Быть Гладу и Хладу / There will be Hunger and Cold: 0.

0. Picture of the life of a rat trapped in a maze
https://youtu.be/yTrwNTfooR8

Camrad_RIP 06.06.25 в 13:14

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Camrad_RIP 06.06.25 в 13:15

It is believed that you should always draw the "Dream Star" yourself, even if your hands are crooked, even if you have money for a professional painter or a stencil printout on a 3D printer. This is not just a superstition, but the result of meticulously collected statistics among all the sleepers of our home planet. Yes, a hand-drawn star, slightly, literally by half a percent, increases the effectiveness of the first dive and slightly increases the average value of the gifts received during it. Again, by that same half a percent that becomes noticeable only when processing very significant arrays of statistical data. Well, and it is also worth considering that usually those guys and girls who have taken the trouble to personally conduct even the most superstitious rituals, having learned about them in advance, are themselves prepared for the dive somewhat better than the average individual.

Camrad_RIP 08.06.25 в 06:57

Ilya considered himself to be someone who had been preparing for something like this, if not all his life, but a very significant percentage of that life. He wanted to take some joy from that life. He also received a classic “earthly” profession quite honestly. Manuals, reading and sifting through the Forum, paid and free libraries, video lessons, and other interviews with famous divers - he absorbed all of this and greedily asked for more. He received his second education, received by correspondence, at the Faculty of Anomalous Reality Studies, and not at some bottom-feeding school, but at one of the British institutes. Here, it was not so much talent that worked as the opportunity to jump on a lucky train of a grant program. Europe, like the rest of the world, was always trying to lure promising divers, even if at the very beginning of their careers. When they were neither promising nor even divers, which, as is known, only one out of about thirty-five people can become.

Camrad_RIP 08.06.25 в 07:01

And not everyone will want it, and if they do, they won’t remain that way for long.

Camrad_RIP 06.06.25 в 13:15

"...as you might guess, the conflict between the two lovely communities was once again exhausted, ending, as always, with a pile of local corpses, the permanent death of several fighters from both sides, and, of course, a sharp decline in Essence supplies." Streamer, one of the most popular, if not the best, in the Broken news genre, did not hide his poisonous sarcasm. As in previous instances, the Assembly amicably condemned both the Jade Guardians and the Floating Sword, once again raising the issue of the legitimacy of the excessive use of sacrificial magic and mass cursing rituals fueled by the lives of Broken natives. Once again, their particular concerns were heard, and once again, they were ignored.

Camrad_RIP 08.06.25 в 07:46

Well, it's not surprising that they ignored it. There are practically no kind classes in the Broken World, or nothing is heard about them. All paths to power, every single one, require either blood and sacrifice, the torment of service, or just look frankly creepy. The presence of the Forum and the Encyclopedia, of course, helps to find the most effective paths, preventing the Twin from going crazy under the pressure of his class. Actually, the number of those who have crossed the second level and the speed of pumping earthlings speak for themselves. The less blood, guts, and sacrifices, the more intact the head. It is difficult to go crazy on Earth. The Barrier protects the minds of those who have gone crazy there, in the Broken, but it is still not very pleasant to regularly live in the body of a cannibalistic creature that cannot even think coherently. Many, realizing what exactly their avatar does, or what is being done to this avatar, prefer to step under a magnetic train or out a window.

Camrad_RIP 08.06.25 в 07:04

This does not change the fact, however, that no one but the Assembly gives a shit about crimes against the local population of the Broken, as long as the Essence is flow. And the Assembly doesn't give a shit either, they just can't say it out loud. The rejection of slavery, sacrifices, ritual torture to strengthen themselves, and a normal attitude towards the locals is the choice of each individual diver, supported by nothing but their decency. In fairness, the locals there will most often give any earthlings a head start in terms of cruelty, cold-bloodedness, and a bunch of blackness that they can bring down on a reviving diver who falls into their hands. Among them, there are also those who can revive, just usually not from the start, but already from about the third step. But it is precisely such people who can successfully devour a reviving earthling once and for all.

Camrad_RIP 08.06.25 в 07:08

And do it regularly.

