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I found myself on the roof of another building, not far from the museum. In front of me stood a dense group of Chinese colonists, who continued to sing their praises of chaos a cappella. Something was happening in front of them, but I couldn't see anything behind their backs.
“You promised to keep my power,” a familiar voice rang out, “you promised to help me.”
“We're helping. Can't you see?” another familiar voice answered, “If it weren't for us, the Children of the Stars would have already destroyed both your power and those over whom you wanted to spread its wing.”
“Yes, but what about the army of Grummays?”
I looked around, but I didn't see how I could get around the crowd of singers, and began to squeeze inside, surprised by my hand, which turned out to be healthy, as if the bullet had never hit the bone.
"Chaos cannot obey you. It mixes colors, you know? You want to destroy, we will create; create, and we will help you; destroy, we will restore. Today the city is saved. It may not be here tomorrow. That's the law.”
“But I helped you. Back on the ship, you promised me in the presence of your I, or whatever her name is... holograms of hers, damn her moons.”
I was still making my way through the crowd, but at these words I froze. The memories of my neural dream, in which I met with Yon and Gwon, reappeared before my inner eye. So that means…
“Do you want to say that you are dissatisfied?”
“No, no… That is, yes, I'm not happy!” a voice screamed shrilly, “This is not at all what we agreed on. I haven't heard anything about any chaos and its stupid rules. You were supposed to protect me from Grummays. That's why I called you here.”
“We did not know the wisdom of the Lady yet; we did not get her from the bottom of the ocean. Now everything is according to her law.”
“Oh moons…”
I continued to squeeze through the crowd, looking at the ball of fire shrinking over the city. Now it was no bigger than the moon in the sky.
When I finally made my way to the open space in front of the crowd, I saw Master Akatsin kneeling in front of Yon. His huge nose was shaking with sobs. Behind them, on the edge of the roof, was she, the same woman I met at St. Sophtia. I didn't recognize her at all by her appearance, because she herself was almost lying down, leaning towards the ball and only her hands were rising and falling steadily. But I could feel the same unbreakable will emanating from her, which was now squeezing this ball. Turning inside, I felt that she was still drinking my strength, draining the unresisting worm dry.
The singing stopped, and we silently froze, turning our eyes to the ball that was descending on the Lady. Soon it shrank to such a size that only a glowing halo betrayed its former nature. But the power boiling inside it did not go away, I felt it with my whole being. The woman got up and took the ball in her hands. Turning, she looked me straight in the eyes and the same sharp pain pierced my head as on the island.
Having mastered myself, I saw that the Lady approached Ludoek Akatsin. Yon lifted the Master to his feet, and the woman handed him the ball, now resembling a glass one, and no bigger than a wedding ring.
“Why do I need it,” the man howled, lowering his hands almost to his knees under the weight of the ball, and almost dropped it. But Yon took his hands in his and squeezed them tightly.
“Thousands of lives were sacrificed saving you and your city,” said the Chinese, “be grateful to them, and to the gift that you received.”
“But I had to...” Master Akatsin mumbled again.
"You need to shut up," Yon hissed at him, "and thank the Lady."
Ludoek bowed awkwardly.
“Now go.”
Yon clapped Akatsin on the shoulder and two other colonists picked him up and escorted him through the parting crowd.
“Well, forget about the free lands now...” Ludoek hissed under his breath as he passed me.
"And if he drops it?" I couldn't resist asking.
"That's not our problem anymore, lost one," Yon shrugged.
“So, you're letting a man go like this with a bomb ready to explode again?”
"You don't have to worry about that, destroyer. Your essence will only be enriched if this happens.”
"Oh, moons, how tired I am of you all.” I said wearily, “I want to ask your Mistress one question.
The woman looked up at me with her dark eye sockets.
“Ask,” Yon nodded.
“Who am I?”
“Wrong question,” smiled Yon.
"Who is she?"
“Wrong again.”
“All right,” I threw up my hands, “let her answer the question she wants to answer.”
“Yes.”
“Yes what?”
“The answer to your question.”
“What a question?”
“And this is the second question.”
“Red Moon, are you going to carry this nonsense, or will you say something useful?” I was angry.
“You need to drink.”
I was taken aback.
“The drink that Rob will offer you, you need to drink,” smiled Yon.
“And then what will happen?”
But Yon turned to the Lady, bowed to her, and the crowd behind me began to disperse.
"No, that won't do," I said furiously.
Closing my eyes, I imagined all the participants of the events in the same poses as before. But my desire froze. The woman’s will did not allow it to happen. I opened my eyes. She was looking right at me. The headache became unbearable, but I resisted as much as I could. Clenching my teeth, I wished with all my might to bring them all back, but I only felt the last of the worm's strength disappearing. The buildings around us began to shake and collapse. But the wish did not come true. The roof we were standing on cracked.
“That won't...” I shouted in despair.
