Житие Мое / Life of Mine: Глава 3

Chapter 3

Camrad_RIP 23.04.23 в 18:18

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Camrad_RIP 23.04.23 в 18:18

The next working day on my schedule started in the morning. I arrived ten minutes in advance just to see who was being greeted. Crap! All the firm's employees were present (according to my information, as I was not officially represented), but no work was being done anyway. The atmosphere was mournful. Everyone was suffering in silence.

Camrad_RIP 23.04.23 в 18:52

Did their cat die or something?

Camrad_RIP 23.04.23 в 18:52

On closer inspection, I was the only one who looked more or less decent. I mean, without the bubbles on my knees, the fringe on the lapels, the pseudo-artistic patches, and the "macaroni factory explosion" hairdo. Naturally, this put me in opposition to the staff, and they immediately tried to put me down. The red-haired assistant, a relative of Quarter, brought me a perfectly cold coffee, and I hurled a warming curse into the cup almost without looking. No one else had the urge to make jokes.

Camrad_RIP 23.04.23 в 18:56

No one made any attempt to get acquainted either. Well, let's just say that I could identify Johan simply because there was only one white mage. The man in the leather trousers and the younger guy with the bright red hair looked like Karl the alchemist (his last name was either Fartsing or Ferting; I'll have to look it up in some official paper) and his assistant, and the chubby little guy who was nestled closer to the coffee machine looked a lot like an accountant. Boss Polak and the secretaries needed no introduction.

Camrad_RIP 23.04.23 в 19:47

I could easily imagine a depressed white mage, but how it was possible to stun seven people at once was a mystery. If all my future employers were like that, I'd better get back to the garage to fix motorbikes. It is a very profitable occupation! But as I had taken money for the same job twice, family honor demanded that I should solve the problem. Tangor sounds proud, and one can only lose one's reputation once.

Camrad_RIP 23.04.23 в 19:48

I pretended to be an emotionally dumb black brat and went to my boss to find out if I'd done everything right yesterday. I got paid for something, didn't I? Polak looked at me mournfully, but I was deaf to his suffering. I had to make up the next assignment myself:

Camrad_RIP 23.04.23 в 19:49

"Perhaps I should familiarise myself with the concept of a particular node and focus on it? Or take the unit as a whole?"

Camrad_RIP 23.04.23 в 19:49

"I'm not sure you'll understand the scheme..."

Camrad_RIP 23.04.23 в 19:52

I smiled politely:

Camrad_RIP 23.04.23 в 19:52

"Combining alchemy and magic is my trademark!" At least, black magic.

Camrad_RIP 23.04.23 в 19:52

He looked around the tables once more at a loss, and I began to understand:

Camrad_RIP 23.04.23 в 19:57

"Perhaps your drawings are not systematized? I could do with that. The system helps a lot with the work!"

Camrad_RIP 23.04.23 в 19:57

He perked up a bit, nodded, and suggested I organize the documentation in chronological order. Unfortunately, almost none of the drawings had a date of creation, so I had to use archaeological techniques to describe the papers layer by layer. From time to time, I tried to get advice from both Polak and Karl, eventually bugging the hell out of both of them. Polak deserted first, followed by the others, and by lunchtime, I was the only other person in the office apart from the secretaries. That got me down.

Camrad_RIP 23.04.23 в 20:02

"What's the matter, girls? Or is it always like this with them?"

Camrad_RIP 23.04.23 в 20:02

Quarter's relative rolled her eyes, delighted at the opportunity to show her awareness:

Camrad_RIP 24.04.23 в 16:42

"It's after yesterday!"

Camrad_RIP 27.04.23 в 08:43

"Don't keep me in suspense! What happened yesterday?"

Camrad_RIP 27.04.23 в 08:43

"Tests," the brunette intervened and snorted: "Another one!"

Camrad_RIP 27.04.23 в 08:44

That explained a little bit of what was going on.

Camrad_RIP 27.04.23 в 08:47

"And how it's going?"

Camrad_RIP 27.04.23 в 08:47

"As usually!"

Camrad_RIP 27.04.23 в 08:48

Which means nothing. One could have guessed that.

Camrad_RIP 27.04.23 в 10:19

During the day, I managed to go through hardly a third of the papers and to get to know the subject of the work, at best. Polak words about "you can't understand the scheme" were wrong! Machine drawings are made according to a single pattern, otherwise, they simply can't be used to make anything. And it makes absolutely no difference from the alchemical point of view what to fill the tank with - beer or sewage. As far as I understood, they were trying to implement a complex non-linear control mechanism through a set of perforated drums, which the machine had to access at a certain combination of input parameters (as if through a set of locks).

