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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
THE OUTLAND 30
It’s just that the game conventions seem to be incomprehensible as the air coming here, like the work rate of a miner who needs to work not from here until lunch, but just hit a stone with a pick a couple of hundred times. So here.And here is another game convention. A skeleton, who knows how it ended up here. Quite human, clean, he lay with his arms crossed over his chest, as if he had died long before he was dragged here. But what a huge one! Of course, I was not the tallest, but this one was almost twice as tall as me! No, this would definitely not have passed according to our drifts. Perhaps there is another way?I put the lantern next to a strange skull, covered with skillful knitting, geometric patterns. Definitely not human, more likely belonging to some kind of monster. But here everything was just obvious - the deceased must have used this skull during his lifetime as a kind of helmet, protecting his head from blows.What was required to be proved - the skull-helmet easily s
THE OUTLAND 31
"You are exiting the location of the Mines. You are entering the location of the village of Eyautlmant (Mount), population - 120 people."Thanks, I wouldn't have guessed it myself.- People, move to the square for now, and we are behind the headman. Rob, with me.I nodded obediently. It seems that today I have already upset the foreman too much, so he will forbid my daughter to communicate with me. Which, of course, would not be desirable. Of all the people I met here, Agnis was the only one who treated me well.“Brigadier, what are we going to do with the elemental?” - I asked when we separated from the team and walked to the headman's detached hut.- What do they do with it? We'll wait until it leaves. He does not sit in one place for a long time - as soon as he realizes that there is no food, he will move on.Simes's words largely coincided with my thoughts, but one point still needed to be clarified.So we just wait? How do we know he's gone?- Miners. Simes answered curtly and po
THE OUTLAND 32
— Well, not personally Brother Foma, some paladins? I grumbled. - There must be people who do this?“The holy paladins are busy holding back evil spirits on the southern border of the Great Church, where all the abomination from the khaang abysses is rushing towards us. Would you like to draw boundaries?- So, did you eat it? Simes laughed. - My daughter is smart, don't put your finger in her mouth.- Dad!- I'll go home. Is there anything in the oven?- Yes, I put cabbage soup in the morning - as I knew that it would come in handy.- Shchi is good. Come on, feed your father.- Yes, dad. The brigadier and his daughter set off from the square.I went home too. I, unlike Simes, did not have caring female hands at home, so there was nothing to count on a hot dinner. But in the knapsack from the very morning the supplies that Agnis brought in the morning remained forgotten. It would be necessary to conduct an audit, to see what God sent."The working day is over. Check the equipment and t