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Alpharome: ScurfiferAnnotation:Volper finds this game too complicated and he decides to find the answers to some of the questions. Not for him, he simply doesn’t care about it, it’s important to find out everything at least for the sake of the guys who he decided to take care of. Also, he wants to unravel the mystery – connected with this strange profession - "Scurfifer". These are his plans for now. But will he be able to solve all the mysteries around him, and will he find someone who can answer at least some of his questions?CHAPTER ONE: BLAMESTORMINGI woke up, oddly enough, being vigorous and well-rested. Although I did not notice any changes, but if you looked at the message in front my eyes, you could be sure that everything went fine.Attention! You have successfully enhanced your "Mind".That’s a very confusing word "successful." It makes me think that there are also cases when you could use the word with the prefix "un". Mentally getting rid of the message in front of my eyes, I looked around and found only Quartz in the corner, where there was a table with various tools hanging on the wall, above him in special grips. On the right and left the table was clamped between two pairs of machines tools. I didn’t know what their function was, but I knew for sure that one of those was for equipping ammunition, and the other was used by Quartz to make various details for him, and I didn’t even know why he needed two more.As soon as the building was completed on the order of Mr. Carefire, we immediately moved in with the whole group here. Well, why did we have to wait more? The room was specially designed for ten fighters and included everything you need: weapon racks, bunk beds and a bunch of different gadgets. I myself chose the lower bed in a row of bunk beds. Tilorn took over the place above me; Sargos and Quartz were to the left, both on lower places.Quartz was all eager to take a bed on the right, near to Castra, but Tilorn quickly taught the young man how to behave with his fists. Castra chose the lower bed on the far right side and fenced it off with a movable screen, just like in a medical unit. If other players looked at us, they would laugh at us forever. After all, they simply throw characters in their beds, even without removing the ammunition, which is a big mistake, since the virtual body gets dirty and requires hygiene procedures as well.We noticed a long time ago that even though piconites remove dirt, like waste, it is all recycled into energy for them (well, according to the information Tilorn received), but for a full-fledged emotional rest, as well as physical, it is necessary to have hygiene procedures, just like in reality. Tilorn connects this with the fact that such habitual actions relax the subconscious mind, providing an opportunity to relax well.As a result, Castra fenced herself off with the screen, saying that she needed to be able to get changed and sleep normally, and so that at the same time any anxious perverts would not stare at her, as she was saying this, she was looking at Quartz. Then Tilorn and I quietly crawled along the wall, trying to hide our laughter.Having woken up and calling Quartz, I asked everyone to gather in our room. It was worth having a discussion after the first full dungeon was passed by our group. There were a lot of problems out there, but I wanted them to sort all these issues out by themselves because a professional fighter should not only fight well and fulfill commands, but also think independently. Having done some quick warm-up exercises and beating a little the punching bag, which was hanging in the room, I went to the shower room so that the muscles relaxed after the small strain. When I returned to the room, everyone was already there and waiting for me.“Volper, what happened? Why did you call up everyone?” Tilorn immediately said on seeing me.“Nothing new! But we need to understand our past errors.”“What do you mean?”“So, let's deal with everything in order of importance,” I began, crouching on the edge of a small metal table, taking a position opposite the others. “I have been teaching you good teamwork, a wider use of your current skills for almost a week, and yesterday we passed, so to speak, an intermediate exam. Now I want you to brainstorm a little and out the problems that were encountered in Martha’s lair, and then suggest some ways how to eliminate them.”“Um ... why?” You are training us well.“And then, Quartz, you need to work independently using your brain. For example, that situation can happen to me, and I would be unconscious, or go to the respawn. What will you do, how will you get out of situations? So let me tell you one by one the problems that you encountered, and suggest options to fix them. And I will correct you if something is wrong. With you, Quartz, as with the most talkative member, I shall begin.”“Um ... Aah ... Hmm ... Well, how to say, the main problems that have been encountered: I noticed three. They are as follows: slow movement of the group in the dungeon, and due to this you had to start a breakthrough, aggravating all the mobs at yourself. Also, when the group was divided, Castra and Sargos were left without the tank, which led to Castra being wounded. Well, when you were knocked out, we lost the main firepower, which is why we were on the verge of being destroyed. We were saved only by the fact that Martha managed to activate itself before they could destroy us. It seems to me that's it.”