The trek through Black Forest to the scientist bunker is rarely an easy one. The forest houses many dangers, ranging from large packs of dogs and mutated insects to anomaly fields so large that even the most experienced artifact hunters would reconsider. The forest's most potent protectors, however, are the controllers roaming in its winding pathways, flanked by their Zombified meat puppets. While the area saw little stalker activity, controllers would regularly migrate here because of the isolation it provided from rest of the Zone. Until one day, a Mi-26 helicopter arrived over the horizon and deployed a mobile lab belonging to the ecologists to the forest. From then on, these mutant beasts would be hunted down mercilessly, until only a couple remained.

One, known to the local ecologists as Overlord, had amassed a vast personal guard of Zombified stalkers, some still in good enough condition to hold weapons, others less so. Overlord was sentient enough to sense the threat the mobile lab created, and it began a crusade to remove the thing from its territory. Knowing that it would not defeat its foe by engaging them directly, the psychic mutant sent waves of Zombified stalkers into the scientist base, hoping to attrition them into retreat. This approach was rapidly frustrating the creature, as despite Overlord's best efforts, its puppets would fall one by one. It would have to attack, supported by its mentally lobotomized minions. The creature writhed its disfigured fingers and the Zombified stalkers around it snapped into action.

But just as the mutant was about to order its minions to advance, a faint signal at the edge of its conciousness alerted Overlord. Controllers have a sort of sixth sense tuned into the informational network of Noosphere circling the world, where they do not have control over it but can locally sense beings controlled to it. This sense appears in addition to their regular, slightly worse vision compared to humans, and through a sort of intuition they can feel the human thoughts in their surroundings. Overlord sensed a faint signal, one far weaker than an average human's, which it concluded to be that of a Monolith trooper. They were still connected to the Noosphere, unlike Zombified stalkers, but faintly due to their lack of emotion other than fierce devotion. Monolith rarely felt the need to attack controllers, so Overlord posted some of its puppets to the rear just in case and turned his attention towards the mobile lab once more.

With a simple mental command, its minions lurched onwards, guided through invisible chains of servitude. Once they had formed a shield in front of Overlord, they began a shambling march towards their foes, covering their leader with their malnourished bodies. Overlord felt confident in its plan, relishing in the bloodshed that would soon follow. The scientists would be cleansed, and unfortunately some would perish before joining the ranks of its undying legion. But as the controller began its march, the blunt headache striking its head told the creature that one of its puppets had been killed. Another ache, and yet another connection was severed. Feeling what could possibly be described as panic, the mutant turned around to see what was going on. Back by the construction site they had began their march from, the Zombified stalkers left to guard the rear laid down on the ground. Pools of blood were now seeping into the ground, but there were no one to be seen.

Overlord tried to feel the Noosphere around it, and only then did it realize that the contacts it had considered to be Monolith had disappeared. The controller pulled the mental strings of its underlings and forced them to turn towards this unexpected threat, but the ground around them was raked with bullets and some struck the abomination's army. Barely registering that their time on this world had come to an end, the Zombified stalkers fell to the dirt one by one. Overlord tried to move to the cover of the construction site, but a large-calibre round pierced its skin and forced the mutant on its knees. The controller tried to struggle upright, but the crunching of leaves under a heavy boot indicated to it that the enemies had gotten too close.

Overlord looked up, seeing a man in black and grey suit with a red sun patch on his arm. The creature tried to muster some energy for a final Hail Mary attack, but the one-eyed shotgun barrel delivered the mutant its final verdict.

"Vrag Mo-... Eh, blyat, for Strider!", the man mused.

As the controller's body crashed into the ground, other members of the stalker's squad joined him, having finished off the Zombified. The shotgunner took out a short-range walkie talkie and with a hiss, it turned on.

"Black Forest bunker, this is Noon squad Zenith. Do you copy, over?", the man asked, and a confirmation soon rang clear over from the radio.

"We have eliminated a controller with a sizeable entourage of Zombified. Do you desire to have the carcass for extraction? We are mere half a kilometre from your location, at the construction site down the hill, over.", the Noon stalker continued.

"Affirmative, I'll send a squad to fetch it and meet you half-way. Over.", the voice of Professor Brenter replied.

Ten minutes later, a group of four stalkers arrived to the scene. The Noon stalker watched them approach. An ecologist in heavy exosuit and Altyn helmet combination led them, flanked by two men in guard suits and one in Monolith armour. This caught his notice, and he observed the last one with keen eye. The man was in his 30s, a short and sturdy frame and brown hair with short stubble growing on his cheeks and chin. While the Noon stalker was not particularly interested in the man's looks, he nonetheless picked these features up while looking for something far more important, the Monolith trooper's body language. It struck him as odd how the supposed deconverted man was acting without the typical robotic movements of a former Monolithian. Normally deconversion itself was a quick process, but the loss of the Monolith habits and quirks, as the deconverted called them, took a long time. Strider himself sometimes reverted to a monotone accent despite being one of the first.

