Chapter 79 The new CEO is not like the old one 

--- 35 years later ---

Luke closed the notebook, a drop of water hit the back of his neck and he got goose bumps. He looked at the source of the whining, moaning and complaining.  A corporate spy, hanging upside down over a locked submarine airlock. 

"Oh Luke... you have to find the spy... oh Luke, it's getting hard for you to find anything," he muttered as he rose from his crouch and turned to face the spy.  He pocketed the notebook and the spy glared at him.

"Get off me, you psycho!" 

Luke went to a terminal, blowing away the dust. Old memories came flooding back. That submarine bay. 

" Can you hear me? " came from the spy. Luke looked at him.

"Release you? Release you? Why should I? 

"I have contacts! " 

" You know " he came closer. " The bosses are in my ear about you. "

" I'm paying you! " 

Luke cocked his head to one side.

" Do you know who I am?" 

" A company hound!" 

Luke sighed.

He had joined the company fifteen years ago, and shortly afterwards Uther had left. In typical Uther fashion, he'd said goodbye, got into a test rocket and poof, no signal anywhere on Mars. John had been delighted to finally have all the secrets, technology and troops. Only to be given the finger by Uther.  

They gave him a new alias and put him in the Founded Operators. So he killed, spied and carried out countermeasures in the name of the corporation.  As soon as Uther was gone, the other corporations came out of their holes like vultures. Technological standstill was the next consequence, then an AI rebellion. 

He spent more time on missions than at home, his marriage to Saskia fell apart after the fourth miscarriage. Now it was really just Hi, Bye, Sex for her birthday, but when the relatives were there, she made a fuss.  

Luke's gaze lingered on the spy. 

"That's right, I'm the No. 1 dog."

The spy turned as white as cheese.

" Specter..." he stammered. Luke grinned, his code name was working, but he was also aware of what he was triggering.

"I'll make you a deal, if you say hi to Berta, I'll let you go." 

Luke went to the terminal and typed in the command and the airlock slowly opened.

"Berta?" came from Spy.

Luke looked at him as he came closer.

"Yes, my fish."

The airlock opened fully and Luke looked out at the water. He waited, but nothing happened.

"Where's there supposed to be a fish? 

Luke was a little disappointed, he sighed. He dropped the spyglass into the water and closed the lock.  With or without Berta, the sharks would eat him up. He took the elevator up, got into the Ford and left the underground garage, now his cell phone had reception again and was bombarding him with missed calls and messages. 

He dialed Sarge's number.

"Where have you been? You weren't available! "

" I took care of the spy. "

" Good, send me the mission report. " He hung up the phone. 

Luke sighed, blinked, and drove to the corporate compound. The corporation had bought Hawaii back then and simply turned the military compound into the corporate compound. As he'd heard from Tes back then, because his grandfather was a fucking lazy bastard. 

Luke sighed, his grandfather had been more good than bad as CEO for 15 years. 

At the driveway he was waved at, two security guards approached. 

He opened the window.

"ID," came out of the headset in a distorted voice. 

" Don't you have a scanner anymore where I can put my hand on it?" 

"Only in the pedestrian area."    

A very confused expression formed on his face, when had they implemented this shit, he groaned and rummaged for his wallet.

The security guards were watching him.

He found it, opened the worn wallet, which was already disintegrating in several places. He took out his ID and held it out. 

His ID was inserted into a reader.

"Are you the owner of this car? " 

" Yes, why? "

" There are several traffic violations with the car."

" Uh-huh... but if the system shows the last time I was here." 

"Please get out, we have to..." 

Luke groaned, switched off the engine and got out, surprised that the two security officers were a head shorter than him. 

His car was scanned with a separate scanner and searched. 

Luke stood aside and lit a cigarette. Times have changed. He used to just drive up, the scanners would scan him and he could drive on. He looked around. They really had rebuilt. Saw several vehicles simply drive through.

His gaze lingered on his car, which was being searched. It took them 10 minutes and then the security guard came to him.

"The car is clean."

" Of course, when I took it from home to the car wash to clean it, it was a mess as usual." 

Notes were taken.

"Who drives the car next to you?" 

"My wife..." 

