Kitabı oku: «Game of Tag. Fantasy», sayfa 2

VLADIVOSTOK, AUGUST 15, 2057

“Hurry up! Bunch of dead cockroaches! After forty minutes, the ship must already sail! If you won’t be in time, I’ll shove your heads in your a…..! Frozen herrings!”

In the port there was always windy, the difference was only in the level of trauma danger. In winter, it was worst of all: the frosts at night sometimes fell to minus thirty. Then we had to fight not only with the weight of the cargo but also with the risk to freeze ourselves the “quail’.

The principle is simple: came, completed work, got money, left. There are changing rooms, a dining room and a shower on the territory.

“Listen, taciturn, Vasilich is yelling at you! Come on, go ahead, man!” – said Cyril.

It was a mockery, because only Serega dragged boxes, all the other men had another smoke break.

“Haha! Yes, move, because we are tired! Ah-ha!” – local workers neighed.

Sergey did not care. He was used to ridicules of his “colleagues.”

He did not consider as necessary to answer them and go down to their level. He simply kept silent. These jokes were nothing in comparison with what happened three years ago.

Only Uncle Vasily remembers how, after the shift, he found a young boy, all beaten up, in blood.

Then, having earned five grand for a shift, Serega was happy, but not for long: the next guest workers quickly emptied his pockets, not forgetting to threaten that they would cut him if he were to complain.

“Lord, what is going on! Boy, are you alive?”

Vasily tried to stifle a bunch of dirty rags.

Mmm, it hurts … – and the boy’s head jerked back.

“He seems to be alive. But if he dies, then there will be a lot of problems, the only thing we need is to deal with cops, f..” – thought Vasily Dmitrievich.

“Well, he’s alive! Let’s go, to my place, you’ll drink, you’ll wash yourself, rotten barracudas.”

Uncle Vasya then dragged a lean boy to himself, made him drink vodka, made him wash up and put him to sleep. For the first time after drinking alcohol, Serega quickly passed out.

All this was he remembered again. Sighing heavily, he picked up the bale and headed for the car.

“Sergey, are you dreaming? Come on, come on, tempo-tempo!” – Cyril did not stop.

“Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!” – everyone croaked again. But when they saw Vasilich coming out again from the booth, they tossed cigarette butts and lined up in a row to carry the load. This old man could leave them without payment.

“Sergey! Come on over here!” – And again disappeared in the belly of the “blue-rusty whale’.

“I’m coming!” – quickly dragging the next bale to the truck, Sergey wiped his hands with a rag and went into the almost blue trailer.

For three years, almost every night, he carried a variety of cargoes, there was no one who could withstand such loads for so long.

But he did not have much choice. His dirty, patched overall he figured as a uniform of superhero. This way it was easier to carry all the shit that was going on in the port.

The door of the trailer creaked and he went inside. Yes, nothing has changed here in three years. The same perfect order, everything in its place: the table near the window and the bench on the side, two chairs and an electric kettle, boiling water.

“I wonder if he ever turns it off?” thought Serega.

“Come in, sit down, I have to talk to you.”

There was one thing Sergei realized: you’d better not play jokes on Uncle Vasya,

and if he has to talk to you, it is always on the matter.

“Listen, you should not appear in the port in the next three months,” – Vasily Dmitrievich raised his tanned wrinkled hand and stopped Serega. – “Stop, stop, I’m aware of your position.”

The jumped guy slowly sat back on the stool.

“But you understand that we will have checks here. The Japanese smuggle contraband, the big dough is paid on top, and we suffer. Do you want some tea? According to a special recipe!”

“No, no, I will not have tea. Heck! What shall I do?” – he did not expect such a bummer, and especially not now. – “Heck! Heck!”

Sergey inclined his head, already thinking about what kind of work he could find to combine with the university.

“Do not swear in my presence. I have decided to give you an advance for these three months of idle time, but keep in mind, then you will work it all off. Here, there are three hundred and twenty thousand that is less than what you earn, but at least something. Your grandfather, probably, needs to change the wheelchair. Besides, you will have a rest, it is summer after all, and you here all days long.”

