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THE OUTLAND 80
— He ran to the warehouses! - It is clear that the conscious population is again on the side of the guard. - Right.I looked around in a hunted way, trying to find at least some way out of the unexpected impasse. Is it all? Will my luck finally fail me, my magician will be burned, and I will have to start all over again?No I do not want to!Noticing a gray painted door, I jumped up to it and hit it with my shoulder with all my strength. Almost broke a bone."Idiot, the door opens on itself," the voice of the director was heard. Yes, I remember that joke too. And it's true. The gray door swung open easily on well-greased hinges, letting me into a dimly lit warehouse. There was also a thick beam, ideally located on steel hinges.Well, I have a few minutes in safety. But what's next? I did not just look into Askolta to run a race with the guards. I need a ship to Exodus!True, I'm afraid it's not in my current position to roam the port and bargain. I don’t know if Rick alone is able to
THE OUTLAND 81
I woke up in the dark, under the lulling splash of the waves, feeling the floor swaying under my feet. Slowly, melancholy - up, down. There was a smell of the sea, shouts, whistling, laughter were heard from somewhere. Am I still in the box? Probably not. To hide in breadcrumbs, I had to bend over three deaths, and now I was clearly standing."Movement of the hands is limited. - The system reported. - Status: chained."“What the…” I stretched my arms forward, took a step, and stumbled upon a thick, cold metal bar. There is another one nearby. Lattice?It is not clear where to tie up with such awakenings. On the rack, under a bush, now - here, in the dark with chained hands and a sore head. Well, leaving a hero in such a vulnerable state was a lottery on either side. And I've never been lucky in the lottery. I'm sure I'm far from being the smartest, and certainly not the only one who has tried to optimize a gaming session by ending it a few minutes before midnight, and resuming it ri
THE OUTLAND 82
— Commander! - A fighter, it seems, of medium distance interrupted my thoughts. Nameless.Nevertheless, we must eliminate this annoying moment and get acquainted with the available forces.Yes, fighter?- That. Federal Laurasian Protectorate, Branch K9, Subdivision of Communications and Cyber Security. - the fighter minted.- That?— Call sign. Ashur Mitsak if according to the metric.- Well, let him be. What did you want?“I overheard your conversation a bit, and it looks like we have the coordinates for the Conquista Capital World!”- Where?— Yes, I messed around with your navigational equipment. Gorgeous technique, I must say! Taking into account Antey's map, we managed to lay the shortest route almost to the Xolotli temple itself!“Are you also impatient to bomb everything there?”Thoth's face darkened.“They brought a lot of pain.Did they shoot your dog? - Antey flaunted knowledge.Not a dog, but a friend! It's as if they took away from you and broke your Manyunya!- Hey, hey
THE OUTLAND 83
This is an old, familiar feeling that accompanies operas of all stripes - from bombastic space operas to epic fantasy. We are on the eve of the biggest final showdown, maybe not all of us will return home, but the game is definitely worth the candle. So it's time to pay off your debts, finish what you started and make peace with everyone you care about.Don't breathe before you die, huh? Now I would like to start some pathos music in the background, make a speech in the spirit of "here it is, the last decisive battle." But the fourth episode of the "long-range search" completely immersed the player in the world of the war with the Conquista, becoming a reality until the last experience. And it’s already established that at important historical moments, history does not allow for loud speeches, or pretentious poses, or a bravura soundtrack.Last preparations. Of course, I would like to immediately, headlong, rush through the Break to storm the coordination center, but even an enthusias
THE OUTLAND 84
We will. And let's start, perhaps, with the most urgent - the wound on the arm. Or rather, a dozen punctures at once, which have not yet healed. I didn't let them heal since I didn't have any other way to get some blood, but now it looks like I've put something like an anti-clotting agent in the water, and if I don't wash my hand in fresh water... well , will be bad. I already have the status of hunger and weakness constantly hanging on me, I don’t really want to add anemia there. It's easier to go back to the reef and let the microdon finish eating me.So the plan is simple: find water, find some leaves and treat the wound, find something to eat and throw it in the firebox. Nothing complicated, let's do it. Why am I making a plan? Yes, everything is simple: in such a scorching sun, dehydrated, hungry and weakened, I perceived every step on the hot sand as a kind of accomplishment! It took me about half an hour before my head aching from the heat let go - I found myself under the sha
THE OUTLAND 85
"Young man, know how to stop in time and soberly weigh your capabilities. There will always be someone smarter, stronger or more experienced than you. But think for yourself - do you need their mind, strength or experience? A person cannot know everything, cannot be able to do everything, for any acquisition you always pay with your time.Consider: do you really need skillful use of the sword, if in the time that you spend on mastering the sword, you can learn something else, often much more useful?Question everything, including these words. By imitating someone else, you yourself become a likeness and lose your own self. Perhaps you will achieve some success, but you will be forced to go through the mistakes of others, to memorize other people's tricks, not understanding their true meaning. This is the road to nowhere. Boy, always find your way. Always try on someone else's experience and the world for yourself - and ruthlessly discard if they do not suit you.“Always find your own
THE OUTLAND 86
So it's still a computational interface. But how and where did such a thing, much more appropriate in, say, "long-range search", appear here? Is it all about the teachings of the spider Astrix? What if…I darted to the very top of the heap of rocks - a new path appeared under my feet - and took the first step. The path was immediately rebuilt. Another step is a new restructuring. “Hmmm, it looks like it’s impossible to do without jewelry control here. I muttered. - But we are still the old fashioned way, as we tried before.I had a margin of time, albeit a small one, - this allowed me to sin in half, commemorating my mother, father and the Red Army, to climb the first stone, from there jump to the second, pull myself up on the ledge ...Fifteen minutes later, I settled on the highest point of the island, from where I had a perfect view of the incoming surf line and the seemingly tiny fins of microdon bastards from here.Now it remains only to wait for the local gravity to have mercy
THE OUTLAND 87
The fact that this was not my usual schooner or brigantine, I saw when no more than two hundred meters remained between my rock and the watercraft. I immediately stopped dancing, threw the unnecessary fin aside - for a split second I felt unwell. Because an antediluvian monster was moving in my direction on three floats with a net stretched between them, a kind of construction in the spirit of the ships, either Polynesians or Aborigines from the coast of Australia. And, I remember, both of them were distinguished by an enviable gastronomic interest in white people. For some reason, the memory gave out the name "Trimaran", and stated that this was her authority ... In general, it's understandable.Trimaran. Well. One way or another, the shipbuilder on this "trimaran" obviously got experienced and sophisticated - he drove his vessel quickly, kept on the wave like a nailed one, and in just five minutes, with one long jump, he turned out to be exactly at my rock, jewelryly taxiing between
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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...-