"Good morning, gentlemen. Welcome to Black Forest, feel free to enjoy the fresh irradiated air and friendly local fauna! I'm Koumiss, the local ranger and part-time Ecologist.", the leading Ecologist greeted them.

"I go by Foma, and these are my men Clover, Hyena and Amur. If this encounter is anything to go by, I believe I would rather prefer not to drag this visit on. Here is the corpse, I believe this creature was planning to strike your bunker.", Foma replied in kind.

"Good thing you disposed of it then, these bastards have been bugging us for quite some time. Oh, and this here is the one we contacted you for, Dragoslav. We found him wandering the woods in these Monolith rags.", Koumiss explained, and Dragoslav nodded to the Noon squad.

"Pleasure to meet you. I think I might be able to give you some answers, but not here. See that marking near the half-completed buildings groundwork? That's a Monolith supply point. Hyena checked it, and there's some supplies, so there might be enemies around. So we better not stay here.", Foma proposed.

"Got it. You two, grab the corpse. You, Noon guys, follow me, let's get back to the bunker.", Koumiss ordered, and the two ecologist guards hauled the controller's body over their shoulders.

After a quick trek, they arrived at the Ecologist base. Ensign, the bunker security team's leader, had cooked some more food, a stew from purified herbs, beets and boar meat. Professor Brenter had brought out a bottle of whiskey, which he claimed to be because they had finally had visitors in this forgotten part of the world. Those not in guard duty joined the two men around the fire, sitting on the various crates and pallets to not touch the almost frozen ground. The Noon stalkers stuck to their group, gathering on one side of the fire while the rest of the Zone-dwellers spread out evenly around it. Once the introductions were over, the small feast began, and while they ate, Foma explained to Dragoslav what Noon was all about.

"Years ago, I was part of a small Monolith group led by our leader Strider. We were on a regular patrol pattern, when everything went dark and we woke up in a tunnel somewhere around the Jupiter factory. That day was when our connection to the Monolith was severed. We finally realized that the faith had gripped us so hard was all lies, but given our situation, we couldn't exactly just walk to the nearest stalker settlement and return to normal life. Thankfully, we got help from a man who later on was revealed to be a government agent, and after some months of preparation, we set off to form Noon as a way to save others like us."

"Like me, yes?", Dragoslav asked eagerly, hoping to finally get somewhere.

"I can see that you wish I said yes. But I have met many deconverted brothers, and unfortunately for you, there is a very clear pattern. The first weeks they speak in monotone voices, move like Monolith soldiers in a very trance-like way, and they are plagued by visions of the Monolith. It gets better after a while, but I have never seen one recover as quickly as you have, and something just feels off about it.", Foma said in a very apologetic tone.

"So what the hell am I then? I was promised answers yet all I've gotten is just more questions, damn it!", Dragoslav shouted in utterly exasperated tone.

"Could he have been deconverted much earlier and then loaded into the truck to be brainwashed again?", Koumiss asked.

"No. The conversion process is incredibly straining to a human mind, and it can only happen once. Most people do not survive it even then, leading to Zombification.", Brenter chimed in.

"Exactly as the Professor said. The people behind Monolith tried it, but the results killed the subjects outright. Any Monolith trooper found to have been deconverted is usually executed on spot or taken back for questioning by the Inquisition, a sort of upper echelon of Monolith Preachers, and then executed.", one of Foma's men, Hyena, confirmed.

"Hyena speaks from experience, those bastards caught him and beat him for days for the location of our base. Only with the help of a Freedom scout did we manage to intervene and save him.", Foma noted.

"Could he be an agent? Brenter told me to wait until you arrived before jumping into conclusions, but I sure as hell don't want any Monolith infiltrators in my camp.", Ensign questioned, looking at Dragoslav with suspicion.

"I doubt it. When Monolith turn someone into an agent, it's a quick process. They wipe your memories, hope you survive long enough to get away from the centre of the Zone and then either dump you into a death truck or drop you off into the wilderness. Clover used to dump agents near Radar, about 80 percent of them die before doing anything and those that survive have very distinct symptoms for a few days after the conditioning, which, again, Dragoslav here does not.", Foma replied, and Clover nodded, a dark look on his face.

"Some agents suffer terribly for the last few days of their lives. Usually the perish before getting to the south, but I remember some tracks leaving with a cargo of men all screaming in agony. One grabbed my hand, pleading for a mercy killing, but then again I was a Monolith trooper and he was just a mission for me.", Clover sighed, and Dragoslav saw deep pain in his eyes.

"So I'm not a Monolith agent, I'm not a Monolith soldier. Any other ideas? Maybe something related to that orb?", Dragoslav offered, and Foma's eyes lit up while Brenter glanced quickly at Ensign.

"Orb?", Foma prompted.

"Dragoslav, I advice you t-", Ensign began, but Dragoslav was already speaking.

"A blueish-hued orb, shackled into a container on top of some sort of silo. It felt familiar, like it was alive, even though it was almost certainly just a mass of electricity."

"I warned you, Dragoslav, not to share that!", Ensign bellowed, but before he could react, Foma stopped him with a quick remark.

"Do not fear, we are already aware of it as much as you are. And we do not know much. Only the name, Kairos."

