good taste, especially after World War II, and the revelation that several German doctors who worked with the Nazis, such as Josef Mengele, to name a well-known case, experimented on humans, something that many physicians and scientists in similar fields were ashamed and disgusted that a physician would use his knowledge to cause harm to others, among them Larkin, for obvious reasons, even if the latter was a veterinarian.

Ironically, and unbeknownst to Larkin, he never knew that his immediate boss, Yoshinori Komatsu, worked alongside the infamous Angel of Death, even if the Japanese scientist never had a good opinion of him, and he hated him like most Nazis, and for many good reasons for him.

-"Sorry."- The woman apologized. -"That was not my intention. I apologize for my question, if you didn't like it."-

Seeing that Violetta Love was visibly sorry for having insinuated that Larkin was experimenting on human beings, the latter forgave the woman, and he preferred to change the subject of the conversation instead.

-"Okay, no problem, but be careful about implying that kind of thing about people, especially in front of a doctor."- Larkin admonished Violetta. -"As you know, many doctors like me are visibly disgusted by what the Nazis did in the last war, and the last thing I'd like to hear is that military doctors are in the business of experimenting on people."-

-"I understand."- Violetta made a serious nod. -"I'll think twice before the next time I ask you such a question, okay? I was just a little curious, you know..."-

-"And who wouldn't?"- Larkin replied. -"I mean, scientists are curious by nature, so I guess it's no wonder why you did that question."-

The jazz singer managed to look at Nick Larkin, a little embarrassed after remembering that a human being can be so curious about someone's behavior, or even another person's appearance, and Larkin was not an exception to that rule.

-"And what about you, Violetta?"- Larkin asked her. -"What do you do besides singing?"-

-"Well, I'm also a dancer. That's my passion since my childhood, and I hope to dance professionally one day."-

-"It would be fun to see you dance."- The scientist replied at the woman.

-"Thank you, Nick."- Violetta smiled to Larkin. -"Do you want another beer?"-

-"Sure."- Nick looked at the woman.

Violetta Love waved at the bartender so he could serve them another beer, but meanwhile, Larkin did another question to the woman.

-"By the way, you said yesterday you were from Indiana. What are you doing here so far from your home here in Texas, huh?"- The New Yorker asked the woman. -"El Paso is not exactly a city known for its artistic activities, to put it politely."

-"Well, you could say I'm like many of the people who live in this town: Like many of the soldiers who come from other parts of the country to work at the base, I was offered a job to work as a singer in this bar when I lived in my hometown, and the rest is history."-

-"Oh, I see."-

-"And what about you, Nick?"- Violetta asked. -"From what I understand, you're from New York. What brings you down south?"-

-"Well, as far as I can tell you, after I graduated from the university, I was offered a job in the army, I gladly took it, and..."- Larkin drank his beer quickly, then he replied in a sour tone. -"they sent me here to El Paso."-

-"Oh? And judging by the tone of your voice, I guess it wasn't what you expected, was it?"-

-"Right... to be frank with you..."- The scientist replied bitterly. -"Had I known I'd be sent to this shitty town, I wouldn't have gone into the army in the first place."-

-"And how long you're here?"-

-"Almost four years and a half."-

-"Oh... I see."- The woman looked at the scientist. -"You don't like it here, huh?"-

-"I don't like it in El Paso, that's for sure."- Nick confessed. -"And if it weren't for the fact that I'm working on a secret project, I'd tell you I'd give anything to get the hell out of here and head back to New York."-

-"I understand."- Violetta nodded.

As Violetta Love and Nick Larkin continued to drink their beers, the atmosphere got friendlier between them, and the jazz singer mentally realized that she receives very good vibes from her date.

-"So... Nick... can I ask you something?"- The woman asked him.

-"Sure."- Larkin responded.

-"What do you think about your job?"- The jazz singer asked.

Larkin chuckled a bit when he heard that question...

-"My job?"- Then, the man paused for a few seconds. -"Well... uhhh... that would be a difficult question to respond, considering I'm working in a secret project, so I can't give you many details."-

-"I just need your opinion in general, nothing specific."-

-"Oh, I think I get your point."-

Then, Larkin replied to Violetta's original question...

