An Unusual Being.

"What does it suppose to mean?" Daniel turned to Elena and Marcus. Only the two of them didn't seem surprised, "Is this possible? Does Nick have no soul? Did you know about this?"

"I understood it from the first glance at him. Armand, haven't you noticed? It is strange that your vision did not catch on such an interesting object."

Armand just shrugged his shoulders at his brother's question. Yes, Nick's visible aura was strange, but it did not raise any suspicion in the younger Taubert.

Marcus paused for a moment, pondering what words would be the best to pick up. However, making his words sound soft and smooth was not his habit. "If I compared the way I see Nick with what I know, I would say with one hundred percent certainty that in front of me is nothing but a cold corpse."

Nick's return gaze was far from cold, more like a furious flame. "Careful there with comparisons, Mr. Taubert. This, as you put it, cold corpse can turn you into a wet place at the first convenient opportunity."

"What a commendable enthusiasm! So be it, my dear grandson, I will try to find fifteen minutes in my busy schedule to play with you," Marcus winked at Nick in response.

"Oh you!" Nicholas rushed with his hand towards the kukri to grab the blade, but as soon as his fingers touched the metal handle, the knife disappeared along with the pendant.

"Oops, didn't catch it," Marcus clapped his hands and the items returned to their original place, "One more time?" The man clearly took pleasure in driving the guy out of himself.

BANG!

David slammed his palm on the table, "Stop it!" he waved his hand, and the kukri with the pendant disappeared, "Let it lie down in another place so as not to be an eyesore. Marcus, you are in my house and I ask you to treat those who are here with respect."

Marcus chuckled, all the playfulness disappeared from his face, "I don't remember having offended anyone. I speak as it is. And he," Taubert pointed to Nick, "is like a monkey with a grenade. Flares up and loses control at the slightest provocation! You saw it very well now, David. And to be honest, this guy is the only one whose strength can be stronger than mine. Such abilities imply, first of all, responsibility and a cold mind, and Nick has neither the first nor the second."

"Or maybe you just got scared that there is someone stronger than you, and that someone is a baby? Is that why you cleared Sean's brains to obey your orders?" retorted Nick.

"The one who's a baby here is you" Marcus was adamant, "Knowing the seriousness of the situation, you locked yourself in the room and made everyone wait for you for an hour. For the last twenty minutes, all you did was resent my presence. You do not trust me? I can say the same about you.

I may not know the details of what happened to you, but there is no need to hang sins on me that do not exist. Who knows, maybe besides your soul, you paid something else to get here? Why should I believe your words and abandon my plans? Maybe someone sent you here to interfere with me?"

"Ah-ha, a-ha-ha," Nick burst out laughing, but the laugh was not at all funny, "Of course someone sent me .. YOU SENT ME HERE, DO YOU UNDERSTAND?! YOU DEPRIVED ME OF EVERYTHING, LEFT ME NO CHOICE!" tears appeared in the eyes of the young man, "Don't you believe?! Can you check it yourself? It won't be the first time for you to delve into my brains, right, grand-pa?"

"Nick-" David looked worriedly at his son, but the guy shook his head.

"Let him enjoy the first person view movie," Nicholas bent his back, his arms were hanging along his torso. He reminded a traveler that had been walking for a long time in the desert, struggling with the heat and sand, and gave up. "Why are you in no hurry, Mr. Taubert? Don't be afraid, I don't bite."

Marcus silently got up from his seat, walked around the table and stood in front of the guy. The man rubbed his hands together, warming them up, and gently touched Nick's temples. "It will be a little unpleasant." Their gazes met.

"I don't care," Nick dropped his eyes and relaxed.

Pictures of the past swirled like a kaleidoscope in his head. Starting from the first memories, where he saw dead parents, and ending with the gray hall, where there was the same man who was now standing in front of him.

Nicholas twisted and slapped Marcus on the arm when he felt the man stroking his head like a little child. "Don't touch me anymore. You found out what you wanted." He got up from the couch and took a step to the side to get around Taubert when he heard,

"I'm sorry this happened."

Nicholas chuckled. Sorry? Sorry is too small an excuse.

"I don't need you to feel sorry for me," the guy replied dryly, "I shared what I know. My presence here is no longer required." Nick turned away and took a step forward.

Marcus grabbed his arm, "Stay," the man's request sounded like a real request, "Sit down, please. We need your help. Please." Marcus let go of Nick's hand, leaving the choice to the latter.

Nick said nothing, took a few steps and stopped, "Um, Elena, can I talk to you for a couple of minutes?"

