[Sector: "Alpha", station: "Watchman-XVII" – connecting corridor D-312]
"WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING!!! IDIOT!!!" the girl jumped back, dodging a spilled cup of hot coffee. Gray-blue eyes doomedly looked at the loss, and then at the culprit.
"Sorry… I didn't mean to!" I had to blink to grasp the situation.
Wandering the expanses of the imperial station, as always, I was lost in the fog of my thoughts and didn't pay attention to the steps around the corner.
The stranger, whose kin clearly intersected with the Templars, businesslike adjusted her captain's uniform jacket and crossed her arms over her chest.
"I don't need your apologies, idiot…"
"Well... this… sort of…" stunned by the beauty of the displeased angel, I froze.
The heavenly being herself didn't help with her behavior, drilling me with a simply murderous gaze, from which I wanted to pretend to be an opossum.
"Hey! Are you okay? Should I call medics?" she took a step closer.
"Stop!!! I'm fine!" I waved my hands, feeling sweat break out on my forehead, "And by the way, my intellect is above average..!"
"Haha-ha!!!" her ringing laughter echoed through the corridor.
"Well, at least someone on this station has it "above average". Otherwise, idiots all around! Walking here, not looking underfoot!" wiping the tears that appeared, the beautiful maiden began to jokingly parody my gait, reminiscent of the procession of a half-dead jiangshi.
"Looks like it… heh-heh..."
But when the atmosphere changed to a more friendly one, the idyll came to an end.
From around the blind turn came a quartet of well-built soldiers. Their white imperial frock coats were adorned with corporate badges, the same as on my interlocutor's uniform.
Passing by, the sturdiest guy tried to say something to her, but...
"If I hear anything about my number one more time... I'll rip your arm off, Philip!!! AND THEN SHOVE IT UP YOUR OWN ASS AND FORGET IT THERE!!!" the choleric angel didn't even turn around, as if feeling who exactly was behind her.
Scared half to death, the guys quickened their pace and quickly disappeared into the dark depths. The girl herself stopped clenching her fists and exhaled, adjusting her bangs.
"Stupid beasts... Underdeveloped single-celled organisms with limited functionality… Genetic trash..." despite the cruelty of the insults, she pronounced them routinely.
"Well, I'm definitely not one of them…" I shyly covered the corporate badge on my shoulder.
"Sure? You remind me of stereotypical playboys... You position yourself too intellectually. There's clear playacting here!"
"Don't you dare... compare me to that... STUPID CATTLE. I'm a KNIGHT, NOT A DAMN PLAYBOY!!! And… I… SAID EVERYTHING!!!" I stomped my foot with all my might.
"Haha-ha! Just don't cry here! Although… Maybe I'll believe you…" the girl folded her hands behind her back and began to fidget, looking somewhere to the side, "Listen... I have a proposal. You buy me a new coffee, and I forgive you for the old one... Deal?"
"Deal…" all I was thinking about now was how to calm my heartbeat.
"By the way, my name is Mako…" she turned around and walked away.
"And me… Yutsuo… but... for friends just... Yu…" lowering my eyes a bit, I followed, almost tripping over my own foot.
A small machine with drinks was located literally around the corner.
The parallelogram built into the wall flickered with the most varied colors. To its misfortune, there were almost no people around, making the corridors seem completely abandoned.
"And what do you like?" I leaned toward dozens of squares with various illustrations, on which were depicted both well-known brands like "Mac-Cola", and less popular ones, like "Auran-Tion" – juice from cryo-oranges.
"…" Mako nervously shifted from foot to foot, muttering something under her breath.
"And you're definitely not like them?" she very cutely hid her gaze and turned away as soon as our eyes accidentally met...
My eye twitched, the girl's words became an echo, sounding in my head again and again.
"They... Are they animals that died crossing the line?.. Or those who tried to ingratiate themselves?.. How many there were... but no one understood anything... not because it's difficult, but because they didn't want to understand..." soundlessly sang the whispers in my head, while in the corridor, drowning in the flickering light of trains, sliced by a plasma blade corpses appeared.
Clenching my teeth, I forcibly dispelled the demon's illusion and put on a light smile.