-"I'll be honest with you, Violetta: While I generally like my work itself, the project I'm working on really doesn't sit well with me."-

-"And why? Is it something immoral, dangerous or something you dislike?"-

-"You could say it's the opposite here: We haven't gotten anything worthwhile, and the only person who is interested in this project, in this case my boss, seems to have a few screws loose in his head."-

-"Really?"- The woman replied quite surprised. -"And why do you think so, Nick?"-

-"Well, I can't say much about the project I'm working on with him, but I can tell you that it's something quite... absurd... to put it in layman's terms."- Larkin responded with a sour tone in his voice. -"And my boss seems to have had a very difficult life, which doesn't answer the fact what the government saw in that nutcase to get him to work in the military."-

-"Hmmmm..."- Violetta was thoughtful for a few minutes as she listened to Larkin's opinion of his senior. -"judging by the tone as you say it, I get the impression that you don't have a good opinion of your boss."-

Larkin did a sardonic smile in his face after hearing such question...

-"To say that I have a bad opinion of him is like saying that the Pacific Ocean is a little wet."- Larkin explained his position. -"In short, he's batshit insane. It's as simple as that."-

The Indiana woman was incredibly surprised that Larkin was describing his boss in the most vulgar way possible, implying that he did not seem to agree with his boss's own ideas in private.

-"If so, why are you still working with him? Couldn't you have chosen another project that was more suitable for you?"-

-"For two reasons:"- Larkin explained his situation. -"The first is that when I graduated from university back in New York, the job offer from the military didn't mention exactly what the job I was going to be employed for, so I could have ended up anywhere else in the country, or even the world, at the discretion of the higher-ups. And second and more importantly, I need money to pay off college loans. And if that wasn't enough, to be honest, the branch of science I work in is not known for being well paid."-

-"So... I understand you have to dedicate your time to your job now."-

-"Right, and I'm doing my best to get the most out of it. Still, I fear that, as much as I try, I'll never find peace of mind in working with that guy."- The scientist muttered.

-"Because you don't like him, and you think he's a scary guy."- The woman asked her date.

-"In a way, to say the least."- The New York man continued with his rant. -"To be honest, his ideas are not bad per se, and the little I know about him regarding his project, he seems to have good intentions, as it is a revolutionary project. But good intentions do not help to push forward an unrealistic project, and in the best case scenario it could take decades to see results, if at all, and by then, all the participants in the project, including myself and my boss, will be dead or too old to continue working."-

-"In short, you're in a dead-end job."- The woman quickly summarized.

Nick commented on that expression.

-"Yes... that's exactly what I'm doing right now; working on a fucking dead-end job."-

Then, Nick Larkin drank the last of his beer in one gulp.

-"It's a shame."- Violetta replied. -"I'm sure you're a brilliant scientist, and you deserve better than that. And I know I wouldn't like it either if I were in your place."-

Nick Larkin looked at the woman, somewhat saddened by her remarks...

-"Well..."- He replied. -"After all, I'm not the only one here who has problems, right? What about you?"- The man asked to Violetta. -"I guess you have your own problems to talk about, don't you? I think I've talked enough about my own shit, and now it's only fair that you talk some more about yourself."-

The jazz singer took a deep breath before continuing talking...

-"Well... I haven't told you much about my life, have I?"-

-"No, you haven't, not really."- The scientist nodded hearing her.

-"Well... I hope you want to know more about me."- The woman asked him.

-"Of course I do."- Larkin replied.

-"All right, then, let me fill you in a bit about me."- Violetta started her talk. -"I told you yesterday that I'm from Indiana, I think, right?"-

-"Yes, from Evansville, as I recall."-

-"Well, ever since I was a little girl, I've always loved jazz for some strange reason. Maybe because that music is very pleasant to listen to my ears, and maybe because I have always considered that music genre as something soothing and to a certain extent, hypnotizing thing."- The woman explained her backstory of her life. -"As you can imagine, my family was shocked to learn that one of their daughters liked to listen to that "negro music", as they call jazz, considering that they are a very conservative white family."-

-"I am not surprised at all."- Larkin remarked. -"Although if I have to be honest, I would hardly call jazz "negro music" in the slightest."-

-"My, looks like I'm not the only one who feels the same way about jazz."- Violetta responded in a surprised way.

-"Heh, you shouldn't be surprised; I'm not like those racist, boneheaded idiots who can't appreciate good music."-

Seconds later, Nick Larkin snapped his fingers to draw the attention of one of the waiters, who immediately came to the table where he and Violetta Love were sitting.

