"I knew you would come," his voice sounded calm, almost relaxed. "Once you learned about Igor's escape, you'd want to talk to me."
"How do you know about his escape?" Anna sat opposite him, carefully studying the prisoner's face.
"We're connected, detective. Much more deeply than you can imagine," Viktor leaned forward. "Igor, me, others… we are all instruments in someone else's hands."
"Whose?"
"In the hands of someone who possesses the art of turning people into obedient puppets. The Doctor, as he calls himself," Viktor smirked. "But in reality, he's more of a sculptor. He breaks people into pieces and reassembles them however he wants."
Anna took out her notebook and made a note.
"Are you talking about a specific person?"
"About Doctor Berkut. Alexander Viktorovich. A psychiatrist, specialist in child psychology. And a master of reprogramming consciousness," Viktor said this almost with admiration. "He found Igor and me when we were teenagers. Troubled teenagers, as they called us then. And he made us… different."
"Is Sophia with him? Did he take her?"
Viktor nodded.
"She's special. He's been watching her for a long time. Through me, through Igor… We were his eyes. I was supposed to infiltrate her life through her mother. Become a family friend."
"Why? What does Berkut want?"
"He's a collector, detective," Viktor looked her straight in the eyes. "But not in the usual sense. He doesn't collect things. He collects personalities. Souls. And each such soul is marked with its own elephant."
"The elephants of different colors… do they mean something?"
"Everything means something," Viktor leaned back in his chair. "White ones are for those who have found eternal peace. Blue ones are for those who are still waiting their turn. Green ones are for those preparing for transformation. Red ones…"
He fell silent, turning away. Something flashed in his eyes—fear? regret?
"What do the red elephants signify?" Anna asked insistently.
"Red ones are for those who have already become part of the collection. Who have gone through the entire transformation process. Like me. Like Igor," he raised his eyes. "But soon there will be more of them. Many more."
"Where is Berkut keeping Sophia?"
Viktor shook his head.
"I don't know exactly. He never reveals all his cards. But he has several places for… processing. Special places where he conducts his experiments. One of them is the basement in his country house. Another is a former sanatorium somewhere in the forest. He called it his 'laboratory.'"
"Do you know the address?"
"No. They took me there blindfolded. But I remember that the journey took about two hours."
Anna made another note in her notebook, then looked up at Viktor.
"Why are you telling me this? Why now?"
Viktor smiled—a sad, almost human smile.
"Because something went wrong. Here," he tapped his temple with his finger. "His control isn't absolute. Sometimes… sometimes glimpses of my real self break through the programming. And in those moments, I hate what he's made me into."
"You said you went through this transformation… What did Berkut do to you?"
"First—drugs. Special injections that make the mind pliable, like clay. Then—sessions of suggestion. For hours, days. A voice in the darkness telling you who you are, who you should be. And gradually… you start to believe it. The old personality is erased, a new one is written over it. Like on magnetic tape."
