Contact

The fight with Ryan the day before had drained me. I was tired because I spent all last night thinking about my relationship, especially how it should be continued. I knew it wasn't going to be easy with him, but right now his behavior was pushing me to my limits. I would have loved to pack my stuff and get on the next best plane to think in peace somewhere far away from university and my everyday problems. But the lecture in clinical psychology had already started and I knew that I needed it to be prepared for the exams. My concentration, however, was completely gone. I scribbled unmotivatedly on the edge of my notebook while the professor was doing a boring monologue on schizophrenia, a subject that normally would have been of burning interest to me, but today I was simply unable to do anything. Suddenly a loud whirring sound filled the room, causing everyone to turn to me. As they stared at me, I realized that the buzzing came from my pocket. Sighing, I searched for the buzzing mobile phone. The number was suppressed. Probably I had won another trip to Australia or my phone provider wanted to talk me into a new contract. So that the phone would be quiet, I clicked the call away and muttered a confused excuse. As this happened frequently, my fellow students quickly turned back to the professor, who continued his lecture unperturbed after he had given me a warning glance. I was just about to block the number so that it would spare me further calls when the mobile hummed for the second time, but this time only briefly so that nobody noticed. I stared at the display with a wrinkled forehead. It was a text message, the number was also suppressed. What if I opened it and I downloaded a virus? But my curiosity was greater than caution. I went to "open" and froze when I read the message:

"Aura, I'm asking you to answer your phone. It is urgent. N.“

My heart started beating wildly and I stared at the capital letter "N" as if I had never seen it before. This N immediately reminded me of a certain person, one I hadn't heard from in a while, but how could that be? And why would he want to contact me now of all times? My stomach turned and I suddenly felt nauseous when the phone in my hand started to vibrate again urgently. My first instinct was just to smash it against the wall somewhere, but I would probably get even stranger looks than I already had. All eyes were directed at me. I stared back and cough embarrassed. The professor seemed to be taking a breath to admonish me again.

"I'll be right back," I said, while my voice trembled uncontrollably. But instead of just leaving my things lying around, I stuffed them into my pocket and hoisted them over my shoulder before fleeing the lecture hall. I hurried down the corridor straight into a preparation room, which I knew was mostly abondoned. I was lucky and met no one there today, but in all the excitement I almost knocked over a dozen test tubes. I leaned against a free wall and stared again at the display, which was still lit up and announced the suppressed call. My heart almost burst with nervousness as I pressed the cell phone against my ear and took the call. I said nothing because I was unable to speak, instead I swallowed the saliva that had accumulated in my mouth.

"Aura. I'm glad you decided to listen to me after all." I closed my eyes and a smile glided involuntarily over my lips as my back slid further and further down the wall. I recognized the rough voice immediately. It was still so astonishingly familiar that I couldn't help but be pleased with its sound. Even then it had calmed me down and given me a feeling of security.

"Nate..." I breathlessly breathed.

"Sorry to bother you, but I didn't know any other way to reach you quickly. I thought you'd trust me more when you heard my voice." his words seemed to hide a little smile so tiny that only I could hear it.

"I was in the middle of a lecture, hence the delay," I explained my late reaction. My insides were about to burst. For 16 months he had left me in uncertainty and now he called me as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

"I thought so, that's why I sent the message. I knew you'd notice it was me."

"I did, indeed. But it came unexpectedly honestly. We haven't heard from each other for a long time."

"I know," he only replied, but there was no excuse.

"I missed you," I confessed abruptly when Near stopped talking. A slight reproach resonated in my words and suddenly I was on the verge of crying, but tried to nip the tears in the bud. I didn't want him to think I was weak, because he hated weakness. And I hated myself for being weak. He made me weak. Still does.

Near seemed a little overwhelmed with my confession as a brief silence followed.

"It was different when you were away," he finally replied and I wondered if it meant "I miss you" in his language or if he just wanted to avoid an answer because he didn't care if I was there or not. I shouldn't kid myself. Near was still the same person that I had met. The boy who tried to spare his emotions as if they would cause him pain if he let them happen. But I wouldn't be Aura if I couldn't handle it, even if it hurt inside.

"Where the shoe pinches?" I asked, to finally know the reason for his call.

"I still don't like wearing shoes, so everything's okay," he replied soberly. I almost laughed until I realized that he was serious and Near rarely joked. What a scatterbrain I was.