"No, I'm not like them... But if you don't believe, I won't convince... I'm too obnoxious anyway."
"Rather boring…" sighing, she approached close.
"I don't know why I'm doing this... but... extend your left hand... Just quickly!"
Losing connection with reality, I watched as Mako glanced at the serial number of my instrumentarium, entering the data on hers.
"I-I need to go to work!" recoiling, the girl stuck out her tongue and cheerfully ran down the corridor ahead.
"Holy shit…" I looked at the screen, where among the data and tables hung confirmation of adding to contacts.
Nervously giggling, I accepted the request and saw off the receding figure with my gaze, accepting my crushing defeat in this battle.
*
My next cycle was supposed to become the beginning of something new... beautiful... but turned into a nightmare...
The mission briefing sounded like this: Mako's liner "Retribution" accompanied by five mosquito wings should arrive at the meeting point with allies from the PMC "Deft-Evolve", to conduct a joint assault on a pirate outpost and return the customer's goods.
[Sector: "Alpha", subsector: H45]
"The problem is only that the Defties themselves have often colluded with the Cartel, only who cares about the opinion of a lousy Andjin... a subordination violator... slacker…" closing the formation of twenty "Light-bearers", I looked somewhere through the clouds of the brown nebula.
Asteroid dust interfered with psi-sonar, blue and golden photon tails of assault wings cut space almost blindly, but hearing Mako's voice, they slowed down.
"Attention all forces! Rendezvous point reached! Disperse and await further instructions..."
Drumming my finger on the instrument panel, I peered harder into the fog... and not in vain...
"We need…" the Captain's words were drowned out by interference from the ECM installation.
The "Glimpse" cross-sensor instinctively looked up, for twenty clicks above us, leaving trails of disturbed haze on itself, the darkness was pierced by dozens of metal spears, whose bow maws froze in mocking shark grins.
The Cartel's snow-white "Orions" roared with proton fire – an impenetrable wall of warheads that rushed toward the flagship like a living stellar cluster.
"Fleet, we're under attack!!! Tactics change!!! Priority: flagship defense!!! Assume formation seven slash eight and destroy the enemy!!!" "Retribution" went into emergency maneuver, scattering a radiant rain of PRO along the horizon.
The impulse squall collided with the reactive blizzard. The linear ship went to maximum thrust, standing in marching acceleration.
The assault "Glimpse" unclasped the jaws around the cabin, feeding maximum power to the main block. The arrow of coal and gold raced after the allied "Light-bearers", whose tails mixed with the enemy's in the chaos of the dance of light ships.
The battle flared up like a supernova. The cluster formation of cover wings shattered under the onslaught of machine cavalry, painting the abyss with the glow of pain and fear.
Narrowing the TVM petals, the "Glimpse" sat on the tail of one of the sharks and gave a salvo.
Beams of the sun's herald burned the space and crossed the target, the pirate's hull was cut in two and torn to pieces, burying in the silent ocean of infinity.
At the other end of the battlefield, crosses of otherworldly light synchronously bloomed – subcaliber shells of "Retribution" that pierced the pirate rearguard, flowering a cascade of thousands of spheres on marked targets, but... there was something else...
The Cartel's behavior resembles a tactical farce and this could be...
"Diversionary maneuver…" I sharply turned the assault ship toward the flagship, but...
From the maw of the lilac sea emerged a snow-white corvette with blood runes on the sides, each of which deciphered as – death.
The ship went on a direct course to the liner, flickering with variable glow of containers attached to the hull. There were no doubts left, this was the embodied nightmare of any Alpha sector pilot – kamikaze ship – leader of the mourners – "Alkaid".
And before the liner managed to deploy the turrets, the kamikaze pierced the target's side plating with a ramming spear, the metal skull on its nose converged with the armor of "Retribution", and the tanks with liquid hexogen cracked, illuminating the voids with a flash of a colossal explosion.
Falling before the onslaught of the element, the liner's hull cracked in the middle, its load-bearing structures were torn apart from the inside, and the armor turned to ash.
"…" for the first time my mind submitted to a new, previously unknown emotion... probably, this is what people call... despair.
Silently I watched as Mako's ship fell apart, spewing flame and smoke.
The battle stepped over the endgame.