“Well, a lot of problems have arisen, but let's analyze these points for now. So, slow group movement. In your opinion, what are the reasons for this?”“Yes, we are just not used to it ...” Tilorn spoke up, expressing his opinion.“Tilorn, shut up, please, for now!” I cut him off. “Now the situation is analyzed by Quartz. First of all, he needs this himself, so that in the future he could correctly assess the situation and make the best decisions. So, Quartz, I'm waiting for your answer!”Quartz wanted to say something, but looking at Tilorn, he abruptly changed his mind. He put his hands on his knees and twisting his fingers together, he rested his chin on the hands, obviously pondering over something. I waited patiently for him to gather his thoughts, stopping others to interfere. The main thing now was that he was trying to comprehend the situation and find the cause of the problem.Even if he doesn’t find the right reason now, it comes with experience - the main thing is to instill the habit of analyzing each situation in order to find a cause-result relationship and be able to eliminate such situations in the future.“Most likely, all the troubles were because of uncool damage per second index of our team...” immediately Tilorn and Castra slapped this poor guy, which interrupted him. “Damn, do not confuse me!” He rubbed the back of his head, being really offended. This is already beginning to become a tradition: in each serious dialogue, slapping Quartz on the side of his head. “So, what am I talking about? Most likely, the problem is low damage percentage, which the group shows at the same time. With Tilorn everything is clear - he has a shield, buffs and medical aid, Castra is engaged in reconnaissance, she needs to be as mobile as possible. Of the remaining three members, only the commander shows good damage, I am at close range for a bit, and Sargos stayed in the rear.”“Well done!” I praised him. “How can you solve these problems? Give me your ideas.”He thought for about five minutes, but in the end he just lifted his hands in dismay. I had to pass the question to the others, hoping that at least someone would figure out how to solve this problem. A few minutes later Castra started talking.“Maybe we should give them automatic machine guns and let them practice a little. They will gain at least a dozen percent of the skill and will be able to give out at least some damage,” she suggested timidly, obviously having her doubts.“Not an option. First, these are non-core skills, so it will be harder to pump them up. Secondly, the system will not give skills for them; only basic shooting skill will be awarded. Or, it’s a very long time to practice, repeating the same action over and over again, hoping that the system will give you the skill to use.” I defeated Castra utterly. “Come on! Use your brains, there is a decision on the profile skills, you need only a little imagination!”Unfortunately, no matter how hard they tried to think, there were no more worthy ideas. I had to manually guide the course of their thoughts.“Quartz, remind me what your professional skills are?”“Well, if it is only professional, then the repair of various drones and droids, as well as their maintenance.”“That’s it! So you can be what?” I continued to push him to think.“Um, I can be a caterer, but I am completely defenseless in managing them.”“And why?”“You ask me why? It’s just because I am distracted by their movement. And if it comes to the drones, it is also necessary to control the height. There are a lot of parameters that need to be monitored at the same time.”“And if you don’t need to control them?”“Yes, how can you do that?” He became indignant. “They also need to move somehow, am I going to carry them myself? Maybe I will put it on my shoulders? ...” at that very moment he froze, not even finishing his sentence. He was silent with his mouth open. But just a few seconds, slamming his mouth, he continued. “But this can work!”Jumping from his bed, he rushed to his workplace. We could see that he wanted to implement his idea as soon as possible.“Stop it!” I shouted at him. “Where are you going? We haven't finished yet. So take your place, and let’s discuss the situation further.”Quartz, stopping abruptly, twisted his head, looking at me and his desk with the tools. Then, having sighed heavily and with his head down, he came back and, sitting down on the bed, continued to cast a glimpse at his table. Oh, how much this idea had hooked him up. But never mind, he would still have time to implement all his ideas.“Quartz, first finish with the analysis of the situation, then you will go on to your tools.”“OK!” After a couple of seconds, he agreed, and stopped looking at his desk.