Готовый перевод Нова Проспект / Nova Prospect: Rocket Dragon (Цири)

Rocket Dragon (Ciri)

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One more jump in time and space, and someone else would have to fulfill the Destination. Teleporting in this world was extremely difficult. Ciri was constantly being thwarted by invisible waves. Trying to get around them took away the last of her strength. She had nearly passed out in the interworld, and Avallak'h had warned her that it was certain death. Her head was splitting in two, the tang of blood tangible in her mouth. No. No more attempts.

A dirty brown sky loomed over Ciri. The red flashes made her eyes blurry. She didn't know where she was again, and the feeling was getting old. Two things bothered her even more: the fact that she was crushed by something very heavy, and the fact that she was unbearably hot.

Ciri finally came to her senses and realized that she had been crushed not by something, but by someone. She slid out from under the body. It didn't even wake up. It was a strange, dead sleep. //"Damn suicide," Ciri thought angrily, "why drag me with him to the other side of the world?"

Some dark alley. Stone walls on all sides. Wet and sticky paving stones. Gross.

He's a strange metal man. Could he be a warrior? So groomed and a warrior? Curiosity got the better of her anger, and Ciri took a closer look at him. The metal inserts around his eyes. Ciri carefully reached out her hand and touched the mesmerizing black metal. Strangely, it wasn't cold. It felt like real leather to the touch.

His hand clamped down on her wrist, gripping it with an iron grip. Ciri shrieked in surprise, kicked him in the leg, and almost howled in pain. The man released her at once and raised his hands in a peaceful gesture:

"Sorry, you startled me "

Again this gibberish. Ciri shook her head sadly, showing that she didn't understand. And then she mentally cursed, noticing that she was wearing nothing but strips of cloth that barely covered her private parts. The shame of it! Ciri hunched awkwardly with her knees to her chest.

The man noticed her embarrassment and gallantly threw off his black leather cloak. //Odd man, thrown from a height and now he's offering the cloak," Ciri thought, but accepted the offer, wrapping herself in the garment. //Fine workmanship, a good craftsman made it." The metal guy, meanwhile, was staring at one point, fingers pressed to his temple, thinking about something.

"I'm sorry, you scared me," he finally turned to her. "Are you okay?"

How does it even occur to him to ask such questions after he throws her out the window?

"I'm fine," she snorted, "but no thanks to you. And you'd be a wreck if it weren't for me!"

The man arched an eyebrow skeptically and looked around quickly, as experienced warriors often do, assessing the surroundings. Brown buildings, a dark alley, and a sign on the corner with strange symbols of dashes and scribbles scrawled on it. It smelled like something sweet and sour and extremely appetizing. Her stomach rumbled.

"I don't think so. Shit," he cursed, more tiredly than angrily. "Why did you teleport, Zireael?"

Ciri shuddered at the memory of Hawk looming over her and the cold smile that revealed unnaturally straight, fine teeth. The Wild Hunt was already here, in this world, and she could only pray it wasn't too close.

"Anything but Zireael. Ciri," she said her real name, realizing that aliases wouldn't help her in this world anyway.

"Adam Jensen," he introduced himself dryly, extending his hand to her.

Ciri wasn't used to a hand being offered to a woman, but she responded to the handshake nonetheless. The metal was smooth to the touch. It was a strange custom.

"Why did you follow me?"

"Following you? I was trying to help you. That guy didn't come to greet you with flowers."

Ciri had heard similar assurances before. A long time ago. Her faith in the good intentions of strangers had died in her around the time of the Cintrian Massacre.

"I'm used to dealing with my problems."

"It worked out fine in Warsaw," Adam stared into the void, as if he was trying to see something there

Ciri flushed, but couldn't help but acknowledge her interlocutor's point. She wasn't naive enough to think she could make it in this world without help. Let him help her, if he was so kind for now. When the opportunity to escape presented itself, she would take it.

Ciri became worried when she saw Adam clearly didn't like where they were. Hostile territory? Somewhere in the distance, barking, rough voices could be heard. Bells jingled in the alley.

From around the corner came a gaunt, little old woman, so tiny that she looked like a squirrel. She was definitely not human, for she was yellow and her eyes were narrow. She was carrying a strange tray of roots soaked in something. Ciri stirred and glanced hungrily at the contents of the tray.

"Yao chi dan ma (Do you want to eat)?" The old lady asked affectionately.

Adam shook his head:

"Bu yao, xie xie (No, thank you)."

The blind old woman eyed Adam's hands suspiciously. She wrinkled her nose and replied grumpily

"Bu yao jiu bu chi gui laomei (Don't want it and don't need it, you damn Americans)."

