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2024-10-29 19:42:56The Interworld Conquista is an association of worlds of a medium-low level of development under the leadership of the church of the great Xolotl, which the Far Search encountered in its very first Breakouts. In the event of a collision, it is recommended to maintain a distance without entering into fire contact. Despite their technological backwardness, the Conquista fighters showed extremely high efficiency in trapping, searching for and destroying Long-Range Search operatives.
From the Charter of the Far Search.
There are more, there have always been more. Oh, my head ... How do they manage to constantly figure us out? They are bare-assed savages, howling against us with our own weapons! How? Mystery.
Mixed in with the hangover feeling was a vaguely familiar sensation that I would have been hard pressed to pinpoint. Everything ached - my head, my eyes, my teeth... Having searched a bit in my memory, I revived a very similar feeling that happens once a year, when operatives are given a comprehensive vaccination against everything at once. They say that in addition to weakened microbes, a whole bunch of weak narcotic drugs are mixed there - so that we can fight them if something happens.
Residual effect of the contents of the dart?
- … Glad? We are now in the wrong place! It's Faye's voice.
“Better that than being caught by this… this…” Frost spat.
I lay with my eyes closed, not preventing my squad from swearing. Let off steam, come to your senses is also useful. The main thing is not to start again to find out which of them is stronger in hand-to-hand combat. At the base, it’s clear - there is a first-aid post, dislocations and fractures of limbs will heal quickly. And here what to do in case of what?
Perhaps we are still too young and unprepared to roam other worlds. In the end, the Search went into its third decade, and Fey and Froze still caught the moment when we were returned to the base with a spatial lasso after a clearly allotted time, while the installation did not care where you are. Some of ours even managed to get out of the captivity of the Conquista. So on the one hand it was even good. On the other hand, the independence of the detachments suffered greatly from this.
But progress does not stand still. First came the portable arc piercer, then the "last chance" button. So far, only a prototype has not been put into general use. And we, therefore, experience it.
- Fei, you're bleeding. On the chest.
- What? Ah, nonsense.
Voices sounded muffled, somehow strange. As if through cotton wool. When I opened my eyes, I understood why. Fog.
And the damp earth, the cold of which was felt even through the armored suit. So we...
- It's not nonsense. You never know what kind of rubbish can be found here. Let me treat the wound.
“No need, it’s all over.
“Fool, we are in a swamp!” Nothing lives here!
In the swamp. Amazing. It is still unknown what is worse - to fall into the hands of the Conquest or to linger here.
“Take care of your wounds, Frost, and leave mine to me.
- Well, I do not. When you become a squad medic, then you will perform, but for now, cover your mouth and let me do my job.
“Froz, don’t…” Did it seem, or was there something strange in Faye’s voice? - Everything is fine.
- Everything will be all right when I ... Oh you!
There was a crunch, the noise of a struggle and the sound of a slap in the face.
Well, they don't seem to agree. Overcoming the pain and nausea, I sat up and opened my eyes with the words:
Have you decided to kill each other again?
Decided. In any case, the huge hand around Fei's neck ruled out other interpretations.
"Froz, what are you doing, stop it!"
I got up and went to separate the operatives.
We're all in the same boat, stop it!
It was terrible to look at Froze - his face turned purple, the veins on his forehead swelled, it seemed that just a little more, and he would simply break the fragile Fey in half.
"Stop what, Commander?" He pulled his gaze away from Fey's eyes and turned to me. - Yes, I'm this nit ...
- Yes, that's it. I took my service nine-millimeter out of my holster and aimed at a couple. - Either you stop your kindergarten, or get a bullet in the knee. Each. And at the base they will patch us up.
“They'll patch us up in the morgue. Frost reluctantly let go of his partner's neck and took a step back.
— Why all the fuss?
"Don't you want to tell him?" The operative muttered grimly.
— Tell what?
“Commander, no offense. Who pressed elche?
- Well, I.
“Then we are finished.
- What? Why?
“Have you ever seen how an elche works?”
- Not. Fey is in charge of the trial.
- Yes? Didn't it seem strange to you then that we study the arc piercer thoroughly, but we only know about the elche that this is a means of last chance?
- Let us suppose. What's up with Faye?
- You said it yourself. Frost snorted. She is responsible for the test! She has all the technique of moving!
- That's right, according to the instructions. AND?
- Look.
He threw me some kind of plastic cube with a button on the end.
- What is it?
— The same Elche. Turn over.
