Yagger. Path book 1 Jane

The prologue

The Path is a book with a huge world, many famous and new characters who participate in canonical and completely new events. For the hustlers: the first canonical (according to bextori) event occurs in Chapter 11, and the first game event (Eden Prime) occurs in Chapter 24. At the beginning, there is a description of many key characters and important events. Read from the beginning, the author has succeeded well in conveying the feeling of an inevitably impending catastrophe. I have started putting the text of the book in order and plan to get to the end.

***

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 "caps" flies into a puddle and catches an aquaplane at a speed of 180 km.

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. "Fucked up!", it flies by in my mind, and with a pop like a gunshot, the piece of metal smashes into the windshield. A blow to the chest, the pain flaring up and fading. 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!", it floats sluggishly 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's coming 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..."

"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?" It was as if a strange alien thought-feeling appeared nearby. "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.

"Fuck, did I die? Yes?"

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

"I think means I exist. So what is it?"

"Right."

"And what's next?"

"As you wish. You want to go back, don't you?"

"Yes, I do. Can I?"

"May. But with some condition."

"Like what?"

"People like you, those who have given up oblivion, are offered to return for a reason. They need to help the world they're being sent to. You will be given the skills and gifts to be able to cope with the task assigned to you."

"What are these gifts and skills?"

"Different, for example, how do you like absolute memory?"

"Normal."

"Normal?! The brute."

"And which world will I be sent to? What should I do there?"

"One of the worlds you know."

"What kind of acquaintances?! I've never been anywhere but Earth."

"Many of them are described in your fiction."

"So you're giving the authors plots! But why?"

"We can't interfere directly, but with the help of people like you, it's acceptable. You are bound by the laws of that world, and you are mortal. Therefore, based on our predictions and assumptions, we use information delivery tools like books and others in other worlds to raise people like you, and then send you to help other worlds. Remember: what you have described may differ from reality, it is close, but not the same, and the forecasts are not absolute. Foreknowledge can fail you. Check it out."

"And if I fail? I'm not a superhero!"

"So we'll raise the next ones."

"What about me? What will happen to me?"

"If you don't break down, we'll send you somewhere else. There are many problematic worlds."

"What does it mean if I don't break down?"

"There are quite difficult situations there, but a reasonable person cannot live in a vacuum, he acquires friends, relatives, and just reasonable relatives. Not everyone can stand losing, and then oblivion awaits them. And after oblivion, what good are they? They leave for another incarnation in the usual way."

"And in case of victory?"

"You win first! If you win, we'll talk."

My crazy thought flashed by: "Oh, I'll turn around!"

"And so that you don't get distracted, I'll change the boundary condition. That's not why you're being sent there!"

"For what "for this"?"

"For everything as they like to say in your homeland. That's enough talking, you should go."

***

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.

Chapter 1.1 Hello, am I your Zhenya?!..

Eugene (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 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 came out of me like, "Augo mugo ao!" Ooooh, I can't even speak 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 kinds 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! That voice 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! 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"! But the question about "my little one" remains open. How can I check it? That's an ambush... oh, I thought of it! 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, down with your pants, and they put me on an iron friend, we lower my head slowly and...

Oppa! And HE's not there! Masculine, that is, dignity! fuck! Bitch! Ah-ah-ah-ah! This is a change in the boundary condition, damn, it's just mean! But I really wanted to go to the bathroom, so we're doing it, hmm, it feels strange, different... damn it! Of course, they are different, the platform is different! Uh-huh... well, there's no way out, let's get used to this!..

Okay, it's done, they're probably carrying me to the bathroom. That's right! Oh, the mirror! Well, well, we look at ourselves... Small as small, it looks about a year old, I try a 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. 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 huge 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.

The man sat down at the table, and says:

"What, Barsik, Zhenya 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 such a punch line, you see! 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. On her feet are 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 Dad, 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! Damn, why am I so overwhelmed? Didn't you feel anything like that just now?! The man kisses me on the forehead and returns to the table. The feelings went with it! Oh, how! So it was HIS feelings! That's the second bonus, I'm an empath now, no, an empath, that's cool!

"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 "CPiKRK from 1UO", try it, understand. Here the cursor appeared, it hovered over the icon with the image of a paper folder, 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, fack! 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:

"AAAAOOOO, OOOOAAAAA, VAA!"

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

"What are you doing, daughter?"

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

"ooooaaaa!"

"Daddy" 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 gray 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 the cartoon hologram. "So! What is this?" She asked, looking at her father. "Michael Shepard, I'm asking you! What is it?" She pointed at the hologram.

I'm stuck! What-what did she call my father? What's his last name? SHEPARD?! And it turns out that I am Eugenia Shepard?! Very interesting!..

March 25, 2355

So, one step, one more step, take your time, Eugenia, take your time, keep your head, keep your head, 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! Whoo! 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 crush my forehead and reach out to my mother. Yes! Now they are really parents to me. There was 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. 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 that my whole head can enter its mouth!

"Come on, eat," mom says and puts a plate in front of me, in it 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 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!

A Dad is awake! 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 underwear!"

"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'll explain to you all the subtleties of communicating with a senior! Hehe!"

"Take your hands off me, Mr. retired Captain of the first rank, 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.

"Hi, 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 gesture.

"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 Fox!" kissing the other one, Leshka whispered.

After that, they both sat down at the table.

Chapter 1.2 The brothers fell off the bike.

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.

"Tell me, Ba'sik, that's why my ton'ue listens so badly. I'm t'aining, I'm t'aining, I'm t'aining with you! And Tou'ko?"

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! Hopefully, the torment won't last too long.

"Is that' so, cat? I'll lea'n eve'ythin!"

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, Zhenya!

Suddenly, with a loud hum, a red and green bike flew into the yard. It's the same thing as in the sixth episode of Star Wars, only without the long thing with wings in front, the flying scooter is shorter. 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:

"Ier-er-er!" I pointed out the window.

Dad 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:

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

"Ray, I'm really glad to see you too, but I need you! My guys seem to have had a very good bike ride!"

"I'm on my way, honey, just don't worry, it's not good for you!" and slowly fading away. "Dack, Da-ack! 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-o..." 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, mom!" 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 Ray will fly in now, 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?" My father asked.

"That we should be careful," Denis said.

"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!" The sobs turned into tears.

