A blast of laser light illuminates the ill-furnished room, revealing two naked female bodies. Dead butterflies. I killed them ten minutes ago, in an unexpected moment of cold reason. Then, to be honest, the man should have been shot. Only a miracle saved me from his scream after the shots, and it was completely unnecessary to torture him. Miracle. Or - the holy certainty of the victim that Ernest A.N. will not touch his old friend?Funny.I come closer. The last shot was a little blurry. Not so surprising, given that yours truly beat the deceased for most of those ten minutes. Knocked down the knuckles, bent the neuroshocker, scared the neighbors of a very decent condominium. Slightly went over the adrenaline, in general. In three minutes, people will be bold enough to call the local security service.Who is guarding them there now? Agni Corp? Half-dead "Gagan"? Maybe the ruthless Knox? Spit.Stool. The only place in this damn apartment that wasn't splattered with empty brains and dir
After the cryogenic fugue, Ernest, like the rest of the passengers on the shuttle, was in mixed feelings. He was slightly sick, periodically rolled drowsiness and hellishly, madly wanted to smoke. And if he partially leveled the first two points with good coffee in the “clean” zone, then he had to wait with nicotine - the luggage was still delayed. So far, the City has been no different from the usual train stations, airports, and hubs.On the other hand, there was time to look at the various creeping and walking alien living creatures and read the booklet for the first time visitors. "A City for Newcomers in Twenty-five Pages".“Blablabla, the right to the Charter…” Ernest’s eyes ran through, “the ensuing rights to social activities, the senior responsibility towards the “guests”, the junior one to the “owners”... Hmm, I would like to see those owners of the city.“Not cities, planets,” said a buoyant, squat man behind him in the baggage claim line. “Believe me, young man, if you see
Location: City Airspace.Location: Somewhere above the New City.Time: Monday, 12:30.They talked a lot. She talked about the importance of studying strangers, he - army tales. Over the Insectarium, Ernest poked fun at the habits of the Josers, and over the glass pyramids, Agnett commemorated her colleagues in the department. In general, it could be said that the flight was successful. Especially considering that the temporary unemployed and ex-combatant in general remembered the direction of the main streets and highways of the City.“You shouldn’t be looking at the roads,” the redhead said categorically. - Look at the rooftops.- Why did it happen?- From some rooftops of the Old and New Towns, you can see half of the city.Do you often jump on rooftops in heels?Agnett chuckled into her fist, and then poked them in the shoulder. Lightly. But, nevertheless - unexpectedly for A.N.- Fool. No, but they showed me one roof ... From it you can see four occultories, and the river. I reall
The newly minted charter decided to take a walk. The communicator worked, analyzed the route - forty minutes. Lanes "a" go from the river to the New City, lanes "b" - perpendicularly. Not as difficult as it might seem at once. In general, no "mazes of strangers", an ordinary city.Which in general he was already beginning to like. The atmosphere of Babylon. A bizarre combination of impetuous human architectural styles long forgotten in the Metropolis and "guest" and "master" styles never known there. Too chopped or too smooth, revealingly spitting on harmony or - built into the landscape. The city had character and was not shy about showing it. And to the freshly baked charter A.N. liked it.And after several months of fugue, Ernest wanted to stretch his limbs. At least the legs.He gladly walked through the "flea market", spending a hundred marks on outright knick-knacks. Old books from the most ordinary paper, a handmade tube. He looked closely at the brass knuckles blackened by tim
Location: New City.Location: Agni Corporation Security Headquarters.Time: Monday, 20-25 local time.The recruiting center was open 24/7. A typical building of glass, attached to the edge of a block of shabby, weathered warehouses. Or warehouses. As the network had previously suggested to Ernest, this particular block was the headquarters of AgniCorp. Where the future candidate went, barely paying for dinner. By the way, the price was really tolerable for the wallet.However, he was not received as kindly as in previous places in the city. Well, except for the memorial gate at thirteenth "A" lane. None of the employees even looked up when the bell at the front door tinkled. Finally, one of them stood up, shoved a packet of forms under his nose, and walked back to the desk. But not to work.“Lord God and Blessed Mary, meat again,” sighed the man, whose whole appearance (gray hair, windburn, a burn spider on his face, a crooked scar from the Djoser mandible) hinted at the characterizat
- How are you, three hundred and first?- Hooked a little, but you can live, - frowned partner. He got much more: the armor was dented, the rifle was smoking from overheating. When did you manage to?.. - Look, it seems that the opposing side has come out.Indeed, gloomy ragamuffins with various rubbish in their hands began to seep out of the adjoining alleyways.“I remind you that shooting to kill is prohibited against the Charterers in the absence of danger ...” the dispatcher muttered, but Ernest did not wait for the weapons to be blocked. He nodded to his partner and threw a gas grenade. Blue cloud, hacking cough. Someone began to puke right on the spot. Soon the coughing crowd dispersed. For a while.Because after a couple of minutes the cloud began to dissipate. Too fast.- Three hundred and first, step on the gas.The partner silently swung and threw a grenade. Flight - the cloud fell behind the squat barn opposite, causing a stream of curses. And without stopping the creeping c
Location: Old City.Location: Cafe-bar "Dirty Harry".Time: 22-10 local time.Although the establishment was proudly called a "cafe-bar", in Ernest's hometown these were usually called "The Hole in the Wall". A narrow room, the smoke stands in a column so that you can hang a holster on it, normal tables are only on the street. True, unlike the memorable "holes", this one, at first glance, looked very decent.Wooden wall panels (albeit withered), not devoid of grace lamps (albeit providing little dim light). Visitors drink cocktails not entirely from Collins and shots. The ash is shaken off not on the floor, but in ceramic ashtrays. And even the bouncer was dressed clean, and not in work overalls. In general, at first glance, not bad.Landing Page : Lights in the Wasteland!Headline : Expert: Bars of the so-called "Powerless" are steadily losing popularity.Host Approved : yesVideo broadcast. A small room crammed with emphatically archaic radio equipment. Electronic lamps burn through
Location: Old City.Location: Cafe-bar "Dirty Harry".Time: 23-25 local time.Agnett, Agnett. I thought good parents...The girl rolled her eyes and pulled out a dainty little folder from somewhere. Cigarette case, long and thin mouthpiece. The process of collecting smoking accessories (cigarette filter mouthpiece) reminded him of assembling a poly-mode and he smiled. Agnett felt the gaze and for the first time in the evening smiled warmly, and not in response to a joke. Or a lucky hit. And just like that. It was unusual.Ernest asked the bartender for a busy sign, and left a new (and again opened) bottle as a deposit. During this time, the red-haired woman threw on the coats already familiar from the airship and a small backpack. They left, taking compliments for blows along the way. Moreover, all those who voiced approval agreed that the bottle of Aperol played a decisive role in the tavern fight.Apart from them, no one dared to smoke outside, and as soon as they left, the freshl