I obediently did as Fros asked and with difficulty kept a strong word. Should have figured it out right now! Runic inscriptions, a crooked needle and a blood collector. Technology Conquista.
Okay, feel sorry for yourself is not the time, I'll have time yet. If I survive this operation.
How fast can they spot us?
- Already caught. But they still need to get to the swamps. Fay replied.
Dark rituals, obligatory sacrifices, sorcery.
I looked into Fey's eyes demandingly.
"So that's how they find us so quickly." Who is aware of the base?
- The entire transportation department.
- And you were silent? Yes I…
- What could I do? Faye yelled out of nowhere. - They just gave me this nonsense and told me to wear a button from the body! If I want Lucky's sacrifice not to be in vain, if I want revenge, then this is a chance!
“You didn’t take revenge, you brought a detachment of the Conquista on us. Frost growled again.
- Yes, open your eyes! Elche has been running since the death of the captain! Conquista already knows everything he wants to know, including the coordinates of our house!
- Stop. “I hurried to intervene in their dismantling before it came to hand-to-hand combat again. “You don’t want to say that in that raid where I replaced you…”
— First prototype test. Elche was with Hyde.
I groaned and squeezed my head in my hands. Have we got a traitor? How? Why? We all know very well that...
They do not return alive from the Conquista. The lasso-drawn operatives were such a sight that even seasoned surgeons were nauseated.
The conquest only needs information, and their masters of shoulder cases are capable of destroying a person's identity in a matter of hours.
We know that…
- ... that Conquista is not afraid to leave her people on the battlefield, even without weapons, equipment - almost naked! Because every Conquista fighter knows a simple ritual that allows him to return home.
That year, the school was buzzing, and the news showed a smiling Hyde, for the first time in history, dragging a "tongue" to an intermediate base deep underground in a deaf concrete pencil case. Ours used a couple of cocktails on it and asked everything they knew, and the next morning the cell turned out to be empty - the prisoner, pumped up with chemistry to the very eyebrows, managed to cut himself on the sharp edge of the bed, and did everything else with chained limbs.
And we dubbed it. I said slowly. “Not caring that perhaps this ritual might reverberate.
I said it just like that, "for a fool", but it turned out ... Damn, it's me, I'm the biggest fool! Would they pay me if I could just say something? I won't get used to it in six months!
Our own "magic", the work of intuition, unconscious search and comparison. My intuition told me the most obvious facts. If the space between the worlds is like water, then we wade through it with effort and master it only in small detachments, when the Conquista simply grew fins. And ears to hear flopping even for several kilometers. Conquista adapted to the worlds, and we tried to adapt them to ourselves. It is not difficult to guess who will emerge victorious in such a situation. All this mystical nonsense, rituals, magic - and in the end, intuition claims that Conquista would be smart enough to do something similar with us!
True, it was not entirely clear why, in the Search with so many intuitives, I alone reached such a simple thing? Am I a genius? Or is it because the others are just... Keep quiet?
“Lucky Hyde volunteered to test the prototype. she argued desperately. You were just unlucky to be there. You were unlucky.
- Fei, you're stupid. Frost said.
“But we have really advanced since then!” They began to get captured less, it was easier to get away from the chase.
- Yes, if not for Rob, the chase would not have happened! the medic yelled, clenching and unclenching his huge fists. - We would be tied up right at the place of the Breakdown warm!
- They didn't tie it up.
“Fey, let me remind you that Conquista learned how to block arc piercers with an inert gas—when?” Not in the last six months? Become invisible on thermal radars and heartbeat sensors, even shoot at the only weak spot of the suit! Can you guess for yourself or hint how unwashed savages came up with solutions where their science has not yet matured in principle?
