1 Chapter 1: Prologue

The main office of the company "Paradise" | Wednesday - 13:00

While chilling in a comfortable office chair made of leather, Erwin Gryffindor, the founder of the largest pharmaceutical and technology company in the world, sipped a cup of hot tea and occasionally glancing at the pleasant views from the window, checked the reports left by his employees yesterday or this morning. Having finished checking all the main branches of the company, Erwin, having signed all the necessary papers, turned to the last, not the most important in his eyes, branch - Marketing.

Putting important papers aside, Erwin looked toward the smallest report, consisting of only seven leaves. Having taken another sip of black tea, Erwin took the last report in his hands and briefly got acquainted with it... However, as soon as his eyes ran through the very first page of such a plain-looking report, he instantly perked up. – Ouuu… This is interesting... - With an approving smile on his face, Erwin finished familiarizing himself with the introduction and immediately turned the page...

But as soon as he went deeper into reading this report, his eyes suddenly began to twitch, and his lips involuntarily started to dance, he was so embarrassed by what was written further. - Is this a joke? - A thought involuntarily crept into his head, but, to his great regret, on the next, third page of the report, there was a list of first-grade students... junior school... Having exhaled heavily and calmed down, Erwin postponed the report for several seconds hesitated, still reached for the button on the phone. - Khe-khe... Emilia, please call Katya from the marketing department. - He asked his beloved and irreplaceable assistant, who had been working with his right hand for several years now.

- Well, sir, I'll call her right away. - As soon as Erwin removed his finger from the telephone button and reached for, still hot tea, he immediately heard Emilia's voice from the speaker of the old, but still good working phone.

***

* KNOCK KNOCK*

As soon as Erwin completed a full familiarization with the report of the marketing department, they knocked on his door twice. - Come in. - Slightly pushing the paper away from himself, Erwin said

towards the door.

Immediately after Erwin's permission, the door slowly opened and a fair sex stepped inside. Entering his office was a young girl of twenty-six years old, with a pleasant western appearance and beautiful golden, short hair. Slowly entering the interior of her boss's office, the girl closed the door behind her and, with a pained expression, as well as a sullen and almost whiny tone, asked her employer. - Sir, did you call me?

- Yes, I did. - Hand asking her to crouch across from herself, Erwin answered. - This concerns the report that, this morning, came to my table. - Having tracked how Katya takes her place opposite his desk, Erwin said, simultaneously pointing to seven papers of A4 format. - Who chose the school?

- Me sir. - As soon as Erwin left this question, Katya, as if breaking the chain, immediately answered.

- Then, please, can you tell me why you chose the first grade of primary school? - Having squeezed out a crooked smirk, Erwin again asked his question.

- How why? - With fiercely expressed surprise in her voice, Katya asked. - Children will really like it here! We will show them a bunch of beautiful, and vivid experiments in the future, they will definitely want to work with us! - Having forgotten about all decency and having lost all her insecurity and gloom, with a proud expression on her face, Katya said.

- Of course I knew that she was a naive girl, but... so much? She really believes that the children will remember at least something after 10 years, when they will need to choose a university? - Surrendering, Erwin sighed and drained a cup of tea already cooled inside, said. - Good... It's not important anymore, so you can go...

- What is it? You do not like children? - However, Katya, even after permission, did not dare to leave, but, on the contrary, asked her boss.

- Katya... please remind me that I celebrated 3 days ago? - Once again, exhaling secretly and covering his eyes with his hand, Erwin answered with a question.

- 3 days ago? - Having built a brooding mine, Katya, putting a thin finger to her chin, zealously brainstormed for several seconds, trying to recall the events of three days ago. - Exactly! The birthday of your daughter - Alice... Aaaaaaa, sorry sir! - And as soon as she said it out loud, when suddenly the expression on her face changed dramatically...

- We drove. I don't want to detain you. - Waving his hand in her direction, Erwin got up from his chair and turned to the window, said. - Primary school, so primary school, let it be so, it's all the same to cancel their invitation, and there's no time to choose another. - Without saying anything more, Erwin closed his eyes and thought about what was known only to him.

- Of course, sir! - Katya, having clearly and clearly read the atmosphere, as well as remembering the boss's earlier words, answered and bowed, after which, trying to make as few sounds as possible, she went towards the exit.

***

The main square of the company "Paradise" | Thursday - 11:00

- Children, please put helmets on your head and stand in pairs, I will count you! - the class teacher shouted out to her class, simultaneously showing them how to wear helmets on their heads. -... 14,15,16 - Having organized six and seven-year-old first graders in a couple of seconds, she also easily counted them and put her signature on seven forms and documents, after which she became near the head of the marketing department. - Children, be quiet! Now Catherine, an employee of the company "Paradise", will tell you about what we will do today.

- Hello guys, my name is Katya. - said a girl with a radiant smile on her face, who was able to easily attract the eyes of all the children to herself. - Today, I and my two assistants will show you what we are doing here! - Having said these words, Katya called for a couple of men and women.