A note was made.

"You can drive on now. " 

" Uh-huh... Thank you." 

He got his pass and drove home. Parked in the empty garage, the BMW driven more by his grandfather than he had thought at the time. Walked into the living room, which looked like a bomb had gone off. 

He remembered it was Saskia's birthday. He found some of her friends asleep on the couch, quietly Luke went upstairs and found Saskia snoring across the bed. He took a photo with his cell phone after running his hand through her hair. The only thing that hadn't changed was that she took his hand for a brief moment and smiled, then continued to snore. Luke went downstairs, took pictures and then went to the basement. Closed the door behind him, the light came on by itself.  

His office and, for a while, storage space for his things, but he had quarters on the moon base for his missions. So he had moved everything there.

Luke sat down at his desk, opened his laptop and wrote his mission report. It had taken him two weeks to find the spy. He had searched every department and every branch of the company. He had scanned invoices and tickets, filled out expense forms. 

"They want to know every fucking thing... " he muttered to himself. Sent off the report package. He sat in front of his laptop and thought about what he should do now. His cell phone rang, he picked it up.

"Yes?"  

"Come to headquarters, you have a new assignment," came from John.

"Just back, rest time?"

He heard a gnashing of teeth.

"It'll only be one assignment, you don't have to do anything, then you're off." 

" Really? John, that's what you said on the last few missions, you were even taken out of your sick bed once." 

"We don't have anyone else."

"Right, come over then," Luke hung up. 

He closed the laptop and went upstairs, locking the cellar door behind him. The house was still quiet. Left it and drove to the control center, parked the car, went inside where he was scanned. 

Grabbed a coffee and went upstairs to John's office. He was sitting in a highly polished and elegantly furnished office. 

"So?" Luke asked after taking a sip of coffee.

John looked up. 

"You're going to Megacity Europe to buy real estate and so on for the group, the Council seems to be pretty strapped for cash and is selling a lot."

"You can do that from here too ..." 

"Alex wants someone there in person."

"I see, and what's the budget? Not like last time, when I was supposed to buy you something and you complained that it was so expensive."

John rolled his eyes behind his sunglasses.

" There's no limit this time, we need to get a foothold there again. "

" Well, I'll go to the airport and get planes there."

" No, you're taking the underground express there."

Luke raised an eyebrow.

" Really? "

John looked at him.

"Sure. Why so cynical?"

Luke sipped his coffee.

"By the way, John, when will my vacation request be processed?"

"Soon..." came the dry reply.

" Soon has been John for 10 years, while others get leave amazingly quickly and frequently."

"Don't come Luke with the record." 

Luke emptied the cup and put it on the table.

"I'm just saying, I got leave back in the army too and even better pay, I wonder when I'll get that pay rise you've been promising me for the last few years."

" Is it all down to the board Luke? " 

" Well then I'll have to ask them. "

" Don't get distracted. Do your job." 

" Yes yes yes." 

He left the office and went to the elevator.

" Got cheap... " he muttered as he pressed the elevator button. His cell phone buzzed. Luke picked up.

"Yeah?" 

" When are you coming back?" came a hungover Saskia. 

" I don't know, I have to do something for the boss, why? Didn't you celebrate?"

Silence on the other side.

" Why did I get an email about the car? "

Luke grinned.

"I don't know what you were doing Kia, they were very quiet in the driveway."

He heard a growl from the other side.

"When will you be back? " it came demandingly.

" Well, I'm back. " 

He stepped into the elevator and pressed for the first floor.

" Why do you insist I'm back, Kia? "

" My parents invited me ... "

Luke rolled his eyes that everything is fine in front of the family.

" Then I hope you have fun with them." 

" But they told me to bring you ... "

" Oh why?"

" Because you haven't been there for years Luke, that's why!"

" As if they care Kia, the last time I was there they were arguing, you were arguing with Bill. "

 He heard a snort and she hung up.

Luke pocketed his cell phone, left the building, drove his car to the underground entrance, parked and drove to Europe after going through all the security checks. On the way, he was given a list of primary things to buy. 

