"341". Part 3
My third release, this time managed to meet exactly in the planned time, but 4 weeks is still too long. This is enough to forget the previous parts.
The story still has neither a cover, nor illustrations, but, if necessary, I can post a playlist for which I wrote the text.
Waiting for your comments in the comments, silence scares more criticism.
')
I wish you all a pleasant reading!
Una sat on the very edge of the roof, her legs dangling over it. Before the closure of the fault, there was at least an hour. Making sure once again that no one was around, she leaned back and began to watch the sky. The sun has almost set, and the moon has declared its rights. A large crimson moon watched her from above with her weak-eyed crater eye. The world was sick, incurably sick.
Suddenly she felt someone else's presence. She raised herself and tried to see the source, but it was already too dark, but he was still far away, and she could only distinguish the dark silhouette. Then she raised the rifle and turned the camera into night mode. A man was walking along the street without a respiratory mask and no other protection.
She jumped onto the roof of a neighboring house, and then slid to the ground, holding onto the remains of a fire escape. The rusty metal construction creaked and trembled, but withstood it. Una had time to move a little, when there was a roar behind her back.
The stranger slowly approached. His blond hair contrasted with a dark robe. Above him, slightly behind, hovered the ideal sphere of dark matte material. Then on the roof she did not seem, he really was without a mask and any other protection.
She aimed the rifle at his head.
- Who are you? She asked the stranger. To talk, she had to use the external speaker on the helmet.
“My name is Saul, and I live here.”
- Do you live?
- Well yes. This place is no better and no worse than others, so I do not see anything strange.
She had long understood that it was not a person in front of her and the conversation only strengthened her confidence in this.
- Can you lay down your arms? You know, a little not nice to be under the gun.
- Only after you. She nodded toward the sphere.
Sol lowered his palm to the surface of the sphere, and it turned coal black. Sphere smoothly sank to the ground.
- Now it's your turn.
Una nodded and hung the rifle behind her back. The tension that hung in the air all this time subsided, and Sol decided to get closer. Now only a few steps separated them. His golden hair stuck out in all directions. She would not give him more than 25 and once again promised to never again assess the age by appearance.
- By the way, you never presented. From your side - this is very uncultured.
The reproach did not fit at all with his appearance, and by surprise she could only briefly extrude her name:
- Una.
His amber eyes studied her intently. Una shivered, he seemed to see through her.
“Weren't you told that it was indecently staring at people like that?” - She tried to recoup, but he completely ignored her, lost in his thoughts.
- The creator was right, you are really quite entertaining.
- Is it interesting ?! - she was indignant.
- Namely, the energy indicator is slightly above average and you own only one of the three main techniques, - his words touched her for living, in the Empire she was considered one of the strongest. - In other matters, you could see the deadly weapon in my familiar.
“Is this thing your familiar?”
“On the technical side, this is just a combat drone, but since it feeds on my life force, I call it a familiar.
She heard about them only in the classroom at the Order. At the masters of the Empire, the familiars were turned out to be worthless, later the equipment was recognized to be energetically inefficient and cast into oblivion.
“By your logic, I could call my spear a familiar.”
- Your right.
He again dismissed her remarks, and it began to enrage her: “But who does he think he is?”. Her right hand reached for the spear handle on her belt.
- I do not advise. But if you really want, you can try, - he grinned.
But his words had the opposite effect, Una wanted to wipe the grin from his face. She grabbed a spear and, without spreading it, sent the tip of Sol to the head, passing the maximum charge through which she was capable of. A bright flash blinded her for a moment, and when everything stopped, she saw him. Saul was still standing in the same place, just put his hand palm outward.
“I think we'll get along with you,” he lowered his hand.
- What?
- I wanted to evaluate your worst side.
“You tell everyone what you think?”
- And this is my worst side.
And this smile again. At the expense of the worst side, she had a completely different opinion, but she decided to keep it to herself.
“You are strange,” she just stated.
- I would have looked at you in a century or two.
Sol shook off the dust from a piece of metal column lying on the sidewalk and gestured to sit down. Only now she realized that she was still holding the spear in her hand and hurried to put it back on the belt. They crouched down.
- What are you doing here?
- I study this world, I myself am from the same world as you.
- Once I wanted to explore the world. Lying on the roof, I dreamed of escaping to the stars in search of a new and unknown. Later, I was able to get out of the planet and, in horror, I discovered that the whole world is as big a hole as my homeland.
- You did not try to leave the Empire?
She was not even surprised by the mention of the Empire.
- Yes, but not too far.
“It’s in vain, about two hundred light-years away to the core from Eris, lies Terra, it is believed that the whole life originated there, for me, so complete nonsense, but the place is still beautiful. The core itself also deserves attention - he listed places, but the distances to them were simply depressed, from the edge to the edge of the Empire a little more than a hundred light years and this distance can be covered in a day, but only thanks to the warp beacons system few weeks or months as lucky.
“There is also a triple star system nearby.”
