The Pain.

Rick raised his head and looked thoughtfully at the gray ceiling. If he had been asked now how he could describe his life, he would have answered with confidence that his whole life was as gray and empty as this ceiling in his tiny room, in which there were not even windows. And that light and joy that sometimes surfaced in his memory were always associated with one person, and this person was Corey.

Without realizing it, he gave up on her twice of his own free will and stupidity, because of his fears and imaginary ambitions, aspirations and goals, without which he could do well.

The first time was when he met her in childhood, and this little girl gave him hope for a better future. He sometimes thought that if he had refused Marcus's proposal then what would his life be like? Would he be frozen to death there alone at a cold night, or would he get out, get in touch with David's father and become his son's friend, unaware of their common past?

Although for Rick all these relations were a complete fake, David treated him with sincerity and support, considered him a real and closest friend, sometimes even Daniel was jealous of their close relations.

The persistence with which David was seeking Elena struck Rick, and he often wondered why it was necessary to make such sacrifices for the sake of the girl. And when they found traces of Elena, Rick breathed a sigh of relief, as it became harder and harder to be pretending in the presence of David, and he increasingly found himself thinking that the company of the younger Anderson was genuinely pleasant to him.

But what struck him the most, and it was a complete surprise, was that Elena's best friend was none other than the girl whom he met at a cold London night many years ago. She again broke into his life without any warning and made him experience something that he had never even thought about.

"Hmm, Rick, you have lived for so many years, and what an idiot you were, you remained like that," he sighed.

Not only that, he actually betrayed his beloved girl twice, but also again got into her personal life when she developed her relationship with another man. "I would never have thought that this womanizer Daniel would be serious about the girl. Well, frankly, he's not such a bad option."

From the thought that Corey would spend her life in the arms of another man, something tightened in Rick's chest, but he realized that he had no right to be jealous or claim something. After all that he had done, he was not worthy of her attention, no matter how much he craved it with all his heart.

The door of the room clicked, and Marcus went inside with some kind of box in one hand and a telephone in the other, he looked very pleased, one might even say joyful.

"Well done, great job," he praised his assistant. Having received confirmation that Philip Carter would no longer pose a threat and that the chip was successfully removed from his body, Marcus weighed all possible options and considered the current situation as very favorable for himself.

"Have you found out who is leading this case? Oh, that inspector? Ahaha, luck seems to be on our side today, even if the police inspector is in our power. Where are the witnesses?"

"Master, we could not get access to the secretary, he is surrounded by serious security, but with a 95 percent probability, he will not even last till morning. As for Elena and David Anderson, they are currently at their home, along with two children," the subordinate reported.

"At home? With two children?" Marcus shot Rick a provocative look, he didn't even need to ask to understand what children he was speaking about. An ominous smile began to play on Taubert's face, "Hmm, how wonderful." The man sat on the bed, his gaze was directed at Rick.

"Simon, tell Hendrix that I gave permission to activate that cop's chip. I need David Anderson to run into serious problems, hmmm, I think the accusation of Carter's murder would be fine. Make the policeman make sure that Anderson is not at home in the next couple of hours. I plan to visit my new friend," Marcus smirked and hung up.

Unlike most of the rich people, Elena and David preferred a normal lifestyle. And although their house was in a closed and well-guarded area, and they also had personal guards, in the evening when they were at home, the couple preferred to let all the servants and guards go home so that outsiders were not present in their family space.

Given that Ashley and Sean were not ordinary children, the parents felt that the fewer people are in their close circle, the better. And this situation suited Marcus too.

Rick looked at him warily when the latter was in such high spirits, it did not bode well, "What are you up to?"

Marcus crossed his legs, put the phone next to him and picked up the small box that he had brought earlier. "I see, are you too relaxed? Has the memory blocking process not yet begun? Maybe we should replace your chip, what do you think?"

Rick's face twitched from this offer, even if from the outside he looked calm and indifferent, in reality, his whole body was pierced here and there by cramps of hellish pain. If Marcus had looked more closely, he would have noticed the sweat which stood out on Rick's forehead from intense tension.

These were the consequences of embedding the chip. Marcus was too lazy to restore Rick's memory every time he got bored, so he just installed a chip that restored and blocked the memory of his servant when and for such an amount of time that was convenient for Marcus.

Likewise, Rick's body was completely in his power, and he could at any moment take his life or subjugate his will to himself, even without being near him.

And that infuriated Rick the most. To feel helpless and limp.

Marcus opened the box and pulled out of it a small square plastic envelope, inside of which there was a round metal thing, no larger than a pea. Under the light of the lamp, it began to shimmer with rainbow colors, changing shades from one to another.

Rick clenched his hands into fists, cold sweat running down his back. He knew what this type of chip was, and saw the consequences of its use. Not a single torture in the world could compare with the hellish torment that this small and seemingly attractive little thing delivered.

The corners of Marcus's lips twitched in a sarcastic grin, "It's beautiful, don't you think so? What do you think, who will be the two lucky owners of these crumbs that I am holding in my hands now?" He waved two plastic envelopes and in one of them the chip was even smaller than the first, "Look, this is a new modification, reduced in size, but not less effective."

Rick's face turned white, horror shackled his heart when it dawned on him what the monster sitting in front of him meant, "Nooo, you dare not. Are you completely crazy?! She is still a child!"

