“She lives.”
“That was never intended.”
“No. She was never supposed to awaken outside. Especially not there.”
“Who placed the bodies there?”
“Lars and Felix, under Jaroslav’s orders. He believed they were dead. No vital signs, no consciousness, no response. So it was standard procedure, biological disposal.”
“Why not laid out as prescribed and burned later?”
“There was a disruption in the process. The transport unit was blocked, the cooling sector overloaded. Jaroslav decided to bury them somewhere in the outer zone. Backwater improvisation.”
“And then?”
“He chose an old cemetery. Maybe out of sentiment, dead belong there, or simply because it was the least likely place to be searched. But a dog picked up the scent. And where a dog barks, someone is usually close. So he left them there provisionally. He intended to return later and finish it. But then it all collided at once, her awakening, the pastor, the police.”
“Good Lord. That will be unpleasant for Jaroslav. Is she stable?”
“For now, yes. Fresh injection of TZSFC serum, one unit. But the host body is severely damaged. The window will close faster than usual.”
“Any memory fragments?”
“Still unclear. What is functioning is that the fragmented language center is active. She is forming first concepts of time and space. She also called for someone named Matthes. That suggests her emotional encoding is intact as well.”
“How long until she realizes who she is?”
“No one knows. Nothing here was planned, nothing ordered. No one can predict what she will make of the fragments.”
“A mistake.”
“An experiment. A foolish one, perhaps. No one believed two discarded subjects could function together. I can hardly believe it even now.”
“Still, in the end we will be tasked with bringing her back.”
“Yes. But only when the time is right.”
…
“You admit she cannot stay where she is now.”
“No. And we will make sure of that.”