Tim impatiently waited for the others in the basement, especially Mara, as he was worried the authorities would uncover all the members' names and workplaces. Tim's sole purpose here was this girl, Mara; the rest didn't matter to him. After the shooting, he rushed back to his lodgings, making sure he wasn't followed. Essentially, he spent the entire afternoon peering out the window, watching for any suspicious figures.

And then there was the anxiety. If he check on Mara, would he put her in danger? And what was Guldar's actual goal with all this?

When Peter arrived, this was his first question to him. "Man, don't ask me such things," Peter defended. "All he told me was that we're taking revenge."

"But, strangely, he planned the shootout in the restaurant if that's what he wanted," said Noeme, the kitchen girl whose name our protagonist had finally learned.

Meanwhile, Mara also arrived, and they had to explain everything to her. The tall girl, Guldar's girlfriend, cried and drank. Karl, who somehow survived the whole thing, was sitting at the table from which Tim had fled just in time, and he presented an interesting theory: "I don't think Guldar wanted a shootout. He didn't give any signal for it; our new friend, Timothy, started the whole thing!"

Tim's suspicion was growing like a storm. He glared at Karl. "Of course, he gave a signal; he looked at me and nodded. Isn't that a signal?"

"You pulled out your gun; Guldar only gestured to wait!" Karl shouted. "I think he had completely different plans!"

Tim fumed. "Different plans? Like what? Do you think we would have just chatted about the weather? It was about revenge!"

"Tim is right," Maria interjected. "Dash wouldn't have been satisfied with a little chat. That's why he came with so many people. If they had started the shooting, even fewer of us would have survived!"

Karl's hate-filled glare at Tim was a clear sign of the tension in the room. "Now, we should focus on completely lying low. The organization is dissolved from now on!" Several people murmured at Peter's words. "After today's stunt, I think it's logical."

"What about the meeting with the inventor tomorrow?" Karl asked, his voice tinged with worry.

Tim was also very curious about this part. He was almost sure Bernardt wouldn't hand over the description since he saw him discussing it with Zeck unless this was about something else. "Are you sure it's not a trap where they'll catch you?" Tim asked.

"Sure! Bernardt is a good guy; he already sold us the prototype, but the authorities somehow found out where it was and reclaimed it. Guldar was the contact, but fortunately, he briefed me too, so I know where he'll hand it over tomorrow."

"I'm still almost certain you're walking into a trap. I think it would be better to let the matter rest a bit," Tim said.

"That's not an option since you're crossing over on Sunday evening. It's our last chance to get it through with you. If Bernardt does hand it over, and you're right about it being a trap, we need to get rid of it as soon as possible so they don't find it on us," Peter thought logically, but Tim still wanted to find a way out of the whole thing. He wanted to spend more time with Mara because he hadn't yet figured out if she was as attracted to him as he was to her. She had returned his kiss and was sitting beside him now, but Tim was growing increasingly doubtful. The fact that his appearance came in handy and that he was now entrusted with the invention made Tim a useful member, but he also felt used.

Would the girl still sit next to him if he hadn't promised anything?

And how could he find out? While he was lost in thought, he didn't notice that the others were already talking about how, with the restaurant gone, the employees—Mara, Peter, and Noeme—would have to go into hiding because they would undoubtedly be watched. They needed to acquire new identities and jobs quickly. Tim thought this wouldn't be difficult as they had their connections.

Mara kindly offered to let them stay at her place tonight since her apartment was large enough. That evening, they stayed briefly, and everyone left individually.

Although Tim had other plans for Mara, he had to be satisfied with the girl hugging him and assuring him that they would meet tomorrow and that she was ready to cross over with the invention.

"And if there was no invention? Would you still come with me?" Tim whispered in her ear. Mara looked surprised and just stared at him with her big brown eyes. She said nothing; she slipped out of his embrace and followed the others. This silent rejection did not reassure Tim.

Only Peter and Karl remained in the basement, finishing their beers. Tim envied Peter for spending the night at Mara's apartment and began to have strange thoughts about whether they knew each other better. After all, Tim barely knew anything about the girl.

Peter wrote down an address for both of them. "Be there at eleven. Don't come by car and act like you were passing by. Bernardt will hand over the description to me, but it would be better if you cover me if it's a trap. For example, it's a park, so you can pretend to be jogging. He'll be sitting on a bench; I'll go over, he'll hand it over, and that's it. Watch to see if he's alone or if someone is watching. If you see anything suspicious, one of you come over and ask if we know the time. Once I have the pen drive, I'll try to pass it to you."

"Now that's a plan!" Tim said. "Much better than Guldar's chaotic approach!"

Karl glared at him angrily, but Peter interjected: "Let's not start this now; there's no time for it. If anything goes wrong, the pen drive is the key! Tim, ensure I get the description across if something happens to me! I'll write down my contact's name. Look for them, and give it to them!"

