# Path book 1 Igor

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The Messiah with a broken memory is reborn in the world of Mass Effect in the body of Brother John Shepard. Now it's up to him to decide what the future of this world will be like when the harvest begins. Childhood and youth on Mendoir and Earth.

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Path 1

Prolog.

The day is long over, and the stars are about to light up in the sky. It's time for my next shift at a part-time job in a taxi. I take the order from the dispatcher and pick up the client - an attractive girl wants to spend time at the club. The road, rarely crossed by the junctions of overpasses, glistening with puddles in the sinkholes on the asphalt, is moderately broken, but still allows you to drive at a decent speed. From behind, the heart-rending howl of engines running at top speed is approaching. Driving at ninety, I am bypassed by two "chepyrki" (VAZ 2114) standing up - painted, tinted in trash, with loud rhythmic music bursting out of the windows. They rush past and disappear ahead of us behind a smooth turn of the city chord. There's an interchange four kilometers away, so I'll have time to admire the jerks in the oncoming lane. I'm slowing down automatically, ahead of the speedcams on the trellis farm thrown over the road. I'm always surprised when these assholes don't get caught. The descent is smooth, and a couple can be seen flying out from around the bend on the oncoming lane. One of the "dummies" flies into a puddle and catches an aquaplane at a speed of 180 km/h.

Time has almost stopped, and I'm watching what's happening in slow motion. The idiot skids, throws it under the second one, and now two idiots are spinning loops in the oncoming lane. One hits the metal bump on the right side with a swing, pieces of bumper fly in all directions, sparks, the car crumples into a shapeless lump of metal and plastic. Consciousness notes all this as if automatically. The second one hits the side of the high curb of the dividing strip, the car bounces, it flies sideways onto the divider and hits the metal fence post with all its might. Glass splashes, the rear bumper, torn off by inertia, slowly takes off, and the car begins to tear in half. I see a long metal pin fly out from under the bottom and fly towards me in a smooth parabola, rotating. "Scribe!" he thinks, and the piece of metal hits the windshield with a pop like a gunshot. A blow to the chest, the pain flared up and died out. I slam on the brake, the car stops abruptly, I feel the jolts of my ABS in the pedal, the passenger squeals across the front seat, burying her face in the headrest. My swallow got up, the engine stopped, the locks clicked, automatically unlocking the doors.

"What are you doing!" It's coming from the back seat. "Don't you know how to drive at all? I'll report to the dispatcher! They'll recruit anyone with purchased rights!"

"You need to buckle up, you fool!" floats listlessly in my thoughts. I look at the ragged hole in the windshield with cracks radiating in all directions. I look down, and there's a pin sticking out of my chest with a cut-off bolt at the end. Why doesn't it hurt? My consciousness begins to swim, and a hot feeling spreads in my chest. There's something sticking out of your seat, I've hurt myself! What's it? Something sticky! the ceiling switch clicks, flooding the interior with white LED light. Ah-ah-ah! It comes from the back seat.

What are you screaming about? My ears are already ringing. Or is it just my imagination? The ringing in my ears is getting louder, black flies are in front of my eyes... why is there no pain? Darkness and silence, there are no sounds, no movement, no sensations. Only on the verge of perception is a feeling-a whisper-a thought:

"Forget everything, accept peace and oblivion, forget pain and fear, memories bring pain, why do you need them? Forget it, forget it, forget it..."

In front of me, a figure with black wings forms out of the darkness.

"Who am I! Answer me!" a thought flashes by. "I don't want oblivion! I want to remember!"

"Are you sure you want to remember?" A winged figure with a scythe in his hands said. "Are you sure that's what you want?"

"Yes! Yes, I do! Give me back to you. You are welcome."

"As you wish."

And I remembered everything. All my life: kindergarten, school, college, army! I remembered my wife, my children, and my job at the factory. I remembered everything: every day, and most importantly, I remembered my death.

I felt wings forming from behind. Dumn, I turned around. Well, that's what I thought. The color is scarlet. Again. I always have this feeling after a violent death.

"Dumn, did I die? Yes?"

"The biological shell has stopped functioning. However, death is quite controversial. Don't you think?"

"I'm a dead Reaper. What do you want?"

"Cleanse the world for us as the messiah."

Yes, your mother.

"What kind of world? I don't remember anything else. You described him in your fiction. Across the Mass effect universe."

Yes, yours.

"I'll be a Shepard like that."

"Okay, but keep in mind that the time in that cycle is not going the way it is in the game, and a lot will differ for better or worse. Messiahs have already been sent there before you, but they failed."

"Will my mental abilities recover?"

"Yes, there are many mentalists and empaths in that world."

"Well, I agree. I'll be alone there or paired with someone."

"You will have a younger brother, the local messiah John Shepard, but judging by our visions of the future, he will not be able to cope."

It feels like I'm falling, and the fall is getting faster and faster. A dazzling white dot appeared ahead and began to grow rapidly. The dot turns into a cloud of light, the feeling of the body comes, it is compressed, as in a vice, there is a soft elastic tightness and darkness around, I am not breathing. What's happening? The darkness pulsates, strange sounds are heard, as if someone is moaning. The body is squeezed to severe pain and pushed forward by the head. Suddenly, I feel freedom and a bright light. Everything is cloudy, there are some colored spots and voices. I feel a blow on my ass, it hurts so much that I want to scream. I take a breath, my chest explodes with wild pain, I scream and pass out under my own scream.

Part 1. Chapter 1. Hello, am I your Igor?!..

Igor (Mendoir, March-April 2355)

March 11, 2355

The realization came somehow suddenly. I saw a giant bending over me, who smiled at me and said:

"Who is it that I have here, so small, and already awake?" Damn, is he talking about me? And why is it "small"?! I've always been a mess in my adult body. I tried to feel myself with my hands... and I broke off like that. Hands! My fucking hands! THEY DIDN'T LISTEN TO ME! He tried to touch his face and stuck his finger in his own eye.

"Whoo, your mother!", I tried to swear, but instead something like came out of me: "Augo mugo ao!". Ooooh, I can't even talk properly! A complete polar fox! Have arrived...

The man picks me up, and I feel like my head is being pulled back so badly.

With a noticeable effort, I straighten my head and slowly look around. The decor is nothing like that: laconic, futuristic, all sorts of screens, a half-wall window, bent furniture made of polished metal. A tablet made of transparent glass with glowing orange symbols is lying on the table. Am I the one who got into the future? And that's bread! The Reaper would have sent me back to the Middle Ages, which was really tough back then. No sorters, no medicine, you'll shudder when you think about dental treatment, the church is militant with all sorts of inquisitions! Well, if not a magically advanced world. There's a better atmosphere there.

"So, I'll try to look at the hand anyway." If you bring it up to your face quietly, deliberately... that's it, your hand obeyed! No, adults don't have such hands, the fingers are plump, the nails are pink. So I'm a child, not "Gulliver in the land of giants"! Damn, I need to go to the bathroom. I start kicking my legs and groaning. There is a contact! The man bends down and takes out a metal pot from under the sofa - well, the most ordinary kind, my boys had the same in a previous life, only plastic, not stainless steel. So, pants off, they put me in front of an iron friend.

Okay, it's done, they're probably carrying me to the bathroom. Exactly! Oh, the mirror! So, so, we look at ourselves... A little kid, he looks about a year old, I'm trying to smile, oh, dimples have formed on my cheeks!

There are about eight teeth in his mouth. There's not enough hair yet, and the color is so strange, reddish like. The eyes are green, no, GREEN, like malachite! So they washed me, put my pants back on, and carried me back. We look around, it's spacious, there are a lot of windows, all kinds of equipment, and this is probably a TV! Shit, it looks like two meters diagonally! There are columns of one and a half meters on the sides with grids on the outside, columns, probably. Everything is turned off, the red indicators are winking. We returned to the same place where we came from, the man sat me on the sofa, propped me up with pillows on both sides, put some crap with a pen in his hand, I shook it, and it started to squeak, lights inside. Bah, it's a rattle! Well, let's take a closer look at it. I've always been reborn in magical worlds, and I'm very interested in everything in such a developed world.

Well, what can I say, nothing special: made of transparent plastic, a ball with another ball inside, the second one with built-in LEDs, the handle is also made of plastic, only soft to the touch. Well, that's it. There was a "pssssssss" sound from the right. I look, and there's a piece of wall moving so slowly, and the opening we entered is closing... closed. And on the wall to the right, a green circle about ten centimeters in diameter lit up, and the circle itself seemed to be hanging in the air without touching the wall. Wow, it looks like a hologram!

Then I felt that someone was looking at me. So, turn your head slowly to the left. Wow, what a cat! The head is bigger than mine, hefty, sixty centimeters at the withers! Thick long paws, a meter-long tail like a tube, and only the tip bends back and forth. He stands on the couch next to me and looks at me with his green eyes, paying attention. I pulled the handles to the cat and clenched my fists. He unclenched it. The cat reached out to me.

The man sat down at the table, and says:

"What, Barsik, Igor woke up, and you're right here, on guard duty?" The cat looked at the man, stood on the pillow with its front paws and folded itself into a ball so that its head was right under my hand. I reached out and ran my fingers through the wool.... and the fur is soft, I scratched him behind the ear with my little fingers, went down on his cheek, the cat threw his head back, purred like an engine. I was looking at the man, and he turned sideways to the table, pressed something with his hand under the table, and in front of him a hefty hologram lit up for about a meter and a half. He put gloves on his hands with metal claws on the tips of his fingers and began to think in the hologram: he pokes somewhere on the left, then moves back and forth with both hands at once, then launches his hands into the hologram itself with fingers spread out, as if holding something, and twists his palms, as if turning. Bah, it's a big deal, I guess! I wish I'd been like this in a previous life!

The man appears to be in his thirties, has blond hair, blue eyes, and is wearing what looks like a pair of light-colored overalls with hip pockets and a white T-shirt with a large blue inscription "LC" LOKI EI-14 "TAS NAVY" on the left side. She wears soft-looking, short moccasins made of white material. I stared at him like that for twenty minutes. In the end, he couldn't stand it, got out from behind the table, walked through the hologram, came up to me and said:

"Why are you looking at the folder, my daughter, as if you've seen it for the first time!" And he's smiling. I return his smile, he bends closer to me... and I am covered with love, tenderness and some kind of joy mixed with delight! And now my abilities have awakened. I've always been an empath with mentalist skills. I need to put up a shield, otherwise I'll swim right now. Damn, it doesn't work. Strange. The range of abilities is very small. Although when I was reborn into a child's body, then?

"Should I turn on cartoons?" He says "Dad" and clicks something on the table. There was a buzzing and clicking sound above my head, and right in front of me, about two meters away, a three-dimensional picture appeared in the air, with some icons scattered in groups on a blue background, and numbers in the corner. "11:03:2355 10:22". Wow, we've decided on the date... it's the 24th century! The icons are signed with different abbreviations such as " СПиКРК по 1УО ", try it, understand. Here the cursor appeared, it hovered over the icon with the image of a paper daddy, signed as "miscellaneous", several windows flashed in a row ... and voila, a picture with a roaring lion appeared! She went all over the "screen", and... no, well, it can't be! "Tom and Jerry"! Hold me seven! It was worth dying to watch these cartoons again in a new life! Oh, ha ha ha, I can't, I can't! Well, let's see!

Two hours have passed

Something is bothering me, some kind of discomfort. Damn, I'm hungry! And this "daddy" is stuck in his punch line, and it's like I'm not there! So, we need to get his attention somehow, maybe yell? Okay, I'll try:

"Aaaaaaaaoooooooo! Ohhhhh! Waaaaa!"

I see there is an effect, he turns and looks at me:

"What are you doing, son?"

I stare back intently and, looking into his eyes, make a sound:

"Ooooooo."

"Dad" slaps his forehead with his palm and exclaims:

"You're probably hungry at my place! I'm a fool! I forgot about you with my job!" he jumps up from his chair, quickly goes to the doorway, slaps the green mug with his palm, the door opens with a hiss, and he disappears somewhere in the house.

Another hiss is heard, then something clinks, clinks, hums... everything is quiet. Footsteps were heard approaching, and he returned. He's holding a glass plate with something mushy inside. He takes a chair, sits down in front of me and starts the process of feeding me. Hmm, this "porridge" is a delicious thing, vegetable puree with meat paste. I turn over both cheeks, admiring my father's face. Like any loving parent, he accompanies every spoonful by opening and closing his own mouth, and it's getting harder and harder for me to watch. Oh, I can't take it anymore, I'm going to neigh like a horse! As a result, I choked and, mixing coughing and laughing, I burst into tears, which brought my father to a real panic attack. But everything passes, and this has passed. The folder ran off to the kitchen (well, where else did he get it all?) and he brought me a drinking bowl with an incredibly delicious compote. After drinking a compote, we continued our business: I watched cartoons, and the folder was working on a kool-aid.

An hour later

I heard a noise from behind the door, something rattled, the door slid open, and a beautiful woman of my father's age appeared in front of me, with dark brown hair, broken dark eyebrows above wide-set large gRatnate eyes, with fluffy long eyelashes on a regular, Scandinavian-type face, but with soft lips. She was wearing a long fur coat made of thick, shiny black fur. Black pointed-toed boots with low heels were visible from under the fur coat. How are you doing here? She asked, and then noticed a hologram with cartoons. So! What is this? She asked, looking at her father. Michael Shepard, I'm asking you! What is it? She pointed at the hologram.

Damn, he really is the messiah. I wonder what my name is. Although Igor seemed to say "father".

March 25, 2355

So, one step, one more step, take your time Igor, take your time, hold your head, hold it, I say! Here is the corner of the crib, we intercept with our hands, and then a step, another step. I'm learning to walk! My legs are still weak, but my hands are already much better. It's early in the morning, it's just getting light, and my parents are sleeping on the couch with their arms around each other. A Barsik is lying at their feet and follows my steps around the crib with an attentive look. So, keep the balance, oops, the head is outweighed, eee! I manage to fold in half and land on the fifth point! Uhh! It took my breath away!

Are you awake, my little one? I hear my mother's voice, she looks at me with a smile, I smile back, grab the bars, pull myself up and stand up. My head is higher than the bars, and I, sincerely crushing my forehead, stretch out my arms to my mother. Yes! Now they are really parents to me. There is not only a bright side to empathy, but also a "dark" side. It is impossible to remain indifferent under the pressure of parental feelings. Mom gets up, picks me up from the crib, and I'm just basking in a wave of maternal love. They put me on the potty while I do my chores, mom puts on a robe, and we hold hands and quietly stomp into the kitchen. There's a mega-device called a chairstool. It's a tall chair with a sliding table attached in the front. Mom puts me in it, pulls up a table. I look out the window, and there are leaves blooming on a large, sprawling tree in the courtyard. The tree is strange: the bark peels off it, falls off in layers, and the leaves come out in a strange silvery-green color. I've only seen such trees in the elven forest before.

A hefty brown dog walks thoughtfully around the yard, he is so big that he looks like a bear. And when this beast yawns, it seems like my whole head can enter its mouth!