That’s what was stunning for Sergey: no one gave him money – that’s right, in advance, or you can say, just like that!

“It’s now past five, so take the money and get out, then the GRU, Alpha-shmalfa and other fun-loving guys, checking guest workers, and just at six am sharp, will begin, f….”

“Vasily Dmitrievich, thank you!” – They shook hands firmly. – “I’ll call you in about three months!”

“Yes, yes, call. If the brains of the old walrus will not be completely withered.”

Vasily looked at the back of a young, healthy guy and was surprised: in three years almost everyday loads made a bulldog of a puppy. Only his eyes remained puppy like. Having spat, the chief went about his business. He began to prepare tea – according to a special recipe of “navy seals’.

Before leaving, he went to the shower, washed himself, changed his clothes, folded his uniform in a bag and closed it in the locker. The key was dangling on a bunch, as well as a special pass to the dock.

“What’s to be done now? – He thought. – I’m already used to this place, to the smell of the port, to the ships.”

Work in the dock as a loader was regarded as one of the most dangerous. But they paid well and the schedule was free. He had to get up at three-twenty am, prepare breakfast for his little brother and a paralyzed grandfather.

Then go through the Golden Bridge to the port. There, for four hours, he worked his butt off, sometimes tearing himself up or under an icy rain. Then he went to the Far Eastern Federal University. After he managed to win a grant in the school and three years of payment in this university, he entered without hesitation. Our education is our everything! After all, he could not always be a docker in the port.

“It’s decided, I’ll go to the university, especially if I go by sunbus, I’ll have time to get some sleep.”

AUGUST 14, 2057, 20:15, OFFICE OF THE RECTOR OF FEFU

The new office was dim, and only one lamp burned at the rector’s desk, the main light was turned off. There was a smell of new furniture, paint, expensive cognac and cigar.

In the huge chair sat a gray-haired man and looked at one spot. In the ashtray, the Cuban cigar was almost completely decayed. He played with a glass of cognac but did not rush to drink it.

“And why did I agree to this fucking grant from these monsters? Now, I practically work for them, sit and wait for orders from Moscow, and not from the Ministry of Education, but from a private company. How angry it makes me! F….ing Art. soul Holding group’.

The sharp sound of the stationary phone made him wince.

“Yes, Marina.”

“Mikhail Vladimirovich, you have a direct conference with Moscow in a minute’, – said a very young secretary.

“All right, put them through.”

“Finally, well, let’s go.”

After the conversation, he felt a little relieved, the tension that pulled his nerves into a ball all day, let go. Now he can take a vacation and go for a week with his wife to the country house. There, they with his neighbor Oleg Gennadievich will fish on a boat. There is a blissful silence and peace. Without an overseer in the face of the world corporation. Which, like a malevolent chain dog, follows his every step, gesture, word.

He called for his car and driver. At such a time in the city, there were no traffic jams, and he came in twenty-five minutes, rejoiced and in the best mood, he embraced and kissed his wife. And he announced his intentions to go away for a week or two to the Baikal country house.

AUGUST 15, 2057, 10:20, SUKHANOV STREET, 8, MAIN BUILDING OF FEFU

All the students gathered around the building. There was such noise and hubbub that it was audible for a couple of blocks. An outsider, watching what was happening, most likely would immediately be worried and called the police. But this did not happen, all ordinary passers-by were aware of what was going on, and terribly envied the students of this institution.

Sergey went to the building in the hope of receiving a schedule and finding out the scheme of payment for tuition, since this year the grant was to end.

“What the…” – he thought, hearing the screaming and whistling.

Then a familiar car blinked into the lights. From the window of the new white Range Rover, the redheaded Roma Babitsky stared a homely, skinny, intelligent Jewish boy from a respectable, and therefore wealthy, Jewish family.

“Serega, hi! Have you already received your ticket?” Shouted Roma.

“What ticket?”

“Lottery one!!!” – grinned the guy.

“… – the guy opened his mouth in surprise.”

