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.

33. DEAD END

ACT XXXIII: DEAD END

I live on a one-way street that's also a dead end. I'm not sure how I got there.

Steven Wright

---

April 30th, AD 1955, Green-Wood Cemetery, Western Brooklyn, New York, United States of America, 02:00 PM

The Green-Wood Cemetery is located in the western fringes of Brooklyn, in New York City; it was founded in 1838 and covers an area of 24 acres. The cemetery is one of the largest cemeteries in the world, as it contains 250,000 interments, not to mention being rich with history and has been featured prominently throughout American culture, since many notable people are buried there, including civil rights activists, musicians, writers and actors.

One might think that this place would be too sumptuous, not to mention expensive, to bury two people from a middle-class family of the city, who could not normally afford the high funeral expenses to bury someone in such a famous cemetery.

But this was not the case for the two people who were to be buried on that day in April 1955...

Those who were to be buried there were Dr. Nicholas "Nick" Larkin, and his father, Jeffry Larkin, who both died days earlier when a gas leak caused an explosion that destroyed the bakery that Nick's father owned, killing them both on the spot.

At the funeral were gathered the relatives of the deceased, as well as some of the co-workers of both men, especially those who worked alongside Dr. Larkin, who worked as a scientist for the army at Fort Bliss, in El Paso, Texas. Larkin, who worked as a scientist for the military at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, although in the case of the latter, only one of them, Phillip Madison, who was Dr. Yoshinori Komatsu's chief assistant and Dr. Larkin's superior, had troubled to travel to New York for his friend's burial.

The funeral was one of the saddest moments of Dr. Madison's life and it was something that would easily haunt the man for years to come. And for good reason: Just a few months earlier, he, Larkin and the rest of his coworkers had gone to the funeral of another of their professional colleagues, Dr. Richard Mason, who also died, along with his family, in that tragic plane crash off the coast of Iceland when they were planning to move to England to make a new life.

The very thought that he had lost two of his friends in less than a year was reason enough to depress the man, and considering the very nature of his work, not to mention the way all those people died, there was some suspicion that those tragedies could not have been mere products of chance...

And with respect to the latter, and once the funeral was over, and all present were beginning to return to their homes and places of origin, Dr. Madison saw two persons, one of more or less tall stature, and his other companion, a man of medium height, and both wearing trench coats and dress hats, approaching him in a more or less suspicious manner.

Without another word, both men took out of their trench coats their wallets, from which they drew their police badges identifying them as members of the New York Police Department.

-"Frank McNamara, NYPD detective, at your service, Dr. Madison."- The tall man identified himself first.

-"Douglas Miller, also a detective in the same department."- The medium-sized man did the same.

Madison was surprised to see that law enforcement officers wanted to have a talk with him, although, knowing the circumstances of his friend Nick's death, he already had a good idea why both detectives wanted to talk to the Texan scientist.

-"Is there something wrong, officers?"- Madison asked, now with some concern.

-"Well, yes, Dr. Madison..."- McNamara replied.

-"...And we're here because of something we need to know about your friend, Dr. Larkin..."- Miller immediately added.

The presence of those detectives was not something that put Madison at ease, for it was obvious that they wished to have answers from him, and taking into account the secret nature of his work, he was legally prevented from saying many things that might be of interest to both men.

-"What exactly is it that you want from me?"- Madison asked somewhat nervously.

-"Well, there are many things we would like you to tell us about your late colleague, Dr. Madison."- McNamara began with the chat. -"And I think it would be very practical to hear it from you, don't you?"-

-"And how do you know that Dr. Larkin worked for me?"- Madison asked to both NYPD agents.

-"My partner made a call to Dr. Larkin's mother, and that's how we learned your name, Dr. Madison."- Miller explained the reason how his both knew his name and his relation with his dead underling.

-"sigh... Looks like Nick wasn't as discreet as he seemed, if I do say so myself..."-

The two men from the NYPD remained silent for a moment, looking at the scientist with some serious eyes.

-"Look..."- McNamara spoke up. -"we are aware that you are in a very sensitive business area, and we are willing to understand-"

-"But there are some things that are imperative for us to know, Dr. Madison."- Miller immediately added.

-"And it would be for the best if you tell us everything."- McNamara continued.

Madison sighed a little, seeing that those detectives seemed to be interested in talking to him, but at the same time, he knew he couldn't talk to both law enforcement officers in a public place...

-"Look gentlemen, is there any way we can discuss this in a private place, where no one can hear us?"- The Texan scientist said. -"I don't think this is the right place to discuss this kind of topics, if you know what I mean."

The two detectives looked at each other for a moment, with some suspicion, before the taller one, McNamara, replied to the scientist.

-"If you prefer it that way, Dr. Madison, we can talk in Prospect Park, near here..."-

The scientist responded, somewhat surprised, at the choice of a place to have a private talk, thinking that they would want somewhere even more private, and not in a park, even if the cemetery was large enough for the three men to pass unnoticed by the rest of the people who were at the funeral, and the general crowds.

-"Prospect Park?"- Dr. Madison responded back in disbelief. -"And why in that place? I thought you guys would want to be in a more secure place, like a police station or something."-

-"Well, let's say that, for your consideration, a quieter place than this cemetery would be more suitable to talk."- McNamara explained his rationale about his election of that place for inquiring Dr. Madison. -"Besides, I know a perfect place where we can't be heard or disturbed."-

-"And where would that be, officer?"-

-"Just come with us and see."-

The three men then headed in the direction of the Green-Wood Cemetery exit to Frank McNamara's suggested destination, Prospect Park, which was only a few blocks from the burial ground.

---

April 30th, AD 1955, Prospect Park (near Prospect Park Lake), Western Brooklyn, New York, United States of America, 02:45 PM

Prospect Park is a public park located a few blocks from Green-Wood Cemetery, and is the second largest public park in New York City, after Marine Park, which is also located in Brooklyn.

The park was considered by the local people as the Manhattan's garden, and for a good reason, because it was a restful oasis. There were fields and trees, fountains and lakes, and 24 statues by sculptors of importance. It was a nice place for the citizens of Brooklyn to come and rest after a day of hard labor in Manhattan.

This was the place that detectives Frank McNamara and Douglas Miller chose to speak with Dr. Phillip Madison in private, but, before they could begin to discuss their findings with the Texan scientist, the two former chose to go to a place that was both pleasant enough for the three of them, and at the same time removed enough so that visitors to the park that day would not notice or overhear what they were discussing with each other.

That place was the Prospect Park Lake, located on the southwest side of the park.

The Texan scientist could not help but comment on the unusual place the two detectives chose to have a private conversation with him, given that there was almost no one around the lake, and the few people that could be seen were several meters away from the trio, enough distance so that no one could hear them.

-"Well, I have to say that you have good taste for places to take your people of interest to have a chat with you two..."-

-"To be honest, Dr. Madison, we chose this location almost impromptu, being this park near Green-Wood."- Miller explained to the scientist.

-"I just hope you guys aren't planning on doing anything with me, right?"- Madison commented with some concern for his own personal safety.

-"Of course not, doc!"- McNamara replied in a semi-amused way at that implication -"What do you take us for, mob enforcers or what?"-

-"No..."- Madison said, somewhat relieved, before he continued with his explanation. -"I was just concerned about it, because this is the kind of places where those kind of men tend to settle their business."-

-"I guess you've seen too many mobster movies, from what I see, Dr. Madison."- McNamara asked sarcastically at the insinuation that he and his partner meant Dr. Madison any harm.

-"Well, in that case, forgive me if I was erring on the side of caution, officer."-

After a brief nervous chuckle among the three men, Frank McNamara decided to jump right in with the topic he needed to discuss with the Texan scientist, along with his partner, Douglas Miller.

-"Well, getting right to the point, doc, we need you to tell us what you know about your colleague who died, Dr. Nicholas Larkin."- The taller private eye explained what he wanted to know from the science man from Texas. -"Anything you can tell us may be helpful to our investigation into the cause of his death."-

That last paragraph caused Dr. Madison some concern, for the tone in which McNamara was describing the causes of death of his coworker and subordinate did not correspond to what he knew up to that point.

-"I thought Nick had died with his father in an accident caused by an explosive gas leak in the latter's bakery, officer..."-

The scientist replied, slightly puzzled to see that there was something that did not fit with what he had been told about the accident that claimed the life of his friend and colleague. Immediately after, McNamara looked at his longtime partner, Miller, and asked him a question.

-"Do you think I should tell him what I suspect, buddy?"-

-"Well..."- Miller shrugged his shoulders. -"That's your problem. I just hope you know what you're doing..."-

After a brief, almost unnoticeable stare at Miller, Frank McNamara decided to tell the scientist his point of view about the whole case regarding the latter's friend demise.

-"Alright, Dr. Madison, I'll tell you what I think about the death of your colleague, but I must warn you that this is a lot more delicate than just an accident caused by a gas leak."-

This caused some alarm in the scientist, imagining the worst.

-"Hey, officer, aren't you suggesting that Nick and even...?"-

-"Yes, just as you are thinking, doc."- The detective interrumpted the man of science. -"I have a suspicion that your friend and Dr. Mason, the other colleague of yours who died in that plane crash near Iceland along with his family, might have been killed by someone."-

After hearing the shocking news that his friend and colleague might have been murdered, Dr. Madison became more and more nervous, although he tried to keep a calm appearance in front of Frank McNamara and Douglas Miller, the two detectives who were questioning him about the death of his colleague.

-"I... I don't know what to say, officer..."- Madison stammered, obviously shaken by that thought.

-"Well, I'm not asking you to guess anything, for the time being."- McNamara replied, somewhat calming down his recent revelation to Dr. Madison. -"But it is of importance that you tell us everything you know about your friend. And don't worry, we're not accusing you of anything, we just need your cooperation. That's all."-

-"But..."- Phillip Madison asked to McNamara. -"What makes you think that the deaths of my friends and their families could have been intentional? Do you have any proof of that?"-

-"As far as we both know, to begin with my suspicions about the case, the plane in which Dr. Mason was traveling, a DC-3, was owned by an army major, a fellow named Matthew Fitzroy, and he in turn lent his plane to Dr. Mason, so that he and his family could fly to London."- The taller man explained to Madison what he knew so far. -"What we do know about him is that man doesn't have a very tidy reputation as far as I can tell, from what we've found out so far."-

-"And to top it off, in addition to being investigated for the incident, the government is also accusing Fitzroy of corruption and embezzlement charges."- Miller added as well.

Dr. Phillip Madison sat in one of the benches near the lake in silence for a minute, as he tried to make sense of what he had just heard.

-"I'll be honest with you, gentlemen: I do know Major Fitzroy personally, and you are quite right that man is not exactly a very nice guy, but I doubt he has any interest in murdering anyone, much less my two friends."-

-"And what makes you think that, Dr. Madison?"- McNamara asked.

-"Well... unfortunately... I can't say what I mean in detail, as it is classified information."-

Miller shrugged his shoulders, and upon hearing the negative response from the scientist from Texas, the pint-sized detective made his reflections on what he had heard up to that point.

-"As I expected, I don't think our scientist friend is gonna tell us more than he can..."-

Frank McNamara was not going to let that statement go uncontested, as he felt that a man of science should lend them more help than that in that kind of case.

-"Dr. Madison, I fully understand that you are legally prevented from disclosing classified information to us regarding your work, and I don't intend to press you further on this, but anything you can tell us about your dead co-workers, Larkin and Mason, would be invaluable to us."- The taller agent said. -"That could help us to find any evidence regarding their deaths, and to know if they really could have been killed by someone else."-

And after a brief pause, McNamara added something extra to the conversation...

-"...because there is also the likelihood that, apart from the suspicions concerning Major Fitzroy, there is also the possibility that someone close to you could be behind all of this..."-

At that point, the scientist's face became one of disbelief and shock.

-"You don't mean that there is the possibility that someone from my work is behind the death of my colleagues and their families, do you, officer?"-

Hearing what the private detective meant, Miller took the opportunity to say something more about it to calm the agitated scientist down.

-"Listen, doc... we're not saying that someone from your workplace would have killed your friends... but we can't discard that possibility either."-

-"Excuse me, officers, but your assumptions that someone within my workplace could be involved in all this mess is something I would even consider obscene."- The Texan man responded quite offended at such idea. -"I might be more likely to believe that Major Fitzroy could be behind all of this than believe that someone close to me or my coworkers were responsible for the deaths of Larkin, Mason and their families, for god's sake!"-

The last part of Madison's sentence was uttered with a more aggravated tone, since he was quite nervous at the possibility that the deaths of his friends could have been caused by someone he knew. But at the same time, he refused to believe that any of his colleagues could be behind these tragedies, as they were all loyal and devoted to their work, and they all shared a friendship that transcended their workplace.

-"I mean... I can't believe it..."-

-"Well, we don't either, Dr. Madison, but we have to investigate all possible solutions, no matter how painful could sound."- Miller said.

And after the brief outburst, McNamara decided to broach the subject related to Dr. Madison's late colleagues.

-"Hey, excuse me, doc, how about if you could tell us about the lives of your dead buddies, huh?"- The NYPD private eye said at the scientist. -"Maybe that can help us with something, no matter how absurd, like their hobbies, their vices, anything that might be of importance."-

Dr. Phillip Madison sighed and leaned back on the bench, in an attempt to relax his body and ease the tension he was currently feeling.

-"Alright, gentlemen... I guess I can tell you about Dr. Larkin, if that can help you with your investigation."-

-"Well, you don't have to feel obligated to do that, doc, we appreciate all the help we can get."- Miller said in a friendly way. -"Any information you have, however improbable it could sound to you, could help us a lot in our work, believe me."-

The scientist nodded in agreement and he started his chat, as he was more than willing to cooperate with the New York detectives.

-"Well, Nick Larkin was a young scientist who was originally from here in New York, although I guess you already know that."- Dr. Madison said about his late younger coworker. -"Since this is classified information, I can't mention his professional degree, where he graduated from, or what his field of expertise was, but I can say that Larkin was a very intelligent man for his age."-

-"And can we at least know why Dr. Larkin made the decision to return to New York?"- McNamara asked the scientist.

-"Well, I can say, without giving too much detail, that both Larkin, as well as many of our co-workers including myself, were informed about a reorganization plan for our project, and while this was taking place, we were asked to take a break, and many of us, including Larkin, returned to our places of origin in the meantime, until the higher-ups would give us new instructions."- The science man replied.

-"Other than his family here in NY, was he married, or did he have a relationship of any kind?"- Miller took his turn to speak with the Texan.

-"I can say that he was single, but he had a relationship with a woman that did not end well back in El Paso, where we worked, and that could also have been a cause for him to come back here."-

-"May we know the name of that woman with whom Dr. Larkin had a relationship, doc?"-

The Texan man did a short pause, and then he replied.

-"Unfortunately, I can't say anything about her. That is also confidential..."-

The statement given by the Texan scientist left both detectives somewhat disconcerted, for they did not foresee that man would decide to keep secret the name of a person who possibly had nothing to do with the whole business, unless Dr. Madison, or the government, had something to hide.

-"And why can't you give us the name of that woman, doc? Did she also work for you?"- McNamara, the taller agent, asked the scientist in a more inquiring manner in response to the answer he received.

-"I cannot elaborate on this, gentlemen. I am very sorry about that."- Madison apologized to McNamara, as he was unable to give a straight answer to the agent.

At Dr. Phillip Madison's refusal to delve into the subject of the woman with whom the late Nick Larkin had a relationship, Frank McNamara scratched his head in irritation, seeing that there was no way to elicit any more useful information from the scientist regarding the woman Dr. Madison mentioned.

-"sigh... Damn... This is more complicated than it looks, for fuck's sake..."- The agent cursed.

Then, Miller, in a more conciliatory tone, asked the science man from Texas.

