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There was silence for a second. The one who proposed the deal spoke up:
– We agreed that we would be alone! Why these spies?
– It’s just the two of us, isn’t it?
– You said that Centrum has the highest level of information security. Are you saying that these two are in the corridor here without your knowledge?
I froze in place so that even the sound of breathing would not attract unnecessary attention. And Dimon looked at the place where there had recently been an opening, cut out with a fiery sword. A steel wall, not a trace left of the hole. It will take a lot of time to do a new one. Time is worth a lot in moments like these.
– I don’t know who you are talking about. I never use modulators. I don’t trust these newfangled technologies. Augmented reality is for the poor people who live in the Houses. I already have a lot of interesting things, I can afford to appear on the street.
– If these are not your people, then let me deal with them.
Something emerged from the blackness of the camera blind zone. A huge black monster, three times the height of a man, from which drops of ink dripped onto the floor. The creature was holding the barrel of a pistol in its hands.
– Run! – said Dima. A shot rang out. My friend fell to the floor. But it did not dissolve as one would expect.
«This can’t be!» – a thought flew through my head. – «Weapons of the third generation»
There have been rumors about this for a long time. Once upon a time, at the dawn of augmented reality, there were first-generation weapons. You shoot from it at a target, tying it to a certain place. But trade unions of information workers considered this inhumane. Then came the second generation of weapons that cops carry. A shot – and the target ends up at home, where he forgot his body, passing into the Internet astral. There have long been rumors about weapons that completely erase personality. Does the Government really have something like this?
This is not the time for philosophy, however! He ran, but ran into a steel wall. You cannot get through such information security as easily as through the reinforced concrete wall of the House.
– You can’t run away from me! – the monster laughed from behind.
Shot; the bullet whistled near his ear. I felt for the viper button. Of course, they can find me using the wipe track. But those who don’t take risks don’t drink champagne! If they catch him, they will definitely find him. Or they will shoot from this strange fluff. Pressed the button.
«Are you sure you want to move to the anchor point?»
You ask again! Move! Otherwise there will be nothing to return!
Darkness. And a moment later the original white walls in the room are two by two meters.
«Hello, Ilya,» the familiar voice of a smart home. Svetka. I’m so glad to hear from you! I wonder how Dimon is doing? – What will you have for dinner?
– Nutrient mixture number seventeen.
– You have a new letter.
Was it really found that quickly? Eh, why did I agree to this? Dimon, Dimon, you always involve me in all sorts of adventures! I’m still young. I want to live!
Opened the message.
«New MMORPG game «Battle for Freedom!»
Well, you were scared. To spam.
He fell down to take a nap. And the rest is tomorrow. We still need to figure everything out.
***
Deja vu, or is life in the modern world so predictable? The bed disappearing under the sleepy young body. The smell of sterilizers. The walls of the room are two by two meters painted with white paint. Svetkin’s voice:
– Ilya, it’s time to get up.
– Let me lie down, you heartless machine!
– Ilya, get up! – my robot secretary is not far behind. What kind of people are women? I go to her with all my heart, and she said: «Get up, get up!»
I lazily got out of bed, and the bed immediately began to fold neatly into the wall.
– Let’s take a shower. And prepare nutritional formula number six.
– Nutrient mixture number six – only on weekends and holidays. And today is Thursday.
I’ve already overcome it! The housekeeper was found.
– I have a holiday. I was born again yesterday, one might say. Prepare, I tell you.
– OK. But before breakfast and shower – push-ups.
I wanted to curse, but my eyes dropped to the folds on my stomach. In augmented reality, you can complete your abs, but here there are only classes, only hardcore! He bent his arms a couple of times and asked the secretary:
– Light, how is my turn to start a family? Progressing? Otherwise, I’ll soon look like Rambo, because I play sports every day, but I still don’t have a bride.
– Your turn – seventy-five thousand three hundred twenty-seven.
– Are they specially adding numbers there so that the young, growing organism will finally go crazy?
– Do push-ups, then you’ll talk.
Shower. Breakfast.
– Turn on your mail! – I said.
The wall was transformed, turning into a huge monitor.
«You earn pennies, but I became an online millionaire while on maternity leave! It’s simple! Transfer thirty dollars to my account, and I’ll share a secret with you.»
Into the furnace. She will teach me how to make money.
«AWG has announced the release of a new multiplayer online game «Battle for Freedom»
This is already more interesting. I’ve already heard the name of this company somewhere. Exactly! Yesterday! That guy at Centrum!
«Which side are you on: the slave traders or the defenders of freedom? Discover the magical world of Seisil. Go through a path full of adventures and fight the King-beyond-the-Mountain, or even Antimonikos himself.»
«An anonymous user offers you a video call»
Anonymizer! I heard about this. It seems that only members of the Government can afford this. Have you already found it? Goosebumps ran through my body. I’m not at home! I left!
– Ilya, connecting! – said Sveta. I remember how I adjusted my voice to make it more pleasant to wake up. After all, for most of us, communication ends with conversations with smart homes. And now I was ready to take a hammer and smash the speaker from which she spoke.
– Light, no, please! Don’t turn on the connection!
– Sorry, Ilya, I must obey.
A phantom of a man in a jacket appeared in front of me. His face was hidden by the ripples. In extended reality, you can choose any appearance, but this uninvited guest decided to specifically show that he wanted to remain incognito.
– I assume, Ilya?
– Yeah!
– I prefer not to take off my masks. Dmitry talked a lot about you. I made the last few orders.
