by Ivan Shaman
“Even though I’m innocent?” Demon shook his head. “You have problems with your brain, Master. Despite all your five hundred in ‘Intelligence’.”
“What do you want? I won’t give you my place. I was appointed by the Supreme Mind, and only it can dismiss me.”
“I really don’t need it.” Demon grinned. “Tell me how you got to the sixty-second level in the last two months.”
“What?” Marcus asked blankly. “What are you talking about?”
“Don’t you understand? Well, let me get this straight. You don’t have the ‘Cannibal’ ability. Even if all your subordinates brought you implants, you would have had to get four hundred thousand points or six thousand per day. It means four corpses per minute. Every minute of every day.”
Marcus froze, then he looked back at his subordinates and Jane, sitting with her eyes wide open.
“You’re talking nonsense!” The Senior Master snapped. “I got my experience, levels, status of the Luminary, and the authority from the Supreme Mind! How it happened is none of your business.”
“Well.” Demon stood up and walked over to the Master. “I was sure you wouldn’t give up so easily. So, you’re saying the Mind gave you the experience directly? Without taking away experience from others?”
“I don’t know how it happened,” Marcus said. “It just happened. Our God decided so! That means that it should be this way!”
“You know, I’ve just realized something.” Carefully looking at the Master, Alex said, “You knew Lex long before yesterday, didn’t you?”
“All the Luminaries know each other,” the Master said. “It’s not your business…”
“We aren’t in a church. Our God isn’t like the past ones. He’s all-knowing.” Demon smiled bloodthirstily. “He is the Mind. He chose this name himself. We didn’t name him.”
“Stop, heretic!” Marcus protested at Demon, his eyes full of horror. “You’re trespassing on our very foundations! Are you an enemy of our God?”
“Oh, no, by no means. On the contrary, I have always served the gods, and now I’m his most sincere follower.” He raised his hand and pointed his finger at the Master. “You are a heretic. You try to live like the common people, not thinking, just serving, and demanding service from others. Where and when did you first meet the other Luminaries?”
“You can’t ask me any such question!” The Master cried out indignantly. “Nobody, except us, deserves such blessings. Only the chosen ones became Luminaries.”
“And me.” Demon emphasized the last word.
“We have nothing more to talk about,” Marcus said, turning away hastily. “I wish the Emperor would devour you!”
“That’s an idea.” Demon smiled. “I could ask our fallen angel.”
“Madman,” the Master whispered, turning around, his eyes filled with pure terror. “If you’re going to meet him, no one will save you! No one will support you!”
“I will,” Jane said quietly but confidently. “I won’t leave him alone.”
“Thank you.” Demon nodded gratefully. “I appreciate it, but there’s no danger. The Emperor won’t devour me.”
“Why not?” Marcus chuckled. “You think you can handle him alone? It took ten of us to be able to drive him away from the center.”
“Well, firstly, you couldn’t have expelled him, because I met him in the center.” The Senior Master involuntarily took a step back. “And secondly, he won’t absorb me because he can’t, not because I’m going to resist. He’s at maximum capacity. He probably has nowhere left to level-up to. I think he’ll be happy to tell me everything that happened to you. So, if you don’t want me to hear his side of the story, you’d better tell me what you know.”
“Damn...” It was clear that two fears were struggling inside him. “Everybody out. The Luminaries need to talk,” he said. “Get out!” The Master shouted at his subordinates as they hesitated. Goliath and the Shooter hurried out. Jane got up from the chair, but Demon stopped her, taking by the shoulder.
“Stay. You need to hear this,” he told Jane.
“I won’t start a conversation until she leaves,” Marcus muttered, frowning.
“You’ve heard that she volunteered to go with me to the Emperor, so she’ll learn everything anyway.” Demon shrugged.
“Go to hell,” the Master said, heading for the door, but, at the last moment, instead of going out, he locked it and returned to the room. “You’ll regret this.”
“I doubt it. Gaining knowledge is our way of praising the Mind.”
“The Mind is unknowable. It’s as far from us as we are from these savages, these people,” Marcus said sternly. “He chose us. There were about twenty of us. Twenty Luminaries. He made us just the way we are!”
“Do you really believe that?” Demon said, looking into the man’s eyes. “How many people have you absorbed during these two months?”
“Enough.” The Master straightened proudly. “More than enough.”
“Five thousand? Two? A thousand?” He watched as each word made the Luminary’s back bend. “So you have killed and absorbed less than a thousand. Jane, what about you?”
“About eight hundred,” Jane answered without hesitation. “But I’ve killed even more.”
“So, you’ve fought more than this pseudo-chosen Luminary,” Demon concluded.
“I’m not a pseudo-chosen one! I’m a chosen one!” Marcus cried. “I am a Luminary! In contrast to common technocrats, we don’t need to kill in order to level-up. The Mind created us this way! All of us who survived in that lab were chosen.”
“What lab?”
“Damn.” The Master put his hand over his mouth, realizing what he had blurted out. “Although, maybe if you go there, one problem will be solved.”
“Well, you see, it seems that you have a chance to solve the problem, without getting your hands dirty and killing anyone in their sleep,” Demon said. “It’s going well for both of us.”