Come on, eat," mom says and puts a plate in front of me, in it semolina porridge with pieces of fruit and some berries. I take a spoon in my right hand and start eating slowly. It's not working fast yet! There's a good chance you can get a spoon past your mouth. Meanwhile, Mom takes out a soft plastic container with a volume of one and a half liters of porridge and meat from the pantry and goes out into the yard with it. The dog rushes to her with an expression of such intense joy that it seems as if his tail is about to fall off and, spinning like a boomerang, fly off into the far distance!

"Quiet, Polkasha!" Mom exclaims at the dog spinning around. If you stay hungry, I'll dump all your breakfast past the bowl, and you'll eat from the ground again! But the dog doesn't seem to be intimidated by this prospect at all! Footsteps are heard from behind, someone entered the kitchen, quietly came up to me and kissed me on the back of the head, showering me with adoration! Daddy woke up, he's a weak empath himself! Mom came back from the yard, and I can hear her saying:

"Misha, how many times have I told you, don't walk around the house in your underwear! Well, you have a bathrobe!"

"Come on, Diane. I'm only here in the morning, and anyway, I'm at home, and that's what I want to wear!"

"Oh so! Look at the example you're setting for our boys! Just imagine if I start walking around the house in my panties!"

"Oh! It will be a magnificent sight! You have nothing to hide and something to be proud of!"

"Double flattery! And anyway, in case you haven't forgotten, I'm seven months pregnant!"

"Oh-oh-oh! Ha ha! It's hard to forget and even harder not to notice! And anyway, come here, retired Major of the medical service! I will explain to you all the subtleties of communication with a senior officer! Hehe!"

"Take your hands off me, Mr. Captain of the first rank, retired, what are you doing?" There is scuffling and kissing sounds behind my back. "Oh-oh! Michael Shepard, I love you, my husband! But now you go, put on a bathrobe, go up to the second floor and wake up our sons, and don't you dare contradict me! Is everything clear to you?!"

"Aw, Aw, ma'am! The order is clear! Allow me to perform!"

"Do it!"

And the father, humming some cheerful tune, leaves the kitchen.

Ten minutes later

"A-a-a-a-a-a-a-a! I'm the first one down!"

"No, I am, I am the first!"

"Nifiga, ha-ha-ha!"

It came from the stairs to the second floor. My two older brothers flew down it with a bang! This is the weather of Deniska and Leshka! Elbowing and puffing, they stumble into the kitchen.

"Hello, Ma!" says Deniska.

"Hey, Mom!" Leshka echoes him.

"So, young people, how should well-mannered chevaliers behave at breakfast? Come on, come out of the kitchen, and come in properly!"

The brothers went out the door, caught their breath, and sedately went back in.

"Hello, Mother," Denis said, bowing slightly.

"Good morning, Mom." Leshka said, repeating his brother's movement.

"Hello children, have a seat at the table." Mom replied, bowing her head. The guys went around the table, "accidentally" passing by my chair, and hugged me from both sides.

"Hello, little one!" Deniska whispered and kissed me on the cheek.

"Hello, Little snake!" kissing the other one, Leshka whispered.

After that, they both sat down at the table.


Three hours after

I'm sitting alone in the middle of the carpet in the children's room on the second floor of our house, talking softly to the cat. Slowly and gradually, my tongue begins to obey me. Hey, Basik, I'm sorry, I'm so stupid.

"Уот т"енеуюсь-т"енеуюсь, азгоаиаю с тобой! А тоуку?" (I'm practicing, practicing, talking to you, but what's the use?).

The cat is silent, quietly purring, lying down on the carpet next to it, stretched out to its full length and rolling a wheel from some kind of machine with its front paws. The brothers have a whole box of this "scrap metal". Ehhh! I'm itching to make something out of it, but they only give me rattles and model airplanes. Hopefully, the torment won't last too long. "Так веть, кот? Я усему наущусь! (That's a cat. I'll learn everything.)" The Barsik purrs, squinting affectionately.

By the way, I managed to find out my location. An hour ago, Mom, holding me in her arms, turned on the huge TV. Uh-huh-huh! What a thing it is! A natural window into another world! So, there was news, and a pretty presenter, in quite decent English, broadcast that the current state of affairs in the colony of Mendoir is just fine, all mining and processing complexes are operating at full capacity, which will allow this year to increase the shipment of concentrate, increase the number of colonists and the income of existing ones. Then there was a block of interplanetary news about the new initiatives of the Citadel Council, about the work of the ambassador of the Alliance of Systems... hmm!

It seems that in the canon, people should be on the council, but here is an ambassador, not an adviser... Then there was the sports news block, and it all ended with the weather block. Everything is the same as always: the surroundings change, but the essence remains the same.

April 11, 2355

As usual, I was sitting at my chair by the kitchen window and looking out at how our cat and our doggie were playing with some kind of crap that looked more like scraps of a stuffed toy.

"You've turned one year old, Igor!"

Suddenly, with a loud hum, a red and green bike flew into the yard. It's really a bike like the Japanese had, with only two seats with a raised backrest. And with a mass effect generator under the body. Both of my brothers sat on it in tandem, with Denis's face looking worried and guilty, and Leshka, who was sitting behind, looking tearful and scratched, while he strangely held his left hand. I made a sound:

"Uh-uh-uh!" She pointed out the window. The folder went to the window, looked, his face took on a worried expression, anxiety was clearly playing in his emotions.

"Dayan," he said, "the guys are in trouble!"

"What's wrong, Mish?"

"Call an ambulance, Dayana."

Mom went into the living room and chirped at the terminal, and after a short chirping, a clear female voice came from there:

"Dayan, my dear! Is that you, what happened?"

"Ratnate, I'm really glad to see you too, but I need you! Рэй, я тоже очень рад тебя видеть, но ты мне нужен!"

"I'm on my way, honey, just don't worry, it's not good for you! and slowly fading away. Duck, Du-uck! Get ready soon, let's fly to the Shepards...."

It is not known what the mysterious Duck replied, the connection was disconnected. The front door buzzed, and my brothers appeared for all to see.

"Well and?" My father asked.

"Da-ad. We rode a bike here...." Denis looked at the floor and said, "Well, anyway, Leshka flew off and, it seems, broke his arm." At that time, Leshka was hesitating next to him with trembling lips and eyes full of tears.

"So..." said the father. "And how could this happen, driving without a limiter again?"

"Well, Da-ad!" Both of them howled. "Only small ones ride with a limiter."

"Yeah, so you're big?" Mom exclaimed.

"Well, mo-om!" They both howled again. At the same time, the brothers looked the most dejected, and their emotions showed pity for each other and, for some reason, fear.

"Well, Aunt Ratnate is about to arrive, and it will become completely clear what to do with you." said the father. The brothers hunched their heads and looked at their mother with a strange hope. What are you watching?

"Hoping to get off easy?" The brothers shuddered and looked at their father expectantly.

"What did I tell you?" The father asked.

"That we should be careful," Denis spoke up.

"That you should drive without a limiter carefully" Leshka whimpered.

"And what about you?" The brothers began to sob, both of them.

"Well Daddy... We didn't do it on purpose.... It's kind of like that! We didn't run into Ham on purpose!" Don't take the bike away from us.

The sobs turned into tears.

"So you also ran into Azat? And how is he doing? Where is he, by the way?"

"Dad, Azat flew home, Ali took him away!" Deniska spoke through tears.

"So he also got beaten up! Well, Dahe he'll give him nuts! It's science for you, to drive like crazy," Mom said, putting her hands on her hips.

There was a squeak from the informant at the door. I completely missed how the doctors arrived. There was some kind of long-shaped futuristic-looking thing behind the fence, but with the familiar outlines of a blue chandelier that twinkled fervently. Mom waddled over to the door and pressed the flickering green hologram on the right jamb. The door opened and I walked into the room... my mouth dropped open! All so slender in a fitted snow-white suit with a bright red cross on her left forearm... a blue-skinned SUCCUBUS without wings and showing off! She's just like Azari in the "Mass Effect": tentacles on her head, and pigmented spots on her face - and she's so beautiful! And most importantly, there is almost no smell of pheromones.

"Michael!" she exclaimed. "Where are they?"

"Admire it!" My father replied. "There's Leshka, he ejected from the bike!"

"Come here, Alexey, let's see what's wrong with you."

I feel a flash of concern from Doc.

Leshka came up to her and held out his shaking left hand. An orange hologram flashed around the Asari's left wrist. This is the first time I've seen a succubus in a high-tech medical kit. She ran it along Leshka's arm, looked at the hologram, pressed her finger on the strange round pimple on the right side of her head and said:

"Duck! Bring a small treatment table and a suitcase with clips!"

I turned to the window and saw a towering upper DEMON sidling through the gate! Although I remember my impressions of the second part of the mass effect game. If I saw Garrus in the dark and without armor with a visor, I would shoot this demon. He was wearing a snow-white suit like the doctor's, with a briefcase in his right hand and a long trunk placed vertically in his left. Moreover, our dog, twirling his tail like a fan, gets in the way under his feet, showing no signs of aggression, rather a stormy joy, as from meeting a good friend. That's right!

What about the human colony?! Where the Turian and the Asari serve in the ambulance... nothing is clear.

Well, okay, we'll watch... The Turian entered the house, went to the middle of the living room, put a suitcase on the floor, took hold of the trunk with both hands, and I still didn't understand how, but this trunk suddenly turned into a long table, immediately put on the floor.

"Bring three chairs, Mish." Dr. Ratnate said. Folder, under Doc's guidance, quickly arranged chairs around this table, and Leshka was seated on one chair. The succubus cast an anesthetic spell and began to set the bone with Dahi. Then she glowed with blue light and cast a regeneration spell on Leshka's arm.

"By the way, Dahe!" said the father. "Your eldest is hurt too, he's sitting at home!"

When it was over, Leshka's hand was wrapped in a cool white scarf.

"Okay, Michael," the doctor said, "You'll arrive at the hospital in two days, we'll remove the retainers there, and it's better not to strain your arm for a week."

"Do you understand everything, young man?" She turned to Leshka.

"Got it," my brother squeaked.

"And no bike racing! I'll rip off my pistol and put it in today, too." Dr. Dahe said.

"Mish, sit down, we'll arrange it, it's an accident anyway!" called Father azari.

"Let's go," Doc said "The victim's name?"

"Alexey Mikhailovich Shepard."

"Age?"

"7 years."

"Date of birth?"

"July 22, 2348."

"Place of birth?"

"Leonov City, Mendoir colony."

"Parents, father?"

"Mikhail Alexandrovich Shepard."

"Age?"

"65 years old."

"The mother?"

"Hannah Diana Shepard."

"Age?"

"63 years old."

"Home address?"

"Leonov City, Strawberry Street 2, Whisper Ranch."

"Okay," the blue doctor said, "I'll fill out the rest myself."

Then the Turian Dahe came up to me.

I stared at him with undisguised curiosity, wide-eyed, and there was a lot to see. First of all, he looked like a game Turian and didn't look like one at the same time. The mandibles covered the cheeks, closer to the chin, with curved, pointed ends lower, under which fangs were hidden, looking down, two centimeters long. That's what I understand, teeth... The figure was dense, proportionally built, beautiful even to a human eye, and not that squalor - a product of Biovar designers. The hands are four-fingered. All the fingers on the hands ended in powerful, slightly curved claws. The Turian's skin was golden brown, his face had a colorful tattoo of white and blue lines woven into a complex pattern, his eyes were deep-set, with dark gRatnate whites and an incredible, simply glowing bright blue iris around a round pupil. Curiosity radiated from him like a wave. I stretched out my hands and clenched my fingers into fists several times.

"That's right!" The father said with a smile. "Not a drop of fear, just begs to be picked up."

"Yes, we can easily do that." Dahi replied. "Come here, little one." And he pulls me out of the chair. I didn't see anything repulsive up close, on the contrary. I ran my hand over the Turian's cheek: the skin was smooth, velvety to the touch and hot, about forty degrees, he already squeezed his eyes shut with pleasure and made a strange, purring sound, which was immediately picked up by our cat standing in the hallway.

"Are you going to Aunt Ray's?" I heard it from the left. Turning, she met the gaze of the Asari. She was smiling, which made her face even more attractive. Although, somewhere else! I stretched out my arms to her and was immediately taken away from Dahya. The Turian laughed. "That's right, Ratnate, everyone sticks to you, even the kids!"

"I looked at the Asari with interest." Blue skin, soft and silky to the touch, appendages that slightly bounced under the fingers, a pattern of pigment spots, in the form of a complex pattern, around the amazing color of lilac eyes. By the way, the Asari had eyelashes, although there were no other types of vegetation on the skin. Strange.

"And what is your name, young sir?" Ratnate cooed.

"Igor," I replied. Wow, it turned out to be clean to say! I see my father's joyfully surprised face, and my mother's already big eyes are wide open. Oh, to be naughty, so naughty! Poking my finger under Asari's chin, I said:

"Ray."

"Then Azari's eyes got big, like two animeshki with her mom."

She turned to Duck and pointed at him:

"Dahi."

The Turian's jaw dropped, and I was overwhelmed by a wave of amazement.

The adults were stunned into silence.

"Well, what's my name?" The father came up and asked. I smiled at him with all my twelve teeth and said:

"Misha's dad." Just look who's talking! My father said, laughing. "And now you two. Go without a bike for a couple of months."

The boys groaned.

"I'm going to my room!" Dr. Dahi hurried on. "I need to examine my senior. Ratnate, let's go."

"Bye guys!" Azari said, and the medics gathered their things and left.

Chapter 2. This world, is everything wrong here, or is it...?

Igor (Mendoir, April - June 2358)

April 11, 2358

The slowly rising sun illuminated the peaks of the mountains in the east, they are clearly visible from the window of my room in clear weather. It's been four years since I've been in this world, the world of a computer game that has come to life, so similar and at the same time completely different! It's been a year since I got my hands on a desktop terminal, and I've started a real brainstorming session.

I managed to find answers to almost all my questions: They had never even heard of the Reapers here, there was a huge pile of contradictory information about the Protheans, and most importantly, everyone was absolutely sure that they had built both the Citadel and the repeaters. So, what? The canonical events did not happen! But the most important thing is that there is no certainty that I am connected with them. However, "John" Shepard, like "Ingvar" Shepard, exist in reality, and the most amazing thing is that they are members of the same family!

Yes, on May 22, 2355, my younger brother was born, and my dad, according to the old Russian tradition, named his youngest son Ivan! He is very original! Mom, laughing, told him so. Well, my parents are retired military personnel: my dad is a captain of the first rank (or captain in the Anglo-American rank system), and my mom is a major in the Navy medical service.

Plus, I'm a colonist from Mendoir, just like in the game, but in a crowd. And as far as I could remember, in the game, the colonist's entire family is killed, after which he (she) goes into the army. I'll get out of my skin, but I won't let them kill my family!

