Against Fate. Part One: "An Inconvenient Target..."

You can’t bring back the days that are gone. You can’t turn the river of time and the memories of childhood and youth back around—and those nights warm the soul. You are torn out of the life of the past, including family—children, grandchildren, friends. You have no right to them, to your own past...

You were spared. And you’re still alive, albeit under another name; and in the white part of the pages of your memory, the secret of the state is concealed—part of your biography that for years no one has been interested in. The strict control of the special services has been removed from you, but you are still under their watch.

You have your own new life. Not retirement by age, but by years of service. You broke out of the boundaries of the garrison that had you chained with harsh security requirements. Security… the price of a life that might not have been yours at all. You didn’t choose—others chose for you.

And again, freedom—though only relative. The desire to be alone and calm didn’t bring peace...

A random step to the side during routine hygiene procedures; the ground, slick after rain, gave way—you slipped. Your leg... a frantic attempt to find support, even on all fours... and the rusty, caked ring with dirt that sprang onto your finger like it had a will of its own.

An oozing-scraped palm, pain through your whole body, and an uncertain step—instantly collapsing the world and the illusion of calm in your own life...

A new world… and a personal ticket back—iron ring under your skin, whose rust has been eaten by your blood…