Нова Проспект / Nova Prospect: Ready Aim Fire (Адам)

Ready Aim Fire (Adam)

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 18:01

* * *

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 18:02

"Wake up, Neo... The Matrix has you."

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 18:51

The white ceiling of the sick bay. Adam closed his eyes until the download symbol stopped flashing.

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 18:52

++"All Systems Online."

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 18:52

Taking on the role of Morpheus, Pritchard sat beside him, leaning over a tablet. The cardiogram on the display showed a perfect sinus rhythm.

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 18:53

"What happened?" Pulsing images flashed before his eyes: Malik's vehicle hitting the concrete, the green glow... "Is Malik okay?"

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 18:54

"Jensen, you..." Pritchard looked at him with the most serious expression, " ... burned out on the job."

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 18:56

The joke was clearly rehearsed. Pritchard burst out laughing, barely uttering it. Adam pulled the cord from his wrist and rose from the bunk. Malik was all right, or Pritchard wouldn't be laughing so giddy.

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 18:56

Time synchronization with the central server is complete. It's been about four hours since the incident on the roof.

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 18:58

"The open mic is crying for you, Pritchard. I serious."

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 18:58

"You've been hit by a strong electromagnetic radiation. Something like an EM bomb," Pritchard didn't usually use vague terms, "Don't worry, I've fixed your settings - desensitized you to gravitational fluctuations. And Malik got off scot-free."

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 18:59

"And the source of that radiation was...?"

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 19:00

Pritchard got up from his chair and walked to the window, where the neon lights of evening Detroit were reflected in the light. The palette was jarring: neon pink, neon salmon, and faded neon red.

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 19:01

The head of the information security department and part-time amateur mechanic was the only one at Sharif Industries who allowed himself to wear long hair and wide pants. Before joining the company, Pritchard had been a black hat hacker, mostly involved in corporate sabotage. He was congenitally allergic to officialdom.

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 19:04

"She was."

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 19:04

Adam pulled a cigarette out of the pack and took a drag.

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 19:05

"Don't be in a hurry to relax - you'll be reporting to the chief as soon as you recover."

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 19:07

The last thing Adam wanted to do was report what had happened to the chief, but the luxury of choice and a corporate job were incompatible.

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 19:08

On the way to Sharif's office, the usually talkative Pritchard kept his eyes on his tablet, scrolling through an article on quantum teleportation.

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 19:08

"Teleportation? Really?"

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 19:09

"Well, she either teleported," Pritchard said thoughtfully, pressing the elevator button, "or she disintegrated. Which one makes more sense to you?"

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 19:09

Adam scrolled the footage from the roof in front of his eyes. Before the girl disappeared, she clamped her eyes shut and whispered something... What? Adam replayed the footage once more, but the girl's lips barely moved.

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 19:10

"One small fucking problem," Pritchard snapped him out of his musings. "Teleportation in this form is against known physical laws."

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 19:15

"Magic," Adam grinned unhappily.

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 19:16

"Tell that to Sharif, he'll shove a fireball up your ass."

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 19:16

Sharif's office took up the entire top floor. A robotic gardener, looking like a large mechanical crab, tended the plants in the reception area. A fusion of genetic engineering and chemical influences had made the shape of the shrubs perfectly round, and they were exactly the same.

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 19:17

When she saw Adam and Pritchard, Athena pressed a button, opening the armored door. The second attack on Sharif Industries had sent the chief into another bout of paranoia.

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 19:18

Sharif stood in front of the window with his hands behind his back, his mechanical hand gripping the wrist of his flesh arm tightly. Adam had never seen Sharif in the same suit, but any of them sat on him like a fitted suit.

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 19:19

"Good evening, gentlemen," Sharif turned around smoothly, flashing a white-toothed Mediterranean smile.

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 19:20

Adam had long suspected that business school graduates received those smiles with their diplomas. There was always something about Sharif's office that subtly irritated him, whether it was the black balloons hanging from the ceiling or the Rembrandt painting of Dr. Tulp's Anatomy Lesson that conjured up associations with a meat packing plant.

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 19:20

"Chief."

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 19:21

"Are you feeling better, Adam?" Sharif gave him exactly two seconds for an affirmative nod before turning on the projection on the full-room screen.

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 19:22

Security camera footage. Warsaw, July 18, 2027, 8:52 AM. The room in the video resembled a library - and judging by the way the employees of this institution ignored the visitors, they were in government service.

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 19:23

Corporations have taken almost everything from the states, but libraries have been mercifully left behind. A profitable library is as much an oxymoron as an incorruptible judge.

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 19:23

For about a minute nothing happened. When a familiar female figure appeared in the corner of the screen, Adam drummed his fingers on the marble surface of the desk. Less than two hours since the incident. Warsaw. Detroit.

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 19:24

The girl approached the counter and asked something with a naively friendly expression. Sharif zoomed in on the girl. Her trembling lips gave her away. She was clearly scared.

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 19:24

"Chief, no superjet..." Pritchard dropped his head on his hands and sighed heavily.

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 19:25

"The existing technologies do not allow to reach Warsaw at such time."

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 19:25

Sharif never interrupted. He could gently suggest that his statement was by default more important than his interlocutor's.

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 19:27

"What did she ask?" Adam asked, seeing that the uncertainty on the girl's face had been replaced by confusion.

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 19:27

Sharif shrugged.

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 19:27

"Something that landed her in a mental hospital less than half an hour later."

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 19:24

"A victim of experimentation?" Pritchard suggested. "Lost her marbles?"

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 19:28

Adam shook his head. She didn't look insane. Besides, if she'd escaped from the lab where the world-altering technology had been invented, they'd have an army after her.

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 19:28

"No one but us is looking for her?"

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 19:29

"That's a great question, Adam. No one. Dead silence across the channels - and yet her face was on every news station in the world."

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 19:29

Adam quickly flipped through the news headlines. A faceless "wanted" among hundreds of others just like it.

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 19:30

"A good-for-nothing girl who can teleport thousands of miles away. For now, we have a head start."

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 19:30

The hen that lays the golden eggs. The familiar expression of mild obsession appeared on Sharif's face.

Camrad_RIP 09.03.24 в 19:30