After Vanka was born, they pushed taking care of me onto my older brothers and our wonderful cat! The brothers were not particularly pleased, but the redhead seemed to be just happy. The mustachioed babysitter followed me around the house, played, slept, and accompanied me on trips to the center of the town. And after the brothers were allowed to take me out with them, Barsik and I became as much a part of the children's company in our village as my brothers, their Turian friends, Azat and Ali, the sons of the same Dr. Dahi, their Azari girlfriends named Binna, the daughters of Dr. Ratnate, and a small a Turian, my age, Nasar, the younger brother of Azat and Ali. Last September, I went to the local kindergarten equivalent, where a lot of amazing discoveries awaited me.

The clock on my desk read 6:30 a.m. Although a day on Mendoir is longer than a day on Earth by as much as 9 minutes, a year is shorter by 7 days. So we live by the time of the Alliance of Systems, that is, Greenwich Mean Time on Earth, plus a sunset-sunrise correction. The clock is periodically adjusted according to the signal of the planetary control virtin. The whole family is still asleep, but I get up earlier than everyone else and do exercises. A few classical exercises with weights on my arms and legs over two years of training have made me very strong for my age, improved flexibility, coordination of movements and motor skills. I also started working with a pole. I remember well the weakness of the first year of my life and I want to be strong. Thank the extranet for the huge number of all kinds of video tutorials on physical education! The main language of the colony was Russian, although English was spoken by everyone, of course, the main language of the Alliance. Plus, they spoke in "basic" or basic galactic, aka "galact". It was developed by the Salarians, together with the Asari, as much as two and a half thousand years ago. Well, all the "strangers" spoke their native languages perfectly, a natural Babylon 5, not Mendoir!

Right now, I'm pretty well developed for a human boy my age. The body is strong and flexible enough to be able to enter the youth corps of the Navy for officer training.

I heard noises on the ground floor, probably mom got up and went to cook breakfast, and it's time for me to take a shower, brush my teeth and generally get ready. My brothers will take me to the garden soon.

Five hours later

There are also a whole bunch of youngsters from almost all races of the Citadel Space who go to my garden. And who is not in our, still junior, group: ten people of all colors and races, three Asari, three Turians (two boys and a girl), two Batarian girls! And, like the icing on the cake... the drell guy! That's such a gang of nineteen bullies! Our group has two Azari teachers, both purple. The head of the group, Rien Vais, and her assistant, Taya T'dari. Since I'm considered a kind of child prodigy here, I've already kind of "learned" how to read. Looking at me, my whole group learned to read, after all, children of any kind have a very developed imitative instinct. They still read poorly, but that's not even four years old. As far as I've found out, almost all children develop about the same way, even Azari.

To my wide-eyed question, our parents: "Why is this, because Azari live for a very long time and are considered adults from the age of one hundred?" she received a very detailed answer. The Asari's maturation has three stages. The first stage, from birth to about fifteen years of age, is due to rapid growth and development, and intellectual abilities develop during this period of life. At the age of fifteen or sixteen, physical development slows down sharply, but does not stop, and a young Azari, who looks like a human girl of 13-14 years old, begins to improve intellectually. They study a lot, train, harden their mind and body, and this stage lasts up to about 45-55 years. Then the third stage of growing up begins: the young Azari begins hormonal restructuring, she grows up a little more, gets rounded in all the right places, and her mental abilities begin to develop. It is at this time that Asari are taught to work with biotics and merge their consciousnesses in the so-called "embrace of eternity". Of course, the speed of development is very dependent on individual characteristics. Well, just like people. The racial composition of the Mendoir colony is actually more extensive, but since Salarians or Vorks develop much faster than others, it was considered unnecessary to include their children in general groups. You're probably asking, where does Vorka come from? As the local online encyclopedia suggested to me, the vork is actually a fairly advanced species, maybe inferior to humans and Turians in intelligence, but with a huge adaptation resource! In the Vorka Citadel Space, they are mostly employed in the mining industry, and as it turns out, they are excellent miners who are able to work in conditions where most members of other races simply die. That's why they work in the mines on Mendoir and live in large clans in mining villages. They rarely leave the villages themselves, and almost no one is allowed in, in general, they are recluses. And those thieves who hang out in all kinds of gangs are exiles from clans, complete outcasts and lumpens. For a Vorka, with their lifespan of thirty standard years, exile from the clan is the most terrible punishment. Because women are never expelled. Our planet Mendoir actually belongs to the Asari Republic, and it is considered a human colony because the Rosenkov Materials Corporation has concluded a concession agreement with the Council of matriarchs for 20% of the total share of resource extraction. Since the corporation has little interest in the troubles of the Alliance of Systems Council, it hired staff for colonization, not really looking at race, but more at the professional qualities of the employees. Wow, I've been thinking about something on the tree... And they're going to congratulate me! So they built a round dance, put me in the center and, to the general screeching and squeaking, they began to sing: "How did we bake a loaf on Igor's name day..." Of course, I'm making a happy appearance, but I want to laugh, I won't save you! Oh well, I'll get over it. Even on the first day in kindergarten, two small Turian ringleaders tried to build the whole group. And they built it, but they broke off on me. Well, it's not a small thing to compete with an adult in psychological pressure, even in a child's body. But I can also fight in sparring. They got a lot of abrasions and bruises and calmed down, and now with all their problems, the little ones go to them first, and then, if their solution does not suit the little ones, to me. To be honest, it bothers me beyond words...

By the way! I have a girlfriend and a boyfriend here. One is a Turian kid named Nasar, the son of the same Dr. Dahi. A great friend of Daddy's, a partner in the preference game. Actually, they've been friends since the Navy days, when my dad served as captain of the light cruiser Loki, and Dahi Tanir was the chief physician on the Turian dreadnought Smasher, and they, as it turned out, jointly chased Batarian pirates in the Skillian Reach. And they were catching up to the point that dad thundered to Dahi in the infirmary, because the infirmary on Loki was blown apart by a direct missile hit. The second friend is Avanti Natol Batarian, and I met her at our ranch. Her dad is my assistant, and mine is my deputy. chief engineer of the enrichment complex of the corporation. And the chief engineer of the complex is a Quarian named Aegih'RIGAR, and the corporation values him so much that they ordered him a special house, no less than ours, by the way, completely sealed, with filtration and disinfection systems, and a huge glass bay window. It stands in our village on the second street called Strawberry, and Uncle Aegikh, having taken off his suit and put on a bathrobe, likes to sit in the bay window, admiring the life of the village.

The most amazing thing is that he differs from a human only by a slightly different ear structure, there were four fingers. And his face looks more like an elf from fairy tales, with light lilac glowing eyes and pointed tips of ears. It's idiotic to make aliens three-fingered! Try to hold the rifle with three fingers and shoot at the same time. Igrodels suck! And his fingers, just like a pianist's, are long and flexible. And there are steel claws on the gloves of the skaf. At first I didn't understand why, I thought it was a weapon, until I saw how it worked on the toolbox. There are two times fewer buttons there than my father's, and twice as many buttons themselves. I once asked my dad how cool Uncle Aegikha's toolbox was, and he just rolled his eyes.

They sang a round dance and pulled me to the table, there is a cake. I saw through the window how his mother brought him and put him on the veranda of the group. A hefty cake, by the way, though, for twenty-one children's mouthfuls - in one bite. A hefty pot of compote was brought here from the dining room. And here, as it has already turned out, there is no trace of any poisonous food from dextroamacids. At least the Turians ate everything they could. But Azari and Salars are very picky about their food. The Kvarin preferred generally sterilized Turian food. Humans, like Krogan and Batarian humans, had some food preferences, but they could eat anything if they wanted to. Of course, all races have dietary restrictions. So my cake is universal, suitable for all races ... which, alas, does not add to its taste.

That reminds me! One day Uncle Dahi came to visit us with his family: his wife and three children. His eldest sons are the same age as my older brothers, and since we are also neighbors, they are bosom friends, and all the mischief in the village is the work of my brothers and their Turian friends, plus Dr. Ratnait's daughters, as it turned out, are also our neighbors.

Her name is Ratnait T'rann. Uncle Dahya's wife's name is Kasia, and she is a housewife. So, when they all came to us for the first time, my younger brother turned exactly one year old. We sat and chatted. Cassia told the legends about the history of the Turians and their spirits. Tael was sipping vodka through a straw, playing preference with Dad and Dahi. Well, we were playing monopoly in a tight group.

We ate the cake and drank the compote. There's a really awesome pool here in the garden, and I love swimming. In general, the Azari love the pool the most, they feel like fish in it, you can't drive them out. Then there are people, it depends on individual preferences. Batarians are indifferent. Turians rather do not like, although they swim with pleasure on the shoals. But our Drell doesn't wear it. They built a dry room for him in the pantry, where the humidity is about five percent, and there are some salts in the air that are useful for drells. This is probably the prevention of Kapral's syndrome. And his name is Feron!

Two months later. The Whisper Ranch

It's time for the holidays, so I'm sitting on the porch of our house right now, with an album on my lap, and pretending to draw. In fact, I shamelessly warm my ears listening to the conversation between my father and his assistant, the Batarian Anker Natol, sitting on wicker chairs in the middle of the lawn. Avanti is sitting next to her, with a similar album on her lap, and, sticking out her tongue from diligence, she is drawing something with colored pencils. Actually, she has a real gift for drawing. What I do with effort and effort, she does somehow by herself. After introducing her to the album and showing her the basics, I was just amazed at how fast she was progressing. She should be an artist! Even now, when I looked at her album, I saw our cat lying on the grass with a lazy expression on his face, and all this in small strokes, and so accurately conveys the mood.... Alas, I can never do that.

"Listen, Anker," my father says, "What's wrong with you, you haven't been yourself for the second week, what happened?"

"I haven't heard from my brother for a long time. Neither from himself, nor from his family. Saer is worried!"

"I thought you said his contract was ending. I got him engaged to us, agreed with the Agehik, he punched the management. Everyone agrees to accept him and his family."

"That seems to be the problem. Someone must have betrayed my brother for lathering up to us, and in the border systems of the Hegemony they look askance at this."

"This way, normal conditions would be created for the reasonable, and they would not have to catch their own population trying to run away wherever they look, just to get away from their native state."

"This is what you have here at RM, just like in the legends. At first, we all couldn't believe that this was happening. I kept waiting for a trick, when they would start to squeeze. It was only a year later that I believed that everything that was written in the contract was being fulfilled."

"The main resource of any state or corporation, even a family, is people. These are not factories, steamships, ships and junk. These are the ones who create, produce, mine, build, transport, and raise the next generation. Invest in the sensible ones, and you'll get a hundredfold return. RM has been pursuing such a policy for two hundred years, so the corporation is in third place in the list of the strongest companies in the Alliance of Systems, and it is included in the hundred of Citadel Space. What about the Hegemony?"

"I'm not arguing, Michael. I'm not arguing... I'm just worried about my brother."

"Shall we have a drink? Would you like some cognac?"

"What? The real one? Terran?"

"Yeah! Moldovan! Maybe not the best, but still. A friend gave it to me, my friends on Earth bought it, and they sent the box to me. Ah... pour it. I'll try again.

The father went into the house, and Anker stared at the sky with a kind of detached look. His emotions were filled with longing and fear, but there was a hint of hope somewhere. That's right, Uncle Anker is a normal man. Kind, hardworking, good-looking, straight arms. Dad is very pleased with him. And Hegemony is just such a dump with slavery from the lower castes, with bonded contracts... wolfish capitalism in all its glory. I once asked him, "Uncle Anker, why do your people put up with all this, and not take up arms and restore order in the country?" He replied that only overseers, police, army and family members of corporate heads can have weapons in the Hegemony. The rest, if caught with a gun, immediately die. Well, except for the pirate squads, those are actually supported and under the roof of the same corporations. In general, hopelessness. That leaves the Batarians to run anywhere, mostly to the Omega.

"Da-ad! Da-ad! Look how I drew a Barsik!" Gina came skipping up to him.

"Well, let me see," Coel took the album and stared at the drawing with admiration.

"Do you like it?" Avanti asked, looking lovingly at her father.

"Very!" Anaker replied and hugged his daughter tightly to him.

He loved his daughter. I loved her so much that I could feel it from afar. My father loves me very much too, but here it was just painful. Gina feels it and twists the ropes out of her father just like that. Even now, he's clutching her so tightly, as if he's afraid she'll disappear.

"Dad! You'll strangle me!" Gina wheezed.

Then my father came out of the house, holding a bottle and two glasses in his left hand, and a saucer with sliced lemon in his right. He put everything on the table, sat down in an armchair, opened a bottle that made a "pou" sound, and poured the golden liquid into glasses.

"For luck, Anchor! Your brother will need it!"

" Good luck, Michael!"

They clinked glasses.

Avanti is already back next to me on the porch, and again she is drawing something on a new sheet, periodically glancing at me. Her emotions are filled with fun and some kind of... adoration. Why she treats me like this, I just don't understand. Can she feel me? When I was the Messiah before, children and teenagers always stuck to me.

***

I myself am red-haired and green-eyed, and my hair is such a bright color that I stand out among the kindergarten kids like a fly agaric on moss. Seen from afar. And my eye color is malachite green, bright and saturated. The doctors were perplexed at first, they said that people do not have such an eye color. Dad also kept wondering who I was like, there had never been any redheads in the family, either on my father's side or on my mother's. The father himself is light-haired and blue-eyed, a true Northerner. Mom has dark blond hair, with almost steel-gray eyes. And all the brothers, who are more like their father, who are like their mother, I'm the only one with red hair. Although I'm not offended. I'm always red-haired when I come as the messiah. But it's the first time I've had such greenish eyes. Damn, they almost glow in the dark.

Anyway, we decided to check it out. They took my blood, went to a hospital in the city, did an analysis with the construction of a model for deciphering the genetic code, and got a blue-eyed blond man. We were very surprised, rechecked, and the result remained unchanged.

Then Uncle Dahi and Aunt Ratnet got caught up in professional curiosity: How can this be? We picked up the mother's medical record, checked all the events during pregnancy and found out that, at the sixth month, an accident occurred at the enrichment complex: a pipeline with some kind of terrible chemical reagent for extracting element zero from the rock broke! A lot of intelligent people were poisoned, it's a good thing they didn't die. Well, then my mother worked in a factory emergency room and, helping the victims, she also got poisoned. That's how this reagent worked on me. How many arguments did we have in the kitchen about this?... Exposure to the "zero element" seemed to be a plus, but so far no effects have been noticeable. Anyway, it's not bad for me to be a redhead. I've already gotten used to my fiery hair. And my red wings look beautiful on her background.

"Hey, hey! Igor! Ava-anti! Let's go for a walk!" there was a loud shout from the gate. Nasar was swinging on it like on a swing.

"And where will we go?" Jean asked.

It doesn't matter. Let's go to Uncle Aegikh, let him tell us a story about the Fleet.

"Come on!" I say and throw the album on the porch. Avanti puts hers carefully, before closing and putting the pencils in the box. Keep an eye on them! I hear my father's voice and, turning around, I see a Barsik trotting after us.

Chapter 3. It seems to be an ordinary life.

