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2024-10-29 19:42:56Frost 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 about?”
— Not at all.
- Think properly. Any equipment based on Conquista technologies, souvenirs, trophies. If there is anything...
Fey shook her head, and Frost, startled, pulled a huge cleaver from its scabbard and, swinging it as it should, hurled it into the thick fog surrounding us.
Silently, several Fey-owned knives and a chest tag sank into the net. We got rid of everything that could only lead the Conquista to us. It is unlikely that they have equipped each of their devices with bugs, but, as practice has shown, we know too little both about Conquista and about their technologies. They call it magic, magic, but I don't just carry the title of commander of a special group. Intuition screamed out loud that each such object was an extra step for the Conquista along the path to us. Perhaps they somehow flickered in space. Perhaps they did give some kind of echo, making it easy to find the source. I did not know. Yes, I didn't get paid for it. Let the eggheads think they have a higher salary.
“Fey, how long has the lasso installation been dismantled at the base?”
- Half a year ago.
Logically.
- Let's get out of the way.
— Commander, but there is a swamp here. Fros yelped.
“I said: everyone shut up and get out of the way. We will go according to the instruments, as usual, as after the transfer. Any questions?
- Not.
- Fey?
“Yes, Commander.
- We're moving out. Froze, rearguard, Fey, forward. I'm sorry, but I won't trust you with my back anymore.
The Vietnamese woman drooped, nodded obediently and, shouldering her backpack, checked whether the bolt was moving well in the bolt-action. In theory, the weapons should have been taken from her, but my internal calculating machine did not give out any unfavorable forecasts on this score.
The famous swamp world, discovered by the same ubiquitous Hyde. There is nothing here but moss, low trees and a bog that has captured the entire planet. And, of course, a gray translucent damp fog.
Are we idiots, Rob? Frost asked softly from behind.
No, Frost. We just had too much faith in those who shouldn't.
I will not destroy the remnants of your illusions, good-natured giant. I will not tell you that Lucky Hyde, most likely, also guessed everything right away - and yet volunteered for a suicidal campaign. If the Conquista doesn't get us all here, I want you to have at least something bright in life. At least the image of the old commander.
I didn't know Fey and Froza's real names, they didn't know my name. Only combat calls, short enough to be effective in combat, only training and mutual assistance. We had advanced equipment, computerized suits with smart armor, a whole bunch of gadgets and the crowning achievement of engineering - an arc puncher capable of breaking through obstacles between worlds. Almost eternal machine, almost indestructible, requiring only some time to recharge.
In return, we lost names and past. That's why I don't know why Fey ran away from Hanoi, why Froz left his office in Krasnoyarsk and instead of treating patients chose to patch up teammates. And I didn't care. The anonymous brotherhood was fine with me.
And the more painful it was from the feeling of betrayal. And it definitely was, the computer in the head does not make mistakes. But why only now?
Thoughtfulness did not prevent me from leading the detachment and coordinating its actions, avoiding bogs, bogs and false banks. Thoughtfulness did not prevent me from thinking and comparing.
Only one thing did not give thoughtfulness - the answer to the question, what to do with it now? How to return to the service with such knowledge?
Top secret.
Black box III link Ogre DP.
16.VI.30
Commander Rob A. entry 3/6
Walking was easy. Actually, we were not in a hurry and did not try to get anywhere. All that was required was to buy the time it takes for the sun to rise, then we can recharge and get out of here. Nothing complicated, the eggheads thought it all out quite clearly! Is it true, is it?
The sun is everywhere. This is an obligatory part of all the worlds where our intelligence managed to get. There might not be oxygen in the right proportion - then we put on masks. There might not have been humans or sufficiently complex multicellular organisms… But the sun has always been there.
So it seemed to us for the time being. Until one day, the same unfortunate Hyde ran into a world marked in all reference books with the icon of a crossed-out light bulb. A swamp world, a world without sun.
No, nonsense, of course! The sun was here too, but because of greenhouse gases, because of the extremely dense clouds, it simply did not reach the ground. So it turned out such a strange, unusual swamp world. Of course, even the radiation penetrating the clouds would be enough for the puncher, little by little, to start charging. Let not a few hours, even a day - if only there was sun.
We got worried only a few hours later, when even according to the most optimistic calculations, it should have already begun to get light. But it didn't get light!
“Fey, is this the same Swamp World?” I puffed, avoiding a suspicious patch of overly bright moss.
- There can be no mistake. - The girl replied in the same even voice. - Such a composition of the atmosphere ...
- Quiet! I think I heard something.
- Seems?
Of course, Froz was not intuitive, he did not understand much. But ten years of combat experience should not be so easily written off.
- Something has changed. Something is wrong.
Yes, it would be much easier to simply blame everything on the fighter's suspiciousness, his nervousness - the last 24 hours were extremely difficult for us. Again, a swamp is not the friendliest thing in the world. I didn’t even want to think about what sounds and smells reigned there, outside the armored suit.
- Halt. I commanded. - Froze - up a tree, scout the area.
Fey sat down with her back to me, portraying offended innocence with her whole appearance, Froze obediently nodded and, having expanded the rifle complex into a bolter, climbed onto the nearest tree.
By my calculations, the day should have come. Even if we consider that we arrived here at the very beginning of the night, it should be around five in the local time zone now. Should get brighter! It didn't.
I didn’t even want to think that it was quite possible, a local day.
“Fey, was it that dark on your first outing?”
- Not.
- Charge level?
- Five percent.
For five hours. I automatically checked my provisions. A hundred hours back to back, but should be enough. And if the spatial lasso had not been dismantled, then we would have been automatically pulled home. Grrr.
Only one thing was pleasing - during this time we had gone far enough from things by which Conquista could figure us out. If I remember correctly the school geometry course, the search area for the Conquista is now a little less than two thousand square kilometers. Let them search. Now the main thing is to continue the journey, to wait until our ticket returns to service. The absence of a result is also a result, and at the base I will properly ask those who came up with the idea to substitute our guys like this.
The first requirement, of course, will be to restore the return installation. Without it, I definitely won’t go to other worlds. Further…
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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
THE OUTLAND 11
From under the thick cardboard, a crookedly drawn logo was looking at me, apparently, of some kind of game.— Wars of the Immortals. — I read it. - What is it?— My dream game design document.- Clear. And why is he?“No, don’t think, I’m not at all going to force you to do what I once didn’t have the courage to do. Eddie laughed. - I just climbed the forums here, read a little about this project "Aydaba", and I really did not like what I found there.- For example?— Do you know that each developer has his own style, his own clues inside the world, by which he can be unmistakably recognized?“Like the constant quarrels in the Poisk squad?”— Like a crowbar and an orange suit, like a binaural sound, like a story in which everyone inevitably dies — each developer tries to stand out in his own way. So, what I found in the screenshots, in the description of the world, in the dialogues - it is too similar to what you can read in this folder.- But how?“Rob, now is a different time. Eddie
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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...-
