Крип / Kryp: Эпилог

"Years," Fidus repeated. "But I can't lose so much time..."

Camrad_RIP 29.12.21 в 20:52

"Yes," Lazar shrugged, "Or you could. How much did your father search for? Without succeeding, by the way. If your terrible enemies exist, they've been lurking, like parasites, in the body of the Imperium for decades, perhaps centuries. An extra year, two, ten, or half a century will not destroy the House of the Emperor... perhaps. But it will give you experience, wisdom, strength, and the opportunity to finally make the secret visible, to bring it out of the shadows into the light. And when we are done with my case, I will help you as you will help me now. Two inquisitors in a relentless search are better than one."

Camrad_RIP 29.12.21 в 20:51

"What if I don't agree? If I don't want to waste my time and am willing to take the risk?"

Camrad_RIP 29.12.21 в 20:56

"The door is right behind you. My courier ship will take you anywhere you want to go."

Camrad_RIP 29.12.21 в 21:02

"Can I..." Fidus gasped, coughed, and shook his head as if pushing a lump of hot air down his throat. "Count on any help? Little help, at least?"

Camrad_RIP 30.12.21 в 08:44

"Kryptman," Lazar grimaced. "Don't haggle. You are not in church, and I do not absolve the Emperor for a modest donation. I have a great responsibility on my shoulders. And a great debt, which, alas, only I can bear. Your value to me is only in the fact that you are more familiar with this feeling than anyone else. And in the fact that you have good skills that I can sharpen for my tasks. A less experienced specialist or acolyte is of no use to me. A more experienced and promising inquisitor will show excessive initiative or simply interfere, considering the search useless. I gave you the terms. You either agree or you don't. Make up your mind."

Camrad_RIP 30.12.21 в 08:49

Kryptman stood silently and strode up a winding path between work shelves, piled files of old reports, drawers of uncertain functionality with half-erased symbols on the painted wood and metal with rust spots.

Camrad_RIP 30.12.21 в 08:49

"Again," Fidus stopped and turned to his interlocutor, snapping his fingers. "We're on your... case. To a victorious conclusion, long and dedicated. Just the two of us."

Camrad_RIP 30.12.21 в 08:50

"Yes."

Camrad_RIP 29.12.21 в 21:03

"And after that, we do my case. Just as persistently and selflessly. With all your resources."

Camrad_RIP 30.12.21 в 08:50

"Yes."

Camrad_RIP 29.12.21 в 21:03

"And I risk dying long before then. Or end my life in a fruitless search for something that doesn't exist."

Camrad_RIP 30.12.21 в 08:51

"Yes," Wimpfen repeated for the third time. "My enemy exists. But, of course, it is likely that our lives will not be enough to expose him."

Camrad_RIP 29.12.21 в 21:04

Kryptman sighed heavily and wanted to say something, but Lazar beat him to it by speaking softly:

Camrad_RIP 30.12.21 в 08:51

"Take your time, my friend. I'm giving you a choice. And you'll get a lot if you go my way. A lot. But there's no turning back or taking a step out of the way. Rest assured, I have many ways to make you respect our treaty, should it come to pass. So choose wisely."

Camrad_RIP 30.12.21 в 08:52

"Yes..." Fidus sighed again. "Why is everything always so complicated?"

Camrad_RIP 30.12.21 в 08:53

"And everything seemed simple and clear before, didn't it?" Wimpfen smiled. "Alas, when you're fighting shadows, you have to descend into darkness and fight with a blindfold on. To know your enemy and to fight him face to face is a luxury we rarely have."

Camrad_RIP 30.12.21 в 08:54

"Compromises, contracts, step backwards to make two forwards."

Camrad_RIP 29.12.21 в 21:04

"Oh, if only it were that simple," the old man smiled again. "But I guess you've already understood how we work. The rest is a matter of practice."

Camrad_RIP 30.12.21 в 08:55

"Who is our enemy?" Fidus asked, stressing the word "our," and Lazar shook his head slightly to indicate his acceptance of his young colleague's choice.

Camrad_RIP 30.12.21 в 08:55

"To your right, in that locker over there," Wimpfen pointed. "The top sheet is on the red folder."

Camrad_RIP 30.12.21 в 08:56

Kryptman spun a drawing depicting a gray-and-white skull with eyes. The deadhead was divided in half by a vertical line, the colors alternating symmetrically on either side of the line-white eye with a black pupil, the black eye with a white pupil, and so on. On the forehead of the skull were two ones, and above the top hung a typical star like a spiky wheel. Not... no, not your typical star. It took Fidus a moment or two to realize there were ten rays, not eight. Kryptman looked questioningly at Wimpfen.

Camrad_RIP 30.12.21 в 08:57

"Skull and Eleven? Malal? The false god of Chaos?"

Camrad_RIP 29.12.21 в 21:07

"Yes, that's right."