Igor (Mendoir, October-November 2358)

Picnic

The city of Leonov, October 10, 2358

I'm sitting high, I'm looking far away! Even above one and a half meters. Between my legs is the back of my head with blond curly hair, and under my ass are skinny boyish shoulders. I hold my brother's forehead with my hands and prevent him from turning his head, which he periodically resents.

"Little snake! Take your hands off, I can't see anything under my feet! Come on! There are roots all around!"

"Igor! Let's crash now!" And you squint your eyes! That's how it will be seen!

"Am I a mud crab? My eyes are not on stalks!"

"Then I'll hold on to you hair. They're long and soft, just for my hands!"

"No, not by the hair! Little snake, you're going to rip them all out for me! And I won't rip anything out! You've got them firmly in place! Binna is walking next to us, bursting with fun, listening to our bickering. For my brothers, Binka, and for me, for some time, Binochka. That's what I called it in the summer, when I asked my brothers to go fishing, but they didn't want to take it. They say I'm still small. So I plugged it in. I cried in her lap, she felt sorry for me and put pressure on my brothers, but they can't refuse Binna. They took me with them. I've been calling her Binochka ever since.

"Snake, what are you going to do there?"

"I'm going to give you a head massage, Deniska!" I say and start gently massaging my brother's head with my fingers. He's got a little headache, but at least I'll heal up a little.

"Then I'm definitely going to fall!"

"I'll fall for you! Okay, you drop me, so you can still spill two buckets of barbecue, and not only will I not forgive you, no one will forgive you! I'll fall for you! Okay, you drop me, so you can still spill two buckets of barbecue, and not only will I not forgive you, no one will forgive you!"

"Ha ha ha! That's for sure, we won't forgive!" - Binna laughs loudly.

"Oh, right? Are you ganging up on poor me? Uh-oh! The conspirators! I won't carry you back in the evening, you'll know, you red-haired arrogant!"

"Well, Dishya!" I hug my brother's head and speak softly in his ear.

"I'm sorry, asshole, I won't do this anymore! I'll give you a "I won't"! Do the massage next, and I'll keep a better eye on my feet. Hehe!

I gently let the energy flow through my fingers, massaging my brother's head. Well, he's had a headache this morning.

"Ah-ha-ha-ha! Comedians! No circus is needed!" Binna is pouring in.

I look at her with a smile, gently massaging my brother's head. He grunts with pleasure and slowly turns his head, putting different places under my fingers. Well, at least my brother felt better. Otherwise, we're going on a holiday, it's not a good idea to go to rest with a sore head.

We're all going on a picnic together. All of them are my family, the Tanir family as a whole, Aegih'rigar, Aunt Ratnet with her daughter Binna and Avanti with her mother Saer, plus, Polkasha and Bars. Today is October 10, colony Day, on this truly historic day for Mendoir, 13 years ago, the first colonist set foot on its surface, and it doesn't really matter that there were sixty thousand of them. Avanti's father is the senior shift engineer on duty today, and his brother Bael is his assistant. Yes, his brother was found, he flew in at the end of June.

At that time, my father was urgently taken to Gagarin Port along with Anker, right from Deniska's birthday. When they returned a couple of hours later, a tall, thin Batarian, who looked exactly like Anker, only ten years younger, and a young, thin Batarian, his brother's wife, got out of our flyer with them. And they don't have any children yet. At that time, my father was urgently taken to Gagarin Port along with Anker, right from Deniska's birthday. When they returned a couple of hours later, a tall, thin Batarian, who looked exactly like Anker, only ten years younger, and a young, thin Batarian, his brother's wife, got out of our flyer with them.

And they don't have any children yet. A regiment of gray shaggy torpedoes rushes through the park, pestering other groups of walkers, but no one is afraid of him. On the contrary, everyone is clutching and trying to shove delicious things, which this shameless gobbler uses, especially since he knows most of the residents of the town, because he often walks with his older brothers in the park. Polkan is a unique dog: the only one in the entire Mendoire from the "Guardian" program. These dogs were jointly developed by Terran and Salarian geneticists, according to a common program for the protection of hazardous industries and special facilities. And my maternal uncle brought it to the folder as a gift from the command, in connection with his retirement. It's inconceivable how he got it, these dogs are still microscopically few. Well, yes, there is probably a lot available to the Rear Admiral, Deputy Commander of the Fifth Fleet of the Alliance of Systems. My mother's name was Hackett when she was a girl. Can you guess who my uncle is? It's not surprising that he pushed all the hemorrhoids of the Alliance onto the hero in the game, it's so family-friendly!

Barsik was pacing sedately behind Deniska and me, while not taking his attentive green eyes off me. He is also not a simple cat at all, but, as it turned out, from the CADIZ Alliance program (1). These are specially bred genetically modified cats with improved skeletons, intelligence, lifespan and a general list of improvements on three A4 sheets. Moreover, there are two models: civilian and military, differing only in color. Military cats and cats are gray, while civilians are red. It would be quite easy to get such a cat, if there was money: they cost from 300 thousand credits, like a branded flyer from Illium manufacturers, and they are wildly popular with the Asari. He was given to his parents as a wedding present, in a fold, by dad's carriage and mom's colleagues from the hospital. I have a backpack full of disposable paper dishes on my back. There is also an album made not of paper, but of paper paper. It's a kind of sheet plastic, very flexible and durable, used everywhere instead of paper, and repeatedly. All offices on the planet are required to maintain document management on it and dispose of the used one for disposal, for violation they are punished. Disposable items are made from easily degradable materials such as paper or rapidly oxidizing metals. It is enough to throw an empty tin can into a campfire, and there is no can. Although bonfires are not allowed in the city park, everyone uses electric fireplaces. Deniska, besides me, carries two buckets of pickled meat. Binna is walking next to us, still giggling periodically, followed by Azat with Nasar on his shoulders and carrying two folding chairs. Ivan sits proudly on Leshka, twirls, fidgets and periodically screams:

"But, but, the horse!" at the same time, covering Leshka's eyes with his palms. To which the older brother hisses:

"Little one, take your hands off, you can't see anything!" His hands are occupied with a folding table. Ali follows them with Avanti on his shoulders, she periodically bends over to one ear of Ali, then the other, and whispers about something with him intently. Ali probably wants to order someone's portrait from Avanti... and I can even guess whose! Yes, and the holography of the instrumentation went into use. What will they pay with, his wonder? Wow, a box of Azarian colored pencils in 200 colors with a set of spare pencils! Yes, Tamil knows how to interest our little artist! That's it, we've struck a deal. Dad and Uncle Agha are carrying a portable barbecue and a power unit to it, Binned skewers and a huge bucket with all kinds of greens. Uncle Dahi was loaded like a camel with a backpack, and even bags with all sorts of goodies. Different little things are carried by women. That's our place. According to the folder, families have been coming here for 11 years. The city lake with the poetic name "Blue Mirror" is spread out before us in all its glory. The lake, which has an almost regular oval shape, is surrounded on three sides by trees in a park area, and the narrow side rests against urban development. This part of the lake is clad in a granite embankment, which is the pride of the head of the municipality. There is also a hefty summer stage, from where fervent rhythms are now pouring and an urban ensemble is playing. All the urban youth between the ages of 14 and 25 hang out there now. I quickly take off my "unik", it's a kind of combat suit made of durable, beautiful fabric, almost everyone wears them, they're so comfortable, and I run to the lake in my swimming trunks. All the other offspring of all the families are flying after me, hooting, screaming and screeching. Despite October and the air temperature around plus 20 Celsius, the water in the lake is 37 degrees because it is fed by hot springs. We fly into the lake, and it's just a fairy tale! Imagine a bathroom the size of the Luzhniki Stadium with crystal clear and warm water, in which colorful fish of different sizes flash at depth, algae sway, and amazing-looking arthropods crawl. The beauty is breathtaking! And yes, I taught Nain to swim! When we returned to our kindergarten in September, during the next visit to the pool, I had an argument with Nasar that Turians cannot swim, but only drown! So I told him that the body of any organic is lighter than water and simply cannot drown, and since Turians have a larger lung volume than humans, drowning them is generally an almost impossible event. I made it up, in general, convincingly, and then offered him help in mastering swimming. And yes, Nasar, like the rest of the Turians, swim well, even if they stay in shallow water!

While the fathers are celebrating with a barbecue and tasting wine extracted from a portable refrigerator, Uncle Aegikh, by the way, drinks wine through a pipe (brr!.. I shuddered), and the mothers, hooked on tongues, discuss all the latest news, from urban to galactic, my brothers and I dive in the depths. Everyone has masks, including Nasar, made in "made in Aegih 's garage". And they are made of transparent fiberglass and molded industrial sealant. We all have enough. Binna swims next to Nasir. Azat and Ali, along with Ivan and Polkan, are chasing a big red ball through shallow water. Without thinking, I join their screaming and screaming company.

Four hours have passed

That's twilight. Nasir, Azanti, and I are sitting on an inflatable mattress on the shore, huddled close together, wrapped in a big fluffy blanket. Nasir, Azanti, and I are sitting on an inflatable mattress on the shore, huddled close together, wrapped in a big fluffy blanket. Nasir, Azanti, and I are sitting on an inflatable mattress on the shore, huddled close together, wrapped in a big fluffy blanket. The Turin brothers are laughing at the electric grill, passing some kind of toy to each other. My brothers are swimming in shallow water and heading for the coast, they must have swum. Inside, everyone is digesting a substantial portion of shish kebab and a large mug of compote. Pyrotechnics are busy on a cargo platform in the middle of the lake. They're going to set off fireworks, and we're in the front row, beauties! My father comes up from behind and, hugging the three of us, asks quietly:

"Aren't you cold, little ones?"

"It's okay, Uncle Mish. We're warm" Nasar answers and snuggles even closer to me. I'm silent, and Azanti is silent.

In the emotions of a friend with a girlfriend, there is joy and anticipation of the spectacle, and the father has love with notes of care, and for all of us about equally. That's how he was a captain, and he's still there! The main thing is the crew!

Boom, frrrrrrrrshhh... BANG! Boo-boo, frrrrrrshhh... TADADAH!

Rockets are flying and exploding.

AAAAAAAAA! WHOOOOOOOOOO!

The crowd of young people on the other side of the stage is screaming. And we're sitting huddled together, looking up at the sky, and only multicolored flashes illuminate our faces. Here, under a blanket, sits a Barsik. He came and climbed in, and just like us, he looks up at the sky, purring loudly. I feel so good! I wish I could just sit there!


Whisper Ranch, November 9th, 2358

Something about fear!

So the real autumn has come. It immediately became very beautiful. I love autumn. And especially on Mendoir. It's already very cold at night, the leaves are falling off the trees, and their color is incredible! Silver-green, lighter on top and darker on the bottom in summer, now they have acquired a bright gold color. Sunny on the one hand, and red gold on the other. At the same time, the forest looks amazing, like a sparkling sea of gold! I am sitting on the fence facing the yard, in my hands I have a carbon fishing rod, requisitioned from Leshka, to the end of which is tied a long piece of nylon twine with a fluffed piece of synthetic insulation at the end, similar to a white pompom. I swing the rod to the right, left, up and down, the pom-pom at the end flies after my movements, and the Barsik rushes after it, radiating childish delight around, pirouetting, bending, bouncing, like an ordinary cat, behind a piece of paper on a string. At the same time, he periodically stealthily casts a glance in my direction, but isn't his little two-legged friend tired of this occupation? No, I'm not tired! Dying! And my supercat rushes on.

Azanti is sitting next to me with an invariable album on his lap and drawing. The whole family moved from the city to our village, Uncle Anker's brother bought the apartment, and the older Natols bought the land next to us. Now there is a modular house there, just like ours. As soon as the house was installed, Uncle Coel kept walking around it, touching his hands first to the wall, then to the carved metal porch railing, then to the window drains. And there was a wave of such strong contradictory feelings coming from him, as if he couldn't believe that this house was his now, and this was HIS HOME! How lousy it must be in the Hegemony for such a common thing for the colonies as a modular house to cause such a storm in the soul of a reasonable person! At the housewarming party, Aunt Saer got so emotional that all the women in the village could barely calm her down, Aunt Ratnet even had to run for a sedative. That's how we live. Suddenly, there was a rustle behind him, the cat made a stand on the fence, and his eyes became fiercely tense, the fur on his spine stood on end, and his tail fluffed out and became as thick as his mother's leg. A wave of such horror came from Azanti that I turned sharply in my friend's direction. And I saw a face distorted in a grimace and bulging eyes, staring somewhere behind my back. Turning around and looking down, I saw... a nightmare come to life! From a distance of about five meters, a hefty rat looked at me, about a meter at the withers, covered with dense black hair, a body about two meters long, and an equally long, hairy tail with a tassel at the end. Its typically rat-like face, with glowing red eyes, was decorated with a mouth studded with a palisade of long needle-shaped teeth. The creature opened its mouth, stuck out a long purple tongue and, making something like a "SNUFFLE", trotted towards us. A wave of anticipation came from her, and I clearly realized that they wanted to DEVOUR me! And I don't even have a railgun with me. It's just too early for me to wear it. My memory went on in spurts. Here I see Azanti jumping off the fence and screeching on the verge of ultrasound, running away to his house at full speed. Here is our courtyard tree in front of me, I jump up, grab the lower branch, pull myself up and quickly climb to the top, while there is some kind of ringing in my ears. Here Gina jumps onto the porch with an incredible leap, hits the door opening sensor and, without stopping screaming, disappears into the house, slipping through the crack of the barely opened door. There is silence. Only rustling and sounds come from the road: "snuffle, snuffle, snuffle." My throat is scratchy, my arms and legs are shaking, and a Leopard is sitting next to me on a branch with its fur on end and making a low throaty hum, interspersed with a powerful hiss. A few seconds later, the door of the neighbor's house opens, and from there, in sweatpants, an elongated T-shirt and slippers on bare feet, but with a hunting carbine in his hands, Uncle Anker looks out.

Igor? - He says softly. - Igor, where are you?

"I'm here" I croak in response, in a broken voice, damn it hurts. "In the tree, Uncle Anaker"

"What's wrong with your voice?"

"I picked it while I was climbing a tree!"

"What scared you?"

"It's over there, behind the fence, Uncle Anker!"

"Who is IT?!"

"Well, this one, Nazumi (Magnaflesheter (Nazumi) is a medium-sized scavenger predator on Mendoir. Very slow and slow-witted. It has good dense short dark-colored fur, and is an object of the autumn-winter hunting season. Snufkin is nicknamed for the characteristic sounds he makes.)!

"Nazumi in our village?! How did he get through the fence?

"I don't know! I say hoarsely."

"We've already seen him on the street. Over there!"

Meanwhile, Nazumi had almost reached the intersection in the center of the village, and Nasar jumped out to meet him! When the kid saw the creature, he somehow crouched down, squealed and with incredible speed, gnashing his claws on the smooth bark, climbed up a tree growing in the middle of the intersection, only the leaves fell down. Like other Turians, he had boots with open claws.

