They would wake him up and explain that the world is round, there is a moon and planets that revolve around the sun, these are earthlings like you, and so on. What would he think? He would have thought he was crazy, or still asleep, or a prank, or dead, or in another world. Lots of things he would think, and the hardest thing for him to figure out would be how it was that the Earth was round. So now… it seems logical that there should be other worlds in the infinity of the universe, it seems logical that life should originate in the same conditions as it already did, that is, develop in a similar way, but it is very hard to believe it, especially to believe that you are there now. Just like an ancient inhabitant of the Earth. For whom the world is the outskirts that he sees from a distant hill or even a mountain…"
Rutra's musings were interrupted by a policeman.
– Paschow, out.
"Well, I've had a bit of an accident. I wonder what role I'm playing here…" – Ruthra thought, having already convinced himself that there really were parallel worlds and that he was out of the cage. The guardian of order walked forward. Ruthra followed him. "That's strange," he thought. – He should handcuff me first… or there should be two of them, one in the back and one in the front. But really, I wouldn't know. Especially in this world. Or this is our world… There's no difference yet."
– Rutra Tigrovich, go directly to the Admiral's office. Today he's in the office without a sign, the secret one.
Ruthra was about to ask where, to whom, and why, when he realized that something was wrong. The policeman had been very friendly to him, and it seemed that the place where he was to go was not a hostile place.
Soon he saw the mark of a removed sign on one of the doors. He knocked. The owner of the office himself opened the door. In the spacious room at the entrance stood a tall, blue-eyed, blond-haired, statuesque man.
– Hey, buddy. Enough lying around in sanatoriums, it's time to get down to business," he began.
Ruthra tried to contact Irene silently. She wasn't answering. He needed information. He didn't understand what was going on or how to behave, much less what to answer.
– It's time. What's the plan?
– The plan is the same, but we'll change it a little, and we'll need to add more men," the man spoke a little quickly and, as it seemed to Ruthra, even with some apprehension. – I'll send all the input and disposition data over the alternate communications system. Irene is under control and on lockdown for most functions for you. All the more reason for her to keep quiet and not give you any data.
– Can artificial intelligence be persuaded?
– Rutra, are you brain-dead from the daily marathon to the TV tower?
– Uh… I don't think so. Must have been a heavy sleeper.
Ruthra was about to ask what the TV tower was, but stopped just in time.
– You did it yourself, and they realized it. Although you and Irene are on very good terms, she'll tell you in confidence.
– Got it.
– Be careful with Yat-san. She's undecided about her role, she's always under the influence. She's also very peculiar and can change her mind at any time. And she has a problem that she thinks about more than the case. Jules has a problem. She plays three sides. And she's willing to play the fourth.
– Oh, shit. Who's that?
– The first party is you. You have a theme with her. The second story is between you and YatSan, she's doing diplomacy. And is constantly in touch and conspiring with Petty: periodically we record a deeply encrypted communication with Andrian.
– With Andrian?
– Why is that particularly surprising to you?
Ruthra needed to show awareness and keep the conversation going, even though he didn't know any Andrian or any of the people in question. For some reason, he felt this was the right thing to do. Perhaps it was a subconscious memory of the person whose body his consciousness had entered in this world.
– Andrian is not inclined to conspire.
– She must have asked for it very much. Maybe it's for your own good. At least that's how she presented it to him.
– How?
– I don't have time to analyze it. There's nothing special there. There are topics related to YatSan. Your personal and work relationships are a bit tangled.
– The program requires complete trust, and there is no way to do it without personal sympathy.
– Your sympathies have crossed some lines.
Ruthra thought, "What's the deepest thing he knows about… And what in the world could I possibly have done?"
– What about Catherine?
– Catherine is calm, stable. She doesn't mind having an affair. Quite the risk-taker at heart. Loves to get her adrenaline pumping. Hang gliding, skydiving. You wouldn't know it from her passion.
– She's in a secret relationship with who?
– You should know that yourself and report to me. We are preparing you there, after all," the admiral said the last in a whisper and pointed his finger upward. – She's in touch with everyone, but I can't call them secret. She's sort of facilitating their plans.
– So what are their plans?
– It's likely that Andrian will tell you everything at some stage. And Irene… and probably something in Catherine's secret. Iulia and Shallow are dangerous. You can expect anything from them. Most of all, Eulalia. She uses everyone.
– I wonder how.
– She's got a gut feeling, or there's something we don't know. Maybe there's a leak. It sounds to me like you're being friendly and overly trusting. A woman is still a woman. A fish seeks the deepest, a woman seeks the best.
– I obviously missed something.
– She knows… and most likely from you, even if in passing… indirectly you mentioned it.
– About our program?
– Yeah. About what we're cooking. About what we are preparing you there, – he said again in a whisper and pointed his finger upwards. – The people are ready, the Kantemirov division, by the way, too.
– I tried to keep that little guy away from me.
– But you first let Iulia get close to you, and then you let YatSan get even closer. They were all in doubt then, but now that the prospect is looming, they have become more active and are ready to make any kind of conspiracy.
– How does this threaten the program?
– Have you been drinking too much? I don't think you've been drinking. I don't need you to explain what power is. Especially power in Russia. We don't know who they're connected to or who's behind them. We've got our eye on Chalky. He's very dangerous. Sit down, why are you standing up like a soldier? Let's have a drink to celebrate the victory. Although we don't celebrate in advance… Then let's start.
Ruthra didn't quite know what was going