-"But apart from his relationship, Dr. Madison, did he have any other habits, vices, interests?"- Miller continued the interview with the scientist.

-"Well, I can say that Larkin liked to go drinking with his friends, and he had a thing for good-looking women. That's what I knew about his hobbies..."-

-"Just like anyone else his age;"- McNamara said to the Texan man in a sardonic way. -"that's nothing to write home about, doc."-

-"As I said, that's all I can say without revealing classified information, gentlemen. I am very sorry for not being of much help regarding my deceased friend."-

Seeing that they were not going to learn more about Dr. Larkin, the two New York detectives decided to change the subject, and then Miller asked the scientist something.

-"And what you can tell us about Dr. Richard Mason?"-

-"I can tell you that he was a relatively nice man; you could say he was also very religious. You know, the kind that went to mass every Sunday with his family and everything on time, at least that's what I knew. He had a wife named Claudia, and two children, a boy named Frederick and a girl named Louise."-

-"I thought scientists were not known for being majorly pious, doc."- The taller sleuth replied.

-"Well, I can't say for sure, that's what I know about him and his family. He was a good man, and he was proud of his children, despite being a scientist and being concerned about his family's future."-

-"And how about his skills as a scientist, doc? Was he as good as his colleagues?"-

-"He was rather talented in his profession, like most of us who worked on our project, although you could also say that he was a bit prideful, If I may say so."-

Then, Miller wanted to have a word with the Texan man, and he interrupted him before he could say anything else.

-"There is one small detail I just noticed, Dr. Madison: Dr. Mason died first before Dr. Larkin, which means that he must have had some reason to move to the UK, and put aside your project, and thus the military, unlike what happened to you and the rest of your co-workers, Larkin included."- The shorter detective questioned the scientist. -"Is there a reason for that, Dr. Madison? I guess it couldn't have been easy for him to walk away from a highly classified project just like that, huh?"-

Phillip Madison was silent for a few moments, carefully weighing what he was prepared to offer the detectives, so as not to give any clues that might be detrimental to him.

-"I can only tell you that Richard Mason left the project for personal reasons."- The Texan man replied. -"I cannot mention more about it, although I can say that he was planning to move to England in order to give his children a better education."-

-"Do you know at least what part of England Dr. Mason was planning to move to with his family?"- McNamara also asked.

-"I do not know."- The man replied at the sleuth. -"In fact, since he left the project, I had no contact with him or his family until I heard about his death on the news, and after his family confirmed what happened to him."-

Both McNamara and Miller saw each other, and realized that there was no more they could ask the Texan scientist, as they knew he was not going to tell them any more information that he could not reveal to them, so they decided to wrap up the meeting.

-"Alright, Dr. Madison, I guess we have no more questions to ask you, and thank you very much for accepting our invitation to come here to give us the information you have. I hope you will find the rest of your stay in New York more tolerable."- Miller said to the scientist.

-"You are welcome, gentlemen, and I hope that what little I have been able to tell you will be of help to you."-

At that moment, McNamara pulled out a business card from the wallet inside his trench coat, which included several phone numbers, and offered it to Dr. Madison. The latter was slightly puzzled when he received that piece of paper.

-"What's this?"-

-"Our phone numbers, doc."- The detective explained. -"If for any reason you would like to share more information than you have already given us, please feel free to drop us a line, and we'll see what we can do to help you."-

The scientist put the business card in one of his trouser pockets with some haste...

-"Thank you, officer. I will keep it in mind."-

And so, both detectives left the scene, leaving only Dr. Phillip Madison, who remained seated on a bench near Propect Park Lake. Although they hadn't been able to glean many insights from the man, the information they had obtained could still be useful in providing a clearer picture of what they were dealing with, something Miller remarked as he and his colleague McNamara left the park.

-"Well, that information we got from Dr. Madison just show that the things he and his people are involved are very, VERY much more complicated than we know so far..."- Miller said to McNamara, reviewing what they had just learned from the Texan man. -"Dr. Mason leaving the project, the mysterious woman with whom Dr. Larkin supposedly had a relationship, and even the entire project itself. To me, it looks as if something related to it had been going on behind our backs."-

-"Agree with you, buddy."- The taller man replied at his coworker. -"And it is obvious what that doctor and his friends are doing is not some kind of secret weapon of some kind, but something bigger and more elaborate than that."-

-"If you ask me..."- Miller said later, as they reached their car. -"It sounds like some kind of strange... experiment... but with a purpose that we still don't know yet."-

-"That's what I was thinking, too. I think we should go back to the office; maybe there is something in our information that will clarify things."-

-"I guess so, mate."-

After that, both of them got into the car and drove back to the New York City Police Department headquarters.

---

May 5th, AD 1955, Fort Bliss (Major Summerfield's Office), El Paso, Texas, United States of America, 10:00 AM

Barbara Palmer, the personal secretary to U.S. Army Major Andrew Summerfield, knocked on the door leading to her superior's office, as she brought several folders with various documents she needed to deliver to her superior.

-"Excuse me, Major, may I come in?"-

The veteran officer responded politely to the woman's request.

-"Oh, sure, Barbara, you can come in!"-

Once inside the office, the first thing the woman saw was how the man was sitting at his desk, reading several folders full of documents that lay on his workplace, and did not seem to have any inconvenience in doing so, despite the elderly man's ripe old age, something that caught Barbara's attention in a remarkable way.

-"I can tell, Major, you really like to read, don't you?"- The secretary commented on what she was seeing, as she watched with some amusement as Summerfield smoothly read all those folders of documents on his desk.

-"Well, it helps me keep an active, sharp mind all the time, and besides, I have to do it anyways."- The mayor responded at the woman. -"You know, because of my age and all that."-

-"And may I ask why you are doing so, Major?"-

-"Basically, I am reviewing which documents are still useful, and which have to be destroyed."- Summerfield explained at Barbara. -"We have piles of folders and documents dating back to the time of World War I, and a lot of information that is here is already obsolete, in the public domain or useless, and is just taking up valuable space, so we have to double check which information is worth keeping and which is not."-

-"That seems to explain all these folders that you asked me to bring up from the main archive of the base."-

-"Indeed, Barbara."- Summerfield then pointed his finger at the woman to give her the following order. -"You can put those folders on my desk, please."-

-"Right away, sir."-

The woman did as she was ordered and placed the folders where her superior had asked her to, while the veteran officer of the last war continued browsing through all those documents without the slightest distraction.

This caused some curiosity in Barbara, who had noticed that the man was absorbed in reading all those folders full of old papers, as if reading all that seemed to be interesting for Summerfield. And minutes later, the woman could not help but ask her superior his reasons for spending so much time reading those supposedly old records.

-"Forgive my nosiness, Major, but, what is it that you are reading right now?"-

The veteran officer looked at the woman with a mischievous look, and then the man replied.

-"Would you like to know, Barbara?"-

-"Well..."- The woman hesitated at the man's offer. -"...assuming it's not classified information or something that would put you or me in trouble... I guess yes..."-

-"Oh, don't worry about that."- Summerfield reassured to the secretary. -"I don't think this will affect both of us in any way, however..."

-"However what, sir?"- Barbara asked with some concern, after that brief interruption her senior did, knowing the Major was thinking twice on explaining what he was reading at the time.

-"What you are about to hear may not be very pleasant to listen to, Barbara..."- The old soldier replied, with some vacillation. -"and for several reasons..."-

The woman was very curious about what Summerfield was about to tell about, and decided to keep on listening.

-"Well, I guess, this being the military, there will always be all kinds of grim stories to tell, especially anything associated with the last two wars."-

And without any further preamble, Andrew Summerfield explained to his secretary what he was reading from the secret files of the U.S. Army.

-"The file I am reading is the personal profile of an SS officer and war criminal, named Heinrich von Richtoffen, who died in Poland in 1945."-

That name was unfamiliar to the American woman, who had never heard it before.

-"Heinrich von Richtoffen"- Barbara said, puzzled. -"Forgive my ignorance, sir, but I have never heard of such a man."-

-"Good for you, dear..."-

Then, Summerfield crossed his arms in a gesture of visible concern.

-"...because that man was possibly the most depraved and deranged man I have ever heard or seen in my life..."-

The secretary's eyes widened as she listened, knowing that the man was not in the habit of exaggerating things, having fought in the last world war, and she was curious to know what the man knew about the subject.

-"To be honest..."- The woman replied, with some concern. -"I only know that among the Nazis there have been a great number of madmen and psychopaths, starting with Hitler. What made that guy so special that he was considered dangerous among them all, sir?"-

Summerfield took a deep breath, and then, he told Barbara Palmer the man's story.

-"Heinrich von Richtoffen was born in an old house near Munich, Germany on January 26, 1914. What we know of his childhood, according to intelligence reports compiled at the end of the war, was that von Richtoffen was the only child of a poor, alcoholic bread baker who beat his son regularly, and a very religious woman, who had some very... twisted ideas... to put it in a very kind way."-

-"What kind of... twisted ideas... do you mean, Major?"-

The old man sighed deeply before replying to the woman...

-"I don't know if I should tell you this, Barbara..."-

-"Oh, come on, Major, I am not going to suddenly pass out or something just because you tell me something... well, you know... disgusting... right?"-

Afterwards, the veteran American soldier, seeing that his secretary had no objection to listen to a conversation that might contain details that would be macabre enough for anyone else to hear, decided to tell her what he knew about that German soldier.

-"Well, Barbara, it was reported that von Richtoffen's mother was suspected of being mentally disturbed, and it was said, according to these archives, that Mrs. von Richtoffen was dedicated to killing domestic animals, in order to cook their meat..."-

The mere fact of hearing that man's mother was really unhinged to do such a thing was reason enough to make the woman's skin crawl at the mention of the woman's dedication to slaughtering pets.

-"I can't believe there was someone so insane to do something like this, sir..."-

-"Well, that's nothing compared to what this man did when he was a child, as it was said that he had the habit of burning animals, especially the pets of people he disliked."- Summerfield continued, somewhat as disgusted as his secretary was. -"Furthermore, he was a bully of the worst kind, who was said to beat up anyone who crossed his path, whether they were men, women or even small children, at least when he was in school."-

After a brief pause, Barbara finally responded, in disgust as well.

-"God... I guess that didn't make him any popular when he was in school, did it?"-

-"Certainly not, Barbara."- Summerfield responded. -"In fact, he was expelled from several schools, and even ended up in prison on a few occasions. Nor did this make him popular with his father, who beat him violently for any pretext he could think of, apart from those that might be justified, as in this case."-

-"Oh boy, I guess that man must have had a really terrible childhood and youth, Major..."-

-"Certainly, although it must be said that, in spite of his own defects, he loved his mother very much; perhaps she was the only person who loved him, since the rest of his family rejected him for being a freak and an extremely vulgar and conflictive person, which did not help his self-esteem and personality."- Summerfield continued to explain about the German soldier's backstory. -"However..."-

The old soldier did a more dramatic pause, and then, he continued aftewards.

-"...that doesn't justify what he would go on to do much later..."-

The woman responded with some surprise.

-"Let me guess: He murdered someone, right?"-

There was a brief pause, and seconds later, Summerfield answered the woman's question.

-"Yes..."- The elder man said. -"Apparently, one day, von Richtoffen's father arrived at his house, quite drunk as usual, and his wife, for some hitherto unknown reason, was unable to bring food to prepare that day, which in this case, would be the meat of cats and dogs that the woman killed on a regular basis. Needless to say, the man, in a fit of rage, viciously beat his wife..."-

-"Oh... god..."- Barbara responded in shock -"And what happened next?"-

-"Well, our young Nazi apprentice, who that day had returned from the last school he had been expelled from after having a fight with several of his classmates, watched to his horror as his father brutally beat his mother. That was the last straw for the young von Richtoffen."-

-"Now, don't tell me he murdered his father?"-

-"Well, to say he killed him would be an understatement, Barbara..."-

There was a sharp intake of breath from the woman, her face grimacing at the mere thought of that man actually killing his own father...

-"The young German cornered his own father, and then, he got one of his father's hatchets, and afterward, he brutally attacked him... and von Richtoffen continued to hack him with the hatchet until he was turned, in his own words years later, in another report recovered from the secret SS archives after the war, into "human mincemeat".-

The woman, after that pause, only managed to respond, notoriously sickened to know that gruesome story, to her superior.

-"God... this is so... disgusting..."-

-"I really don't doubt that it was, Barbara."- The major responded at the woman.

Afterwards, the older man responded to her query with sadness in his eyes before he steps back into his chair.

-"It should be noted that his mother did not survive the brutal beating that drunken man gave her, according to police reports of the time, although no one could accuse the young von Richtoffen of any crime, as he fled to Berlin immediately afterwards, and remained hidden there for several years until the outbreak of World War II."-

-"And what did that man do after he fled to Berlin?"- Barbara asked, curious about the story.

Summerfield paused briefly, and after reviewing the documents he was reading, the veteran American military officer replied to his secretary.

-"Unfortunately, this is where there are some gaps in the records of this man, except when the war started, as there is no facts about how he enlisted in the German army, and ended up being a member of the SS. For some rather strange reason, the German government somehow tried to expunge much of this man's information by all means, although, judging from what I am reading, from what witnesses and survivors who saw him, I think this would justify the Nazis' decision to remove all mention of this man from their own military records."-

-"Was he a secret agent, or something like that?"- The woman asked at her senior.

-"No, not at all."- The officer continues about the story behind that Nazi soldier. -"In fact, von Richtoffen was even promoted to the rank of Colonel, or SS-Oberführer, which he held until the time of his death, even if there were several compelling reasons for even the Nazis not to promote someone like him."-

-"Well, he must have really done something to get promoted to such a position."- Barbara said.

-"You could say yes, Barbara..."-

And then, Summerfield sighed a bit..

"...and our Nazi friend did his job perhaps too well for the liking of his own superiors."-

This came as quite a surprise to Barbara, who, for more than obvious reasons, she assumed the worst.

-"I guess he killed a lot of Jews... didn't he?"-

-"Well..."-

Summerfield took off his glasses, and he tried to be as objective as possible with his explanation, even though it was clear that the old man was making a surpassingly great effort to restrain his outrage at the subject of the depraved man and his crimes that he would later bring up.

-"...to say that he killed many Jews would be an understatement at the highest level, dear..."-

And then, when he was able to remain reasonably composed, the Major continued.

-"Heinrich von Richtoffen murdered not only Jews, but also Gypsies, Russians, Poles, Slavs, his own German compatriots, regardless of whether they were Jews or undesirables, men, women, children, the elderly, and even animals, often for no reason at all."- Summerfield explained to Barbara, while trying to remain calm in the face of what he was bringing up. -"Hell, it was more than evident that he killed, tortured and even raped any living being that crossed his path, just for the sick pleasure of causing pain and suffering to anyone other than himself. Even his own men were not safe from him, for on more than one occasion he murdered his own subordinates for any excuse, and sometimes, without any at all..."-

Barbara Palmer, after hearing such grim story behind Col. von Richtoffen, could only respond in the most strongest word she could say at that time...

-"Oh... fuck... fuck... FUCK!"-

The woman cursed, after hearing that long letany of crimes done by von Richtoffen. She simply could not believe that there was such a cruel person, who was capable of murdering any living thing within his reach, and had even been promoted for it. Barbara knew that there was no shortage of psychopaths within the SS, but that story about that German officer was perhaps the sickest she had ever heard in her entire life.

-"How in the world could anyone have been so... fucking deranged... as to do such a thing?"

-"Well... I don't blame you if you feel revolted by what you heard, Barbara..."- The man tried to console the woman. -"In fact, that crazy bastard earned several nicknames due to his infamous reputation, the best known being "The Hellhound of Bavaria" and "The Butcher of Kosovo".-

That woman found something strange in the last moniker related with that infamous Nazi colonel.