"Sure!" the woman with a radiant smile approached the guy, and the two of them disappeared behind the kitchen door. Five minutes later, Elena returned to the living room, accompanied by a young man carrying a tray of drinks.

Nick put the tray down on the table and returned to his seat without further comment.

"Wow, it's a double!" Daniel encouragingly nudged Nick in the side and grabbed a mug of hot chocolate.

"Thanks," Marcus picked up a fresh cup of hot coffee that was clearly meant for him.

"I put some liquor in there. I thought it tasted better," Elena explained the unusual smell of the drink, and Marcus smiled back.

Silence fell for a moment in the room, the air filled with aromas of coffee, chocolate, cloves and vanilla. The lights on the Christmas tree went out and came on again. Logs crackled in the fireplace.

"It's true that Sean's consciousness is partially under my control," Marcus began. "I did this to keep the child safe in the first place," he looked at Nick, but the latter's gaze was directed in the other direction. The guy did not listen to him or pretended not to listen.

"The potential for power your child has is enormous. Even I have no idea how big it is, and I can only guess," Marcus glanced at David, and turned his head to Elena, "But I would never have done anything that could harm him. After all, he is my... in general, the child is all right. You don't have to worry."

David took a sip of coffee and winced. This cup was definitely Nick's handiwork. The guy messed up the proportions again.

"So be it, I will believe your words. But I want you to remove all restrictions from Sean today."

"I can't do it now," Marcus refused.

"You got what you wanted. Why do you need the child?" David did not stop. The man was not inspired by the fact that his son was another man's puppet.

Marcus put the empty cup on the table, looked at Nick and then at David, "This is not about the kukri. It's just a coincidence that the children ended up in that place. But what's interesting is that there is not even a hint of my presence in Nick's mind. There is nothing there at all that was before his first memory. You know about it?" Marcus asked Nicholas.

The guy frowned, "If you didn't find anything there, then what's the point in asking me?" he muttered back.

Those who knew something were dead. Nick could only guess that he had something to do with Rick's death in the past, otherwise why would Ashley always refuse to discuss it? Armand also avoided answering when the events of the past arose. They knew something, and they didn't want Nick to know about it.

"What will happen to you when it's over? What do you intend to do next? Do you plan to live on in our time?" asked Marcus directly.

This question was in everyone's head, but to voice it out loud meant to face something that you might not like.

To live on? Nick smiled, but the smile did not touch his eyes, "There is already one Sean Nicholas Anderson in this world. Staying here was not part of my original plans."

"Then what? Going back to the future? Is that possible?" There was something about this situation that Marcus didn't like. Nick's appearance confused many plans. But his disappearance is something completely different. "If two people are needed for the ritual, I can resolve this issue," the man said frankly and he didn't care what they thought of him.

"Wow, what a generous offer," Nick grinned, "I'm touched," the guy felt a gaze on himself. Elena looked at him without taking her eyes off. It took a couple of seconds, and he realized that she already knew. Perhaps she knew about it even before he did.

"He can't go back to the future," the woman said. "He has nowhere to go back to."

"Because there will be a different Sean in this future?" Daniel wanted to make it clear.

Everyone was looking at Elena, and Elena was looking at Nick.

"How many?" she asked.

"Seven days," Nick replied in a whisper.

Daniel was on edge. Unlike his younger brother, he was not a riddle solving enthusiast. "What do you mean by one week? Can you explain in simple language for ordinary people who don't have a super brain and a super vision?!"

Elena smiled slightly, and Daniel would swear he felt like a junior high school student attending a lecture on quantum physics.

"The genetic replica of a living object remains viable for about six months when passing through the portal. Then annihilation occurs. Transition along the axis of one time funnel is possible only for higher beings. The lower ones are able to move between the axles without the possibility of permanent fixing."

Nick stared at the empty juice glass in his hands. The glass was tactile from above, but the inside was empty. He himself was the same empty shell.

Daniel blinked several times, analyzing what Elena had said in his head. "No, it can't be. This is impossible. I misunderstood something, probably," the man scratched his head in confusion, gave Nick a sidelong glance, "Genetic replica?"

"What does it mean?" Armand looked from the puzzled Daniel to the calm Elena, David was sitting sullen and lost in thought. Marcus's face showed no emotion. And Armand wasn't sure if that was good.

Elena reached over to the table and pushed the plate of cookies over to Nick, "Take the closest one, it's delicious," the woman said tenderly. Then she smiled at Armand, "Nick is an unusual being who came to us from his world."

Marcus chuckled under his breath. What a company has gathered in one room. "Or, simply put, our dear Nick is a clone from a parallel reality. Am I right?"

Everyone stared at Nick. The guy froze for a moment and then nodded his head.