Standing in the rain again, Max looked at the smoke which rose from the tip of his cigarette. He barely smoked, but he liked the mix of smoke and fog, which rose from the sidewalk, from the underground bunkers, from the empty spaces, in which Lasseter slept now. Did he really sleep?

„Any adress?“, he asked Viktor.

„The official location is just top of the street to the right, Bismarckstraße, just 5 Kilometers away, but the real adress is more the opposite. Some small streets here and there.“

„So, its near Alexanderplatz?“ Viktor cringed at that thought.

„The capsule will split mid-air, unknown to most, and both capsules have parachutes, but the smaller one – with Maria in it, will have smaller ones, carmouflage. It should land on this place.“ Max tipped on the tablet. „Its a little north of Alexanderplatz, 10 minutes.“

„10 minutes“, murmured Viktor.

„Yes. You should be okay there. Its an old building next to a former graveyard. Wait there and look at the beacon. Its only visible for you. And of course, for my boss.“

„And then?“

„Thats your turn. Keep her alive. You may not use the old subway system. Its dangerous there.“

„More dangerous than Alexanderplatz and Tiergarten?“

„You did not leave your kiez often.“

„I do, quite often, but I am alone most of the time.“

„So you can hide easier.“

„Yes.“

Max smiled. „I have high hopes in you. Maria is the solution to several of Lasseters problems. Not only genetically, but also … well, I don’t have to tell you stuff about heritage.“

„So, she is on the way back from moon to meet her dad.“

„Or not. Lasseters plans are often different in the end than I had expected. Do you need something? We have an assorted offer on weaponry.“

„You shoot, someone shoots back. You die. I rather stay silent.“

„Here, I have something for you. Call it a lucky charm.“ Max whistled at one of his suits. The man showed his beaten up face as if it were a scar from a war. He opened black backbag and took a box out of it.

„Thats my old knife. Take it.“

Viktor stared at the shiny blade, the black grip, the tiny marks on the top of grip. „Thats your fathers. Didn’t you tell me about heritage?“

„So, bring it back to me when you are finished. Don’t loose it.“

Viktor turned around, started in the darkness of another rainy night. Berlin never had been ugly, but cities rot and die and now, he thought, he could see the decay inside the walls and behind the greasy windows.

„In your backbag is also food, water, medicine and a rescue blanket. Like in cars, you remember?“

Viktor remembered.

„Yes. Thank you.“ He turned around once more, took the tablet from his former friends hands, and disappeared in the night.

He stayed in the small streets, kept his head low, tried to stay in the shadows. Charlottenburg helped him. He had chosen this part of town because it still was the most normal part of Berlin. The further he would have to go, the darker the world would become. Dark and bright, as if the evil itself clothed itself in shiny neon and flames.