And the next moment I was thrown away from the roof with incredible force. I was flying with my back to the sea, frantically wishing for a smooth landing. But worm’s stock was empty. Consciousness began to leave me.
And then I saw a wing. The wing of a flying ship. It was rushing right below me, rising closer. Fighting the wind, I landed right on top of it and barely clung to the edge. Mentally thanking all the moons and the sacred DVD box. The ship began to slow down and hovered over the water.
"Yes, Ogunter Lag, I didn't know you could fly, and even so fast," May-e-oka said, climbing out of the hatch above the cabin of the ship.
“How… I'm so glad to see you," I said with difficulty, unable to get up or even detach my hands from the wing.
"I'm sure," the girl grinned and followed along the wing to help me up.
Together we looked back at the city, over which smoke was rising surrounding another moon in the place of my confrontation with the Lady.
“So that's how these caramash nabuda appear,” said the girl.
“I've never seen anything like this,” I shook my head, and looked at my savior, “but how, how did you find me?”
“I took off immediately after the fireball had sufficiently decreased. And being invisible circled over the city until I found you on the roof. Your flight looked great. Like a cockroach with a click from the table.”
“Thanks," I said.
“Don't be offended, you know, it’s a term of affection,” laughed May-e-oka, “Let's go, you need to rest, you’re white as a sheet.”
After dragging me into the cabin with difficulty, she laid me on a folding cot in the back of it.
Taking out tubes of food from the drawer, she gave one to me, and put the other next to it.
“I didn't find any water, probably spoiled.”
I tried to open the tube, but my hands wouldn't obey me.
“Give it here,” the girl muttered discontentedly, took the tube from me, opened it and squeezed the contents into my mouth.
From the care shown from her, tears welled up in my eyes.
"Please don't," she shook her head.
“No, you don't understand,” I answered with difficulty restraining emotions, “No one has done this to me. At the shelter, yes, they were very kind to me. But for someone to feed me… Like this, in bed…”
I burst into tears, not holding back any longer.
“I... I… I was looking for my mother because…”
The girl lay down next to me and hugged me, stroking my head, shaking with tears.
"Did I want... all of this? I liked maps and ancient treasures… I wanted to be helpful. So that Master Eleanor would be pleased with me. And now he's dead. And I didn't save him.”
Gritting my teeth, I fought back the tears bursting out.
“I don't understand anything… I do not know what to do. What should I do? Why is all this happening… I just wanted to live. I wanted an adventure. But so that no one dies. I didn't want to take other people's lives!”
Shaking with sobs, I lay for a long time in the arms of May-e-oka. And soon fell asleep.
233Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0yK0gVzGlm
I woke up from the fact that there was no one around. It was dark outside the window and the cabin was empty. Sitting up on the bed, I took a deep breath of the prickly ionized air. Wiping my face swollen with tears with my hand, I got up and climbed out of the hatch. It was dark all around, but there was a fire flickering under the wing to the right.
“Come down,” the voice of May-e-oka came from there, “I sat down next to the well to replenish supplies.”
Below, near the fire, there were a couple of buckets with an inviting liquid, from the thought of which sweetness appeared on the tongue. I jumped off the wing, almost twisting my leg and rushed to drink.
“Look how nimble,” the girl grinned, filling the containers with water.
After drinking enough and washing, I lay down on the grass and stared at the stars. Shimmering and alluring, they excited my imagination, called me to them.
“How far have you flown? That is, not you, but your original.”
May-e-oka looked up and shrugged her shoulders.
“Is there any difference? It's the same everywhere. Planets and stars.”
“How far from Earth?”
“What did you study in the archives there? The history of space exploration? I could have told you that myself.”
“So how far?”
"Fifty thousand light-years. Probably no more.”
“That is, it turns out…”
“To the very edge of the spiral arm. With a guided tour.”
“And what's there?”
“I already told you, stars and planets.”
"And the others?"
"What others?"
“Were there other intelligent beings there?”
“No. Everything came from people. They spawned all the modified races. Octopus people, giraffe people, whale people. Then, of course, they began to put forward demands to the coalition to call them as they themselves decided. But DNA doesn't lie. The galaxy did not know any other intelligent life forms.”
“Outs think differently.”
“Yes, I heard. Not me, but you got it.”
"That's all I could find out.”
“Not much.”
“Yes.”
A shooting star streaked the sky.
"There's something you should know," May-e-oka said thoughtfully.
I looked at the shadows of the fire dancing on her face.
“The way I behave with you, all this is… Program. Do you understand? Your mother... horns. She attached these horns to all her “children” in order to control them. She sees you right now.”
I turned my head back to the stars.
“She always talked to me. Remotely, via Echo.” the girl continued, “When Ogunter Lag possessed her body, the worm gave her the opportunity to be present both in this world and in her own, and she learned, if not to be in it, then to listen and speak through it. She calls this place the Echo of the World. There the worm collects entities, which it then drives to rebirth. Your mother, Great Mother, Strife knows how to listen to me through the echo, with the help of these...” May-e-oka rubbed her horns and twisted her mouth in a grin.
