Welcome Back.

Rick leaned on a tree trunk and closed his eyes, his head bursting with pain as if thousands of needles wanted to pierce his skull to find the way out.

But this pain was nothing compared to the confusion and fear that had seized his body. Like some kind of crazy stalker, he wandered after the girl for the last three days, not even taking into account her personal space. Watching her, he hoped to find answers to questions that tormented him, but this only exacerbated the situation.

The fury inside him grew more and more when he saw how she smiled sweetly at another man, how he touched her and kissed her. She even stayed with this man for the night, which Rick chose to skip, otherwise, his incomprehensible anger would finally take over him.

These three days were a real torture for him, and he didn't care about the consequences, that she would see his face and that he would reveal himself to an outsider, which was strictly forbidden by his Master.

But the Master was not in the city, Rick could no longer resist the tormenting incomprehensible emotions, so he met with her.

He saw this girl, and then something happened that he himself had not expected. Rick thought that his mind was shrouded in a thick fog when all his balance and rationality evaporated in the blink of an eye as soon as he touched her lips.

He was still at a loss from what he had done, but his hands remembered every curve of the girl's body, her scent, and the softness of her skin. These sensations even now felt as quite real, as if he had not let her go.

"Idiot," the man cursed to himself and straightened. He needed to return to his room so that other people at the base would not notice his long absence. Before that, Rick was not very sociable with other subordinates of Marcus, but this time he knew for sure that if Master knew about Rick's little trips that he had without warning, then in the best-case scenario he would just have a quick death.

Rick has seen more than once how monstrous his Master can be if the latter is seriously angered. Therefore, he needed to do everything possible so that Marcus did not notice anything suspicious in his behavior.

The man straightened up and walked confidently towards the building, tacitly greeting the guard, he went inside. The building of their headquarters was littered with dozens of surveillance cameras, so there was no reason for him to hide from them since the security service was well aware that he was not in the room.

The dense forest surrounding the base served not only as a shelter from prying eyes but also as an excellent training ground for practicing shooting and covert surveillance, as it was crammed with all kinds of traps, lasers and motion sensors.

All people who expressed a desire to work in the subordination of the Master had to go through a hidden obstacle course. The failure of this condition was their own life. That is why all those who were at the base were first-class specialists, albeit not in the most humane matters. They were the personal special team of Marcus, the Alpha team squad, needed for the performance of his most responsible and difficult tasks. And Rick was the top in this team.

He walked down the corridor to his room, opened the door and went inside.

"Welcome back," a low, cold voice made Rick freeze. He closed his eyes and mentally cursed to himself. That was bad.

The man turned around and bowed his head in courtesy, "Master, welcome back." Marcus was sitting in the chair behind him, his gaze like a scanner, analyzed every movement and facial expression of his subordinate.

"You said you would be absent for a week. I believe things have been resolved positively since you returned earlier," Rick decided to take the initiative and chose the topic for conversation. The fact that Marcus returned much earlier than planned meant only one thing - either the case went well, or something extraordinary happened. And Rick sincerely hoped for the first option.

"Where have you been?" Marcus's question sounded with a tone that did not allow Rick to get away from the answer.

"I was training, sir. Practicing shooting skills."

"Hmm, I see." Marcus stood up and walked over to Rick. The smile on his face promised nothing good. "Training, you're saying?" The man put his hand on Rick's shoulder, his lips tightened in a thin line, there was no trace of his former smile.

A sharp pain pierced Rick's entire body, like a strong electric shock. He fell to the floor and bent, Marcus sank to one knee, grabbed the man by the hair and raised his head to look in the face of his best assassin, who dared to disobey him, "Bastard! Dare to lie to your master?! My people checked all the training zones in the forest, you weren't there!" Marcus hissed, "I am asking for the last time! Where were you?!"

"I... I was on a mission," Rick answered in a hoarse voice. He could not admit that he was following the girl and that he even came into direct contact with her. Better to lie again than to tell the truth.

"On a mission?" Marcus raised his eyebrows, imitating amazement, "And what kind of mission were you on? Isn't that what I told you to do for the last time, huh?"

Shit. Carried away by his own thoughts, Rick completely forgot that he had to follow a girl named Elena Anderson and one of Marcus's pawns - Philip Carter. And if he crosses the line, then Rick had to activate the chip built into Carter for self-destruction, otherwise... Aggh, now it's just shit. If an object is out of control, then...

Rick looked at the Master and compressed his lips, he could not answer anything to the question posed, because by the reaction of Marcus he already realized that something had happened that was not in his plans.

"Why are you keeping silent? Nothing to justify?" Marcus let go of Rick's hair, straightened up and let it out slowly. His anger reached its limit, a little more, and he was ready to smash the whole building into small pieces.

"Fifty years. Fifty fucking years, I worked on creating this chip, Richard," the man spoke in a steady and calm voice, but his every word resembled the final seconds of the countdown before the big bang, "And because of one mistake, because, damn it, you didn't fulfill the task entrusted to you, all my plans could go to hell!" Marcus grabbed a chair and threw it against the wall with all his strength, which scattered into small details.

"I told you that Elena is my property?! I warned you to make sure that bastard didn't cross the line?! ANSWER ME NOW!"

"Yes, Master. You did," Rick answered right away. Seeing the reaction of his master, he suggested that, most likely, the Carter object got out of control and caused harm to this girl, named Elena. It would be nice if she stayed alive, otherwise, these minutes were the last in Rick's life. Marcus would never forgive him such a mistake.

The chips that they had installed for several thousand influential people around the world over the past six years were remote control sensors that subjugate the human mind and control his behavior and thoughts. There were several types of chips whose common function was to control the object to who it was introduced.

