The door of the old building opened.
Thomas stepped out.
The contrast was almost strange: his clean clothes and calm posture clashed completely with the decay of the place.
Behind him, inside the building, the hacker watched him leave, clearly irritated by the visit.
Thomas walked to a luxury car parked on the street.
He got in without looking back.
The vehicle pulled away.
Silvia stood beside the door of the Elysium decontamination room.
Waiting.
The door opened with a soft hydraulic sound.
Morgan stepped out.
Silvia immediately approached him.
— Morgan, hello!
He answered only with a nod.
— Silvia.
She hugged him.
— It’s so good to see you.
Morgan remained still.
He didn’t return the gesture.
But it looked as if doing so required enormous effort. It was a coldness imposed rationally.
Silvia slowly stepped back. She didn’t understand what she had done to make Morgan change his attitude.
Morgan went straight to the point.
— Where’s Thomas?
The question fell dry into the air.
Silvia frowned.
— You’ll have to settle for me, Detective Jones.
Morgan didn’t react.
— Where is he?
Silvia took a deep breath.
— He’s not available today.
Morgan stared at her.
Cold.
Silvia noticed.
And it bothered her.
They began walking through the community.
Wooden cabins, people working, the open field surrounding them.
Everything looked normal in Elysium, which made the situation even stranger. A murder had happened, yet people seemed happy, as if it didn’t matter.
Despite that strangeness, Morgan realized he himself was feeling better—almost happy. Which made the forced distance from Silvia require even more effort.
— Not available? — Morgan said. — Someone gets murdered here and he disappears?
Silvia crossed her arms.
— Look at the size of this place. Do you think it’s easy to keep everything running?
Morgan let out a short laugh.
— What’s running? The body production line?
Silvia stopped walking.
— What’s your problem, Morgan?
— My problem, — he replied, — is that dead girls keep showing up here. And now the leader of the community is gone.
— He’s not gone! — Silvia shot back. — He’s just busy.
She stared at him.
— You think Thomas did it?
Morgan hesitated.
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
— I don’t know… — he said. — But it’s very strange he’s not here, isn’t it?
They began walking again.
In silence.
The open field slowly gave way to trees.
The narrow path once again led toward the forest.
Morgan broke the silence.
— Maintaining a place like this must cost a fortune. I wonder where you get the money for it.
Silvia stopped.
Turned to face him.
— These questions and insinuations… — she said, irritated. — We are the victims, Morgan.
Her voice rose slightly.
— Technocrats are murdering us because of their damn machine!
Morgan kept his tone controlled.
— The investigation is still ongoing. I can’t close myself off to other possibilities.
Silvia shook her head, indignant.
— Victims! — she said. — We are victims of hate crimes!
They stood facing each other.
The silence that followed was heavy.
They entered the forest.
For a few moments, the trees blocked their view of one another—a perfect analogy for the state of their relationship.
Even so, Morgan’s gaze kept drifting involuntarily in Silvia’s direction.
Morgan and Silvia walked through the forest in uncomfortable silence.
Neither seemed willing to resume the previous conversation.
The narrow path cut between tall trees where sunlight reached only in broken beams.
Little by little, without noticing, they began to drift apart.
Silvia walked a few steps behind.
Even upset, she kept her eyes fixed on Morgan’s back.
It would have been much easier if he were the caricature of the lawman she had imagined.
But despite everything, Morgan still attracted her.
He was still human.
And, unlike all her convictions about police officers, he actually wanted to do the right thing.
The clearing finally appeared between the trees.
The crime scene was there.
Exactly as before.
The stone in the center.
The circle drawn on the ground.
The rods at the tips of the star.
And the body.
Morgan approached the victim.
Silvia stayed behind.
— I’ll keep my distance, — she said with bitter irony. — In case you find my fingerprints and accuse me of something.
Morgan didn’t answer.
He took a pair of disposable gloves from his pocket.
Put them on calmly.
Then crouched beside the body.
The victim’s throat was cut.
But there was almost no blood.
Morgan frowned.
— Very little blood…
He stood up.
Examined the ground around them.
Some footprints marked the soil.
All identical.
— …combat boots…
Morgan took the small notebook from his pocket.
Turned a few pages.
— …binary code…
He began copying the circle drawn on the ground.
01010100 01100101 01101011 01101000 01101101 01101111 01110010 01100001
Tekhmora.
— Detective Jones!
Morgan turned.
Thomas was walking toward them.
— Sorry for my delay.
Morgan closed the notebook.
— Silvia told me you wouldn’t be joining us today.
Thomas tilted his head slightly.
— The matter was extremely important. I needed to find a way to speak with you.
Morgan gestured discreetly toward the body.
— The second one in fifteen days. Who was the girl?
Thomas looked at the victim.
— Felicia Smith. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the opportunity to meet her personally. She was new here.
Silvia frowned.
Thomas continued:
— Look at the bracelet… she hadn’t been purified yet.
Felicia wore a black bracelet.
Morgan crossed his arms.
— I thought you knew everyone who lives here.
Thomas smiled lightly.
— You know how it is. Some more than others. She’d only been here a short time… I hadn’t had the opportunity to meet her yet.
He sighed.
— Poor child…
Morgan stepped a few paces away.
— I need to take advantage of the daylight and write a few notes. But afterward I need to talk to you.
Thomas nodded.
— Of course.
Then he turned to Silvia, taking her by the arm.
— Silvia, I need to speak with you.
The smile on his face remained calm.
They moved a little farther from Morgan.
Thomas held Silvia’s hands.
The gesture seemed intimate.
But his tone was not.
Though he spoke quietly so Morgan wouldn’t hear, his voice was imperative.
— So, — he asked, — how is the investigation going?
— Morgan doesn’t tell me anything about it.
Thomas studied her face.
— I noticed your interest in him.
Silvia tensed.
— And I believe that interest is mutual.
Fear appeared in her eyes.
Thomas smiled faintly.
— Don’t worry. I’m not jealous. Our time ended with your purification.
Silvia glanced at the white bracelet on her wrist.
Suddenly Thomas grabbed her wrist.
Hard.
His voice dropped.
Threatening.
— You don’t want to lose everything you’ve achieved… do you?
Silvia didn’t answer.
— Take advantage of the fact that he likes you, — Thomas continued, — and get us the information we need.
He released her arm.
And walked away.