-"The Butcher of Kosovo?"- The woman inquired to her superior.

-"That's correct, dear..."- Summerfield replied, and then, the man continued with his explanation. -"Apparently, according to what little was found in the SS archives in Berlin after the war, von Richtoffen was sent to Yugoslavia to participate in various mop-up operations in various regions of the country, Kosovo being one of the regions most affected by the actions of that man. According to what could be found in the archives, von Richtoffen and his men, who belonged to a secret SS military unit called "The Hellhound Squad" of which our Nazi friend was the head, were behind several massacres in various small towns in Kosovo, hence his nickname... but that was nothing compared to what he and his men did in a Kosovar village in 1941."-

The woman, already knowing the background of the man they were talking about, just assumed it wasn't a good thing.

-"What was it... what von Richtoffen and his men did... there... sir?"-

After taking a brief breath, Andrew Summerfield answered his secretary's question, while he made an effort to avoid raising his voice any higher than necessary.

-"Although there is no record of the name of the Kosovar village he and his men raided, however,"- The old Major reluctantly continued with his explanation about the following events that happened in that Eastern European village. -"according to the few survivors who fled the scene to tell the story, von Richtoffen and his coterie of psychopaths arrived one afternoon in that village. The first thing they did when they got there was to execute every single man living in the village, including children and even babies. But our demented German friend was not satisfied with simply blowing their brains out, but also many of those people were burned in stakes, as in the Middle Ages, and those who resisted the Germans were personally killed by von Richtoffen himself at times, sometimes using savage and cruel methods, including mutilations, castrations, and many methods that I prefer not to mention any further."-

Barbara, upon hearing the story behind that Nazi and his actions in Kosovo, could only remain silent, due to the emotional impact of knowing that someone was so depraved as to not spare anyone, not even babies.

-"I can only tell you that, one that the sun rose the day after that afternoon of 1941 in that remote village of Kosovo, and once the Yugoslav military forces came to see what had happened, what they discovered was enough to make even battle-hardened soldiers puke."- The man continued, this time with a more grim tone. -"The streets were littered with the dismembered and, in some cases, skinned corpses of men, women, children and even animals, some of which were hanging from the roofs of the victims' homes. Perhaps the worst was when the Yugoslav soldiers arrived in the center of the village, which was turned into a kind of slaughterhouse improvised by von Richtoffen's men, and where the corpses were being devoured by birds of prey and the few animals that had survived the massacre..."-

Barbara couldn't find the words. She just stood there, dumbfounded and silent, like a deer caught in headlights. Even though by the nature of her work she had become habituated to listening to all kinds of horrific war stories, especially those concerning World War II, nothing she had heard before matched the scale of what had happened in that Kosovar village in 1941 at the hands of Colonel Heinrich von Richtoffen and his men. The only reaction she could muster at that moment was to shed tears for the dead of that terrible tragedy.

-"...The magnitude of the carnage was such,"- Summerfield finally concluded. -"that even the river near the village was stained with the blood of the villagers, and the stench from the rotting corpses was such that it took many months to bring the bodies of the victims to Belgrade so that they could be identified."-

Barbara Palmer could listen no longer, and then, she bursted into tears. Knowing that there was a man so cruel that he was capable of doing something like that was enough to break the steadfastness of that woman, who was normally known, even by herself, for being quite cold and harsh at times, but even she had her limits, and having heard that shocking story out of a horror novel was enough to break her stoicism.

In an act of kindness to the woman, Major Summerfield took his handkerchief out of his pocket and gave it to his secretary to wipe away her tears, knowing himself that it was he who had caused the woman to break down in tears, even if he had not intended to do so. After all, he was as angry and sad as Barbara was when he told that story, but he felt he had to tell her, even if that information he told her was considered classified for reasons he would explain later.

-"I'm sorry Barbara if I made you hear something too grim to bear..."- The man apologized to his secretary, after seeing how the woman who was next to him was still weeping after hearing that gruesome story. -"Maybe I shouldn't have told you all this."-

But the woman, who tried to recover herself, could only talk through her tears, saying the following:

-"Don't worry... sob... sir..."- Barbara replied, still on tears. -"I just can't... sob... believe that something so... sob... horrible... happened... and that no one could... sob... do anything to stop him... sob..."-

And then, she broke down, sobbing her eyes out while leaning against her Major's shoulder.

-"BWAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"-

Summerfield, seeing the woman crying inconsolably, embraced her affectionately, trying to comfort her after she had reacted so emotionally to the tragic story of that village in the Balkans during the last war.

-"Alright, alright, honey, take it easy, no more tears..."-

And then, the soldier wondered out loud to himself what it was that triggered that woman to react that way.

-"God, I never imagined this would hit you so hard, Barbara..."-

While she was still in the Major's arms, Barbara began to share the cause of her lament, and why that story had struck her so hard.

-"My dad died in a German prison camp, sir..."- Barbara replied, still sobbing. -"He was a fighter pilot whose plane was shot down during a reconnaissance mission over Austria... and then he was captured by the Germans. I only learned what happened to him when the war ended, and according to some of the people who knew my father in that camp, the Nazis brutally tortured him, and ultimately... sob... they burned him alive..."-

That last bit about Barbara's father's final fate stunned the veteran soldier, for he had no idea that his secretary's father had fought in the war, since she did not usually talk much about her family with anyone, not even him.

Nor did he expect to know that Barbara's father died in that war, much less in such a brutal way...

-"Oh, god, Barbara... I am so sorry for what happened to your father... and I hope he can rest in peace."-

-"Thank you, sir... sob... he would probably have liked his death to serve a purpose... sob... like this..."-

Afterwards, Barbara had left her tears aside, at least for now, and now seemed to be calm, even if still carried a somber feel, and then she stopped hugging the older man and stand up again.

-"Out of consideration for your state of mind, I will not intend to tell you any more details about von Richtoffen... except the way how he died."- Summerfield wanted to finish all that sordid story about the Nazi colonel. -"And maybe this will be of interest to you, Barbara."-

The soldier then began to read another folder he had in his hand, which contained some documents related to the death of that evil man.

-"It is known that Heinrich von Richtoffen died near Krakow, Poland in 1945, when the Soviets took over the city. The strange thing about his death is that neither its exact cause nor how he died is known, except that he possibly died in combat. Even stranger is the fact that his body was never found, and neither the Soviets, nor the Poles or anyone else knows what happened to his body, which indicates that his corpse was lost at some point in the war, or was accidentally cremated by someone else without knowing who he really was."-

The woman responded with some amazement to learn that the man died almost anonymously and in an almost inglorious manner, which was a fitting end for a man as cruel as that mass-murdering Nazi colonel.

-"That was quite... strange... very strange indeed, sir."- Barbara added, after the man read that last bit.

-"Yes it was, Barbara..."- The soldier replied with a certain tone of discomfort.

-"But there is something that has me a little intrigued about this man, Major."- The woman asked another important question at Summerfield. -"If that Nazi madman perpetrated all those crimes, how come he is not as well known as other war criminals? Looking at his deeds, he would have been too well known to be ignored by the media, even if he is already dead."-

The veteran war officer, after a brief pause, finally answered Barbara Palmer.

-"For several reasons that I will touch on here: according to these secret SS files, von Richtoffen's actions, even if they succeeded in achieving his goal of terrorizing the enemy population, began to backfire on the Germans, for he not only murdered Jews and other undesirables, but also had no qualms about killing anyone who crossed his path, regardless of whether they were on his own side or not, including anyone who dared to question his methods.

-"So does that mean that he...?"-

-"That's right, dear."- Summerfield interrupted her. -"He was basically a serial killer in uniform. In fact, based on reports made by people who knew him, von Richtoffen had no interest in the war itself, nor was he particularly interested in politics, much less in the ideas of racial superiority of his higher-ups in power, and strangely enough, despite his own position, he never demonstrated anti-Semitic ideas... He was only interested in killing people, no matter whether they were Jews, Christians, Gypsies or even Eskimos, if that were the case... and the only reason he joined the SS was exclusively to quench his thirst for blood, nothing more, nothing less..."-

The American secretary could not help but state frankly what she thought of the Nazis and of Germans in general.

-"My god... they did recruit all kinds of monsters into their ranks to commit all those crimes..."-

-"You are right, Barbara; but even the Nazis had their limits."- The old man continued with his explanation. -"The only reason they tolerated von Richtoffen was because he was really effective at what he did, and he had never lost a single battle in his entire SS career, although, because of his bloodlust, he and his men were basically relegated to missions that even other divisions of the German army were unable or reluctant to undertake. Basically, if the Nazis sent that freak on any particular mission, it was because all other better options had been exhausted for them."-

-"Then that would explain why he and his crackpot entourage were sent to Krakow. And I suppose that would also apply to what happened in that village in Kosovo back then..."-

-"That's right. At the same time, the Nazis destroyed many of the files pertaining to him, both during and after they lost the war. They wanted to avoid letting it be known that someone as dangerous and insane as von Richoffen was among their ranks, and thus avoid a worse punishment for them, along with the already known crimes committed by Hitler's followers."- Summerfield concluded. -"And that is why there is not much information on him to date, besides the basics."-

He patiently waited for Barbara to express the questions on her mind, knowing that it was obvious that she was still affected by knowing all that information about that Nazi colonel.

-"I can only say... that he deserved to die after everything he did, sir..."-

-"I do not blame you for that, Barbara"- The man reassured her. -"especially after what the Nazis did to your father."-

After a brief minute of silence, Andrew Summerfield, most probably out of respect for his subordinate, decided to switch to another less sour subject.

-"Well, leaving aside the past, and especially that Nazi psycho, who's probably rotting in hell right now, I understand Major Fitzroy's already out of town on vacation, as he requested, right?"-

-"Yes, sir."- She answered. -"He called yesterday afternoon to say he would be leaving today for Arizona."-

-"I see... and you don't know if he said exactly where in Arizona he was going, Barbara?"- He asked her, in turn, with a bit of curiosity. The secretary temporarily gave it a thought before answering.

-"Mmmm... he didn't tell me an exact place, but he did say he would visit the Grand Canyon."- The woman replied. -"He also said he would take a trip to Tucson and Albuquerque."-

Summerfield took a few seconds to give his opinion on Fitzroy's vacation. On the one hand, he found it a bit odd that the man had been granted paid vacation, especially after what had happened with Dr. Mason, and the corresponding investigation he and his secretary had been subjected to in Washington to find out who was responsible.

On the other hand, he also understood why the Pentagon seemed to be "apologizing", so to speak, to him for the discomfort done to him, especially since it turned out that neither Fitzroy nor Catherine Walburg had anything to do with the death of the doctor and his family.

But Summerfield knew that there was something suspicious about that man, for he knew that he had already had several conflicts with Dr. Mason's superior, the Japanese scientist named Yoshinori Komatsu, and he was aware that Fitzroy hated the latter, partly due to Komatsu's experiments, which he considered absurd and useless, and partly because he was Japanese.

But, if no one, not even the government, had blamed him for anything, he had even less proof that the man might have been involved in some shady business between him and Komatsu, which could have led to Dr. Mason's death.

And now, he also had to face the issue that another of the scientists working for the Japanese scientist, Dr. Nicholas Larkin, had also died, along with his father, in even more unusual circumstances, in this case, due to an explosion caused by a gas leak in the bakery owned by the scientist's father, which destroyed that place and killed both Larkin and his father.

-"Jesus Christ... there are several weird stuff going on related with that crazy Japanese son of a bitch..."- Summerfield said aloud to himself, unaware that Barbara was still there.

-"Did you say something, Major?"- The woman, who heard what the old man said about Komatsu, asked to him.

The veteran soldier realized his secretary was listening, so he tried to avoid talking about anything related about that topic.

-"Nothing... it was nothing, Barbara... I was just thinking aloud for myself."-

Major Summerfield's personal secretary chose not to ask any more questions on the subject, and she simply passed it over.

-"All right, sir, as you see fit..."-

Then, the woman, who was still sitting listening to her superior, asked a separate question.

-"On another matter, is there anything else I can do for you, Major?"-

-"I really don't think so, Barbara... unless, of course, you have something else to tell me?"-

-"Not for the time being, sir."- The secretary responded.

-"In that case, you can go take a break in the meantime, dear."- The old man replied with a candid smile. -"I understand all this Col. von Richtoffen issue must have stressed you out a lot, and I think you deserve to relax for a few moments."-

-"Are you sure you won't be needing my help right now, Major?"-

-"Nah, I don't think so; besides, you already brought the last paperwork I need, and the rest of the load falls on me. I don't think I'm going to need any more help until after lunchtime, so you might as well enjoy this break and go and have a cup of coffee or do something to ease your mind, Barbara."-

-"Roger that, Major."- The woman responded. -"And thank you for your kindness, sir."-

-"Oh, you're welcome, Barbara."-

After hearing that, Barbara got up from her seat to go and do what her boss had just said. Then, she took some of her things from her personal desk, and once she was done, she went to bid a farewell to her boss.

-"In case you need my help, you know where I will be."- The secretary waved goodbye. -"I'll be right back."-

Barbara finally said before leaving the office, leaving Maj. Andrew Summerfield alone.

Once alone in his office, the veteran soldier who fought in Europe in World War II, read again the document he had in his hands, which was in German, and which was the one that mentioned the infamous Nazi Colonel Heinrich von Richtoffen. When he glanced at it again, the man sighed for a few moments, as if there was something that unsettled him about everything he had read about that sinister figure who had died during the war.

But unfortunately, he had no way of knowing whether his feeling was caused by the emotional outburst coming from his secretary, who had lost her father to the Nazis during the war... or was simply a misguided hunch.

-"sigh... God... maybe I'm just overthinking things... dammit."-

---

May 7th, AD 1955, Grand Canyon Village, Arizona, United States of America, 9:10 AM

Grand Canyon Village, Arizona is a registered historic district situated at the northeastern edge of Grand Canyon National Park. It has been established as the only community in the United States to be entirely surrounded by a national park. The village consists of hotels and restaurants situated within walking distance from open parking lots, which makes it a favorite destination for tourists, hikers and many others among those who want to enjoy the national parks.

Since it was founded at the beginning of the 20th century, the place is quite notorious for having a unique, peaceful atmosphere that attracted many more tourists and visitors to the area. The town was really a paradise for many, who even managed to build several recreational activities, such as bicycle riding, bingo and even golf. But, these kinds of activities were not the only activities that could be found there. The type of people who arrived at the village for vacation were mainly a mix of tourists, campers and hikers, as well as many others on the way to visit those natural wonders that nature could offer.

Among those tourists was Maj. Matthew Fitzroy, who was loving the paid vacation he had received from the government, and wasn't about to waste it by staying in his native Texas, noting that he had never had the chance to visit the Grand Canyon in his life.

And after staying at a hotel near the canyon for about two nights, he felt that he had seen enough of that beautiful natural attraction, and he decided that he had better set out for his next destination, which would be Tucson, to the south, near the Mexican border. But before going there, he would first drive around the Grand Canyon area to the north, mainly on Highway 64, and then drive north on Highway 89, and from there, drive to his first stop, which would be Las Vegas. In that way, he would be able to see the mountainous desert landscape of the area, and get more out of his trip.

Once he finished checking out at the hotel where Fitzroy was lodging, the American military veteran left the place where he was staying, and set out to travel north; but before that, he had to prepare his car for the long trip that would await him to Las Vegas.

Quickly enough, before exiting onto the highway, Fitzroy found a gas station on the side of the road. It was a fairly normal one with nothing out of the ordinary, though Fitzroy found it odd that there weren't many people there, except for the employees, and the occasional tourist wandering around buying food at the local convenience store.