I shook the phantom’s hand.
– Tea?
«Thank you,» the guest replied. – A channel protected by an anonymizer is an expensive pleasure, even for me. So let’s get straight to the point. What did you hear yesterday at Centrum?
I glanced at the guest incredulously. He passed his hand through the air, and there appeared a sum blazing with flame. Five hundred thousand.
– One of the members of the Government agreed to conclude a contract with the AWG company, which produces games. We didn’t hear much; we were spotted. And then Dimon was shot, and…
– AWG! This is what I never expected! – the guest exclaimed.
– Do you want to play the game too?
– Augmented reality is for the poor. Do you know how she appeared? – I shook my head. – I witnessed the construction of the Houses. One day people woke up and realized that there were too many of them. If uncontrolled reproduction continued, there would be enough food for at most twenty years. A new World War could not be avoided. Then the radicals proposed to destroy some of the people. By lot. If you pulled out a short match, you were «lucky.» One prick, as if bitten by a mosquito, and then eternal sleep. I pulled out a long match – live until the next draw.
I was among the liberals. Our party proposed to settle the poorest sections of the population in Houses to make room for the worthy. And to avoid any dissatisfaction, they gave you modulator chips. Augmented reality did the rest. It swallowed up the poor. You are entangled in it like a fly in a spider’s web.
– More worthy? – I almost hit the guest in the jaw for such words. Do they, in the Government, consider themselves the navel of the universe?
– Many people in Centrum think so. But not me. As I see, it’s not you either. I think we’ll see you again. If you want to join the resistance, you are welcome. By the way, Dmitry appears to be dead. I advise you to use the money that will come to your account in the near future wisely. Take care of yourself. Goodbye.
The guest’s phantom disappeared. But the sediment remained in my soul. That is, someone can walk safely down the street, but someone is locked from birth in a tin can of Houses, the only way out of which is a chip modulator?
An image appeared before my eyes: «You have a new message from the user Davydjons»
Dimon! Can’t be! I thought I wouldn’t see you again!
«Hello, Ilya! If you’re reading this message, it means I’m in trouble. You know where to find me»
The modulator is for the poor. But do I have a way out? Maybe my friend is being killed there. I won’t sit with my hands folded, will I?
He inserted a chip the size of the phalanx of his little finger into the implant at the back of his head. I didn’t bother with special effects. No portals. He simply walked through the walls until he found himself in the apartment in which he once lived. My whole family watched a film projected onto the wall. How I miss them! Only for the family that existed before Lyubka’s birth. And to Uncle Igor. When father was alive.
Jumped out the window. We urgently need to be near the House where Dima lives. But you shouldn’t attract attention to yourself. For that black creature that shot Dimon, I am one tooth apart. He waved his hand. Some taxi drivers wear modulators. One of these lowered a gravity car in front of me, descending from the fifth or fourth layer of multi-level air transport traffic.
– To House 23.
In the virtual world, the taxi driver looked like a rock star from the century before last. Combed bangs, leather jacket, lots of chains. It smelled like beer. Rock music was playing throughout.
Yo-ho-ho! We are not afraid of the dead
We love mermaids, we are bottomlessly drunk.
We will be hanged – we will be finished!
But while we are alive, you are doomed!
He looked closely at the guy. Probably one of ours. Although, who doesn’t know this song?
I don’t know about piracy, but he did an excellent job with a gravity car. The machine could be built into any empty space. Sometimes he flew up to the very clouds, and there were times when he almost crashed into the ground. To be honest, I almost pissed my pants with nutritional mixture number six when he lowered me to the ground after a steep dive.
– Arrived! Do you need to wait?
– No, thank you! I’m back with my legs!
– Okay, as you know!
What a man! Taxi driver from God. He took me faster than I flew yesterday on the wings of a Valkyrie.
I felt for the viper button. It might come in handy today. He looked around the huge House. A monster created by man from concrete and iron. Look left, right, up. Not a hint of the horizon, just windows and windows. Those who get corner apartments are lucky. And the majority live in the interior. I see sunlight only when I emerge as a phantom from the apartment. Who can figure it out: does the drawn luminary look like the one above the clouds of smog? But a fluorescent lamp is completely different.
Two men in uniform led Dimon out of the opened door. I saw my friend for the first time, but immediately realized that it was him. A fat guy like me. No sign of the pile of muscles.
But there is not a shadow of emotion in the eyes of his comrade. He muttered something incoherently. He screamed, breaking free from the tenacious clutches of the policemen. It looks like it’s a third generation weapon after all. Or he himself has gone crazy over the past 24 hours.
– Hello Young man! – exclaimed a short-haired man of about forty. – And I’m still waiting for you to appear. Special Agent Arteev. Information Security Service.
I started to run, but an electric discharge pierced my body. I was paralyzed. The agent clutched a pistol in his hand.
– Are you going far?
I pressed the red viper button and found myself in my home room. Maybe it’s for the best to live in the House? It’s safe here.
– Ilya, hello! – Svetka, how glad I am to see you!
It became dark for a moment, and then I found myself in a room with white walls. A cop was standing nearby. Arteev, it seems? I reached for the viper. The agent shook his head.
– It’s not worth it. You, boy, are tied to this room. Whether you run away or not, this thing,» he showed me a small remote control, «will bring you back here.» Give me the viper. You don’t need him.
He swiped his hand, and the red round viper button disappeared from my interface.
– Ilya Petrovich Sorokin, right?