"Why Europe... It's just a shithole anyway.... " 

Of all the megacities, Europe had been the first, North America had three, one on the west and east coasts, then one in the middle, South America had one near Brazil, Africa in the south, Russia had one, Asia had a gigantic one. In between there were metropolitan areas and cities and wilderness. 

The wilderness was what had evolved over the years, Uther's prediction about the adapting flora and fauna had come true. Like so much of what he had said before.

He reached the abandoned subway station and took the elevator up to the corporate tower. It served more as a spy center than a branch office. He could still remember the time under Uther when he had started at the corporation, when every corporate tower and outpost was buzzing with life.  Now it was supposedly because it cost too much. 

In front of the tower was a wagon with a nervous female Hydra soldier. Luke raised an eyebrow questioningly. 

"I have orders to drive them, sir..." she said. 

"I wasn't told about the order." 

"My boss ... said ... " 

Luke rolled his eyes. Since Saskia had started at the Hydras and worked her way up, now in the management position. She played the top dog, but couldn't do anything when it came to office work.

She pulled out a tablet with the order and showed it to him. 

"Oh, even approved by the boss. She made an effort for once." 

She looked at him, confused. Luke waved her off.

"Tell you what, I know your boss and I know her ways. Take the day off and tell her you drove me." 

Luke looked at her, she seemed on the verge of crying.

" Could it be that you're a new girl at the Hydras? "

She nodded. 

"Joined last month, nothing but crap assignments since then..." 

Luke groaned.

"Fine by me." 

She beamed and walked to the car. Luke sighed, got in the back and made himself comfortable. 

"Where to first? " she asked, turning around. 

He looked at his list.

"To the regional department." 

She started the car and stepped on the gas. Luke scrolled through the offers online on his cell phone. He wasn't particularly motivated, so he bought the areas around the corporate tower declared as slums online. His grandfather could have done that from his sofa. 

The car braked sharply and Luke looked up questioningly.

"We can't be there yet, can we? "

"Um, there's a crowd of people around the car ... " 

He looked out of the window, she was right, he saw people surrounding the van. He sighed and got out, the driver panicked. Luke looked at the crowd.

"So, what do you guys want from me? "

"You're a government man! " They fell silent as the Hydra finally got out and walked towards Luke with a shotgun.       

" Well, no, as you can see from her. Would you gentlemen and ladies please clear the way?" 

" No! We want justice! "

Her cell phone buzzed, the message came that the takeover was successful. The message said that all areas now belonged to the group. Luke thought about where he was.

"If you live here, go to the corporate tower, you'll be taken care of there. "

The crowd stared at him.

"The sectors here have been bought up. So if you live here, go to the tower, say you live in the sectors and need the corporation's services." 

" We can take the piss out of ourselves!!! " 

"Check your emails."

Gradually the crowd dispersed, leaving only one man holding a thick folder in his arms. 

"What about them?" asked Luke.

He looked at Luke with a blank expression. 

" The Council is closing my zoo, the last one in this sector..." 

Luke pondered, picked up his cell phone and scrolled through the list.

"There's no zoo on the list. " 

"I took it out because so far only ..."

"Then I'll buy it from them." 

The man blinked at Luke.

"You want to buy the zoo, what about ..." 

" You go into the tower with the stewards, ask for someone from animal welfare. " 

It took the man a moment, then he agreed. Luke signed the purchase contract and got into the car. The Hydra got in and started the car.

"Sir, may I ask why you bought this shabby zoo?" 

Luke grinned.

" Well, because I can and the board of directors can, let's get something to eat. I'm getting hungry. Take your pick."

He immersed himself in his cell phone and went about his shopping habits. The zoo had given him new ideas. So, alongside the slums, museums, cinemas, etc., which he bought by the dozen, he scrolled through the stocks of museums destined for demolition. The car stopped and stared at a golden restaurant sign. 

"Here?" 

" Supposed to be In..." 

" Really ... Let's see." 

Luke got out and the driver hurried to him. Luke entered the restaurant, it certainly looked classy. There was a young Italian woman standing at a counter who looked at him haughtily as Luke approached. She reacted in panic when he simply walked past her. 

"STOP, reservation only or cheap table! " 

Luke looked around, the restaurant was almost empty. 