- How close is it? She asked hopefully.
- 130 light years.
She sighed hopelessly, her hope faded before her eyes.
- How far everything is.
- I can conduct an excursion in this world. On my ship, it will not take more than a day.
- And what's interesting here?
- All the same, this world is only a variation on the theme of our future.
“A good future awaits us, as if everything was overworked in a radioactive stove.”
- More precisely, and you will not tell, but you can calm down, such an outcome does not threaten us.
- We are now on alternative Eris?
“You can't tell right away, but this is the same Eris,” he handed her the melted memory card. - Here is an archive of news and do not look at the view, the map is still working.
There was a small problem. Her enik covered the helmet, and she had no other devices with her.
- I need to go out.
- Are you embarrassed to take off your helmet with me?
- No, I just want to live. Without a helmet filter, I will not last a minute.
- Ok, then I'll wait.
She stood up and walked to the portal, out of which she looked at her own reflection, a distorted purple figure with a disproportionately large head - a helmet. She grimaced, but the image did not change and then she passed through it.
She was so impatient to see the news from the future, that she had thrown off her helmet immediately after leaving the portal. Her face burned with heat, and bitterness filled her throat, she coughed. With a shaking hand, she inserted the memory card into the slot and was about to put on the helmet when the cough stopped. She could breathe calmly. “It must have earned a filter on the breathing implant,” she thought, and began to read the news. The first of them dated yesterday.
Today is the ninth, and Eris is still owned by the Syndicate and is not in a hurry to take possession of WI.
Anna Rehn, that was the name of her mother, she served in the Imperial Navy, but she died with her father during the coup, when Una was only nine.
Behind his back he heard the crackle of branches.
She fell to her knees.
- Sorry, I forgot to warn.
Behind her stood Sol. He put his hand on her shoulder.
“You know what,” she turned her head in his direction, and her lips twisted in a smile, “at the alternative, things went worse for me, her rank was lower than mine.”
The story still has neither a cover, nor illustrations, but, if necessary, I can post a playlist for which I wrote the text.
Waiting for your comments in the comments, silence scares more criticism.
')
I wish you all a pleasant reading!
Part 3. Una
Una sat on the very edge of the roof, her legs dangling over it. Before the closure of the fault, there was at least an hour. Making sure once again that no one was around, she leaned back and began to watch the sky. The sun has almost set, and the moon has declared its rights. A large crimson moon watched her from above with her weak-eyed crater eye. The world was sick, incurably sick.
Suddenly she felt someone else's presence. She raised herself and tried to see the source, but it was already too dark, but he was still far away, and she could only distinguish the dark silhouette. Then she raised the rifle and turned the camera into night mode. A man was walking along the street without a respiratory mask and no other protection.
She jumped onto the roof of a neighboring house, and then slid to the ground, holding onto the remains of a fire escape. The rusty metal construction creaked and trembled, but withstood it. Una had time to move a little, when there was a roar behind her back.
The stranger slowly approached. His blond hair contrasted with a dark robe. Above him, slightly behind, hovered the ideal sphere of dark matte material. Then on the roof she did not seem, he really was without a mask and any other protection.
She aimed the rifle at his head.
- Who are you? She asked the stranger. To talk, she had to use the external speaker on the helmet.
“My name is Saul, and I live here.”
- Do you live?
- Well yes. This place is no better and no worse than others, so I do not see anything strange.
She had long understood that it was not a person in front of her and the conversation only strengthened her confidence in this.
- Can you lay down your arms? You know, a little not nice to be under the gun.
- Only after you. She nodded toward the sphere.
Sol lowered his palm to the surface of the sphere, and it turned coal black. Sphere smoothly sank to the ground.
- Now it's your turn.
Una nodded and hung the rifle behind her back. The tension that hung in the air all this time subsided, and Sol decided to get closer. Now only a few steps separated them. His golden hair stuck out in all directions. She would not give him more than 25 and once again promised to never again assess the age by appearance.
- By the way, you never presented. From your side - this is very uncultured.
The reproach did not fit at all with his appearance, and by surprise she could only briefly extrude her name:
- Una.
His amber eyes studied her intently. Una shivered, he seemed to see through her.
“Weren't you told that it was indecently staring at people like that?” - She tried to recoup, but he completely ignored her, lost in his thoughts.
- The creator was right, you are really quite entertaining.
- Is it interesting ?! - she was indignant.
- Namely, the energy indicator is slightly above average and you own only one of the three main techniques, - his words touched her for living, in the Empire she was considered one of the strongest. - In other matters, you could see the deadly weapon in my familiar.
“Is this thing your familiar?”
“On the technical side, this is just a combat drone, but since it feeds on my life force, I call it a familiar.
She heard about them only in the classroom at the Order. At the masters of the Empire, the familiars were turned out to be worthless, later the equipment was recognized to be energetically inefficient and cast into oblivion.
“By your logic, I could call my spear a familiar.”
- Your right.