“So you don’t know? Ah, well, yes, you do not get in touch! Get in the car, I will tell you smart things’, – said Roma copying a Caucasian accent.

Serega crossed the road, opened the door of the car and flew into the new cabin of the very expensive car.

“What did you hear about the new super game with full immersion into the Virtual Reality, Ouiet Running?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about now, Roma, stop shilly-shally, tell me already what the ticket is and what is an Ouiet Running is?”

“Oh, oh, my ears wilt from your accent!” – he grimaced.

“Rum, do not f… with me!”

“Ok, while you, our proud bird, unload the wagons.”

“Ships.”

“Planes, for all I care. So, while you are doing god knows what, the world moves on. It just jumps, damn it!”

And the red-headed Jewish Roma began to tell:

“Today there has been a message for all students – a gathering for a general meeting. To which you did not come. And there was our Rector, the same one that owes my dad a tone of money.”

“Roma, I had enough of your sh…, what is the ticket for and what is happening?”

“Do not interrupt me, so, our Rector gathered everyone in the hall and said that only our university will be awarded Lottery tickets from the company Art. soul Holding group for free. It just happens so, that they are launching a new on-line game Ouiet Running in three months. But, before the official launch, they are looking for twenty gamers that will be the first to test how it works. Everything that will happen in the game will be broadcasted around the world! Each winner of the lottery will receive ten grand, a per-unit AOUA Robe worth five grand and ninety days for the maximum development of the character.”

“Hot damn!”

“I’m surprised as well, like you said. Oh, I went through an Internet today. In word, they say that it will be possible to use virtual money to pay for services in the real life! It’s like if you order something on the internet, you can pay by the points from the game, and the company then covers everything and is the garrant of the deal.”

“Is this real? Delirium of some sort, it seems like a set-up!”

“No, Serega, when thinking about it, it’s a trifle. Just think, one such ticket is worth a hundred bucks, and milliards of them printed for the whole, so to say, blue ball. Secondly, aquaRob is a purchase, maintenance, repair plus a subscriber’s fee for gaming. Already, they say that more than fifty million orders for them have been received, and in fact, they have not even launched the game. To avoid disturbances, in fact, and to warm up the interest, they invented this yobbo-lottery epic.”

“And what do you have to do with these tickets?”

“These tickets are also not very simple. As I saw, it’s a white plastic with a transparent circle. You need to unwrap the ticket, touch this circle, and he will either be red, and you shame the corpses, or, green, and you are the king of all the mermaids.”

“Have you taken the ticket already?”

“No, as I was saying, he Rector owes my dad money, so we have a VIP-appointment, in an hour we have to come to him ourselves. Sergey, did you eat breakfast today?”

“No.”

“Then we’ll go to the pizzeria. (Laughs.) At the same time, I will tell you, my port and smelly friend, why do you need to play this game with your grandfather.”

“What?”

“Believe me, my dad has already ordered aquaRobs for himself, my aunt and Sophie.”

“I’m not smelly!”

“You do not worry about that, Serega’, – Roma said, and for some reason stopped joking. And started the car.

AUGUST 15, 2057, 11:50, SUKHANOV STREET, 8 MAIN BUILDING OF FEFU RECTOR’S OFFICE

Today, from the very morning, a ticket machine was brought, older students and faculty staff unloaded it and divided into groups of lottery tickets. Each student got one ticket. Total five hundred and seventy thousand pieces or fifty-seven boxes.

All this time the Rector himself did not show up, he was preparing to speak at the meeting. He drank water and aspirin, but the headache continued to exhaust him with a cold alarm.

“It’s like there are no more problems for me, but running around like a little dog giving out tickets.” He looked at his ticket and sighed heavily. He did not want to participate in these games, win something. He had already visited for four months the group for those “who cannot stop gambling.”

The phone rang again in the office; the secretary seems to be too active today.

“Mikhail Vladimirovich, you have a meeting in the hall in ten minutes’, – she said.

“Yes, Marina. Thank you.” – Muted the sound: “I appointed it myself.” – Turned on the sound. “I am on my way.”