“Unusual news… But in light of recent events, they are not surprising.”
“Yes-s-s… Anyway, she wants to tell you...”
“And when we... she…”
"I don't know," the girl shook her head, "but I can't be sure that I did all this of my own free will. Yep.”
“Good. I need to think about it," I said, feeling a terrible headache again.
“But that's not what I wanted to say.”
"Oh, there is more!" I giggled hysterically.
“Yes. There is enough explosive in these horns so that the damage zone is no smaller than the one that your Lady stopped on the roof.”
“Why are you telling me all this?”
"Because I heard that she offered you a drink that another Worm would offer you.”
"Are you... are you... threatening me?"
"No," May-e-oka shook her head, "What do you know about this drink?"
I squeezed my eyes shut, fighting the urge to say some nasty things.
“He said that I would remember who I really am...”
“That's the point. The Great Mother thinks that he wants to bring the man from the launcher back to life. That he didn't completely die in you. And if that happens…”
She fell silent, and the insects and the crackling of the fire became very acutely audible. For a long time I lay completely exhausted, staring at the shimmering firmament.
“And you? What do you think? Not my mother, but you.”
“What can I think?” the girl answered after a pause.
“At least your original, what would she say?”
“She would say that there is nothing to rub drool on your face, you need to act.”
“I agree,” I said and stood up, “Come on. It's time to fly.”
The girl looked at me incredulously. I took a bucket and poured the rest of the water on the fire. May-e-oka shrugged her shoulders, put water containers in her backpack and, pulling herself up, climbed onto the wing. I jumped up too and grabbed the edge of the wing. But I couldn't pull myself up.
"Um," I said, "give me your hand."
There was a chuckle and May-e-oka grabbed me by the jacket and dragged me upstairs.
In the cockpit, we sat in the chairs and both put on the control hoops.
“I'm sorry if I upset you. But I…”
I put my hand on the girl's shoulder.
"It's okay," I nodded, "I'm not offended. And I am grateful to you… For sincerity. It's better than all the lies that everyone else is feeding me.”
The ship took off and my spirit was completely taken away, because I was going up to a place, I had never been before, the place I had been dreaming about from the moment I looked into the archives of Outs. We were moving towards the stars. Yes, of course, not quite to them. But that was enough.
I remembered my first balloon flight. The terrible wind that tore off my school hat. Fright and a fear that it is about to take me away. And the figure of Master Eleanor next to me. So confident, reliable. His hand, which I clung to with all my might. I didn't notice myself that I was also holding May-e-oka's hand.
The flight was calm, we quickly ascended to the first moon and passed right over it. I stared at it with all my eyes, then at the planet, then at the neighboring moons. My gaze was trying to find the Irian Tower, on one of them. But in vain.
“Did you turn on the disguise?” I asked anxiously, looking up from the continent that appeared from the edge of the planetary disk.
“Of course,” the girl smiled.
My gaze stopped on her eyes. And my chest ached, and my body tensed, reaching out to her.
“I look at you and I can't believe that all this is just a program.”
“Maybe not everything,” May-e-oka smiled slyly, “but you and I are not given to understand this.”
"You're right. And can I ask you to disconnect for a while from... my... well…
She looked at me, smiled and nodded.
233Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMYWOIe4UwF
We came to our senses from a buzzing signal from the dashboard.
"Looks like we've arrived," the girl said and began to dress.
I got up after her and also began to pull on my pants. The disk of the red moon was rising in front of the ship.
“And where is ...” I began, but immediately noticed a huge city on the surface below us.
It looked like a giant electrical circuit that we were taught at school. Buildings and roads were located as if they were conceived as a huge... factory. And so, it was. In front of me was a manufacturing workshop the size of a city. And in different parts of it, you could see how ships were being assembled, and details were moving towards them from others parts.
"He's not stopping,” May-e-oka whispered.
“Yes, a stubborn type.”
“Did you doubt it?” I heard it in my head.
I took a step away from the dashboard.
“Don't be afraid, my friend, you and your companion are in no danger. Land safely in Sector 77," Rob said and laughed, "you are my first guests! How can I offend you. You can't even imagine how glad I am that you have finally arrived in my lonely paradise. How many times have I dreamed that we would take a walk together, and I would show what I have achieved over all these years. Hurry up, hurry up, I'm looking forward to seeing you.”
In one of the zones of the city, signal lights lit up, arrows pointing to the landing zone. I swallowed.
“There?” the girl asked.
I nodded slowly.
“What's wrong with you?” she frowned, catching my worried look.
I pointed my finger at my head and moved my lips. She nodded and turned away. The ship started to descend.
ns 15.158.61.46da2