"Fine, I'll take that table over there," he pointed to a finely set table with a reservation sign on it. 

"It's reserved for this afternoon! "

"Really?  Well then," Luke looked at the driver.   

 "Let's go and eat somewhere else."

She looked a little disappointed. 

Luke turned around and was about to leave when Carla appeared in the doorway with two models in tow, looking at Luke in great surprise.

"Luke, are you here? "

"I was on my way to the other restaurant."

Carla looked at him, then at the driver.

" Who's that?" 

" The guard dog from Kia." 

Carla laughed.

"And what exactly are you doing?" 

Luke grinned.

" I'm shopping for the executive floor Carla, I just remembered. Have you got some things to buy? I want to drive John crazy." 

The Italian woman hurried towards Carla.

"Madame Steele, welcome. I'll escort you to your table! "

"Send me an email, Carla!" 

He went on, but was stopped by her.

" Wait! " 

She looked at the Italian.

" Why didn't you give him a table?" 

" Madame, only guests ..."

She stared at her.

" He's my guest." 

Luke was pulled and seated at the table, the models were planted next to him. 

" Carla... I don't have to... I know a hot dog stand in another area. "

Carla sat down and looked at him.

"Luke, why don't you let your old PR bunny image out?" 

He sighed. 

"Don't remind me, that was just stress. I had to turn in a receipt for everything. "

Carla smiled and looked at the models.

"Sitting next to you is the old corporate mascot. "

They looked at him admiringly. Luke looked at the driver standing there, gesturing for her to sit down.

"But..." came from her.

"You wanted to come here, so sit down." 

She did so in silence. 

Caral looked from her to him.

" So you're shopping?"

Luke nodded and lit a cigarette. 

She smiled, took a tablet out of her handbag and handed it to him.

"These are all stations that are for sale, but the board has always ignored my requests."

Luke took the tablet and skimmed it. 

"One or two would do ..." 

Luke clicked and confirmed, handing her tablet back, she stared at it looking at him.

"Why all of them?" 

" To annoy John Carla, he asked what my budget was, he said not to worry. So ..."

He grinned. 

" They'll be pissed, Luke ..."

" That's exactly why, Carla, my tasks are other than going shopping for the executive floor. Which they can do from there." 

A waiter came over.

"Your orders," he said flippantly. 

"I'll have Petro as usual, plus wine, for the two of them too, and what would you like for company?" 

Luke looked at the waitress.

"The steak should be..." came quietly.

"A steak through and I'll have a pepperoni pizza myself."

The waiter's eyebrow went up at the latter.

" Pizza?"

Luke pointed to an item on the menu. 

" It says homemade pizza."

" We're a posh restaurant. "

Luke took a drag on his cigarette.

" Good. Then just a steak for my companion. I'll buy the pizza later from the cheap vendor around the corner."   

The waiter looked at him angrily.

"What to drink?" 

" She'll have a fizzy drink, I'll have a Pepsi."

" We don't have Pepsi. "

Luke tapped the menu.

"But it's on the list. "

" We are ..." 

" Yes, yes, repeat, then just a sparkling water for my companion."

The waiter withdrew.

" What did Luke want?" 

" Wanted a pizza." 

Carla sighed. 

5 minutes later they were served, Luke scrolled on his phone and made a purchase, he heard a choke from the driver, looked to her.

"Not good?" 

She shook her head. Luke looked at the steak, which was more raw than done. Luke took the plate and approached the waiter.

"What's that?" 

" Your steak sir." came the disdainful reply. 

" I ordered it cooked, not raw."

" Did you? Then something must have gone wrong in the kitchen during the delivery. "

Luke took the steak and shoved it into the waiter's mouth.

"So you can see for yourself that it's raw." 

The waiter choked out the steak again and hurried away.  It didn't take long for Gino to stomp on him angrily. 

" What are you doing stuffing meat in my waiter's mouth! " 

" I wanted the steak done and not raw, he couldn't even manage that. After all the things on the menu were wrong."

"Really? What was supposed to be wrong?" 

"I wanted a Pepsi." 

"Tz that's for children..." 

"And I wanted a pepperoni pizza." 

Gino stared at him.