But as he began to pump gas, he passed the time by looking at the scenery around, and even spotted and admired the beautiful scenery of the Grand Canyon. Watching it was truly a nice feeling that the elder man was looking forward to, while driving to the next destination...

-"sigh... God, I really needed that damn vacation."- The old soldier said to himself, while he inhaled a breath of fresh air. -"Being away from all the crap that goes on in the military really helps one enjoy life a lot more..."-

Once he had already filled up his car, Fitzroy also took the opportunity to have his car checked to make sure everything was in order, as well as to make some adjustments, such as changing the oil, checking the brakes, and everything related to preventive maintenance. After all, he had time to spare, and he had no problem in using it to keep his car in perfect condition for driving on the road. In the meantime, he would spend some time at the convenience store to have something to eat while his car was in the workshop being serviced.

The first thing he noticed when entering the convenience store were two kids running around with their mother following after them, trying to get them to stop running around the entire place, yelling 'Be careful', or 'Don't touch that' or whatever else she could think of, but they seemed to ignore her, and continued doing what they wanted to do regardless.

-"Excuse me, sir, do you plan to buy something?"-

A voice came out of nowhere, and as if by miracle, from where Fitzroy stood right now, not even having stepped inside yet, there was a girl standing right before him, smiling brightly, looking like she just got an invitation into the best party ever, which she did. Or rather, she looked like she just won over whoever was asking for her.

-"Yes, in fact I am looking at what I would like to buy."- He responded, his head still slightly dazed from the sudden voice coming out of nowhere.

-"Great! Do you need help finding anything specific?"- She smiled again. -"We have lots of candy here, snacks too, we can get you some ice cream if you want!"- She said, still smiling widely.

Matthew Fitzroy tried to think what he wanted to eat at the convenience store, and after some thought, the veteran soldier told the woman what he wanted.

-"Hmmmm... Maybe some sandwiches wouldn't hurt, I guess."-

-"I'll go get you that then."- The girl nodded happily.

She turned around and started walking away. After about five minutes of waiting, the woman returned with two small bags, and handed them to the soldier.

-"Here are your sandwiches, sir. Hope you enjoy them."-

-"Thanks."- He smiled back.

The girl went back to the counter to order another person, and the old man walked towards the cash register to pay. The soldier paid about a dollar for both sandwiches, and then he went to sit at one of the tables that were available for the customers to eat their food.

Once in his table and, after a few moments, Matthew Fitzroy took the sandwiches from his bag and put them on the table. After taking a bite out of his sandwich, the older man sighed softly as he began to slowly devour it.

-"Well, for convenience store food, this doesn't taste bad at all, to be honest."- The old soldier said in low voice.

He continued eating until he finished, then got up and placed his half empty bottle of soda in a garbage bin. Walking away, he decided to take the opportunity to look around the room and see if there was anything else he could do. After looking through the whole room, he realized that there wasn't really much to do here.

There was a lot of people sitting around eating, but not many actually talking or even making conversation. Some seemed like they were just enjoying the silence, while some others seemed quite stressed, like the young lady who had just brought the sandwiches; with nothing more to do, Fitzroy left the convenience store cafeteria and headed to the gas station repair shop to see if his car was ready.

---

May 7th, AD 1955, Grand Canyon Village, Arizona (Gas station repair shop), United States of America, 10:16 AM

Back at the gas station's auto shop, the veteran soldier saw that his car appeared to be ready to continue on its way to Las Vegas. He sighed with relief and turned to face the mechanic near him, who had been patiently waiting for him to finish up.

-"I assume my car is ready, isn't it?"- Fitzroy asked the man.

-"Yes, everything is ready, sir, we have already done all the preventive adjustments that you asked us to do, and we also changed the oil, the windshield washer fluid, and also the brake liquid."-

-"And how much is all this going to cost me, may I ask?"-

-"About $20 dollars, sir."- The mechanic responded with a smile to the U.S. Army major.

At that moment, Fitzroy noticed something unusual about the mechanic, starting with his accent, as he spoke with a certain European accent, which meant that the man was not born in the U.S., not to mention his features, as he had an unfriendly face, even if the man certainly seemed polite to him, and did not hesitate to answer his questions, something that the soldier, perhaps out of curiosity, decided to ask.

-"Hey, son, can I ask you something?"-

-"What do you want to ask me, Mr. Fitzroy?"- The man with the odd accent replied.

-"You don't look like an Arizonan, let alone from the U.S."- The veteran soldier asked the gas station mechanic with some earnestness. -"Are you an immigrant or something?"-

The mechanic, when questioned about his accent and origins, did not hesitate to answer the Major straight away. The mechanic, when questioned about his accent and origins, did not hesitate to answer the Major straight away.

-"Well, my parents are from Bulgaria and that's why I have this accent, but I've been living in Arizona for years, and I'm an American citizen."- The man responded with some discomfort. -"I hope you don't think I'm an illegal alien or something like that, do you?"-

-"Of course not, I just thought your European accent was funny; ya know, I fought in Europe during the last war and I had to listen to a lot of strange accents over there."-

-"Oh, I see, sir."- Said the mechanic. -"Well, I'm sorry if I gave you any trouble, I guess it's just kinda hard to explain."-

-"No problem at all, son."- Fitzroy retorted. -"I was just curious; just one final question..."-

-"What else do you wish to ask, sir?"-

-"What's your name?"- The old man asked.

The mechanic needed a few seconds to answer the American soldier's question.

-"My name is Valentin Valeriev..."-

-"OK... Valentin Valeriev."- Fitzroy said the mechanic's name aloud. -"I also need to know your name in case any problems arise, although, judging by appearances, I don't think I'm going to run into any with my car, right?"-

-"I guarantee that your car is in perfect condition, and any problems along the way are covered under our one-month warranty policy, Mr. Fitzroy."- The gas station mechanic that responded by the name of Valentin Valeriev responded.

Then, Fitzroy nodded his head in approval. Afterwards, he looked at his watch.

-"All right, I think I have to go now before I waste any more time here."- He said. -"Here is your 20 bucks. I hope to see you again some day, son."-

Once he received the money, the Bulgarian-born mechanic also proceeded to bid farewell to the older veteran.

-"Thank you very much, sir, and I hope you have a good trip."-

-"You take care out there, son, see ya later!"-

Once inside his car, Matthew Fitzroy started his car's engines and without wasting any more time, he left the gas station and set out on his journey to Las Vegas, which would be his proposed stopover before heading to Tucson first.

---

May 7th, AD 1955, Bitter Springs, Arizona (At the entrance to Highway 89A), United States of America, 12:50 PM

Major Matthew Fitzroy's car traveled more than two hours down Highway 89 to the small town of Bitter Springs, from where he would take a detour onto Highway 89A in order to take other roads to Las Vegas. Before that, he first made a stop at the side of the road, where he looked at his map and calmly estimated the most suitable route to reach his destination.

Before that, he did not hesitate to see the beautiful semi-deserted landscape, with the mountains surrounding him, while he breathed the fresh air of that place. Fitzroy, for all his faults as a person, at least he knew how to appreciate nature in all its splendor, and now that he was on vacation, away from the hustle and bustle of his job in the army, the veteran soldier was going to enjoy his vacation to the fullest extent possible, and even more so considering that he had hardly had a chance to enjoy one since the end of World War II.

And, although he wasn't exactly someone who liked to gamble, he intended to use his stay in Las Vegas to have a good time for at least one night before continuing on his way to Tucson.

With this in mind, the veteran man climbed into his car, and started it up, as he headed for the turnoff that would take him north on Highway 89A.

It took a few minutes to get there. The road was fairly well maintained, and the scenery looked like something out of a postcard, with only the occasional car passing by. In fact, when he got to the turnoff and the highway disappeared behind him, he actually had to pull over so that he could look around some more. It was amazing what a difference just one little thing could make in a person's life.

Fitzroy sighed. There were a lot of things about the life he lived that he regretted. Things he didn't realize he regretted until after they were too late. And he didn't think he'd ever be able to move forward from that feeling, but that didn't mean he couldn't still have some fun. Even if it meant that he'd lose most of the enjoyment. He shook his head. No, not that day. He'd have his time, once he reached Tucson. For now, he would enjoy those beautiful sights surrouding him.

Suddenly, while he had only been on the road for ten minutes since he took that turn-off at Bitter Springs...

-"That's strange..."-

Fitzroy wondered aloud to himself as he tried to slow his car down as he was about to take the next turn. According to the map, passing that turn would take him to the Navajo Bridge, which was a small bridge over the Colorado River, and from there he would drive to Fredonia, a town near the Arizona-Utah state line, and from there, he would take other roads to Las Vegas.

-"Why do I feel that the car is not slowing down?"-

As the car began to go around the curve, the American military veteran noticed something that began to startle him as he tried to cut his speed: As hard as he stepped on the brakes, the car didn't seem to slow down, but rather seemed to be going even faster than it should have...

-"C'mon, dammit..."- Fitzroy cursed aloud as he tried to control his vehicle as best he could, realizing that the brakes were not responding. -"why doesn't this piece of shit on wheels slow down?"-

Suddenly, the car, which only a few minutes ago was going at only 40 km/h, at that moment was going over 110 km/h, more than the speed allowed on that highway.

At this moment, Fitzroy felt himself begin to panic and he began trying everything to stop his car from going further. However, after a few attempts to stop, it still kept going. He began yelling in pure fear as he felt like he was about to die at any time, feeling the need to try to make his car brake up.

And at that moment, Matthew Fitzroy's car had become an out-of-control missile, beyond his ability to control or slow it by any other means, and with no other chance of escaping from the vehicle without dying first in the attempt.

Suddenly, the vehicle, just a few meters from the Navajo Bridge, went off the road as Fitzroy tried to find a way to stop his car before it plunged into the Colorado River.

By then, however, it was too late for him...

-"HYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"-

The last thing Matthew Fitzroy saw before he died was his car careening off the cliff as it plunged rapidly to the bottom of the river in the Grand Canyon. And immediately afterward, the car crashed against the hard ground of the Colorado River rim, exploding into pieces, along with its owner...

Perhaps, beyond any doubt, that must have been a horrible way for even a man like Fitzroy to die.

---

May 10th, AD 1955, Rosedale South (Catherine Walburg's home/Main hall), Evansville, Indiana, United States of America, 11:29 AM

-"Hey girls, first of all, I'm sorry for delaying our meetup until today the 10th. I had to settle some personal stuff on my own, and since then I've been eating out at restaurants in the meantime. I hope it hasn't been an inconvenience for you."-

Catherine Walburg welcomed her two guests to her home, Alena McWild and her co-worker Serena Kendrick, while apologizing for delaying the meeting they had originally planned for May 6th of that year.

-"No problem, Cathy dear,"- Alena said with a smile. -"We understand why you need your own time, but as always it has been our pleasure to be here for you. Serena and I have been looking forward to this moment to be in your home to pay you a little visit. Right, Serena?"-

-"Well, I must admit that Catherine's house is pretty big for someone who lives alone."- Alena's friend remarked as she looked around her hostess's home in amazement at how large and spacious her home was.

The two women smiled and nodded their heads. After greeting one another, Catherine motioned them toward the kitchen.

-"Let me get you both something to drink; I'm sure you're both hungry by now, right?"- Catherine asked with a kind smile and raised brows.

-"Oh no, we are fine, Catherine. We just want to thank you for having us here for such a short time."- Serena said.

-"In that case, please sit down wherever you feel comfortable, girls!"-. Catherine said happily.

Alena and Serena took a seat on the couch facing each other while Catherine started making some coffee. The secretary placed the mug in front of Alena with a gentle smile.

-"Thank you so much."-. Alena said gratefully and gave Catherine a friendly smile of gratitude.

-"It was nothing, really!"-. Catherine replied and sat next to Alena on the opposite couch.

With the three women seated in the living room, Alena was the first to begin the conversation.

-"First of all, and while I can't give too many details, I want to apologize on my behalf for what happened on the 5th at the restaurant, Cathy dear."- Catherine's college friend opened the talk by apologizing for what happened at the Italian restaurant regarding the spy incident, avoiding giving any more details out loud to prevent Serena from learning exactly what happened between Alena and Catherine that day. -"I understand perfectly your situation, and I think my attitude didn't help you at all."-

Catherine, knowing beforehand that her friend was being as vague as possible about the incident, simply decided to play along, for the same reasons.

-"Don't worry, I understand how you felt that day, and I think I should be the one to apologize about it."- The woman who worked for the army quickly understood what her friend was trying to tell her, and accepted her apology.

Obviously, Serena, who knew nothing about the whole spy incident that had been stalking both women five days earlier, felt that her friends were keeping her in the dark about something she didn't know about, and that even Alena hadn't told her anything about it.

-"Hey girls, looks like you two were mixed up in some pretty deep stuff, huh?"-

The hostess, seeing that Serena was going to ask about that event, simply tried to avoid giving specifics. She knew that neither she nor Alena could involve more outsiders in their affairs, while Catherine, for her part, wanted to avoid having more people asking inconvenient questions about her job.

-"Well, you could say we had some trouble with some pervert who was stalking us..."- The woman who owned the house answered Alena's co-worker friend's question, except that she changed the person involved from "spy" to "pervert."

-"A pervert?"- Serena responded with some awkward curiosity.

-"Yeah."- Alena responded. -"A strange guy was stalking both of us on the 5th, and we had to hide in an Italian restaurant when we were walking around downtown. We stayed inside for several hours, and when that asshole went his own way, we were only able to return to our homes."-

-"And... what happened next, then?"- Serena asked. -"Didn't you two call the cops?"-

-"Yes, but they couldn't find that man."- Catherine also added her own twist on the narrative. -"We must assume that he has most likely left town."-

After a few seconds of silence, Serena finally responded, with some trepidation.

-"I'm so sorry about that, girls."- The other woman replied, giving her personal sympathy to both Catherine and Alena. -"That must have been very stressful for both of you."-

-"Well, the good thing is that nothing bad happened, and it was just a nasty freak-out for both of us."- Alena concluded her "version" about those events, wanting to settle the issue as soon as possible in front of her friend.

-"Yes, it could have been worse."- Catherine followed suit. -"He could have been a rapist or a thief, and maybe we wouldn't be here so easily sharing this with you..."-

-"At least it's good to know that things didn't escalate any further."- Serena said with some relief, while still drinking her coffee.

And after a brief pause, Catherine wanted to leave that sore topic aside, and move on to another subject.

-"Well, we better stop talking about dreary affairs, and get on to something more pleasant."-

-"I agree with you, Cathy dear."- Alena sided with her friend. -"And what would you like to talk about first?"-

After a brief pause, Catherine answered her friend's question.

-"How about cooking a roast turkey, huh?"- She asked.

Alena and Serena looked at each other, as if trying to agree, without saying a word, on the idea their hostess made about what she could prepare for dinner that day.

-"Sounds like a treat."- Catherine's blonde friend smiled. -"Besides, I'd really like to have a nice roast turkey, wouldn't you, Serena?"-

-"I don't think it's a bad idea either, to be honest,"- Serena replied. -"though if I must be frank, I've never eaten roast turkey before."-

-"Really, Serena?"- Catherine asked Alena's friend with some curiosity at that statement. -"You haven't even eaten it at Christmas or Thanksgiving?"-

-"Well, it's not that I don't like it or anything like that, but in my family we don't usually eat turkey, since my parents are vegetarians and they don't eat anything with meat."- Serena explained her reasons about why she hadn't tasted turkey before. -"Obviously I'm not like them, but because of that I've always had to eat meat behind my parents' back, and even as an adult I haven't had many opportunities to eat turkey."-

-"I see... I understand how you feel."- Catherine sighed. -"My father is vegetarian too, so I guess I kind of understand that."-

-"Yeah, that really sucks."- Serena replied.