From the stern panels of "Retribution" silhouettes of rescue capsules burst out, a school of gray cylinders rushed away from the epicenter of the battle, and the "Light-bearers" immediately switched to escorting the survivors, drawing daredevils' fire on themselves.
Cutting the colorless vault, scarlet, golden and azure lines seemed farther and farther, until they dissolved into non-being, leaving the sparkling hulk alone with the last pilot...
Abandoned by all, the knight connected the onboard navigator and the surviving systems of the former flagship of the "Purple Fleet", sending a call to the new number.
My teeth clenched so that I almost broke them... the signal said that the Captain was on the ship...
Switching to inertial thrust, the "Glimpse" disappeared in stealth mode and turned to the hulk.
Smeared with congealed blood debris scattered in the form of a new nebula, greatly hindering progress. Trying to suppress the quickened heartbeat, I turned on the spotlights on the assault ship's nose and cautiously flew inside the mutilated debris.
"What in the name of the mother-abyss am I doing now…" meter by meter I advanced deeper, debris... things... bodies... hundreds and thousands of bodies that smeared the ship's insides with crimson frost...
"I... swore... that never again... And here... again..."
One thought, and the unit's jaws unclasped into four, the lower ones became needle-like legs, and the upper ones manipulators, whose turrets locked with wrists.
Swinging the emitter-blade, the "Glimpse" cut the beam in the way like paper.
White-hot shards flew in random directions, freeing passage to the sorrow-filled ship hangar.
"Can you hear me, Mako?! Don't even think you can get rid of me that easily!" I banged on the ship's insides with all my might, tearing out the gate doors, "After all, I've already decided that I want to talk to you a little more... I want to know why you gave me this damn number... So... please... in the name of Illias... be alive!!!"
And when I lost all hope, a miracle happened. The second in my entire life.
The light from the head-cockpit aimed at one of the catapults, where a hermosuit abandoned by all silently hovered without serious damage. The assault golem's sensors conducted primary scanning and said their word: the person inside is still alive.
The mech's hand itself reached forward, but I stopped it...
Opening the armored cabin, I disconnected the synergy system cables and as quickly as possible swam toward the survivor, meanwhile pushing aside pieces of plating.
After a mere nothing, in my arms was an old-model spacesuit.
"Well, really... why scare like that…" an incomparable warmth suddenly dispelled the storm of restless mind, a few tears rolled down my cheeks.
Probably, then I felt like the happiest person in the galaxy.
All that remained was to take the "trophy" in my arms and return to the "Glimpse", trying not to lose the thread of what's happening because of some details... that were too well felt through the tight jumpsuit...
The rescue operation went fairly quickly.
Somehow seating Mako in the second pilot's seat, which was replaced for me by the QAI, I returned the unit to ship form and headed away, still long feeling the gaze of thousands of buried fates on me.
"Where... where am I…" coming to herself, the passenger began examining the interior.
"Aboard the most famous assault golem in the Alpha sector!"
"Famous where? At the second-hand antique collectors' market?" displeasedly puffing, Mako ran her finger over the chair with a centimeter layer of dirt.
"What a terrible insult! But I'm not offended, because the main thing is that you're okay..."
"So "Retribution" is hit... And you saved me…" her tone became quieter and quieter until the girl switched to a whisper, blushing very strongly.
"Th-thank you…" the last word Mako said almost soundlessly.
"What are you saying?" I drawled, smirking slyly.
"I say, look ahead! Idiot!!! You stuck your nose into others' business without asking! Who asked you to fly with us?! I'm sure they actually tailed you!! Like flies to shit…" Mako very cutely stammered, becoming almost crimson.
"And then... then... You groped me and seated me in this junk. By the way, what you knew, this incident is an accident! In fact, we knew about the trap! And... and anyway…" the girl looked out from behind my seat, in her azure gaze reflected the cold of infinity.
"If anyone finds out... about this mistake... My... career... is over... Therefore. Remember. We. Never. Talk. About what happened... NEVER... If you tell anyone..."
"Understood-received! I'll be silent as a ferrite brick. How can I refuse when asked so cutely?!" in response to the threat, I just smiled warmly.
"…" the girl averted her gaze and sprawled in the chair again.