"You wanted a pizza from here?" 

" Yes, of course, if it's on the menu. " 

Gino looked at the steak.

" You pay for that! The pizza will be ready soon! Petro's bringing him Pepsi!" 

Luke sat down, Carla looked at him in horror, as did the rest of the table and the restaurant.

"Are you crazy? You can get banned".

"... "

10 minutes later, Petro held a Pepsi can 46 inches in front of Luke.

"Your pizza," came the growl. 

Luke took a bite and was pleasantly surprised because it tasted very good. He enjoyed every bite and saw the greedy looks from the others at the table.

"Don't take it all."

They didn't need to be told twice and the pizza quickly disappeared into their stomachs. Gino came over and looked very surprised at the empty plate. Carla looked at Gino.

"Gino, the pizza was delicious, next time I bring guests, I want pizza too."

"Thank you, but Mrs. Steele, you always order fine dining." 

 "Exactly, so when it's good guests, I order pizza and when it's bad guests, I order fine dining." 

Gino seemed to puzzle, glancing at Luke, who was sipping his can. 

"I want to pay, I still have appointments."

" But Luke, you're only ... " 

Luke emptied the can and stood up.

The waiter came with a payment tray, Luke took it, looked at it and looked at Cala.

"They're really nice, considering the price," he paid. 

Carla looked at him in horror.

"Send a note to the board and tell them it was a business lunch. See you around."

Luke was about to leave, but was held back by Carla.

"At least let me take a photo of you and the models." 

Luke sighed.

"Fine by me..."

She smiled and positioned him with the models, who went into pro mode. Then he was free and headed for the exit, the Italian woman scowling at him. He ignored her and got into the car, the driver, who had remained silent until now, looked at him with a questioning face.

" What is it?" 

" Uh, why didn't you just say you were from the group..."

" Ah too much stress, it's not worth it. Let's go to the Klink works." 

She obeyed and drove off, the ride was quiet, they came to a huge complex besieged by protesters. They turned off at the barrier and a bad-tempered security guard approached.

"What do you want?" 

Luke rolled down the windows.

" I want to talk to Klink about a business deal."

The guard mumbled something into his radio.

" Parking lot 7, elevator 3rd floor. "

They parked and walked to the elevator, which took them upstairs. Luke had seen a few corporate complexes before, but Klink was a shithole. They were met by security guards who led them to Klink. An oversized, overweight toad whose suit barely fit. 

"So, what kind of business? And what company?" came bubbling from him. 

Luke grinned.

" I want your trash Klink, all that's left of the power core production and I'm from Miles." 

Klink laughed.

" This stuff is so toxic that even the exo-suits have to be intensively cleaned after each use."

"Don't worry, we'll take anything and everything that comes along in the future."

He came closer.

"Think of the image: Klink goes eco and those out there take off."

Klink stared at him.

"You do realize that none of the energy producers can do what your old ceo did?" 

Luke grinned.

"He did a lot of things that make us wonder how he did it today, Klink. Take a look out of the window and see the megacity. They copied the others, but they didn't manage it like this."

Klink thought about it.

"Okay, let's do the deal. I'll have the contract sent to your bigwigs."

" All right."

Luke went to the door.

" Wait a minute, whose name do you want me to write in that brought the deal? "

He looked at Klink.

"Just put Miles in, they'll know who it's from anyway." 

" Are you sure? "

Luke grinned.

"You can drive one on that, Klink. I'll get their pulses racing and they'll curse me. "

Klink looked at him in silence.

"Klink, it's a deal. This is just my personal mini-war with my superior. Because," he spread his arms. 

"Making deals isn't really my job, but the people in charge really want to take a vacation. I get called in for shit like this. So!" he grinned. 

"I'm making more work for them than they want!"

"And what's your job anyway?"  

Luke waved it off.

" Nothing special, killing people, spying, torturing and so on. How do you think I know about your garbage, Klink? "

" Specter..." came back, half in awe and half angry. 

"But those out there aren't my fault, Klink, that was the idiot I killed. Wait, no, his brother was involved too. It was called teaching the fatso a lesson for life."

"His brother you say?" 

" Yup." 

Klink pressed a button.