Camrad_RIP 08.06.25 в 07:09

"Still divided in two, the once largest clan community in the Asian sector continues to multiply itself to zero in a haze of fumes and revelry. And if things continue this way, there will be not two, but four or even five parts, yes." Ilya agreed wholeheartedly with this ‘yes,’ for the Chinese, with their civil war within one of the five largest factions of the Broken, had considerably upset the balance among the politicians who had latched onto the Essence supplies, who now sensed not a slight heat under their asses, but a burning volcano. "Be that as it may, the Party had long since lost control over the leaders of the former Heavenly Way, who had moved to the Broken on a permanent basis, so threatening them with deprivation of their cat wives and rice bowls was not an option. Stock prices are falling, the price of Essence is rising again, and Chinese bigwigs are pouring money into the Endless Path, obviously intending to use these cats as replacements for their former favourites. It would seem, what does Israel have to do with this, right?"

Camrad_RIP 08.06.25 в 07:49

The joke isn't funny because there is considerable suspicion that the rebellious part of the Path was financed by lovers of Matzah, Shabbat, and secret operations. Rumours that the Heavenly ones were on the verge of a split had been circulating since Ilya was a teenager, but until then, they had managed to coexist peacefully because it was more profitable. And then, suddenly, within a couple of years, they went from sluggish intrigues and behind-the-scenes squabbles to open conflict, nearly destroying the Heart of Rebirth, their stronghold. And then they did destroy it, splitting it into several much weaker parts. And there were more than two of those parts, which was the reason for the turmoil. Each mini-faction will obviously want to get its piece while the remains of the Heart are still full of power and can ensure the revival of those dying in battles for power over their former might. This epic slaughter has already been dubbed the new Three Kingdoms on the internet, and it would be funny if it weren't for the crisis-ridden political conflict in very earthly China, where different parts of the heavens were also supported.

Camrad_RIP 08.06.25 в 07:53

Fortunately, they seemed to have the sense to leave alone those who refused to listen to their demands. They began to prepare a new faction. But damn it, it took them a good forty years to achieve their status, and they only did so when they managed to capture that very stronghold with the Heart, the Jade Palace, damn it. The endless called cats for a reason, two of their five leaders have cat blood, so they're definitely not pushovers. Even though they're not a purely Chinese guild, there are more Chinese than others, and the rest aren't too against integrating with the Party, especially with generous gifts. However, they still have fifteen years to grow before they reach the level of essence supply demonstrated by the Heavenly Ones in their worst cycles, and no subsidies can change that.

Camrad_RIP 08.06.25 в 08:33

"...and now we can say with complete confidence that the appearance of the ninth officially confirmed fifth-level carrier has come to pass! Jurgis Matijonis, an honorary citizen of Europe, was finally able to complete his breakthrough and move from an already impressive Four to a Five. The changed video on the once again reformed YouTube turned out to be yet another rehash of already somewhat outdated news, although a couple of weeks ago, when the new level 5 was first announced, the hype was serious. "As you know, Mr. Yurges voluntarily posted most, if not all, of the information about his development on the Forum, so we can all admire what has become of our respected lover of cutting up dead bodies on the fifth step. For all those who have been in a coma for the last ten years, let me remind you that he started out as a very ordinary Grave Robber, reached the fourth level as a Peace Taker, and became... a true Master of Cemeteries. And, believe it or not, even after reaching the third level, our hero preferred to live on Earth literally within walking distance of the largest cemetery in Vilnius. Now he will probably move right into it."

Camrad_RIP 08.06.25 в 07:56

Here, the announcer is either being honest or just showing how clueless he is. Transferring abilities from Broken to Reality doesn't work that way, otherwise, the world would be ruled by powered divers, not politicians. A smart one, not one who lost his fear after landing on Earth, could wreak havoc and devastate a couple of countries, especially if his upgrade is not in direct damage. In fact, seven such individuals once put Earth in a position of drinking deer. But no, except for the first ones who learned the Great Mechanism, the transfer of abilities lags by two and a half levels. The first and second levels on Earth will be the same as ordinary mortals, only with a reserve of Essence, but you can't use it for magic. The third level will only receive increased characteristics, according to the class sheet, but without active and passive skills. Superhuman, but not much more dangerous than a couple of soldiers with machine guns. And only at the fourth level will it be possible to obtain the abilities given to the diver at the first level, and at the fifth level, respectively, an analogue of the second level will be revealed.

