Light-years away, the Interdimensional Assembly was eagerly awaiting news from Earth, which, just at the time when Flavio was supposed to have died, had returned to the universe it belonged to, along with the entire solar system.

After the absence of over six years of the terrestrial system, the Assembly's computer received the first signals from the sensors. «The original Flavio Mancini has survived. The Flavio Mancini who was duplicated in Claudia Felicetta's body is also alive. A mental resonance has occurred between the two and concluded with a successful outcome. The mental patterns of Executive Wilol stored by the duplicate have been acquired by the original» announced the androgynous and warm voice of the computer.

Gathered under the dome and immersed in a bright and sparkling coastal afternoon, the Assembly dissolved into enthusiasm and its members gave in to a wave of relief. For a moment, sighs and murmurs of satisfaction mingled with the lapping of the waves that placidly whitened the nearby beach.

The general trepidation, however, had not yet loosened its grip on their nerves, especially those of the Executives, who were present for the occasion in full force. Among them, President Kidhe left the antigravity armchair he was sitting on, raised his athletic figure with a swift movement and, when he was sure that his head with short dark hair was well visible from all over the dome, asked for further details.

«What are the prospects for the Samādhi Plan?»

«The probability of success of the Samādhi Plan is now 12%» resounded the computer's gentle and impassive voice, which plunged the dome into a silence of abyssal annihilation. After a very brief moment of catatonia from initial trauma, the Assembly erupted into a catastrophic geyser of shouting, cursing, howling and whining in the grip of definitive trauma.

In no time, the amphitheater of the dome was bustling with hands in hair, arms raised to the sky and fists clenched to the chest. Many of the members started scurrying around in the confusion, like mice in a maze, looking for companions to vent and ask for confirmation, solidarity or reassurance that obviously no one could give.

«Come on, let's stay calm everybody, I assure you everything will be fine...» announced Wilol rising among the other Executives and flaunting a smile full of faith. «After the nuclear war and in three, four thousand years tops, everything will be sorted out!»

«Wilol!» Kidhe shouted. «Your fatalism is the last thing we need right now!»

«This you call fatalism? Do you prefer something more sincere? All right!»

Wilol turned to the Assembly as if, instead of ignoring him, all eyes were on him. He assumed an expression full of despair and his tone became touched by an unspeakable anguish. «Oh no! Everything is lost! Darkness, decay and death will bleed Earth!»

Kidhe suppressed the insult he had on his tongue by clinching his jaw shutas tightly as he could and rubbed a palm on his forehead.

«Computer, restore order, please...» he said managing to control himself and, in a moment, he saw discipline harnessing the environment of the dome, albeit with effort and strain. «Come on! There is no need to be discouraged» he urged with great composure, addressing the Assembly, «12% is not such a low number, we still have some chances. Let's see what's going wrong, maybe there is also a good margin for maneuvering to raise that percentage. We can fix the problem.» The thought that this time the Assembly had to make it was flooding his mind.

With lips tightly pressed and a furrowed brow, Clyella had her fists clenched, and she would have tightened them too if her nails, elegantly manicured, had not been so long as to prick her palms. «Give us a visual perspective of what is happening down there.»

The muted image of Flavia talking to Flavio appeared, suspended in the air, in front of the area of the dome where all the members of the Assembly had settled. In the meantime, Kidhe continued his speech of encouragement to the Assembly and the first analyses of the situation were examined by the Executives and the other one hundred and thirty-two members.

«Hey, Kidhe» Clyella stepped forward as soon as the President had finished. «What do you think of...».

«We have to make it... at all costs!» Kidhe repeated, interrupting her.

His whisper was choked by tension and his gaze was so focused that it pierced the void, directed at a mirage on the edge of madness.

«Kidhe!» Clyella called out, apprehensive «Computer! What's going on? Help him!»

«Everything is in order, Executive. I have just received data from Earth indicating the start of the second episode of mental resonance.»