Camrad_RIP 27.04.23 в 10:38

The idea was beautiful, but for some reason, it didn't work. And it was not certain that I could figure out why! There were at least two variants of varying degrees of complexity in the stacks of papers, and, judging by the contents of the table, the perforation schemes were designed by the white mage, Johan. I'm not saying he acted wrongly, I mean that he was guided by the logic of the magical process, and the consequences of this were very well illustrated by the example of my motorcycle. It gave me hope that the problem could be solved with a little blood, but who knows...

Camrad_RIP 27.04.23 в 10:40

The next time I came to work, I found Johan drunk as a skunk.

Camrad_RIP 27.04.23 в 10:40

Everyone sat there pretending that nothing had happened. I tried to blend in, but it was beyond me.

Camrad_RIP 27.04.23 в 10:41

Do they have any idea what's going on?! Okay, there weren't many blacks in Redstone, and the university people didn't talk much to the locals. But a white one! There must be a lot of them around here! Am I the only one who understands how this is going to end!!!

Camrad_RIP 27.04.23 в 10:43

A white mage who goes on a binge doesn't usually come out of it alive. Well, unless you have to resort to forced hospitalization. Their psyche is, you see, fragile and not adapted to the hardships of life. Having failed to cope with a nervous shock once and having reached the chemical relaxant, the white one will pour wine over and over again, and each time the strength to solve the problem will be less and less, and after all, the physical state of the mage is directly related to the mental one...

Camrad_RIP 27.04.23 в 10:45

Maybe it's just to the firm's advantage that the developer dies? No, it's too much...

Camrad_RIP 27.04.23 в 10:46

But a man has to be saved, no kidding!

Camrad_RIP 27.04.23 в 10:46

I drove the secretaries away and brewed a killer pot of coffee, so I went to bring the nose-slobbering sufferer to his senses. I took his hand and put a cup in it. Of course, I had no yolk and pepper on hand, but I poured so much lemon into it that it made my eyes water.

Camrad_RIP 27.04.23 в 10:48

"Drink, drink! We must, we must drink."

Camrad_RIP 27.04.23 в 10:48

Whites react differently to physical contact - touching puts them in an intimate mood and makes them want to confide. Given that intoxication increases suggestibility, one hopes that he will do as I say.

Camrad_RIP 27.04.23 в 11:01

"In one gulp, oops!"

Camrad_RIP 27.04.23 в 11:02

He took a gulp, and he shuddered excruciatingly. Good effect! I continued to hold his hand while looking into his eyes (also very helpful):

Camrad_RIP 27.04.23 в 11:02

"Buddy, you need to go home! Get a good night's rest; you'll need your strength tomorrow. You'll be fine, I promise! We need your help. You can do it! Shall I walk you home?"

Camrad_RIP 27.04.23 в 11:03

He shook his head drunkenly, got up, and headed for the exit - usually, white ones get brainwashed before their bodies can get poisoned. I hope he can pull himself together because I'm not his mommy, and I can't send him to the doctor.

Camrad_RIP 27.04.23 в 11:06

After Johan's departure, the average mood in the office jumped two degrees. Probably no one dared to discuss failure in the presence of the poor guy. After waiting five minutes to be sure, Polak clapped his hands loudly:

Camrad_RIP 27.04.23 в 11:06

"Why don't we have a five-minute coffee break?"

Camrad_RIP 27.04.23 в 11:07

The staff members perked up and squeaked their chairs. I put a stop to the attempt to settle down on the blueprints, so everyone gathered around the secretaries' table, forcing the disgruntled girls out of there. There was not only coffee on the table, but cookies, salted peanuts, and even a bottle of brandy, with which I diluted the coffee one to two.

Camrad_RIP 27.04.23 в 11:08

"I won't hide it, friends," Polak began, "that what has happened was a great blow to us. But all is not yet lost! Who has any thoughts on the reasons for the latest failure?"

Camrad_RIP 27.04.23 в 11:09

There was a depressed silence at the table.

Camrad_RIP 27.04.23 в 11:09

"Be brave, my friends, be brave!"

Camrad_RIP 27.04.23 в 11:09

"You can't combine magic with alchemy," Carl said firmly.

Camrad_RIP 27.04.23 в 11:10

"Why is that?" A sip of the homemade liquor made me want to socialize.

Camrad_RIP 27.04.23 в 11:11

The alchemist glared angrily:

Camrad_RIP 24.04.23 в 16:41

"Because these areas are not connected in any way!"

Camrad_RIP 24.04.23 в 16:40

"I raised my finger meaningfully:"

Camrad_RIP 24.04.23 в 16:40