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THE OUTLAND 3
Frost was right. With our own hands we handed over the keys to victory to Conquista. They lay on their belly and spread their legs. Although it didn’t happen before that Conquista caught us immediately at the exit point, but I suppose this is not the last such case, because ...I angrily squeezed, crushed the ill-fated cube between my fingers. Idiots, what idiots we are. We run, puff, try something, and then a well-wisher comes with rationalization proposals!I didn’t even want to think about the fact that it could be a targeted sabotage, sponsored by someone - it became completely sickening. But - and-people capable of solving just such problems - and only I guessed?I wonder at what rate these thirty pieces of silver were paid?“Fey, after returning to the base, you will hand over your weapons and official equipment. I was surprised to hear my cracked voice. “You are withdrawing from operations.- There is. the Vietnamese woman said coldly.“Do you have anything else we should know
THE OUTLAND 4
Top secret.Black box III link Ogre DP. 16.VI.30 Commander Rob A. entry 4/6— Hello, commander. - Suddenly heard on the command frequency. - You're good to run.- Who is it?— Conquista. Faye whispered. Rob, don't answer!"Familiar voice, who is it?""Don't you recognize me?"— Commander! Frost's tense voice was heard. “I see their captain-general!”— Distance to the target?- A mile and a half.So shoot, why are you delaying?- I don't…"What's wrong with all of you!" Fey, on the perimeter.I climbed a tree with the desire to tell Fros everything I think about him. For once, we are in a better position, we can no longer play the exchange, but snap their fighters from a distance! Return home winners!The words stood in my throat like a stake when I took the shooting complex from Froze, crouched down on the scope and saw a familiar face at maximum magnification. He looked strange in antediluvian camouflage with a primitive "Kalash" on his shoulder, but there could be no mistake. - D
THE OUTLAND 5
— Bitch Hyde! I yelled, pulling off my headset. Outside the windows, dawn was already painting the dull gray buildings of our department with a soft pink color. I was left alone in the office again, the last one again. Or the first, depending on how you look.From the accompanying screen, the bastard general Hyde was grinning at me, frozen. Embracing my fighters by the shoulders, enjoying their unconditional trust. And the credits slid up across the black field. Somewhere I screwed up, somewhere I missed something. According to persistent rumors on the net, the third episode of "Search" could be completed by returning to the base. True, the lucky ones who received this particular ending stubbornly kept silent, posting only the final shots with burning installations and a bottomless muzzle looking between the eyes of the protagonist.Solid terra incognita. The stubborn silence of the lucky ones gave rise to a second wave of rumors - they say, they will have to pay not with a minted co
THE OUTLAND 6
The department woke up, came to life - people, normal people, not maniacs like me, sitting at a toy until dawn, slowly took their places. They are not my colleagues, they do not like adrenaline, the race from danger or for the victim, they are shy of emotions and therefore they never start games with a romantic line. No one has ever seen them cry heartily or laugh out loud. Homo robotics. And why did they survive in the Last War, and not personalities like noisy Edik? Silly providence.No, of course, I did not have the abilities of Rob from "Search", I never shone with intuition, but a month of work in the department taught me to turn off my head while working on reports. And thoughts inevitably start in an empty head. Including those for which the state security may well attract for treason. It’s good, after all, that the space of thoughts has been equated with private life!The adjacent tables were already empty by the time I finished my report. Four hundred test questions, more li
THE OUTLAND 7
— You know, I believe analysts, I believe! - He said, looking somewhere past me. “We don’t learn anything, we keep running somewhere, in an eternal fever we absorb information, process it and add our own psychos to what we bring to others - and this chain is endless. It seems to us that the nightmare in our head is a mental activity, because it is so scary to admit that you are no better than others! Everything is on the move, on the run, monumental, really important things like principles disappear from consciousness, now opinion is more important. Have you heard the phrase "I have an opinion - you can argue with hell"? Here, we are talking about him! There are only flat one-dimensional opinions around, people do not see how they are rolling with a roar into the abyss! And all around "I", "I", "I",- Hush, hush, Edik, what are you up to? I tried to calm the chief, but it was like getting in the way of an avalanche.- You know, when I saw what game you were writing a report on, I clim
THE OUTLAND 8
Probably, Edik still took pity on me - in the morning, seeing my cloudy eyes and wrinkled face, first of all he took me to the office, got me a citramone pill from a safe with another poster of some incomprehensible hero of another computer toy and forced me to drink.He ordered me to hide in the Wirth and not to appear before his eyes again. To a reasonable question about the product from Aydab, he looked at me like I was crazy, and after half an hour he dropped a link to the desktop with the caption: "If anything, I warned you!"And once again, Commander Rob is back in the world of "Far Search". I warned you, Ed.I sighed and shifted my gaze from another poster demanding good food to the dark glass, behind which, in the darkness, the strands of cables rushing back were guessed. And there was another Rob - indifferent, thin and stooped, not standing out among the crowds like him. In a half-empty subway car, the observer's gaze would hardly have lingered on this figure for more than
