Готовый перевод Тейлор Поттер и философский виал / Taylor Potter and the Philosophical Vial: Глава 12. Муки выбора

Chapter 12. The Agony of Choice
*

After Valentine's Day, things slowly began to improve. The attacks and mysterious electronic glitches accompanied by the appearance of faces no longer recurred, and the events of Christmas were gradually forgotten. It wasn't that fans and admirers flocked to Taylor again, but Potter was now ready to settle for less. The absence of hostile glances and shouts in her back, and the interaction with her friends—minimal, but interaction nonetheless—were already bringing peace to her life. Finding herself in a situation similar to her home life, peering into the abyss of loneliness, Taylor reassessed some things, suddenly filled with worldly wisdom.

True, that wisdom didn't last long, and the situation as a whole remained unpleasant, but the boundaries shifted, and time sped. Lessons and homework ate up the lion's share of her time, as she had to reclaim what had been lost! Quidditch, much to Taylor's chagrin, never resumed; the pitch needed major repairs, which would have required, albeit temporarily, shutting down half of Wormwarts' systems, so everything was postponed until summer. Lisa regularly disappeared somewhere in the lower levels, refusing to explain anything, while Amy assisted Ray Sprout in his greenhouses and Doctor Pomfrey in the infirmary. Taylor, to distract herself, began setting up her own "insect farms" on the outskirts of the Sphere.

The project wasn't progressing well. In Potter's absence, the insects were eager to scatter, eating each other and fighting with their neighbors. Taylor also feared that the Sphere's guardians—the mannequins—would interfere and ravage her farms, but these fears proved unfounded. The robots, while guarding the Forest, were otherwise almost entirely busy working on some project in the center and rarely showed up on the Sphere's outskirts.

"They're either building something," Hagrid said angrily, taking the kettle off the stove, "or they're breaking it. The Inkwell got damaged, she tried to play with it—she was still young, after all—and those oval freaks turned into blades straight away! And then Brutus got hurt, he got into a fight with the duckbear and ran into a team of mannequins.

"What are they building?" Taylor asked quietly, holding a huge cup with both hands. "The Sphere is a closed system, right?"

"So someone unlocked something," Rachel shrugged her powerful shoulders. "That guy, what's his name, Lockhart, was hanging around there too!"

“Oh, well then, everything’s fine,” Taylor calmed down and took a sip of hot tea.

Outside Hagrid's hut, dogs barked, and birds chirped, rejoicing at the arrival of spring and the end of the cold weather. In fact, the warming and revival had begun a couple of weeks earlier, in mid-March, prompting Taylor to take up her "insect farms" and resume her visits to Rachel.

"I don't like him," Hagrid grumbled.

"Why?"

"I just don't like."

Taylor put down her teacup and considered it. It would be one thing if Niceguy disliked Hagrid because she understood dogs far better than people. It would be quite another if she instinctively, so to speak, sensed something wrong with him. Like a dog, driven by instinct but unable to express its feelings in words. Taylor wouldn't have focused on it if it weren't for the fact that Amy had expressed something similar. And the Sphere. Hadn't the events of the end of last year taken place under the Sphere?

"He helped me," Potter said.

He really did help, didn't he? Things picked up after Valentine's Day, and Professor Niceguy chatted so animatedly with everyone at the party, even with Headmistress Dumbledore. It's possible he was simply consulting with Alan Gramm on the Sphere's defenses, since Professor Lockhart taught Defense Against the Dark Powers. Perhaps they decided to strengthen the defenses after last year's events?

"And Fang doesn't like him," Hagrid added.

Taylor didn't feel like arguing, so she just shrugged, deciding to change the subject.

"Rachel, can I use your connection to the Parahuman Forum?"

"Why do you need this hotbed of smart-ass assholes?"

"Read the materials, ask for advice. I need to choose two subjects out of five for next year, but I still can't decide which ones."

"Well, read it, but it’s unlikely they’ll help you there."

Three hours later, Taylor admitted Hagrid had a point. Reading the multi-page exchanges hadn't helped, and her questions only generated advice from all sides, each comment categorically, without argument or reasoning, simply ordering Taylor to do this or that. Wherever arguments were presented, new squabbles and flud immediately erupted, and the comments multiplied so quickly that Potter couldn't keep up. The only benefit was that she reread the subjects themselves, in expanded descriptions, and now she could reflect on them.

"Team Jedi is back in action!" Taylor declared.

"Why is that?" Amy, Lisa, and Victoria were indignant in unison.

Then Amy and Lisa exchanged an angry glance. The air between them no longer sparkled as it had in the old days, but their friendship hadn't returned either. Something had happened over Christmas, something Taylor hadn't known about and had decided not to find out, so as not to poke a hornet's nest, so to speak. Fortunately, the warm weather of mid-April and the mini-holiday, the so-called Easter holiday, were conducive to peace and kindness.