- Hi guys, I'm the head of the chemical department, Mikheeva Dina Ivanovna. - The first introduced a middle-aged woman, dressed in a white robe, on whose shoulders her dark hair fell as if pitching.

- Hello everyone, I am the head of the physical department, Ilya Sergeyevich Belyaev. - Following the example of his colleague, Ilya introduced himself after Dina, but unlike her, he did not wear a white coat and had no hair, he was dressed in simple clothes, as if he had not come to work in the advanced scientific complex of the largest pharmaceutical and technology company, and to the bazaar.

After introducing themselves, they went back a bit to give Katya a safety briefing and, as usual, to ask all the children to put their fingerprints in a journal on this safety precaution.

- I wish I had the same childhood... - Watching the whole procession from the window of his office, Erwin thought to himself. - Hmmm, can I go with the kids? For a long time, I did not visit the laboratory. - Asking himself a question, Erwin, no longer hesitating, turned around and went to his desk, pressed the phone button, and then asked his secretary a question. - Emily, are there any meetings planned for me today?

- No sir, today you have a free day, but what? - The girl answered immediately and, as if catching the mood of her boss, with a playful smile on her face that Erwin could not see through normal voice communication, she asked. - Well, are you tired of having a cool time in the office, and you wanted to go on a field trip with the children?

- Of course not! - Smiling at the next realization that his secretary is too good at reading his thoughts, he answered, after which he waited a short pause and added. - I just wanted to check how things were going in the lab.

- Well, sir, if they suddenly ask you, I will inform you that you are on the bypass. No longer asking questions, said Emilia, after which she disconnect.

***

Going down to the first floor, simultaneously correcting his white coat, Erwin went to the guard post, where he asked where right now there was a group of children, headed by a mediocre marketer on the estate of Katya. Upon learning the information, he needed, he did not think for long and simply went to the chemical laboratories, where the children went first.

-... here we are developing cures for most diseases known to people... - Having taken a place behind a group of children, Erwin glanced over the faces of the children and, to his deepest surprise, noticed that absolutely all the children were listening carefully to Dina, trying not to miss even one word. - It was here, in this very laboratory that was built eleven years ago, that the Panacea was created, a medicine that can cure absolutely any disease known to mankind. - Showing children exactly how chemists create the first samples of drugs, Dina suddenly noticed Erwin, but, without interrupting her speech, she only nodded briefly to him, and then continued. - As you all know, the creator and founder of Paradise is Erwin Gryffindor, who, at seventeen, was able to put the whole world on his ears...

A little more than thirty minutes passed from the start of the tour in a chemical laboratory, during which time the doctors and their assistants showed many different chemical reactions, from which the children were indescribably delighted. And after all the performances were over, the children, led by Ilya, slowly moved to another complex, a complex of advanced technologies.

Erwin, in turn, was slightly behind the group of children, stopped at a small vending machine with drinks and examined him with an appraising look, snapped, and then took a bottle of cola... Having rested from good old lessons, Erwin drained his throat and caught up with the group children, but as soon as he caught up with them and examined, when suddenly he frowned.

- Hm? It seems to me, or the group has become smaller? - Looking around the group with a mundane, Erwin thought for him with a cursory glance and began to frantically recall the number of children. -How many were there? Am… 16, yes? - Once again praising his impeccable memory, Erwin again looked at the children and began to count them. - 12,13,14... What? Where are two more !? - Without wasting time, Erwin immediately rushed to another corridor so that the children could not hear him and took out his phone and dialed security guards. - Two children disappeared in the physics lab, where are they!? Faster! He blurted out in one breath to the poor guard.

- They're in…!! - Realizing the seriousness of the situation, the guard at the pace of the waltz examined more than a dozen cameras and as soon as he found the children, the tone of his voice instantly changed to a more anxious and timid. - Zone for testing contactless energy transfer!

- Heck! Quickly send someone there! - Throwing away the water bottle and clutching the phone tightly in his hand, Erwin quickly ran to the most important test site. - I knew that these children cannot be so obedient and where the hell would Katya and their class teacher! - Thinking about this topic, Erwin did not notice how he faced the magnetic door leading to the test site. - Stop... how did they even get there?! This door cannot be opened without an access key... Did someone leave here and didn't notice how the children went in, or... how? - Erwin thought again while taking out his magnetic pass, but he did not think about it for a long time, because now something else was important. Opening the door with his pass, Erwin literally flew into the test site and quickly examined everything that was inside, then exhaled... - Pooh she just walks... - Seeing how a little girl, about seven years old with short dark hair, stands at the stand and with his finger to his lips, he reads, Erwin exhaled, but then, turning his eyes to another elementary school student, his heart sank. - STAY!! - Erwin shouted at the side of a seven-year-old boy with blond hair and at that very moment, Erwin again fell off his seat, trying to get to the boy and personally pull him back, because the place where he was going was one of the most dangerous in the first training ground!

Arriving at him, Erwin pulled him back by the clothes with one hand, and slipping on the floor, he flew down...

- FUCK! - The last thing Erwin shouted before falling right on the path of the lasers, whose terrifying power did not leave a genius and a shred of hair...