Camrad_RIP 29.12.21 в 21:08

"Malal does not exist," said Fidus glumly, clearly regretting having agreed to participate with Lazar in his crusade.

Camrad_RIP 30.12.21 в 08:57

"Well, why not," Wimpfen said with a touch of irony. "Anything abstract can be real, one way or another. For instance, I'm sure you've never seen the Emperor. But He is."

Camrad_RIP 30.12.21 в 08:58

Fidus automatically blessed himself with an aquila, releasing the sheet. The disappointment on the young inquisitor's face was becoming clearer and clearer.

Camrad_RIP 30.12.21 в 08:59

"God of apostates, renegades, dissidents," continued Wimpfen, who seemed genuinely amused by his colleague's reaction. "He exists only to the extent that one is willing to believe in him. But you're right."

Camrad_RIP 30.12.21 в 09:00

With unexpected ease, Lazar stood up, and Fidus marveled at how quickly and easily the old inquisitor moved, looking like a mummy in a spacesuit.

Camrad_RIP 30.12.21 в 09:00

"Yes, you're right. My enemy is too clever to hide. Instead, he hides in plain sight. He pretends to be a single leaf in a huge forest."

Camrad_RIP 30.12.21 в 09:00

Wimpfen walked over to Fidus and leaned over for the drawing. He held the sheet in his hands with an expression of concentrated, aged hatred on his wrinkled face.

Camrad_RIP 30.12.21 в 09:01

"Who is he?" Kryptman asked.

Camrad_RIP 30.12.21 в 09:01

Wimpfen was silent for a while, looking at Fidus questioningly, as if deciding whether he was worthy of sharing the secrets. Then he spoke:

Camrad_RIP 30.12.21 в 09:02

"Many years ago an agent of mine was killed. You'd think, what's so surprising about that? Unpleasant, yes. Kind of humiliating, yes. But that's our trade. Inquisitors, alas, die often, acolytes - constantly and in plenty. But there was one strange moment..."

Camrad_RIP 29.12.21 в 21:09

Wimpfen folded the sheet neatly, his eyes fixed on Kryptman, but Fidus could have sworn that the old man was looking through his interlocutor, into the distant past.

Camrad_RIP 29.12.21 в 21:09

He was a novice acolyte and was engaged in an equally small, insignificant case that suited his qualifications perfectly. The usual beginner's coaching before he began his more specialized training. Enemies of his level would have used the traditional weapons - poison, knife, bullet, gag, torture to death, and so on. But the agent was killed in a terrifying, sophisticated way that indicated great mastery of witchcraft practices. Before he lost his mind completely, the poor man managed to utter two words. Only two. I assumed that the agent had accidentally touched something bigger and had fallen prey to it. I began to search. At first, to retaliate against those who dared to kill a servant of the Emperor, however small and insignificant. And then in earnest...

Camrad_RIP 29.12.21 в 20:39

Wimpfen smiled crookedly and ran his fingertips over the IV tube.

Camrad_RIP 29.12.21 в 20:40

"After the first assassination attempt."

Camrad_RIP 29.12.21 в 20:37

The old inquisitor's eyes remained cold.

Camrad_RIP 29.12.21 в 20:40

"Yeah, exactly the first one?" Fidus remarked, not so much asking as affirming.

Camrad_RIP 29.12.21 в 20:40

"Definitely. My enemies have nothing. No name, no nickname. Just symbols they use from time to time to cover their tracks. The sign of a false deity and an equally false star. I suppose they're scattered crumbs that lead down a false trail. A mockery of me."

Camrad_RIP 29.12.21 в 20:46

"RIght," Lazar clarified:

Camrad_RIP 29.12.21 в 20:46

"And also over all of us."

Camrad_RIP 29.12.21 в 20:47

"Discusable..." Fidus's mind began to work, trying to interpret the new patron's vague speech correctly. "So they're not heretics? Not Chaosites or demon-worshippers?"

Camrad_RIP 29.12.21 в 20:48

"Or they are all together and nothing apart from what you have listed. They are the ones who are willing to put on any mask."

Camrad_RIP 29.12.21 в 20:49

"Marvellous," Fidus said.

Camrad_RIP 29.12.21 в 20:49

"It is," Wimpfen agreed, without a trace of humor. "From what I've seen, they're just as sophisticated and deadly. At least. Only not as well-intentioned."

Camrad_RIP 29.12.21 в 20:50

"Nah, who are we talking about?" Kryptman finally lost his patience.

Camrad_RIP 29.12.21 в 20:50

"About their trace, we speak," Wimpfen said. "More than once they have surfaced, but invariably accompanied by horrific crimes. Moreover, a display of cold, incredibly calculating intelligence. The last time my nets picked up these words was a year ago, along with a reference to the Ice Port. And, as you can see..."

Camrad_RIP 29.12.21 в 20:35

There the inquisitor grinned wryly, without finishing his sentence.

Camrad_RIP 29.12.21 в 20:36