THE OUTLAND 9
The midshipman turned over his right shoulder and, without looking back, hurried somewhere deep into the port, past the creaking beams of supporting structures where automatic loaders were working. And they say that people used to do a lot here, with their hands. To be honest, it didn’t fit in my head how a person could do at least something with a five-ton container. But perhaps they managed somehow?— We to "Flying"? - I asked the broad back, covered in black cloth.Without turning around, he shook his head and turned a few times. It seemed that he was either winding, covering his tracks, or…It finally arrived. Cameras! Well, of course. If you work here long enough, you will learn both the location of the surveillance devices and their sectors of view. And if you wish...As if guessing my thoughts, the midshipman chuckled approvingly and quickened his pace, sped up. “Keep up, boy.And he jumped out through the half-open gate at the checkpoint. The attendant, as if by magic, was no
THE OUTLAND 10
Household, household. The most terrible delusion of any person is the belief in the temporality of something. Even from the very moment when my parents left me to be devoured by the system and monsters in the dark, existence was overgrown with dust, became cloudy and became less and less clean. Dust creaks on the teeth, gets into the eyes, ears, nerves. It should be a temporary solution, but it became life.And you tell yourself that a little more, you just need to be patient - and everything will definitely work out, change for the better! It won't get better and it won't change. Any temporary part-time job threatens to become employment for life, because there is nothing more permanent than temporary. And then - as usual: you do not have time to wake up at the age of eighteen, and the anniversary is already looming on the horizon. Honor and praise to you, if by this age you have not lost the remnants of passionarity, even if periodically wiping your perception is not tea with lemon
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- THE OUTLAND
Epilogue
And then ... Everything went - as it went. And may there always remain worlds where people are lonely, where it is dark, and icteric palms of maples fall from the sky. One day Avdeyka and his mother... Aunt? The devil will break his leg in their difficult relationship. One way or another, they will definitely get there. Maybe one day they will get to the chair where my reader is bent from loneliness. Who knows, the universe is merciful and loves its children. But it is not exactly. But it is known: today the very first seven testers-gods got up from sleep. Eduardo, Shelly, Alexey, Umbra, Erebus and Nyukta, Selina. Alive, absolutely. Skinny, of course, like a spring rook, but quite sane. Shelly even tried to pick up her son from the distributor, but she was quickly explained that he would definitely be better there. Astrix also did not go away, although he got out from under the dropper. From time to time he walks into other people's dreams, treats him to strange drinks and cigare
- THE OUTLAND
181
Rob, hurry up! Astrix's voice called. We won't be able to hold him back for long!The scarlet bloody whip in the air was overwhelmed by several multi-colored energy flows at once, trembling with tension. The thaumaturge, gaping, stopped bombarding me with new spells for a change and stared at the doomsday reigning in the sky.Who are you boy? Why did you decide that to treat you the same way as everyone else is the greatest injustice? Where did the thoughts in your head come from that people should be connected by feelings and affections, and not by common interests?I understood what all this battle was about, what the road had led to until now. The boy remained alone all his life, believing that he was just very unlucky, and that somewhere there must be friendly hands, a warm smile and hope for tomorrow - you just need to look properly. About the fact that the world is dying of loneliness, he learned much later, becoming much older.A world that didn't need a boy. A world that aband
- THE OUTLAND
180
- Un-life. Why don't you rein in your robbers then? - I almost believed it. Nearly. “The corruption is preparing for a massive raid on the lands of the living, which means…- I know. But I'm still an avatar, my abilities are limited. And I can't go anywhere from here. To become a goddess in the fullest sense of the word, I need...— Believers! I slapped my forehead. - Well, of course. Followers, believers, own church.“We can start with the first knights. So... How do you look... - She blushed, looked away. - Well…“Become one of those ugly strategists?— Rob! You are to blame for their appearance! You can look whatever you want!- Nevermind. But you yourself understand - there is some complexity. If I'm next to you on Limbo right now, it most likely means that I'm dead. And a corpse cannot be turned corrupted. An undead connecting rod - you can, but not with Filth.- It's true. But something has changed.- Yes?“You see, two people from the same account came into this world. And one
- THE OUTLAND
179