Meanwhile, the "Glimpse" reached relativistic speed and forwarded the jump request through the SSSTM satellite systems. Enveloping itself in trails of otherworldly light, the ship stretched in space and immediately disappeared, overcoming the light barrier.
Leaving behind an orange glow, the mech-assault ship raced through the rings of asteroids studded with outposts, along which heavy rail turrets scurried from side to side.
"Attention members of the "Star Storm" corporation! The administration asks you to escort the survivors to Dock-7P! Remain calm! Medical personnel have already arrived on site! Thank you for understanding!" the dispatcher's voice sounded on the general frequency.
And though the survivors safely returned home, this didn't save them from the merciless demon who regularly feasted on flakes from others' lives, first pouring pasteurized virgins' blood over breakfast. And the name of this demon is bureaucracy.
Approaching the landing airlock, the "Glimpse" hid from the oval of the police corvette that had followed us since the warp exit.
*
"And I decided to check for survivors!" Mako nodded to the crowd.
"There she is, our Captain!" the combatants clustered around the "Glimpse" from "Retribution" synchronously gasped, while the blonde in front clapped her hands.
"Saw that this amateur was hit! Had to save him!" the captain pointed at me, who thoughtfully chewed a bar from the machine around the corner.
"Expected from the Captain…" said the guy with the red bandage, nodding.
"Dragged his carcass onto a handy ship and broke through to the gates with a fight!" Mako leaned on the assault ship and lifted her nose.
"I've always admired your self-sacrifice. No one else could lead our "Gray Guard"!" the blonde, very similar to the clapping girl, contentedly clenched her fists.
"A couple dozen killed pirate scum, and here I am!" the captain summed up.
The combatants synchronously began clapping, while I choked on the strawberry bar.
"And now at ease! Return to the corporate hangar, we'll decide what to do next there! I need to sort something out..."
Saluting their lady, the crew members silently dispersed around the area.
"Alright... me too... I'll watch how the extractor turns asteroids into red-hot magma and sucks for processing. Always helps to sleep well…" I was about to climb into the mosquito's cockpit, but I was grabbed by the hand.
"Wait... this wouldn't be fair." Mako averted her gaze again.
"In exchange for silence, I'll fulfill one of your r-r-requests... any…" on the last word she strained a bit, almost dislocating my wrist from the effort.
"Wait, and if I…" but before the knight could finish, the beautiful valkyrie loosened her grip and rushed out of the docks so fast that she overtook her own allies and disappeared into the station corridor, while the slave of the flesh bewilderedly rubbed the synthetic skin.
Standing for some time among the deserted docks and lowering my eyes, I shrugged and trudged back to the ship, intending to occupy myself with something useless.
*
From then on, Mako's ID was in my communicator, and despite differences in corporate status, the contract worker and the captain of the already new flagship ship began to frequently call each other, discussing various delicate topics.
At first I was in confusion, because such a cutie couldn't tolerate the company of an unwashed nerd without good reason... though, not quite... she didn't tolerate, she imposed communication...
For the first time, I had someone to talk to without trying to exclude "obscure terminology", "multi-letterness" and other factors.
Indeed, Mako and I talked about everything, most often discussions rolled into mudslinging at the PMC top, but there were enlightenments when she told about her collection of Equistella manuscripts.
So my time passed... time of tossing between two facets...
No joke, I couldn't just take and accept what was happening as a given. Couldn't at the snap of fingers believe a stranger. Couldn't discard machine logic for the sake of unclear emotions... but... couldn't stop dreaming either...
In short, this farce needed to be stopped, and Lady Luck helped me with that.
One day the gray thread of routine broke: our corporation finished the stage of decay and moved to necrosis. Maxiy Pripikula – head of "Star Storm" was killed by his close associate right after the council where the strategy of our actions in the Alpha sector was discussed.
Maxiy's lifeless body was found in his apartments.
The killer committed the perfect assassination not only thanks to the features of the omni-blade, but also because the head kept cameras on a dedicated server so that his unlawful actions always remained incognito.
The incident was immediately hushed up, and now a new Procurator sat in the chair on the top floor of the "Star Storm" office skyscraper, re-profiling the corporation from scratch.