From the intonation of the dialog, Ciri knew there would be no food.

Adam nodded toward the street, urging her to follow him. Ciri tried to follow, but the hot gray stone burned her feet. The broken glass and some strange debris, lying in the road didn't add to her enthusiasm either. //"I can't ask him to carry me," Ciri thought frustratedly, "I can handle it, I've been through worse.

When she looked up and saw the glowing giant towers through the long, endless streets she couldn't hold back a sigh of admiration. This city was far more beautiful than the last. It looked like the abode of a magician with a gigantomania and a passion for the color blue.

"Ciri," Adam's voice became steely, "why are we in Shanghai?"

Ciri shrugged, shifting from foot to foot. How would she know where they were? She had carried them as far as she could with all her strength. But the name was really familiar to her. As they flew down, the picture on the wall, ++"Expo 2025 Shanghai-Warsaw," flashed before her eyes.

"Can you get us to Detroit?" Adam looked at her. "Remember where we first met?"

In another world, it wouldn't have been a problem, but she wouldn't take that risk in this one.

"I can't handle another jump like that," Ciri cut off, "Why, is it such a long drive to your town?"

Adam frowned. His eyes were hidden by dark glass binoculars that seemed to come out of nowhere. Ciri had never trusted anyone who hid their eyes.

"That's not the problem," Adam headed down the long street toward the towers without explaining what the problem was.

A large brown drop fell on Ciri's cheek, and the warm tropical rain poured down. Her skin prickled unpleasantly. What gods had she angered? Dirty as a squirrel in the forest, in ridiculous clothes and bare feet. And now she was wet as a mouse. And all this in a stupid world where everything is noisy and rumbling.

"Ciri," Adam finally turned his attention to her, "I'll rent an apartment in the nearest anthill. You can wait for me there while I buy you some decent clothes and shoes."

I'll rent an apartment in the nearest anthill. I'll rent. An apartment. In an anthill. Ciri blushed. Adam sighed.

"Do you know anything about technology?"

Ciri shook her head. Adam's face showed confusion.

"But you can do magic?"

Ciri nodded proudly.

"Jesus fucking Christ."

She wish she knew who it was and what Adam had against him.

They walked quickly. Ciri looked around curiously and quickly realized that Adam was as different from the yellow-faced people as she was. Most people here had normal limbs, but for some reason, they had multicolored hair and ridiculous clothes, while Adam's pants and shirt were quite ordinary, albeit of excellent quality.

And all over the place are these interesting scribbles! Ciri liked the architecture of this city better than Warsaw's. She liked the paper lanterns in the streets, the bright colors that made the brown sky invisible. Many people wore paper masks, covering half of their faces.

The city was swarming with guards. They were the same in all worlds, Ciri thought, angry, roughly dressed and holding clubs. They paid attention to her, staring at her as if they wanted to drill her with their gaze.

"Cover the scar. We don't need the attention."

Ciri hid behind Adam's shoulder so the guards couldn't see his face and covered the scar with her palm.

//"What happened to Eredin? I hope the mage finished him off,' thought Ciri, driven by a cold hatred for the king of the Wild Hunt. He had almost caught up with her. Almost. Ciri looked at Adam and felt a surge of gratitude.

Adam walked through the crowd, and Ciri could barely keep up. The abundance of people gave her a crushing sense of unease. It seemed as if everyone around her was watching her. Watching.

"Are you a mage?" Ciri asked as they approached the right building. How do people distinguish them here, she wondered? They're all the same, aren't they?

"Forget that word. Dragons, elves, and dwarves along with it. There's no magic here," Adam noted absently, looking at the inscription on the building.

Oh, really not? Then who was trying to contact her via megascope? He's definitely hiding something from her.

The girl at the front desk of the building smiled kindly at Adam. He returned the favor. Ciri was surprised; he hadn't smiled at her once, and it was like he was... adjusting to the stranger. It was as if he knew what he had to say to convince her.

Ciri tried to act casual, but the girl still eyed her suspiciously and asked something. Adam laughed and waved his hand. Whatever story he'd told her, she must have believed it.

Adam didn't hand the girl a single coin. It was as if everything in this world was based on mutual trust. But if everyone were so honest, the town wouldn't be swarming with guards.

When they entered the new shelter, Adam snapped his fingers and the room was illuminated with a bright light. How could he lie like that and not blush that he weren't a mage?

"There's Coke in the fridge, chips on the table," seeing the look on her face, he faltered, "There's drink in the drawer, there's food on the table."

//"When Nanneke was at the temple giving shelter to needy children, this is how she explained it to them," Ciri thought with annoyance and walked over to the drawer. Thunder and Heaven, more brown stuff! Do they drink anything else?