"What, why?" Taylor asked.

"Why is Jedi?"

"We can be Team Avatar," Potter suggested. "Who wants to be Toph?"

"That's not an answer," Amy pouted.

"Great Founders!" Lisa couldn't resist. "Why should you be pouting, Weasley? You're going to be Princess Leia, and Victoria will be Luke!"

"Hey, I want to be a princess!" Victoria said indignantly.

"You don't want to be a princess," Lisa said, drawing a horizontal line in the air with her hand. "All that's left is to decide which of us will be Han Solo and which will be Chewbacca."

"I'll be Chewbacca," Taylor smiled weakly.

She could see that Lisa had already grasped the idea that they were a team that would defeat the Death Star and, in general, save the entire galaxy.

"Let's make Lisa into Chewbacca instead, my fingers have been itching to add hair to her for a long time," Amy cracked her knuckles.

"Only if, after you've finished, you scratch behind my ear," Granger retorted.

The air, of course, wasn't filled with tension, and there wasn't a desire to tear each other's throats apart, but still, the squabble was far from friendly.

"I was trying to defuse the situation, and you decided to start a fight again! Let's just get down to business, then," Taylor sighed, gesturing with her hand. "It's none of Victoria's business, but I think she could benefit from listening."

"Why is it none of my business?"

"Because you'll have a choice of additional subjects next year," Lisa intervened. "Right?"

"Right," Taylor nodded. "Five subjects: Social Studies, Tinkering, Devination, Bestiary, and Linguistics. Essentially, by choosing them, a cape is already, to a certain extent, choosing their future, so it's important to approach the matter responsibly."

"They're all in demand on the job market," Amy said quietly, "at least that's what Carol said."

"The job market is always in demand for specialists," Lisa interjected, "and becoming a specialist in any of these fields will require considerable effort. However, Taylor is right — this is a matter of specialization, since it's impossible to learn everything."

"Even if you're Thinker?" Amy quipped.

"Especially if you're a Thinker," Lisa retorted, "because everyone wants one thing from Thinkers — access to their luxurious brains, and no one cares if those brains hurt! At the famous St. Riley's Hospital, Thinkers have a separate floor, just like that!"

"A saint?" Taylor asked, confused.

Lisa waved her hand in the air, as if to say, don't pay attention, it's a figure of speech.

"Taylor, you and Amy have one of the subjects that is, so to speak, predetermined, and that is the Bestiary," Lisa continued.

"We'll figure it out without the smart asses," Amy snorted.

"But Amy, she's right," Taylor said as softly and calmly as she could, trying not to growl. "The Bestiary's subject matter encompasses all living beings, the Masters' servants, the Biotinkers' chimeras, artificially bred creatures, and their work, care, and understanding. Who else but us should take it? Our powers predetermined this choice, but Victoria and Lisa wouldn't take the Bestiary."

"Hmm," Amy thought, glancing at Taylor.

"Actually, we have," Granger interjected. "Victoria, with her force field, can act as a front-line fighter, and I can act as a support Thinker, and then we'll need..."

She managed to snap her mouth shut just in time, and three flies failed to land the spider on target, but Granger still began swatting, spitting, and knocking away the insects and cobwebs with her hands. Her glare was angrily eloquent, though Taylor's glare was no less eloquent.

"These redheads are always standing up for each other," Lisa grumbled under her breath.

Her gaze settled on Victoria, but Granger didn't suggest forming a blonde alliance. Taylor, who always considered her hair chestnut-brown, veering toward black, frowned but didn't deny her membership in the "redhead club," instead asking about something else.

"And what did you choose, Lisa?"

"Oh, I can't decide either, because it's bad being a Thinker," Lisa grinned. "My talents are needed and in demand everywhere, which means it'll be a complete overload. Maybe I should really choose Bestiary? Hey, hey, I was kidding! Devination is a good thing, sure, but it definitely overloads my abilities, so I think I'll cross that out too."

Then I'll take Divination as my second subject, Amy said quickly.

"The ability to predict and foretell events and the future, read signs and omens, developed intuition, subconscious processing of masses of information — that would suit Taylor better, in terms of combat tactics," Lisa muttered thoughtfully under her breath. "Hey, don't get mad, I'm not telling you! Take whatever subject you want, read the insides of chimeras and oak trees, I don't mind! I'll take... Social Studies and Tinkering, I'll probably be able to switch between them, and so on."

“You’re a Thinker, not a Tinker,” Victoria said, a little confused.

"Tinkering" here doesn't refer to a specific superpower, but rather a general category that encompasses all work with tinker-tech, computers, and other related things," Taylor explained. "If you don't count sledgehammers and soldering irons, but, say, programming, then that's perfectly in line with Lisa's power."

