Bernardt always envisioned a world where teleportation was a free form of travel without the need for complex official permits and various approvals. The last straw for him was the introduction of the EPRS number, a regulation that further hindered the use of teleporters. It only served to keep travel even more under the authorities' control.

He dreamed of making this travel safe and accessible anywhere, even in distant places in space. When he shared this plan with Zack, he was initially enthusiastic, but after discussions with the leaders, they raised numerous legal concerns. So, nothing came of it, even though Bernard had already worked out the theoretical part. This rejection is why he started to build connections with the resistance. The system is flawed if the authorities don't want to progress and give space to new things. And he no longer wanted to be a part of it.

What prevented him from leaving the little island earlier and joining the resistance? Simple. No one wants to go into exile voluntarily. His current life was very comfortable; he had everything—a luxury villa and a beautiful ocean view—or rather, that's all he had. Despite the millions of ideas racing in his mind about how his invention could make life easier, the authorities would never want the development.

For instance, as he stood in his room looking at his favorite armchair scratched to pieces, he thought that ordering a new one and having it shipped by boat would take several weeks, maybe even a month. Teleportation would make it so much simpler. However, transporting objects or even food by teleportation was strictly prohibited due to legal issues. However, he felt it still required authorization primarily because of opposition from big transportation corporations.

So, it was utterly pointless to order a new one; if all went well, he would be gone in a few days anyway. Until yesterday, he was afraid to join the resistance openly, but now he saw he had no choice.

In the mornings, he usually took his cat down to the beach; they walked and looked around while the cleaners did their job. Katy's favorite carrier for these occasions was a backpack with a pouch part at the front, from which she could stick her head out and enjoy the wind hitting her face as they sped along on the electric scooter.

Katy's favorite activity was riding the scooter to the beach and walking there. Bernardt always got a coffee and sat on the beach promenade, watching Katy try to catch the little crabs, who quickly ran back to the water as if they knew the cat wouldn't follow them.

On this day, Bernardt had another plan besides drinking a coffee and tiring out the cat. He wanted to buy a new collar with a holder to hide a pen drive. Now that he had the new portable teleporter description on three pen drives, he kept all of them with him because he didn't trust his staff. One would go to the resistance, one to Zack, and one to Katy's collar.

Katy wasn't pleased about not going straight home, meowing disapprovingly from the backpack when she noticed they weren't taking their usual route but heading towards the supermarket instead.

"Shall we get you a pretty little collar? Would you like that?" he said encouragingly, kissing the cat on the head.

After a long search, he finally found what he was looking for. He bought a rhinestone collar because Katy liked shiny things, particularly the black rhinestones. He also found a men's necklace with a small pouch that could hold anything. He would remove the pendant from the necklace and attach it to Katy's new collar. Bernardt even tried fitting the pen drive inside, which fit perfectly without being noticeable.

Katy gracefully accepted her new accessory and purred as if she was rewarded for yesterday's chaos. The cleaners had done an excellent job removing all traces of the mess, putting up new curtains, and getting rid of the armchair.

He spent all day waiting, impatiently checking his phone for Max's call to find out what he had managed to arrange. He hoped Max understood how important this was. Katy must have sensed his impatience as she stopped before him and meowing, which she didn't usually do. Then, when the much-awaited call finally came, she sat on his lap and meowed randomly into the phone conversation.

"Bernard, I've got good news!" Max began. "They're expecting you in the park at 11 on Sunday. You can hand over the description there. The contact will be sitting on the fifth bench from the entrance. Does that work for you?"

"Of course, of course. And the other matter?" Bernard asked, trying to calm Katy, who seemed to be having difficulty with her owner's attention not being on her.

"That one was a bit tougher. There's a gate at the lab, you know it too."

"Yes, but it's impossible to get in there now. It's guarded like a fortress."

"To the right of the entrance, there's a dirt road through the forest. Follow it, and you'll reach a small house. Jimmy used to work in the lab; you might know him. He's a caretaker or security guard now. But he takes his job very seriously. Unfortunately, I've had to ask him for favors several times recently, and he's gotten pretty grumpy. So if he gets irritated, don't mind it. He's a good guy, just protecting his skin. When he found out who it was for, he softened up. But he made me promise never to send anyone to him again."

"I'm grateful you arranged it."

"I hear you still have that annoying cat. But you're not planning to bring it with you?"

"Don't joke; she's like my child. And listen, if something happens to me... the cat has something important..."

"Do you feel like you're in danger?"

"Yes, you know, I'm going to see Zack on Monday; I am a bit concerned about what will happen next, but if all goes well, I'll go to your Jimmy, and everything will be fine."

The Sunday handover in the park went smoothly, and Katy behaved well. She was calm as they walked to the park the whole time, and Bernardt carried her in his arms. And he made a surprising discovery. While they were walking in the park, two joggers passed by them. He was worried that the cat would jump out of his arms and something would go wrong, but quite the opposite happened. The tall blonde in a ridiculous neon green running outfit looked at the cat, and Katy purred back. This connection was something he had never encountered before. His cat only purred for him, yet this strange figure just had to smile and win over his cat.