"I look into my eyes ... I'll touch my lips. And what to say when I'm gone?" - Asked guitar picks over the black Icelandic beach, and the night was surprisingly warm, not at all suitable for November in the northern latitudes of Limbo.Night again, beach again. Another terrible headache.“Rob, Rob…” Nervous, sensitive fingers stroked my head. “You never get used to the fact that the body is a weapon. Relaxed, believed in the brothers on opposite sides of the barricades. That's what I got. Did you get it?- I cant. I complained without opening my eyes. - I'm tired. Why do they keep killing me? We almost agreed, almost resolved the issue.“We haven’t decided, stupid Robushka. And they couldn't. Understand that from the point of view of Warcraft, it is he who overcomes fifty years of captivity, cut off from his loved one, overcomes obstacle after obstacle, trying to reunite the family. Or at least avenge their deaths. And when he wins, there will be a happy epilogue and everyone will be
- THE OUTLAND
178
He dissapeared."Spider, come on!" I pleaded.A silent prayer burst out of my chest and spread throughout the Oikumene, and when there was no space between me and the fury of the avenging god, a huge black sword, literally a millimeter above my head, was stopped by a blade of sand.“You should look for an opponent in size,” Astrix smiled white-toothed.So you helped him. Ware said slowly. "It's good that both of you are here!"- And what will you do? Ban me too?- Not.Ware waved his hand, and the glow of the font parted, releasing the already familiar crystal, which contained the powers of the defeated gods. Only this one was much larger, and not empty. Zhdan froze inside him with his mouth wide open from a tearing cry!- Oh, you're a creature. Spider said softly. “You do understand that after this you won’t leave here with your own feet?”- Don't care. I don't care at all! I will kill you both!The clapping of his hands fanned the blood around him, and the magician's body seemed to
- THE OUTLAND
177
Closed tightly, I almost completely stopped relying on the light, leaving only my new outlandish vision. It gave the picture with spots, intersecting lines, but the brain quickly adjusted itself, and from the flickering in front of the inner gaze, it independently completed a completely three-dimensional picture of the environment. The steps underfoot seemed new, almost untrodden, although the temple itself is definitely more than two thousand years old...However, this is logical. Only a couple of dozen people have walked this road. The senior pantheon came to the Font when it was still an ordinary cave in the mountain, and, of course, no staircase had yet been built. So consider it an untrodden path.Turn after turn, the levels went past - the sacrificial altar, administrative premises, the household unit, the barracks ... Soon, according to the sensations, the ground level also passed. This was told to me by my vision, since nothing has changed in all other parameters. There were n
- THE OUTLAND
176
The Christmas tree backed away, and I, sinfully squeezing past it in half, stared thoughtfully at my avatar. A savage Amri, a slave by birth, a pacifist by conviction - it was necessary to manage, in such and such a world, to get a lowered pain threshold! Laughter and sin, in general, are obviously cannon fodder, which usually does not survive even the first serious battle.But they survived. And they didn't even get scars. Unless, of course, do not count those inside. And, of course, a snowflake peeking out from under the undergarments. But this is not a scar, but rather a protective mark. Okay, good time to pull, it is already in short supply.- Hey, get up! I called.The spider said something about the reunion of soul and body. But damn, how to implement it? God somehow forgot to mention the technical details - either he really didn’t know, or for him such tricks are so in the order of things that they are not worth clarifying.No answer. Of course."Get up, motherfucker!" I shook
- THE OUTLAND
175
- What?! I barked. - What nonsense! Xolotl is alive, I personally...- Killed her? Astrix raised an eyebrow. “Finished off what little was left of her?”But you are all alive. You, Ware, other scumbags. What happened to Shelly?- She was already unstable at the time of digitization because of the child, you understand? One and a half consciousness, working out of tune. Technique then simply did not provide for such a situation ... And now, you yourself understand. Pregnancy is a vanishingly rare phenomenon these days.“But she gave birth in those two thousand years.- Both in real life and in virtual, yes. But in real life, the process of childbirth is simply the separation of one from the other without any sacrifice on the part of the psychostructure. In the virtual, everything turned out a little differently.And who did she give birth to? Gary?The spider chuckled.- Does not give you a dream of rest, I see. No, not Gary. Who cares. The main thing is that the rejection mechanism at
- THE OUTLAND
174
Agnis exhaled convulsively again, but said nothing.— In general, it all started with Haang as the very first. He went to the abyss, where he deposed the archangel. Now all the Filth is in his hands. They do not touch people yet, but they destroyed one cemetery. Guess which one.“The same thing, without the ankh!” I gasped. “So there is no longer any protection between humans and the Filth!”- Right. Khaang's troops catch all living things and turn them into Filth - they accumulate strength. As soon as they accumulate enough, they move on. We have no idea where, but it is clear now: Haang will not be the only corrupted god at the head of this army. Soon the rest will realize where the game is fatter, and against the seven demons, I'm afraid even I can't resist.- Good. What we can do?- Restore balance. Astrix shrugged. — Return the ankh to its homeland, restore the lich of the plundered cemetery. Even one lich can hold back the Filth indefinitely, and if he summons a bone dragon...-
