'You did?' said Shine innocently. 'I can't seem to recall that conversation. And there doesn't seem to be a record of it. No, I'm afraid you're on your own this time, Ellie. A pity the press got hold of that video. Developing a nuclear reactor, what were you thinking?'

Faustino bristled. 'I was thinking that I could save this company. You saw the figures, I would have done it too -'

'I know, if it hadn't been for the naturists running around with no clothes on.'

'The Supernaturalists,' said Faustino, through gritted teeth. 'And they are a lot more dangerous than you give them credit for, even with their leader gone.'

'Yes, well maybe I'll keep an eye on them. Anyway, you don't need to worry about that, you being dead.'

Faustino's heart jumped into her throat.'Dead? Really, Mr Chairman, there's no need for -'

Shine silenced her with a wave of his hand. 'Not dead dead, Ellie. Press dead. We had to give the news crews a scapegoat, so you're it. Fortunately the body was too disfigured to identify and I don't think there's any chance of you being recognized, not with your new face.'

Faustino blushed, something she hadn't done since she was a schoolgirl. 'So what do Myishi have planned for me?'

Shine leaned back in his chair, until it creaked. 'The fact is, Ellie, that your reactor was our best hope. I don't know how you did it, but somehow your test figures showed promise. Your Un-Spec 4 creatures sure were doing the business.'

Faustino perked up. 'So, you're not cancelling the project?'

'Of course not, but we will have to be a lot sneakier.'

'How sneaky?'

Shine smiled. 'The South Pole.'

Faustino almost objected, but she knew all too well what happened to people who argued with Ray Shine.

'Is that OK with you?'

Ellen forced a smile. 'The South Pole. Isolated. No interruptions. Fine.'

Mayor Ray Shine stood, straightening his chequered sweater. 'Good. There's a chopper waiting to transport you to the Antarctic facility. Have a good trip.'

'Excellent. Thank you, Mr Mayor.' Faustino rose with the aid of a crutch, hobbling to the office door.

'Oh and Ellie?'

'Yes, Mr Mayor?'

'You only get one second chance. Mess this up and you may need some of those Un-Spec 4 creatures yourself. Are we clear?'

'Crystal, Mr Mayor.'

1405 ABRACADABRA STREET.

There wasn't much left of the Abracadabra Street warehouse but windows and walls.

And most of the windows had holes in them, where the paralegals had cut through.

For two weeks the Supernaturalists cleaned, fixed and grieved, trying to repair the damage done by Myishi. There was still a long way to go.

'We still have our bunks,' said Mona, putting a brave face on it at the end of a particularly tiring day.

Ditto kicked the ruptured remains of the refrigerator. 'Well, whoop de doo. Bunks, thank heaven for that. No food, though.'

Cosmo was trying to connect a salvaged hard drive into a gutted computer. 'Mona brought some pazzas back earlier. She left them on the Pigmobile's engine. Maybe you're not interested in pazzas any more, after the HALO incident.'

The Bartoli Baby rubbed his hands together. 'Are you kidding? I couldn't hold a perfectly good foodstuff responsible for my weak stomach,' he cackled, heading for the elevator. 'Pazzas and bunks. What more could a young man ask for?'

Suddenly a deep weariness settled into Cosmo's bones. He righted a chair and settled on to it. But sitting down didn't seem to help. He'd barely had four consecutive hours' sleep since they had lost Stefan. Sometimes it all seemed so pointless.

'What do we do now?' he asked Mona after several minutes' silence. 'Without him?'

Mona shrugged. 'Day by day, like we have been, like everybody else. There are big changes coming to Satellite City. More and more people living outside the footprint. In a few more years, there may not even be a Satellite. We'll have to make our own way. At least we're alive. At least we have friends.'

Cosmo wasn't ready for comfort just yet. 'But he kept us together. He kept us going.'

Mona cleared her throat. 'You know, Cosmo, technically, back there in the laboratory, I did save your life.'

Cosmo was still staring at the floor. 'That's right. With the sniper. I meant to say thank you but it all happened so -'

Cosmo suddenly remembered a conversation they'd had on the roof.

Maybe next time you can save me, he'd said to her. Then I'll owe you a kiss.

He looked up. There were tears in Mona's eyes, but she was smiling. He stood slowly, suddenly wondering if the plate in his forehead was sticking out.

'I owe you a kiss.'

Mona pointed to her cheek. 'That's right. You do.'

Cosmo's knee plate began to itch. 'I've never actually ... I mean ...'

Mona smiled mischievously. 'Maybe we should forget the whole thing.'Cosmo nodded. 'Maybe.'

Then he kissed her.

Of course Ditto chose this moment to return with an armful of pazzas.

'Oh, spare me,' he said, throwing an empty wrapper in the recycler. 'Now I'm going to have to put up with you two making doe eyes every time we go out hunting supernatural creatures.'

'Creatures?' said Cosmo. 'What creatures? The Parasites are friendly, remember?'

Ditto began tinkering with the back of his favourite TV. 'Parasites? Who said anything about them? Let me tell you, there are a lot worse things than Parasites. Just because you two can't see them doesn't mean they aren't there. I'm sensitive, remember. A Bartoli Baby. Nothing hides from me.'

Ditto took a huge bite from his second pazza. 'Believe me,' he mumbled through a mouthful of food. 'The Supernaturalists' work is far from over. But we do need some equipment. What do we have left?'

Mona pulled a starter card from her pocket.

'We have the Pigmobile.'

Ditto nodded. 'It's a start.'

The End