Camrad_RIP 08.06.25 в 08:00

It would seem that it is not that difficult, but even moving from the first level to the second takes about five to seven years of active or three to four years of very active levelling up. Reaching the top three is a feat in itself, which cannot be achieved before the age of fifteen using publicly known methods. And if there are non-public methods, they are not shared. Even for Earthlings' habit of pirating and distributing any information, there are certain limits. Again, most of these methods will raise your level, but they will also knock your roof off so that the diver will, in fact, be in the position of an observer. You dive in, come to your senses, realise what exactly you were doing during the cycle, throw up, go to a psychologist, and start praying for them to kill you off as soon as possible. Well, or maybe you're such a ghoul in real life that you actually enjoy this kind of thing, or at least you don't care. There are just under six hundred level 4s on the entire Earth, and only nine level 5s. Well, officially, but the Forum suspects that there are a couple more secretly levelled-up tops who are just being humble.

Camrad_RIP 08.06.25 в 08:02

The second level on Earth is not yet a machine of destruction. A couple of special forces units, a helicopter, and a tank for dessert will be able to deal with such an enemy. But that's if they know where to look for you, what your class is, who you are, and all that. The Lithuanian who has reached the fifth level, for example, could, if he wanted to, go and kill, say, the President of the People's Republic of China, and he even has a chance of succeeding. So they will keep an eye on him, God forbid, but they won't kill him just to be on the safe side. And because it's not profitable. At his level, he brings a tremendous amount of Essence, though not as much as all the celestials in their current state combined. And because the Treaty will slap them on the wrist. The fifth level, specialising in contract magic, has done such a trick that anyone who has ‘taken the position of a ruling politician’ will think three times before doing something stupid. And no, as nearly eight decades of regular attempts have shown, simply appointing yourself to a new position and putting a puppet in the president's chair won't help. It will punish the one who has real power.

Camrad_RIP 08.06.25 в 08:05

Ilya's interest in such topics was typical of a young fanatic dreaming of a magical world, adventures, and olo-lo-pysh-pysh, which filled all the branches of the Forum or Encyclopedia, which had very little idea of what a dive was. And how easy it was to swim out of that nirvana without the Twin, having experienced the constant death of the ‘game avatar’ and even losing the chance to return to the Broken World. To be fair, the topics of dives and the Broken World are very popular. There are a bunch of educational programmes, children's cartoons, and all sorts of things to maintain this popularity. The state, any state, needs a stable supply of the Essence, and therefore, it has never refused to provide additional incentives for the right choice. Politicians were not so quick to provide financial incentives, although, again, those who seek shall find.

Camrad_RIP 08.06.25 в 08:41

Ilya was not a gangster kid or a golden boy in any sense, but he did get a сщгкыу at the London Anomaly Uni, didn't he? After all, the willingness to share information about the diving phenomenon and the Broken World itself, about classes and ranks, builds and metas, as well as all other things - this is one of the main strengths of humanity on Earth, making them those shameless imba. What on Earth can be learned with just a quick Google search, in other worlds, under the shadow of the Great Mechanism was considered literally a family secret, which would be passed on under an oath of lifelong loyalty only to the most beloved son or something like that. And no, this is not an exaggeration, or an exaggeration, but not too strong. It cannot be said that the Earth did not have a chance to slide into the same clan-aristocratic despotism with all its abominations, but earthlings were lucky. At the very least, the first seven of those who left, or rather the First Seven of the Departed, instead of squabbling for power over the world, managed to somehow unite and force the governments of that time to that very peace.

Camrad_RIP 08.06.25 в 09:38

Well, there was the Treaty and the Law, the parade of coffins on gun carriages, dictatorship, and all that. A bunch of politicians had to be buried, in some countries two or even three times, before the new heads of those states realized that everything had changed. To this day, there are a bunch of theories about whether they managed to kill one of the Seven with a nuclear strike, whose location they supposedly managed to calculate and hit with a tactical nuclear weapon at an inconspicuous town in northern Canada? Or was it just a coincidence that after that explosion, a number of abilities were no longer used until the very departure of the entire Seven-Six? One thing was known for sure - not only those who commanded the missile launch died, but everyone involved, because this was the biggest blow to the opponents of "integration". Personally, Ilya believed that yes, they did finish them off, otherwise they would not have responded so harshly and frightened. But he didn’t argue with the fanatics of this group; there were individuals there who were so fanatical that Muslims couldn’t even stand up to them – they could even slash you with a knife.