The Executives froze in silence while Kidhe continued to mutter, absorbed. «One way or another we have to go on... we must not give up!»

Cronquit's gray eyes, bewildered, pointed at him in search of answers.

«This should not be possible» he said, «Flavio has just undergone the first resonance with Will as expected!»

«It is not Flavio who is having the resonance. It is Flavia» the computer specified.

«And who the hell is Flavia?» Wilol burst out.

Clyella took him by the arm and made him sit next to her. «For now, we'd better watch what's happening with this resonance, don't you think?» she said. «Computer, let us hear.»

The light in the dome dimmed until it became dark, the images of Earth were enriched with audio and captured the attention of the entire Assembly.

Still trembling, Flavio sat up and wrapped himself in the blanket.

«What is it that I don't know about you?» he asked Flavia, who was looking at him entranced.

With her face petrified in tension, she had stopped halfway through her sentence and had started to draw heavy breaths. Again, she looked nervously at the clock above the fireplace and then brought her face closer to Flavio's.

«It can't be...» she gasped, «why isn't anything happening?»

«Nothing what? What's supposed to happen?»

«Why isn't anything happening?!» she yelled in his face at full blast.

The scream had caused absolute silence in the already subdued chatter of the various guests. They had all turned to look at her.

Unaware of everything, Alessia came trotting from the kitchen and approached Flavia, carrying a tray whose steaming load tinkled cheerfully.

«Flavie-pie, I made you a hot herbal tea!» she chirped.

Michela put a hand on her shoulder to hold her back. Then she realized what was happening and remained dumbfounded. Flavia had thrown herself on Flavio grabbing him by the blanket and, indifferent to everything around her, had started to shake him fervently.

«Let me go back! Let me go back!» she was screaming at the top of her lungs.

Michela widened her eyes without daring to approach further.

With the thermometer in hand, Cristina rushed down the stairs, attracted by the screams. For a moment, she could not avoid joining the dismay of the others. «We should have gone straight to the emergency room...» she sighed as she left behind the astonishment of the group.

Flavio, who had just returned from the threshold of the realm of the dead, was silently subjected to the uncontrolled aggression of the girl he was in love with.

«You are a living man, I am a living man!» Flavia shouted at the Universe, having the clear impression that, at that moment, the Universe was turning a deaf ear to her. «We are not dead! Why are we still like this? It's not possible! No!»

Giuseppe approached her and took her by the shoulders, gently but firmly.

«Calm down, Flavia» he said in a relaxed voice as he detached her from Flavio. Then, while holding her still, he turned to Cristina, signaling for her to take her temperature. «Is she hallucinating?» he asked.

«It really seems like it...» Cristina replied, struggling to fit the thermometer properly into Flavia's ear. The device beeped and, with a furrowed brow, Cristina tried to reassure her friends. «She's fine, thirty-six and a half... but she's definitely delirious. Flavio, how do you feel?»

«I'm not delirious!» Flavia protested, while trying in vain to free herself from Giuseppe's strong protective grip. «I'm not crazy!»

Only then did she dwell on the looks she had attracted. For a moment, she visualized things from their perspective and realized that, if there was anything she needed to understand, it was that there was no way to make herself understood.

«Flavia» Cristina tried to explain, «after what you've been through, it would be a good idea to have yourself checked out, are you lucid enough to realize that?»

«I have no choice... I have to keep going» Flavia stated with a cold and resigned rationality. «I have to make it through. Even like this, one way or another. I have to make it...»

Out of nowhere, she stopped struggling and stuck to a rational attitude even though her lifelong and a half resolutions had just been shattered.

Gianluca chimed in, reminding them that the car was still running and ready to go. Positioned in front of the entrance door, he showed signs of impatience as he fiddled with the keys. «What do we do? Do we call a psychiatrist or go to the emergency room?»

«Sure, let's go to the hospital» Flavia agreed. Then she rolled her eyes and added decisively «or to the asylum, for all I care!»