“I ask everybody now. How can Sargos be given an opportunity to increase the damage index? Or do I again have to come up with ideas for you? Think logically! Or do you think a good man, that is me, will do everything for you in life?”I got up from the corner of the table and, putting my hands behind my back, clasping them into a lock at the waist level, began to walk from side to side in front of the others from the group, raised my eyebrows and pretending that I was psychologically pressing them, looked at them menacingly. In fact, my leg just got numb from an uncomfortable posture, which is suitable for a short conversation of a few minutes, but not for a long brainstorming session. But I am not going to confess to the others about it? So, I paced a small strip of the room in front of the group, frowning from one to the other, making them feel uncomfortable.And there was not a single moment even to relax, in the future they might have to make serious decisions in critical situations, and there would not be a right to make a mistake or any time to think things over carefully. In the end, I was surprised by Sargos, who does not like to talk much, but this time he decided not to remain silent. And with short chopped phrases, making stops for a few seconds, gave a huge, by his standards, monologue.“Here’s the main thing. Mines. Explosives. Pick up a weapon first. Shoot around. Use mines. Do the undermining. Remotely. Contact battle. Timer. Experiment. With ammunition. There are many options” looking at Quartz and adding something. “Together with Quartz. Automatic mines. Mini droids. Filled with explosives. Castra hangs a lot of mines. I'm undermining. Tilorn puts up barrage out of mines. Machine gun is shooting. I understood. There are many options. I'll think it over!”We were frozen for a few minutes, looking with round eyes at Sargos, not believing what we witnessed. Castra even reached out for Quartz and raised her jawbone with her hand. Sargos didn’t know where to hide from such an embarrassing moment, in the end he even asked:“I am here. Do I not have the right to talk?”“My friend, believe me, we tell that we should not wait for Armageddon. And then, given your being talkative, I have already begun to suspect the end of the world was coming,” Quartz said, without taking his eyes off Sargos.“Everyone started laughing.” I decided to intervene, as Sargos was already red from too much attention. “Our young explosives engineer said everything correctly, there are lots of options: starting from replacing bullets with miniature mines in revolving cartridges, ending with homing droids filled with explosives,” after which I added for Sargos. “Just don’t get carried away by explosions alone; a damaging element can be of various acids and poisons, the composition of which Tilorn can prepare for you - smoke curtains, both toxic and with a stimulant effect for us. During exploration, Castra can install a lot of mines with your remote blasting, and if you install beacons in them, then when the group passes by them, you can collect them back. In general, I think it will work!”Sargos in response only raised his thumb, expressing his full agreement with what was said. It can be seen; today his ability to speak has been exhausted. Okay, who else wants to speak up “Castra, now your ideas!”“As Quartz said, while we are divided, we have one part of the group left without protection. Plus, I couldn’t cause damage most of the time: either I couldn’t get to the enemy, or I was in an uncomfortable position from which I couldn’t reach anyone. Immediately I will propose a solution to the issue – we should upgrade the gloves so that damage can be applied not only with the palm of my hand, we should find new shoes, so that damage can be inflicted by feet because I can wave them normally, but the blow with my bare foot is often not enough. Well, you can still buy something for my acceleration, at least a second jerk to quickly get to the enemy. After all, most of the skills and abilities I have are sharpened for close combat and high mobility,” just like a machine gun shoots fast, Castra said everything quickly.“Well done, my dear!” I already raised my index finger to the ceiling. “No wonder they say that girls think quickly. The main thing is, well, and with all the force, to force their thoughts in the right direction.”Castra began to shine for the first few seconds of being praised, but then she realized that in order to do it, you first have to kick a lot and, puffing her lips, began to look around, probably looking for something heavy to throw at me.“Volper, and what can you tell me?” Tilorn’s voice was heard immediately. “Damn, man. Honestly, I do not even know!” I grimaced, as if being washed by citric acid, which fell on my tongue. “I can only advise you to think in the direction of some kind of mobile defensive-medical center. In a nutshell, here’s an idea: we can follow you, if necessary, hide and heal ourselves. If there were a fantasy here, you could be a great paladin, a mini tank with exciting functions and a strengthening aura of yours would cover us up. But in a technogenic reality, I simply cannot imagine how you could develop. In the future, I hope, we will think of something.”“Hmm ... Paladin, you say?” Tilorn moved his jaw, as if trying to taste the word. “Why not? It will be necessary to clarify a few points. But I had a couple of ideas,” after seeing my arched eyebrow, almost in the form of a question mark, he added. “I first check a couple of points, and then tell you. OK?”“Okay. You are right,” I admit. Anyway, I had no options for its development. “So, gentlemen, these are good ideas. Oh, sorry, we have ladies here as well,” I added this phrase immediately, seeing the frowning Castra, “in your opinion, are these the only problems that we faced?”