Camrad_RIP 08.06.25 в 09:45

And it is known for sure, the Encyclopedia confirms, that the First Ones are always removed from the world after a certain time, that they are no longer on Earth, that they are not gods, that prayers are of no particular use to them, and they do not assimilate those prayers. And still, there are still fanatics. It is not that Ilya did not share their worldview at all, he also valued the results of the Seven's work, thanks to which, even after almost eight decades, the Earth has not slipped into a world war, mass dictatorship, famine, epidemics, and constant brutality. Communication between divers and representatives of other civilizations has given so much that you begin to look at our native corruption, inequality, segregation that creeps in every now and then, brutal attitude towards citizens, and all that stuff a little differently.

Camrad_RIP 08.06.25 в 09:29

Yes, it's really bad on Earth: overpopulation, unemployment, almost a fifth of the population living on minimum wage in nine-square-meter coffin apartments, constant lawlessness of the authorities, and rampant criminal gangs in poor and poorly controlled areas. But it could have been worse, and in most worlds it is much worse. The unemployed were not disposed of, overpopulation did not cause famine, the criminals were still afraid to behave too demonstratively and did not break into power, and the presence of the Internet and a bunch of primitive and not so virtual entertainment allowed those living on welfare in nine square meters to at least lead some kind of life, and not just gradually turn into vegetables. Obviously, the authorities only supported this opinion, like, there's no point in organizing another rally here, have you even heard how in Sarsha-Nera the dissatisfied are hanged on crosses without skin? Exactly, better keep quiet about it. If it weren’t for the still-active shackles of the Treaty, they would have done something like this a long time ago.

Camrad_RIP 08.06.25 в 09:31

Well, that's what Ilya thought and there's no way to convince him otherwise.

Camrad_RIP 06.06.25 в 13:15

The chalk carefully draws another mark on the wooden floor of the inherited apartment, the twelfth and last. They are easy to draw, and minor mistakes almost never affect the result. The essence of the Star of Dream is not in magic; it does not carry any magic at all, but simply opens the soul of the person who drew it and then fell asleep in that line to the Great Mechanism. Then the mechanism itself does the work. The main thing is to start it. Even savages from the Stone Age can manage that. The Great Mechanism appeared to Earthlings at the beginning of the twenty-first century, but in other worlds it may have arrived in the Middle Ages or the local analogue of Antiquity. And no Essence can help to bridge such a gap. It is only a tool, which, without a scientific picture of the world and without the initial desire to use it correctly, will not help in any way.

Camrad_RIP 08.06.25 в 08:08

"...tariffs for Essence transmission could cause another delay in the twelfth floating metropolis project, which is already pretty controversial. After all, the eleven existing floating megacities already place an excessive burden on the ocean ecosystem, despite the use of Essential Technologies to maintain ecological balance." What a coincidence, just what he was thinking, which is why Ilya almost made an extra line in the closing outer circle. "The German Ministry of Industry has once again stated that the pause in the project is only temporary, as was the case with the seventh or fifth, but, my dear listeners, back then the tariffs did not fluctuate so wildly..."

Camrad_RIP 08.06.25 в 08:12

Essence itself is not witchcraft or magic; it cannot be used to throw fireballs or crash the earth, but it can create. Not only and not so much matter, no. It can create knowledge. Let's say you have a new project for a cure for Alzheimer's disease, but the project itself is only a draft, and there are no clinical trials yet. But you, a scientist and a doctor, by hook or by crook, obtain it yourself, get your request approved, or even purchase a certain amount of Essence through third parties. Then you make a wish and go to sleep. By morning, you will have a ready-made formula for the drug with all the specifics, and a ready-made clinical chart on your computer's hard drive. This formula will be as effective as possible! Perfect and polished to perfection, as long as there is enough Essence.

Camrad_RIP 08.06.25 в 08:15

The very Essence that divers use to level up in the Broken World, and every time they get one point of Essence there, they bring the same point back here with them. The bottom line is that the more levelled up a diver is, the more actively they level up their level and talents, the more Essence they transfer to the real world. In fact, if it weren't for Essence, humanity would surely have destroyed itself, if not in a global war, then through famine and overpopulation, compounded by an ecological crisis. As a result, states have to hunt for essence, which can be used for almost anything if there is enough of it, because in significant quantities it also creates materials. Not paper money, although in theory this is possible, but you'll be shocked by the prices for such counterfeiting, namely materials. A piece of pure Californium? A warm superconductor? An element that does not exist in the periodic table?