Adam left and Ciri was left to herself. In the large room, she found a megascope. It was turned on just as it had been in the archmage's office. No one of interest was on: they showed mostly cute animals and spoke in an incomprehensible language. Ciri mindlessly pressed the buttons on the remote control Adam had shown her until she unwittingly witnessed an intimate scene. Blushing and apologizing, Ciri left the device alone.

She liked the food much better than the drinks. It wasn't very nourishing, but it had a nice crunch. Ciri walked over to the wide, full-wall window. People were swarming outside. Ciri looked at them, trying to figure out what they were doing. What do you do when you have green-purple hair?

She felt a nasty look on her face. One of the guards looked at her carefully and said something, putting two fingers to her temple. Ciri yelped and jumped away from the window. She pulled back the curtains.

"It's worse than I thought."

//"What a shame," Ciri shuddered in fright. Adam entered the room as silently as a ghost. The rain had not stopped yet - his shirt was soaking wet. He threw some clothes on the couch.

"There was no mention of Warsaw in the news. So," Adam crossed his arms over his chest, "the information has been removed from the media."

//"Are we ever going to have a normal conversation?" - Ciri thought with annoyance. As if hearing her thoughts, Adam held out binoculars to her. Very much like the ones she'd seen in the theater with the nobles, but transparent.

Ciri put them on carefully. They were weightless, and they fit snugly. Some icons and numbers appeared in her field of vision.

"You see an unfamiliar word, look at it."

Adam's speech appeared before her eyes as if someone had written it down. St. Melithele, what a miracle!

"I'll try to get us out of here, and you could use a change of clothes and a bath."

Ciri awkwardly coughed. Was she really that dirty? Though, she hadn't seen any greasy hair on any of the locals, and she hadn't smelled any of the sweat that was a trademark of all big cities.

Adam sat down at the table and unzipped his black valise.

//"Strange," thought Ciri, "that he asks so little about me. Is he not at all interested in where I come from? Why did the Wild Hunt come after me?"

But Adam was already deep in his thoughts and watching the rapidly running letters on the surface of the device.

Ciri took the clothes Adam had brought from the couch and went to the small room with the tub. She twisted the levers until hot water gushed out. Disgusted, she pulled off her rags soaked with the medicine filth and plunged into the water.

"You don't wash yourselves with soap, do you?" Ciri shouted, finding nothing of the sort.

"Take the shower gel!"

Some kind of gel she had indeed spotted. Ciri poured the viscous liquid, smelling of lilacs generously onto her skin. Yennefer. //"Mommy...," Ciri thought to herself. - Geralt... How I need you." Her heart ached with longing. Ciri suppressed the acute feeling with an effort of will. She had to keep her temper in check. She had to think of a way out of there.

"Assuming there is no magic in this world. Then what barrier is preventing me from getting out? - Ciri wondered. - 'The same one was on Tir on Lia. The elves are mages and did it on purpose. No, he's lying after all. If there are magical barriers, there are mages. But why would he lie to me?"

She'd seen plenty of scoundrels and liars, but Adam was nothing like them. If anything, his sullen indifference was more reminiscent of a witcher. "With such a thing instead of hands he can rip off the drowners," Ciri marveled. - I wonder if they have drowners?"

Hastily wrapping herself in a towel, Ciri looked at the clothes. They weren't clothes, but ugly rags that someone had shredded mercilessly. If she had shown up in the marketplace dressed like that, she would have been burned without a second thought.

Ciri pulled on a pair of pants cut to mid-thigh. Oh, if Yennefer could see her in such an outfit!

Adam was smoking a sort of roll-up in front of the window, talking to an invisible interlocutor. Her throat constricted and Ciri coughed. Adam went out into the other room.

Ciri glanced at the device on the table. Its surface was black, reflecting the girl's face, which for some reason had dark circles under her eyes, emphasized even more by the clear binoculars. Ciri looked at her reflection and thought it would be nice to figure out how things worked in this world, and how she could use them.

She sighed and picked up the glass on the table, the bottom of which was filled with an amber-colored liquid. It smelled like some kind of strong malt beverage.

The surface of the device glowed brightly, and Ciri squeezed her eyes shut. She opened her eyes reluctantly, staring at the strange letters.

"Adam," she called softly.

Ciri didn't fully understand how to use the binoculars and blinked nonstop. After a minute of diligent effort, the letters became clear to her.

TAI YUN MEDICAL WILL BE HERE IN HALF AN HOUR.

RUN

WINTERMUTE

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Переведено на Нотабеноиде
http://notabenoid.org/book/86809/568954

Переводчики: Camrad_RIP