-"Hey, buddy, get me another beer. An ice-cold Budweiser..."-

-"Right away, sir!"- The waiter replied to Nick and then headed to the bar for his order.

At that point, Nick Larkin tried to continue talking about Violetta, and when he did, the jazz singer offered to give him more details as to the main points of her life...

-"All right, are you ready for more details?"- Violetta asked Nick.

-"Of course I am. I'm all ears."- The man replied.

-"I told you that since I was little I always loved jazz, right?"-

-"That's what you said."-

-"Well, when I finished school, I saw a job offer to sing in a bar in El Paso, Texas. I accepted the offer, since I could be far away from my family, so they wouldn't find out that I like to sing jazz."- The woman continued her chat. -"Except no one told me the conditions under which I would be singing, and the city itself..."-

Violetta then took the last sip of her drink as well.

-"I guess that makes two of us who end up working in the remote corners of the U.S., don't you think?"-

-"Indeed, it is."-

Moments later, Violetta checked her watch, and upon seeing it, she turned to Larkin...

-"Hey, Nick."- The woman said such words in a sultry and sensual manner. -"Would you like to do... something else?"-

-"Do what exactly, Violetta?"-

The jazz singer smiled, as she took a few steps closer to him, then wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her body against his, as he sat there confused for a moment.

-"Would you... like to go to my place?"- She asked him as she moved her mouth close to his ear. -"I can make you to have a very comfortable night... if you would like?"-

The young scientist began to feel nervous, for he knew perfectly well what it was all about, and what the outcome would be in the end with her.

-"I really don't know what to say about this."- Larkin commented nervously. -"Don't you think... you're rushing things?"-

-"Oh come on, Nick, aren't you a man or what?"-

Violetta teased him as she began to push him down, and he went down as Violetta with her hands on his chest and crotch, leaned him over, and then, she kissed him on his lips...

Though she knew perfectly well that Nick had no experience with women, Violetta took advantage of the situation and ended up crushing that man's soul so hard she could feel his soul being sucked out of his body by the force of the kiss she had given him.

-"Hey, who told you to kiss me like that?"- Larkin yelled at Violetta after he recovered his breath from that savage kiss.

-"Come on, Nick, I know you want to sleep with me, don't you, honey?"-

-"But..."-

-"But what?"-

-"That was pretty wild of you to kiss me like that, and in front of everyone here!"-

-"In that case,"- Violetta replied with a sensual voice. -"wouldn't you like you and me to be in a more... private place?"-

Larkin gulped and his heart began to race as he realized that things were starting to get hotter between the two of them. And without even thinking about what he was about to do, the young scientist did not hesitate to give a clear answer to the woman's proposal.

-"Well, why not?"-

-"So, are we gonna do it, honey?"-

-"Just tell me where, and we can start whenever you want..."-

-"We can do it in my dressing room upstairs."- The woman responded in the same sultry tone. -"No one will bother us there."-

The scientist gulped again, nodded, and second later he was with his new... acquaintance... walking upstairs to Violetta's dressing room, to be with her... and end up with her.

---

February 11th, AD 1955, Downtown El Paso (Kitty Riot Bar/Dressing Room), El Paso, Texas, United States of America, 11:31 PM

-"This one here, right?"-

–"Yes, just put it down your stuff somewhere."-

Even though he was a little nervous, he managed to persuade himself that it was the right time to have sex with the singer.

Larkin found himself in a small room, surprisingly clean and tidy, considering that Violetta was a singer. The room was furnished with a bed, a sofa, a few chairs and a table, but there was also a small closet where Larkin put his briefcase with his personal effects.

Sensing the man's nervousness, the singer stepped closer to him, took him by the hand, and led him to the sofa.

-"Well, before the fun begins, can I get you something to drink, Romeo?"-

-"I think another beer wouldn't hurt."-

-"Then let me go to the bar, and I'll get another beer for you."- Violetta said at Larkin. -"Just give me a few minutes, and in the meantime, you can get ready, if you wish."-

-"OK, I will wait here then. Just don't be late."-

Immediately after, Violetta headed to the bar to get the beer. And while she was out, Larkin began to undress quickly, while he wondered to himself what he was going to do next.

-"My god, I can't believe I'm going to sleep with this babe!"-

He muttered to himself while he took his shoes off. Things were happening so fast, and he was starting to see things a little differently. The scientist got out of his clothes and stood still in front of the sofa thinking.