Nazumi froze in indecision, Uncle Anker came close to the fence, put his elbow on it, aimed and fired. The creature, which took a few steps towards the tree, buried its nose in the ground, but its hind legs continued to move forward, its spine arched, and the animal toppled to one side, while continuing to twitch convulsively.

"Ready! Get down, Igor."

"Now," I croaked, and began to unclench my clenched fingers. I was still shaking a little. I was already preparing to use magic, even though it's too early for me, but you can do anything with fright. Uncle Anker showed up just in time and shot the creature out of the woods. What had she even forgotten in the village? We have a fence around it.

When I passed by the neighbor's house, the door opened, and a frightened Azanti timidly looked out from behind the jamb.

"Little Igor!" she asked in a whisper. "And where is that, well, scary one?"

Your dad shot you," I whispered. "It's lying at the intersection. Come on, let's take a look!" I'm really scared! Jean whispers. Don't worry, he's dead, and your daddy's with us, and he's got a carbine.

"Okay, let's go" Gina whispers, comes out of the house and clings to my arm like a tick.


We slowly approach Nazumi. There is a heavy smell of the beast and some kind of rotten meat coming from the creature. It's still a scavenger, even though it has a beautiful hide. That's why our farmers hunt them in the foothills. The Barsik, ears flattened and hissing, walks around the creature in a circle on bent paws. Uncle Anker is walking slowly next to him, holding the carcass at gunpoint. The animal does not move, the mouth is slightly open, the tongue has fallen out, and a puddle of blood has flowed onto the grass.

"He's dead!" Uncle Anchor states the fact. He walks up to the tree and raises his head. "Nasar, get off, I killed him. Do you hear me?"

Only rustling sounds are heard in response, then the little Turian descended backwards like a big cat to the ground. Nasar stares at the dead nazumi with all his eyes.

"He's even scary dead!" Nain whispers loudly.

"That's right, baby," Uncle Coel answers. "I'm going to get dressed, otherwise I'm still wearing sneakers! "Hehe, that must be a sight."


In the evening, my father told me about how Nazumi entered the village. The door closer on the gate in the fence broke, and it did not close with a magnetic lock, but the creature, stomping along the fence, noticed a gap and got through. As luck would have it, the brothers took Polkan with them to the city, and in general, of the adults in the village there were only Uncle Anker and Aunt Kasia, but she was asleep because she was pregnant again. Uncle Anker, laughing, told how he had dozed off with a book, but was maliciously awakened by a wild two-voiced childish squeal from the street. So that's why my ears were ringing and my voice was dead! Then his daughter ran past him and hid under the kitchen table. Grabbing a carbine from a closet, he ran out into the street in his clothes and shot Nazumi, who had entered the village. It's funny to them, but I haven't been so scared in a long time. I didn't even have a gun with me. And the power system is simply not ready to use magic. And Azanti and Nasar were terrified. I said that I want us to make hats out of his skin, that should be enough! The elders agreed, laughing.

Good compensation for fright! Uncle Ankor said.

Chapter 4. Christmas and Holidays

Igor (Mendoir, December 2358)

Christmas

December 24, 6:00 a.m.

I'm working out with a pole in front of the window, and snow is falling outside from large, soft and fluffy snowflakes. I've always loved winter, but I was unlucky in my previous life. We lived in a megalopolis, and as it snowed, the whole city was stuck in traffic jams. And here I just love it again. Maybe it's because it's mild on Mendoir, the temperature hardly drops below minus five degrees Celsius, there's a lot of snow, and since there's no wheeled transport, there's no problem with travel. My father, of course, cleans the snow at the garage and in the yard, but that's all. Our village is illuminated by lanterns, they walk along the fences in three-meter increments, so we always have light, since the lighting is automatic: dark turned on, dawn turned off. Beauty!

Today is Christmas, what a holiday! People have been in space for centuries, they have mastered other worlds, we are neighbors with alien races, and they still celebrate Christmas! And that's it, that's such a twist of consciousness, and after all, other races don't mind, they celebrate with people. Well, at least here on Mendoir. They say they celebrate at the Citadel too, well, they celebrate everything there! All the holidays of all the races of space, just a holiday without pauses! I'll probably see you sometime.... At the crossroads, my parents, with our common children's help, built an ice town, a spiral slide around a tree, and ice statues (Taela's work). He has a talent for this, however, Santa Claus looks like a Quarian, only bearded! He has an amazing figure, and Tael himself doesn't grow a beard. They put up an artificial Christmas tree, hung toys, and half of them were homemade. The garlands are also homemade, half of the village are engineers.

As my father said, "I'll spend money on it if I do it better myself!" Of course I did. It's clearly visible from our house: it's standing at the intersection, glowing. The Turian brothers will be here in an hour, and we'll go to the school pool to swim. We like. I love swimming. And the Turians, too.

Since mid-November, we have been taught languages. We were sitting, learning English from pictures. After all, the official language of the Alliance. And the whole colony speaks Russian, so they gave it to me too. I did not learn, because I was reborn in a previous life on Earth and knew languages well. I was just playing along with the teacher. The aliens were learning their own languages. During this time, we took off the instrumentals and memorized the sound of the language. But then the author used translators.

More dreams have come! Very realistic, strange, sometimes amazing, sometimes scary, in which I see places where I've definitely never been. Very similar to my viewing of probability lines. But I've always done it in reality. In these dreams, I am often haunted by a strong sense of loss, fear, and anger. Most often, I have a dream in which I walk through our city park. I'm wearing a hunting jumpsuit like my father's, with thick inserts on the knees, elbows, and lots of pockets. I have my father's carbine in my hands. His hands were scratched, his knuckles were bruised, one nail was broken, and his combat jacket was stained with brown spots, dirt, and grass. I wander through the trees and look for my own, but there is no one. I call, I scream, but all I hear is rustling. There's fog in the park, and the trees are appearing like ghosts! Suddenly, I find myself in our village, strangely quiet and deserted. I'm walking past the Tanirs' house, Dahi's flyer is parked, covered in leaves, Azat's bike is covered in mud and covered in dust, despite the fact that Azat is a terrible cleaner in life, and his bike always sparkles. I see a collection of Nasar's favorite books rustling with torn pages and lying in the mud. Strange. He really values his small library, which he collects. Ratnait 's house is opposite, it's locked, the shutters are closed, and the red hologram of the castle is on. The Ratnait house is opposite, it's locked, the shutters are closed, and the red hologram of the castle is lit. The flowers in the flower beds around the house are wilted and blackened, the rose bushes are like dark skeletons: there are no flowers or leaves on them. Binna's swing is broken, hanging on one chain, the second is coiled like a silver snake in the brown grass, and the seat is slowly rotating around its axis from the wind, making a soft, barely audible creak. Her favorite stuffed gray cat is lying in the grass. Although she treats him very carefully. It's a birthday present from Deniska. Aegikh's house stands with the airlock open, and fallen leaves are blowing across the hallway floor. I slowly walk around it, I see that the bay window is broken, and small glass crumbs have covered everything around. Tael's favorite armchair is lying on its side, with the upholstery torn. The Natoles are dark and silent, the windows are black and look like dips into the darkness, the holograms of the castles are not lit, the wind is blowing sheets of paper across the front garden. There are drawings on them, I try to collect them, but each time the sheets are taken away before I can grab them. Here is our house, but there is no one in the courtyard, it is empty inside, and it seems that everyone has just left. The holovision is working, a cup of tea is floating on the coffee table, the guys in the room have a guitar on the bed and the turned-on datapads are lying around. My father has a punch line turned on in his office, and the sensor pads are on the edge of the table. There is a cold, growing, aching, acute feeling of loss in my chest!


The first time I had a dream, I woke up exhausted and couldn't sleep anymore. After that, I looked at my family all morning and couldn't get enough of it, the thought was beating in my head: "Really? Am I really going to lose them?! For what?! No! Please, not that!!!"

I'm standing in the shower under the hot, taut jets of water, remembering the conversation between my mother and Retnait that I overheard on the same day. It was Sunday, and the whole family was at home, and my father, as always, was sitting in his office reading a book. The older brothers had gone somewhere, Ivan was sitting in his room and enthusiastically assembling something from Lego cubes. I'm tired of reading, and my throat is dry. After going downstairs, I decided to go into the kitchen for a compote and found the beginning of a conversation at the locked door.

"Dayan, what are you worried about! You have the most ordinary son. An absolutely healthy child, smart, active. Most importantly, obedient! What are you unhappy about? I don't understand?!"

"A Retnait! He scares me! Sometimes it seems to me that he is not a child! Someone else, an adult, is looking at me from his eyes! You know, a four-year-old boy can't have that look!"

Oh! I got burned, it seems, in full! We have to get out somehow! But how? Okay, let's hear it further....


"Don't talk nonsense! What are you imagining? You didn't like the look!"

"No, Retnait, this is not normal! This is really, really not okay, Ratnait! My poor boy! He sat at breakfast today and looked at us as if he couldn't get enough of us, as if we were all going to disappear, and there was such longing in his eyes..."

"Maybe something happened to her, Diane? Have you even asked him? Maybe I had a dream about some kind of trash! He was exposed to element zero before he was born. Soon the magical gift should manifest itself. You people are generally versatile magicians, unlike us. It's just biotics. Many of your children become visionaries, even if they are weak.


That's the moment. I'll tell you about the dream now, at least some of the questions will be removed. I pressed the sensor, the door slid open, went into the kitchen, greeted Ratnait. I took a decanter of wild berry compote from the table, poured it into a glass, stood, drank, and looked at the women.

"My son? Tell me, why did you look at us so strangely this morning?"

"I had a terrible dream, Mom!"

"Tell us about him," Ray said.

He told them about his dream, ended it almost in a whisper, and said he was sure it would be like this. I look at my mother with her hands over her mouth, tears in her eyes, fear for me and pity in her emotions. Ratnet is sitting there, frowning, looking at me with sadness.

"You're a visionary, Igor..." Ray says softly.

"But why did everything wake up so early?"

"Our girls' magical abilities also show up early, sometimes at the age of fifteen."

"Retnaite, he's only four and a half years old."

"Well, your people have been living for only a hundred and fifty years."

Mom came up to me, hugged me, and said in a low, broken voice:

"Well, Igor, such an unpleasant gift appeared so early. It's also your magic. Who doesn't love you so much in heaven?" I hug her back, hold her tight, and say to myself "I chose the path of the messiah again after my last birth, Mom. But I won't tell you this, otherwise it will be hysterical. When I materialize my wings, everyone runs in terror."


I hear the terminal chirping, and I come out of my memories. 7:45 a.m., Tanirs will arrive in 15 minutes, and Azat and Ali will swim in the pool. Sometimes Nasar joins us. But unlike his brothers, he doesn't really like swimming. And those who really like diving in the depths.

While we're getting high in the warm water in the pool, Dr. Dahi is scribbling something on his datapad. An hour later, we packed up and flew to the Tanir home. Well, how did my good ones swim? Aunt Cassia met us. Yes, Mom, it's so cool.


January 01, 2359, 1:15 a.m.

I look out the window, it's snowing again. Large, soft snowflakes, slowly swirling, cover everything around with a fluffy white blanket. I put the metal pole aside and picked up the dumbbells. I have started training in the Russian Cadet corps. There are only five buildings on Earth. One in the USSR. The second one is in the USA. The third one is in Canada. And the fourth is in Germany. Well, the fifth is in Britain, somewhere in Scotland. The Highlanders took him under their wing. My uncle Hackett and my father graduated from it. Yes, I was surprised too, but the Soviet Union is still alive and well. His corporations have even spread out across the cosmos. Take the same Rosenkof Materials, which oversees the industry on Mendoir.

"So yesterday we celebrated the beginning of the new fifty-ninth year." Shouting and laughing, they ran around our Christmas tree, set off fireworks, lit torches and sang songs. It was easy, and I was possessed by a kind of gentle serenity. It's been a week since I stopped having my scary dream. And Mendoir began to prepare to repel the pirate raid. The deployment of defensive complexes and consultations with former military leaders of the colony have begun. I thought that maybe everything would still work out, well, there can't only be bad things in life!

Azat gave me a magnificent gift for the New Year, said that he had shaken up his piggy bank, asked his father for money, persuaded his mother and bought me a hunting knife at a gun shop in Gagarin! He's generally very protective of me. Like an older brother to a beloved younger one. I picked up the handle, though it grew, but it was quite in my hand. Kasia must have helped. The slightly curved, black metal blade, 12-13 centimeters long, had an intricate pattern of thin silver lines that curled closer to the guard into an inscription in Turian: "claw". The handle has a comfortable grip, made of reddish polished wood. At the end of the handle is the head of a mythological grinning beast. The sheath is made of brown leather, with straps attached to the arm or leg. I always go with him now. We are used to this, Mendoir is a young colony, and everyone is armed here: both children and adults. Five kilometers from the city, a natural wild territory begins, and wild animals in the city limits will not surprise anyone. The brothers have been carrying light pistols since they were seven years old, it's a battery-powered railgun with ten charges in a clip, 10 mm bullets, conical, with notches. The initial velocity of the bullet is only 300 m /s, which does not give a strong recoil, but the stopping effect is enormous. When hit, the bullet crumples into a pancake with a diameter of 20-22 mm, and I personally saw how such a bullet broke a fifty-board. It is not necessary to explain what will happen to the same nazumi from the impact of two or three such bullets. By the way, in all the thirteen years of the colony's existence, the colonists never shot at each other with weapons, neither adults nor children. I wonder what the advocates of the ban on the possession of weapons of the population in that Russia from a previous life would have responded to this....

Time is passing, and in three months I will be five years old, four of which I remember. What will the new year bring me? We'll see. As they say, we'll chew and see.

Chapter 5. So different and so close.

Igor (Mendoir, June 2360)

The Hectic Year (part one)

June 10, 6:00 a.m.

I'm doing pole exercises by the window in my room. I have a big one. From the floor to the ceiling of my room is a huge plastiglass sheet. Deniska is doing the same thing in the courtyard, only his complex is much more complicated. Weights, a metal pole, and heavy dumbbells are used. For the past six months, my older brother has been torturing himself in the mornings. This is called preparation for admission to the cadet corps of the Alliance Air Force. Boys and girls between the ages of fourteen and twenty are accepted there, and they are chased in the tail and in the mane. Those who have gone through to the end become toothy wolves in the service of humanity. Five Naval cadet corps train the elite of the Terran Air Force. Next year, the older brother will follow in his father's footsteps, gnawing on naval science. Slow movements of the arms and legs, flexibility exercises, weights on the arms and legs have long been familiar to me, sweat is running down my back in a cold stream. A voice with a pleasant double sub-harmony is heard from the street - Azat has come! Now the boys will run away for the morning cross-country, five kilometers along the forest paths. The best friends, rivals, ringleaders of all the pranks in the town are my brother and his friend. They are standing, laughing, flashing white smiles in the morning sun. The gate slammed, they ran away.

