Chapter 55

Subject V-1 should be decommissioned at this point. Given the amount of neural damage, there’s no chance of any further useful breakthroughs. I do, of course, understand there are other considerations when it comes to this specific subject, so the call is yours.

—Dr. Upashna Leslie to Councilor Marshall Hyde (11 April 2079)

THE WATCHER SPOTTED the bear on surveillance the instant they turned the corner. No hesitation, no sharp movements, the Watcher kept on walking, just another resident of Moscow heading home after a late shift.

Head down, pace steady, somewhere to be.

The Watcher could feel eyes on their back, but no one followed and the Watcher was soon out of the zone of danger. Clearly, the Watcher had underestimated the bear with Theodora Marshall. He’d not only sensed the danger, he’d put extra security in place. And he hadn’t told that security to conceal themselves: their open presence was a warning.

“Time for a change of plan,” the Watcher muttered to their other self.

For tonight, however, the Watcher decided to go home, to the place where it had all begun. Where the Watcher had broken in two. The same place where the Watcher felt oddly safe. Perhaps because they’d cleared the place of all threats.

Corpse by rotting corpse.