Хроники Аскета: Вторжение / The Ascet Chronicles: Invasion: Глава 10

Chapter 10

Camrad_RIP 20.02.22 в 07:15

The next Nest had no surprises, except that Student's predictions began to come true. Journalists and some scientists who did not belong to the scientists from the Research Department were allowed into the restricted area. However, they were not allowed to communicate with our group, for which we felt deep gratitude.

Camrad_RIP 21.02.22 в 17:27

We went on the assault with a heavy premonition. Chizhov said that if everything goes well, the next Nest can be three-tiered, and we wouldn't want that. We are not enough. I was sure we could take down a level five, even a level six creature - but we'd better fight against strong aliens in a large group, or there would be casualties.

Camrad_RIP 21.02.22 в 17:27

The methodology of cleansing had not changed - we still walked in pairs with an escort of Special Forces. Frankly speaking, there was no particular need for Special Forces, but in case the shell was depleted, it would be difficult without them. Besides, as Chizhov mentioned, in the future they would send us weak psions, capable of creating one or two signs. There were more and more of these mages, with the filling of ten or fifteen units. I was not sure how to train them with our programs: there was no method of increasing their shells yet, so it was decided to use their abilities this way.

Camrad_RIP 21.02.22 в 17:29

At the end of the cleanup of the second tier, Hawk showed up and was finally declared healthy by the doctors. He was screaming that he should have been released two weeks ago. Daniel was treating the guy: gradually my old acquaintance was becoming the best in the field of psy-medicine, so it was likely that Hawk was also kept in the hospital because he wanted to see the results of "unscientific witchcraft". Daniel resented the fact that ordinary doctors were skeptical of his methods and were in no hurry to use them on their patients.

Camrad_RIP 21.02.22 в 17:31

"How can they do that if they're not psions?"

Camrad_RIP 21.02.22 в 17:31

"For healing, a shell is desirable, but not necessary: there are no signs. The energy of the shell is simply easier to use. And you've seen for yourself that some things can be done even by an ordinary person who has never been in the Nest. Not much, of course. But they reject absolutely everything!"

Camrad_RIP 21.02.22 в 17:32

Daniel was here, too. In general, during assaults, the Research Department was empty: half of the staff moved to the location of the Nest.

Camrad_RIP 21.02.22 в 17:32

It was easier to take this Nest. Maybe it's the experience we gained, maybe it's the fact that it was a little smaller, and the predictions about the soon formation of the third tier did not come true. I don't know. There were three officers in the queen's chamber, but two of them were the fourth tier, and we handled them easily. It was hard to take down the last one, a level five, who wielded some kind of sign that beat thickened whips of air. Fortunately, the shields held. This time we got away with broken legs for Beerbrewer and a tattered face for Wicked. I got the whole right side of my body knocked out, two broken ribs as well. With our regeneration, it'll all heal in a month, and by the next assault, there won't even be a trace left.

Camrad_RIP 21.02.22 в 17:34

In the helicopter, I witnessed an interesting conversation between Student and Chizhov. It was rumbling, but to my ears, extraneous noises were not a problem. I wondered how Chizhov was coping. He was a weak psion, with a shell of about twenty, and didn't get our training. Most likely, Chizhov trained according to our methods himself: as a curator of a group, he must have an idea of what his wards were doing. After the end of the assault, he was unusually silent.

Camrad_RIP 21.02.22 в 17:35

"Pavel Sergeyevich. Did something happen?" Student asked him.

Camrad_RIP 21.02.22 в 17:35

"Don't worry, Sasha." Chizhov never called us by our nicknames, only by our names. "It's just that many questions have arisen that will be difficult to resolve."

Camrad_RIP 21.02.22 в 17:36

"Does this have to do with yesterday's cleansing? More specifically, the storming of the chamber?" Student looked intently at the curator. "It seemed to go well."

Camrad_RIP 21.02.22 в 17:37

Chizhov visibly hesitated, then decided to answer after all:

Camrad_RIP 21.02.22 в 17:38

"See, here's the thing... It went too well. No, of course, I'm glad no one was seriously hurt. But now it will be harder for Sergachev to convince his superiors not to assault the three tiers Nest. There was talk about it after the last assault - then we managed to refuse, but this time, I'm afraid, we'll just be given the order, without listening to objections."

Camrad_RIP 21.02.22 в 17:40

"The euphoria of success." Student wanted to spit but held back at the last moment. "Until they put half the squad down, they wouldn't stop."

Camrad_RIP 21.02.22 в 17:41

"It was an unfortunate coincidence that the three tiers Nest near Mirny, near Kotlas, began to grow. We used to hold the first tier, and the Nest grew wide. Now four passages were formed there, and the guards had to retreat to the surface. Immediately after the retreat, undesirable signs emerged: the fourth tier was forming."

Camrad_RIP 21.02.22 в 17:42

I'm sure everyone was listening to this conversation, just too tired to be indignant.

Camrad_RIP 21.02.22 в 17:42

"Well, what can I say now. Rest while you can."

Camrad_RIP 21.02.22 в 17:42

What kind of rest after a conversation like that?