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

"Dad, Ham flew home, he was taken Tam away!" Deniska spoke through tears.

"So he also got beaten up! Well, Dakar will give him nuts! There will be 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 on 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 AZARI! It's just like in the "Mass Effect": tentacles on the head, and pigmented spots on the face - and she's so beautiful!

"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. 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 tall Turian sidling through the gate! He was wearing a snow-white suit just 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, let's see ... 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. Ray said.

Dad, under Doc's guidance, quickly arranged chairs around this table, and Leshka was seated on one chair. Doc took out a strange pistol, pressed its barrel against her brother's forearm, pulled the trigger, and there was a sound: "Ps-s-st," Leshka yelped.

"Well, well," the Turian said. "You'll feel better now, and we'll help you, my friend."

"Does it hurt?" Leshka mumbled.

"Do you feel your hand?" Ray asked.

"Er-er-er... no..."

"Well, it doesn't hurt," Duck said.

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

After that, a briefcase was placed on the table, which, unfortunately, blocked everything that was happening on the table from me. I fidgeted and whined, leaning to the right and then to the left in an attempt to see what was happening on the table, but all in vain. So I didn't see anything. When it was over, Leshkin'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 piston and put it in today, too." Dr. Duck said.

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

"Let's go," the doc said, "is the victim's name?"

"Alexey Mikhailovich Shepard."

"Age?"

"7 years old."

"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 Duck came up to me. I looked 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. He did not have so-called "mandibles", just his lower jaw was covered with cheeks with horny plates growing on them, with pointed ends curving closer to the chin below the chin itself and fused with the lower lip, under which fangs were hidden, looking down, four centimeters long. That's what I understand, teeth... The lower canines were much smaller: two and a half centimeters. 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, with the little finger thicker than the index and middle fingers, and only slightly shorter than the first. 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 gray 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!" My father said with a smile. "Not a drop of fear, he immediately asks to be picked up."

"Yes, we can easily do that." Duck 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 reached out to her and was immediately taken away from Duck. The Turian laughed.

"That's right, Ray, 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 lady?" Ray cooed.

"Zhenya," 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:

"Duck."

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?" My father asked as he approached.

I smiled at him with all my twelve teeth and said:

"Misha's dad."

"Just look who's talking!"

My father said, laughing.

"I'm going to my hous!" Dr. Duck hurried on. "I need to examine my senior. Ray, let's go."

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

Chapter 2.1 This world, is everything wrong here, or is it...?

Eugene (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 does that mean? 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 "Jane" 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, Hamon (Ham) and Tamil (Tam), the sons of the same Dr. Duck, their Azari girlfriends named Vasil, the daughter of Dr. Ray, and a small Turian woman my age, Nain, the younger sister of Ham and Tam. 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. Several yoga asanas mixed with classical gymnastics and 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 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!

And once, I bend my whole body forward, leaning on my hands, and twice, in the opposite direction. After all, a girl's body is much more flexible than my past, like rubber is straight. After six months of classes, I sat down on the splits completely, sitting in the lotus position also did not cause any unpleasant sensations. In general, everything is very good so far, except for one small disadvantage: an extremely low pain threshold. But I attribute this to a child's body, and I hope it will pass with age. 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 there are a lot of us 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 rodents-backs! 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.

I asked our parents a question with my eyes wide open:

"Why is this, because Azari live a very long time and are considered adults from the age of one hundred?"

I received a very detailed response.

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 begins to develop mental abilities. 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 human.

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 vorka 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 a 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 spread my mind over 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: "As for Zhenya's name day, we baked a loaf..." 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. I am a recognized authority among our entire group, won in an unequal, from my side, of course, the Turians' struggle. Even on the first day at kindergarten, these two little 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. They recognized me as the head of the pack and calmed down (pack predators, damn!), and now with all their problems, the little ones first come to me, and then, if my solution does not suit them, to the teachers. To be honest, it bothers me beyond words....

By the way! I have two "girlfriends" here, although... they are really girlfriends. One is a Turian girl named Nain, the daughter of that very Dr. Duck. 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 Duck (or Dakar Tanir) was the chief medical officer 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 the father thundered to Duck in the infirmary, because the "Loki" infirmary was blown apart by a direct missile hit.

The second friend is Jean Batarian (full name is Gina Natol), and I met her at our ranch. Her dad is my assistant, and mine is the deputy chief engineer of the enrichment complex of the corporation. And the chief engineer at the complex is a Quarian named Tael'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 air filtration and disinfection systems, and a huge glass bay window. It stands in our village on the second street called Strawberry, and Uncle Tael, 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 being only by a slightly different knee structure, and by his feet, which have only four toes. Like humans, there are five fingers on his hands, 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 Tael's omny tool 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 turned out, neither Turians nor Quarians have any dextroamines. And the blood of all races, without exception, is red, differing only in shades and composition. Of course, all races have dietary restrictions. So my cake is universal, suitable for all races ... which, alas, does not add to its taste.

Chapter 2.1 About the races of Citadel space.

That reminds me! One day Uncle Duck 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. Ray's daughters, as it turned out, are also our neighbors. Her name is Rayan T'rann. Uncle Duck's wife's name is Kaadi, and she's a former soldier of the Black Watch, an incredibly cool woman. So, when they all came to us for the first time, my younger brother turned exactly one year old.

The first thing that caught my eye was that the Turians have FIVE fingers on their hands, not four. When I was stunned to see this miracle and, confused with excitement, asked Duck about it, the answer amazed me... In fact, male Turians also have five fingers on their hands, just the ring finger and the little finger fused together. It happened in some very ancient times, when the Turians on Palaven still lived in trees. Men mostly hunted, usually on the surface. It is impossible to determine when the mutation occurred, but the four-toed ones gained an advantage in hunting due to a stronger grip, according to the theory. Nobody knows what really happened.

The women did not come down from the trees and were mainly engaged in gathering. Therefore, women still have five fingers and toes, the fingers themselves are much longer and more mobile than men, although the foot itself is smaller. The foot of the Turians looks amazing. As far as I have seen Nain in the pool and in the pictures on the net, four fingers are looking forward, and the index and little fingers are almost the same size, thick, with powerful sharp claws, the middle and ring fingers are much shorter and with flat thick nails! The thumb is turned back, and in men, by and large, it has completely atrophied, turning into a heel. But for women, although in a heavily stripped-down version, it has been preserved, and Turians can firmly grasp a pliable surface like a tree with their foot, and even hang upside down without any harm or consequences for themselves. Nain has shown me this trick many times.

