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THE OUTLAND 126
In a world inhabited by people, there is always its own rhythm, its own pace. Even at night, while people are supposed to sleep, in theory, the real city never sleeps. But even in such places there is something that normal people jam with drugs and almost do not wince from the taste - Mondays. The time when the city dies out, as a reminder that the area here once did not know people. That is why it is so uncomfortable on a deserted November road - here such a Monday is always alive. Or, perhaps, the well-fitted cobblestones of the eternal path are specially laid here precisely as a reminder of transience and uselessness - passing here, grown-up children part with a whole heap of illusions, and this also acts as part of the ritual ... I don’t know. These are not my thoughts at all, this is Mekon whining again - the skin is warm, he is holding shoes, he is full, he has had enough sleep, everything is fine, so he is furious with fat.But in fact, in our case with him, even just getting t
THE OUTLAND 127
Mekon also knew these, so he was almost not frightened - you know, he made a gesture mechanically driving away evil spirits, but froze. Kikimors, if they start complaining, remember your name. They will drag it away, drag it into the water, drown it ... And in a couple of days they will feast on a swollen drowned man.Holding his breath, step by step, he backed away, back to the already seemingly less dangerous path. All these horsemen, soldiers, fighters, slave traders were now such simple and understandable guys! Well, they'll kick me once for warning, well, they'll take me to the nearest fortress for trial - either to Customs or to Huerta Moi. They won't kill or drown. After all, yes?Under the foot was a familiar stone, and from somewhere, no one knows where, came a familiar condescending chuckle. The spider is playing around, who else. And the beach slowly calmed down, kikimoras buried themselves in the sand, leaving behind a texture up to bizarre winding traces of the wind. Soon
THE OUTLAND 128
The torch died just as I found the second staircase leading to the level where, judging by the bracelet, the very spider I came to hunt should live. I hope it's not too big and not very poisonous.Something crunched under my foot, and I forcefully forced myself to take the next step. I really did not want to know what crushed just now. It will be easier to sleep later. The second torch lit up easily, quickly, the darkness receded again.And at that moment, on some reflexes, I staggered to the side, put the stick in front of me - and someone's jaws immediately closed on it. Or chewed. Or pedipalps—hell knows what the biting organs of arachnids are called. One way or another, he was waiting for me at the very stairs.- Oh, you!I pulled the stick out of the monster's grip by force and swung it hard. The stick hit an empty place - nature also did not offend the reaction of the spider. He jumped back, sat down on his hind legs, preparing to throw. I too froze, studying my opponent. It's o
THE OUTLAND 129
- Opa. Hello…Then I noticed a familiar stick out of the corner of my eye, lying right there, at the very feet of this ... This ... In general, the weapon was found. Not the fact, of course, that the same thing, but it will come in handy. You have to get too close to hit with a torch, and I'm not sure I want to get close to a creature of this size.As if having heard my thought, the creature took the first step, entering the illuminated space, and with difficulty I suppressed the very first urge to ask the rattle. To say that the creature was standing in front of me is huge - it's nothing to say! Taller, bigger and obviously heavier than me, the boss spider still had the same inhuman reaction! I barely had time to roll to the side when terribly huge, terribly sharp biters ripped the air above me."What are they called? - Flashed through my head. - I'll finish the session, and the first thing - on the wiki!"I waved the torch, but there was no one there. Silence and loneliness. Just dr
THE OUTLAND 130
Monday November gave way to August - also Monday. I don't know how people used to live when they had to go to jobs they didn't like just to avoid starving to death, but damn it I would stay in one place for more than a few days if it didn't meet some of my needs, did not reveal me in one way or another. Labor should ennoble a person, crush the monkey in him, and not reduce him to the state of a voiceless and brainless creature with trembling paws and a tunnel muzzled perception. That's why I'm here, having slept at six in the morning, only fifteen seconds ahead of Bauer's punctual as clock - he bowed his head politely in response to my greeting, went to his department. And I, of course, went to self-actualize in my own. There were the only people whose opinion meant anything to me, thoseAnd it's not even that I'm counting on the same from them - it never occurred to me to think so, honestly. It's just… In addition to our trinity, there were a dozen more absolutely passing personaliti
THE OUTLAND 131
Gritting my teeth with anger, I ordered my implant to break down the alcohol right now - something painfully pricked in the kidney area and slight intoxication was replaced by absolute sobriety, even something unpleasant. This will come back to haunt me a little later, but for some reason I did not want to spend this evening drunk, even if there was no one to look at reproachfully. It's just... I didn't want to.From somewhere there was a clear confidence that our gatherings with the boss would never happen again. One to one - do not smoke, do not ask uncomfortable questions ... Do not drink. Be an ideal person with reinforced concrete motivation to live and be.And there were plenty of such people around, despite the fact that I limited my social circle with all my might. Only the scandalous Stem got out of the circle of endlessly identical Bauers, but I can’t communicate with him for another year under any sauce - my own network in the neocortex will betray me with giblets, somewher
THE OUTLAND 132
Putting the accumulator cube aside, I take out my second treasure. The same scroll with a seal, as in old films about musketeers and guardsmen - the plastic is specially aged and resembles paper in texture, the seal is almost real, except for the broken point - it is held on by strong neodymium magnets.Grinning, I unroll the scroll and read the letters: "Citizen! Congratulations!"The second wave was not officially recognized, despite the depressing statistics. This is too inconvenient, unprofitable decision for the authorities - they may start asking unpleasant questions: how they say so, where were you, what were you watching, since you missed such an event? And yet, the news continues to be full of headlines, more and more people connected to the network directly decide to stay there permanently - fortunately, a small DLL for the implant is easily found on the network, and among the developers of virtualities, not everyone was as reverent about their players as , such as IW Corpor
THE OUTLAND 133
Hello red-eyed! - Edik greeted from the threshold. “I see you are already blooming and smelling like May… ahem…- Hi. I waved my hand. - Today there are three projects, which one should I take?- But none. I skimmed through them, there is a frank exploitation of ideas from "Alien War", let the robotics deal with them.- Okay. And then what should I do?- Rest today. He winked. "You'll need it after yesterday."And hid behind the door.“Yesterday?” I repeated in confusion.He's not talking about those unfortunate three mugs? I remember that he used to drink more himself, and he forced me. No, something is wrong with Eduard Semyonitch, definitely, something is wrong. He changed after the hospital - either the attitude towards alcohol changed, or something else.But do not argue with the authorities. I perched on a chair and ordered:- Alien war, direct connection.Another moment of falling from incredible heights, and I opened my eyes in Mekon's body. This time, apparently for a change,