Fifteen minutes later, Violetta Love came back a few moments later with a beer in hand. She noticed that Nick had almost finished undressing himself, so she decided to hug him from behind and embrace him.

-"How did you like your beer, handsome?"-

Larkin drank the beer that the woman had brought to him. At that moment, that ice-cold beer tasted like something kind of glorious to him, thinking that things couldn't get any better for him. After all, he was going to sleep with a very beautiful woman, and best of all, they were both going to do it in her dressing room. He couldn't have picked a better place to have sex than that place, he mused quickly at the time.

-"I liked it, thanks!"- Larkin remarked, then took the bottle and stood it on the table.

Quickly, Violetta began to undress, and minutes later, her naked body was visible for Nick Larkin to feast his eyes on in all its glory.

Larkin, for his part, was more than ready to start having the night of his life, and he wasn't about to waste an opportunity he might never have again in his life.

-"Are you ready for some fun, Nick?"-

-"Yes, dear..."-

Before he knew it, Violetta was riding him on the spot and they were both enjoying that moment in bed together. Larkin began to kiss her on her lips as she began to unbutton the scientist's shirt; then he began to kiss her neck while he began to touch her beautiful breasts through the cloth of her bra...

-"Oh, I like that... Oh, Nick, that feels wonderful..."-

And so, in this way, Nick Larkin and Violetta Love gave free rein to their baser instincts on that hot night at the Kitty Riot in El Paso, Texas, on that February day in 1955.

But suddenly, during sex, Larkin noticed something strange in him, something he had never felt before in his life...

-"God, what is wrong to me? Why do I feel like... I'm feeling... so... slee..."-

And at that moment, the last thing Nick Larkin could remember was having wild sex with Violetta before he completely blacked out...

---

February 11th, AD 1955, Fort Bliss (Komatsu's Personal Research Laboratory), El Paso, Texas, United States of America, 10:30 AM

A few hours before all the events involving Nick Larkin at the Kitty Riot that night took place, other equally important events were taking place in Dr. Yoshinori Komatsu's laboratory, precisely in the room where the wild beasts, such as lions, tigers, hippopotamuses, and the like, were housed.

In that place, there was the cage of Raghu, the Bengal tiger that Komatsu met when they were both in Japan, and that animal had helped him escape from the secret bunker where Komatsu worked, in order to try to return to Hiroshima with his family and then attempt to leave Japan somehow.

Unfortunately for Komatsu, the atomic bomb put an end to all those plans, and all his family and loved ones living in that city had died as a result of the atomic holocaust that befell that Japanese city. And as a result of this, he spent the remaining days trying to help the survivors of the attack in various makeshift hospitals, until he was arrested by the American occupation authorities, with the help of the new Japanese government, and sent to the U.S. to continue his Advanced Evolution Project that Komatsu was originally working on for the then Imperial government during World War II.

But by the time Komatsu entered the room, as expected, Raghu's best days were behind him: The tiger was already an old animal, whose fur had already lost its natural luster, and even he had lost some teeth.

Even so, Raghu's mind was still as lucid as it had always been since his younger days, and he could still communicate with his old human friend through sign language.

At the sight of the tiger, Komatsu shed a few tears of happiness, for he knew that this might be the last time the two of them would be able to talk together alone. Raghu was also aware of this, for the feline knew that his days were numbered and that he must seize that opportunity no matter what.

-"Do you have a few moments to chat with me, Raghu?"-

While the Japanese scientist waited for the animal's response, he unlocked Raghu's cage, and the tiger quickly emerged from its enclosure, visibly happy to see his human partner.

-"You know very well that I will always have a moment to talk to you, Yoshinori."- The tiger responded by signaling.

Komatsu watched the tiger carefully, and noticed that its health seemed to be gradually declining as a result of age, something he pointed out to his feline friend.

-"It seems that the years have not been very fair to you, have they, my friend?"-

The animal responded with the same enthusiasm it had always shown since the two had met years before.

-"Yes, I know... The years have passed and, as you can see, I've aged a lot."-

-"However, you're still the same tiger I met so many years ago, Raghu. And I will never stop thanking you for what you have done for me all these years, old friend."-

Komatsu added, smiling at his old friend. However, Raghu remained as calm as ever.