Camrad_RIP 08.06.25 в 09:12

Calculations for the creation of new multi-storey buildings and residential complexes over half a kilometre high, the creation of new plant varieties that keep agriculture afloat and prevent even the slightest threat of famine, the constant creation of new vaccines, and a space programme that is already in its third wave of colonisation in five lunar megacities. All this was possible only thanks to the essence and its direct influence on reality. To create an idealised version of the initially bare idea of the project, then to help find even the most scarce materials, including those that do not physically exist on the planet, and finally, protection from fools. To ensure that there are no loose bolts in the assembled rocket, that there are no unexpected bugs in the new programme, and that the new variety of cold-resistant wheat will definitely take root in the new soil.

Camrad_RIP 08.06.25 в 09:14

New gold of the new world, damn.

Camrad_RIP 06.06.25 в 13:16

The last line of the drawing fell into place, followed by a check of the star, and finally, it was possible to straighten one's back and breathe a little. And turn off the speakers, from which conspiracy theories about the tough Lithuanian poured out again. No, he had already read about him on the Forum and in the Encyclopedia, since he had indeed shared a significant part of his secrets. After all, when transported to the Broken World, divers most often find themselves infinitely far from each other. No community that has obtained its Heart of Rebirth has yet encountered earthlings from other communities or even familiar geographical names. Or rather, there have been coincidences, but they are just that — coincidences. And the groups of earthlings or otherworlders themselves... well, they are not particularly large — usually three to eight people, which is considered a full combat group.

Camrad_RIP 08.06.25 в 09:16

If they got along well, then that's not bad, yes. But more than three-quarters of divers are loners. Either they didn't get along, were thrown into solitary sailing from the start, or chose that sailing themselves. Or the Broken World chewed up and killed the rest of their supposed groupmates. Without a Heart, it's very easy to find your final death. Two or three deaths to deplete your initial reserves of life-saving essence, and then that's it. Your last life, and welcome back to the mortals. Many are happy about this because living alone in the Broken World is hard, scary, often disgusting, and almost always very exhausting. It's a different matter if you get into the Citadel — without a doubt the largest faction of earthlings in the Broken World, and an international one at that. It has long been considered something of a small country, especially given the many lands under its control and the legions of subjects among the local population. Nearly nine thousand divers from Earth, another thousand or so aliens who have joined them, and four of the nine fifth-level bearers.

Camrad_RIP 08.06.25 в 09:19

But not just anyone was invited or accepted there. The competition for a place in the Citadel was fierce, and Ilya couldn't get in. Or rather, he could. He had a degree, a bunch of courses and certificates, and he was constantly studying tables, codes, records about the history of the Broken, and all that stuff. He could have tried to get in, to become part of the only organisation of divers among all the currently known worlds that could train newcomers to the third level on a permanent basis. Yes, not everyone, only the most talented, and not without some rough edges, but the fact itself! The barrier between the second and third levels in all other worlds of the Great Mechanism is considered extremely difficult and highly individual, requiring a unique solution. And the earthlings? They have regularly updated metas, build typology, talent classification, and calculation tables. Any diver aiming to become a pro thinks through several options for their build in advance, even before the first Star of Dreams. Then all that remains is to take into account the effect of the gifts received and choose the appropriate class from those offered, since it has long been calculated how to provoke the appearance of certain classes among the options.

Camrad_RIP 08.06.25 в 09:20

Well, after the story of Yurius, probably a lot of people rushed to work part-time in the morgue or as cemetery guards, and now everyone who is not too lazy is mastering all sorts of Tibetan and not-so-Tibetan meditations. There is a high chance of getting a useful perk for free at the "birth" of a Twin. Ilya will most likely get one. Perhaps more than one. Which only increases his chances of getting on the list of newcomers to the Citadel. But he still will not get there. Because he will not even apply, yes. He will not at all, if possible, report that he went through the Star. This is not approved by the authorities, but they do not dare to forbid it, just as they do not dare to force the disclosure of Identity, Status list, and Gifts. Another point of the Treaty, may the Dead Gods protect all Seven, wherever they are now. Having cast a critical eye over his drawing, Ilya changed into warm PJs, put on thick woolen socks, an expensive thing, natural, almost status, and then lay down in the center of the drawn figure, quickly falling asleep. No, it was not the figure that put him to sleep; some newbies toss and turn in it for hours. He was just tired and worn out. Nerves, again, tormented him, and in his case, nerves always made him want to either eat or sleep. And he had already finished his dinner, yes. There were no images or psychedelic moments in the dream, like with everyone else. If you dreamed of some kind of turbidity in the Star of Dreams, you need to take pills and not look for higher meanings. At the very first contact, the figure makes a mark on the soul of the diver, and for full initiation, you need to wait for the beginning of a new cycle - another eighteen days, that's it.