Tim felt the world spinning around him. He suddenly had the power to bring down an entire network.

Suppose he decided to stay on as an inspector with Zack's team. But he was primarily worried about whether Bernardt would hand over the description. And how should he dress so the inventor wouldn't recognize him?

Then, as he walked home, the fresh sea breeze blowing, he suddenly felt calm. There wouldn't be any handover; that Goat-bearded man couldn't be that crazy. They would go there, no one would be there, and then he would cross over with Mara in the evening. What other choice did the girl have? She had to hide here, too, with the resistance disbanded. Everything would be fine, he reassured himself.

Still, the old dream about Mara returned that night. He was standing knee-deep in a swamp, and when Mara walked past him, she just waved at him with a smile and kept walking, not even stopping to help. Yet Tim was struggling, trying to escape the heavy mud that wouldn't let him move.

He didn't know what this dream meant, but it left him in a bad mood, and he woke up early.

Mara was working that day, and in the morning, as he got breakfast, he headed to the hotel. He walked as he had taken Peter's advice. As there were so few cars, everyone knew whose was whose.

He saw the girl walking alone toward the hotel, which reassured him. Until the meeting time, he was occupied with finding the right running outfit, one in which he wouldn't be recognized. The main thing was the hat, but since his distinctive ears stuck out of everything, he finally bought a blonde wig with a neon green headband, tucking his ears under it.

He looked terrific, and he was satisfied with what he saw every time he looked in the mirror. Even Karl didn't recognize him; he was warming up by a tree when Tim walked by. Tim mimicked Karl's movements, making Karl think he was some odd character, so he moved away. The situation amused Tim, who continued to clown around until Karl was furious. "Relax, it's me!"

Karl looked at him with wide eyes, impressed by his running outfit. He hadn't gone overboard, wearing shorts, running shoes, and the same T-shirt as yesterday.

They warmed up by walking a few laps around the small square. There were benches along the path, and soon, Peter was sitting on one of them. They didn't see anything suspicious. With the sun blazing above, this was the time when people preferred cooling off at the beach rather than jogging or sitting in the city's small park, so there was no one else around.

To Tim's surprise, Bernardt showed up. From a distance, he recognized the annoying face with the goat beard. Bernardt was carrying something strange under his arm, which looked like a dog at first. As he got closer, they saw it was a cat, the kind without fur and very wrinkled.

When Bernardt got close to Peter, he put the cat down on the ground and handed something over. Then he walked away with his ugly cat on a leash. That was the handover, and Tim couldn't believe how simple it was. Peter waited, stood up, bent down as if adjusting his shoe, and walked away.

"Did Peter say where we'll meet next?" Tim asked. He wanted to talk to him to determine if the description was on the pen drive.

"At Mara's place, she finishes at four today."

He gave Tim the address, and they went their separate ways.

Tim had grown to like this running outfit, especially how the headband hid his ears. He ran down to the beach, where he barely found a spot to sit due to the crowds of sunbathing tourists. But Tim was determined and wanted to swim again before leaving. He didn't mind that people stared at him strangely as he walked onto the beach in his neon green running gear, only taking off his shoes and shirt before running into the blue waves. He swam far out again, losing the wig at some point, but he didn't care.

At home, he ate some leftovers, regretting that he couldn't have a hamburger today. Then he remembered there must be other restaurants but wanted to avoid drawing attention to himself.

After four, he headed to Mara's place. He found himself going with the flow again. His main goal was to go back with Mara and start a new life together if that's what she wanted. And that was what he needed to find out.

Peter opened the door, and it was clear he was ecstatic.

"We did it! You hear? We did it!" he cheered, even hugging the emotional Tim.

"Did you check? Is it on there?" Tim asked.

The room wall projected complex engineering drawings and formulas they didn't understand, but it also depicted a portable teleporter.

"Let's raise our glasses to Mara and Tim, who will take the invention and end the authorities' monopoly on teleportation!" Maria cheered.

Mara also appeared as excited as everyone else. Only Tim was lost in thought, mainly puzzled by the inventor. Why did he sell his invention to the resistance? Was Bernardt also a sympathizer of the organization? Was he shamelessly outsmarting Zack, who greeted him as a good friend? Tim thought they knew each other very well. And the fact that Bernardt didn't like him from the first moment—they mutually disliked each other. And when he remembered the cat...

So, while the others celebrated, Tim pondered two things. First, how can he find out if Mara loves him and will come with him even without the description? He was sure there wouldn't be any invention, and it wouldn't be an issue. Second, Bernardt irked him. He found himself concocting plans to warn still Zack, which was utterly irrational since he wouldn't have time. The plan was to head straight to the lab with Mara. Just the two of them, meaning he could talk to Mara. Could Jimmy pass a message to Zack? Could he ask him to do that?