-"Well, not so much in my case; my father, for all his faults, never forced his vegeterianism on the rest of my family, so you could say I'm lucky on that score."-

-"Oh, I see."-

Suddenly, Alena cut the conversation short.

-"Hey, sorry to break up the small talk, but I'm assuming you want me and Serena to help you prepare your turkey, don't you?"-

After twinkling for a moment, Catherine Walburg responded to her friend.

-"Not exactly... but I could use a little help, if you girls want it, of course."-

Serena and Alena exchanged glances.

-"Well, we would love to help."- Serena answered politely.

-"Sure, why not?"- Catherine's friend agreed with her. -"Besides, I'm kind of bored, and I think I could do with helping out with cooking for my friends once in a while."-

The secretary was very happy to see how her friends were willing to give her a hand with the meal, even though they were not obliged to do so.

-"Thank you very much, girls, I really appreciate you two helping me with this."-

-"Well, that's what friends are for, isn't it, Cathy dear?"-

And so, the two girls stood from their seats and followed Catherine into her kitchen.

---

May 10th, AD 1955, Rosedale South (Catherine Walburg's home/Kitchen), Evansville, Indiana, United States of America, 12:12 PM

It wasn't long before Catherine Walburg, Alena McWild and Serena Kendrick began pulling out pots and pans from cabinets. They moved around each other gracefully and quickly enough to make sure everything was ready in order to prepare that turkey. Fortunately for the three women, Catherine had bought a frozen turkey at the supermarket a few days earlier in order to prepare it for such a special moment.

All three of them were dressed simply but nicely; wearing simple white blouses and dresses. Alena had pulled her hair back in a braid as she was ready to cook the turkey. While she waited for the meat to begin cooking, Serena also helped by washing and drying the dishes they'd used when preparing dinner, and she also brought a pot of water to boil.

The three ladies worked efficiently and swiftly, even though they had a good portion of their own work left to do. While all of this was going on, Catherine was preparing the salad. As she was putting the final touches on the salad, the oven went off; And, with a quick flick of her wrist and a flick of her fingers, a small flame lit above one of the burners. She reached over and turned down the heat of the oven so the flames would go away. Meanwhile, Serena was next to check up on the vegetables she'd prepared earlier while the turkey cooked.

-"Hey, Cathy, I think this turkey needs something else to taste pretty yummy."- Alena gave her opinion.

-"What do you think would be the right thing to put in the turkey to make it taste good, Alena?"- The host asked with some curiosity.

-"What else, dear?"- The blonde woman replied with a smile. -"Stuffing."-

-"Stuffing?"- Serena also said. -"But we're not at Christmas or Thanksgiving yet, Alena."-

-"Yeah, I know that, but a good turkey would be pretty dull if we didn't stuff anything in it."-

Catherine thought long and hard about the idea of stuffing the turkey, and, although the idea of stuffing it like a Thanksgiving or Christmas turkey was a bit far-fetched, given the time of year, at the same time she was not against the idea, as it would give that dish a better flavor.

-"Well, I'm not against Alena's idea of stuffing the turkey, even if it would be a bit exaggerated, considering that only the three of us would eat it and no one else, and the one we are cooking is already quite big."- Catherine gave her opinion. -"What do you think, Serena?"-

Alena's co-worker offered her point of view after a brief pause.

-"Hmmm... I agree about stuffing the turkey, but it would be rather nice if the stuffing were something... you know... different... this time." - Serena responded.

-"And do you have any ideas in mind to use a different kind of stuffing, instead of the typical Christmas or Thanksgiving ones?"- Alena asked for her friend's opinion about which kind of good stuffing would be good for that turkey.

-"Well, how about a stuffing made of deli meats and prime cuts, such as beef?"-

Catherine and Alena looked at their friend with some amazement when she proposed those unusual ingredients for stuffing the turkey, for some reasons that will be explained further on.

-"Deli meats and hanger steak?"- Alena replied with a sardonic expression in her face. -"Hey, Serena, we know that you don't usually eat a lot of meat with your family because of your parents, but I think you really want to eat plenty of it, don't you?"-

Serena smiled mischievously, and she shrugged her shoulders.

-"Well, I'm not gonna lie to you girls, but I can't help it."-

Alena and Catherine gave each other an encouraging smile.

-"In that case, what are our options, Cathy?"- The blonde woman asked Catherine -"Do you also have any ideas for some original stuffing?"-

-"Well, to be honest, I don't have any ideas for some kind of original ingredients, so I think I'm going to stick with Serena's idea."- The Army woman replied. -"And what about you, Alena?"-

-"Unfortunately, I'm in the same boat; I think I'm also going to match her in filling our turkey with sausage and hanger steak as well."-

-"Well, in that case, it's settled."- Catherine, the host, finally agreed with her friends' idea about the stuffing. -"But I think there's going to be a little problem..."-

-"Which would it be, Cathy?"- Alena asked her.

-"I have neither deli meats nor hanger steak on hand."- The female host declared to her cooking partners. -"I think I'm going to have to hit the supermarket fast to buy all that stuff."-

-"Don't you want us to come with you to help you buy what you need?"- Serena offered to help Catherine.

-"Nah, I don't think it's necessary; you girls can help me continue preparing the turkey, while I go to the supermarket to buy the ingredients for the stuffing."- Catherine told them.

-"Alright, but if you need any help then call us, OK?"- Alena asked her.

-"I will."- The host replied. -"You too take care of my house while I'm gone, and I hope you're not going to break anything while you're cooking that turkey."-

-"Yeah, don't worry about that, Cathy,"- Alena reassured her. -"you go buy the ingredients for the stuffing, and we'll take care of the rest."-

-"In that case, I'm off to the supermarket. See you later, girls!"-

-"Bye, Cathy, see you soon!"- Both Alena and Serena waved goodbye at their host, while preparing themselves to cook.

Catherine Walburg gave their friends a brief smile before leaving the kitchen, and then her own house; she went to the supermarket to buy the meats she would need to prepare the stuffing for the turkey they would eat that day.

---

May 10th, AD 1955, Rosedale South (Unknown Supermarket), Evansville, Indiana, United States of America, 01:16 PM

Once at the supermarket, Catherine went to the meat section, where she would try to buy what she would need for the turkey stuffing, which in this case would be the hanger steak and the deli meats; the place was not exactly a very big one, considering the size of the suburb where she lived, but at least it was relatively well stocked and had all the essentials one could look for to fill one's pantry at any given time. And in Catherine's case, buying those ingredients was no exception.

With no more time to waste, the woman asked the meat counter employee to give her a large piece of meat, along with several pieces of ham, sausage and other choice meats that she would take home. Fortunately, all that was in stock that day and she placed all the ingredients for the stuffing in her errand bag.

With everything she was going to buy, Catherine headed to the supermarket cash register, and after standing in line for a few minutes, she was ready to pay for her goods.

-"That would be $10, Miss."- The cashier told the woman.

Catherine took money out of her wallet and she dutifully paid for her groceries.

-"Here is your change."- The cashier responded, while handing the money to her. -"Have a nice day."-

Once everything was paid for, she headed out of the supermarket, and she went straight to the parking lot, where she started putting the ingredients she would use for the stuffing in the trunk of her car. When she finished loading those groceries, Catherine started getting into the car, and afterwards, she locked the car and put on her seatbelt. Done this, she started driving away from the supermarket, and towards home.

But before she could move from block the market was to the next in her vehicle, the woman who worked as a secretary in the army heard the thud of something bursting behind her, and suddenly, her car began to lurch. All this meant only one thing...

One of the tires on her vehicle had gone flat, for some unforeseen reason. This was not pleasant for the woman, as she was pressed for time, since her friends were waiting for her at home to continue preparing their stuffed turkey.

-"Shit!"- The woman cursed. -"Hell of a time to get a flat tire!"-

Knowing that it was unsafe to continue driving with a flat tire, Catherine parked her vehicle on the side of a curb while she stepped out of her car to see how bad the problem was. As she approached, Catherine could see that the tire was indeed broken, but the damage was much worse than she thought, since the tire basically exploded.

-"Damn, I think I'm going to have to replace that tire on my own."-

Normally, she would have tried to ask someone, either a driver or someone who was close to her to help her repair the tire, but Catherine knew she didn't have time for that, and she opted to do it on her own. For a woman at that period, to change a tire, a job that would normally be done by a man, would have been highly unusual, but based on her own personal experiences in the past, Catherine had learned that she shouldn't expect help from anyone else, much less a man.

Besides, she was more than used to getting her hands dirty, literally speaking, when it came to heavy work.

With this in mind, the woman pulled a spare tire out of the trunk, along with the hydraulic jack and tools, to begin replacing the destroyed tire. And as she began to do the job, she didn't seem to notice that people passing by were surprised to see a woman alone replacing the tire on her vehicle without male help or anyone else's help.

But that didn't matter to Catherine in the least, for she had always been used to doing things her own way, and she didn't care what other people thought about her. For that woman who had a more than enigmatic past, she only had herself, and if anyone thought the wrong thing about her, so be it.

What she didn't know at that moment was that event would be one of the many that would change her life forever...

---

May 10th, AD 1955, Rosedale South (Catherine Walburg's home/Kitchen), Evansville, Indiana, United States of America, 01:30 PM

While that was going on, Alena McWild and her co-worker at her clothing store, Serena Kendrick, were still trying to cook the turkey, while her friend Catherine was out shopping for stuffing ingredients. This was taking a little longer than both women were used to when they cooked in their own homes, as neither had ever cooked a turkey before, preferring to order one that had been cooked and stuffed beforehand.

-"You sure this is going to be enough?"- Asked Serena.

Alena looked up from the cutting board she was using to dice the potatoes.

-"I think so. We just need to find the right quantity."-

-"But don't you think you're cutting too many potatoes?"- The other woman replied.

Alena stopped cutting.

-"What do you mean? I thought we needed the same amount of potatoes."- She asked looking back down to her cutting board.

Serena's eyes went wide.

-"Didn't you notice that we are going just the three of us and none else?"-

-"No."- That was Alena's curt reply. -"Besides, it's better to have too many potatoes than too few, don't you think?"-

Serena was a bit thoughtful about the answer her friend gave her about the amount of potatoes to prepare, but that didn't stop her from giving her opinion.

-"Well, I guess you're right, but I'm not exactly a fan of over-prepping either."-

And with that Serena returned to work on the food they were preparing, while Alena resumed cutting the potatoes and continued doing it without saying another word. Minutes later, the latter asked her friend a question.

-"By the way, Serena,"- The blonde woman said. -"haven't you popped the turkey in the oven to roast it for once?"-

Alena's work friend responded in a surprised manner.

-"No, I have not done so yet."-

-"So what are you waiting for?"- Alena replied aloud in disgust. -"Cathy's gonna be pissed at us if that turkey isn't ready first by the time she gets there with those ingredients, so get moving!"-

-"Okay, okay, okay, but you don't have to tell me like that, geez!"- Serena retorted at her friend due to her sudden rudeness. -"Besides, this is gonna be a turkey for just the three of us, it's not like we're gonna invite all our other families or anything, right?"-

-"Yeah, I know that, but at least I want that turkey to look like one for a bigger party."- Catherine's long-time friend explained her stand about the food she and the two women were preparing. -"And I can't wait to try it with that stuffing of hanger and deli meats; it will surely be delicious."-

-"I just hope we don't end up with a case of indigestion from eating so much greasy stuff."-

-"Says the woman who does not usually eat meat."- Alena mockingly shoots back at her friend by referring to her friend's family's vegeterianism.

-"Well, it's not my fault I have parents who have different tastes, is it?"- Serena shrugged her shoulders in jest.

At those comments that both women made to each other, Alena and Serena mutually laughed, and in the meantime, the latter began to put the turkey in the tray to cook large dishes like turkeys or tenderloin, and without further ceremony, and after washing it and preparing it properly, she put it in the oven. Before she started it, she had a question to ask Alena.

-"Hey, don't you know what temperature I have to set the oven to cook this turkey?"-

-"According to the recipe booklet, about 356° F."- The woman reminded her.

-"Oh, I get it."- Then, she asked another question. -"But, aren't we supposed to first wait for Catherine to come home with the stuffing before putting this in the oven?"-

-"Yes, but I think Cathy will want to first cook the meats before putting them in the turkey so that everything gets well cooked."-

-"Well, if you say so, Alena..."-

And without wasting any more time, Serena put the turkey in the oven, and after turning on the flame, she closed the door and the woman, after setting the oven temperature, was left to wait for the turkey to be ready.

While the turkey was being cooked in the oven, both women sat down at the table, and grabbed some magazines their host Catherine had in the kitchen, while checking up on the food and listening to some music on the radio.

Suddenly, Alena and Serena suddenly observed from the kitchen window what seemed to be a car passing by the vicinity of Catherine Walburg's house. The car would normally have gone unnoticed by the two women, for it was probably someone's neighbor's car... were it not for a detail that would not have escaped Alena McWild's notice...

...and for a very good reason.

-"God..."- Alena said. -"Could it be... him?"-

Serena, who was reading a magazine, noticed how her friend had suddenly become nervous for some reason she didn't understood.

-"Huh?"- The other woman said. -"What do you mean by him, Alena?"-

Seeing that her friend did not understand what she was trying to imply, Alena quickly realized that she was talking about too much, since she was referring to the incident with the alleged spy that was stalking both Alena and Catherine five days ago downtown, and the former had promised the latter not to tell anyone else about that episode, so she tried to overlook it.

-"Oh, just forget about it, Serena..."- The blonde woman replied at her coworker and friend. -"I just thought an acquaintance of mine was in that car."-

-"That's weird, because you looked kinda awkward when you saw that car."- She replied as she looked back at her magazine.

-"Maybe my imagination was playing tricks with my head."- Alena retorted back at her friend, while she returned to the table.

But before the two of them could continue to discuss the matter further, a loud and noticeable sound came from the stove's furnace, which was audible enough that Alena and Serena could not ignore it...

-"Did you hear that noise?"- Serena said.

-"What noise?"- Alena replied.

Serena and Alena looked at each other in silence, as if they were having a silent conversation with their eyes until the other person spoke again.

-"I could have sworn I heard a funny noise coming from the stove..."- Serena said at her friend, this time in a more concerned tone.

Alena shook her head and turned back towards the stove to look for the source of the unusual noise. She then heard the same sound again, this time louder than before...

-"I'm gonna go see what the hell is going on with that thing, Serena."- Catherine's long-time friend stood up from her chair once again in order to check out what was the issue with the oven. -"Maybe the turkey isn't cooking right; it smells pretty good too, though."-

The moment she rose again and when she glanced at the stove window, she saw something that immediately horrified her...

-"HOLY SHIT!"-

The first two things Alena noticed when she saw the furnace were as follows: A large amount of black smoke was coming out of the oven, and the inside of it was glowing red hot, as if instead of cooking food, the oven was melting metal.

-"What's wrong, Alena?"-

-"The oven is...!"-

But before they could say anything else, the burners of the stove shot through the air due to the intense heat and pressure that was forming inside the oven, and a large amount of fire burst from them, reaching the stove hood, which also caught fire in contact with the fire from the oven.

-"ALENA, LET'S GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE BEFORE...!"-

But before both women could even consider escaping from the kitchen, let alone from the home of their hostess, Catherine, the last thing they both saw before the fire devoured their bodies to ashes was how the stove exploded violently, taking with it everything in its path, including those two women who had the disgrace of suffering a fiery death that day of 1955...

---

May 10th, AD 1955, Rosedale South (Two blocks before arriving at Catherine Walburg's home), Evansville, Indiana, United States of America, 02:30 PM

-"God, I just hope Alena and Serena don't get mad at me for taking so long to get home thanks to this damn car!"-

Catherine Walburg had a lot on her mind as she drove through the neighborhood where she lived after she lingered longer than necessary on the street because of that flat tire. And since it took longer than she expected, the woman who worked for the military, who at that point didn't know what had befallen her boss days earlier in Arizona, hurried back home, knowing that her friends would be waiting for her to continue preparing the turkey they would eat for dinner.

