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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
THE OUTLAND 88
“Again, why do I need it at all? - I clarified. - Well, I will sail with you wherever you are sailing. What's next?- Next is the holiday. The old man was surprised. — Feast, dancing, ritual trip to the island of temples.— Is that all? Is there anything else required of me?“Depends on what you know, sir. I'm just a translator, I don't understand anything about religion. But no one will harm you, sir, but on the contrary - as an honored guest, all the glory, the best pieces of meat, wine and women!Women. Before my eyes again, as if in reality, one red fidget, laughing, happy, much more often cheerful and contented than sad and thoughtful. Here is someone who knew how to love life, so this is Yolka. She would be here now, she would rejoice at the local holiday! Maybe call her again tomorrow? What if the stupid situation with her number is just some kind of internal system bug? Something told me that outwardly the red-haired killer should also be very similar to the image with which
THE OUTLAND 89
This time, the previous day's game session started in the evening, so the next entry after the session was reset was expected right after midnight - I counted the time almost automatically. Stretching in an armchair, he groaned blissfully, paid his debt to the state, refreshed himself and, relaxing, closed his eyelids - he was just a little tired, he decided to take a nap for half an hour ...And in a panic, with a pounding heart, he jumped up in his chair at the beginning of the sixth morning! Plans, plans... Make the creator laugh - share your plans with him! It seems that the busy schedule of recent weeks has not had the best effect on my general condition - despite the fact that from the point of view of an outside observer, a live player is just sleeping and dreaming, in fact, there is no question of any dreams! Maximum electrical activity, constant polling of the organs of perception… Coupled with the altered perception of time, in fact, accelerated by five times, it is not surp
THE OUTLAND 90
“I was not alive. I thought thoughtfully. “I was in a different place all day, not here.- But how is this possible? The old man was amazed. - The gentleman walked, talked ... Drank.- Yes, that's possible.I thought hard, trying to figure out how to turn the situation to my advantage. No, well, this sorcerer - well, damn it, thanks, you made me feel better, you bastard! You can't leave for a day. I need to figure out some way to keep control, how to get the restless thaumaturge to sit still while I'm away. But how? Instruct others to be tied up and kept under lock and key? I'm afraid this won't help much against a blood mage who understands how his abilities work and knows how to use them to the point.Five points of proficiency with each new skill, excluding only "cold hatred". This means that one of them - together or together - is able to strengthen local alcohol. But something told me that the sorcerer did not limit himself to this, did not limit himself at all. This stone that t