wall was transformed, turning into a huge monitor.
«You earn pennies, but I became an online millionaire while on maternity leave! It’s simple! Transfer thirty dollars to my account, and I’ll share a secret with you.»
Into the furnace. She will teach me how to make money.
«AWG has announced the release of a new multiplayer online game «Battle for Freedom»
This is already more interesting. I’ve already heard the name of this company somewhere. Exactly! Yesterday! That guy at Centrum!
«Which side are you on: the slave traders or the defenders of freedom? Discover the magical world of Seisil. Go through a path full of adventures and fight the King-beyond-the-Mountain, or even Antimonikos himself.»
«An anonymous user offers you a video call»
Anonymizer! I heard about this. It seems that only members of the Government can afford this. Have you already found it? Goosebumps ran through my body. I’m not at home! I left!
– Ilya, connecting! – said Sveta. I remember how I adjusted my voice to make it more pleasant to wake up. After all, for most of us, communication ends with conversations with smart homes. And now I was ready to take a hammer and smash the speaker from which she spoke.
– Light, no, please! Don’t turn on the connection!
– Sorry, Ilya, I must obey.
A phantom of a man in a jacket appeared in front of me. His face was hidden by the ripples. In extended reality, you can choose any appearance, but this uninvited guest decided to specifically show that he wanted to remain incognito.
– I assume, Ilya?
– Yeah!
– I prefer not to take off my masks. Dmitry talked a lot about you. I made the last few orders.
I shook the phantom’s hand.
– Tea?
«Thank you,» the guest replied. – A channel protected by an anonymizer is an expensive pleasure, even for me. So let’s get straight to the point. What did you hear yesterday at Centrum?
I glanced at the guest incredulously. He passed his hand through the air, and there appeared a sum blazing with flame. Five hundred thousand.
– One of the members of the Government agreed to conclude a contract with the AWG company, which produces games. We didn’t hear much; we were spotted. And then Dimon was shot, and…
– AWG! This is what I never expected! – the guest exclaimed.
– Do you want to play the game too?
– Augmented reality is for the poor. Do you know how she appeared? – I shook my head. – I witnessed the construction of the Houses. One day people woke up and realized that there were too many of them. If uncontrolled reproduction continued, there would be enough food for at most twenty years. A new World War could not be avoided. Then the radicals proposed to destroy some of the people. By lot. If you pulled out a short match, you were «lucky.» One prick, as if bitten by a mosquito, and then eternal sleep. I pulled out a long match – live until the next draw.
I was among the liberals. Our party proposed to settle the poorest sections of the population in Houses to make room for the worthy. And to avoid any dissatisfaction, they gave you modulator chips. Augmented reality did the rest. It swallowed up the poor. You are entangled in it like a fly in a spider’s web.
– More worthy? – I almost hit the guest in the jaw for such words. Do they, in the Government, consider themselves the navel of the universe?
– Many people in Centrum think so. But not me. As I see, it’s not you either. I think we’ll see you again. If you want to join the resistance, you are welcome. By the way, Dmitry appears to be dead. I advise you to use the money that will come to your account in the near future wisely. Take care of yourself. Goodbye.
The guest’s phantom disappeared. But the sediment remained in my soul. That is, someone can walk safely down the street, but someone is locked from birth in a tin can of Houses, the only way out of which is a chip modulator?
An image appeared before my eyes: «You have a new message from the user Davydjons»
Dimon! Can’t be! I thought I wouldn’t see you again!
«Hello, Ilya! If you’re reading this message, it means I’m in trouble. You know where to find me»
The modulator is for the poor. But do I have a way out? Maybe my friend is being killed there. I won’t sit with my hands folded, will I?
He inserted a chip the size of the phalanx of his little finger into the implant at the back of his head. I didn’t bother with special effects. No portals. He simply walked through the walls until he found himself in the apartment in which he once lived. My whole family watched a film projected onto the wall. How I miss them! Only for the family that existed before Lyubka’s birth. And to Uncle Igor. When father was alive.
Jumped out the window. We urgently need to be near the House where Dima lives. But you shouldn’t attract attention to yourself. For that black creature that shot Dimon, I am one tooth apart. He waved his hand. Some taxi drivers wear modulators. One of these lowered a gravity car in front of me, descending from the fifth or fourth layer of multi-level air transport traffic.
– To House 23.
In the virtual world, the taxi driver looked like a rock star from the century before last. Combed bangs, leather jacket, lots of chains. It smelled like beer. Rock music was playing throughout.
Yo-ho-ho! We are not afraid of the dead
We love mermaids, we are bottomlessly drunk.
We will be hanged – we will be finished!
But while we are alive, you are doomed!
He looked closely at the guy. Probably one of ours. Although, who doesn’t know this song?
I don’t know about piracy, but he did an excellent job with a gravity car. The machine could be built into any empty space. Sometimes he flew up to the very clouds, and there were times when he almost crashed into the ground. To be honest, I almost pissed my pants with nutritional mixture number six when he lowered me to the ground after a steep dive.
– Arrived! Do you need to wait?
– No, thank you! I’m back with my legs!
– Okay, as you know!
What a man! Taxi driver from God. He took me faster than I flew yesterday on the wings of a Valkyrie.
I felt for the viper button. It might come in handy today. He looked around the huge House. A monster created by man from concrete and iron. Look left, right, up. Not a hint of the horizon, just windows and windows. Those who get corner apartments are lucky. And the majority live in the interior.