“If you look at it that way. That’s right. Someone like you has no place on Sakhalin. Only chosen ones should be Luminaries.”
“Let’s get back to business. Where’s the lab?”
“In Nogiltown. It’s a small scientific town, founded in the late forties—according to the plan for the revival of Sakhalin,” Marcus said, calming down. “There is a single track into the sea. The lab is there.”
“In the sea?” Demon specified.
“Yes, in the sea. On a big platform,” the Master answered. “It’s five days from here.”
“How many miles?”
“About one hundred and sixty.”
“Great. We’ll be there in six hours, through the snow. We have an APC.”
“I can’t give you the APC,” Marcus said sternly. “We need it for defense. We have enough Masters to use it. You’ll need to find something else.”
“What a caring and non-greedy Luminary you are.” Demon smiled. “Stunningly. But you’re right, we’ll find something else. Even if it takes time. You can leave now; I’m not bothering you anymore. Just make sure that our paths don’t cross.”
“Don’t worry, they won’t. No one has ever come back from there,” he said, grinning, and then he headed out. “Goodbye forever, Demon.”
Chapter 20. Nogiltown
They stayed in the apartment together. Jane was fidgeting in the armchair. She was clearly uncomfortable: she wanted to, but she didn’t dare speak. Symbolically locking the door behind the Master and sitting on the bed, Demon tapped it next to him, inviting Jane over. She obeyed and clung to him.
“Let’s get some rest first,” Demon suggested. “We’ve both had a hard day. I’d even say hard two days. And it’s time already...”
“What do you want us to start with?” Jane asked, looking into his eyes and beginning to undress. Her gray skin became slightly pink, and her large nipples hardened and stretched.
“With what you do best.” He smiled as he wound her long hair around his fist. The girl obediently sank to h
er knees.
After a few hours, they were completely exhausted but happy. The air in the small apartment had become much warmer, and they were lying in silence, covered with a blanket.
“What are you thinking about?” Jane asked, turning her head to him.
“I suppose I should answer ‘about you’.” Demon grinned.
“That would be great, but you’re thinking about something else.”
“About the Mind,” he answered. “And about the savagery that’s going on now.”
“Isn’t it better to think about something simpler?”
“You mean the war with the people? We didn’t start it, though we can’t finish it either.”
“Why not?” She was surprised. “We are stronger, faster, more dexterous, tougher, and, most importantly, smarter than the people.”
“But this world belongs to them. They created it. And the Mind. Wherever it came from, it didn’t appear by itself. Haven’t you ever wondered why it’s under us?”
“It’s the center of the universe. We’re its children. That’s all we need to know.”
“What if everything is much simpler, and it’s really actually under us? Other marks coincide. You are lying on my left, that’s to the north-west.” He closed his eyes and saw everything in the Light. “Your spark is north-west from mine too. So everything coincides.”
“But it can’t be in the center of the earth. It would melt there.”
“Yes, you’re right. I can’t solve this riddle.” He paused. “But think about it. What if it was created by people, and they are able to destroy it?”
“You’re talking nonsense. This just can’t happen.”
“I don’t know. I’m not sure. Doubting is the quality of the Mind, so I guess it could be anything.”
“You’re a malicious heretic,” Jane joked. “You need to be properly punished.”
“How?”
The girl smiled, hiding under the blanket. Their bodies intertwined like snakes, like flames in a fire. A while later, completely burned, they finally fell asleep.
The morning began with the dawn at nine o’clock. Having dressed and eaten from cans, which they had found in the apartment, they went out. Several dozen low-levelers were waiting for them at the door.
“Why are they here?” Jane asked as she snuggled up to him.
“They’ve been attracted by the Light.” After thinking a little, the new Luminary said, “You know, I can now cover a decent area with my song. A radius of a mile.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to find us a vehicle.” Demon smiled, opened his skill panel, and pressed the ‘Mass Connection’ option. He thought it would be the same as when he got to the song, but this was different. The world began to slow down, and he could choose where to go, all the while seeing everything.
“There,” he said as the song ended. “Over those buildings to the left.”
“What is there?” Jane asked.
“You’ll know soon enough.” Demon smiled, remembering the red roof which had seen.
For a couple of minutes he walked, leaning on Jane, struggling through the deep snow, but then he sent forward a few first-levelers to trample the path ahead of them. They were clumsy, but they did their job perfectly, and it became much easier to walk. Half an hour later, they entered the yard of a base. The visor of the elongated building was adorned with large letters: ‘MES’.
“I felt something interesting in one of the garages here.” He glanced around with a look of the Master, receiving a brief description of each item that caught his eye. “There it is,” Demon smiled, pointing at one of the doors. Coming up, he tore away a large padlock with his claws and entered the dark garage beyond.
Inside it, there was a small miracle present. Though it wasn’t so small in reality. It was an old all-terrain vehicle with adjustable wheel pressure, able to overcome snow, water and other obstacles. The only problem was that it was currently out of order.