He again dismissed her remarks, and it began to enrage her: “But who does he think he is?”. Her right hand reached for the spear handle on her belt.
- I do not advise. But if you really want, you can try, - he grinned.
But his words had the opposite effect, Una wanted to wipe the grin from his face. She grabbed a spear and, without spreading it, sent the tip of Sol to the head, passing the maximum charge through which she was capable of. A bright flash blinded her for a moment, and when everything stopped, she saw him. Saul was still standing in the same place, just put his hand palm outward.
“I think we'll get along with you,” he lowered his hand.
- What?
- I wanted to evaluate your worst side.
“You tell everyone what you think?”
- And this is my worst side.
And this smile again. At the expense of the worst side, she had a completely different opinion, but she decided to keep it to herself.
“You are strange,” she just stated.
- I would have looked at you in a century or two.
Sol shook off the dust from a piece of metal column lying on the sidewalk and gestured to sit down. Only now she realized that she was still holding the spear in her hand and hurried to put it back on the belt. They crouched down.
- What are you doing here?
- I study this world, I myself am from the same world as you.
- Once I wanted to explore the world. Lying on the roof, I dreamed of escaping to the stars in search of a new and unknown. Later, I was able to get out of the planet and, in horror, I discovered that the whole world is as big a hole as my homeland.
- You did not try to leave the Empire?
She was not even surprised by the mention of the Empire.
- Yes, but not too far.
“It’s in vain, about two hundred light-years away to the core from Eris, lies Terra, it is believed that the whole life originated there, for me, so complete nonsense, but the place is still beautiful. The core itself also deserves attention - he listed places, but the distances to them were simply depressed, from the edge to the edge of the Empire a little more than a hundred light years and this distance can be covered in a day, but only thanks to the warp beacons system few weeks or months as lucky.
“There is also a triple star system nearby.”
- How close is it? She asked hopefully.
- 130 light years.
She sighed hopelessly, her hope faded before her eyes.
- How far everything is.
- I can conduct an excursion in this world. On my ship, it will not take more than a day.
- And what's interesting here?
- All the same, this world is only a variation on the theme of our future.
“A good future awaits us, as if everything was overworked in a radioactive stove.”
- More precisely, and you will not tell, but you can calm down, such an outcome does not threaten us.
- We are now on alternative Eris?
“You can't tell right away, but this is the same Eris,” he handed her the melted memory card. - Here is an archive of news and do not look at the view, the map is still working.
There was a small problem. Her enik covered the helmet, and she had no other devices with her.
- I need to go out.
- Are you embarrassed to take off your helmet with me?
- No, I just want to live. Without a helmet filter, I will not last a minute.
- Ok, then I'll wait.
She stood up and walked to the portal, out of which she looked at her own reflection, a distorted purple figure with a disproportionately large head - a helmet. She grimaced, but the image did not change and then she passed through it.
She was so impatient to see the news from the future, that she had thrown off her helmet immediately after leaving the portal. Her face burned with heat, and bitterness filled her throat, she coughed. With a shaking hand, she inserted the memory card into the slot and was about to put on the helmet when the cough stopped. She could breathe calmly. “It must have earned a filter on the breathing implant,” she thought, and began to read the news. The first of them dated yesterday.
08.05.21Eris goes to warp.
Today, Warp Initiative acquired its first planet from the Eurasian Syndicate.
Eris was the first planet in the assets of the corporation. The amount of the transaction was not disclosed. But an unconfirmed source calls a purely symbolic figure in 1.135.354.518 Imperial credit cards, which is one credit card for the inhabitant of the planet.
Experts called this deal a chance for a backward planet. But human rights activists, on the contrary, dubbed this deal human trafficking.
Today is the ninth, and Eris is still owned by the Syndicate and is not in a hurry to take possession of WI.
09.05.21Battle of Calle.
At 21 hours, a battle took place between the rebel fleet and the Imperial forces near the planet Kalle of the NS-25 star system, according to the WIS (Imperial Standard Time). The imperial fleet under the command of Admiral Anna Ren defeated the rebels. During the clashes, enemy casualties were: 2 dreadnought, 25 battleships and 50 cruisers. The losses of the empire are being clarified, but according to preliminary data: 10 battleships are heavily damaged and 2 are destroyed, according to cruisers - 2 were slightly damaged and 15 were irreversibly lost.
Anna Rehn, that was the name of her mother, she served in the Imperial Navy, but she died with her father during the coup, when Una was only nine.
Behind his back he heard the crackle of branches.
12.05.21Found the body of the Imperial Inquisitor.
An unidentified female body was found last night near the city of Ensk. The injured bracelet of the Order was found on the injured hand. According to preliminary data, it could be a thirty-year-old Una Ren, who had 119 rank in the Order.
She fell to her knees.
- Sorry, I forgot to warn.
Behind her stood Sol. He put his hand on her shoulder.
“You know what,” she turned her head in his direction, and her lips twisted in a smile, “at the alternative, things went worse for me, her rank was lower than mine.”
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/392995/
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