“How hard it is to go on vacation. I need to figure it out as soon as possible.”

The next two days, he passed on his business at the institute, then two more days he and his wife collected things and only on the fifth day finally left far away from the news and all these new gadgets.

In the pizzeria near the university, there was a special charm. Many freshmen worked there and the pretty girls from the Faculty of Oriental Studies were going to drink chocolate.

The guys placed the order and were waiting for pizza and burgers.

They sat down at a table near the window. It seemed that everyone was thinking his own thoughts. Sergey was in a confused state of mind and had no idea where to search for the new job.

He had no intent to work for Roma’s father in a stuffy office or as an errand-boy for the miserable crumbs of “student’ wages. So he was sitting, sorting out all the possible options, and still could not take any decision.

“You are in sorrow, my friend, as far as I see!” – Roma said, sipping an eerie green energy drink.

For a moment it seemed like that was the redheaded gnome drinking herbal potion.

“How can you drink this stuff? It’s made of oil!”

“If you judge by the price, then you’re right. But oil never caused me to be allergic, even when taken intravenously. Hehe.”

“So, tell me about ‘AKVUA ROBE’.”

“Serega, you’ll drive me insane with your accent.”

“Well, I did not live in London.”

A nice waitress brought drinks and hot sandwiches.

“Pizza will be ready in twelve minutes’, – she said, placing everything on the table.

When she left, the two boys watched her go and everyone came to the idea that the uniform was, of course, too short, but it only added a healthy appetite.

“Listen, Roma, what about the robe?”

“Finish chewing, and then talk!”

“What did you want to tell about the robes?”

“Ah, well, at last, you’ve got to the point. This is a unique system of healing for any organism. I told you, the rumours started from the top. All the presidents, the heads of banks and others, had bought AQUA Robe long ago.”

Roma bit off the sandwich and closed his eyes. “Yes, in Russia food is definitely tastier. Not as tasteless as in England and not as spicy as in India.” Having washed his food down with his energy cocktail, he sighed and continued. All this time he watched his only friend “not because of Daddy’s money’ eating bread greedily, wiping the sauce from the plate.

“This development is closely connected with other works of this company, with genetic modulations, with the medicine development, and, of course, with the novelty – the information carrier AOUA FLASH. In general, all their developments are interconnected with the discovery of the ‘memory of water.’ They produced a programmed liquid crystal substance.”

“Su-u-y-u’, – a loud nasty sound, when you drink from the straw to the last drop. “Roma, I know, of course, that you are a fan of new gadgets, but you start talking almost in Japanese.”

“I do not know Japanese. Come on! I do not want to be like my father, a f……financier; I always wanted to be an engineer. Hehhh…”

Well, they created “smart water’, and then in the course of the experiment, or, perhaps, accidentally someone left a rotten apple in a flask with such water. And what happened, how do you think?

“An apple turned into a tree?”

“No. The apple remained an apple. But absolutely fresh apple, not rotten.”

“Come on, cut the crap! I don’t believe you! If this was true, everyone would be already running to their office in order to smash it and get a litre for each person.”

“Serega, this water cannot be used for food. It is literally technical. This is all true; my father was present at the demonstration for the exclusive people. He also invested a large amount in this garbage of the future.”

“You mean, if you lie for a while in such a ‘Robe’ – like an apple, you will become pink and fresh, won’t you?”

“I did not say that. But who said that an apple genetically is only a little simpler than human. And, besides, my father is dreaming of rejuvenating and is not playing games, though he was one of the first to order AOUA Robe.”

“Grandfather!” The apples of Sergei’s eyes widened and he realized what was happening.

“Holy Hell! I was thinking it would not happen!”

The waitress smiled, she had already decided to leave her room to that redhead one. After all, she realized that he was the son of one of the richest people in this country.

There was a sound in the reception office; someone was knocking on the door.

“Come in!” Marina said, she just wanted to drink coffee, but, apparently, she had to do it later.

A heavy armoured door opened and two students entered.

“Hmm, I know them. King and beggar! That’s how a Japanese teacher called them.”