“Well ... sort of, yes.” Tilorn voiced his thoughts after a brief glance.“Then, I’ll make you sad. To begin with, we strongly offended at least one clan, guess which one?”“The Wolves,” Quartz tried to suppose.“Why “at least”?” Castra was again much smarter, reading between the lines.“Because we do not know about the second group. Maybe they also belonged to the Wolves, maybe it was their allies or, on the contrary, their rivals.”“And what should we do?” In the voice of Castra panic could be felt.“Nothing special,” I reassured them. “Do everything the same as before, just be more careful. Look around if someone is watching you, nobody, by chance, would stare at you too often or for a long time. If possible, if you hear a conversation about events related to this incident, try to listen, you do not need to ask, just listen to what they are saying, without particularly showing your interest in this topic. It is still unknown whether they know who broke off everything like that, so for the time being you shouldn’t worry much, but don’t forget about it. Is it understandable?”“Yes,” Tilorn said.“Then you have two days to think over your ideas. Then we’ll go to another place where they have been waiting for me for a long time. There are also mechanical mobs expected. Sargos, get ready with more explosives, there are a lot of armored barricades that may have to be blown up. The thickness is about seventy-five millimeters, but what kind of material it is” it is not known. Having waited for Sargos to nod as a sign that he received the information, I continued. “Also, I ask you to take into account that there are automatic defensive turrets, traps and a lot of other nasty things. Therefore, the preparation must be very careful! Okay, let’s get ready and I will go and try to solve some puzzles.”“What are you going to do?” Her eternal feminine curiosity could not be hidden by Castra.“At first, I will try to solve the puzzle of overcoming these barricades without explosives, and then I will try to solve the ongoing problem with one old bastard whose insanity simply knows no boundaries.”Then I left the room, leaving them alone, taking with me only a couple of pistols and my backpack. When I first came to the laboratory, I put the access card that I found into my breast pocket under the vest, hoping to keep it in this way. And when, during a detailed search, I found the second card, I casually threw it into the backpack. But reality turned everything upside down: from the first card there was not even a scrap left, but the second one was still in the backpack, safe and sound. Now using it, I went to the engineers. As soon as Leksha saw me, he immediately got peeved.“Volper, I told you to come in two weeks, but you came earlier. At least one or two more days you need to wait, and do not ask me to finish earlier; I won’t do that too quickly! I don’t have time to sleep; I am assembling your babe for you. I do not know how long you will train the control module to use all that you have invested in it, but I think it's worth it. So, even though I am assembling it, I cannot move do it any faster.”“Leksha, calm down. I came for another issue.”“Okay, then say what you want quickly why you came to me, but I still need to finish your previous order.”“There is an access card,” having shown the object, I handed it to Leksha. “The problem is that the door, which it should open, also requires a password to access it. Can you see if you can do anything about it?”“Hmm ...” he gave a wise thought, scratching his chin with one hand and twisting the access card in another. “This is not my area of work, I am mainly in engineering and electronics, and I have workers in the same areas. Yes, and it feels as if it’s illegal ...” Leksha thought for a moment. The back of my head is itching. “Okay, considering that you have a good account with Mr. Carefire, I will help you, I have a cybernetic programmer friend who I know well and I can ask him to see what can be done.” But it will take a day or two.”“Please do! I have two days left. If you can do something, send me a description and prices by mail. Then I will think whether it is worth it or not.”“OK, but if everything goes according to plan, then you give me ten percent of your deal.”“Agreed, it is a good price.”“Volper!” He called me when I was going to the exit. “You see, if there is something illegal here, then it is better to immediately forget about it!”“Do not worry; it is in the neutral part of the fifth level.”“Well, if so, then, it’s ok, but I warned you.”“I understand!”We didn’t sign any contract; anyway, it didn’t make any sense. Now, if his person undertakes to do something, then we will be signing an agreement via the server. I wanted to talk to Carefire again, but he was not there, and the clerk in the hall replied that he had left for somewhere, and when he would return, he did not know. I had to go to the ladder leading into the basement, where the training ground was located, without having talked to the commandant. Near the armored door, blocking the passage to the stairs down, one of the officers was sitting on a chair that can be folded.“Hi, what are you doing here?” I was surprised to see him. Usually they are on duty in the control room.