"How do you think you know what we know?", Brenter asked, stupefied.

"Beautifully articulated, Professor. And I cannot answer, because a magician never reveals his tricks, but am I wrong, now?", Foma prodded, and hesitantly, the old scientist shook his head slightly.

"I'll send a report to Sakharov to double our security measures. But I must admit that we have only recovered a single photograph of it with the word Kairos written on it. The documents that were found with the photograph were lost in a mercenary raid on research bunker D-6.", Brenter sighed.

"And nothing was copied?", Dragoslav asked in desperation, but the scientist simply shook his head.

"I can see you're disraught, Dragoslav, and while I cannot offer much help, the brotherhood of Noon could provide you with a temporary shelter in case you're interested. We have allies who may know more on these things, ones who know more of the Zone than even the ecologists here and others who have seen more of the Zone's secrets in far shorter time than many of its older factions.", Foma offered with a small smile.

"I really do not see many ways ahead from here. My memories are gone, I have nothing to my name. But if you are willing to take me in, then it is probably my best bet.", Dragoslav grunted, and Foma nodded approvingly.

"In that case, we better get going. There is still daylight left, and we may make it to Devil's Trail before dark if we go now.", Amur, one of Foma's men, spoke for the first time, and the other Noon members expressed their support to this plan.

They rose up to get prepared, and Dragoslav did so too. Despite only having known the ecologists for a very short time, Dragoslav felt like he owed them a farewell. Ensign gave him a survival knife for the road, but accompanied it with a warning that Dragoslav would do well to not speak of the orb to anyone, a condition which Dragoslav accepted. Koumiss had remained mostly silent during the earlier conversation, but when the amnesiac approached him, the ranger gave the man a weapon he had been tinkering with. It was a worn single-shot rifle, clearly taken from the walking braindead earlier.

"Here. This is MP-18 rifle, uses your typical 7.62x54R Soviet cartridge. Not the most amazing gun, but I saw that it wasn't in incredibly terrible condition unlike most guns those Zombified had, so I think you can use it. Besides, the FN pistol of yours is absolutely terrible if you face anything bigger than a dog, so this will help. And no need to pay me, take it as a parting gift from me. Who knows, maybe you'll save my ass with it one day.", Koumiss chuckled and handed the gun and some ammo to its new owner.

"Thanks, I don't know what to say, this is great. And the ammo too, one day I'll pay you back even if you don't want the money.", Dragoslav said, gratitude in his voice, and Koumiss merely shrugged.

"So, mister Dragoslav, seems like our paths diverge here. I wish you luck in your quest to regain your memories. Here, a little something for the road.", Brenter interrupted them, handing his almost empty bottle of whiskey to Dragoslav.

"Although that alone won't cut it. Here, take this as well. It's not much, but this pack of medicine will be more than enough to treat most wounds.", Brenter continued and handed Dragoslav a purple bag full of various meds.

"Elite kit, professor? You're being generous.", Ensign noted.

"Medicine for the mind and body, something this young gentleman sorely needs.", Brenter replied and pointed first at the bottle and then at the bag.

"Thank you, professor. I hope your future research endeavours here continue well!", Dragoslav said, and the old man smiled slightly, his mind already elsewhere.

Foma tapped Dragoslav on the shoulder and noted that the Noon squad was ready to go. With his goodbyes said, the man with no memory joined the former Monolith stalkers, and they set course for the Noon base. Amur took lead, his equipment clearly showing that he was a scout of sort. While the others in his squad had heavy bulletproof vests and military-style helmets, Amur only had a light vest and a gasmask with an expensive-looking nightvision and two large flashlights on both sides.

The others had a mix of survival kit and military gear on their belts and vest pockets, while Amur had various items related to exploration, ranging from simple rope and shovel to some sort of high-end detector. While Amur was following some unseen path, Foma explained to Dragoslav that the scout had once been a Monolith scout-sniper, a special soldier in the Wish Granter's army that was meant to strike rival factions when they least expected it. But one mission took Amur too far from the Monolith's emitters, and the brainwashing crumbled in his mind. He soon joined the ranks of Noon and became instrumental in search and rescue efforts of the young faction.

Dragoslav was still very confused on various details of the Zone, and the story of Amur brought these questions back into his mind. As they continued through the rolling hills and twisted woods of Black Forest, Dragoslav asked Foma all sorts of things related to the Zone, and the former Monolith soldier answered to the best of his abilities. The more his stories revealed, the more Dragoslav was amazed and increasingly confused. But the awe-inducing landscape with its nature-bending anomalies and mutated trees did back up all the stories Foma told him, and thus Dragoslav could barely do more than try his best at digesting all this new information.

As the hours continued dragging on, and the journey continued, Foma ran out of energy to keep speaking, and Dragoslav in turn had a head so full of information that despite his curiosity, he had to admit that a break was good. He wanted to learn more, but for now, it was best to let the mind relax for a minute. But rest was not in the horizon, as while the name of their next destination had gone largely unnoticed by Dragoslav, the Devil's Trail would easily live up to its name.