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 Koel Natol, sitting on wicker chairs in the middle of the lawn. Gina is sitting next to him, with the same 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, 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, Kol," 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 Tael, 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 the Hegemony looks at it askance."

"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."

My father came into the house, and Coel 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 Coel 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, with bonded contracts... wolfish capitalism in all its glory. I once asked him,

"Uncle Coel, 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 Barsik!" Gina came skipping up to him.

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

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

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

He loved his daughter. He loved me 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.

"Daddy! 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, Col! Your brother will need it!"

"Good luck, Michael!"

They clinked glasses. Jean is back on the porch with me, and she's drawing something on a new piece of paper again, glancing at me from time to time. Her emotions are filled with fun and some kind of... adoration. Why she treats me like this, I just don't understand.

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 Aryan. 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. Anyway, we decided to check it out. They took my blood, went to the hospital in the city, did an analysis with the construction of a model for deciphering the genetic code and got a blue-eyed blonde. We were very surprised, rechecked, and the result remained unchanged. Then Uncle Duck and Aunt Ray 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, my mother was working in a factory emergency room at the time, and while helping the injured, she also got poisoned. That's how this reagent affected 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.

"Hey, hey! Eugene! Ji-in! Let's go for a walk!" There was a loud shout from the gate. Nain was swinging on it like on a swing.

"And where will we go?" Jean asked.

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

"Come on!" I say and throw the album on the porch. Gina 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 Barsik trotting after us.

Chapter 3 It seems to be an ordinary life.

Eugene (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 fox! Take your hands off, I can't see anything under my feet! Come on! There are roots all around! Eugene! 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 your hair. They're long and soft, just for my hands!"

"No, not by the hair! Little fox, you're going to rip them all out for me!"

"And I won't rip anything out! You've got them firmly in place!" Vasil is walking next to us, blazing with merriment, listening to our bickering. For my brothers, Vaska, and for me, for some time, Vasenka. That's what I called her in the summer, when I asked my brothers to go fishing, but they didn't want to take her. 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 her. They took me with them. I've been calling her Vasenka ever since.

"Little fox, 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.

"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!"

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

"Oh, right? Are you ganging up on poor me? U-u-u! A woman's conspiracy! 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!"

"Ah-ha-ha-ha! Comedians! No circus is needed!" Vasya bursts out.

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.

We're all going on a picnic together. Everyone is my family, the whole Tanir family, Tael'Rigar, Aunt Ray with her daughter Vasil and Gina 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. Gina'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 the port of Gagarin along with Koel, right from Deniska's birthday. When they returned a couple of hours later, a tall, thin Batarian, who looked exactly like Coel, 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 unscrupulous eater of food 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 (The cats from Oleg Divov's novel "K-10" are taken as a sample.). 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 man and woman 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 paperol. 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. Next to us, continuing to giggle periodically, is Vasil, followed by Ham with Nino on his shoulders and carrying two folding chairs. Ivan sits proudly on Leshka, twirls, fidgets and periodically screams:

"But, but, the horse!" while 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.

Tam walks behind them with Gina on her shoulders, she periodically bends over to one ear of Tam, then the other, and whispers intently about something with him. Tam probably someone there who wants to order a portrait from Gina... and I can even guess whose! Yes, and the holography of the instrumentation went into use. What will they pay with, I 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 Tael are carrying a portable barbecue and a power unit to it, Vasya is carrying skewers and a huge bucket with all kinds of greens. Uncle Duck 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 dad, 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 Nain that Turians cannot swim, but only drown! So I told her that the body of any organic is lighter than water and simply cannot drown, and since the lung volume of Turians is larger than that of humans, and the bones are tubular, drowning them is generally an almost impossible event. She made it up, in general, convincingly, and then offered her help in mastering swimming. But take Nain and agree, oh how!

During my studies, I used the technique of my swimming coach from my first life. First, holding Nain by the back of her head, she taught him to lie on the water, breathing calmly, with relaxed legs and arms, then to hold his breath properly, and most importantly - to overcome fear. That's where my empathic gift came in handy! After about a month of tinkering, my smart Turian started swimming quite well, and since Turians have a small membrane between their fingers and toes, like cats, and their toes are much more mobile than humans, it's getting harder and harder for me to catch up with her in the heats. It looks like even our Azari won't be able to compete with her in this soon. When Nain began to swim well, she told her father everything, which made Uncle Duck deeply perplexed and came to the kindergarten to make sure. I'm convinced! He muttered to himself something about malicious racial stereotypes that all sorts of little red-haired men just don't notice because they don't know it! Haha, well, he's right, actually!

While the fathers are celebrating with a barbecue and tasting wine extracted from a portable refrigerator, Uncle Tael, 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 Nain, made in "made in Tael's garage". And they are made of transparent fiberglass and molded industrial sealant. We all have enough. Wes swims next to Nain just in case. I think it was Kaadi and Ray who put her up to it, the reinsurers. Ham and Tam, along with Ivan and Polkan, are chasing a big red ball through the shallow water and periodically casting pleading glances at me. Of course, silly little sister can do the unthinkable - swim! But they, the two cool older brothers, are not! Oh, the horror and the shock of the basics! I pretend not to notice these glances, and the general despondency with a hint of desperation is getting stronger from the Turians. That's enough, this is getting unbearable! I went up to her brothers and declared that I was ready to try to teach them how to swim. We will practice in the school pool early in the morning, while no one is there, so that no one interferes with us.

"Hooray!" Ham shouted and hugged me.

"Thanks!" Tam echoes him and presses me on the other side.

"Crush it!" I hiss, trapped between two Turians, and Vasyl's clear laughter echoes over the water.

"So, Eugene, squeeze more out of them!" She's a comedian, damn it, but she came up with the right idea. What would you squeeze out of them?

Four hours have passed

That's twilight. Me, Nino and Gina are sitting on the shore, on an inflatable mattress, huddled close to each other, wrapped in a big fluffy blanket. 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," Nino answers and snuggles even closer to me. I'm silent, and Gina is silent.

And it's really nice and warm! My friends' emotions are filled with joy and anticipation of the spectacle, while my father's is filled with love and caring, 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!