Camrad_RIP 08.06.25 в 09:25

And so that night Ilya simply sleeps.

Camrad_RIP 06.06.25 в 13:16

Like a marmot.

Camrad_RIP 06.06.25 в 13:16

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Camrad_RIP 06.06.25 в 13:16

The morning began with the second of his life's visions from the Mechanism: he learned in an instant, clearly and without ambiguity, that his attempt to touch the Broken World was successful, and in the next cycle, he would be able to create a Twin. That is, choose a class, look through the gifts, scatter the first talents, and then run to the adventure. Going to the Forum again, he saw a ticking timer on the title page, which was now ticking in his head. The cycle begins at midnight Greenwich Mean Time. It is recommended to lie down and relax, because you, a young or not-so-young diver, will be knocked out for three or four hours. In which case, from a week to a month or two will pass in the Broken World, and you can never guess how long exactly. In rare cases, it is possible to find out how long the cycle will be. This information will also be posted on the Forum, but this does not happen very often. However, this information is also of no particular use. It is still impossible to drag anything from Earth to Broken.

Camrad_RIP 08.06.25 в 07:12

The shortest cycle, they say, was nine and a half hours long, and the longest took three years, which is why a considerable number of divers stared at the ceiling for a long time after waking up, since they did not immediately recognize their surroundings and those around them. What can I say? The very essence of the Great Mechanism does not allow earthlings to go crazy from what they experienced in the avatar body, otherwise, their entire pumping would have long ago rolled into anarchy. A good quarter of the Twins lost their marbles, and the rest also changed in accordance with their classes. Without a barrier between consciousnesses, there would be such a mess that it's sickening to even think about it.

Camrad_RIP 08.06.25 в 07:14

"...They took away our sky! They took away our god! They took away our faith! We are like chickens in a henhouse, dumb and submissive, obediently laying eggs for our masters!" Another broadcast by another bunch of fanatics, only these ones are really aggressive, sometimes they even stage terrorist attacks, not just interrupting news broadcasts, but their ideology lives on anyway. "Come to your senses, people, that's what I'm asking! Come to your senses and don't be led by them, leave their cursed world and go touch the grass, you stupid degenerates!"

Camrad_RIP 08.06.25 в 08:56

The last sentence, about grass, was so out of character for a typical orthodox Muslim that Ilya almost choked on his fruit paste, giggling like an idiot. Well, another reason to turn off the broadcast and watch something on the Forum, something useful, not just another news report. There, it seems, Nikhil was supposed to post a new summary of transcriptions of one of the theurgical dead languages of the Broken. Maybe there will be something funny? Although, okay, if it's really funny, he'll sell it for money, and it will only end up on the forum after one of the buyers leaks the decrypted text... or Nikhil himself posts it. He sometimes does that. The orthodox's cries left an unpleasant aftertaste, largely because he is entirely right, and no one even tries to hide it.

Camrad_RIP 08.06.25 в 08:59

In fact, what the video terrorist said is written on the front page of the Encyclopedia and Forum, without embellishment, propaganda, or hypocrisy. Those who created the Great Mechanism are so far above trying to justify themselves to savages that it's not even funny. Anyone with a working computer, phone, or tablet can go to the Forum and read this appeal. Even if your phone battery is dead and your computer is not connected to the network and has never been connected, technology here is simply a point of contact with direct manipulation of reality at a deep quantum level. In worlds where there is no technology, the Forum with the Encyclopaedia can be summoned on the surface of a mirror, in the middle of the pages of absolutely any book, or simply by drawing it in the sand. Each world has its method, but it always works. If the Earth were to burn in a nuclear fire and if some people survived, then Earthlings would have an easier method that does not require working technology.

Camrad_RIP 08.06.25 в 09:10

This is precisely how the technologies of the Ancient Ones function, indistinguishable from transcendent chthonic sorcery. The Ancient Ones, who in their time seized power throughout the entire visible universe, in all worlds and derivatives of those worlds. They seized and ruled there with a firm hand and wise decisions, indeed. Incidentally, precisely because the Ancient Ones were also humanoid in build, virtually all intelligent life in the universe is also humanoid in one form or another. No, they did not create humans and human-like beings, as if they were gods from the Bible. It's just that their existence distorted the picture of reality, and evolution in a bunch of worlds adjusted itself so that humans, or rather humanoids, would be the crown of it. Most often, they are almost the same as Earthlings, only living in other worlds, on other planets.