"Hmm, what would suit me then?" Victoria mused, pursing her lips. "Social Studies? Working with society?"

"Right," Lisa nodded. "In-depth study of Cape and Human societies, studying sociology and psychology, and so on—all in that category. Without choosing Social Studies as a subject, you'll never advance in government, at least not in Cape society."

"What is this, like Carol or something?" Victoria frowned.

Taylor, who knew Amy and Vicky's older sister was serious about going "into government," only smiled faintly at such an emotional statement. Carol Weasley was... not particularly pleasant to be around, a bit rule-obsessed, character. But she was also a serious student, self-taught in several areas not covered by the Wormwarts curriculum, like law, and it was understandable why this put Victoria off. While Carol was essentially moving in the right direction, her outward appearance, her impression, was quite the opposite.

Giggling at this thought, Taylor wondered if she should choose Social Studies. Bestiary was the default choice, Granger was right about that, as always, but what about the second subject? Devination in combat was good, but what if she focused on social integration? She'd have lots of acquaintances and friends, she'd help society, and generally, love and acceptance from people were good. Taylor likes tinkering, pushing buttons, and stuff. It was as if she were creating some unknown technomagic with her own will and mind.

Lisa's torment suddenly became a little clearer, and Taylor chuckled.

"...not just language learning," Granger's voice reached her, and Taylor realized she'd become too introverted, too disconnected from reality, "otherwise Linguistics would be part of the social package. It all comes back to Cape society, where it came from, and what drives it."

"Conflict?" Taylor asked.

"Conflict. And this conflict could destroy the Earth, well, who knows better than you?"

"What does Taylor have to do with this?" Amy immediately became wary.

“In general, your books contain practically pure, ninety-seven percent pure historical truth,” Lisa finished, smiling broadly.

"Isn't it one hundred percent?" Taylor was confused. "I mean, the true background of the events involving the capes has already been revealed?"

"But is the Dimension of Secret issue really addressed there?" Granger pointed. "And that's just one of the issues we had to deal with, not entirely by our own will, but still."

"Wait, wait, wait," Amy interrupted her immediately, as if she had forgotten that she had addressed Lisa first. "How is it not of your own free will?"

"It wasn't that someone was messing with our heads, but that we were confronted with this issue because of our proximity," Lisa chuckled, "to Taylor. The average cape doesn't encounter the Dark Ones and the mysteries surrounding them and their very appearance on Earth, so we were lucky, you could say."

Taylor chuckled to herself. What a typical Thinker's response – we're lucky to have come across new knowledge! The fact that she, Taylor Potter, would have done just fine without this knowledge, choosing the "boring" life of an average Cape, with parents, children, grandchildren, and so on, certainly didn't enter Granger's calculations.

"So it’s true, historically pure, ninety-seven percent,” Lisa repeated.

Taylor's thoughts suddenly clouded. The Dark Cape wouldn't leave her alone, and she wouldn't have a peaceful life as long as this whole "Girl-Who-Lived" story dragged on. So what? Right, she needed something to help her fight.

"Yes, and I'll choose Divination," Taylor replied.

Amy smiled, unexpectedly wide and open, even joyful. Something malicious, and Taylor bit her lip, realizing that her choice of subjects could be interpreted as Amy's choice, Weasley's preference over Granger. All she could do was hope, with the power of Thinker, that Lisa would understand everything without further ado.

"Well, we've decided, now we just need to fill out the files and send them by email, and then the teachers will sort it out themselves," Granger assured everyone.

"And me?" Victoria asked.

"You still have a year to think about it," Lisa assured her. "And don't frown, you can always randomly poke at subjects and then blame me for giving you the wrong advice!"

"That's fine with me!" Victoria laughed unexpectedly.

The sending of the letters went well, even Amy's malfunctioning tablet didn't object, and again the days flew by, and Taylor suddenly discovered that it was warm, even stuffy, mid-May, and she was on the shore of a lake, in the company of a bored Amy.

But all the good nature washed away from them both, like a wave of cold water, when they both received practically identical emails. In the case of Amy's tablet, the same face twitching on its malfunctioning screen.

Miss Potter,

with the deepest joy, I inform you that your friend Lisa Granger is in my hands. If you do not bring the Hero's Sword to the edge of the Forbidden Forest by midnight, she will die a horrible and painful death. If you seek help, your friend will die. I believe you know that I have ways to infiltrate Wormwarts' systems and spy on you. If you do anything other than what I ask, your friend will die. Attached are videos; I recommend watching them.

With sincere wishes for a painful death, your ill-wisher.

Amy's letter was the same, only instead of Lisa it said Victoria.

"Nowhere to go," Taylor muttered under her breath in despair.

*

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