-"I'm not sure that I can say the same about you, Yoshinori. It seems that your face has changed over time."-

-"True, isn't it?"- The scientist laughed a bit. -"Certainly not as much as you."-

The animal seemed to purr in an agitated manner, as if to indicate that this response seemed a bit thoughtless on the part of the human.

-"I hope this is not your way of starting your conversation with me right now."- The Indian tiger responded in an annoyed way. -"I don't think I'm physically in the mood for that kind of talk."-

-"I know, my friend."- Komatsu replied with a sincere smile. -"I was just answering your question."-

-"Well, all bad jokes about one's age aside, what brings you to talk to me, Yoshinori?"-

The doctor paused briefly, and after taking a deep breath, Komatsu continued his conversation with Raghu.

-"I just wanted to take this opportunity to talk to you more thoroughly, knowing that you may not have many more days left to live, my dear Raghu."-

At that moment, the tiger answered by looking down on the floor, with a rather sour expression.

-"I still do not understand what you want to say, Yoshinori."-

After that, Komatsu sat on the floor so he could be on the same level as his animal partner, and the animal let his human friend take his hands as they began to talk.

-"I think you already know that answer, don't you?"- The Japanese man responded with a smile in his face. -"After all, you also have the power to enter my dreams and see what is inside my mind and my heart, and I would like to know what you have seen about me in my dreams, if you have even entered my head in the last few years."-

At this point, Raghu purred in a worried way, but then he decided to answer his friend's question.

-"Yes, I saw you in my dreams and I also entered yours at times, without you figuring out, and yes, it did seem that you went through a lot in the last few years."-

-"I think we both know that already."- Komatsu replied. -"I am only interested in knowing what you saw inside my head, and what you have been able to interpret from my dreams."-

The tiger stood still for a few minutes, not answering what his human friend wanted to know about his future. Following that brief pause, Komatsu began to grow frustrated and demanded an answer from the animal, though tactfully.

-"So, are you going to answer my question, Raghu?"- The scientist asked slowly.

-"I saw something, Yoshinori."- The tiger answered sincerely, while he was wagging his tail in a very nervous fashion. -"Something you may not like to hear."-

Komatsu was already used to hearing such foretelling messages that seemed to herald some kind of dire outcome for his future, and he knew that when Raghu said that something bad would happen to the Japanese scientist, it was because the predictions Raghu said always fulfilled in one way or another. And this time it didn't seem to be any different from his previous predictions.

-"I guess something bad is going to happen, isn't it, Raghu?"- Komatsu asked quietly.

-"Yes, it is."-

-"And may I know what is going to happen, my friend?"-

The tiger exhaled deeply and then, he replied his question...

-"There are three things you must know before I leave the world of the living, Yoshinori, and you must hear this before it is too late to change course for you."-

Komatsu remained for a few seconds without saying a word, and then he asked the feline more questions.

-"What are those three... things... that I should know, huh?"-

-"The first thing you should know beforehand is that one of your men will betray you by giving information about your project to your enemies."-

That answer caused Komatsu to be alarmed for a few moments, because due to the number of people working on his project, it was difficult for him to deduce which person might betray him. Excluding people who left the project on their own or those he personally dismissed, such as Richard Mason, who did not have in their possession any confidential information that could compromise his project at the time of leaving, Yoshinori Komatsu could not imagine who could sell him out in exchange for any material or economic gain.

And because of the esoteric nature, so to speak, of his Advanced Evolution Theory, anyone attempting to sabotage his project without physical evidence would find it very difficult to replicate the results he had achieved to date without the documents and the complete written thesis, and even with the thesis in the possession of an adversary, only Komatsu possessed the correct knowledge to complete the missing parts, which he himself kept in his own mind, which would be the word of any spy or adversary against reality, in attempting to replicate the methods described in the thesis.

Also, those people would also need to know the right procedures that he used in his development to obtain the results he achieved, which was rather difficult to try by any government-paid spy or ordinary physical agent.

As a result of this reasoning, the scientist was almost certain that the information would come only from someone among his current staff that knew exactly how Komatsu created the breakthroughs that gave him the advantage over his competitors in the field of evolution.

Now, it was just a matter of knowing and identifying who that traitor was.

-"Do you have any idea who might be capable of betraying me?"-

-"Unfortunately, I don't know, Yoshinori."- The feline responded. -"I only know that someone close to you could betray you, but I can't tell you exactly who it might be."-

-"You don't even have a tangible clue?"-

-"No."-

Raghu's answer began to worry the scientist, because it meant that anyone who might be working for him could be a potential spy, and he had no idea who that might be.

