CXLVI

Two years, six months, and five days after Henry's disappearance

Dear diary,

Kali Prasad. That's my sister's name, even though I knew her as Eight. She told me so when we sat together on the grass in the backyard, just the two of us.

She also told me the story of how she met Dr. Owens: apparently, all these years Kali and her friends have been living on the fringes of the law, killing those they consider 'bad men'. And among those names, Kali came across Dr. Owens, who at that time was a colleague of Papa.

"He was the first one who didn't threaten me or beg for his life," she explained, examining her manicure with a nostalgic smile on her face. "On the contrary: he seemed to have been waiting for me."

Essentially, Dr. Owens, far from being scared, invited her to sit at the table. And maybe because—in a display of her usual boldness—Kali had decided to act alone that night, she took things slow and played along.

"I hadn't had a homemade meal in years."

I, who was already used to Mom's dishes—and, at one point, used to the occasional culinary experiment by Henry—completely understood.

"I didn't do anything that night. Nor the next one. Much less when he promised—and kept his promise—that he'd help us."

"Help you?" I asked.

"He wanted you and I to reunite someday," Kali admitted. "Not then, he told me; but soon. But I told him I wouldn't abandon my friends. So… he simply moved his contacts and helped them clean their records, find jobs, and housing… Part of me had hoped they wouldn't bend so easily to the old man's plans, you know? That they'd refuse outright and urge me to kill him."

I didn't ask if she would have done it: hearing her talk about her friends was enough to realize the extremes her loyalty reaches.

"Apparently, they were tired of the life we were living." Kali sighed, then raised her face to focus on a lost cloud. "In part, I accepted Owens's offer for them."

"Owens… doesn't seem much like…" I ventured, mostly because I noticed the decision still weighed on her, although she didn't regret it.

"He's marginally better," Kali muttered. "At least good enough to allow him to live."

I bit my lip. "He… knew everything that happened in the lab, right? What… they did to us…" I took a deep breath and asked the question whose weight seemed to crush my heart every time I thought about Henry, about me, and now, about Kali. "Did he… apologize?" Papa, after all, had never.

As expected, my sister let out a laugh. With one hand on her stomach and tears in her eyes, she turned to look at me: "Apologize? No, of course not."

"They're the same, then," I murmured, discouraged, as I hugged my knees and then rested my chin on them.

"They're not," Kali replied, extending her legs out in front of her, on the grass, her black leather pants reflecting the reddish tones of the sunset. "Brenner never apologized because he never believed he did anything wrong."

She then turned toward me, raised an eyebrow, and with a smug smile added: "Owens, on the other hand, never did because he knows all this is unforgivable."

…

We didn't talk about it anymore (seemed like everything had been said). Instead, she told me she wanted to help me. That her 'gifts'—that's the word she used—could help me.

I agreed, of course, because I'd already said I would, and I was excited about the idea of regaining my abilities and going after Henry and Steve.

And then we began.

Kali's powers are different from mine: her domain is illusions. While Henry and I, as part of the training, have also created an illusion or two, never at Kali's level: her illusions are much more vivid, concentrated, and can even make you relive entire memories.

That's the only explanation for how I was able, once again, to be seven years old.

How I could, once again, find myself in the lab.