On the way back, he pondered this, wondering if perhaps his cat was changing and becoming much calmer. The doctor had also said that eventually, as she aged, she would shed her quirks. He just needed to be patient. He had patience, so since he considered himself a good inventor, he applied scientific methods and experimented.

They went into a shop with Katy, who was not in the backpack. Well, that was a mistake, as she immediately jumped onto someone's back, who started screaming. They could only catch the crazed cat with the help of a security guard, who cornered her.

So she hadn't calmed down; it was just that young man who had triggered something in her? On the way home, he looked at the cat suspiciously and felt jealous.

He was very nervous about the Monday meeting. It also stressed him out that he had to leave the cat alone in the house again, not knowing what kind of madness she might get up to. The other source of stress was Zack himself. Would Zack have him killed right after the handover? He hoped for a little more time, or Zack still didn't suspect anything.

Katy looked sadly at him as he prepared to leave. She only got suspicious that her owner would leave her alone again when he left a treat in her bowl, much more than she usually got.

"I'm just leaving you for a little while. Be a good girl, okay?" he stroked and kissed her forehead.

He didn't dare look back because tears rose in his eyes. What if this was the last time he saw Katy? And did he only feel sorry for his cat in this world? Maybe Danielle was right, and this wasn't good.

Zack was sneezing again when they met.

"Not again!" he said, pulling out a mask. "This may help"!

"Let's make this quick. Here is the description," Bernardt said, handing over the small black pen drive.

Zack took it and turned it over in his hand. "Are you sure there are no copies of this?"

Bernard was about to speak when he noticed Zack placing it on the coffee table beside an identical pen drive.

Undoubtedly, this was the one he had given to the resistance. But how could they be so amateurish that both the prototype and now the description had ended up with Zack?

"Do you want me to make excuses? Do you want me to come up with some good pretext?" said Bernardt, realizing after a quick assessment of the situation that he could do nothing—he had been caught red-handed. All he needed now was to buy a little time.

Zack stood up, sneezed a few times, and poured two glasses of whiskey. He never usually offered Bernardt a drink because he knew the inventor didn't drink, but now he did, and the inventor accepted it.

"Bernard, I don't know what drove you to betray me like this and twice at that. I've always done everything for you and stood by you. So I want to know why?"

"I am grateful for everything, and I know the invention wouldn't have come without your support. But Zack, you're putting the whole thing in a drawer! I didn't work for nearly 20 years for the world not to know who I am and what amazing thing we've created here!"

"So it's about fame?"

"Not just that. It's more about having my invention used and brought to market to replace the old gates with something entirely new and more practical. To make it possible to travel with a watch-sized teleporter. That's why I worked for so many years! And you know, I have more ideas. We could use it in space travel as well. The technology is already there."

Zack impatiently waved his hand. "Yes, I understand, but Zack, it's not the right time yet. The government needs to regulate everything. Otherwise, there would be anarchy..."

"If satisfied with this, we might as well return to the Stone Age."

"But you haven't joined the resistance, have you? We're in the process of dismantling the entire group. I'd hate to see your name on one of the lists..."

Bernardt, though tempted to voice his opinion about the government, realized it was better to stay silent if that still counted for anything. "No, not that. They just approached me, and the possibility of fame blinded me. That's what happened..."

Zack took a thoughtful sip of his drink. "It's a pity it turned out this way because I liked you. You can go."

Bernardt didn't move yet, looking at the drink in his hand, and slowly sipped it down. He stood up when Zack started sneezing again.

He knew he was in big trouble, and if he got out of the house alive, someone might be waiting for him at home with a loaded gun.

He anxiously got into the car that had brought him. But he had no choice. "Could you drop me off at the supermarket? I just remembered I need to buy something for my cat," he said to the driver, who just nodded—this time, they hadn't sent the chatty one to pick him up.

He tried to blend in the supermarket and constantly watched to see if anyone followed him. Then he thought about the cat and how to get her without being noticed. Finally, he decided to send someone else for her. He hurried to the doctor's office, who was surprised to see him without the cat. "But she's okay, right? Or did you finally get rid of her like I suggested?" she asked.

"I am in big trouble, and I need your help," Bernardt said, looking out the office door to see if anyone suspicious was around.

"What's gotten into you? You're scaring me!"

"Listen, they want to kill me, and I need to disappear quickly."

"Jesus, what have you gotten yourself into?" the doctor exclaimed in shock.

"Could you bring Katy here? It's crucial! And also my electric scooter and the backpack next to it?" Bernardt took both her hands in his and put them on his heart, pleading with her.

"Katy? And what if I can't catch her?"

"You must have some way to sedate her. Don't you have a tranquilizer gun?"

"You watch too many adventure movies! I'm just a vet on a vacation island, not in the middle of the wilderness!"

"Please! Could you try? If you put the sedative in a treat? Please, help me. I can't go home because they're watching my house!" He looked at the doctor with such a miserable expression that she felt sorry for him.

Cursing herself, Daniella was soon sitting in her car, holding a treat soaked in sedative.