Only one thing was certain: whoever was planning to betray him was probably working for Major Matthew Fitzroy, who was the one person who was derailing all his work, because of his racial prejudice against him and because he considered his project to be crazy, and he would do whatever it took to put Komatsu behind bars or in the death row like a war criminal.

-"Do you know when this betrayal is going to happen, Raghu?"-

-"I can't tell you an exact date."- The tiger replied. -"The betrayal will happen when you least expect it, Yoshinori."-

The Japanese scientist put his hands to his face in nervousness, and tried to analyze the situation he was in. Komatsu had no reason to doubt Raghu's word, and knowing all the previous background surrounding that tiger, including, by the way, the mysterious nightmares Komatsu had been having since almost two decades ago when the last war started and he was studying his scholarship in Frankfurt, Germany, Komatsu was not sure what to expect.

A part of him wanted to believe that there was a traitor among his staff, and another part told him that it was not possible that someone within his team would do such a thing. For those reasons, he decided to ask what he believed were the only valid questions in this context.

-"But that's insane! I trust all my team!"- Komatsu said to Raghu. -"I personally handpicked each one of the people working in this lab, and I personally made sure to check their backgrounds to veto those who were not trustworthy precisely to prevent a situation like this!"-

Raghu looked back at Komatsu in a sad way, and shook his head slowly in a saddened fashion, and then he answered his question again.

-"There will always be humans who are either careless, or who are willing to even sell their mothers in order to fulfill their ambitions."- The tiger said to his human friend. -"And it is incredible that someone like you, who survived a war caused by people like the ones I mentioned, can't believe my words."-

Again, Komatsu had no reason to doubt the animal's words, but still he could not believe that anyone could betray him. But that was a mere trifle compared to what he was about to hear next...

-"The second thing is that, if you continue the way you are going, your destruction and that of everything around you will be more than guaranteed."-

This last question, far from scaring or horrifying him, caused anger in Komatsu, for it was a tune he had already heard several times throughout his life, and he could not believe that Raghu felt that he had the power to destroy the world, when the reality was otherwise, as Komatsu was little more than a glorified slave for the U.S. government.

-"What the hell makes you think that I am going to destroy the world, as you have told me countless times for god knows how many years, huh?"- The scientist asked critically, after fighting to remain calm. -"I have no such intention to do such a thing, Raghu, so spare me such nonsense!"-

The tiger calmly looked back at his friend, and answered his question.

-"Unfortunately, your current mental state makes you very vulnerable to traumatic events, and I think that lately your notion of reality is gradually changing for the worse. Therefore, I ask you to seek some kind of psychological help when you can, and if possible, try to consider the wisdom of continuing with your project, hand it over to someone else, or even cancel it and dedicate yourself to something else less destructive for you and for the whole world."-

This last answer was far from what Komatsu was expecting, and he had no answer to what Raghu had said. Only after a few moments of silence, did the scientist begin to reply.

-"I have no intention of destroying the world, Raghu."- He said calmly. -"And I believe you should not be so foolish as to try to tell me such kind of thing, when I know myself that this is not the case."- And then he also added the following. -"And besides that, are you trying to say that I'm crazy, Raghu?"-

The tiger did a pause, and then, he continued.

-"Not necessarily crazy, Yoshinori."- Raghu replied simply. -"But you seem to be overflowing with hate lately..."-

That was indeed true, but not for the reasons the tiger assumed...

-"It is true, there are many things I hate, and I cannot hide them from you, who knows better than anyone what is inside my mind and my heart."-

Then, Komatsu got up from the floor and went to the window of the room where he was, and he looked intently at the mountains near Fort Bliss, with a wistful look mixed with a nod of suppressed rage...

-"I hate the leaders who rule this world, who never stop making themselves more powerful at the expense of others."-

-"I hate the politicians, who do not stop to get richer, while the rest of the people are starving to death."-

-"I hate those hypocritical, self-righteous, holier-than-thou bastards, who preach about world peace and god, when they don't give a damn about god, and they know better than anyone else that god does not exist, while they abuse their fellow men, physically and even sexually."-

-"I hate the churches and religions of the world, which are nothing more than childish fantasies at best, or vulgar swindles at worst, that preach with the good will of the people, and above all..."-

-"I hate those leaders who claim to care about the world, when deep down the world matters very little to them."-

It was impossible for Komatsu to stop the rage that he was feeling, because he was fed up with the hypocrisy and self-righteousness of the leaders and politicians of the world, who never stopped to preach to other people about the virtues and values, while they were committing all kinds of crimes and above all, never stopped to make themselves richer, at the cost of the whole world.