“Well, this old chap is completely nuts; he blocked the door to the control room. So I have to either be in the locker room, or here. After all, no one has canceled my duty.”“And where is he?”“In the training hall, looping around the three-hour marathon with breaks per hour and destroys everything that moves. And he does not understand at all where training bots are, and where his people are. He destroys anyone who pops out of the safe zone.”“Hmm ... Okay, I'll go try to talk to him.”“You won’t succeed at all,” he shook his head, “Our lieutenant went there, and only twelve hours later did he appear in the barracks.”“I'll try, anyway!”“Well, you can try if you are brave enough.”Downstairs, I first went to the locker room and left all my things there. If the conversation fails, then at least I can pick my things up. Coming out of the locker room and making sure that the door to the control room was really locked, I went to another door leading directly to the training grounds. I stood beside it for a few minutes, doubting whether to even enter at all.But anyway, it's time to deal with this question; either I will talk to Sanych and figure out what happened to him, or, having revived in twelve hours, I will simply forget him for good. In any of the options, I’ll finally put an end to this mess. At least for myself… I took a deep breath and exhaled several times, putting my thoughts in order, and with a sharp movement I opened that door.CHAPTER TWO: IT'S NOT THAT SIMPLEEntering the testing ground, I got into the zone of “Local Armageddon.” Constantly emerging anthropomorphic robots with different weapons tried to destroy a single target, which was constantly in motion, moving incredibly fast. But they did not succeed; the average life expectancy of each robot was from three to five seconds. Sanych simply did not give them a chance to survive, traveling at high speeds throughout the entire space of the testing grounds.Behind his back there were three pairs of energy wings, at the base of which were movable metal elements attached to the back, which, seemingly, formed the shell of the wings. He used the lower pair as moving shields, taking on them those shots that he did not have time to dodge. The middle pair, as far as I understood, had a set of shunting nozzles at the base, and the wings themselves served as stabilizers.The upper pair seemed to be responsible for gravity, allowing Sanych to soar ten centimeters above the ground, and when the enemy was getting too close, he also used them as a weapon, chopping the enemy with a light stroke of the wing. Being fully armed, he had now two short-barreled submachine guns with a large rectangular block instead of the forearm, and the frame butt when folded completely retracted into special grooves on the sides of the receiver, allowing him to use weapons in the manner of a pistol with automatic fire mode.Shooting speed was also impressive. Roughly judging, it was clearly above a thousand rounds per minute. And the moment that the lines periodically changed color - it could be assumed that there were several types of ammunition, and they were not all firearms, but of a different energy profile.On one of the maneuvers, when Sanych was with his back facing me for almost a second, I managed to notice the “Seraphim Punishment” fixed between the moving elements of the wings. You see, Sanych is a Scurfifer himself, I supposed so because he had such a kit! So, why the hell did he kick me out back then? I already wanted to take a step out of a half-meter safe zone near the door and tell him everything I thought about him, but at the last moment I stopped myself from this foolish idea.Yes, in this area I cannot be seen and cannot be heard - a special one-sided barrier protects guests from accidental injuries at the site. But if I leave the zone, at least I can talk to Sanych, but, most likely, only for a few seconds. If he doesn’t shoot me, simply just like he shoots robots, then in a couple of seconds, these robots will chop me up into small pieces, taking me as an additional goal.I had to sit down on this patch and just watch Sanych, waiting until he finished the training cycle. Picking up my right leg and sitting on the side, I began to watch this old man destroy a huge number of opponents, without stopping for a second. Ten minutes later I still could not take my eyes off him.He seemed to be dancing to some kind of music that was heard only by him, changing the position of his body in up to one millimeter adjusted poses with each movement, moving away from the multitude of bullets that were constantly aimed at him. Trying to start recording this training, in order to calmly analyze his movements, I regretfully looked at the leaping inscription.Attention! The recording function is not available at this training ground!