I sit cross-legged and send a wave of energy through my body. Then I turn on a small light. I turn it off and summon an icicle. Then I turn to the wall and cause a gust of wind, turning into a small whirlwind. I still need to practice telekinesis. I take out the box of colored glass balls that Retnait gave me and lift them gradually into the air to form a star system. In addition to my mental skills, I'm also a magician.

It came out a month ago. That day, my father decided to replace the seal on the window in my room: the old one had cracked and started leaking. He brought a folding ladder from work, put it against the house - it was just enough to reach the roof - took a bag of tools and climbed. We were sitting in the courtyard, me and Azanti with albums, on folding chairs, and Nasar, hugging a Bars and a Polkan, right on the grass. We had a plein air - our artist and I painted Nasar from life. Although the difference between my work and Gina's is like the difference between propaganda posters and Michelangelo's work. I just got a Turian kid hugging a cat and a dog, and Azanti's looks like they're alive, just frozen for a moment: a Barsik squinting with pleasure, Polkan raising his head and opening his mouth, spreading his paws, exposing his light belly, his eyes rolled back, and a pink snake came out of his mouth. His tongue lolled out.

Suddenly, I felt a growing sense of fear. Glancing at the house, I saw how dad, along with the glass, began to slowly but surely fall. Apparently, he removed the fasteners from the glass, and the huge panoramic double-glazed window was simply squeezed out by the pressure drop, and his father could not hold it. I clearly realized that if my father fell, a double-glazed window would fall on top of him, and it was scary to even think about how it might end!

We must save them. I jumped out of my chair in horror, knocking it over, and opened my immaterial white wings. Pain shot through my nerves, it seemed like a mighty, rumbling current rushed inside me, my whole body was filled with strength, it seemed to me that I could lift the whole house! I stretched out my arms, and they shone faintly but clearly, even in the light of day, with a blue-blue light. She pushed this force from herself to her father, who was pressed back by the flow of air along with the glass. The father did not lose his head, snapped the locks back on and took a deep breath. I clearly felt his relief. I staggered from a strong outflow of energy by childish standards and fell to my knees. My father turned around on the stairs, looked at me and understood everything. After sliding down the stairs, he ran towards me.

"Igor, hold on, now we'll call Uncle Dahi and he'll come up with something!" I heard it through the growing buzzing in my ears. Black flies flew into my eyes, turning into black spots as I walked, and everything was covered with darkness and silence.

It seems that he was unconscious for a short time. When I woke up, I felt my father carrying me in his arms, my father's cheek with the hairs of stubble clearly visible loomed before my eyes, he smelled of fear mixed with despair. He was coming up the stairs to my room, and I could hear my mother's sobbing voice and Rattling Ratnait from the kitchen. "He's probably calling an ambulance," a thought stirred sluggishly in my head. There was a terrible weakness all over his body, there was no pain, but even breathing in required some effort. My father turned his face to me, and there were tears in his eyes.

"Daddy, don't cry," she whispered. "I'm fine."

The dad pressed his lips to my cheek:

"Thank you, sweetheart." He carried me into the room and laid me on the bed, and Azanti and Nasara immediately appeared next to me. They're both crying.

"We were so scared for you! You fell down and you're lying like a dead man, Uncle Misha is shaking you down, but you don't care." Azanti said, sobbing.

"And she was glowing all over, just like Bina in biotics training!" This is already Nasara.

"You're a biotic too, probably the only people who use full-fledged magic."

"Be quiet, you babblers!" My father shushed my friends. "Just sit here quietly for a while, okay?"

"Yes, Uncle Mish." they answered in unison.

My father nodded and looked at me with sad, reddened eyes.

"You scared us so much, my son."

"I'm sorry, Daddy, I didn't mean to!" He whispered back.

"My head started to ache and loud noises started to shake me up. My father just smiled sadly.

"Of course I didn't want to! You saved me, I would have broken down if it hadn't been for you, or even at all...."

The door opened, my mother ran in, saw me on the bed, met my eyes, came over and somehow folded herself, burying herself in my legs. Her shoulders shook, and she burst into tears.

I touched my mother's head with my hand, which weighed like a couple of pounds, and whispered:

"Don't cry, Mommy, please, everything will be fine!" Next to her, hugging each other, her friends were crying in six eyes. I felt sleepy, and I blacked out.

In my sleep, I heard a quiet conversation between Ratnait and mom: our blue doctor was explaining to mom that nothing irreparable had happened to me.

"Severe nervous overload, Dayan. I'm actually surprised that at that age it all showed up! But, surprisingly, everything worked out! She'll be fully recovered in four days."

"But what about next?"

"And what's next? He will go to secondary school, study with our girls, and by the age of 17-18 he will become one of the strongest human magicians."

Mom came up to me and kissed me on the forehead. She whispered,

"Sleep, my little one, get well soon."

I woke up suddenly in my bed, my body was feeling increasing discomfort. I looked up at the bedside table - it was 5:00 on the small alarm clock. Wow! Well done, already twelve hours in a row! However, the discomfort was getting worse. I pushed back the blanket, hmm, my hands seem to be working. He noticed that I wasn't wearing anything, and he sat down. My head started spinning, black dots flashed in my eyes, and I fell back down. The discomfort got worse, and I started to panic. Then I noticed a chair standing by the window. It's strange, I don't have chairs in my room.... Just a bed, a table, and a soft carpet with a low terminal on the floor. They brought it, apparently, but why? Then I realized that someone was sleeping in the chair. In the uncertain light of the morning twilight, I saw blonde hair. Only my father and Deniska have them. But the folder, with all its desire, will not be able to sleep in the chair, and the sleeper got into it with his feet.

"Disya!" I called softly. "Disya, wake up!"

"Eh? What? Who's there?" My brother jumped up. "Snake, is that you?"

"No, it's an old warka shaman! Disha, help me! Hurry up, I can't take it anymore! Disya!"

"Yes, yes, I'm coming." My brother came up to the bed, looked at me, and, most importantly, I was naked. A little red brother quietly picked me up in his arms and carried me to my private bathroom. He brought it, put it in front of the toilet, I immediately began to fall over, my brother immediately stopped being embarrassed, anxiety and fear flared up in my feelings, he stood up, took me by the shoulders and straightened my roll.

"Is that okay, Little Snake? Just don't fall down, okay?"

"Here you go," I whispered. I did my job and told my brother to take it back. He took it. He laid her down and covered me with a blanket, no longer embarrassed at all. He sat on the edge of the bed and began running his fingers through my hair.

"How are you, Snake? We were all so scared for you! Azat, as soon as he heard, even fell off his bike, he was in such a hurry to get to you."

I smiled:

"Daddy is an Azath."

"Heh, heh, heh! That's right, Little Snake," my brother laughed. "I'll tell everyone tomorrow!"

"Don't, Dishia. Bina would torture him. And Nasara and Azanti will not stay away!"

"Whatever you say, little brother."

My brother leaned over and kissed me on the temple:

"Go back to sleep! Ratnait says sleep is your first medicine. I'll sit in the chair and look after you."

"The door banged." Oh, the head nanny has come! My brother said with a smile. A red muzzle floated into view, and a long tail loomed in the background.

"Mr-ru?" and anxiety in the feelings, they say, "how are you, you wayward human cub?" "Mrrr?!"

"Come here, my cat!" I slap the bed with my palm. The cat jumps on the bed and immediately lies down next to it. I hug him, bury my fingers in his soft fur, and, with a loud rumble, I fall asleep again.

The second time, I was woken up by the sun peeking through the window. A Bars is sleeping next to him, stretched out at full length, with a bright head visible in the armchair. He'll look after it, of course! He sleeps like a groundhog. It's 10:30 on the clock. The door hisses, I feel someone crawling on the bed, I turn my head and meet the gaze of attentive gray eyes. A moment passes, and I'm doused with intense joy.

"Hello, Vanya." I whisper.

"Igor." and children's arms wrap around my neck. "Are you awake yet?" The younger one whispers. "I made you some tea and made you some sandwiches. By myself!"

"I slowly sit up in bed, my head is spinning, but it's bearable. Vanya, help me get dressed."

My brother rushes to my locker, pulls out swimming trunks and long gray shorts with a white T-shirt with a dragon print. I'm getting dressed somehow with the help of my younger brother. I hug my brother, and we slowly go downstairs to drink tea. Deniska did not wake up, the elder was dying.

We are sitting in the kitchen with Vanka, drinking tea. His sandwiches are mighty chunks of bread with mountains of piled ingredients. It is clear that the younger one tried, albeit not very skillfully, but with all his heart! I feel that tea and sandwiches give me strength. My head is not spinning at all, my mood is climbing up. Vanka, seeing my smile and contented look, just blossoms.

"Did you like it, Igor?!"

"Yes, Vanechka, you're just great."

My brother was already blooming, a blush flushed on his cheeks.

"I tried so hard. Did you really, really like it?"

No, well, what a charm my youngest is, because he's only five years old, and there's enough care for everyone!

"I really liked it, Vanya!"

My brother's vivid feelings blow out the remnants of my melancholy, we sit and silently smile at each other. I stagger over to the kitchen unit and start making us scrambled eggs and bacon. Vanka's sandwiches certainly went well, but I still want to eat.

The door hisses, and the kitchen is flooded with surprise, which is very quickly replaced by a feeling of intense relief. I turn my head and see my mom. She's leaning on the doorjamb with her right hand, her left hand is pressed to her chest, and there are tears in her eyes again.

"Mommy, I made breakfast!" Vanka shouts. "And Igor fed me! But this swallow is hungry anyway."

"Hi, Mom, and I'm making scrambled eggs for us." I'm talking quietly. "Will he cook for you too?"

"Yes, thanks honey. How are you?"

"The weakness is still small, but everything is fine."

I put portions on plates for me and Vanka. And then I add a new batch of bacon and eggs to the pan. I'll make Mom a bigger portion right now. She comes up to me, squats down and hugs me, and I cling to her. We are silent, words are superfluous, everything is already clear. Vanka ran up to us, hugged both of us and said softly:

"You're the best, my mom and my brother!"

We look at him, and his gray eyes are serious. Suddenly he smiles, and from his smile the whole burden of worries falls off mom like a husk. She laughs and kisses her brother.

"You are our darling, Vanya! What would we do without you!"

"We were hungry!"

Loud laughter fills the kitchen, Mom laughs, I laugh, Vanka laughs loudly. Along with laughter, the fear and tension of the last 24 hours go away. I dump the scrambled eggs on my mom's plate. And I sit down at the table smiling.

My father comes into the kitchen, and I can feel his joy at the sight of my laughing face. He comes up to me, puts his hands on my shoulders and hugs me tightly, I turn around and hug his neck and forcefully press against his unshaven cheek. I whisper:

"I was so scared for you, Daddy! How did you do that?! You're an engineer, you said so yourself!"

"Oh, don't tell me, sweetheart! I owe you my life now, son!"

"You don't owe me anything, Daddy!"

"Why is that?"

"Because! Because you're my daddy, and that's enough!"

The sun is shining brightly outside, flooding the world with warmth. Bright warm rays are shining from the window. I feel like I want to go out in the sun, sit in an armchair and bask. I tell my parents about it. Dad picks me up in his arms and carries me out into the yard, sits me down in an armchair. I'm sitting and basking in the yellow rays of our star. There is peace all around, our tree is quietly rustling its leaves, small birds are squeaking in the branches. Insects are flying with a loud buzz. There is a clanging sound from the neighboring plot, it's Uncle Anker who pulled out the lawn mower and was about to take care of the lawn. He saw me, his eyes flew open, and his emotions were one of surprise, joy, and relief.

"Igor! I see you're feeling better."

"Yes, Uncle Anker! Here, I'm basking in the sun. Call Azanti, please."

He goes to the door of the house, opens it and shouts inside:

"Azanti! Azanti! Come here, Igor is in the yard."

Azanti flies out of the house like a disheveled sparrow, peering at me, joy in her emotions. He runs up to the chair and throws his arms around my neck. The chair staggered from the impact and crashed down with us on the grass. Damn, we're going up now... Azanti continued hugging me, squealing happily.

"Igor! Little Igor! I was so worried, I didn't sleep half the night, I kept thinking about you! Are you okay?!"

"Well, almost! Azanti get off me, you'll crush me. Damn, help me up, please. Uncle Anker, please raise the chair!

Gina recoiled and blushed deeply.

"I'm sorry, Igor! I was very happy about it! Let me help you into the chair." Uncle Anker lifted the chair and returned to the lawn mower. Azanti helped me sit back down in my chair. You sit for a while, and I'll get some berry juice. Won't you have some juice?"

"Of course I will. Bring it on." I say with a smile.

"I'll be right there, I'll be quick!" my friend rattled on the run and disappeared into the house.

Anker fastened a plastic grass tank to the lawn mower, checked the battery charge, flipped the switch, and the lawn mower began to clatter softly with knives. Slowly pushing her in front of him, whistling and dancing, he walked across the lawn in front of the house. Walking along the decorative fence separating our plots, he stopped, turned off the mower and asked me.

"What do you think, Igor? Will I be able to make... what's his name... an English lawn?"

"Uncle Anker, you have to mow him all the time, and plant grass. Well, in 20-30 years, maybe your lawn will grow." I remembered my life in England in another incarnation. Although I usually live in Ireland. I like it there.

"Hmm... we Batarians have been living for quite a long time, so I have every chance to verify this statement!"

I tilted my head to my right shoulder and nodded slightly. Uncle Anker smiled, returned my bow, turned on the mower and, whistling, continued his interrupted occupation. Azanti slowly came out of the Natol house, carrying a round tray on which stood a pot-bellied decanter with a blood-red liquid and two tall thick-walled glass glasses. My friend slowly walked towards me. It seems to be a heavy tray. Gina carefully looked at her feet and often stopped. Deniska appeared on my doorstep, stretched himself sweetly until he crunched, looked around, saw me and smiled. What a beautiful smile my brother has, shining! In general, I noticed that the teeth of the inhabitants of Mendoir almost do not hurt. Is the food different? Yes, it seems that we all eat the same things as on Earth. My brother looked at Gina hobbling along, chuckled, shook his head, went over to her and took the tray away.

"Tell me, little one, why are you carrying such a heavy load? Just a little more, and she would have fallen or dropped the tray."

"This is the juice for Igor! I said I'd bring it, and I was carrying it, but for some reason it turned out to be so heavy. Ugh."

"Well done, Azanti! You're a real friend!" My brother said loudly.

He put the tray on the grass, poured the juice into glasses and handed it to us, drank the rest himself, straight from the decanter. I sat and savored the berry juice. Sweet and sour, reminding me of a mixture of raspberry and redcurrant, slightly astringent, leaving a pleasant light aftertaste. It is made from a "dugout", a large berry growing in the foothills, on creeping bushes that seem to spread out on the ground. It is collected every year with the help of collection robots. Juice is made from most of it, and wine is made from the rest. As our blue doc says, "This is not juice, but a straight vitamin and trace element cocktail." The local Azari called it "The Gift of the Goddess." I hear heavy breathing on the right, I see our bear, a shaggy monster, sitting, looking at me, breathing fast, tongue hanging sideways. I must have hunted small rodents again, and there's a happy face. I'm a dog, I don't feel well, unlike a cat. He lay down on the grass, put his paws under the chair, put his head on my feet, and took a deep breath. He lies there, only his eyebrows moving when he glances at me. I started stroking his forehead, scratching behind his ears, and he squeezed his eyes shut, faintly, but I could feel his joy and pleasure. Another shaggy head is thrust under his left arm, there is a slight feeling of jealousy and expectation of affection, a soft "mrrow" sound: " You haven't forgotten me, little friend?" I haven't forgotten, my cat!