Booh, frrrrrrrrshhh... BANG! Ba-bah, Buh-buh, frrrrrrshhh... TADADAH! Rockets are flying and exploding.

"AAAAAAA-UUUUUUU!" 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'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 golden 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 him, radiating childish delight around him, pirouetting, bending, bouncing like an ordinary cat, behind a piece of paper on a string. At the same time, he periodically stealthily glances in my direction, but isn't his little two-legged friend tired of this occupation? No, I'm not tired! Um-rya! And my supercat rushes on.

Gina is sitting next to me with her usual sketchbook on her lap, drawing. The whole family moved from the city to our village, Uncle Coel'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 Ray 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 Gina 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!

My memory went on in spurts. Here I see Gina, jumping off the fence and screeching on the verge of ultrasound, running away to her 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 Bars is sitting on a branch next to me 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 Coel looks out.

"Eugene?" He says softly. "Eugene, where are you?

"I'm here," I hiss back, "in a tree, Uncle Kol."

"What's wrong with your voice?"

"I don't know!"

"What scared you?"

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

"Who is IT?!"

"Well, this one, snuffle(Magnaflesheter (Snufl) is a medium-sized scavenger predator on Mendoir. In addition to its creepy appearance, it is almost not dangerous for adults, due to its slowness and stupidity. 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.)!"

"Snufle 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, snuffle had almost reached the intersection in the center of the village, and Naina jumped out to meet him! When she saw the creature, the girl somehow crouched down, screamed and with incredible speed, gnashing her claws on the smooth bark, climbed up a tree growing in the middle of the intersection, only the leaves fell down.

Snufl froze in indecision, Uncle Coel 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! Come on, get down, Zhenya."

"Now," I croaked, and began to unclench my clenched fingers. I was still shaking a little.

When I passed by the neighbor's house, the door opened, and Gina looked out from behind the jamb.

"Zhen!" she asked in a whisper. "Where's the 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 the snufle. There is a heavy smell of the beast and some kind of rotten meat coming from the creature. Barsik, ears flattened, walks around the creature on bent paws in a circle. Uncle Coel 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 Coel states the fact. He walks up to the tree and raises his head. "Nain, are you there? Nain, get off, I killed him. Do you hear me?"

In response, only rustles are heard, no response, no greetings.

"Zhen," he says, "get down after her, it looks like she's too scared."

He lifts me up and I start climbing the tree. Closer to the top, I see Nain, clutching the trunk, squeezing her eyes shut and trembling slightly.

"Nin," I whisper, "Ni-in, what are you doing?"

I touch her hand. She shudders and opens her eyes, horror reigns in her emotions.

"Ze-en," she says in a trembling voice, "where is this one?" She closes her eyes again. "That awful, scary, huge one?"

"He's lying dead down there, and Uncle Kol shot him with a carbine."

"Is he really dead?"

"Exactly, exactly. I saw it myself. Let's get off."

"Can I stay here a little longer?"

"No, you can't, you'll freeze, it's already autumn. Come on, you coward," I whisper.

"She's a coward herself!" Nain whispers back. "But I'm scared!"

She's still trembling, but she's already starting to slowly climb down from the tree. Uncle Coel picks us up at the bottom, and Nain hides behind me and stares at the dead snuffle.

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

"That's right, baby," Uncle Coel replies. "I'm going to get dressed, otherwise I'm walking around in sneakers! Hehe, that must be a sight."

In the evening, my father told me about how Snufl got into 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 Koel and Aunt Kaadi, but she was asleep because she was pregnant again. Uncle Coel, 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 Snufla, who had entered the village. They find it funny, but I've never been so scared in both my lives! And the girls 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 Coel said.

Chapter 4.1 On the issue of Turian buoyancy... And I almost got burned.

Eugene (Mendoir, December 2358)

Surprises for Christmas

December 24, 6:00 a.m.

I'm doing gymnastics in front of the window, and snow is falling outside from large, soft and fluffy snowflakes. In my previous life, I didn't like winter, but now I adore it. 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 it's always light here, 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 races of space, just a holiday without pauses! I'll probably see you sometime.... At the intersection, my parents, with our common children's help, built an ice town, a spiral slide around a tree, and ice statues (Tael'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. 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 he 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 learn how to swim. I promised, now I have to do it! Things are going badly, the brothers can't cope with fear in any way, it's hard for them to overcome their instincts. Nain seemed to be shallow, and she trusted me very much, so things went quickly with her, but it was hard with the brothers. Uncle Duck looks at this case, travels with us, keeps a journal. In general, normal scientific work, as he says, whether I can overcome the Turian nature or not. If I can, he'll send the job to Palaven, let the others have a headache. Nain also travels with us, trains and works as a living example. Since it's the holidays, we'll return home after the pool, we need to read the assignment for the holidays, and practice with the girls in the "base".

Since mid-November, we have been taught languages. I thought it would be like in a previous life: the teacher talks, and we repeat... but no! They brought him to a room with comfortable upholstered chairs, sat him down, put soft hats with a thick harness connected to them on his head, and opaque glasses on his eyes. We're all sitting, waiting. Suddenly, there's a carousel of colored spots, symbols, and other incomprehensible nonsense in my glasses, and my head itches strangely. We sat there for about ten minutes, admired the pictures, and it was all over. We returned to the group, the teachers started talking to us... and suddenly I realized that they were not speaking Russian, but everything was clear. I asked Rien, how does this happen? And she replied that we had a mind mentoring session. An armchair with a cap and glasses is a mnemograph, a device for recording information directly into the brain. And we'll be friends with him until graduation, and many of us after that. We've already had two sessions, and we've received a school course in Russian and basic Galactic, so we're writing and reading freely now. Although I knew Russian well enough, I now realize that my knowledge has improved. There are more languages to choose from, I'm leaning towards an English course to consolidate, and additionally choose between Turian and Asari. In our day, such a device would be a fairy tale, not a study. I just need to fix what I've received so that it doesn't get forgotten, but I don't have that problem.