"Bring me the tailor right away, I don't give a shit what he's doing."

"Got it," came the reply.

"See you then, Klink." 

Luke left, the driver walked hurriedly beside him, when they were in the car she took a breath and as they left the premises she seemed to calm down.

"Now it's off to "

She braked sharply because children were running in front of the car. Luke banged his head against the windshield, touched the spot and saw blood. He took a cloth and pressed it to the spot. The children stared at him. 

" Is there a reason why you're here?" 

" We're collecting for the orphanage!" came from the leader.

" Here?"

She nodded vigorously. 

" There are people here and the hippies always have a few points to spare!" 

"Uh-huh..." 

" You have a few points to spare? "

" Sure, I'll take you to the orphanage for that!"

They thought about it.

" Okay..." 

They got in very carefully, Luke in the front. 

They got the address and drove there, it was a very old house. The children ran out of the car. Luke got out, walked towards the grounds, but the barred gate slammed shut in front of him and a mountain of beardies looked at him grimly.  Luke glared at him.

"Holy shit. Ted, is that you?" 

He grunted. 

" What do you want corporate dog?" 

" Oh you're hurting me Ted, I'm a corporate slave. She's a corporate dog " He pointed at the driver.

" Still a line ..."

Luke grinned.

"Well Ted, last I saw, career jump to the next league." 

Ted grumbled.

"Yeah. And then drugs, fake business partners and debt. These gave me a fresh start. So, what do you want, Luke?"   

" Well, since they walked in front of my car and talked about closing and donations."

" Donations don't help, shit council decided it and as long as you kiss their ass you can stay up. I'm going into the wilderness with them." 

" Ted.  Wilderness is not a good idea. It's mutant season."

Ted grunted. 

" I have an idea, wait a minute. " 

Luke pulled his cell phone out of his pocket, scrolled through the numbers, found his grandmother's and dialed. 

A very tired Babsi answered on the other end of the line.

"What is it Luke, it's the middle of the night..."

" What's your sage program doing?" 

" As long as they don't grow on trees, I can forget about it."

" Well, I've got Ted here."

" Ted... the..." 

" From my school days Ted, so he works in an orphanage, what " Ted showed him the email on the tablet. 

"Closed by the council with many others..." 

"I'm coming," she hung up. He looked at his cell phone, a little irritated. 

"Well... let's just say I've stirred up a hornet's nest." 

"Ha... who did you call?" 

"Babs... she's responsible for family matters at the company."

" Aha... stay, I had people from the company the day before yesterday who said the same thing and only wanted children to sell. "

"Don't worry!" 

He lit a cigarette. They were silent.

"What does Leo actually do..." Ted said.

"She works in her parents' store, actually just in the greenhouse." 

"Does she have someone?" 

" Leo? Well, Ted. She tried it once with lesbians, but gave up because they got on her nerves. "

"Have you ever actually done it with her?" 

Luke took a drag on his cigarette. 

" Yes."

"What about Lina and Lisa?" 

" Lisa is in the IT department at the company, has married a technician, is about to have a child and Lina works in security." 

"Technician. Lisa always wanted to marry some rich guy... " 

"She seems happy."

"Have they told you why they weren't models back in the internship?" 

"Well, Lina said they were assholes." 

"That too, but they wanted to sell them as hookers." 

" Hhmm, she didn't say that." 

" Are you still married to the hustler? "  

" Yep. I have sex just in time for my birthday or a holiday." 

Ted laughed. 

" You should have married Lina, she's always had the hots for you. " 

" I see her from time to time. She says she's happy being single and hunting prey." 

They talked for a while until a large company bus pulled up, Babsi got out loaded, the company soldiers behind her. She was very charged.

"Where does it say about the Council?" she demanded.

Ted showed her the email.

"I know from my buddies that they closed their house and put the kids on the street, we took them in, but we're overflowing. " came from Ted.

Babs saw Ted, Ted seemed to be holding the bars.

"Ted, let me in, I know there are a lot of assholes out there, but I can't forgive those freaks for trampling on my mother's legacy. "

Ted opened hesitantly, Babsi grinned.

"You won't regret it, Ted."