Gina squeaked, "I'm just!" and flew into the house, flew back a minute later. I have an album and pencils in my hands. She sat down in the second chair, putting it in front of her. His gaze became thoughtful and detached, his emotions calm and focused. Her brother stood behind her, leaned on the back of the chair, and began to observe the process. The further he went, the more his delight was felt, because it's so great to watch a truly talented reasonable person work, and no matter what he does. How, seemingly out of nothing, or out of the most ordinary things, beauty arises. I'm sitting with my eyes closed, basking in their emotions.

The gate creaked, and I was overcome by some wild, unbridled joy, thin arms wrapped around my shoulders, and the cold tip of my nose was pressed into my neck. Resentment flashed through the feelings, and in a quiet girlish voice in Turian they said:

"Promise me! What! You! Never! You won't do it again! You will never scare me like that!"

I turn my head and meet Nasara's deep blue eyes, like Dahya's.

"I'll try not to do it again, friend." Nasara beamed, snuggled up to me and sat down next to the armchair, on the grass, leaning against the hot side of the sofa.

A five-fingered hand with claws touches my shoulder, the other one strokes the redhead, the cat calmly puts his head under the caress. He's squatting on his haunches, anxiously looking at me with his sky-blue eyes.

I hug Azat back.

And in the evening I heard a conversation between my parents. When will Grandfather come to visit us, Dayan? You know how he feels about this multi-species colony thing. Yeah, he called me a weirdo. But let him come and finally see what we have achieved in 12 twelve years.


I emerge from the depths of memory, forcing the balls one by one to dive into the box. The gate slams, loud laughter is heard from the lawn, interspersed with heavy breathing. I go to the window, Azat and Disha are lying on the grass with their arms outstretched. Deniska's skin glistens with sweat.

"13:50, Azat! We have improved our time!"

"Oh, yes! I thought at the end that I would just fall and die!"

"Look, Igor is looking at us!"

"We see you, Snake!"

I look at the vacationing brothers, and an amazing meeting that took place last June comes back to my mind.

Should I get them some juice? I go down to the kitchen and go to the fridge.

Chapter 6. It's not like that at all.

Igor (Mendoir, June 2360)

The Hectic Year (part two)

June 10, 2360, 6:45 a.m.

The workout is over, I'm going down to the kitchen. There is peace and quiet at home, the whole family, except for Deniska and me, is still asleep. My father is not here, he is on duty at the plant. I go into the kitchen, take a one-and-a-half-liter plastic canister of juice in the refrigerator, pour half of it into a glass carafe and dilute it with water. Pure juice is too sweet, and after a workout it's not exactly what you need. But it's worth diluting - that's it! I take plastic cups from the locker and go to my friends. They're just lying on the grass, a quick glance in my direction, joy and malice in their feelings.

"I told you he'd come and bring you some juice!" This is Azat speaking.

"That surprised me... Yes, the Snake has a chuika - you and I, the poor ones, never dreamed of it! I wish I had that... uhhh!"

"Don't be jealous, it's not good!"

"That's who's talking! By yourself!"

"I can!"

"That's why?!"

"I have white envy!"

"And I have a black one, then?!"

"And you're just jealous."

"I do not understand... What does simple mean?"

"Where are you going! It's not for average minds..."

"Does that mean I have an average mind?! That's it, then! Sir Azath! I am offended in the best of feelings and demand immediate satisfaction!"

"Ha ha! Sir Denis! I accept your challenge! Where are the trainees?!"

"Over there, in the shoe box."

Maybe I should spar with them too. It's time for me to regain my knife fighting skills. Or did I ask Master Tanris to supply me with his equipment?


The guys pulled out training knives, they are made of soft and flexible plastic, but they leave bright luminescent marks after blows. It is extremely difficult to injure them, but the result is clearly visible.

They kicked off their shoes and socks, and pulled off their T-shirts, leaving only light sweatpants. They stood opposite each other and bowed slightly.

The beauties! Deniska is slightly shorter, but much stronger and slightly heavier than Azat, with already well-defined muscles. The Azat is faster and more flexible, with amazing predatory grace, the protective plates are still soft, both on the head and on the body. Tight rolls of muscles curl around the body and arms. In a couple of years, he will become a thunderstorm of women's hearts. Beware, young Turians!

They moved slowly in a circle, not taking their eyes off each other. Slightly crouched, deceptively relaxed, the right hand with the knife slightly in front, the left slightly closer to the body and lower, the palm turned down. I feel excitement and anticipation of a fight.

I'm missing the moment when the movement starts. A moment, a flicker of hands, a bunch of deceptive movements, the brothers tangled into a ball and fell apart, panting heavily. In Deniska, a bright blue stripe runs diagonally along the peritoneum, in Azat, it is bright green, from the right shoulder through the collarbone along the throat, disappearing at the ear opening.

"Ha! I got you! In real life, I wouldn't blow your head off." Denis said, panting.

"Look at yourself!" Azat is panting.

"Oh!" says Denis, staring at his stomach. "My giblets went for a walk! My poor guts! I'm blown away," the brother falls on the grass, spreading his arms.

"It's a draw again!" I'm definitely going to ask Master Tanris to be my apprentice. I like their knife fighting techniques. I was watching the guys' mental battle. But the sword fighting skills will have to be restored on their own. It's not customary for Alliance troops to carry long swords at all. Few people can handle them. Shorties or knives are the order of the day. And only the Massai and the Japanese use swords.

"I don't like sparring with you, Azat! It doesn't do any good!"

"I agree! I know you like crazy! All your feints and tricks." Azat grumbles, toying with the blade.

"Tell me, when was the last time our sparring ended with a victory?"

"ER-er-er... well, it was like last week.... You kind of won."

"Sort of?.. You were in the clouds then! Master Tanris scolded you back then. And by the way, who is she?"

"What are you talking about?!" Azat flashed with embarrassment.

"Come on, come on!" Denis broke into a smile. "Who were you thinking about? Come on, crack up!"

"It seemed to you," Ham replied, even more embarrassed.

"Oh, frend! You seem to have fallen in love!"

"Yes, she is so, so..."

Deniska reaches into the box and takes out bags of wet wipes, throws one to Azat.

"Catch it, lover! Otherwise, you'll be shining a green stripe on your neck!"

Azat opens the bag, takes out a napkin and begins to wipe off the paint, his gaze blurs and he, looking into the distance, just smears it on his skin in vain. Deniska lies down on her stomach, supports her head with her hands and, smiling, begins to follow her friend's manipulations. I put the decanter on the grass, throw the glasses, take the napkin from Azat and carefully begin to clean up the stains. Azat looks at me, at the smiling Deniska, blinking in surprise.

"Well, why did you interfere, Snake? This lover would have smeared a marker all over his neck right now and wouldn't have noticed. And then it would be green!"

Azat looks at me with his clear blue eyes. He's embarrassed, and he takes my hand with the napkin in his:

"Let me finish it myself... snake!"

"There's not much left here," I answer, wiping away the last traces. I lean into Azat's ear and ask in a whisper: "What's her name?"

"Basma Rinaris," My brother answers softly.

"That bully?" Deniska's voice is heard in my ear. "Oh-h!" he gets an elbow in the side from me. "Liska, don't push!"

"And she's not a pushover at all!" I'm talking. "She's just very shy and hides behind it. "And, Azat, she likes you too, and I think she more than likes you."

"Really?" my friend is surprised and delighted.

"Wow! Yes, it's mutual!" There is surprise and a little envy in Deniska's emotions.


We sit on the grass in silence for a while. To bring these lovers together. Otherwise, they'll be beating around the bush.

"So!" Deniska smelled businesslike. "I have a plan!"

"What's the plan?" Azat asks suspiciously.

"How to arrange your date. Otherwise, you'll be beating around the bush, and you won't decide on anything! And she's even more so! Snake, I'm going to need your help. Are you in business?!"

"Of course! Don't even doubt it" I answer.

"And my opinion, as it were, is not taken into account?" Azat is surprised.

"As if not! You're too indecisive", Deniska answers. "And your salvation is now in our hands!"

"That's what scares me...." Azat grumbles. However, he is actually very pleased.

"Anyway, listen up!" Deniska begins. "As far as I know, she goes to the city's preference club every morning to play the piano."


I must say that a real piano is a very scarce thing. It is clear that in the 24th century, for the most part, electronic analogues are used, but in order to learn how to play correctly, you need to play a real instrument. There was only one of them in our town, and it was in a local club. The club was organized on a shared basis by three reasonable people: a human, an azari and a krogan. On the ground floor, it was quite an ordinary entertainment venue: with a restaurant, a disco, a bar and a cabaret. And on the second floor there was the only preference club in the entire colony, and there was a grand piano. In the evenings, various respectable people gathered at the club, including the colony's management, my father and his friends, to paint a bullet or two. During the day, everyone was taught to play the piano there, for a fee, of course, albeit a small one.


"We wait for her on the way home, then you," Deniska points at me with her finger, "you invite her to the Mirror, under some normal pretext, with us. We're taking her to the lake, and then it's a matter of technique."

"I may not be able to do it very well, but if we take Bina, then together we will definitely convince her."

My brother scratched his head. He ruffled his hair and answered.

"So, we take the blue one, she definitely won't refuse to participate in such a case."

"Is there a place for me in your plans?" Azat asks indignantly.

"And in order not to scare you off, you will prepare a place with Ali! A table, juice, a cauldron and a heater for cooking mud crabs from you. As soon as we leave, I'll beep on your communicator, and you'll run off to the foothills and pick some flowers. So be it, we'll all catch mud slaves together.

"What colors?"

"Yes, any kind, there are many different ones growing in the glades, you can pick a bouquet to suit your taste. We'll settle down for now, you'll be fine. Come back and give her this bouquet. She's not stupid, and she'll understand."

"Got it! Everything seems to be simple..."

Deniska takes the decanter, we sort the glasses. My brother pours the juice, raises his own.

"I have a toast! To the success of our event!"

"For success!" Azat and I talk in unison, clink glasses together and drink juice.

Two hours later, having mobilized all the young people in our village, including Nasar, Azanti and Ivan, having clarified and supplemented our plan, the whole company begins to implement it.


I fly behind Deniska's back to the town, and a memory of a year ago wakes up in my memory by itself. On the same day, exactly one year ago, I also flew to Leonov, but only behind Azat's back. We flew to our Galamarkt supermarket to buy summer clothes, underwear and other necessary junk. My thoughts were full of the darkest forebodings. If I had known then what kind of meeting was waiting for me at the store, I would have run there on foot with all my might!..


The Old Shaman

June 10, 2359

Listening to the Stars, Keeper of the memory of the Grey Stone Clan

He woke up at dawn with a clear feeling that something very important was going to happen today, something that would have a huge impact on the future. He sat down on the couch and stretched his aching legs with his hands. Old age had come, and his life was rapidly and inexorably heading towards its end. The realization of this fact did not spoil his mood, the life of his people is not different in duration and has never been different. He is the shaman of the clan. And his purpose is to preserve the memory of the clan, the memory of millions of generations of Keepers like him. The time will come, and he will pass it on to the next shaman, and for a while the clan will have two Guardians. Then he, like his teacher and predecessor, will go into darkness, and his pupil will keep the wisdom of thousands of years. So it was, so it is, and so it will be! Until the TIME comes.

The big house was waking up: Through the curtain, I could hear the clink of dishes, women's and children's voices, and the smells of cooking food. Sixteen years ago, it was he who convinced the women of the clan council to accept the humans' offer and settle on Mendoire. They did not lose: during this time, the clan grew stronger, richer, grew in numbers, and, most importantly, for all sixteen years, not a single man was expelled from it. The Guardian had a lot to do with it. He got up from the couch and went into a small nook in the corner of the room, where there was a large bucket of clean water. Standing next to her, he picked up a long-handled ladle and began his much-loved morning ablution procedure. The icy water invigorated him, made the aged blood run faster through his veins, his body warmed up, his mind cleared of the remnants of sleep. After washing his face, he dried himself with a large fluffy towel he bought from people. He put on a shaman's robe, put on a mask that hid his face, leaving only his eyes open. He put on and secured his hood, pulled on his boots, and finally tightened his embroidered belt. He took his staff and, throwing back the curtain, went out into the corridor.

He walked along the corridor, and people he met made way for him with a bow: women, children, teenagers - everyone who lives here greeted their Guardian. Their feelings shone with sincere love and respect, even some kind of reverence. He's been used to it for a long time. The young girl bowed and asked if he wanted to eat, but he didn't have an appetite-the old man didn't need much. Bowing, he replied that he was not hungry, and went to the exit of the house. On the porch, he was greeted by the bright sun, the hot rays of which warmed him so pleasantly. He walked over to his chair, sat down, and looked around the courtyard filled with the morning bustle. The working men greeted him with raised hands, and he raised his hands in response. Sitting in an armchair, he waited for the young men to gather in the city of human. They were supposed to be on a food truck trip for the entire clan today, and he was going to keep them company. A shadow obscured the sun, the old man looked up and saw a young man in loose clothes, looking lovingly at the shaman.

"Greetings, Wise One, we are going to the city, do you need to buy something from people?" He asked with a bow.

"No, my boy. I'll fly with you today."

"The wisest one?" The old man was dazed. "Whatever you say, Wisest One! We have everything ready and we... We're about to fly over here!" and he ran deeper into the yard.

A woman wrapped in ceremonial turquoise-blue robes came out of a large house, approached the old man, and sat down in an identical chair next to him. Her face is hidden by a mask, only her yellow eyes are visible.

"Greetings, Guardian. What do you need from people in the city that our children can't bring? What makes the old Guardian fly by himself?"

"Health and longevity to you, Supreme. And it's not what's waiting for me, but WHO. My feelings told me that I needed to be there today. I saw the Messiah with white wings in the settlement."

The woman's feelings flared with alarm.

"Do you feel something, old man? Are these times... are they coming AGAIN?"

"Yes, you're right. That TIME is near, the ENEMY will awaken soon. And, as has happened before, the reasonable ones are not ready to meet him."

"But is there any hope?"

"It's ALWAYS there. Maybe in this cycle we will find the ENEMY's weak spot and in the future we will be able to stop him."

"Women are tired of waiting. Maybe this time, the people should join the fight?"

"I don't know, Supreme... we don't have a definite answer yet."

"But it may appear."

"Yes, it can. Or maybe not. Are women willing to risk all of us?"

It seemed to have gone out. She cringed, hugged herself. She stared into space with unblinking eyes. Fear cut through her feelings.