"It's just an expression. What I meant was, What's the reason you called?"

"Oh that...right," he said as if he had just remembered that he hadn't just wanted to ask about my well-being. (which he hadn't done either, by the way). I could literally see him burying his fingers in his hair to wind up a strand of hair with them. God, I just got so sentimental. I really missed him.

"Aura, listen to me very carefully." His voice became more serious now. "If anyone tries to contact you to find out about the Wammys or the people who lived there, do not give them any information at all. "Under no circumstances. Do you understand?"

"Uh, okay," I stammered, and I could have slapped myself. Why was I so insecure? "What makes you think that could happen?"

"There are people who need this information to want to harm me, so I ask you to be discreet."

"People who mean you harm? Who would want to harm you?" I couldn't imagine anyone wanting to hurt Near, of all people. He was innocence incarnate.

"It's complicated, but I'm sorry I can't tell you any more about it."

"Does it have anything to do with you being L's successor? Are you still involved in this Kira case? Please talk to me. I finally want to know what's going on."

"I'm sorry, but I can't tell you more right now."

"I'm worried about you. If you like, I can come to Winchester right away..."

"I'm not in Wammy's house anymore," he interrupted me monotonously. Of course I already knew that...but didn't want to admit it now probably because I wanted it to hear it by himself.

"I'll go wherever you want." Even to the end of the world, I added silently in my thoughts.

"It's all right, Aura. You shouldn't put yourself in unnecessary danger. What's important is that you follow what I told you. And one more thing."

"What?" I asked, baffled. What more could he want from me?

"Delete all photos and backups you have of the kids at Wammy's House and also destroy any drawings you made of me. It is important that any trace of them that could lead back to me must be completely erased."

I couldn't believe what he was asking me to do.

"But, Nate..."

"It's not a request, it's an order, Aura!"

His harsh tone left no room for argument.

All the time I was able to hold back the flush of water, but now my tears ran unhindered over my face and I began to sob softly.

"The photos are... the only memory I have. I don't want to forget how everything used to be. How everyone looked..." What you looked like, but of course I didn't say that.

As if Near had read my mind, he said:

"I'm sure we won't have seen the last of each other."

"Then let me come to you. This is my demand. I'll delete the pictures if I can see you again. Not in a few years, but now. I want to know what is going on and why you are asking me to do these things. I want to see you, Nate River," I whispered, trying to sound as confident as I could while cramping my hand around the phone.

Near remained silent for quite some time, as if he thought intensively about what I had said.

"It is not without hazard" he replied after a while.

"It doesn't matter"

"All right." I had actually prepared myself to have to persuade him and was surprised when he gave in so quickly. He was quite calm when he agreed, as usual. "I am currently in New York. Are you sure you can get away this far now?"

I was thinking about my exams, but honestly, they weren't important to me right now. All that mattered to me was getting to Near, no matter what it took. It seemed selfish to think that way, but why shouldn't I be selfish sometimes? And the distance to Ryan was exactly what I needed right now. I had nothing to lose.

"No problem," I said.

"Then I'll send you an address and an appointment. Someone will come to pick you up from there. I will book the flight for you and I will also pay for the tickets. Be on time and take care of yourself. I'll see you soon."

My heart was taking a leap at these words again.

"You can count on me. I look forward to it." ,I added with a grin, that was in competition with a cheshire cat.

My world seemed to revolve around Near from that moment on.

Three days later:

I looked around the airport nervously. I had just landed in New York and with the visa Near sent to me I had passed through customs without any problems. To my surprise the enclosed flight ticket was even a 1st Class ticket. Near seemed to have spared no expense to bring me safely and comfortably to New York. It had been my first flight ever, as well as my first trip to America. Not knowing how long I would stay, I had a big suitcase with me, in which I quickly stowed all my favorite things. I also had my reflex camera with me. A trip without it was simply unthinkable for me.

Now I was supposed to wait until someone picked me up from the airport. I had no idea who it could be, but I doubted very much that Near himself would pick me up. He had always avoided the outside world and places like this airport were pure stress for him, to which he would only expose himself if there was no other possibility. Even I had trouble finding my way around to find the exit where I should wait. After some time, however, I noticed a sign indicating a taxi stand which was the arranged meeting point. I ran faster after I spotted it and was already looking for someone waiting for me. With my big wheeled suitcase I was now standing at a noisy traffic street where people hectically got into and out of vehicles and taxi drivers took their smoking break to wait for the next passenger.