But just as her car was about to turn the next corner, and when everything around the vehicle seemed calm and peaceful on that day in May...

-"Well, I'm almost home; just hope at least those two women can at least..."-

BOOOOOMMMMM!

-"WHAT THE HELL...?!"-

...a powerful and violent explosion shook almost the entire suburb of Rosedale South to its foundations; meanwhile, Catherine's car, which was only a block away from home, swayed at the moment of the blast, causing the woman, in a desperate bid to keep control of her vehicle, to be forced to drive it into a curb, stopping in the middle of it, while the driver was leaning back in the car seats, instinctively protecting herself from the impact of the explosion.

After deep breath, and while trying to regain her composure after being thrown violently out of her seat during the blast, Catherine quickly exited her vehicle, and looked in the direction where she thought the explosion occurred...

-"But what... just what the hell happened here?"-

Immediately afterwards, Catherine checked for injuries after the explosion. Fortunately, she was unharmed, suffering nothing more than a moderate earache caused by the intensity of the explosion that had occurred at that instant.

Unfortunately, the same could not be said about her house, which was on fire...

-"Oh my god! NO!"-

Catherine was unable to hold back from crying. Her house, which she had bought with a lot of effort since she became independent from her parents when she finished her studies, was burning in flames before her very eyes. But besides that, her two friends, Alena McWild and Serena Kendrick, the latter who had only known her for a few days since Catherine returned to Evansville, were inside, preparing the food she would eat with them.

The first thing she thought of was to see if the two of them had made it out of the house before the whole event took place; it was also a good thing that there were no other houses around hers, which would have caused the fire to spread. Meanwhile, neighbors all over the vicinity came out of their homes to see what had gone wrong at Catherine's house, while some had started calling emergency services and the authorities for help.

As Catherine approached her house, which was still burning furiously after the explosion, she noticed that there was no one she knew near the house, which meant one thing...

... and she only wished it wasn't what she was thinking at that tragic moment that was happening before her eyes.

-"For god's sake... I just hope Alena and Serena weren't inside the house when it blew up..."-

Catherine didn't want to believe that their friends were in her house when the explosion occurred. However, she couldn't do anything about it. If she went in to look for them, she would most likely not survive the intense fire that consumed her home, and she had little experience dealing with fires, so the only thing she could do was hope that the emergency services would help, and pray that they would have survived.

Because that was all Catherine could do at that moment.

-"ALENA, SERENA!"-

Catherine shouted... she tried to call their names again, but to no avail...

But before she could continue to lament what happened, and continue to try to find out the whereabouts of her two friends...

-"Uh?"-

Catherine noticed that a car, a 1955 Ford Thunderbird, was approaching her house, and especially her. This was to be noted, for that car was a new model that had barely been sold last year and was then considered a luxury vehicle, and that it was obvious that such a vehicle was not within reach of anyone, much less any neighbor living in the area, a middle-class residential area.

And immediately afterwards, a man emerged from inside that luxurious car; to Catherine's surprise and disbelief, that man was the same person, quite possibly that foreign spy, who had been stalking her and Alena five days earlier, and who previously had also gone to ask for her at Alena's store in midtown. That man was dressed in a somewhat outlandish dress suit, with black stripes on a white coat, a hat of the same color and stripes, and was a man who, at first glance, had no hair or very short hair.

And Catherine Walburg sensed that it was evident from the look on the man's face that he had a not entirely friendly attitude at all...

-"Who the hell are you, and what do you want from me?"- The woman yelled at the foreign-looking man. -"Did you have anything to do with this?"-

At that moment, the man surprisingly took out of his belt a pistol, a Soviet-made Makarov to be more precise, which was equipped with a silencer, and in a matter of seconds, the foreigner pointed the gun at Catherine's head...

-"Your death."-

And...

-"WHAT?!"-

BANG!

Just when Catherine thought she would not live to tell the tale, she heard the sound of what sounded like another gun coming from behind her. The impact of the projectile struck the right arm of the man who intended to kill her in front of her own house, causing him to drop his gun.

-"GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM HER, YOU SON OF A BITCH!"-

And suddenly, more gunshots rang out behind Catherine, causing her to instinctively dive to the ground, behind her own car, to defend herself from whoever was shooting at the would-be assassin. When Catherine managed to crawl to safety, she lifted her head and saw someone else behind the scene. It was a man that appeared to be about 40, with black hair and blue eyes, and he was wearing a blue blazer over his gray shirt and khaki slacks.

Catherine quickly recognized the man: It was a neighbor of hers who worked as a police officer, named Lance Ainsworth, who, upon hearing and seeing what had happened, and the moment he saw the suit-clad stranger attempt to murder Catherine, Ainsworth, using his own firearms, in this case a revolver, which he kept in his house for self-defense, opened fire on the hitman.

The foreigner, for his part, seeing his assassination attempt thwarted and not having enough time to defend himself, not to mention that he was wounded, and the fact that his presence was now well-known to all the residents of the area, had no choice but to jump into his car and flee, before things took a turn for the worse for him.

-"WAIT! COME BACK HERE, YOU ASSHOLE!"-

Catherine screamed at the top of her lungs at the man, who probably had something to do with the destruction of her house, and who had tried to kill her minutes before. But he had already fled the neighborhood, heading to an unknown direction...

But she did not intend to stand by and watch the man escape without being punished, and Catherine, in a brave act, and without thinking twice, and after picking up the gun that the assassin dropped, she rushed to her own car, and in a flash, she also left her own neighborhood, without further explanation to anyone.

She was willing to pursue the assassin on her own, in her own car, and she was not going to stand by and let what had happened to her home and her friends go unpunished, even at the risk of her own life. It was obvious that she had been the man's target all along, and she wanted an explanation and she was going to obtain it, one way or another.

---

May 10th, AD 1955, Highway 41, near Henderson, Kentucky, United States of America, 02:55 PM

After several minutes of hot pursuit through half the city, Catherine Walburg chased the man who attempted to kill her, and who was possibly connected to the destruction of her home, in her car across Highway 41, where the hit man was trying to flee the city heading south, past the Indiana state line and into the state of Kentucky.

And she was not alone in her pursuit of the foreigner; she could hear the sirens of police cars wailing behind Catherine's car, for they too were after the foreign killer and his car, and neither the police nor the woman who worked for the army as a secretary would not let that man escape the area, much less the country, unpunished.

Unfortunately for her, the gunman was in a late model car, while she was in an older car, so it was inevitable that she would not be able to catch up with that car; the same could be said for the police cars that were also following her, as they were not designed to chase faster cars like the one driven by the man who tried to kill Catherine.

As for the latter, seeing that Catherine was pursuing him with all her might in her own vehicle, the man took his hand out of the window, and almost without aiming, tried to shoot at the woman's car. Since the assassin was driving at the same time, the shot only hit one of the headlights of the oncoming car.

Then, in an act of sheer despair, the gunman and possible perpetrator of the destruction of Catherine's house kept firing without even targeting the car, hoping that a bullet would hit the driver or some vital part of the vehicle. But no matter how many times he fired his gun, the gun did not hit either her or her old car, as she managed to evade the gunshots the best she could.

Seeing that her car was almost upon him, the gunman tried another attempt; once again, the gun did not hit its intended target. After several minutes of futile attempts, the gunman, feeling utterly hopeless, started to run away from his pursuer. As the car came closer, he began to run faster than ever before.

While chasing that car, the woman pondered one thing on her mind: Catherine knew the man wanted her dead; but why? Did it have anything to do with the work Dr. Komatsu was doing on the Army? And above all, would he have anything to do with the death of Nick Larkin and his father in New York? Considering that they both died in the same way, there was a possibility that the assassination attempt on her and Larkin's death could be related.

But, for the time being, these and other questions would have to wait for a better chance to be answered, for she should continue to pursue the man, regardless of what happened to her in the attempt, since had a different goal in mind now: To capture the criminal who had caused so much suffering, death and destruction on her and her loved ones, including her friends Alena and Serena, who had died on that explosion in her home when cooking that turkey they were planning to eat that day.

And with those thoughts in mind, Catherine continued to furiously chase the hitman, as the chase continued to the next suburb, which was only a kilometer south of Evansville...

---

May 10th, AD 1955, Highway 41, Henderson, Kentucky, United States of America, 03:21 PM

Henderson is a small suburb south of Evansville, Indiana, which borders the Kentucky state line. At the time, its only major thoroughfares were Highway 41 on the north and Highway 641 on the south, as that small hamlet would normally have had a quiet, uneventful day just like any other...

...had it not been for the vicious pursuit that was going on in its streets.

Things had turned against the fleeing gunman in his car the instant he drove into town: Not only did he have to escape from Catherine and the Evansville police, but he also had to deal with the local Henderson police, and quite possibly by now, federal law enforcement was likely to be involved in the chase as well, if they were already at that point.

Considering his position as a foreigner, the era in which those events were taking place and the fact that he was the main culprit for destroying Catherine's house, as well as killing her two friends inside, it was very likely that all of those would be branded as terrorism, and that he would not be able to leave the country alive, much less leave that place.

So with those thoughts in mind, he kept running away from the pursuit in a desperate, almost suicidal manner. The only reason why he was doing this was because he hoped to somehow lose his pursuers if he managed to escape them long enough.

Unfortunately for him, the local police had closed off his southern escape route with several units; and if things weren't bad enough for him, the gunman also had his other escape route, through the east, also shut down by several police cars. This left the mysterious criminal with only one way out, and that was to head west.

And immediately, he turned his car in that direction, hoping to evade his pursuers.

What he didn't know, due to his unfamiliarity with the region, was that the route was basically a dead end: Just a few blocks away was the Ohio River, and the only bridge nearby that could take him west was the Henderson Bridge, which was a railroad overpass, and therefore would have been very difficult, if not impossible, for him to cross with a car.

From that moment on, things began to take an even more chilling twist for everyone involved in that incident...

---

May 10th, AD 1955, on the edge of Ohio River, near Sunset Park, Henderson, Kentucky, United States of America, 03:40 PM

As the vehicle reached the river's edge, a family playing in Sunset Park, a small public park located on the banks of the Ohio River, watched as the vehicle driven by the criminal skidded before it reached the river. Then, the panic spread among the family members when they saw the man of foreign origin pull out a gun from inside the Ford Thunderbird, with which the gunman intended to defend himself against Catherine and the police.

-"HE'S GOT A GUN, RUN!"-

The moment they saw the gunman, the parents snatched their children and quickly fled the scene, knowing that things would get ugly at any moment, and everyone in the park fled the area as quickly as possible before it soon escalated into a battlefield.

The gunman, who had armed himself with a machine gun, knew that he might have no other way out of the situation. Not only were Catherine and her car already within a few feet of him, but the local police forces of Evansville, Henderson, and possibly even federal forces such as the FBI already had him cornered, and there would be nowhere else for him to run from that town other than as a corpse.

But, that man thought, if he was going to die in that spot, he would at least take his victim, Catherine Walburg, first, and anyone else who stood in his way, to hell with him.

And at that instant, Catherine's car stopped five steps away from the gunman's Ford Thunderbird, while the police, who were behind the woman, were about to arrive on the scene. The woman, thanks to her experience in using guns, quickly jumped out of her car, and, with the gun the foreign hitman had left behind when he tried to kill her in front of her Evansville home, pointed the gun at the man as she had stepped out of the vehicle.

-"FREEZE, YOU BASTARD!"-

But before she could do anything else, the foreigner pointed his machine gun at Catherine, and without a second thought, he started firing at the woman.

-"WHAT THE...?!"-

Seeing that the foreigner was shooting at her, the woman quickly covered herself behind her car, while the bullets were impacting against the vehicle's metal body. It was fortunate that the car was strong enough to sustain the intense machine gun fire it received, but by the same token, Catherine, who had only a pistol with which to fend for herself, knew that she had no other way to return fire against an enemy who was using an automatic weapon.

But, at that moment, the woman took an incredibly risky, not to say almost suicidal, action: Without hesitation, she grabbed the handle of the door, opened it, and jumped into the car as soon as it was open. Seeing the woman jumping towards him, and hearing the sound of her approaching, the foreigner aimed his machine gun once more, but Catherine, taking advantage of that man's lower guard by trying to point at her, fired at the man twice from the rear side's window.

-"UGH!"-

The first bullet tore a hole through the man's right shoulder, while the second hit his left leg, knocking him down.

Then, with that man lying in the ground, Catherine raised her gun, aiming at the fallen gunman, as she yelled at that foreign man:

-"OK, you fucking bastard,"- Catherine yelled at the assassin while aiming her gun at the man's head. -""I'm gonna put a bullet right between your eyes if you don't tell who are you, and why you tried to kill me!"-

As she threatened him, she heard police sirens coming up behind her, and when she turned, she saw the police arriving at the scene. By the time they arrived at the crime scene, all the officers pointed their guns at the criminal, who was already lying motionless in front of his car, wounded at the hands of Catherine and her gun. They also aimed their guns at the woman, as they did not know her connection to the suspect, and the fact that the latter was the one who tried to kill her first, which caused the chase all along.

-"FREEZE, EVERYBODY!"-

Catherine, seeing that the police thought she was also a suspect, yelled out to them to warn them what had happened...

-"Don't shoot me! I was chasing this guy who tried to kill me!"- The Indiana woman yelled at the police officers behind her. -"Besides, this bastard has been stalking me days ago!"-

Catherine said as she pointed her pistol at the still conscious terrorist. The policemen looked at each other, then they glanced at the woman who tried to kill the suspect, as some of the officers, including Lance Ainsworth, who was Catherine's close neighbor, and who had also joined the chase, knew that woman, even if only casually. After all, Evansville was a small town back then, and many people were acquainted to each other, and many knew that woman was not the kind of person who would engage in something as shady as the event unfolding before them.

As for Lance, the latter wanted to know what was going on with his neighbor.

-"May I know what's going on here, Catherine?"- The policeman asked for a explanation from that woman. -"I know this bald son of a bitch tried to kill you, but you seem to know him, don't you?"-

The woman, while pointing her gun at the foreign criminal, did a brief pause, and then she responded at that man.

-"That is something I would also like to know."- Catherine explained to Lance. -"I just know that he was hounding me and my friends days ago; I can only guess that he is a foreign spy, as far as I am seeing."-

-"A foreign spy?"-

-"Yeah... you know... because I work for the army, and all that stuff."- Catherine explained.

Lance thought for a moment, then replied to that woman's explanation:

-"I see... so that is the case."-

-"That's right."- And then, she continued with the following, without losing her sight on the bald man who she injured a few minutes ago -"If you want a more detailed explanation, I can give one to you and the police once you guys bust this scumbag for what he did to my house and my friends."-

And with that said, one of the police officers began to read the foreign criminal his rights.

-"OK, buddy,"- The police agent began to read the man's Miranda rights, while also pointing his gun at the foreign suspect. -"You are under arrest for murder, destruction of property, and terrorism. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to have an attorney present during questioning and at trial. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you."-

And then...

-"Do you understand the rights I have just read to you? With these rights in mind, do you wish to make a statement?"-

The man, who was still lying next to his car, bleeding from the bullet wounds he had suffered, but still fully conscious, responded to the American police officer, but this time in his own language.

-"(Voglio solo un maledetto avvocato, maledetta merda americana.) I just want my damn lawyer, you American shithead."-

Those words surprised both Catherine and the other police officers; considering the time, everyone expected the man to be a Russian spy, but that man started speaking in Italian, which meant that the man was either working for the Soviets in one way or another, was a member of the Italian mafia or there was something very sinister behind that man they were going to take into custody.