“Fucking shit!” I grunted to myself.I had to hope only that my memory would not fail me, carefully watching every movement of Sanych’s training. So he crouched, throwing his left leg to the side and spreading his arms to the sides, cutting off opponents in bursts on the sides, the next moment he made a quarter of a circle with his left foot, transferred all his body weight to it, almost took a long step, remaining at the same level above the ground . After that, he straightened up sharply and, making a complete rotation around his axis, spread the upper pair of wings, and practically, by inertia, he initiated the energy wave, which scattered, and in some places even chopped the enemy.All these three movements were completed by him in just a second. My brain could watch and analyze him for a couple of minutes, and then, to my shame, I got confused by his movements - so quickly he moved from one position to another, without ever repeating. Although forty minutes later, during which I could not take my eyes off this deadly beauty, I began to notice single, repetitive movements, the ligaments were already different, but here certain transitions and poses clearly began to repeat sometimes. It seems that he still does not dance, but uses some kind of movement system for fighting in critical conditions. Our military equipment is just childish pranks compared to this.I had to watch a constant battle for almost an hour when I noticed repetitions and patterns. And this is with my important experience in short skirmishes, which drag on for a maximum of five minutes. Well, even in heavy half-hour battles, I doubt that anyone will notice the system in motion. As a result, almost an hour and a half later, the opponents ended, and all his equipment was showered with nanites on the floor. Sanych just walked away to the wall and sat down beside it, leaning his back, and then his eyes closed. Well, it's time for me to move closer. Coming out of the safe zone, I calmly walked towards the old man. To be honest, it was scary to approach him, my knees were trembling.Now he has nothing of the long-range weapons, but being close he can deal with me very quickly. But busting myself, I approached him and sat down side by side. I did not doubt that he knows that I am near. After all, even when I had just left the safe zone, his eyelids fluttered, showing that he had noticed me. We sat in silence for about five minutes. Sanych rested, and I looked at the ceiling. No matter how crazy this may sound, our silence was extremely eloquent and fully reflected our attitude towards the latest events.“So, you will not ask questions?” Sanych started the conversation first.“What for?” I shrugged my shoulders. “The last time, as you may remember, I did not even have time to ask a question, when I got bumped my head into the wall by you. By the way, I still do not understand why. So it's better to just shut up for me, maybe I will be able to get on well with one hard-nosed old whimper, who began to have seizures of dementia.”“Aren't you afraid that I'll just send you to the replication capsule?”“You know, after what I've seen for the past hour and a half, I'm sure that if you wanted, you would have sent me to the graveyard long ago.”“Look, you have become really clever, my lad!”“Well, I raised my mind percentage a bit!” I even raised my index finger, focusing on this attention.“Wow, you are growing up, and how much is he now with you?”“Already two units!” I proudly puffed out my chest.I nevertheless achieved what I wanted - Sanych twisted on the floor laughing. As psychologists said, when we were taught: "A person who laughs, in most cases, will not kill you." It’s true, only if it is not a psychopath. After a good laugh and again taking up a sitting position, he again turned to me, wiping away the tears that had come out of laughter.“Now I really believe that you have nothing to do with it!”“Um ... nothing to do with what?”“You see,” he hesitated, choosing words, “there’s such a thing ... When you took out that rifle, I thought that the security men had sent you for me. That flared up a little.”“So, you are, in your old age, already a looney?”“No, no, no! I'm still far from being nuts! And what would you think having the facts that I am one of several sensible people who have information about Scurfifer? And then you showed up with this rifle. And this happened after you spoke with Stepanenko. And this asshole is already forty years trying to get information from me about Scurfifer.”“I do not understand what Internal Security has to do with this profession?”“Oh, my lad, believe me, you do not need this all!”“Wait, why is it not necessary for me to know?” I already got up a bit, turning to Sanych. “I’ve been living here for a long time without a profession, I’m doing here insane things, I’ve got a lot of problems because of them, I almost completely quarreled with you, and now you just say that I don’t need it?” I was completely shocked by the words of Sanych.“Well, because you can get out five from this rifle, well, a maximum of seven percent of its capabilities! How much damage is there now? Around one hundred or two?! You should understand, " Seraphim Punishment" being used appropriately can simultaneously give out about five thousand points of damage! With such damage, not only the Sweepers, but even the Silver Guard, in lucky circumstances, can be destroyed with one shot. And you will be content with these several hundred.”“Um ... why?”