Any day you are alive is a good day.

They entered the place and approached the counter. Tom ordered three espressos to go, without asking Lizzy and Mark whether they wanted anything. Then he showed them to the table in the corner, next to a female customer who was reading a book. They sat down and waited for the order without exchanging as much as a few phrases. Tom was taciturn 33 all the way to the bakery and didn’t seem like he was going to turn into a chatterbox 34 any time soon. So, Lizzy and Mark were just sitting and waiting for whatever was going to happen.

“Tom,” the barista from behind the counter announced. “Your order’s ready.”

Tom stood up, took the order, and proceeded to the exit, without returning to the table. Lizzy and Mark watched him with surprise. When they were about to stand up and follow him, a lady who was sitting at a table next to them turned and smiled.

“Hi Lizzy, Mark,” she said. “It’s good to finally meet you. I’m Irene.”

Irene was a white lady, about the same age as Yana. She had an intelligent face and looked like a university professor in her brown horn-rimmed glasses, a beige jacket over a white blouse. She was the second leader of The Committee.

“Tom is leaving and I’m afraid you’ll have to spend a bit of time with me now,” Irene said. “Would you actually like something to drink?”

Lizzy ordered a macchiato and a scone, which she had been craving for some time. Mark got himself a cup of tea and a chocolate croissant, which for some unfathomable 35 reason he had never had.

“How on earth have you never tried it?” Lizzy couldn’t give it a rest on the way back to the table.

“I don’t know,” Mark said, sitting down. “Let’s see if I missed anything.”

Irene was patiently waiting for them to enjoy their beverages and food with a smile on her face. Mark realized that he did miss a lot and announced that he was going to have a chocolate croissant every day for the rest of his life. Both ladies applauded his decision.

“Well, let’s talk shop 36 ,” Irene said when the beverages and food were gone. “We’ll have to take a few samples of your blood and do a few tests. There’s this new technology that we’re still working on, but getting closer each day, that will allow us to eradicate any threat that viruses from the Two Moons may pose 37 .”

“The Two Moons?” Lizzy asked.

“That’s what we call the other world,” Irene said.

“Have you been there?”

“A few times.”

“How do you explain the very existence of it?” Lizzy asked.

“Without getting too deep into the parallel universe theories and trying to explain unresolvable metaphysical issues, I can only shrug and say there it is, and I have no clue why it’s there. Your father, though, spent quite a bit of time researching the phenomenon. I believe he shared some of it with you. I can tell you one thing though. I don’t have a copy there.” She ended with a smile.

“You’re unique then,” Mark smiled.

“I suppose I am, but we aren’t going to talk about my uniqueness today. You, Lizzy, have Ro subtype, which makes your blood very special because it can treat some blood-related disorders, but its ability to disintegrate viruses makes it unique. It’s something that we still don’t know much about, but we are working very hard to understand it. We believe it’s some sort of a mutation and we’re planning to make it work for our cause.”

“So, I’m a mutant,” Lizzy said and looked at Mark. “How does it feel to live with one?”

“I’m a copy and you’re a mutant. Birds of a feather flock together 38 , right?” he said with a smile.

“Different types of birds, but yeah, we are flocking together, aren’t we?” Lizzy covered Mark’s hand with hers.

Irene looked at her watch. “I’m afraid we should be going now. My associates are waiting for us. They are ready to start.”

***

Tom – who was waiting for them in the car – took them all to another location that was conveniently hidden in the depths of the park on the outskirts of the city. It took them one hour to get there during which Irene was chatting with Lizzy and Mark about everything but the purpose of their trip.

“We’re here,” Irene said when their car stopped in front of huge green gates.

“The gates are big enough for the Jurassic Park,” Lizzy said.

“The person who used to own the place was, shall we say, a bit concerned with his security. He gave this place to us, and it’s been our research center for some time now.”

When the gates slowly opened, Tom drove inside, nodding to two guards in civilian clothes who nodded back. Lizzy notices that the guards were armed with automatic rifles.