Нова Проспект / Nova Prospect: The Great Divide (Цири)

The Great Divide (Ciri) (язык)

Camrad_RIP 18.03.24 в 23:24

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Camrad_RIP 18.03.24 в 23:24

Tap.

Camrad_RIP 19.03.24 в 11:00

Something cold and wet splashed on the bridge of her nose. A second drop landed on her forehead and slowly crept down. The moisture reminded her that her throat was dry and her side was stinging with millions of thin needles.

Camrad_RIP 19.03.24 в 11:00

Ciri tried to wipe the drop away with the back of her hand, but to no avail: her wrists were wrapped in a tourniquet that cut into her skin at the slightest attempt to move.

Camrad_RIP 19.03.24 в 11:01

//"Where am I?".

Camrad_RIP 19.03.24 в 11:01

The last thing she remembered was the icy noose around her neck.

Camrad_RIP 19.03.24 в 11:02

Ciri opened her eyes, dreading more than anything the marble moldings and openwork candelabras, the servants in gray robes, and their masters in glittering clothes. Better skyscrapers and garbage dumps than cascades of waterfalls and the blinding light of two suns. Her neck was stiff, and Ciri had to squint at the ceiling for a while, squinting against the bright light.

Camrad_RIP 19.03.24 в 11:03

To her relief, the room she was in didn't resemble Tir na Lia in the slightest. Instead of stucco, intertwining steel pipes hung above her, with a foul-smelling yellowish liquid dripping down from them, and a bulky box with flashing numbers stood just off to the side. The surroundings reminded her of Wilgeforz's laboratory, with jars and long flasks and the pungent odor of alcohol, except that the walls were not stone but shimmered with a bluish metallic sheen.

Camrad_RIP 19.03.24 в 11:06

Her nostrils tickled with a slight nauseous odor that reminded her of the stench of a backyard slaughterhouse. Ciri wriggled on the uncomfortably hard bed, and her awkward movements caused the wound in her side to reopen. The half-unbuttoned jumpsuit was slipping off her shoulders, and Ciri felt sick at the thought of someone undressing her for some reason.

Camrad_RIP 19.03.24 в 11:07

It could not be that Eredin had chosen to remain in such an alien world of his own free will, could it?

Camrad_RIP 19.03.24 в 11:07

In her brief and painful slumber, Ciri had another nightmare. She dreamed of bodies suspended from the ceiling, and the blood of the hangmen dripping downward, mixing with her own, penetrating the crevice between the worlds. Not even a crevice; more like a crack, like a rough tear in the fabric.

Camrad_RIP 19.03.24 в 12:00

//"Do not fear the stars," Avallac'h had once told her. - Fear the emptiness between them.

Camrad_RIP 19.03.24 в 12:00

He never called monsters monsters monsters, preferring the evasive "other lifeforms". Ciri had seen enough of those forms: the illustrations in the witchers' folios were not short on nauseating detail. And if it wasn't the imagination of the artists, then the creatures that had entered the Continent during the Conjunction were nothing compared to the ones that remained behind the locked gates.

Camrad_RIP 19.03.24 в 12:01

In her dream, ghastly shadows crept, flowed, and wriggled toward her.

Camrad_RIP 19.03.24 в 12:02

A quiet, childlike sob interrupted her thoughts. With an effort of will, Ciri turned her stiff neck and saw a russet-haired girl in a bloodstained white robe, huddled in a corner of the room, her bare feet tucked under her. The tightly pulled bundle of hair was disheveled, and strands were sticking out in all directions. She was bound, too, judging from the twisted position of her hands.

Camrad_RIP 19.03.24 в 12:04

"Hey," Ciri called out to her in a half-whisper, "where are we?"

Camrad_RIP 19.03.24 в 12:04

The captive shuddered as she looked at her. There was a large bruise under her eye, and she could see the elven patterns clearly in the abrasion on her cheekbone.

Camrad_RIP 19.03.24 в 12:05

They weren't alone: a couple of feet away, closer to the massive metal cabinets, another girl, slant-eyed and wearing the same robe, was leaning against the wall. Her thin stockings were torn and her shins were covered in bruises. She didn't react to Ciri's question, staring at one point.

Camrad_RIP 19.03.24 в 12:05

Ciri averted her gaze and bit her lip.

Camrad_RIP 19.03.24 в 12:06

At least she wasn't the only prisoner here, though that thought gave her little comfort. But she was the only one lying on the couch, and the one next to her was still stained with blood.

Camrad_RIP 19.03.24 в 12:07

"Sie sprechen Deutsch?" whispered the russet-haired girl in a language that reminded Ciri of the universal. "Verstehen Sie mich?"

Camrad_RIP 19.03.24 в 12:10

The gray eyes read a desperate desire to survive. ||Verstehen? Understand Ciri nodded, clenching and unclenching her fists, trying to disperse the blood in her numb hands. In the back pocket of her jumpsuit still lay a miniature bomb - her only weapon - that there was no way she could reach yet.

Camrad_RIP 19.03.24 в 12:10

"One more word and one of you will be left without a tongue."