More dreams have come! Very realistic, strange, sometimes amazing, sometimes scary, in which I see places where I've definitely never been. 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 trees are appearing like ghosts! Suddenly, I find myself in our village, strangely quiet and deserted. I'm walking past the Tanirs' house, and the Dakar flyer is parked, covered in leaves, and Ham's bike is covered in dirt and dust, despite the fact that Ham is a terrible cleaner in life, and his bike always sparkles. I see Naina's hefty, once snow-white teddy bear, given to her by my father, now gray with dirt, lying in the dust by the path, staring with its blue glass eyes at the misty sky. It's amazing, she never takes him out of her room! Ray's house is opposite, it's locked, the shutters are closed, and the red hologram of the castle is on. 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. The 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. Rigard'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 quiet, 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 kulman 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 screaming 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 Ray that I overheard that day. It was Sunday, and the whole family was at home, and my father, as always, was sitting in his office kulman. 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 compote and found the beginning of a conversation at the locked door.

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

"Ray! She scares me! Sometimes it seems to me that she is not a child! Someone else, an adult, is looking at me from her eyes! You know, a four-year-old girl 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! You do remember that she has an absolute memory, don't you?"

"Yes, I remember. What does that have to do with it?"

"And besides! She doesn't forget anything. He just remembers everything! Every day, every hour, every minute of your life! Just imagine yourself in her shoes. Remember everything!"

"Oh my God, Ray! This is terrible!"

"Plus, you know she's an empath! She feels us all, all our feelings, every emotion, yes with her memory!"

"Ray! It's just a nightmare! How did she not lose her mind?"

"She's been like this since she was born! He doesn't know any other life. It's normal for her."

If only that were so! That's the thing, I know! And that makes it even more bitter. My family found out about me being an empath about six months ago. Then my parents quarreled, I don't know for what reason. Only I, who was sitting in my room, suddenly felt such a wave of emotions: anger, resentment, even hatred! It hurt me! I rushed downstairs, my parents were standing in the living room and silently looked at each other, pouring this emotional cocktail all around! Standing between them, I began to ask them in a low voice to stop, I said that I could feel everything, and it was hurting me. As a result, she sat down on the carpet and just burst into tears. They rushed to me, hugged me, and questioned me. Sobbing, I buried my face in my father's chest and told him all about memory and empathy! Confusion and anxiety mixed in the feelings of the parents, the father whispered softly:

"I need to tell Ray, see if she can help."

But Ray couldn't help, she was stunned by the news.

"No, Ray, that's not okay! This is really, really not okay, Ray! My poor daughter! She sat at breakfast today and looked at us as if she couldn't see enough, as if we were all going to disappear, and there was such longing in her eyes...."

"Maybe something happened to her, Diane? Have you even asked her? Maybe I had a dream about some kind of trash!"

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

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

"I had a terrible dream, Mom!"

"Tell us about him," Ray said.

She told them about her dream, ended it almost in a whisper, and said she 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. Ray sits there, frowning, looking at me with sadness.

"You're a Seer, Zhenya..." Ray says softly.

"The Seer?" Mom snapped.

"Our people occasionally have those who can see the future. Their visions are vague and often contradictory, but they learn to benefit from their dreams as they age. They warn others about the dangers that threaten them, and they also have extremely developed intuition, that's what they are called Seers."

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

"It's not enough for you, my little one, your memory with empathy, but also this trash! Who in heaven doesn't love you so much that they put all this on you? I hug her back, snuggle closer and say to myself: "I know who, but I won't tell you, Mommy, I'll never tell you, this burden is not for your shoulders. I will carry this load myself." Well, I got gifts from the "voice"... either gifts or curses!

I hear the terminal chirping, and I come out of my memories. 6:45 a.m., the Tanirs will arrive in 15 minutes, and go to the pool to teach Ham and Tam to swim.

Finally, things have moved forward! I swam there, cautiously so far, not swimming into the depths, but already quite confidently. Ham, looking at such a case, seemed to redouble his efforts, gritting his teeth, and periodically I heard him whisper lying on his back:

"I'm not afraid, I'm not afraid..."

Uncle Duck was scribbling on his datapad, taking pictures with his camera, talking into it, puffing around with concern mixed with surprise and delight. I swam up to Ham, put my hand under his head and began to calm the guy down in a quiet, even voice.

"Ham, calm down, relax. You're stressed, so you can't just lie on the water. Listen to my voice, I'll try to help you..." oh, for the umpteenth time!

"Do you remember when we went fishing in the summer?"

"Is that when you set Vaska on the brothers? Of course, you can't forget that!" Ham burst out laughing.

"Yes. Do you remember how we used to lie on the shore in the grass and look at the clouds and figure out what they looked like?"

"Yeah, I remember! You also named the animals of the earth, and everyone wondered how you knew so many of them."

"Here. And now - close your eyes! Closed it?"

"Yes, I did."

"Remember that day. Imagine that you are lying on the grass and looking at the deep blue sky, clouds are floating across it...."

The guy relaxed, his emotions became calm, his arms and legs floated and swayed on the surface.

"I imagined, here's one that looks like... what's his name... and I remembered, an elephant!"

"Well done! How do you feel now?"

I asked, but I knew perfectly well that there was serenity and peace in Ham's feelings. I held his head with my fingertips, and he quietly swam after me in the shallow water of the pool.

"Eugene," Ham whispered, "Little fox!" It's like I'm flying, it's so cool!"

"You're not flying, Ham, you're floating."

"Am I swimming?!"

"You're sailing, Ham, you're sailing."

Then I was overwhelmed by such a strong feeling of delight, and it was as if a string inside me was stretched and snapped with a thin tinkle. I felt an answering feeling of wild, uncontrollable joy rising from inside me. I laughed out loud, Nain was laughing and shouting next to me, whistling and hooting.

"Little fox, let's go deep," Ham said softly.

"Won't you be scared?"

"I'm not afraid anymore, I'm not afraid at all, Zhenya!"

Ham turned over in the water and not quite skillfully, snorting and splashing water, swam to the deep part of the pool. I rushed to catch up with him, because if he gets scared again, it will be difficult for me to get him out. Damn, he's crazy! I caught up with him just above the very depth, he lowered his face into the water and lay on the water like that. Diving under it, I saw a look of blue eyes full of delight, looking down into the depths of the water. Ham looked at me, smiling. I swam close, basking in the feeling of delight and gratitude of the young Turian. She surfaced next to him, and Ham looked up, snorted, and smiled.

"It's so beautiful, Little Fox, it's... it's so great to swim! Almost like flying!"