"Maybe we should tell the others."

"It's USELESS. dangerous. They won't listen to us. They think we're savages. They won't hear us. And if the ENEMY finds out about us, he won't stop until he's exterminated every last one. And you know it, Supreme.

"Are we going to stand aside and look at it again?!"

"If necessary, we will watch."

"You probably won't see it, old man. You probably won't see it. And we'll see. And, most importantly, we will feel everything. We're scared, Wise One. The pain of one is excruciating. The pain and death of trillions is UNBEARABLE. You can't hide from it. And all the women of the clan are powerful empaths. You know that."

"The ENEMY is still as strong as ever. We don't know where his heart is. And if we don't know where it is, we can't win."

"But maybe it's a STATION?"

"No. She's just a part, a tool. It has already been used. They thought they had won. But after years, the ENEMY returned and finished what he had started."

"Are they INUSANNON?"

"Yes."

A truck flew up, the door of a small passenger compartment attached to it opened, a young man jumped out of it and bowed to the old man. He got up heavily, and the conversation with the supreme awakened the shaman's soul. The whole nation has been asking itself the question for more than a hundred thousand cycles: "Are we right?" Under the quiet hum of the truck, sitting on a hard bench, the old man peered into the depths of his colossal memory and whispered: "Maybe we were mistaken? Maybe we didn't see something?" There was no response....

Here's a human city. The truck flew into the square in front of a large store, landed, the young men got out of it, with them was a man - a "master of goods". He bowed to the old man and asked if he would go with them. The shaman refused. He went out and looked around - the square was deserted, only there were bikes on the edge, and someone was sitting on one of them. The old man felt that this was exactly who he needed. As he got closer, he saw the man sitting there-it was a human boy. He was wearing a green shirt and black trousers. With red hair and greenish eyes.

With surprise, the old man realized that he was sentient... and not only sentient, but also gifted with magic. The old man's attention was attracted by his white wings. Although they are energetic, they are not visible to ordinary people. Looking at them, he realized with a shudder: in front of him was another legend of his people, a legend that the people had encountered only once and carefully preserved the memory of it. The kid was one of THEM. In his people, people like him were called THOSE WHO HAD PASSED THROUGH DEATH.

Igor.

I was sitting like a crow on Azat's bike. The square in front of the store was deserted, with dry leaves and a single piece of paper blowing across it. The town seemed to have died out, although it was not surprising: adults were at work, and children were either at home or outside the city - in such heat, everyone preferred to be closer to the water. On the other side of the square, under the awning of the city club, a Krogan was sitting on a massive rocking chair, swaying slightly, reading something from a datapad, the chair creaking faintly under him. A purple-skinned Azari came out of the club, holding two tall glasses with some bright green liquid in her hands.

She handed one to the Krogan and sat down in a nearby wicker chair. She said something, and the Krogan answered, and they both laughed. There was a sense of relaxation and contentment from the sensible ones-things were going well at the club.

There was a low hum. Is the freighter flying? And sure enough, a brightly and gaudily painted ore truck landed on the square, instead of a dump truck, there was an ordinary body on it, but with high sides. A passenger booth was protruding from the front side. These were usually used by mining thieves.

They bought a decommissioned truck, changed the body, put it in order, and drove it anywhere. Cheap and practical, and most importantly, the body is large. The ore truck sat down. Three young men came out from behind him, thieves in gray hoodie clothes, but with brightly embroidered belts, followed by an older man, dressed a little better. They turned to someone standing behind the car, asked something, bowed, and scurried off to the store with a bird-like gait.

I got tired of just sitting there and took my flute out of my backpack. He started playing a simple tune. Then I realized that someone was looking at me. When I opened my eyes and looked around, I saw an amazing intelligent man. He was wearing a bright scarlet jumpsuit, somewhat similar to a ninja costume from Hollywood action movies, only covered with silver embroidery. There is a hood on his head, his face is hidden by a mask, only turquoise-blue eyes with vertical pupils are visible, without whites. His birdlike legs are encased in black shiny boots that fit like gloves. I looked into his eyes, and he flinched, but I didn't feel any emotion. I didn't feel him at all, as if no one was there. Oppa, the shut-up empath.

Vorka tilted his head to the side like a bird and said in a low, raspy voice:

"Greetings to you, Who Have Passed Through Death."

what? WHAT DID HE SAY?! How did he know?! My thoughts were like frightened cockroaches. Vorka came close to me. I put the flute back in its case and put it in my bag.

"I can help you. To teach. To tell. To explain. Do you want to see and find out the truth?"

"But how did you know?! Who are you?" I whispered.

"I am the Keeper of the memory of my people. You humans and others call us shamans. But we do not conjure spirits, we do not knock on tambourines - we preserve the memory of our people for all the time of its existence."

"And for how long? How old is your story?" I asked quietly.

"More than one hundred and ten thousand of your years."

"How much?" What about the Reapers' Harvest cycle? And during this time, it was possible to develop into a space civilization 5 or 6 times.

"Are you surprised?" Vorka rasped.

But you're considered savages. Aggressive, uncontrollable, violent. Your gangs are scaring children. Your homeworld is a radioactive dump. Some people even consider you to be animals, not intelligent.

"Let them count. We did it on purpose to hide. Look away from us."

"Whose look is it?"

Vorka looked at me carefully, tilting his head first to one side and then to the other.

"YOU KNOW THAT."

"THE REAPERS." I whispered, and a cold and heavy lump formed in my stomach. I was so hoping it would work out. The world is already in the 24th century, and the events were in 2183. Although that Reaper warned that their prediction was not absolute.

"That's what the Protheans called them. We just call them the ENEMY."

"How will you show me and how will you explain?"

Old man Vorka, for some reason I clearly realized that he was old, sat down next to me, on the bike seat, and asked:

"What do you know about Asari's "embrace of eternity"?"

They unite consciousnesses. The thoughts, feelings, and memories of the intelligent become temporarily shared.

"That's not quite true," he squeaked. "In the case of unification with other races, contact is one-sided, the Asari see you, but you don't see them. Unless they want to show something of their own."

"And you?"

"We call it "togetherness" and we are open. All Guardians of all Vorka clans can use the common memory of the people and the memory of each other, combined into one whole. By connecting others, we don't hide anything, so we try not to associate with strangers."

"Like computer networks."

"The comparison is correct. We can connect you to our memory for a while and give you the necessary knowledge about the Reapers."

"Will my memory be available to you?"

"Yes, it will. Do you have something special you want to hide?"

"No. There is nothing like that - you already know my most important secret. It's just not clear how you recognized her..."

"There used to be people like you. The knowledge of at least three people like you is stored in the common memory, and one of them was among our people. He was the one who taught us how to create a shared memory-he was the first Keeper. He taught us how to identify people like you. He took us to the stars and found out about the ENEMY. That was a hundred and ten thousand years ago. He lived a very long life, and the memory of him still lives in the people. Do you agree?"

"Yes, I agree. Such gifts are not refused. What do I need to do?"

"Just look into my eyes."

I looked and fell into a living, intelligent abyss shining with myriads of stars. He showed the history of his people. And at the very end, I asked him:

"Can you show them to me?"

"Do you want to see the ENEMY?"

"Yes, I do. I want to know what awaits us."

"Look."

I found myself among the ruins, the sun was not visible, dense gray clouds were flying and swirling across the dark sky. Strange creatures in equally strange armor stood and sat around, hiding behind the rubble. In their six-fingered hands, they clutched something that looked like a weapon - most likely, it was. Anxiety and fear were mixed in their feelings. Everyone was looking at the sky. And from there, some kind of huge shadow was descending on us. The clouds swirled, reddish lightning bolts appeared, and a huge black bulk fell out of the low clouds.

Six thick paws extended from the outstretched body in front. The carcass sank lower and lower - I realized with horror the monstrous size of this machine. The REAPER, and it could only be him, spread his paws and landed at incredible speed. The ground jumped under my feet, and I saw many people collapse around me.

The REAPER straightened up, and a low, vibrating roar filled the area. He seemed to penetrate into every corner of my body, every cell seemed to vibrate in sync with him. Wild animal TERROR flooded me. The reaper moved forward, slowly shifting its paws, it approached us with cold relentlessness. The sentient beings around them jumped up and began shooting, thin ruby rays hissing out of the outlandish weapon and disappearing on the surface of the mechanical creature. The reaper stopped, turned its body slightly, and a thick crimson beam shot out from the base. He moved along the rubble, and the hefty blocks of stone simply spread out in bubbling puddles at his touch. The sensible ones just disappeared with pops. The beam came up to the wreckage I was hiding behind, and everything was flooded with red light.

I woke up, there was a square of our town around, next to it stood Listening to the Stars and looking at me sadly. Phew, that's real. I checked the color of my wings. White. Well, that's great.

"Now you know what awaits us."

"This is the third time your people will see this. How do you live with it? After all, you are strong empaths, you feel everything that happens."

All the air seemed to have been drained from the old man, he hunched over, lowered his gaze and whispered:

"We don't see a way out yet. We don't see how we can defeat the ENEMY."

He turned and shuffled off towards the ore truck.

"Keeper." I shouted. "If events turn out the way you saw in my memory, if I need help, can I ask your people for it?"

Vorka shuddered and stood for a while. Then he straightened up, squared his shoulders, and looked around.

"If that's the case, and you call us..." His eyes seemed to glow, "We will come to you and stand next to you."

Looking at his back, I thought. Would human have been able to deliberately drop their entire race from the heights of civilization into complete and utter barbarism with their own hands? Turn the race into astronauts and explorers, diggers and bandits? And all in order to win someday?

What remains in my memory is how the Reaper platforms, when they came to the Hashtag, saw only the destroyed and abandoned orbital infrastructure and rabid hordes of savages hacking at the surface for everything. The monsters left without touching Vorka. But smart machines have not been able to sense how closely they are being watched from the surface by a similar, but only organic mind. I have seen how for thousands of years Vork has been searching for the mysterious Center - the heart of the machine mind. They're looking for him and they can't find him, and there aren't even any clues as to where he is. But the Keepers showed me exactly what it is. And it wasn't a Citadel. I saw through the eyes of the Guardians the full power of the station's mind, but at the same time, its absolute subordination to someone else. And the Reapers themselves are just platforms controlled from the outside, completely devoid of independence, scary, powerful... and yet pitiful slaves.

The old man was leaving, and it became crystal clear to me: the Harvest was waiting for me, and there was no way to escape or hide. My new childhood is over, now I have to evaluate my every action from the outside. To calculate how he will help me in the future, whether he will strengthen me or weaken me.

I took out my flute and started playing a sad melody. I was so carried away that I didn't even notice the tears running down my cheeks.


Date


June 10, 2360


Deniska's voice pulled me out of my memories.

- Snake, we're coming. We're doing everything as agreed. Are you okay?

- The best of all! - I get up on the seat and kiss my brother on the cheek. - Don't mess it up yourself!

- No way!

We sit down behind the store, Vaska and I take seats against its wall and wait. About ten minutes later, we hear footsteps and some kind of rattling. I look around the corner and see a young Turian woman wearing a short jumpsuit skirt and a white T-shirt with a dragon's face. She walks thoughtfully down the path, wearing sandals, but that doesn't stop her from kicking an empty plastic beer can in front of her. Her gaze is fixed into the distance, detached and thoughtful. Bina and I hide around the corner and start giggling with our hands over our mouths.

"Shhh!" Deniska hisses at us. - Be quiet, you'll scare me off! - he comes over and also looks around the corner. A second later, he hides, looks at us, a malicious smile on his lips. - You're as accurate as ever, Snake! Another lover.

- She's coming out now, and your party begins. Binochka, make a serious face! Snake, I'm counting on you! That's it, let's go.

The first part of the plan went like clockwork. Under the double pressure of Bina and me, Noverry gave up after two minutes. Our blue one put her on her bike, we all flew together to the Rinaris for a swimsuit for the tourist, and we warned her parents that she would be with us in the Mirror.

We arrived at the lake. There was already a table, blankets, and a steaming cauldron on the heater. All our noisy crowd of small fry were shouting and chasing a ball through the shallow water. Azat was not observed.

Ali stood on the shore and looked after the younger ones. He turned around, saw us, green eyes flashed, raised his hand.

- Hello everyone again! Basma, hello!

-Hello, Ali,- the Turian replied. There was confusion mixed with curiosity in her feelings. She looked around, looking for someone.

- Basma, Basma! Look at the mud slaves we've caught! The younger ones ran up in a noisy group.

"Come on, we'll show you," Azanti says and takes Basma by the hand.

- Yes, yes! We'll show you! Nasar takes her other hand.

- Let's go quickly! Vanka shouts, jumping up.

"They're so big, and they've got claws!" - the younger one shows a fishing gesture. Basma laughs, changes her clothes and goes to watch the catch. He's in shallow water, in a netted dish.

The bike is humming, and Azat has returned, with a hefty bouquet strapped to the seat behind him. He gets off the bike, unfastens the bouquet and goes to the water. The feelings are confusion, determination, and a little bit of fear.

Basma turns around, sees Azat and smiles, he smiles back at her, but inside there is a real panic. The girl approaches, without taking her eyes off her brother. He hesitates, standing at the water's edge.

- Hello, Azat.

- Hello, Basma. I flew to the foothills here.... Well, anyway... you are... here.

"What's that?" Azat?

- This is for you! - says the brother and hands her a bouquet.

-Thank you,- the girl replies softly.


It's getting late. I'm sitting cross-legged on the bedspread, and Bina is sitting next to me. We look at Azat and Basma walking along the shore, they are holding hands and talking quietly about something. The Turian has a fluffy wreath on her head, which we wove for her from her own bouquet. Their feelings are like the sea - I'm rocking on them, I'm sitting and enjoying myself with my eyes closed. Deniska sits down between us, hugs Bina and me, and says softly, "We're doing great! Yes, boys?

- Yeah! Well done! - I answer. Bina snorts indignantly. She doesn't like being addressed in the masculine gender. Then Bina silently laid her head on her brother's shoulder and was quietly sad.

- Let's get ready! It's going to get dark soon, and we haven't even cleaned up the trash yet," says Deniska.

In about fifteen minutes, having collected everything and fixed it on the bikes, we are going home. Basma gets on a bike to Azat, he will take her himself. Saying goodbye, we fly away.


It's completely dark, and I'm sitting on the fence outside my house, looking up at the sky. It's bright and starry here. There are two moons, but they are both much smaller than the earth's. One is bluish, the other is bright yellow. A shadow flickers and a growing buzz is heard. Azat arrived, ahead of him flies a feeling of happiness, joy and some kind of ... inspiration. A real storm! He puts the bike next to me, and I jump off the fence and sit next to him. He turns around.

"Saw you off?"

- yes!

- How did it go?

"You know, I told her everything."...

"You confessed?"

- yes! And she said that too!..

My friend scoops me up and hugs me to him. I hug him back.

- Thank you, Snake! You're my best!

- You're welcome, Azat.

- I feel it will be an unforgettable summer! - He says and starts laughing.