At some point I could make out a woman from the crowd with a black pantsuit and dark sunglasses. She seemed to come straight towards me.

"Good afternoon", she said apparently turning to me and took off her sunglasses. Her eyes were bright blue and formed a contrast to her platinum blonde hair, which was long and straight on her shoulder. "You must be Aurora Winter."

I nodded.

"Yes, that's correct."

"Very good. My name is Halle Lidner. Near sent me to meet you and then take you to the base," she replied with a striking American accent I couldn't really classify as I wasn't very familiar with their dialects.

"Good, I'm ready."

"Follow me. She turned away and I followed her to a black Mercedes with tinted windows. Lidner took the luggage from me and loaded it alone and without any effort into the spacious trunk, while I almost did myself an injury to heave the suitcase down the stairs of my apartment. Had Near hired her as security to protect herself? It's conceivable. She opened the passenger door so I could get in, although at first I thought she wanted to get in herself to take the place on the driver's side. But we weren't in England, of course. The seats were covered with expensive leather, which felt cool on the skin at first, but in the end it was more comfortable than I thought. Lidner got in and started the engine. She seemed to be a safe driver, but she still didn't seem to care much about speed limits. I felt a little nauseous from her driving, but I said nothing.

"Did you have a good trip, Miss Winter?", she asked me almost casually, while I stared out of the window, fascinated, to absorb New York in all its facets.

"Oh yes. Considering that it was my first flight. I was admittedly quite nervous and panicked, but the flight attendant was very pleasant and distracted me so that I hardly noticed the take-off. In that sense, first class has been quite useful."

"I'm sure you know that you're not here on vacation," she replied seriously. What was she talking about? First making small talk herself and then pretending I was of small means.

"Well... I...", I stammered. What had Near told her about me?

"I'm taking you to the SPK secret base now. Near trusts you completely and who Near trusts, I trust too, but nevertheless I would ask you to be absolutely discreet in everything that happens from now on. Do not betray our trust."

"Near is a good friend of mine. I would never betray him or do anything that could harm him," I tried to make her understand in a calm but firm tone, even though I had absolutely no idea what she was talking about. What the hell was the SPK?

Lidner nodded.

"We're there," she said.

Impressed, I got out. We were standing in front of an impressive skyscraper, which of course was nothing unusual in New York, but this one seemed even higher and more modern than the others. Almost all the outside of the building was glazed and reflected the bright light of the sun. Only isolated struts separated the glass panes from each other and together formed windows of completely different sizes. At first glance, it looked like the headquarters of a multi-million dollar company, and I guess I wasn't completely wrong.

"Wow," I was awestruck when we entered the huge, luxurious entrance hall, which far exceeded the exterior of the building. In fact, it seemed to be home to several prominent companies. Lidner pulled out an ID card and showed it to an elderly gentleman at the reception counter. He just nodded and let us pass. Near must have won the lottery if he had quarters for a secret base here. At the moment hundreds of question marks were still buzzing through my head. At the same time I became more and more nervous. Seeing Near again was the best thing that had happened to me in years. Nevertheless, I did not want this Lidner to stand beside us when we met again after such a long time. If she was there, I certainly had to hold back with my joy and I didn't know if I would succeed.

With a glass elevator we went up to the 45th floor. A signal sounded, the doors opened and uncovered a long corridor. Alongside the corridor was a huge glass front. Overwhelmed, I looked out and had the feeling that I could see all of New York at once. It was absolutely madness. My hand wanted to reach for my camera immediately, but I knew that I had to be patient. We turned right a few times and stopped in front of a heavy metal door where Lidner had to confirm her identity again, but this time with a fingerprint. The door slipped open and promptly led to the next door. But instead of going through, Lidner turned to me.

"I will take your luggage to your room, Miss Winter. Near is already waiting for you. He asked to speak to you in private."

"All right," I only brought out while she was already taking the luggage from my hand and silently told me to open the door in front of me. My hand began to shake uncontrollably when I put it on the handle and I hoped that Lidner didn't notice, but she already had disappeared anyway, which I was very grateful for.

The room I entered seemed to be relatively dark, darker than the corridor anyway. Monotonous whirring and beeping came to my ears. The source of this, I saw only seconds later. At least 30 screens filled the room, all neatly arranged side by side. Two men sat at the computers and seemed to be working on something. But when they saw me, they quickly rose from their chairs.