"Let's swim to the exit, Ham. You've had enough for today."

"Whatever you say, Zhen."

After getting out of the pool, I came across Dakar's thoughtful gaze, the doctor's emotions were calm and, it seems, doomed. She walked up to him and, looking into his bright blue eyes, asked:

"Uncle Duck, I did it! Do you see?"

"Yes, Zhenya, I see it! And I also see that your experience cannot be shared."

"Why?"

"Because I know of no other empaths, neither among humans, nor Asari, nor, especially, among Turians. I haven't even heard of their existence, and you alone can't teach an entire race."

"But the guys overcame their fear on their own! I only helped them!"

"No, Zhenya, not by yourself! It was you who defeated their fear, you and no one else. The device showed it clearly."

"And what should I do next? I thought this experience could be useful to all Turians... But it turns out that he is useless. I can't teach you all!"

"No, you can't. And don't. It's enough that you taught my boys and Nain. And all the others... Well, our race has never been able to swim, and I think it will continue to live without this skill. I will not send the report. He'll only draw unnecessary attention to you. Let's go home, Zhenya."

When they returned, the whole group went to the Tanir's house. Nain rushed to Kaadi from the doorway, barely taking off her shoes.

"Mom, Mommy! She did it, she did it! They swam both Hame and There, it's so cool! Really, Mommy?!"

"Really, honey," Kaadi came out into the hallway and looked at us curiously. "Children, can I congratulate you on your success?"

At the same time, the Tamil assumed a proud pose, like a Roman senator, folded his arms on his chest and, looking into space, declared:

"Yes, Mother, I have learned to swim!"

Ham just went up to his mother and, looking at her with completely happy eyes, said in a low voice:

"Mommy, this is just great! It's like flying, I just don't know how to tell you how I feel! You spread your arms and fly, and there's a blue distance below, and it's so easy...."

Kaadi hugged her eldest son, pressed her cheek to his head and said,

"Good boy, son."

"It's not me, Mom, it's all her, our Zhenya!"

We are sitting at the kitchen table, drinking erg (a kind of Turian fruit tea) with buns. Kaadi looks lovingly at us all, devouring rolls with both cheeks, and at the gloomy, thoughtful Dakar, frozen like a statue with a bun in one hand and a cup of erg in the other, staring into space with unseeing blue eyes.

"Have you made a report, Dakar?"

Dakar shuddered, focused his gaze on his wife and answered in a low voice.

"Yes, Kaadi, but it's pointless to send it."

"Why?"

"Because we don't have another Eugenia Shepard. Neither with us, nor with anyone else. And without her, the whole idea is a waste of time. I decided not to draw the attention of our hierarchs, or even the Asari matriarchs, to her. If the information comes out (and it will!)... this is not at all what Zhenya needs now, or in the future either."

"Won't she leave here?"

"I don't think so, but just in case, I'll talk to Reyan and Mikhail. Well, it's worth connecting Tael, he's a great master at hiding various information out of the blue."

"You know best, Duck. Do as you see fit."

Kaadi looked at me with an unusual warm feeling:

"Thank you, baby, you're a smart girl."

I was so embarrassed, I think I even blushed....

"Come on, nonsense! You're friends, and we do everything we can for friends. That's what my daddy says."

"A good life credo! Stick with him!" Duck says and runs his hand through my hair.

The doorbell rings from the hallway, and Ham and Tam get up from the table and run into the hallway. There is a hissing of doors and Deniska's loud voice.

"Well? Is there a movement?"

"Otherwise! We've learned, both of us!" A Tamil voice is heard.

"Honestly?" It's already Leshkin's voice. "Well, the beauties! Ah-ah-ah! Well done! Take five, bro!"

clapping of hands and loud friendly laughter of four guys can be heard. Thin arms wrap around her neck, and Nain's hard, hot cheek is pressed against her cheek:

"Let's go to my room and have a chat at the Basik. I need to practice, that's what Rien says. Are you coming?"

"Yes, let's go."

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. So 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. I thought that maybe everything would still work out, well, there can't just be bad things in life!

Haymon gave me a great 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 picked up the handle, though it grew, but it was quite in my hand. Kaadi 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. There is no need to explain what will happen to the same snuff 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 completely. 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.

Eugene (Mendoir, June 2360)

The Hectic Year (part one)

June 10, 6:00 a.m.

I do gymnastics by the window in my room, Deniska does 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 morning. 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. Four 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 - Ham has come! Now the boys will run away for the morning cross-country, five kilometers along the forest paths. My best friends, rivals, and ringleaders of all the pranks in the town are my siblings and sworn brothers. They are standing, laughing, flashing white smiles in the morning sun. The gate slammed, they ran away.

I sit cross-legged in the middle of the room, placing a box of colored glass balls in front of me. A small emotional shield banishes morning languor, makes the mind clear and clean. Reaching out with consciousness to the stream of power spread around, the dark stream penetrates into consciousness, fills the body with a hum, makes the nerves ring like strings, a barely visible blue-green halo flashes around the body. I look at the balloons, making them fly up one by one and circle around the room. Now all the balls are spinning around me, coiling into a spiral. The main thing is to stay focused. I carefully monitor my feelings for each of them, a moment of loss of concentration can result in all the balls falling to the floor. And yes, I am a biotic after all... and this is on my long-suffering head.

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. The girls and I were sitting in the courtyard, Gina and I with albums, on folding chairs, and Nain, hugging a Bars and a Polkan, right on the grass. We had a plein air - our artist and I painted Nain from life. Although the difference between my work and Gina's is like the difference between propaganda posters and Raphael's work. I just got a Turian girl hugging a cat and a dog, and Gina's looks like they're alive, just frozen for a moment: the 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 the folder, 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 crash on top of him, and it was scary to even think about how it might end!

For the past six months, somewhere on the edge of my perception, I noticed something incomprehensible, strange, some kind of hazy dark haze, which clearly smelled of something incredibly ancient and powerful. It all went through my head in a split second. Horrified, I jumped out of my chair, knocking it over, and reached for that haze, which in response reached out to me, touched me... Pain shot through my nerves, it seemed as if a mighty, rumbling stream rushed inside me, my whole body was filled with strength, it seemed to me that I could lift the whole house!