Camrad_RIP 19.03.24 в 12:11

The higher speech dispelled any doubts about the invaders. Ciri nearly twisted her neck trying to look the other way, at the figure standing in the milky glass doors. A bluish glow emanated from the eyes of the rider watching them through the visors of his skeletonized helmet. He was not alone, but his partner stood outside the doors, and there was no way to see the other elf.

Camrad_RIP 19.03.24 в 12:16

The combination of ornately painted armor and an exceptionally sterile room looked rather incongruous, especially with the plastic jar with a bright red-and-black label the elf held in his hands.

Camrad_RIP 19.03.24 в 12:17

The girl was immediately silent, and many questions flashed through Ciri's mind at once. She's in a human hospital, but a prisoner of the elves. Why aren't they in Tir na Lia yet? How long have they been here? Judging by the guard's stooping to eating the brown mass from the jar - with their squeamishness - long enough.

Camrad_RIP 19.03.24 в 12:26

Ciri wouldn't have minded a hamburger from the vending machine or a brown mass from that can, but she felt thirstier than hunger.

Camrad_RIP 19.03.24 в 12:31

Had the elves been trapped as well? Ihuarraquax had told her that Fox and Hawk had traveled to worlds that were hard to imagine - but had their barrier taken them by surprise, too? Or was it something else? Had Eredin managed to negotiate with the dhoyne he so hated by stepping on his own throat?

Camrad_RIP 19.03.24 в 12:44

That's unlikely.

Camrad_RIP 22.03.24 в 20:46

The train of thought was interrupted by the sirens' rapid wail. In the distance came a loud mechanical voice, just like that thing in Red Bank, but this time male:

Camrad_RIP 22.03.24 в 20:47

" Я повторяю: мы готовы к мирным переговорам. Если вы немедленно освободите здание и заложников, мы гарантируем вашу безопасность. (I repeat: we are open for peaceful negotiations. If you release the hostages and surrender immediately, we ensure your safety.)

Camrad_RIP 19.03.24 в 12:45

The message was repeated several times, and each time the words "peace negotiations" became more and more threatening. There is no better way to start a war than to arrange peace negotiations.

Camrad_RIP 22.03.24 в 20:48

Adam had told her enough that in a war between humans and elves, Ciri would bet on the former without question. What could a handful of mages do against weapons that could hit a target a dozen miles away that any peasant could master? Against flying robots?

Camrad_RIP 22.03.24 в 20:49

If the humans slaughtered King of Aen Elle and his Riders, she wouldn't cry for them, but going to the other world with them was not something Ciri wanted to do.

Camrad_RIP 22.03.24 в 20:51

"Where is Eredin?" Ciri asked in common. Let the girl understand, even a little, what they were talking about; it might play to her advantage. "I need to talk to him."

Camrad_RIP 22.03.24 в 21:14

Every time Ciri addressed Aen Elle, they had a look on their faces as if they were surprised at her very ability to speak.

Camrad_RIP 22.03.24 в 21:15

"I'll tell him you missed him," the rider replied colorlessly, reluctantly breaking away from his meal.

Camrad_RIP 22.03.24 в 21:18

Scaffold missed him! The floor shook like an earthquake, and she was shaking so hard that she almost fell off the couch. And she wasn't the only one, judging by the screams: the floor shook like an earthquake. The cabinets opened, and syringes and vials spilled out, rolling across the tiled floor.

Camrad_RIP 22.03.24 в 21:20

And a scalpel rolled behind the couch and glinted one last time almost at the very wall. A scalpel. Ciri swallowed.

Camrad_RIP 22.03.24 в 21:21

"Здание под угрозой разрушения. Немедленно покиньте…(The building is in danger of an immediate collapse. Leave immediately...)," the voice repeated more insistently.

Camrad_RIP 22.03.24 в 21:19

The message was interrupted by a dull low roar.

Camrad_RIP 22.03.24 в 21:22

"Was ist das?" The girl whispered, immediately forgetting about the rider's threat.

Camrad_RIP 22.03.24 в 21:23

Ciri didn't like the roar, either human or animal, but it didn't sound like the metallic clanking of machinery either.

Camrad_RIP 22.03.24 в 21:37

\\"The only monsters in our world wear suits," Adam had once told her.

Camrad_RIP 22.03.24 в 21:37

It doesn't seem like it.

Camrad_RIP 22.03.24 в 21:38

Rider frowned, sticking a spoon into the mass. Ciri felt the slings he held her with loosening slightly as the sound repeated. Tying her up with ordinary ropes wasn't enough - she had a mage attached to her, though she wouldn't have had the strength to teleport with an open wound. It was a good thing they hadn't muzzled her.

Camrad_RIP 22.03.24 в 21:39

She has to get out of here before they're eaten alive.

Camrad_RIP 22.03.24 в 21:40

"I need to use the restroom," Ciri addressed the elf.

Camrad_RIP 22.03.24 в 22:05

Much more than meeting a need, she needed to look around. How many riders were there? Were they guarding the exits?

Camrad_RIP 22.03.24 в 22:11