“Marina Artemovna, is the rector in?”

“Yes, Romochka, he did not go out after the meeting. Are you on a private matter?” she tried to be as polite as possible because she was aware of the complicated relationship of this redhead person’s father and Misha.

“Then shall we come in?”

“First I shall warn him.” She picked up the phone and started speaking.

The phone started to thrum again. The rector was now ready to kill his secretary because the headache was just started to weaken. And this sound went through his brain like a blunt knife.

“Hello!” he almost shouted.

“Michael… erm, Vladimirovich, students are waiting for you, Roma Babitsky and…” She covered the phone handset with a perfectly manicured hand and whispered: “What is your name?”

“Kravtsov Sergey, the third year student, Department of economics and management.”

“And Kravtsov Sergey, the third year student, shall I let them in?”

“Yes.”

Reactor’s hands were sweaty. It seems like a cold wind blew from all sides.

“What does he want from me?”

He sat down in his chair, straightened his tie and reached for a glass of water, his throat dried out instantly. At that moment the door opened and two students entered. He knew one of the students, and at the same time, he was trying to avoid the second one with every fibre of his being as long as possible.

“Good day, Mikhail Vladimirovich! We wanted to receive our lottery tickets.”

“Hello, Roma! Doesn’t the group leader have your tickets?”

“There is a big queue,” the red-haired, impudent Jew answered.

“Oh, yes, of course.” The rector dialled the number and after waiting a few seconds said: “Bring two tickets to my office now.”

And hung up. He had to crack a smile at the guys and keep being polite.

“Sit down, please. Coffee or tea?”

No. Thanks, we have just had lunch,” Sergey hastened to respond. Knowing Roma, he would definitely drink both coffee and tea, and brandy from the safe.

“Then please settle down, now they will bring you the tickets.”

Sergey was in this office for the first time. It should be noticed, there was quite a spacious apartment with large windows. Many indoor fruit trees. A large “meeting’ table and ten chairs with backrests.

“Sergey, have you decided to finish your studies at the Faculty of Economics?”

“Yes.” “It is strange that he asked that.”

“I remember three years ago during the admission you showed brilliant results in chemistry, engineering, physics and higher mathematics. Any fashionable technical faculty would be ready to admit you.”

“I wanted to study in the Faculty of Economics.” It is not easy giving an explanation to everyone that I am here only thanks to a grant.”

The office door was opened and one of the lecturers entered.

He carried two transparent bags in his hands, inside which two white chips were seen.

“Mikhail Vladimirovich, here it is, as you asked.”

“Thanks, Anatoly, you can go.”

The lecturer hurried to leave the office.

“Here are your tickets.”

“Thank you! Shall we be going?” Roma could not wait to try his fate!

Five minutes later, in a car parked not far from the building; the guys unwrapped the packages and looked at the chips.

“What do you think?” Sergei asked.

“I do not want to think! I want some adventure!” flushed with anticipation Roma pointed at the transparent circle. Chip squealed, then the circle itself coloured in yellow, and then in red.

“Jeez! Now it is your turn, Serega!” Roma’s hands were trembling and his eyes were burning unkindly.

“Come on.” He had touched the circle with his finger very slowly clockwise. Chip squeaked again. The circle became blue and then turned into a bright green colour.

“You. YOU! You are one of the twenty!!!” Roma roared as if it there was a fire!

He grabbed Sergey’s shirt and shook him.

“Calm down!” he pushed Romka away. “What shall we do next? Where to call?”

“No need to call.” he pointed at the ticket, “It has the navigator, so they already know where you are.”

“Do you have an old mobile phone? With GLONASS and GPRS-search?”

“Yes.”

“With my new one, they will find you faster. Although, probably, they will invite you to the city administration, no, take it anyway’ he gave his cell phone to Sergey.

His hands were trembling and his eyes were frantic. For the first time, Sergey saw his friend so excited.

“Roma, calm down.”

“You do not understand! You have no idea! What you can expect is money, fame, popularity. Millions of fans!”

“The military plan will show what awaits me.”