Camrad_RIP 08.06.25 в 08:52

Also, the Ancient Ones were quite boring to repair the universe, or so they say. But it is unlikely that such powerful beings would have any reason to lie about this detail. According to them, conveyed in perfectly understandable letters in the native language of those who read the Forum, young civilisations sooner or later either killed themselves, started killing each other, or even tried to bare their teeth at the Ancient Ones themselves. They got fed up with this and created Physics. That is, they literally created it. By their will, such nonsense as the speed limit of light, the gravitational well of planets that prevents cosmic expansion, appeared; they distorted the metrics of reality so that it became impossible to create portals between layers of worlds, violate the laws of conservation of energy, and so on.

Camrad_RIP 08.06.25 в 08:50

All those things that Earthlings learned in school, and scientists discovered in their scientific works — all of this is literally a cage for disobedient children, who now sit in the corner and cannot leave the sandbox. And so that children don't get bored and starve to death when the planet's resources run out, the Great Mechanism and a bunch of Game Worlds were created. A way to obtain essence and sustain civilization until it either reaches utopia, moves to the game world completely, or quietly and peacefully ceases to exist in internal conflict or demographic crisis. The Ancient Ones will settle for any option, as long as they don't mess up the backyard. To mess, you savages, there is a whole pen where some of the restrictive laws don't work, and you can use what seems like magic to savages.

Camrad_RIP 08.06.25 в 04:42

The Broken World is not the only one. There are many such enormous super-worlds, each larger than several galaxies. It's just that Earthlings got Broken, a world that was originally very inhospitable and, judging by its history, has also survived several dozen apocalypses, breaking down even further. And perhaps, originally, that place was more pleasant. Each of the super-worlds has its history, its system, its everything, and once every four and a half thousand Earth years, the game world changes for each of the connected planets. If Ilya lives another six hundred years, he will even see what the Ancient Ones create there, besides the Broken One.

Camrad_RIP 08.06.25 в 04:44

Now, no one even knows whether the Ancient Ones still exist or not. There are many theories that they once played these “games,” leaving traces of their presence and will in the Broken One. Once upon a time. Not now. Perhaps they have long since died out or perished in an internal conflict. And only their project of watching over the stupid savages continues to live, to exist, to draw new and new worlds into its depths, giving the blessing of the Great Mechanism to the next savages. It's a depressing point of view, but when you read about the fun things happening in Broken, even without the help of Earthlings, only by the efforts of the local population, you can't help but realize that there may well be a grain of truth in such a theory.

Camrad_RIP 08.06.25 в 04:47

He tries not to think about it too much, otherwise the image of a rat trapped in a maze in the middle of a long-abandoned laboratory becomes too depressing.

Camrad_RIP 08.06.25 в 04:47

To work, he still had to work, otherwise, his credit and social rating would drop, followed by the risk of being classified as a Welfare Recipient, he would take the bus that passed right by his house, as usual. Ilya did not enjoy his job, not at all, but he still valued it. And not only because he did not want to become a Welfare Recipient. Such a downgrade is not the end of the world, and it is still possible to get back to being a full-fledged citizen, but it will take a lot of nerves and effort. This is mainly due to the epic difficulties with paperwork, or rather, with digital bureaucracy, because bureaucracy now rules the world almost as much as the Essence. Most of the troubles of social WR are that living this way is so boring that you could howl like a wolf. Even the poorest homeless person in Africa now has access to healthy and nutritious food, the internet provides a lot of free and relatively free entertainment, and the benefits they receive are definitely enough to pay for utilities and still have a little left over.

Camrad_RIP 08.06.25 в 04:52

It's just the life of a vegetable.

Camrad_RIP 06.06.25 в 13:17

But Ilya didn’t want to be a vegetable.

Camrad_RIP 06.06.25 в 13:17

Well, if he manages to gain a foothold in Broken, he could quit his official job, since even the newest divers will be gladly given certain social benefits, but don't quit your work and pump Essence. Pump, bitches, as if you don't know how to do shit anymore! Some, characteristically, really don't know how to do anything else.

Camrad_RIP 08.06.25 в 04:55