"I hope so," he replied.

Babs smiled, glancing at the soldiers.

"Check the area, I don't want to see any Rats idiots or other groups here."

" Aye ma'am" came from them and they swarmed out. 

Babs looked at Luke and held a note out to him.

"What's this?" he asked.

" I need to claim the free pass they just gave you, Luke. "

Luke took the slip of paper and looked at it, seeing a bunch of institutes.

" Uh-huh ... " 

"And you still have to go to your old school, they're open again."

Ted groaned.

"Uh-huh, okay, I'll get you the stuff."

Luke got in, the driver looked at him.

"Where to?" 

Luke showed her the address.

"That'll take a while ... " 

" We have time."

She started the car and four hours later, with several breaks, stopped in front of Luke's old school, which had been polished to a shine. Luke got out and looked around.

"Man, man, man, here I am again ... "

The driver got out and looked around in amazement. 

Luke walked towards the main building, the grounds were buzzing with life, he saw students chatting and whispering. They looked at Luke. Luke went to the secretary's office. The clerk looked at him, a little irritated.

"Yes?" 

" Tach, Schornsdorf, I was told to come here. " 

"Just a moment," she picked up the phone, "Headmistress, this is Mr. Schornsdorf ..."

The door was pulled open and the principal hurried out, looking old. The years had not been hard. Luke raised his hand.

"Here I am, what's up?" 

"In the office, if you can." 

Luke stepped in and sat down in the armchair he'd sat in as a dwarf.

"I've been trying to reach you for years," she said as she searched for something at her desk.

" Actually, I've been up to my ears in work since I finished school. "

She looked at him.

"Work? Oh, salesman."

Luke sighed.

"That was a mistake, Luke, you're young, you're bound to attract people ... "He wanted to light a cigarette. 

"It was just stress, I was following family tradition. The army and at the latest when I got this..."

He pointed to the scars on his neck. 

"I became uninteresting to those who only wanted flawless bodies. So better for me. "

" And what are you doing now?" 

" I switched to the group when counseling couldn't give me anything more. But even then I'm starting to wonder if that was a good idea. "

She looked at him questioningly.

"Why, may I ask?" 

Luke grinned. 

"Change of power." 

Se looked at him.

"Oh, that's what you mean."

"So, why did you want to reach me?" 

She sighed.

"Now that we can finally reopen, I've started troubleshooting. "

" Uh-huh ..." 

"But unfortunately, most of them still seem to be angry with us and don't react at all or don't want to know anything about us." 

He continued to look at her. She pulled out a folder. 

"I sat and worked at the Ministry for a long time until I was able to reopen here. I've managed to give the last class before the pandemic their school leaving certificate. "

Luke was confused.

"Luke, I looked through all the school records from back then and you were one of the few and the only survivor to pass the math exam. " 

"But wasn't it called art..." 

"That was just so you could get an extra degree in Fine Art and your picture was still in the teacher's desk and not in the system." 

Luke thought about it, that was so long ago.

"That's why," she approached him and held out the portfolio. 

"The last graduate of the year back then. "

Luke stood up and took the folder.

" Thank you ... " He opened the folder and looked at the certificates and diplomas. He was surprised at how classy everything was. 

"And" she placed a box on the table.

"What didn't rot in your room back then."

Luke looked at the box and peered inside. His old things, a few figurines, old crystal plates.

"Oh," he found an old magazine, albeit very tattered. It had been the marine biology magazine from back then. 

"Thank you." 

She looked at him as if she wanted something else.

" Anything else?" 

" Uh, yes. A photo, if you can. We started with the memory wall, with the alumni. "

" Fine by me." 

She beamed, so he was dragged to the photo, the driver holding the box with the folder inside.  Then, after saying goodbye, Luke sat back in the seat, exhausted, and took a breath.

"Where to now?" 

"To the nearest tower block, that's enough for today."

She looked at him, nodded and drove off. Luke took the magazine and opened it, at least he could still read the contents. He spent the journey to the next tower reading or shopping. The car pulled into the garage of the tower block, Luke got out, said goodbye and got on the next subway train, during the journey he wrote his mission report at a terminal on the train, attached receipts and sent everything off.