I held out my arms, and they shone faintly but clearly, even in the light of day, with a blue-green light. She pushed this force from herself to her father, who was pressed back together with the glass. The father did not lose his head, snapped the locks back on and took a deep breath. I could clearly feel his relief. The force continued to seethe in me, demanding an outlet, and I, not knowing what to do next, pushed it into the sky. A roaring stream of power hit the clouds from me, and a clearly visible circular gap began to form in them. The flow went on and on, and with it the pain grew, when it became unbearable, the flow somehow thinned and dried up. I screamed in pain 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.

"My daughter! Hold on, my little one!" 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 she was unconscious for a short time. When I woke up, I felt myself being carried in my arms, my father's cheek with the hairs of stubble clearly visible loomed before my eyes, my father was filled with fear and despair. He was coming up the stairs to my room, and I could hear my mother's sobbing voice and Ray's alarmed voice coming 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."

Dad pressed his lips to my cheek,

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

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

"And she was glowing all over, just like Vasya in biotics training!" This is Nino.

"And she dispersed the clouds!" Gina again. "You're a biotic too, I guess, but I've never heard of them being able to disperse clouds!"

"Be quiet, you babblers!" My father hissed at 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 daughter."

"I'm sorry, Daddy, I didn't mean to!" I whispered back. He 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 could hear the words through the crying.

"Also this! As if it's not enough for you... it's not enough for someone out there... Oh my God, oh my God! My daughter, my little daughter..."

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. Well, that's what it's all about for them! It's like some kind of ass, the further you go, the darker it gets!.. I felt sleepy, and I blacked out.

In my sleep, I heard a quiet conversation between Ray 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, Ray, she's a biotic, she's about to get an implant! And they're so imperfect, they have side effects all the time."

"Why does she need an implant?"

"What for? They put them on all biotics!"

"Not at all! Implants are needed to improve memory and concentration, so that the biotic can better control his strength. But Zhenya doesn't need either for nothing, she has her own best."

"But that's right. 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 biotics of people."

"Really! How she clouds something!.. I still can't believe it, what kind of force did she create?!"

"I've only read about it, only Ardat Yakshas were capable of impulses of such power."

"What a horror! Is she by any chance?.."

"Calm down, Dayan! She's a human being! There are no Ardat yakshas among people."

"That's how it is! But still, it's kind of scary...."

"Calm down, my friend, let's go have some tea rather than sit here!"

"Peace is her best medicine right now."

"But..."

"No buts! Remember, she's an empath!"

"Oh, that's right! Let's go."

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

"Sleep my little one, get well soon."

I woke up suddenly, and my body felt increasingly uncomfortable. I looked up at the bedside table - it was 5:00 on the small alarm clock. Wow! I did it well, for as long as twelve hours in a row! However, the discomfort was getting worse. I pushed back the blanket, hmm, my hands seem to be working. She noticed that I wasn't wearing anything, so she 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.... 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 Daddy, with all its desire, will not be able to sleep in the chair, and the sleeper got into it with his legs.

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

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

"No, it's an old Vorka 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, saw me, and, most importantly, my "suit", stopped, as if he had run into a wall, turned away, his ears and neck darkened, his emotions were filled with embarrassment and for some reason shame.

"Disha, what are you doing? Is this the first time you've seen me like this?"

"Eugene! I'm going to get our mom now!"

"Stop, you idiot! She probably stayed up half the night, and you're going to wake her up! Don't you dare, go ahead and carry it yourself. Moreover, while you're running, I'll flood the bed! Well, hurry up!"

My brother, red as a boiled mud crab, and with great embarrassment in his feelings, quietly picked me up and carried me to my private bathroom. He brought me in, sat me down, and I immediately began to fall over, my brother immediately stopped being embarrassed, anxiety and fear flared up in my feelings, knelt in front of me, took me by the shoulders and straightened my roll.

"Is that okay, Little Fox? 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 me 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, Little Fox? We were all so scared for you! Ham, as soon as he heard, he even fell off his bike, he was in such a hurry to get to you."

I smiled,

"Daddy is Ham."

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

"Don't, Dishia. After all, Vaska will torture him. And Nino and Gina won't stay away!"

"Whatever you say, sis."

My brother leaned over and kissed me on the temple:

"Go back to sleep! Ray 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 face 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.

"Eugene!" and children's arms wrap around my neck. "Are you awake yet?" Junior 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 and pulls out a pair of swimming trunks and a light sundress. 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 never woke up, the eldest 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, even if 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, Eugene?!"

"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. 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 I fed Zhenya!"

"Hi, Mom," I say softly.

She doesn't say anything, just comes up to me, squats down and hugs me, I snuggle up 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 Zhenya!"

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.

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

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

"Oh, don't tell me, sweetheart! And there's a hole in an old woman, as they say! I owe you my life now, daughter!"

"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. I feel like I want to go out in the sun, sit in an armchair and bask. I tell my father about it. He takes me out into the courtyard, sits me down in a chair. I'm sitting and basking in the greenish rays of our star. There is peace all around, our tree is quietly rustling its leaves, whistles are squeaking in the branches. Insects are flying with a loud buzz. There is a clanging sound from the neighboring plot, it's Uncle Coel 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.

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

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

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

"Gina! Ginaa! Come here, Eugene is in the yard."

Gina 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.

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

"Well, almost! If you don't get off me, I'll fall, and it's still hard for me to get up."

Gina recoiled and blushed deeply.

"I'm sorry, Zhenya! I was very happy about it! 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 rammed the raid and disappeared into the house.

Coel strapped a plastic grass tank to the lawn mower, checked the battery charge, flipped the switch, and the lawn mower rattled its knives softly. 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, Eugene? Will I be able to make... what's his name... an English lawn?"

"Uncle Kol, but according to the British, any lawn becomes "English" if it has been regularly mowed for two hundred years. The British themselves say so."

"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 Coel smiled, returned my bow, turned on the mower and, whistling, continued his interrupted occupation.

Gina slowly came out of the Natol's 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, beaming, Gagarin! 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 a juice for Eugene! 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, Ginny! You are a true 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 "ground berries", large berries that grow 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 micronutrient cocktail." The local Azari called it "The Gift of the Goddess."

I hear heavy breathing on my right, I see our bear, a shaggy monster, sitting, looking at me, breathing fast, tongue hanging sideways. I must have been hunting again, and there's a happy face. For some reason, I don't feel well as a dog, 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, he squeezed his eyes shut, and I could faintly 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: "Haven't you 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.