“Everything is just simple,” Sanych sighed, and, sitting more comfortably, began telling me. “Scurfifer is one of the professions that does not give a bonus to the speed of development of skills or unique skills that are loaded onto piconites from the server database. All the power of this profession lies in two moments; actually, the equipment of one of three classes and the status of being a neutral player. There are also disadvantages of this profession, because without having the “soul” of any of the three classes, all the rest of the equipment cannot work even at ten percent of its capacities. And the last "soul" in my eyes was destroyed six hundred years ago. It is no use telling you the rest of the story. So you can take your rifle, go up with it to the tenth level and sell it to a collector for a big amount at auction there, it’s not good for anything else, though. And it’s no use taking a profession only because of this,” he sadly finished, planning, it seems, to put an end to the discussion of this issue.But I had completely different plans, now the main thing is to select the right questions. If everything is really as I understood it, then I will have something to surprise this old man with. I used to be a little clingy to calling him an old man, considering that he himself is quite old. But in the view of the fact that Sanych is more than six hundred years old, I only have to call him grandfather or maybe a great-grandfather? No, probably, even great-great ... Damn it, but how many times "great"? Okay, I’ll get back to this issue later, now it is the time for something else.“Sanych, please answer only two questions, and then I will leave you alone.”“Okay, ask your questions and we will change the topic, and never come back to it, if you do not want to have an argument again.”“Have you ever been a Scurfifer yourself? I’m asking you because I saw you training. Your kit was very similar.”“No,” he answered with regret, “I once developed a method of training for them, and the kit which you saw can fit anybody.” This is just a training option, candidates for the profession were trained with the help of these” then he was silent, thinking about something, and continued in about three seconds. “I did not even dare to pass the exam, but now I regret it. Yeah, even if now there was such an opportunity, the contract with the Server would restrain me. Okay, bro, let’s move on to the second question.”“Well, let me clarify one thing. You mentioned a "soul" – do you call overalls by this name? And then other elements of armor and weapons can be connected to it, right?”“Yes, you are right. This is a jumpsuit, which is the basis of the whole set. Due to its direct connection with the piconites in your body, it can combine and power up individual elements of the kit, allowing...”And then he froze for a moment. And when I turned back to him, I was able to see how his eyes enlarged as if he had undergone plastic surgery. And then I looked into his eyes and in the depths of these eyes, something just struck me. There was a terrible cocktail of emotions, mixed up with mistrust, joy, hope, and for some reason, fear that I felt somehow uncomfortable. Having quickly risen, he briskly headed for the exit from the training grounds and, moving a couple of meters away from me, turning around, he asked with surprise in his voice:“What are we waiting for? Follow me! And be silent, until I allow you to speak.”The old man gained such a speed that I could barely keep up with him by walking quickly; sometimes I even had to start running in order to keep up with him. When we skipped the dressing room at cruising speed, I managed to stop Sanych for a while.“Sanych, I have some of my clothes in the locker room, and I should put them on to look decent.”“Um ... Hmm ...” after examining me and himself, he decided that I was right. “I'll give you three minutes!”He turned around and headed back, probably to the control room. I went into the locker room and quickly changed my clothes, jumped into the corridor, having done everything within half of the time given to me. If you think logically, Sanych realized that I have this suit, so we are most likely heading to a protected place for private conversation, and this leads to a number of unpleasant thoughts, considering his life experience and, accordingly, knowledge of the local, so to say "rules and customs."I doubt that he would have been done so without any good reason. Sanych came out of the blue and interrupted my thinking. Rushing past me, he just waved his hand, showing that I should follow him. The officer, who was sitting at the entrance, seeing us, almost fell off his chair, but at the last second managed to retain his balance and, jumping up, stared at us with exhausted eyes. Sanych immediately yelled at him, saying a lot of abusive words:“My dear fucking creature, what are you doing here? Relaxing? Who do you think will be on duty in the control room? The suckers do what they please… You know that in an hour and a half, according to the schedule, the planned classes for the third group of the second company start, so what the hell are you doing here? Go quickly to the post, and in fifteen minutes the training ground should be ready, according to the schedule!”“OK, I’ll get ready with the training grounds! Can I do it now?” A smiling officer belted out.