Then, as if something had broken inside him, the Japanese man turned to the tiger again, and then, shouted at the top of his lungs.

-"RAGHU, TELL ME, WHY THE HELL DOES EVERYTHING I LOVE, MY PARENTS, SAEKO, GORO AND THE WHOLE CITY OF HIROSHIMA, EVERYTHING, HAVE TO PERISH UNDER THE FEET OF THOSE GREEDY BASTARDS?"-

And then, he yelled again at Raghu.

-"PLEASE, TELL ME, RAGHU! PLEASE, FOR GOD'S SAKE, PLEASE TELL MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"-

And then, there was silence in the room, as both the man and the tiger looked into each other's eyes.

For almost no one else's surprise, the tiger's silence would have been deafening, but for Komatsu himself, it was a deafening silence that spoke a thousand words.

The scientist shook his head in a saddened and frustrated way...

-"I understand you, Raghu."- He said, while he stared back at the outside again. -"I guess you don't want to say anything else so as not to unsettle me any more than I already am, right?"-

The tiger, after a long minute of silence, answered that question in a dispirited manner...

-"Yoshinori, I'll just say one thing about it: Fate sometimes plays tricks on us, and sometimes, it's up to us to respect its will."-

Komatsu, who did not believe in religions or the supernatural, the last thing the tiger mentioned about fate and its inevitability was what it wanted to hear least. That upset the man even more...

-"FATE?!"- Komatsu yelled even harder. -"Are you telling me that I just am a puppet of fate, and that I must submit to its designs, just because?"- Then, he gave an even stronger answer. -"So should I accept that my parents, Saeko and everything that was dear to me died just because of a whim of what you call fate?"-

Raghu didn't said a word to his human friend...

-"In that case, I will tell you something, Raghu:"- The Japanese man replied at the tiger with a very angry expression in his face, while pointing his finger to him. -"Nothing, not even fate, not even God, IS GOING TO STOP ME, and if I have to face the world because my ideas displease others, SO BE IT, and the rest of the world, for all I care, can go STRAIGHT TO HELL!"-

He said with a very firm voice, while staring at Raghu with some anger in his eyes.

-"Fate will see me through, and I will know how to deal with it! God, if He does exist, will not intervene!"- He said while raising his arms upwards, like trying to challenge God with his words. -"And do you know why, Raghu? Because by then, MY CREATIONS WILL THINK I AM GOD!"-

Then, he finally calmed down, and he turned his back to the window again, and looked back at the tiger.

-"But that is another story, Raghu..."-

Afterwards, Komatsu looked down at the floor, visibly depressed by the words he had spoken in his current emotional state.

-"...right now, I have no idea what is wrong with me that I am making such declarations like that."-

Then, after a slight pause, he continued the conversation.

-"And what would be the third and last thing you want to warn me about?"-

The tiger began to purr more slowly, and after looking Komatsu straight in his eyes, the response Raghu gave was especially surprising to him.

-"You know the answer to that question, Yoshinori."-

Komatsu was completely puzzled by those words, since it was not what he wanted to hear...

-"What do you mean with that, Raghu?"- The human angrily replied at the tiger. -"How the hell can I know a question I don't know myself?"-

Then, Raghu roared a bit, and then, he replied at the human with his signs.

-"The reason you can't tell me that answer is because your own mind won't allow you to even formulate the question first."-

Raghu's answer merely left more questions that the Japanese scientist could not understand, let alone answer honestly to himself.

-"And what do you mean by that, Raghu? Is it some kind of mental riddle or a test you're trying to put me through?"-

The tiger replied firmly to him.

-"No, it is quite the opposite."-

-"Then, what do you actually refer to?"- Komatsu angrily asked the feline. -"Your answer did not leave my mind any clearer than before."

The tiger slowly approached Komatsu, and once Raghu was only two steps closer to the human, the animal made a few gestures with its paws to answer the question raised by the tormented Japanese scientist.