Camrad_RIP 21.02.22 в 17:43

I managed to go to Peter for a couple of days. I didn't stay too long. I did what I needed to do and returned to base. I caught myself thinking that I was beginning to consider home not a two-room apartment on the outskirts of a big city, but this small town, surrounded by forests on all sides. The old base was growing: something was constantly being built, rumbling, the buildings were growing before my eyes. During the week of absence, there were two new buildings, one of which housed our services, the other divided among themselves scientists. Executor, who had gone to get acquainted with his new neighbors, he has proper access to do so, returned thoughtfully:

Camrad_RIP 21.02.22 в 17:46

"Do you know what the guys in the new building do? Predicting the future."

Camrad_RIP 21.02.22 в 17:46

Interesting. We tried to develop a "sense of threat" - the ability to sense danger and avoid it. It turned out differently: some of us could feel and identify the threat, while others could only feel it. Now we were talking about something else.

Camrad_RIP 21.02.22 в 17:55

"And how it works out?"

Camrad_RIP 21.02.22 в 17:55

"You know, they were talking me up. I didn't understand a damn thing they were trying to explain to me, but the results seem to be there. Korobok said several of the department's projections to the top. If they are confirmed, there will be additional funding from special funds."

Camrad_RIP 21.02.22 в 17:56

We lived in today's world without thinking about the consequences of the Invasion. Only now have I begun to understand the tremendous changes in the structure of human society that the opportunities that the Nests provide will cause. For example, if it is truly possible to predict the future with a high degree of probability, the stock market speculation game will lose its meaning, and casinos and other gambling establishments will risk becoming unemployed. Or healing, which Daniel is now so actively developing. What would an army of doctors, paramedics and other health workers do if they were no longer needed? Of course, the best will remain, but what is the point of lying in hospital for months if you can be cured in a week?

Camrad_RIP 21.02.22 в 17:57

"I understand why official science is skeptical of new therapies." During our last conversation, Daniel was getting heated and waving his hands around. "Think about it: if treatment with the laying on of hands or other psychic methods were effective, classical medicine simply would not be able to develop. If ever there were people capable of using psychic healing techniques, they were isolated cases - mutations not passed on by inheritance. But now the circumstances have changed! That unknown factor that affects the human body in the vicinity of the Nest and in the Nest itself is completely changing our ideas of what is possible. We do not know what it is, how it works, the genetic structure of the organism remains the same, but our possibilities are there!"

Camrad_RIP 21.02.22 в 17:59

However, one could not argue against the facts, and very rational people worked in the government agencies associated with the Invasion. Gradually the situation was changing - many developments were no longer marked as "classified". We rarely watched TV, time was short, but the spinning news often flashed footage from the Research Department, a few times we got a glimpse of Korobok. Beerbrewer was now being treated specifically in Daniel's department, disregarding the protests of the "classical" doctors. I don't know how right this is.

Camrad_RIP 21.02.22 в 18:00

"Ascet, an interesting thought occurred to me after talking to the brainiacs." Executor waved a bunch of ammunition in the air. "How about trying to enhance your powers of foresight?"

Camrad_RIP 21.02.22 в 18:01

"Isn't that what we did in training?" All the Executor's exercises were very painful. They gave him an appropriate nickname.

Camrad_RIP 21.02.22 в 18:02

"Meditation is bullshit. No incentive to grow. Come on, you can help me."

Camrad_RIP 21.02.22 в 18:03

We made our way to the training room, empty at this hour. Our group was officially considered at rest; the rest of us were practicing elsewhere. Executor pulled on a thick mask covering the head and throat, clasped the shell around the thighs. After that, he handed me a revolver and a pack of ammunition.

Camrad_RIP 21.02.22 в 18:10

"Here you go. These are rubber bullets. You're gonna shoot me with single rounds at a distance of ten meters. Try not to hit the joints, okay?"

Camrad_RIP 21.02.22 в 18:10

Apparently, he hoped his instincts would kick in and keep him from getting shot. But it didn't. Executor took two steps back from the first shot and bent over, his aura reverberating with pain.

Camrad_RIP 21.02.22 в 18:11

"It's a good thing the loads are weakened," he wheezed.

Camrad_RIP 21.02.22 в 18:11

Executor dodged three of the first ten shots. Then he adapted: the bullets hit him less and less often, but it wasn't quite the result he expected. Now his body accelerated involuntarily at the sight of my moving finger. He could see the tension in my hand and managed to pull back to the side. I had to go on the sly and hide my hand. Executor strengthened the muscular frame on his body, turning it into a kind of armor, and still after ten minutes of such exercises his body was one solid bruise. We switched places.

Camrad_RIP 21.02.22 в 18:16

I encountered a similar problem, only I reacted to changes in the aura: I was blindfolded. At my request, Executor masked my aura, after which I missed eight shots in a row before I managed to dodge. This success could have been a fluke, and there was no energy left to continue training. We healed each other as best we could: the bruises remained in place, but the pain seemed to have subsided. Then we switched again. Late that night, both experimenters looked like well-battered punching bags, only their heads, necks, hands, and groins remained normal colors, everything else shimmering in different shades of blue, purple, and violet.

