It had been days since Albert's social withdrawal. He wanted, but he could not overcome the series of trauma that befell him. He was lost. Lost in his memories. Lost in his sense of ethics and morality. His mind was wandering among the vast pool of thoughts, which overlapped and interfered with each other into a complexity that he did not even want to comprehend.
Next to him, there were empty bottles of wine, rolling on the floor. He did not bother going out to restock his groceries. He trapped himself inside his house, the only comfort zone that he probably had. Like his mind, his body wandered around the house, aimlessly. The food in the refrigerator depleted, slowly but steadily. The dust had accumulated around the house due to no cleaning.
If only something would save him from this misery.
"Knock. Knock."
Speak of the devil.
Somebody is knocking on the door. Albert remembered that he installed a doorbell but did not even care enough to question it.
He made his body move to the door and looked through the hole. A tall man, fully covered, was standing, patiently waiting for a response.
- Who's that? - Albert spoke through the microphone that links the inside and outside of the house.
- Whatever way you want to refer to me. I am not here to threaten you or some sort. Just let me in.
- And how am I supposed to believe that obvious lie?
- I can show you.
The man raises his two hands in the air, a sign of friendliness.
If that person had a weapon, he would have charged in and killed Albert. That was the best he could think of. Not only that, Albert did not feel like he wanted to continue living. He opened the door and let the man in.
After offering the man a seat, Albert took a bottle of wine from the fridge and placed it on the table between him and the man.
- Want some alcohol? - Albert offered.
- No, thanks. - The man rejected politely.
After letting Albert finish his drink, the man started talking.
- So, first, I want to show you my empathy. It must have been hard for you these days.
Albert started accumulating some suspicion.
- And how do you know that?
The man leaned back onto the sofa, in a very relaxed manner.
- I know everything about your tragedies. From when your wife left you, to the massacre that took away the life of your dearest son. I know everything.
The man's speech was counter-productive. Without any concern about his safety anymore, Albert leapt at the man and grabbed his collar. He shook it violently.
- Who are you? How do you know those stories?
- Just calm down. Let me finish it.
The man took out a file and handed it to Albert. There were lots of pictures inside. Albert took one of them out and realised that it was the picture of his wife in the hands of another man. Then, another picture showed the culprit running away from the scene of the school shooting. There were all sorts of evidence that could have opened up a path for Albert.
After Albert checked through all of the images in amusement, the man continues.
- I work in an undercover organisation that helps people like you, who are desperate due to these circumstances. We operate on a global scale, but of course, only the people who need to know would know about us. Like you.
This was even more suspicious, if not just bullshit from a random stranger. But, Albert had nothing to lose. The man then brought his right hand closer to Albert.
- Join us. We would make sure that under certain conditions, of course, your life would be back again. No more agony, no more sorrow, just everlasting happiness and contentment. And of course, most of your daily life would be intact. You could continue working at your normal job.
Albert was still hesitant, but at the times that logical reasoning failed to overwhelm emotional spontaneity, he also brought his right hand forward. A firm handshake was established, signalling a contract between Albert and the mysterious man.
Contract documents were then quickly signed. The man made a smile on his face as he left Albert's house.
Just the next day, Albert had done something he had never imagined.
- You can see that man in the black vest and sunglasses, right? - Albert was receiving some instructions through a small communication device provided by the man.
- Yes.
- Feels familiar yet?
Albert took a more careful look. He could never miss that. The man in black is the guy his wife cheated on him with. Albert's blood was boiling in fury.
- You know what to do, right? - The man gave the final instruction.
- Yes.
The crossroad was bustling with people. Even though Albert would find it hard to locate him among many people, once he could find him, the assassination would be very swift because nobody would know.
Albert attempted to approach the man. He did not seem to care. The distance got closer and closer.
Albert was just behind him. Under his coat, a pistol with a silencer was already loaded. Hiding the pistol carefully among the black cover of the coat, Albert flicked his finger to switch to fire mode. The cold barrel pinned the man's back, and even before he realised...
"Pew!"
The quiet sound of the fired bullet made the man stunned for a second before blood started staining his vest and he collapsed onto the ground.
While people gathered around the corpse, both confused and terrified, Albert had already fled from the scene.
- Target eliminated. - Albert registered the kill through the communication device.
- Confirmed. See, it is very easy, right? Now, to the next target.
Soon, with the second confirmed kill of the school shooter, the thorns in Albert's eyes were removed, perhaps forever from his life. Albert went back home. It was as if a heavy burden had been lifted off his shoulders.
For the sense of guilt to kick in.
As soon as he realised what he had done, a sudden shiver spread through his whole body. He immediately threw the pistol on the table and retreated to a corner of the living room, as if the pistol was a threatening beast. Of course, it was.
- What have I done?
The logic gained the correct momentum and started overwhelming Albert's emotional surge. The more he thought about it, the more he realised that he had done it wrongly. The moment he knew the criminals behind his suffering, a more logical option could have been to let the justice system serve them right.
Yet, he chose to kill them. Albert blamed himself for letting the worse of him take control. He questioned himself. He questioned his whole existence.
However, to think again, were his actions entirely justified? Among the millions of probabilities out there, could there be any chance that what Albert had done would lead to the timeline with the best outcome? He would not know. Nobody would.
Putting them aside, Albert could then feel a sense of relief he had never experienced for the past few days or weeks. He was ready to return to work. This was the rare privilege he had, working under the shady organisation that he should be better concerned about, now that he had achieved what he wanted.
- Guess I would do some cleaning and restock my food then.
The thread of Albert's life was reconnected again, at least before his next life crisis came.