-"At this moment, you are about to do something that, if you continue, you will fall into an abyss from which you will never come out alive."-

Obviously, the cryptic nature of that answer did not do Raghu any favors toward Komatsu, nor did the latter welcome it. It was evident that Raghu seemed to imply that his human friend was about to commit an irredeemable act that would sink him further, but Raghu did not say what kind of unlawful deed Komatsu would do, so he imagined the worst.

-"Are you implying that I'm going to kill someone, Raghu?"-

The animal gave a brief pause, and Raghu provided his answer.

-"It's much worse than that, Yoshinori."- The tiger replied with a very sad and concerned gaze in his face. -"Much, much, worse..."-

Then, Raghu approached the man a bit more, and he pointed his right arm to the human's neck, then to his heart and then to his head.

-"Let me break it down as simply as I can to you."- Raghu replied. -"Until the moment you'll find the answer to that question, you will be plagued by a growing rage that will make you lose all sense of reason and control."-

And then, the animal concluded with the following ominous warning to the human man of science.

-"And then, your wrath will not only extend to those you hate, but will also extend to every living thing in the universe, to the degree that you will become the worst threat this planet, and even the whole universe, has ever seen."-

For reasons that need not be explained, the grim warning that Raghu gave Yoshinori Komatsu was something that, for the scientist, defied all logic, and even coming from Raghu, who was never wrong in his predictions, for Komatsu it bordered on a tirade coming more from a person who was about to die and whose sanity was gradually beginning to slowly dissipate.

And that was definitely the last thing he wanted to hear from that animal, whom Komatsu considered more than just a laboratory animal, but more like a friend...

-"Me? Destroying every single being of the universe?"- Komatsu replied with a sardonic smirk in his face. -"Is that what you are telling me, Raghu?"-

The tiger shook its head, then he rubbed his left ear with the back of his paw, and then, pointed at Komatsu.

-"You know it is, Yoshinori."- He replied to the human scientist.

Obviously, that was the last straw that broke the man's patience, who thought at that moment that the animal was pulling a fast one on him, due to his old age and that Raghu was becoming senile.

But before that, Komatsu responded sarcastically towards the feline.

-"Hey, Raghu, don't you think you're getting the wrong person by saying all that?"- The Japanese man replied, still with a devious smile in his face. -"You know very well that I don't have the ability to even leave this place, much less destroy the world, even less the entire universe and existence itself."-

The tiger did not say a word and remained motionless.

-"Besides, even if I could get off this base, and do whatever I wanted to, where would I go in the first place?"- Komatsu said, speaking in a very loud and creepy tone. -"We can't even go to the moon, and you think I'm going to go out to other worlds to destroy them, and try to destroy the Earth, when everyone thinks I'm nothing but a mad scientist with childish ideas, who should be locked up in an insane asylum at best, or put down like a stray animal at worst."-

The animal continued without another word, while Komatsu continued his furious tirade against Raghu.

-"Well in that case, let me tell you one thing, Raghu:"- Then, Komatsu pointed his finger at the tiger. -"This time, you're wrong, my friend, and I'm going to prove to you and everyone that, once I achieve my dream, I'll be the one who gets the last laugh on them, when I prove them wrong!"-

And then Komatsu went to the door of the room where Raghu resided, visibly angry, with the intention of leaving the place...

-"And once this project succeeds, all those who criticized and mocked me will bow down before me, Yoshinori Komatsu, as the new Charles Darwin, and I will make everyone, including you, keep their mouths shut when they see what I am capable of do!"-

And then, Komatsu left the room, still saying several things out loud.

-"You will see, Raghu, and very soon you will see, before you die, my friend!"-

Raghu was left alone in the room, without Komatsu or anyone else bothered to put him in his cage. The tiger watched with some sadness as his worst fears about Komatsu seemed to be confirmed by the angry and almost inconsequential speech, in his opinion, of the human scientist, and that everything seemed to indicate that if Komatsu did not ponder what he planned to do, the fate that Raghu had described for him would be fulfilled one way or another.

And Raghu knew there was nothing he could do to stop him. His age no longer gave him the strength to even move freely, and he knew it was only a matter of time before death claim him. Now, it was only a matter of time before either Komatsu came to his senses before doing something stupid, or else, the consequences would be too dire for Raghu to even imagine them in their proper dimension.

-"May God and all the sacred beings of the universe have mercy on planet Earth and all its inhabitants and their descendants."-

END OF ACT XXV