-"Well, looks like our suspect is Italian."- One of the policemen responded with some degree of amusement when he heard the man's Italian.

-"Maybe he works for the Soviets;"- Catherine said aloud at the officer. -"it would have been too obvious if they had sent a Russian to do something like this."-

-"Well, in any case we will call an ambulance, while we handcuff our Italian buddy to avoid any further surprise."-Lance explained what the police were going to do with the suspect of Italian origin. -"I imagine the FBI will want to have a chat with this baldy to find out who he works for."-

-"Good idea."- The woman responded with a deadpan tone.

At that moment, one of the law enforcement agents took out some handcuffs, and was ready to shackle the foreign hitman, but not before making sure that the man did not have a concealed weapon hidden within.

-"All right buddy, if you understand English, I want you to put your hands up where we can see them, and don't try anything funny unless you want to fly back to your country filled with lead."- The officer said at the Italian man. -"Did you catch what I said?"

-"Yeah... I heard you very well..."- The European assassin replied in perfect English, with certain notorious contempt to the American policeman, despite he was still in pain. -"I'm not stupid enough to not know English..."-

-"OK, so put your hands up and I'm going to go over to..."-

But before he could even take a step closer to the wounded assassin standing in front of him and the other policemen...

BOOOOOOOMMMMM!

In a sudden and unexpected turn of events, the Italian gunman's car behind him, unexpectedly exploded into pieces in a powerful explosion that caused everyone present, including Catherine, to hide as best they could, some behind their vehicles, to avoid being injured by the shrapnel from the wreckage.

-"WHAT... THE... FUCK?!"-

Lance yelled as he saw the vehicle explode. Then, it was followed immediately by screams of terror and alarm coming from the people around him, who had all instinctively moved away from the explosion that had come from the assassin's car.

-"Hooooly SHIT!" - Another officer yelled.

Once the explosion had subsided, the policemen, along with Catherine, looked, with a mixture of disbelief, indignation and shock, at what was left of the car, a late model Ford Thundebird; only a smoking shell had been left before their eyes, in disbelief at seeing how that car had suddenly exploded.

It was very likely that the man was not going to allow himself to be taken alive and somehow he, by activating some hidden mechanism, could have triggered some kind of bomb that was inside his vehicle for such an eventuality.

And as for that man, the mutilated and charred remains of that assassin were littered all over the place, who chose, possibly, to leave for the other world in the most dramatic way possible...

-"What the fucking hell happened here?"- One of the officers cursed after what he saw seconds ago.

Another law enforcement officer expressed his horror at seeing the car explode before his eyes and almost not living to tell the tale.

-"Holy... mother of... god..."-

Lance Ainsworth, on the other hand, was worried that his neighbor Catherine had not been injured in the explosion.

-"Jesus Christ, Catherine, are you alright?!"-

The woman, who was thrown to the ground when the Thunderbird exploded, gradually stood up as she tried to check for injuries caused by that incident.

-"I... I think so..."- Catherine replied with some dread in her voice. -"Thankfully I'm not hurt, I hope so."-

The police agent sighed with relief; After the explosion that wrecked that car, and caused the death of the Italian hitman, Lance turned his attention back to his fellow policemen who were looking at the same scene.

-"Are you all right, folks?"- Lance yelled at his fellow police officers.

-"We're fine too, Lance, just a little scared, that's all."- One of Catherine's neighbor's co-workers responded with some trepidation after the loud explosion. -"Though I don't think we can say the same for our Italian friend..."-

That officer mentioned the corpse of the European gunman they had tried to arrest, of which only bits of his body were left strewn all over the place. Even that cop, due in part to the fact that he lived in a relatively quiet town, where even high-profile crimes, such as murders involving several people, were not very common, was visibly disturbed by the scale of that incident, something he had never expected to witness in his life.

-"The coroners and the park cleanup crew are gonna have a busy day picking up pieces..."- The captain of the Henderson Police Department, Clarence Westbrook, commented with a certain macabre wryness upon seeing the corpse of the Italian criminal, or what was left of him.

Afterwards, the captain then picked up the receiver of his radio and spoke to the central base to give new orders, due to the sudden change of events that happened in front of the Ohio River.

-"This is Westbrook speaking; we have an incident with a suspect who self-immolated with his vehicle, requesting the presence of forensic services and paramedics, over."-

-"Roger that, Captain, but didn't you only originally requested for paramedics? Are there any dead people out there?"-

-"Yes, there a dead body... and a lot of human remains sprayed everywhere."-

-"Affirmative, we will send what you requested, captain; over."-

Meanwhile, Lance Ainsworth stared at Catherine Walburg, for, in the absence of the assassin, she was the main person of interest the cops were dealing with, for she was the victim whom the Italian wanted to kill in the first place, not to say that she was the first one to chase the man all the way to Henderson intending to hunt him down with her own hands.

-"You're gonna have to explain all this to everyone, Catherine."-

-"Yeah, I know..."- The woman responded coldly to her police neighbor, still unable to believe that the man who tried to kill her was now dead. -"And I don't blame you for that, Lance."- She added with a hint of anger, although it was less than before.

-"Look,"- Lance began after a few moments of hesitation. -"I know you're upset and that you might have a right to be, but I promise you, whatever happened to your house and whoever was inside, we will take care of it. For the time being, you will have to go with us to answer our questions."-

-"I guess I'm under arrest, right?"-

-"No, not exactly; you are now only our person of interest regarding what happened, but, considering what happened between you and that man, it seems that he wanted to kill you first."- Lance explained. -"But that will depend on what you tell the detectives, Catherine."-

-"I see."-

-"In that case, please come with us."-

Immediately after and without resistance, Catherine handed her weapon to Lance, and afterwards, she entered a patrol car, while Henderson's medical and forensic services quickly showed up to treat anyone who might have been affected by the explosion, in addition to retrieving the corpse of the Italian gunman.

Meanwhile, Lance, seeing what was going on around him, could not help but say aloud what he thought about the events of that day.

-"Looks like this is gonna be in the news all over the country, no doubt about it..."-

---

Unknown date, AD 1955, somewhere in New Mexico, United States of America, unknown hour

-"First of all, Dr. Komatsu, I want to offer you an apology for some of the problems we have in getting all your material from Texas to here. As you know, bringing live animals from one state to another is not exactly easy, especially if you want to avoid drawing attention from the civil authorities."-

A middle-aged man was discussing all this with Yoshinori Komatsu in a medium-sized office, which was only illuminated by artificial lights, meaning that it was located in an enclosed area, out of reach of natural light. This did not seem to bother the Japanese scientist, who seemed more than used to being in such places, due to his previous experience in that underground laboratory which was owned by the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II.

-"Well, don't worry about that, Colonel, I also understand the difficulties of transporting living beings from one place to another, considering that many of those animals have been with me since I was working in Germany before the last war started, and I know exactly what it feels like."- The Asian man explained to his American counterpart. -"I even have a cat who will be 16 years old with me this year and she has been by my side since she was just a little kitten. The same goes for Raghu, my tiger, although he is already very old, and I don't think he will live much longer."-

-"You mean that famous tiger that you say can use sign language?"-

-"Yes, that one, Colonel."-

-"Oh, that's too bad, animals like him don't come along every day, but at least he lived a long life, considering that you and he survived Hiroshima in one piece..."-

The mere mention of the name of his hometown in the mouth of that American military man caused the calm demeanor of the Japanese scientist to turn into a very grim one, for all that it implied for that man who basically worked as a bond slave at the orders of the government of the country that destroyed his beloved city.

Even so, Komatsu simply continued the conversation, seeking to be as polite as possible to the soldier, even if within his own soul burned a hatred that nothing in the world could snuff out.

-"Yes, I understand, Colonel Gardner; to be honest it was not easy for the two of us to survive that situation, although me and Raghu did not see each other again until I was sent here to the U.S., as I left Raghu behind while I was trying to find my parents."-

-"Oh, I see, doc."- The military man replied.

-"But that aside,"- Komatsu changed the topic. -"I understand that you would originally send me to Nevada, right?"-

-"Technically yes, doctor, but for different reasons, mainly because the base where you will be sent is not yet finished. In fact, the place is basically unpaved runways and a few accommodations for the personnel already there, and I don't think it's wise to bring live animals to a place full of pilots."- Gardner explained his point to Komatsu. -"I would hate to hear complaints that we would be turning the place into a zoo or something, so we prefer to wait until the premises are in a more suitable shape before sending you and your specimens over there."-

-"And..."- Komatsu added another question to his senior officer. -"Can I ask what is the name of the place they are sending me to, Colonel?"-

The American soldier was silent for a few moments, and then replied, with some earnestness.

-"In theory, I shouldn't tell you this, as it is classified information, but personally, I don't think it would do any harm for you to know the name of the place, as long as you don't leave here in the first place."-

-"You don't have to worry about that, sir, because I couldn't leave this place even if I wanted to."- The Japanese man responded with some wry in his voice.

-"Well, In that case, here's the name."- Col. Gardner said. -"We call it Paradise Ranch. You can call it The Ranch, for short."-

Komatsu did a brief pause, and then he responded at his senior.

-"The Ranch?"- The scientist responded with some disbelief when he heard how simple that name was.

Gardner nodded.

-"Yup, that's the name; It seems like a pretty normal name when you think about it."- The American man laughed a bit at this statement. -"Although, just among us, that place is basically a dry lake; the CIA were the ones who came up with the idea of opening a top-secret air base in the middle of nowhere in that place."-

Komatsu smiled mischievously at Col. Gardner's sardonic remark about the new base.

-"I'll be honest with you too, Colonel; I'm more than used to working in unusual places, so I'm not surprised to have to work there."-

-"I assume you say that because of your experiences working in Germany, China and Japan, right?"-

The Japanese scientist paused briefly when he heard about his experience working in China, specifically when Gardner referred to Komatsu's time in Manchukuo (now Northeast China) in Unit 731. That was the last thing he wanted to remember in his entire life, because of all the horrible experiences he heard and saw during his stay in China, to say nothing of his harrowing ordeal when he witnessed the suicide of Dr. Masao Kazama.

-"Forgive me if I am too blunt, Colonel, but I wish you would not mention any of that to me again; I did not have a nice experience in China, and if you think that I participated in any experiments involving humans, I can assure you that I did not inappropriately touch anyone in my entire stay there. In fact, I had many clashes with Shiro Ishii precisely because of my reluctance to experiment on humans."-

Komatsu was now glaring at his superior, and to no one's surprise, Colonel Gardner seemed to notice this fact and apologized for his words.

-"I apologize for making assumptions, doctor, it won't happen again; my comment was based on the intelligence reports I received a few days ago about you, but they do not explain in detail the historical context in which you worked there in China, so I assumed that you had some... shady past that you would like to leave behind, just like what happened with Dr. von Braun..."-

-"And I would be very grateful if you would not compare me to that Nazi bastard, Colonel Gardner. I have nothing good to say about them, and if it were up to me, I would have strangled that German pig and all his people with my bare hands..."- Komatsu said enraged, while doing a strangling gesture with his hands.

Gardner looked with surprise at the angry face Komatsu made when he mentioned not only his unpleasant experiences in China, but also his opinion of the Germans and especially of the Nazis, starting with Wernher von Braun. It was obvious that, although Komatsu worked for a while in Germany alongside one of the most infamous scientists of all times, in this case, Josef Mengele, he had only words of hatred not only for him, but for everything that reeked of Nazi for him, even if von Braun's crimes did not compare with Mengele's in the least.

-"Uh... doc... are you alright?"- The American soldier asked to the Asian man. -"Sounds to me like you REALLY had a rough time with all those nasty guys, to be honest..."-

-"To say I had a bad time with them is a gross understatement, sir."- The Japanese man stated, while still glaring at Gardner.

After a brief pause, the American colonel resumed his chat with Dr. Komatsu.

-"In that case, let's leave that behind, doc, there's no point in dwelling on the past, especially if it's something you want to put aside."-

-"I would be most grateful, sir."-

-"But..."- Gardner took a deep breath. -"there is another issue that I would like to raise with you, as it concerns you personally, doc."-

-"What kind of issue would you like to talk to me about, Colonel?"-

-"I presume you knew your immediate superior when you worked at Fort Bliss, Maj. Matthew Fitzroy, didn't you?"-

-"Well..."- Komatsu tried to recall. -"yes... he was my senior officer I responded to when I was in Texas; why the question, Col. Gardner?"-

Before answering the scientist's reply, the American soldier pulled a folder from his desk with several documents inside and he began to read them.

-"I take it you are not aware of the news about what happened out there with him and other people associated with Fitzroy, are you?"-

Komatsu responded with some puzzlement at what Col. Gardner was about to discuss with him; the fact that he was referring to the Texan military officer who was his superior in past tense meant only one thing.

-"Frankly, I am not aware about anything about Maj. Fitzroy or any news that could happened outside here."- The Japanese man of science responded. -"You are aware that communications with the outside world are severely restricted in this place, aren't you?"-

Seeing that Komatsu was unaware of the news of Fitzroy's fate, the senior U.S. Army officer was forthright and to the point with the Japanese scientist.

-"Maj. Fitzroy was killed in a car accident in Arizona, to be more exact, in the Grand Canyon, on May 7th of this year, when he was vacationing in that region."- Col. Gardner explained about the death of Komatsu's former senior officer in Fort Bliss, in El Paso, Texas. -"According to eyewitness accounts, his car appears to have lost control on a curve, and moments later, it skidded off the side of the Navajo Bridge near the Navajo Nation boundary, crashing into the banks of the Colorado River. The vehicle exploded as it fell; only his remains were found strewn all over the river and its nearby area."-

The American soldier stopped speaking while reading the report about the crash. When he looked up, the Japanese man stared at him with great interest and confusion written all over his features. He was also somewhat saddened to know that the man, as much as Komatsu hated him, was now dead.

-"That must have been... horrible... "- Komatsu responded, with some shock at hearing about the death of his former superior.

-"No doubt about it, doc."- Gardner agreed with the scientist. -"That must surely be a terrible way to kick the bucket, even for someone as peculiar as Fitzroy was, if you know what I mean..."-

Komatsu opted not to answer that question. Even he, however, seemed to have his limits when it came to wishing someone's death out loud.

-"...Although that's not the only thing that should concern us, Dr. Komatsu; besides him, two of your assistants and their respective families died in different incidents, and among them is Dr. Richard Mason, who I think you already know what happened to him in February, don't you?"-

-"Yes, I have heard that he and his entire family were killed in a plane crash near Iceland."- Komatsu replied with some detachment about that incident. -"Did another one of my assistants also died in another accident or what?"-

-"Unfortunately, yes."- The American military man informed to the Japanese scientist. -"Dr. Nicholas Larkin and his father were killed in an accident involving a gas stove owned by his father's bakery in Brooklyn, New York, on April 14th. Apparently, there was a gas leak while that oven was running, and this caused the explosion to destroy the entire place; there was also little left to pick up from the bodies of Dr. Larkin and his father when emergency services found them while digging through the rubble."-

A long period of silence followed after what Colonel Gardner disclosed, which was soon broken by the doctor himself.

-"Oh... god..."- Komatsu's response to the news of Larkin's death was an expression of sadness and stunned expression as he learned how he had lost his life, alongside his father.

Seconds later, the Asian man asked another question to Col. Gardner.

-"Was there any sign that the culprit behind the accident might have been responsible for all this"-

-"That's what I'm getting at, doc, as it seems our alleged perpetrator was also killed in an incident a few days ago in Henderson, Kentucky, but not before causing more mayhem and death involving people close to you..."-

The latter left Dr. Komatsu somewhat bewildered, as he did not expect such a sudden turn of events, and even more so knowing that they directly affected him...