"You must be Miss Winter. I am Stephen Gevanni," said the younger and slimmer of the two. He was very handsome, so that I feared to blush when I nodded and introduced myself again with my full name. "And this is Anthony Rester." He pointed to the muscle-bound man next to him, who nodded to me only briefly. He doesn't appeared like speaking was something he enjoyed doing.

"Rester, Gevanni. I would like to talk to her alone now," a voice sounded from the background. I recognized immediately that it belonged to Near and my gaze quickly glided into the middle of the room where a white, sunken figure squatted on the floor, which immediately made my heart beat faster. All I could hear was the door slamming shut and I was suddenly alone with Near in this strange room.

He had turned his back to me and made no attempt to turn around or get up.

"Hello Aura! I'm glad you came here."

"Really?" I whispered, not daring to bridge the distance between us.

"Yes."

It was crazy. He sat in front of me as if we hadn't been apart for a year and a half, in the same sitting position as then and the white pyjama top with the blue trousers he always wore. It was like nothing had changed. My arms wanted so much to hold him and press him against me. My hands wanted to run through his white hair so badly but I knew it wasn't that simple.

I took a step closer to him.

"I'd like to look at your face, Nate," I replied reluctantly.

"it's the same as it was then."

"You can tell me a lot, but I'd rather see for myself," I insisted.

"Understandable."

I was actually surprised when he slowly rose from the ground and turned to me. He raised his hand with an outstretched finger on which was a small finger puppet that looked like Near in miniature.

"Welcome to the SPK!" Near greeted me and even let a smile slip over his lips for me. It immediately warmed my heart. I looked into the familiar dark grey eyes, which made his gaze look even more mature and grown-up now. His hair still stood out from his head in a confused and curly way and his skin had the same ashen tone as it had then. I bravely stepped a little closer.

"SPK...I guess you'll have to clear this up for me." At the moment I was more amazed by his appearance. Not only Near's eyes had changed, also his body seemed a little more mature now, although it still was weedy.

"Have you grown?", I asked with a smile.

"Exactly 1,3 inches since you left Wammy's." His free hand found the way to his hair and twisted a strand of hair around his index finger. So he had retained this quirk.

"I guess you're almost as tall as me now." A brief silence arose. Small talk still did not seem to be his cup of tea. Near was now only an arm's length away from me, making it harder for me to concentrate on our conversation. He was now 18 already and had turned into a young and handsome man. He had always been a good-looking boy, but I had the impression that the older he got the more beautiful he became.

"May I... hug you? We haven't seen each other for a long time." My request seemed strange, but I knew it was better to prepare him for the touch, because he did not like it very much.

"All right." His words were unemotional as always. A robot would have put more emotion into those two words than he did. But I liked Near as he was. After all, he couldn't help being different.

I was excited when I got close to him and put my arms around his neck. Carefully and with prudent restraint, which was not easy for me, I pulled him towards me until his chin lay on my shoulder. Near smelled pleasantly of fabric softener and a touch of disinfectant. I would have loved to hold him even tighter, but I knew I would have to be content with that for now. Suddenly I noticed something touching my cheek. It was Near's finger that was still stuck in his Near doll. It seemed to pat my cheek and it almost seemed as if the doll was kissing it. Near held completely still when he did that, almost as if the doll had taken on a life of its own. Or was it perhaps his way of expressing his feelings of reunion? No matter how absurd it was. I thought his behaviour was simply adorable.

After a few seconds he broke away from me. I hoped he couldn't hear my heartbeat beating loudly against my chest.

"Please sit down! I will explain everything important about the SPK to you afterwards." he said apathetically, as if the hug just now had not happened.

"Sure." I said.