Perceiving the situation as pragmatically as possible, Mako and I went to free bread.
For some time I couldn't find a point of contention, and all free time either watched Holo-TV or just sat in a bar located near the residential area for bum-like ragged ones. Someone will say: ideal plan! And won't be far from the truth!
The joke is that this action entailed a chain of consequences, the essence of which was impossible to predict...
*
[Station: "Watchman-XVII" – bar of the network: "Harlequin"]
"Switch! Fucking Shitcrusher... How could they shoot such crap?! I hate fantasy!!! And isekai!!! Science rules! Right?.. Yeah?!" sitting on the end stool, I hit the counter.
"I'm not paid for extra talk…" continuing to gloomily wipe the spat-upon glasses for the eighty-third time (exactly that many I counted sitting here the whole cycle), the bartender finally switched the broadcast to the news channel.
The establishment was settled by bums and rags of all stripes, someone boozed, someone boozed hard, and someone played shogi, nodding after each move and... boozing.
"Tch... Well, fuck you! Pour me another cider then... my throat's dry…" sliding the shot glass to the bartender, I waited for it to fill and immediately drained it to the bottom.
"To other news. Famous scientist – Thomas Gabriel was sentenced to death and declared wanted along with the whole group…" interference drowned out the last word.
"Due to the formation of vacant positions, the scientific department of "Watchman-XVII" asks those skilled in research to sign up for an internship, offering an increased number of guarantors in the first quads…" the host's sour face seemed to fart gray fog.
"Haha-ha! What a mug he has! No, did you see?! Like a plate!.."
"I'm not paid for extra talk…" the bartender scurried toward the entrance.
"But his face is really disgusting..."
"Heh…" following his gaze, I focused on the unexpected guest.
Right in the middle of the flung-open hermo-doors stood the current, or already former, head of the station's scientific department – Thomas Gabriel.
The scientist measured the room with a predatory gaze. The few visitors glared angrily at the spy, but he issued the base:
"What are you staring at, fuckers?! Eyelids cramping in your towers, I can stitch them!!! Well, who's first?!"
The local gopota and drunks immediately pulled their heads into collars, like red-eared turtles.
"That's it! When a con comes into the cell, the roosters should sit in the corners! And not a sound while I'm around…" Gabriel walked forward and plopped down on the stool next to me.
"Forgive my manners, Yu. You see... Well, I don't like the proletariat!.. So, why I came. I have a business with you. But don't think, it's not some hack job! Official employment... Though, no... Rather, you'll be the one others work for!"
Looking around a couple of times, I made sure they were talking specifically to me.
"I recently started developing a certain ship and need people to help, and I can entrust that only to you! Experienced soldier of fortune! "Storm" graduate and true knight! I say right away, the contract includes guarding the prototype and construction site, well, and details we'll iron out later!" he adjusted his glasses and grinned demonically.
"Good, buddy?!"
"G-g-good…" I blinked meaningfully.
"Knew you wouldn't refuse!!! Well, see you at the place! Believe me, once you see everything, you definitely won't regret!" the gallant gentleman slapped me on the shoulder and rose from his seat.
"Yeah... Just let me... pick up my stuff..."
"No problem! I've already uploaded the coordinates to your instrumentarium! So you won't get lost…" glaring viciously at the regulars, who almost shit themselves in fright to the States, the scientist waved to me and went away.
"Fuck... Just fuck... Did I see this alone?"
"I'm not paid for extra talk…" the bartender shook his head, put the rag aside and began closing the establishment.
"Alright, I'll go pack... I mean... ah, never mind…" rubbing my eyes, I trudged away.
Soon something truly amazing awaited me. Something that made one ragged man believe in what he absolutely didn't believe before.
*
1: Instrumentarium – personal device for communication, games and other leisure.
2: Cartel – largest group of pirate organizations and clans.
3: Andjin – cyborg originating from Equistella.
4: Illias – spiritual leader and prophet of Equistella.
5: Q.A.I. (Quantum Artificial Intelligence) – super-developed AI of the third level.
6: S.S.S.T.M. (Stationary System of Subspace Transit Monitoring (Artificial wormhole-portal) – station-gate capable of initiating a warp jump.