-"What do you mean by all that involved people close to me, Colonel?"- The Japanese man demanded an explanation. -"Were more of my assistants also killed by that person?"-

-"Fortunately no, Dr. Komatsu; however, our suspect apparently intended to assassinate a person close to the late Maj. Fiztroy."- Gardner explained. -"And that is what I need to discuss with you."-

-"Do I know the victim, Colonel?"-

-"The person the killer tried to eliminate is Catherine Walburg, who was the Major's personal secretary before he died."- The colonel disclosed the identity of the woman whom the killer intended to make his victim. -"I assume you know her, don't you?"-

-"I can say that I have dealt with her on an occasional basis, due to her position as Major Fitzroy's personal secretary, especially when I needed to talk to her boss, but I don't have a very close relationship with her..."- Komatsu responded. -"May I ask what happened to her and how the assassin sought to kill her?"-

-"What we do know is that it seems that our suspect, from what Ms. Walburg said in her initial statement, and also from what was stated by witnesses who watched the crime, including a local police officer, was that Ms. Walburg's home may have been sabotaged in order to kill her inside, so that the stove in her home would cause an explosion caused by a gas leak. Fortunately for her, Ms. Walburg was outside her home when the explosion occurred, and when her home was on fire, and she tried to see what had happened, the suspect showed up on the scene and tried to shoot her on the spot..."-

-"And what happened next?"-

-"A police officer who had been Miss Walburg's neighbor for several years, seeing that the hitman intended to kill her in front of everyone, opened fire on the assailant; the gunman then fled in his car, and a police chase ensued, with the assailant fleeing from Miss Walburg's hometown of Evansville, Indiana, to the nearby suburb of Henderson, Kentucky. She also participated in the chase, being the first to try to hunt that man down."-

-"I imagine it must have been a very spectacular manhunt."- Komatsu responded with some dry chalance at such event.

-"So it was, doc; the gunman, unable to leave Henderson, was cornered near the Ohio River. Once there, Miss Walburg succeeded in wounding the assassin and immediately thereafter, the police attempted to arrest him, but things suddenly turned ugly..."-

Komatsu took a few seconds to ask the colonel about what happened next with the man who tried to kill Catherine Walburg.

-"Did the cops shoot him afterwards, or did he commited suicide?"-

-"Something related to the latter, doc..."- Gardner clarified. -"Before the cops could handcuff him, our suspect's car suddenly exploded, killing the perpetrator, and any secrets he may have had went straight to his grave..."-

Again, an awkward silence was set upon the Japanese man of science as he tried to process the information that the American soldier just told him.

-"...I see..." - Komatsu responded without saying much else. -"…So what was your reason for bringing this up? Is there something important you wanted to tell me about?"-

-"We have reasons to believe that this assassin may not only have attempted to kill Miss Walburg, but may also have killed both Dr. Larkin and his father on New York, and Major Fitzroy in Arizona, not to mention Miss Walburg's two friends who were at her home when her house exploded."- The military man further explained. -"And from what we have been able to find out for ourselves, there is also the possibility that our man may have been behind the plane crash that killed Dr. Mason and his family near Iceland."-

-"Do you know who that man was, Colonel?"- Komatsu questioned the army man.

Then, Colonel Gardner pulled out from his desk another folder containing important documents, which contained information about the alleged responsible for all those events he had mentioned, and which indirectly involved the Japanese scientist.

-"According to what we found in the suspect's belongings that survived the explosion, the real name of that man was Massimiliano Ferri."- Gardner explained about the identity of the late European hitman.

-"Massimiliano Ferri?"- Komatsu repeated the name of that man. -"From his name it seems that he was Italian..."-

-"That's right doc."-

Then, Gardner gave more details about Ferri, while showing him his profile, with his photo, included in the folder the military man holded in his hand.

-"According to reports from European intelligence services, Interpol, and from what we were able to find out on our own through the CIA, Fermi was a former member of SIM (Servizio Informazioni Militare, lit. "Military Information Service"), the Italian intelligence services at the time of World War II during the government of Benito Mussolini. What we know about him during his time there was that he was an agent in charge of executing assassinations against the enemies of the Italian facist regime, and that he had a certain reputation for using very stealthy and effective methods to eliminate his victims, in such a way that everything looked like an accident..."-

-"And I must assume that Ferri went on to something else after the Duce died and the war ended, right?"- Komatsu asked.

-"Yes, in fact, when Mussolini died, Ferri escaped from Italy, knowing that the Allies and the new government that replaced Mussolini's would be looking for him for his crimes; as far as we knew until just a few years ago, Ferri was a terrorist for hire who offered his services to the highest bidder, and I wouldn't doubt that the Soviets could have hired him to try to kill you and all those working under you, doc."-

-"I thought for a moment he might have been a member of the Italian Mafia or whatnot."- The Japanese scientist made a derogatory comment about the late Italian terrorist.

-"Huh... You've read too many mobster stories, Dr. Komatsu."- Gardner criticized the scientist for that off-color remark. -"Based on what we know about our man, Ferri hated Mafiosi, and the Mafia in general, and he was never a friend of theirs; in fact, many of his early jobs as an agent involved assassinating Mafia bosses and several of their men, often on his own and without orders from his military superiors. He seems to have had some long-standing grudge against the Cosa Nostra and anything to do with the organized crime of his country."-

Komatsu was silent after hearing that, trying to digest the information he received.

-"Well, it does seem like the guy's got quite a vendetta against the Mafia."- The Japanese man commented. -"But if he was a terrorist, why do we know about him until now?"-

-"That's the strange part of it, doc."- The colonel continued. -"As far as we know about him, Ferri had a very specific modus operandi, where he always stayed in the shadows and always avoided conspicuous attention. But this is the first time we know of him having carried out attacks against civilian aircraft, like the one against Dr. Mason's plane, although we do know that he had conducted bombings against homes and businesses, as happened with Ms. Walburg in Evansville, and Dr. Larkin in New York."-

-"That means that the Soviets are looking to wipe me out in any way they can."-

-"All indications are yes, doc, but that won't explain why the Russians want to kill you now, at this point, instead of when Stalin was still alive."- The military man gave his own opinions. -"Our intelligence reports did not suggest any intention from the Russians to pursue any action against you at any time, and it all seemed that this new regime in the Kremlin had little interest in continuing to deal with you."-

The Japanese scientist remained quiet again after hearing about all the recent events, taking in the details he learned. Then, he resumed his talk again.

-"I have to assume the Russians still have a grudge against what I did to their hired agents when they tried to kidnap me in Tokyo."-

-"It could be, although it doesn't explain why we couldn't predict something like this from the Soviets, and all just to kill you and everyone else who's involved with your work."-

-"So does that mean you're justified in sending me here to New Mexico and then to Nevada for my safety, Colonel?"-

Col. Jack Gardner, who was Yoshinori Komatsu's provisional senior officer in that secret base in New Mexico, explained his final thoughts on the issue to the Asian scientist.

-"Dr. Komatsu, the government has realized that you and your project are more valuable than we originally thought; the fact that the Russians are willing to send terrorists for hire to kill you on U.S. soil is more than enough to ensure that your physical integrity must be fully secured."- The American ofiicer explained, this time in a more dispasionated tone, to his counterpart. -"At the same time, we cannot allow innocent civilians to die as collateral damage in any attempt on your life by the Soviets or any opposing force, doctor, and that is why the White House has decided that the safest thing for you and our country is for you to work in one of the most secret military facilities we are planning to build at this time."-

Upon hearing the magnitude of the value of his life held by the same government of the country that destroyed his hometown in the last war, Komatsu was more than surprised about the fact that he was being sent to that new super-secret base in Nevada. That meant only one thing...

-"I assume I will get more funding for my project, then?"-

-"I don't know all the details, doc, but, if the White House really wants your ass up there in Nevada, that means whatever you're working on must be too damn worthwhile for the government to waste on sending a foreign scientist to work there."-

Komatsu, before answering, paused briefly, and then, he responded with the following.

-"I suppose that must be the case, Colonel Gardner..."-

And finally, after taking a deep breath, the American colonel made another question to the Hiroshima-born scientist.

-"Do you have anything else you need to ask, doc?"-

-"For the time being, no, Colonel;"- The Japanese man responded with a neutral tone. -"I think that's all I can say for today."-

-"In that case, you may retire to your laboratory, doctor;"- Gardner finally gave his farewell. -"have a good day, and if there is any news for you, we will let you know."-

-"Thank you, sir."-

After a brief handshake with the colonel, Yoshinori Komatsu left U.S. Army Colonel Jack Gardner's office and headed, promptly, to his temporary laboratory where he was working for the time being.

---

Unknown date, AD 1955, somewhere in New Mexico (laboratory), United States of America, unknown hour

When Yoshinori Komatsu returned to his laboratory, which was somewhat larger than the laboratory he had at Fort Bliss in Texas, the Japanese scientist noticed that there was no one inside; this meant that all the temporary assistants and workers who had been there hours before had already left to have lunch, leaving the man alone inside.

He walked over to a cabinet next to a large glass window that allowed him to watch outside; after that, Komatsu moved to a table, put his belongings down next to it, and sat down at the edge of the table. Suddenly, Komatsu heard a sound of a door opening and suddenly, the door closed.

Under normal conditions, this would have alarmed anyone, for the scientist was alone and there was no one to whom he could have called for help if necessary...

...except that the person who stepped into the lab was precisely the one Komatsu needed to talk to at that moment.

-"You are just in time..."-

The "person" with whom the scientist wanted to strike up a conversation was none other than Raghu, the Bengal tiger capable of using sign language. Even though he was an old animal, Raghu was still able to communicate with his human friend, and it was obvious that he still had many of his innate abilities, something he would continue to comment on.

-"Thank you, Yoshinori."- The tiger said by using his paws to talk with the human. -"Although it is good to know that my perception-altering powers are still working, despite my age..."-

-"Yes, that's good to know, my dear friend;"- Komatsu responded with a smile. -"however, I presume it must not have been at all easy for you to slip in and out of this base without attracting anyone's attention."-

-"Indeed, Yoshinori."- The feline replied. -"I had to concentrate hard to be able to go unnoticed, as my age prevents me from using my powers at the same level as I did when I was younger."-

-"Okay, I fully understand that it's not easy for you to do all this anymore, but I guess it really paid off, didn't it?"-

The tiger made a short break, and then, he answered.

-"Depends on how you see it, Yoshinori;"- Raghu answered. -"this is not something I am personally concerned about, even if I have my own qualms about it."-

The human scientist knew perfectly well what the tiger was referring to, so he decided to change the subject.

-"Well, in that case let's get down to business. I guess you already know the news about our friend Ferri, don't you?"-

Raghu, after hesitating a bit to answer his human friend's question, finally responded.

-"Yes, Massimiliano Ferri achieved his goal of neutralizing the targets you ordered to be eliminated..."- The tiger did a brief pause. -"...with the exception of Catherine Walburg."-

Komatsu replied, seemingly vexed to know about that last detail.

-"Yeah, I already know that; Col. Gardner already informed me about the whole thing."-

-"I suppose you have another plan to eliminate that woman, don't you?"-

The Japanese scientist made another brief pause, something that caused Raghu to start to worry, seeing that his friend seemed visibly upset...

-"Yoshinori?"-

-"Oh, sorry, I was just pondering what to do in this case..."-

-"And what do you have in mind?"-

-"For the time being, nothing."-

-"Nothing, you say?"- Raghu responded quite suprised at the scientist's response about not doing anything else against Catherine.

-"Yes..."- Then, Komatsu explained his rationale about not doing anything rash against that woman. -"Right now, everyone knows that Ferri was responsible for killing Mason, Larkin, that Danish mechanic in Greenland and god knows who were those two women he blew up along with Catherine's house back in Evansville, not to mention the families of the first two. This whole thing is now on everyone's lips, and it will surely take a long time for this to be forgotten, so it would be best not to draw more attention to it than necessary if we send someone else to eliminate her."-

-"And do you think it's wise to spare her, considering that she might spill the beans about what you and the government are doing?"-

-"Hah, I doubt it! Do you think anyone would believe her if she claimed to the police that a Japanese scientist backed by the U.S. government sent an Italian terrorist for hire to assassinate her because she knows that the government has plans to make animals talk and have human intelligence?"- Komatsu continued to explain his reasons at Raghu. -"Chances are everyone is going to think she has gone completely off her rocker."-

Raghu remained silent for a minute, as the scientist was right about the likelihood of her leaking everything to the public.

-"Still, I suppose if you wish to eliminate her, it would be wise to do so now before she decides to discuss her suspicions about who might have been behind the attempt on her life with someone who might decide to believe her."-

-"If someone wanted to take someone like Catherine at her word, they would have to be either very persistent, or very stupid to do it in the first place."- The Asian man of science rebutted. -"Furthermore, considering that she works for the government and the fact that Ferri was Italian, she and anyone investigating her case will most likely think that woman was the victim of a Russian-paid assassin, and no one can even consider that the one who ordered the hit was someone else within the U.S."-

-"So you're not going to do anything about it, Yoshinori?"-

Komatsu closed his eyes for a few seconds, and then, he responded confidently.

-"In any case, I'll just keep my eyes open; if she does decide to tell someone, I'm sure I'll find out soon enough, anyway."-

-"Assuming she does, I don't think I'll be alive by then, my friend."- Raghu replied, knowing that it was very likely that he could no longer have enough stamina to continue helping his human friend.

-"In that case, don't worry, I have my own means to get that information, even without your help..."-

At that moment, Komatsu stood up from his chair, and then put his hand on Raghu's head, caressing him by way of showing his esteem for his feline friend.

-"...but still, I thank you for all you have done for me, my dear friend Raghu; I will make sure that your legacy lives on down through your descendants. You have been a great help to me all these years, and you have been with me through thick and thin, and I will always be eternally indebted to you."-

The tiger began to growl by way of thanks to the human scientist, knowing that the feeling was mutual. Likewise, Raghu also felt that Komatsu had helped him over the years, and for him, that human was the only person capable of understanding that animal, apart from his first friend, a woman named Yuka Nagahama, who taught him sign language, and who tragically died at the hands of a bear, a product of the contempt that his bosses felt for that woman.

But despite his affection for Komatsu, he couldn't help but feel that everything he was doing for his human friend was an immoral thing to do, and if he was ever going to die, he should at least tell Komatsu what he thought about of what that tiger was doing for him.

-"Yoshinori, I have very rarely questioned your ways, and although I believe there is a reason for what you are doing, I will only echo what I have said to you before."-

The scientist found it strange that Raghu began to doubt that man.

-"What do you mean?"-

-"If you continue with what you are doing, you will soon reach a road of no return, and you will end up destroying yourself and everything around you..."- The feline said. -"That's all I'm going to say about your methods."-

Immediately after, Komatsu turned around, walked a few meters towards the laboratory door..

-"Yoshinori?"-

...and then he answered his tiger friend's words of warning...

-"It's too late for me... and if I'm going to hell someday... "-

Pause

-"...at least I won't go there alone..."-

The tiger was quite alarmed by such words and then, he demanded an explanation.

-"What do you mean with that?"-

After a few seconds without answering, Yoshinori Komatsu opened the door, and before leaving, he responded to Raghu with the following.

-"You already know the answer to that question, Raghu... and I don't think I need to say it out loud... if you know how to read my soul... my dear friend..."-

Immediately afterwards, the Japanese scientist left the lab, leaving a speechless and surprised Raghu behind, unable to say anything more...

...since he also knew what was the answer that his human friend wanted to try to tell him, and what Komatsu had in his disturbed mind at that moment, that animal knew the consequences that would occur in the distant future... and being unable to do anything else... except to witness what could happen next... and what would occur after his own demise...

END OF ACT XXXIII