She holds a sketchbook and pencils in her 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 watched 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, the cold tip of her nose was pressed into my neck, I felt a slight bite on my shoulder and a hot, slightly rough tongue went through the same place. 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! And yet! Promise me you won't die! You are close to me, in my heart!"

I turn my head and meet Nain's blue-blue eyes, like Dakar's. It flashed through my mind that Turians have bites and such licking is a manifestation of very tender feelings! Only between relatives! And close. And the last phrase is an appeal only to a brother or sister. I look into her eyes and answer in the same low voice in the same Turian:

Jane promised, Nainerr Taanir, that she would do everything so that her eyes would not see Eugene's death. "You, cherished by my heart!"

Nain beamed, snuggled up to me, bit me softly again, and sat down next to the chair on the grass, leaning against the hot side of the couch.

He's here! He wrapped me up with his feelings like a warm terry blanket, he's the only sensible person in the village. A four-fingered hand touches my shoulder, the other one strokes the redhead, the cat calmly puts his head under the caress. He is squatting on his haunches, anxiously looking at me with his sky-light blue eyes.

"I heard what you said to Nain" a soft voice in Turian.

"Do you want me to say the same words to you, Ham?"

"Yes, I do! Will you tell me?"

"You're close to me in my heart," and I look straight into Ham's light-blue eyes. I lean into his face and whisper. "Daddy Ham!"

In response, there is joy in emotions.

"I have heard you, cherishing you with my heart! My sworn sister," He sits down on the grass next to the armchair. He looks in front of him, continuing to stroke the Bars. We sit in silence for a while. The meaning of what happened slowly dawns on me. Turians make such decisions with the whole family.

"When will the parents come there? And when did you decide?"

"At night. Yesterday, we all suddenly realized that you mean much more to us than just neighbors and friends. The rest is empty. Everyone agreed. And they're coming any minute now."

"It's unexpected, but very pleasant! So now I have two more brothers, two sisters, and a couple of caring parents to boot. I'm rich!"

"Just like me!" He takes my hand in his. How warm his hand is...

Kaadi and Dakar enter the gate, with Saleen, the youngest of the Tanirs, born on January 20th last year, waddling next to them. The little one sees Polkan and runs to him with a squeak, sits astride, hugs him. That's it, now he'll be sitting on our dog for at least an hour.

Mom stands on the porch and looks at Kaadi coming up to her, holding a glass of juice in her hands, a smile on her lips. He goes down the stairs, puts an unfinished glass on the top, turns around. Kaadi approaches, takes his mother's right hand in his left hand, covers it with his right hand, leans close and says something. Mom's amazement is visible to the naked eye, her left hand is pressed to her chest, and her emotions are a real storm. It's not every day that Turians make such an offer to people... I don't think I've ever heard of it. Although, of course, they don't shout about this on all corners. Mom tilted her head to the left, tears glistened in her eyes, she hugged Kaadi and whispered something in response, there is no doubt that!

"Did I miss something?" Deniska's voice came from the left. He was already sitting on the grass next to Ham.

Nain got up, walked around the chair and hugged her brother, whispered a phrase in his ear, Ham bent down and repeated it after his sister. Denis sat in silence for a few seconds, just clapped his eyes wide open.

"Are you serious about this?" emotions are in turmoil. He just can't believe it!

Turians look serious.

"This is not a joke, brother!" I say. "What do you say?"

He hugs Nain tighter, bends down and hugs Ham with his other arm:

"I hear you! Those close to me! Cherished by my heart!" the brother whispers a ritual phrase in Turian. I watch as Dakar approaches Mom, the ritual repeats, but Mom continues to stand, pressed against the Turian's chest. He raises his head and looks intently into each other's eyes. I read lips:

"Thank you, brother!" Mom speaks in Russian.

His father, Leshka and Vanka come out from behind the house, his father has a folding table in his hands, Leshka has two folding chairs, Ivan, puffing, drags another one. Seeing the gathering on the lawn, the father smiled broadly. Slightly surprised, Kaadi approached him, ran her hand over his cheek, bent down... The table that had fallen out of his father's hands clattered loudly. Her father took Kaadi by the shoulders and fixed his gaze on her face. He looked at her for a few seconds, smiled broadly at her, hugged her, and answered. Then he pulled away, walked up to Dakar, the men held each other's forearms, looked into each other's eyes, said the ritual phrase softly, and then hugged tightly. Nino broke away from Deniska and skipped over to Leshka, who put down the chairs and bent down. Nain hugged his neck, his brother straightened up and picked up the girl, she bent over to his ear ... from what she heard, Leshka's eyes became - well, just like an anime character. He hugged the Turian tightly, answered, and just stood there for another minute, hugging Nain tightly.

"Have you forgotten about me?" a clear voice from the right. I turn around and meet Tam's shining green eyes. Behind all this, Coel watched with a smile, barely hiding his delight. And Gina, who manages to sketch something in an album with incredible speed. Then Ray and Vaska came, and Azari gave me a box of glass balls, saying that this was the best simulator for a beginner biotic.

In the evening, I heard my parents talking in the kitchen.

"Mishka! Is everything going to work out for us! Is this whole multi-species colony thing really going to work?"

"Yes, Dayan! Now I'm absolutely sure of it!"

"You were right! You're right! It's a pity that my father doesn't see it. All his arguments would have been shattered in dust!"

"Contact Steve, let him bring the old people to visit, and he hasn't come for a long time! My best friend completely forgot about me."

It looks like my dad is at the origin of the colony. So it's not easy! I'll have to ask him and the other seniors about it!

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, and the brothers are lying on the grass with their arms outstretched. Deniska's skin glistens with sweat.

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

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

"Look, Eugene is looking at us!"

"We see you, Little Fox!"

I look at the vacationing brothers, and an amazing meeting that took place last June comes back to my mind. A meeting that finally set the record straight, gave me amazing knowledge, taught me how to control my empathy, and allowed me to feel this world much more deeply. I realized with all doom that I would have to face a living nightmare... the Reapers!

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

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Аннотация: A man is reborn in the body of Jane Shepard. Childhood on Mendoir and the hero's youth on Nimble Badger and Earth. Army.

Yagger Path book 1 Jane

Yagger
Path book 1 Jane