Depending on the psychological stability of the object, the strength of his will and character, a side effect during the operation of the chip was the strengthening of his subconscious self, that often had negative intentions.

If a person had bad thoughts, but in everyday life, consciousness restrained him from radical actions, then with the introduction of the chip, all his base desires and secret intentions seized control of the human mind, turning him into a wild monster. He lost control over the distinction where is reality and where is fiction, perceiving his judgments as the only possible truth.

And if his perception of reality did not coincide with what the reality was, there was a subconscious conflict and the object went crazy. It is as if he saw everything in black, but he was instantly told that it was white. The inability to accept a different point of view, the refusal to fulfill his requirements were those triggers that launched the process of self-destruction.

Which, in fact, happened to Carter when he received a refusal from Elena. The way he saw the situation did not coincide with what it really was.

But Rick did not know about it yet. All he knew was the chip installed in the body of Philip Carter, was far from simple, its functions were much wider, as well as the consequences of its use.

Marcus's phone rang, he lifted it to his ear and sat on the bed, "I'm listening."

"Sir, the body of the object was taken to the central hospital. According to our data, he is still alive. What are your orders?" One of Marcus's subordinates, Simon, reported on the situation.

Marcus rubbed his temples, wondering what to do. He could not allow the doctors to examine Carter and take tests from him, otherwise, he would have to clean too much. The time has not yet come for the data on the chips to go public.

"Remove the chip, destroy the object," the man replied in an icy voice. After this bastard dared to harm his property, he would not let him live for a second. All Marcus wanted was for Philip to frighten Elena, but to allow more was not in his plans.

"I obey, sir. Will be done. What to do with the originals of recordings from surveillance cameras? We loaded the fake data into the system as soon as the object entered the room, so no one saw what happened except direct witnesses."

"Who are the direct witnesses?" Marcus asked, he generally knew about the situation but had not yet managed to delve into the details. First of all, it was necessary to cover the tracks.

"Elena and David Andersons and their secretary. The secretary is now in the same hospital, but he has serious injuries, so most likely he doesn't count," Simon answered. He was one of Marcus's geniuses for surveillance and hacking of security systems and could go unnoticed into any room and system, including the Pentagon.

"Hmmm, David Anderson, you are saying?" A devilish smile slid across Marcus's face. "Find out which inspector is responsible for this case. I have one idea, wait for the confirmation call."

"I obey, sir. I'm starting to execute the order," Simon answered and hung up.

Marcus put the phone on the bed and looked at Rick. The man was sitting with his back on the wall and breathing heavily, sweat came out on his forehead. Oh yes, this sight was pleasing to the eye.

Marcus knew exactly what pain Rick had experienced from his touch, if he was an ordinary person, he would fall into a coma for at least three days. To the joy of the Master, his slave was not a mere mortal, and he could punish him as much as he wished.

Marcus got out of bed and walked over to Rick, "Kneel!" He ordered, but Rick didn't even move. "Your Master orders you TO GET ON YOUR KNEES!!" Rick's body, regardless of whether he wanted it or not, moved of its own accord, and the man knelt next to his Master.

Marcus grabbed his neck and squeezed his throat, "Well then, let's see what you were so busy with, that you dared to disobey me?"

Rick's heart tightened, no matter how hard he tried, but it was impossible to hide something from the eyes of this demon. He gritted his teeth in pain as Marcus's hand touched his head. As if sucking the life energy from his body, all his thoughts and memories appeared before his Master as frames from a movie, in all its details.

Marcus pushed the man away from himself and laughed out loud, "Ahaha, what do you know! And you know how to surprise, Richard! I didn't expect you to betray your Master because of some whore!"

"She's not a whore," Rick hissed through gritted teeth. At this moment, he wanted to tear off the head of man standing above him with an arrogant look. But he was powerless.

"Yes? And then who is she?" Marcus asked him in a sarcastic voice.

"She... she...," the man thought, he did not know what to answer and said the first thing that occurred to him, "She is my family. My wife and daughter." Rick finished his thought, not completely believing in his words. All he hoped for was that the Master would confirm or deny them. Because this man, except that girl, was the only one who knew about him. He knew who Rick really was.

"Wife and daughter?! Ahahaha, that's a scream! Goodness, well, you made me laugh!" Marcus laughed out loud, tears appeared in his eyes. He waved them off and looked at the man with regret, "Hah, you should have heard yourself. Do you know that you were planning to shoot your own so-called 'wife' with your own hands when she was still pregnant with your so-called 'daughter'?"

Rick's hands got cold, he knew that his Master was one of those people who wouldn't lie about that. He could have hidden something good from him, but if the truth was dirty and cruel, then Marcus would have gladly presented it on a platter.

But even so, it was hard for Rick to believe it.

"I do not believe you," he replied, his eyes full of protest looking at his owner without a drop of fear.

"You don't believe me?" Marcus leaned over, his gaze level with Rick, "Then see for yourself." He grinned and touched the man's forehead, "Ta-dam!"

Rick flinched when millions of pictures at great speed began to burst into his mind, filling the void with which he lived all this time. Returning with his emotions and feelings that he did not know about before.

The man fell to the floor, his breathing was heavy, his pulse was frequent. Gathering his last strength, he leaned on the wall and sat down.

Marcus sat on the bed with his legs crossed, his elbow resting on his knee, his chin on his fist. The man was in anticipation of the upcoming game.

"Long time no see, Rick. Welcome back," he grinned.

Rick looked up, his eyes full of hatred and disgust, "Go to hell, Marcus."

"We will still see who goes where. In the meantime, we have something to discuss, right?"