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memory. I doubt it’s a coincidence that’s the one place that Nero knows there’s no way I can get at them.’
    ‘I might have a way round that,’ Laura said with a smile, ‘but we’re going to need some equipment that could be difficult for us to get our hands on and at least two more people to help out.’
    ‘If only we knew someone who specialised in procuring hard to obtain items,’ Shelby said with a grin. ‘Come on, tell Aunty Shelby. What do you need?’

    Dr Nero did not turn as the door to the private box opened behind him. He did not really want to be distracted from the final moments of his favourite opera. There was something that appealed to Nero about Don Giovanni’s shameless refusal to repent his wicked ways as he was finally dragged down to the underworld. When the time came, Nero imagined that he would probably feel just the same way.
    Joseph Wright, the former head of G.L.O.V.E.’s British operations, sat down in the seat next to Nero’s.
    ‘I’m sorry I could not get here earlier – something came up,’ Wright said quietly. ‘I hear that this new baritone is quite talented.’
    ‘Indeed,’ Nero replied, not taking his eyes off the stage. ‘What can I do for you, Joseph? While I must admit that spending an evening in London is always a pleasure, I got the impression from your message that you had something rather urgent to discuss.’
    ‘Yes, of course,’ Wright replied. ‘I wanted to see if I could make one last attempt to persuade you to stop this madness and reinstate the former members of the ruling council while there is still time. I understand that the events of the past few months have been difficult for you, as they have been for all of us, but I still believe that there has to be another way.’
    ‘If that is all you brought me here to discuss then I fear we have both made a wasted journey,’ Nero replied. ‘My decision to disband the council was final. I have no intention of changing my mind.’
    ‘Please, Max, listen to reason. Do you really believe that all of the members of the council are simply going to walk away from their former lives? They have too much invested in G.L.O.V.E. for that. They’re angry, Max, and they’re not, generally speaking, the sort of people who try to resolve their problems peacefully.’
    ‘I am quite aware of the way in which my former colleagues usually deal with these situations,’ Nero replied, ‘and that is part of the reason that I have replaced them. The ruling council was designed to act as a mechanism to control the worst impulses of our villainous brothers and sisters and in that it largely succeeded, but we both know that G.L.O.V.E. was dying. We had become too set in our ways, too comfortable with our power. We were blind to what was happening around us as Overlord and his Disciples rose to power and it very nearly cost the lives of every human being on this planet. G.L.O.V.E. had to change: it needed new blood, new leaders who would understand the dangers of such complacency.’
    ‘With you in charge,’ Wright said, a slightly bitter note in his voice. ‘That’s very noble of you, Max.’
    ‘For now,’ Nero replied, still watching the concluding ensemble of the opera. ‘But I have no desire to stay as the head of the council for any longer than is absolutely necessary. As soon as the new members of the council have a little more experience and I have identified which of them would be best suited to replace me I will step down. I do have a school to run after all.’
    ‘A school that trained every single member of the new ruling council. Do you understand what that looks like to the people they replaced? Try to look at it from their perspective.’
    ‘What are you asking me for, Joseph, an apology? For me to change my mind?’ Nero asked, turning and looking Wright in the eye for the first time.
    ‘No, I know you too well for that, Max. I just hoped that I could make you see sense before this situation gets any