The Master’s vision suggested that the pump control circuit had burned down. Moreover, the tires were flat. Fortunately, the second level of the ‘Master’ allowed for Demon to not only see the inside the car, but it also prompted possible elements for replacement.
Having rewound a few coils of wire, changed the insulation, and tinkered with the circuitry with his transformed finger, Demon got behind the wheel. The engine started at once. There was no power on the starter, but two low-levelers spun the axis successfully. Next, he had to repair the pump. Sitting in the driver’s seat, the cyborg forced the pump to work smoothly without any additional control.
A few hours later, they managed to leave the base. Remembering the last people’s ambush, Demon got a trio of low-levelers to join them inside the vehicle, and then the rest quickly lagged behind. The road was free.
They found a proper paper map in the glove compartment.
“Do you know where we’re going?’ Jane asked.
“Roughly, but I have a landmark,” he pointed to the horizon, “Do you see that high-rise building we passed when we walked here?”
“No,” she confessed after a few minutes peering through the glass. “It must be very far away.”
“Far enough, but not that far.” Demon smiled. “I can’t see it either, but I can see the sun’s glare.”
“What will we do when the sun goes down?” Jane required anxiously. “It’ll be dark in less than two hours.”
“I don’t think that this will be a hindrance. I can see in the dark and find other landmarks as needed.”
The all-terrain vehicle drove quickly through the snow, only slightly pushing against it with its low-pressure tires. At times, when they went downhill, the speed increased to over forty miles per hour. There was no problem with the road – it was clearly visible between tree trunks, bridges and the occasional buildings along the way.
With his ‘Connection’, he periodically felt the emergence of technocrats, but there was no one higher than the tenth level. He became aware of low-levelers hunting rodents and small animals in forests and sleeping, curled up in houses, saving forces. He understood that all these lost, wild cyborgs would be killed or kill as soon as they met people. However, he could do nothing about that. At least, not for now.
Caesar’s idea of taking control of all technocrats, bringing them to the cities, and then trying to negotiate with the people... Demon liked it. He would even support Caesar in this endeavor. Although it seemed impossible at the moment. Survival here and now was a much bigger problem – along with creating a stable self-sufficient society within the technocrats. For this, he needed to understand how it all had begun.
The all-terrain vehicle ran mile after mile. The snow sparkled under the starlight, and it began to turn pink as the morning approached. Only when the sun rose above the horizon, did Demon realize that he absolutely didn’t want to sleep. He didn’t want anything. He was just aiming relentlessly for his target.
Mechanically chewing hardtacks given to him by Jane, he looked at the map. Judging by the landmarks, there was no more than an hour’s drive remaining. A small town with its own airport was already just around the next corner. The buildings towered over the forest, glittering with glass and metal.
“Wow!” Jane exclaimed, leaning against the glass. “I don’t remember such high buildings.”
“We didn’t go through it last time. We drove another highway,” Demon explained.
“I wonder what that smoke is,” Jane said, pointing at a thin stream of smoke which Demon hadn’t noticed, all his attention concentrated on the road. “On the right. Maybe, technocrats?”
“Maybe or maybe people. But I don’t want to fight any unnecessary battles.” He reached his consciousness out, but either it was too far, or there was no technocrat in the town. “Damn. I have a terrible feeling about this.”
“Shall we let the juniors go?” Jane asked, adjusting her bulletproof vest.
“No, not yet. Put your helmet on.”
He
slowed down and drove toward the last bridge, behind which the town was located. Then he stopped. There was a military checkpoint on the other side of the bridge. Demon saw a few machine gunners and about thirty shooters waiting.
“Shall we break through?” Jane asked, holding the door handle.
“No. There are too many of them. Even if I kill half of them from afar, the rest of them will still get us.”
“What shall we do then? We need to get to the other side,” Jane asked tensely, watching as a large squad, hiding behind gun shields, moved across the bridge in their direction.
“You’ve forgotten something.” Demon smiled. “We’re not in a car, we’re inside an all-terrain vehicle!”
He changed gear, twisted the steering wheel sharply, and then directed the vehicle between low buildings and down toward the river. Roaring, it raced across the ice. The people began to shoot at them, but the distance was already too long, and only a couple of stray bullets hit the vehicle’s body. Some people ran after them, shouting and shooting, but the deep snow prevented them from pursuing with any semblance of success.
“I love this car,” Demon said, patting the steering wheel.
“And me?” Jane asked. “You’ve never said that to me.”
“Well…” he hesitated. “You know how I feel about you.”
“I don’t know.” She shrugged. “I know you want me, and you need me as much as I need you. But not how you feel.”
“Well, at least I won’t trade you for this car,” Demon replied evasively.
“Wow, that is almost a confession.” Jane laughed. “Don’t be embarrassed. I understand. It’s hard to love someone else if you don’t even know whether you love yourself.”
“You’ve made it too difficult. I haven’t quite understood,” Demon said honestly. “Albeit, I have an ‘Intelligence’ three times higher than yours.”
“It’s just a memory from my past life,” Jane confessed. “I don’t fully understand it either. It’s just a flashback.”
“Congratulations! What else do you remember?” Demon asked. “Anything about yourself or your family?”