Previous Chapter
Related Chapters
THE OUTLAND 22
The author of the stray turned out to be a genius. No, I'm serious: how can you fit so much into thirty kilobytes? First things first, of course, an emergency shutdown from the network and PP. True, there was a small problem ...The fact is that synthetics in itself allowed the players some liberties, because even if the player was completely immersed in the world, he still held controllers in his hands, and these are buttons and, as a result, their combination. But what to do if you are in the game almost physically while your mortal body is snoring in a chair? What buttons to press?- Think, head, I'll buy a cap!Stem would hardly talk about disconnecting from the direct connection modem if it were not possible. But how to press a keyboard shortcut if ...I looked at the rectangular window in the terminal solution in confusion. The four buttons at the top are "Connect", "Analyzer", "Viewer" and "Program Description". I definitely don’t need the last three, their functionality exhaus
THE OUTLAND 23
The registry was available directly from the window. But instead of understandable names, there were characters in the encoding that my terminal refused to play.- Ugh. I bit my lip, looking at the krakozyabry on the screen. What is this strange encoding? Who even made it? Koreans?Stop stop stop. Who is at the origins of "Aidab"? Any French or Americans?Search engine, wiki, "idab."— Idab. The speakers began to speak mechanically. — A joint Chinese-American firm founded in 2022 by people from…Chinese!- Terminal, download and install Chinese language support. - In Chinese, I, of course, am not strong, but it will always be possible to drive the names through a translator.And, while I went for coffee, the terminal managed to update itself, and the restarted Stema program drew me very beautiful and equally incomprehensible hieroglyphs.- Translation from the screen.The screen blinked, in a second the hieroglyphs were replaced by already quite readable lines. But it's still unclear.
THE OUTLAND 24
The system administrator who appeared on the call in a sweater with a tortured look immediately crawled under the table - apparently, to check the wires.- What's this? He pulled a wire from under the table with the crimp cap almost off.- How do I know? It looks like a network cable. They would have abandoned the archaic a long time ago, wireless communication is everywhere.“Uh-huh, they refused. How the hell did you know.Scratching his beard, he patted the pockets of a chic belt, which he apparently inherited from high-altitude fitters. The desired was found on the left thigh - it was from there that the system administrator took out a machine for compressing the network cable. Quickly cutting off an extra piece, he put on a contact cap and plugged it into the network connector of the terminal.- How did you manage to pull it out? Pulled, huh? I shrugged. - Okay, business for five minutes.The terminal turned on showed only the crossed-out antenna icon.“What the…” There was a sin
THE OUTLAND 25
But the phone, which, it seems, did not care at all, was found under the rubble of scraps of paper.— Rob.— Good morning, Rob. Soothing voice, impeccable manner. Bauer, who else. Though what does he care about—” “I suppose you've already discovered what your office has become. I want to reassure you - the perpetrators have already been found.- It's good that. How can I work now?- We have already ordered the replacement equipment, as soon as it passes the inventory at the supply manager, we will start connecting you."But what's wrong here?" It feels like Mamai has passed!I don't know all the details, unfortunately. You know, there are security protocols, only the monitoring service has all the information, and it says nothing to avoid leaks.- That is, it is useless for me to go to them and ask who is here and what they have done?- Useless. Bauer pissed off. “Most likely, they will oblige you with several more non-disclosure agreements. Don't tease the geese, Rob, just be patient
THE OUTLAND 26
“They say there were giants here.- Yura, I'm sorry, we all ... - Edik winked at me fervently, without completing the sentence.He got better though. Albeit not as fast as I would like, and warm April has already managed to smoothly flow into an almost hot May smelling of herbs, but still. Edik returned to duty. The inner yard of the hospital is overgrown with grass, so far short, dotted with whimsically walking paths, trees, bushes, where it is so convenient for patients to walk after the operation. Although, of course, "walking" is not really about us. A wheelchair, a rigid frame around the neck that makes it difficult to turn the head - and this is after almost a month under anesthesia.Nevertheless, despite the fact that I sometimes forgot about it, Edik turned fifty. And this is not twenty or even thirty years, when most of the sores heal almost instantly. He was not even considered elderly yet with an increased life expectancy, but without specific therapy, the incisions on his
THE OUTLAND 27
For some reason, I was very frightened by the fact that I didn’t even think to hint about the magic wand waiting in the wings on the boss’s modem. Where did such secrecy come from in me, unwillingness to share my plans, trump cards with someone?"It seems that I am becoming more and more like Edik," I thought with incomprehensible bitterness.But now was definitely not the time for such talk. Not a place. It was not worth telling the authorities that I had made contact with my past: they let me out on bail, as well as arranged to work under Edik, with the condition that "never again.""Nothing. There is always a chance that Edik will just take his place, watch the game, and then the crawler will remain unclaimed, no one will know about him, and so on. On the other hand, if Edik fails, then I will have to use the program during the game process, then no one should know about it for sure.Ed, are you done? Bauer approached us inaudibly from the direction of the lilac bushes.- And then.
THE OUTLAND 28
"Welcome to the world of Alien War. Warning: To avoid network latency issues, please select the closest local cluster to you!"I hovered over a huge map of the world, made as if by a medieval cartographer - parchment yellow with age, puffy cheeks of the wind and, of course, the obligatory "dragons live here" somewhere in the western part of the map.Most of the map turned out to be inactive, in fact, the choice was between the continent, which occupied the entire eastern part, a tiny island in the northwest of it, and an archipelago in the southwestern part of the ocean, uninventively named Western."Recommended Clusters:Western HabitatOshtaniaLimbo"— Eh… Well, let's go first.The map of the continent unfolded, approached, filled with conventional icons, rivers stretched from the mountains, and scary monsters inhabited the forests."Please choose a starting location. Warning: the starting location determines your future class!Available locations:Khaang's handSuburb GaryGreat C
THE OUTLAND 29
Fulfillment is a duty, overfulfillment is an honor.- Went. And remember: you should always see at least one comrade.“Even in the toilet?”No, just look at him. “I got another slap on the back of the head. “I did so much good for him, I feed him, sing, I gave him the old instrument, and he is insolent to me. I will single out a partner and forbid my daughter to run to you, since you are so smart.We made the rest of the way to the square in silence: he, due to his taciturnity, and I, trying to figure out whether to be offended by him or wait a bit.Yes, people! Simes began as soon as we found ourselves in front of a crowd of miners not much different from him. “The miners reported that they saw an elemental again in the third drift, so today we are going to the second one.- There is no ore. - I heard a voice from the crowd.- And what is more important for you - to get the ore or keep your head on your shoulders? That's it. In addition, there was an old shield left, perhaps we will