What he revealed to me in the next half hour was partly unbelievable. He had indeed taken over the Kira case after L's tragic death, and after 3 years of collecting data himself, because L had left nothing more to investigate. Roger had supported him during this time as his mentor, and probably in everyday matters aswell as I knew that Near could hardly get along in the world without the support of others. Later on he even went to the President of America and arranged for a secret organization to be formed to deal with the capture of Kira. This is how the Special Provision for Kira - in short: SPK - came into being. And Near now happened to be the head of this organization. I was quite surprised when I heard this. He was only of age and already the boss of a secret organization. Someone had to imitate this first. While I dragged myself to the university every day to achieve my goal, everything fell into his lap, because he was the next candidate for the position of L. Still, I was too happy for him to be jealous. He had been given a lot of responsibility, and at the same time a complicated case, which currently caused a sensation all over the world. It couldn't have gone better for Near. I finally understood why he had asked me to do all these strange things. He was not allowed to be found under any circumstances, otherwise it would also mean his head. When I realized this, I immediately felt guilty. I hadn't had the heart to delete all the photos. Instead, I had dragged them to an external hard drive and stored them in a safe deposit box. I thought that this would be safe enough, but now I wasn't so sure anymore. Kira could kill people from a distance, no matter what range they were in. So who knows what else he's capable of. For a moment I thought about telling Near about my recklessness, but in the end I couldn't bring myself to do it. The fear that he would then send me right back to Oxford again was far too great. Our time together should not be over that quickly. Just now, when he was finally old enough to really understand the love I felt for him. Well, at least if you think about it from a normal 18-year-old. The teenager in front of me, however, was, while talking to me, absorbed in building a meter-high wall of Lego bricks in front of him. Most of the bricks were blue, but some of them were black, and the higher the wall in front of him got, the more sure I was that the black Lego bricks he put between the blue ones should make a big "L". The last time I had played with Lego bricks, I had been maybe 7 or 8 years old. Nevertheless, Near's buildings were not nearly comparable to those of a child. He always created impressive works of art, no matter if they were made of cubes, dominoes, playing cards, matches or even Lego. I had often wondered whether Near didn't just have Asperger's, but whether he might also have had a savant syndrome. Normally, children in the autism spectrum were not predestined to develop highly motor skills. Often they even had considerable problems with hand-eye coordination. Nears spatial awareness, however, was far above average. He loved to create buildings out of small things and stack them as high as possible in every imaginable form. He liked these little challenges that it provides him. They seemed to give him that certain kick. So I didn't think savantism was completely out of the question. Paradoxically, Near was rather clumsy with his feet. Walking was something he rarely did...only when he was forced to do. One had already noticed that he didn't often stand on his own legs and when he did he used to be rather shaky while walking. Even then I was worried about this, because there was a danger that the muscles in his legs would at some point completely atrophy. As much talent as Near had, he had just as many deficits.

"Mello also tried to get his hands on the Death Note. Unfortunately, he succeeded. He killed 10 of our members with the book," Near broke my thoughts. It had left me speechless before when I learned from him that Kira killed with a kind of notebook by only writing names in it, but that Mello was also involved in this matter made me swallow hard. "He wants to win against me," Near added as if it was the most normal thing in the world and without even looking at me, he put another Lego brick on the wall.

"Win? That's not a game. This is bitterly serious. People are dying and all he cares about is who is the better of you two, once again. And he's putting people's lives at risk for something like this. I can't believe it."

I actually believed Mello had changed after he and Matt stayed with me for a while, but obviously I was sorely mistaken. I wondered if Near knew that they'd been staying with me for about seven months. It would be uncomfortable for me to reveal what had happened between Mello and me during that time. Even though I had enjoyed it, I felt guilty towards Near because It seemed to me like I was betraying him.

"He's always had high ambitions, and I think Mello's ventures may be useful to me to find out some things."

"Useful? You mean by brutally slaughtering your people? I don't see how that would be useful."

"Sure we could have skipped that part, but I don't mean that either. I'm just talking about sharing information. Besides, it's a duel. It doesn't work without sacrifice."

"Oh, I see...all is fair in war and love," I replied sarcastically. "Well then, everything is fine."

"I'm glad you can follow me," he replied in a serious voice.

I sighed softly. Sometimes I was too careless when I talked to him. My ironic tone did not appeal to him. Only the meaning of my words reached him. 

"Change of subject, Nate..." I would start off quietly. "Where will I sleep?Dear Mrs. Lidner took off with my luggage earlier."

Near paused briefly.

"You should call me Near from now on, at least in front of the other SPK members. I'm sure you understand why." He looked in my direction for a moment, but didn't stop there.

"All right. I'm sorry. Old habits. But what about-"

"You'll get a room here at the base like all the other members. Lidner will take you there later. You will lack nothing."

"Okay. Thank you," I said sincerely. "What I am still interested in... how was it all financed? By the president?"