Marcus bowed his head, his face was completely indifferent to the words of his former ally, "So? Do you expect me to be somehow touched by your words? The fact that she is a child does not bother me at all." He put the chips back in the box and got up from the bed. As soon as he took a step, Rick's whole body was paralyzed, and he fell to the floor.

Marcus was walking slowly in his direction, his every step was causing an electric discharge throughout the man's body, who in vain tried to get on his knees at least.

"You," Taubert's voice was low and cold as steel. Rick felt his mind begin to turn off as if he was falling into deep hypnosis. This was the first sign that he was about to lose his memory again.

"You," Marcus repeated his words, his tone sounded like the tone of a Master voicing an order to punish his servant, "dared to disobey me. Not only did you not bring Elena before me, as was originally agreed because of which I had to reconsider my plans, which, however, didn't really affect the speed of reaching my final goal. But you still dared to jeopardize my further actions by following your emotions."

He stopped, knelt down and grabbed Rick by the hair, he should have seen the eyes of a once strong and cynical officer when he heard his final sentence, "If emotions interfere with your work, we can easily fix it. But for this to be more effective, you must also get rid of the root of all problems. You already understood who these two cute toys are for? I think these two accessories will be just right for your blond girls," he grinned and let go of the man's head.

Rick closed his eyes and clenched his jaw with anger and wrath that overwhelmed him, but could not escape, words flew from his lips that he would not say for anything, even if his life depended on it. But now it was not about his life.

"Marcus, I am asking you, no, I am begging you, do not do this. This is my daughter, she is only five years old, she is just a child!" But Marcus did not seem to hear his words and only turned to go away.

"Bastard! Insensitive scum! This is the reason why you have no family, no children! You don't understand this!" Rick shouted after him, he didn't care what torture would follow, and whether he would survive at all.

Marcus froze on the spot, the air in the room seemed to turn into a vicious viscid fluid, Rick felt how, with each breath, his lungs were turning into a heavy stone, pressing on his chest.

He did not even have time to blink an eye, as Marcus squeezed his throat, the latter's eyes burned with a fire of rage and hatred, similar to that which is blazing in the very depths of hell, burning sinners and murderers.

"What do you even know about me?!" Marcus hissed, squeezing Rick's throat even more, "You have no idea what suffering and loss are." Rick looked into his eyes and saw in them for the first time what he had never seen before. He saw deep and heartbreaking pain.

Marcus realized that he was following his emotions, and his expression changed immediately. The pain that had previously been visible in his eyes evaporated as if it had never existed. He leaned over to Rick's ear and added something in a whisper with a devilish grin.

Rick froze in shock at what he heard, he turned his head and looked at Marcus to make sure that he understood his words correctly. And by the expression on the face of the latter, it was obvious that he did not lie.

The shock on Rick's face gave way to confusion, horror and finally disgust, "You have always been disgusting, but I did not even imagine that you are disgusting to such level."

Marcus laughed, Rick's words did not hurt his emotions, it was enough that he had already succumbed to provocation once, he would not allow anything like that anymore. "Well, I consider it a compliment."

"David will never give Elena to you, don't even hope for it," Rick replied.

Marcus squinted his eyes, his lips in a thin line, the corners slightly lifted up, "David? You are overestimating your friend, Richard. Believe me, I don't even have to do anything, because Elena will come to me herself. On her own will."

He stretched as if this conversation began to make him sleepy, "Well, I think that is where we will end our conversation. Until next time, Ricky. Although, I can't guarantee that you will be satisfied with what will happen by then," Marcus laughed and left the room.

Rick gathered his last strength and tried to get up from the floor, but his body completely refused to obey, his eyes filled with heaviness, he knew that as soon as he closed them, his whole memory, all his thoughts about Corey and Ashley would plunge into the deep darkness of his subconscious, depriving his ability to think freely.

He knew that if he closed his eyes, that would be the end.

. . .

Marcus was sitting in a high leather chair and looking at the photographs lying on the table. They were old and a bit shabby from frequent viewing, but the colors were still vibrant.

The man gathered them together and carefully folded them in an envelope, after which he got up from the table and went to the wall. Along it were long shelves on which in dense rows there were stacks of folders.

Folgers were divided into colors, four numbers on each of them indicated a specific year. He went to one of them, took it out and put the envelope with photos inside, and then put it back on the shelf.

His fingers slipped through other folders and stopped at one with the number 1998, he froze, thinking about whether to take it, but changed his mind, dropped his hand and left the room, closing the door to the lock, the code from which was known only to him.

The man walked along a long, dim corridor, stopped at one of the doors and opened it. There was another man in the room, it was evident that he had recently changed clothes and put himself in order. His face, as before, was devoid of any emotions.

He heard someone go into his room and turn around, "Master," Rick bowed and then straightened his back, like an ordinary soldier, ready to listen to another order.

Marcus took a box of chips from the table, which he left here before, "Your task for the evening is to embed these two chips. Your objects are Corey and Ashley Williams. Simon will give you the address. When you are done, return to the base."

Rick took a box from his hands, two rainbow chips, one the size of a pea, the other no bigger than two grains of rice, were lying inside separate plastic envelopes. He took out the two envelopes and put them in the pocket of his clothes.

"It will be done, Master," he bowed and vanished into thin air.