Camrad_RIP 21.02.22 в 18:17

But we were satisfied with the result. Executioner only hit me twice out of the last series of shots: progress is evident. So when Daniel, whom we asked for help, started yelling that he'd never seen a bigger idiot in his life.
"Well, Executor, but I did not expect such a thing from you, you're a reasonable man!"

I reacted unaccustomedly verbose and a little harshly:

Camrad_RIP 21.02.22 в 18:22

"Daniel. Sometimes you have to do things that others think are the height of stupidity but really aren't. I don't teach you to do your job, don't teach me to do mine. That's the way it has to be."

Camrad_RIP 21.02.22 в 18:22

The program has changed a little bit again. Now we worked together with the beginners more often - when in pairs, when two older ones and three beginners. One could only admire the imagination of our instructors, who were constantly coming up with and implementing more and more new exercises. At the same time, we were required to repeat old material, forced to create the same signs to the point of insanity, trying to reduce the creation time. Once a week we were given a new topic. The program was being adjusted before our eyes - sometimes lectures and practical exercises were given to all groups at once. My head was puffed up from the abundance of information.

Camrad_RIP 21.02.22 в 18:23

You could say we were playing hide-and-seek that day. Everyone was blindfolded, given guns that fired markers, and shoved into a labyrinth that had formed on the site of several buildings under construction. The task of the older group was to imitate various creatures, we were allowed to hide, try to suppress will, use weak signs, and generally do anything to make life difficult for the other three groups of newcomers. We acted alone, our opponents joined together in threes or pairs.

Camrad_RIP 21.02.22 в 18:31

I hid my aura and hung on the ceiling, waiting for my guests to arrive. I was not hanging for long: after a few minutes my ears caught the sound of crawling footsteps, and I cautiously reached out with my mental tentacle in that direction. A trio of familiar fighters: Olga, Kalancha, and Vasya for the leader of the group. Vasya was a short Korean, who, when I met him, shocked me with his flexibility and leaping ability. Just a rubber guy, Jackie Chan in his prime. He was the only one who didn't use Armor, but the Air Wall, figuring a fireball would get through, but it would lose its power and it couldn't do any damage. He was the second to go, and he had Kalancha's broad back to shield him from danger.

Camrad_RIP 21.02.22 в 18:33

From the first moment I met Olga, she made a negative impression on me. Her gender did not embarrass me: if she could withstand our pressure, then fine, the squad could use an extra fighter. She could. The petite blonde with short-cropped hair was not inferior in stamina to the huge men, although I was sure that before us she did not shine athletically. There was something else that bothered me. I do not know the reason for the hatred she felt toward aliens, but a dark feeling devoured her. Even an inexperienced observer, seeing the frozen, glazed look with which Olga was looking at the training manuals, or her stiffened figure, could understand at such moments that not everything was all right with the girl.

Camrad_RIP 21.02.22 в 18:35

I was not the only one who had doubts about Olga's mental health: our supervisors had similar concerns. She was summoned to see a psychologist several times in front of my eyes. However, the notion of "normal" in our case is very elastic - the main thing is that she can control her hatred... It was hard to believe it.

Camrad_RIP 21.02.22 в 18:43

If I was called an Asket, then Olga should have been called a Fanatic.

Camrad_RIP 21.02.22 в 18:43

Now was my chance to check my suspicions. None of the three had managed to create a Dust Helmet. Which I was going to do. It would be foolish to pass up a chance to teach the newbies a lesson for the rest of their lives. I carefully inserted the probe into the girl's aura. She didn't notice. Perfect.

Camrad_RIP 21.02.22 в 18:45

Telepathy was still a pipe dream but scientists had mastered some of the simplest tricks. For example, the so-called "emotional leash", or "pumping" in the jargon. The essence of the exercise was to transfer part of one's emotions. Now I was to artificially induce such feelings as fear, hatred, and pain - and give them to Olga. I slowly began to distress myself, while at the same time keeping my aura masked. I had to pull such unpleasant moments out of my memory as the betrayal of my first girlfriend, the "kindness" of Petty Officer Kotelnikov, broken ribs by drunken thugs, the death of my parents... Many things.

Camrad_RIP 21.02.22 в 18:46

At the level of perception, I was now at, the emotions I was experiencing were like a dark wrap that coated my aura from within. I had only to gather them into a tight lump - an activity that left me with the feeling of something sticky, dirty, and stinking all over my body, staring at me with a hundred little eyes and wanting to devour some of my strength-and carefully pour it into Olga's mind. The result was not long in coming.

Camrad_RIP 21.02.22 в 18:48

At first, there was a slight feeling of surprise through the channel between our minds, then panic, fear, which turned into an incredible, sweeping wave of horror. I heard Olga's animal howl, so I decided to come closer.

Camrad_RIP 21.02.22 в 18:51

Kalancha poked in every direction with his machine gun, standing in the middle of the marker-stained corridor. Vasya was sprawled out on the girl's trembling body, pressing her to the ground with the Air Wall as hard as he could. Well done, quick thinking. Kalancha whirled his head around.

Camrad_RIP 21.02.22 в 18:52