"Only a small part. 80% of the cost is funded by L's inheritance. He left his official successor 50 million pounds." Meanwhile Near had completed his wall and was tinkering with a model airplane instead.

"Fiiiifty...Miiilllliooon...Pouunds," I repeated slowly, absolutely amazed.

"Yes."

"That's...a lot of money. You can buy a luxury villa and a huge yacht for that...at least."

"I don't know. Probably. But I wouldn't know what I'd need something like that for."

I shook my head in disbelief while watching him inspecting his model airplane from up close. Anyone would know what to do with so much money. Only Near didn't seem to care. Just his toys and solving a complicated case seemed to make him happy in a way. On one hand, that was admirable.

Near called Lidner shortly after to tell her to pick me up to show me my room.

Not even five minutes later she was with us and asked me to follow her.

"See you later, Aura," Near's last words to me were.

"It was good to see you again, Na- I mean Near," I replied and looked at him one last time, but Near was too busy making the plane he had built fly through the air with his hands. It was still unbelievable that the other members of the SPK apparently took him so seriously, even though he was always sitting there, playing with toys like a toddler. If they really found it strange, they didn't let it show or they had simply got used to it by now. Apparently everyone had trusted Roger when he told them what a child prodigy Near was. As a genius, I guess you always had to be a little crazy, too. After all, it was not much different with L back then.

With my thoughts back in the present, I began to wonder where exactly Lidner was taking me. In the lift, she pressed the button with the top floor (floor number 60...insane), but apparently that was not our goal either, because from there, she took the stairs to the roof.

"Are you sure this is the right place?", I asked in amazement, and I had the abstruse thought that she would probably just push me right off the housetop to get rid of me. But Near would never let that happen. At least I hoped so.

"Here we are," said Mrs. Lidner suddenly and as I followed her gaze, my jaws almost dropped to the ground. In front of us stood a modern penthouse, half glazed, half with walls of solid concrete. It was not as huge as a villa, but it was definitely not small either. The building was relatively flat, so I assumed that it only consisted of one floor. We were already high enough at least.

"I'm going to live there? You're definitely not serious?", I asked perplexed, while she pulled out a card this time and pulled it through to a slit next to the door. The door opened magically.

"Not completely alone, of course. Near has his room here as well."

I blinked several times trying to understand what that meant. I was going to spend the night in this penthouse alone with Near?

"Not to worry. You'll have your own room to sleep in, but everything else is common usage."

I didn't know whether to be sad or relieved about it. I was used to living with Near. Just the fact that we were completely alone was new to me.

When Lindner entered the entrance area with me in tow, I couldn't stop being fascinated. Everything was so modern and minimalist that I got the feeling of entering a museum. It seemed as clean and sterile as Near himself sometimes seemed to me. He fit into that environment. I realized that at first sight.

In the entrance area there was even a high-quality grand piano made of white lacquered wood. I had never seen Near play an instrument before and I doubted he had ever touched it. But it seemed incredibly noble and at least it filled some space in the barren room, which gave me the impression of an auditorium. The next object that spellbound me was a huge aquarium, which was embedded in the wall there. Captivated I stood in front of it and looked inside. At least 100 different fish swam gracefully back and forth in it.

"The sight of the different sea animals is calming Near down. That's why we had it set up here," Lidner casually explained to me.

"I can understand that," I muttered still full of fascination, but did not dare to touch anything.

In the middle of the penthouse there was a small library with an armchair in front and a futuristic reading lamp next to it. It was not a separate room, but it fitted openly into the rest of the building. To the right and left of the library two long corridors led past. Lindner took the left corridor. She pointed to the single door that was located on the left side.

"That's your bedroom. Your luggage is already there," she explained to me, but walked past the room. The hallway ended in something I could hardly describe in words. It was a huge, bright open room with full glazing at the top and bottom, giving a perfect view of the New York skyline. But the room looked as if it was a ship's bow, as at the front, the two walls met again in a point, so that the room was practically triangular. The triangle was like a small plateau to which three steps lead up. At the right side of the corridor that we walked along, there was a very modern kitchen, at the back of which theoretically, there should be the library that we saw when we came in.

In front of the kitchen there was a dining table with space for 6 people and even further in front of it, right in front of the triangular plateau, there was a comfortable couch landscape with a big flat screen TV. I walked reverently through it until I arrived at the plateau. On it, many impressive indoor plants had their place, so that it could be considered as a winter garden. There again was the possibility to sit in comfortable armchairs and stare out of the windows. I stopped right in front of the windows and looked out to the impressive skyscraper spectacle that rose up in front of my eyes and by doing so I noticed that this was not the only penthouse that was built on one of these skyscrapers. In any case, one should not be afraid of heights here.

"On the other corridor to the right of the entrance is Near's room and the bathroom." Lidner pointed to the other hallway on the opposite side, which we hadn't walked down yet. Even from a distance I saw that it looked exactly like the corridor where my room had been, only there was one more door. I briefly parted from the unique view and then followed Lidner through the other corridor.

For a moment I paused at the front of the door with a brass sign engraved "Near". So this was his bedroom.

"This is the last thing I want to show you," she said and stopped in front of a staircase leading down.

"There's a little swimming pool down there. Just in case you might want to use it. Otherwise that's it. You are now welcome to settle in here. I would only ask you not to enter Near's room unless, of course, he specifically allows you to."

"When is he coming up here?" I asked, because I was dying to know.

"Probably late in the evening, usually after 9 p.m. when his work on the Kira case is temporarily over."

I nodded.

"I see."

It was half an eternity before 9 p.m.

"I would ask you to stay here today exclusively. If he needs you in the base for anything, Near will contact you. There's a phone here that's connected to the base. He will probably use it to get in touch with you. Of course, it works the same way the other way around, but you should only contact him in a case of extreme emergency."

Again I nodded, although I was about to roll my eyes. What a bunch of meaningless rules. I wondered if Lindner set them up or if Near did. Honestly, I'd say the former.

"All right," I replied, keeping her happy. Then Lidner left the building with a quick nod after she put another key card on the mantel of the library. She just left me alone in that strange mansion. A weird feeling of emptiness came over me. Now I was here in New York to be close to Near...and yet I was only completely alone again. This irony made me laugh for a moment.

Sighing, I restlessly wandered through the impressive penthouse again. I was sure that the building was part of this skyscraper before the SPK set up its headquarters here. It wouldn't be like Near to put such a huge brick here just for himself. I knew that he usually was rather modest and apart from his toys he didn't need much to live on.

Again I entered the triangular plateau and looked reverently at the skyline of the American metropolis in front of me. Slowly the sky began to turn pink as the sun approached the horizon. It seemed mad to me. I had started from London in the evening, had been on the road for 8 hours and still the sun was just setting here. It almost seemed as if I had travelled after the sun. But now I also felt a leaden tiredness. Even if I had slept partially in the plane, the sleep had not really felt restful. I had been much too nervous at that time because of the reunion with Near. The sky changed from pink to orange and then to blood red. Tired or not, I couldn't miss the chance to capture this sight in pictures. So I quickly looked for my luggage, which Lidner had already put in front of my bed. Even the bedroom looked bright and modern, but therefore a bit impersonal. But that could easily be changed with a few hand movements. I opened the suitcase and purposefully reached for my camera to return to the glazed front. After I had taken some pictures that satisfied me, I put the camera back into my future room. I thought about whether I should at least unpack everything before going to sleep, but instead I stepped out into the corridor again. Now that it was dark, I tried half blindly to touch a light switch within reach. Eventually I found one and the corridor lit up brightly. My feet led me to Near's room this time. Undecidedly I stood in front of it. Lidner told me not to enter it without Near's permission. But she hadn't said I wasn't even allowed to take a peek inside. Still, my common sense told me it was not right to do so. I valued the privacy of others, even though I was still very curious. But instead of going into Near's room, I took the door that was to the left of his door. As Lidner had explained, it led to the bathroom. A bathroom the size of an ordinary bedroom. Not only did it have a level shower that could accommodate several people, but it also had a bathtub that was lowered into the floor, almost the size of a whirlpool. Also here, there would be space for at least two people. Slowly, I started to wonder anyway what this penthouse had originally been used for. Was it possibly a love nest for a secret affair between a former boss and his secretary, who had previously worked in this building? In any case, it would be perfect for this purpose. I decided to find out about the building while I was here. Maybe even Near knew something more about it. I yawned again and although I was determined to wait for Near's return, I had to admit to myself that I would never be able to stay awake for another 2 hours. That was probably what they called a jetleg. Completely dazed, I returned to my room and, fully clothed, I let myself fall into the soft big bed. I had no more strength to change. It took barely five minutes before sleep overcame me.