“Be quick!” Sanych replied.The officer seemed really excited. It seems that the he is not only afraid of the old man, but also quite looks up to him; I would even say that he admires him. He screamed, he yelled at the officer with the rank of lieutenant, but the officer only smiled, feeling joy that the old man had come out of his depression. Sanych, meanwhile, headed for the stairs to the second floor, muttering to himself:“In general, the damned idler was relaxing, I had better talk to Alex, and then he would fire some of his fighters...”Now I do not understand him. Does it give him pleasure to mumble constantly? After all, he can communicate normally, I am convinced of this, but at the same time he stubbornly plays the role of the old grumpy man. Having reached the office of Mr. Carefire, the old man opened the door with his electronic key and waved at me to enter. Hmmm ... The further, the more interesting… If Sanych has the key to the commandant's office, the question is: does he trust him so much or isn’t Mr. Carefire the boss at this outpost?Going behind me, Sanych locked the door with a key and immediately went to the weapon rack. Having pushed it aside, he typed some combination of numbers on the display, after which the entire room was covered from the inside by a reddish energy barrier. Returning to the table, he sat down at the place of the commandant, with a gesture of inviting me to sit down in front of him and, clasping his fingers into the lock, placed them on the surface of the table in front and finally started:“Remember once and for all: all that we are going to talk about here with you is only for your information, and beyond this room you should keep it quiet. Believe me; this is only for your own safety.”“Wait, it seems rather strange. First, I do not understand the reasons for the buzz around this profession and, with the things. Secondly, how can my security be threatened if I, as a member of the fifth-level restoration project, have an unlimited number of replications.”“Let's start with the fact that replications can be deprived of. And even if you don’t bother, they can just give you a very long painful “marathon”, while supporting your life.”“I agree; I am being stupid. But all the same, what do Scurfifer and this stuff have to do with it?”“Here the question is in the main feature of the equipment of Scurfifer, which is both their power, but at the same time their problem. The thing is that their equipment works on psionics, while psionics cannot become Scurfifer.”“But how are they ...” and then it dawned upon me. “Wait, do you want to say that the batteries, for example, of the Seraphim’s punishment contain psionic energy?”“Exactly! The whole kit requires energy. Of course, if desired, it is possible to use usual power sources, but most of the abilities of armor and weapons require enormous energy consumption, and even a very specific type that only psionic energy can provide. In this case, there are a small number of psionic abilities, which each set of things has, but it is still very dependent on the user.”“It turns out that at one time we were able to develop a set of equipment for a fighter, combining psionic and technical capabilities. In theory, the efficiency of such a soldier should be just fantastic, but then I cannot understand why they destroyed this ammunition.”“And here the gamers had good old ambitions as well as greed. A couple of hundred years passed and everything was alright. Psionics for a certain amount of energy shared their energy, fully covering all the needs of the existing Scurfifer. But gradually everything went downhill: there were individuals among corporations, and governments, too, who wanted to use this energy for their personal purposes. At first, it was also bought from Psionics. Then some not very strong Psionics began to go missing. It lasted for quite a while, unnerving the whole society. If you still do not understand, at that time Psionics also lived on the upper levels. But then, one day, for some reason, corporations pushed through the law on the mandatory registration of all mutants and psionics. Moreover, data on psionic strength and the amount of psionic energy produced per day were recorded on a mandatory basis, after which it was found that many mutants are not psionics, but they still produce some energy. A couple of years after the start of registration, the cases of missing mutants became more frequent. By that time, it had already become clear to most sane people that, most likely, they are being shut down somewhere and are being forced to constantly share their psionic energy. Because of this, mutants began to gather into groups, trying to keep closer to each other, and in fifteen to twenty years’ time they formed quarters where only mutants lived. Everything could be over time and would stabilize, only the law was passed on the obligatory sharing of psionic energy in certain amounts, which was calculated individually for everyone. It was after this law, which simply turned them into a walking power station, a wave of indignation appeared, which led to mass protests, but then the government, instead of meeting their demands, led out against the mutants units for military suppression of the riot. This was the beginning of the thirty-year war, as a result of which we lost all the lower levels, down to the third one. In the course of this war, practically all Scurfifers that were missing from both sides of the conflict were deliberately eliminated. And the psionic energy conversion technology was lost during the fights. As a result, now there are two opposing structures in Alpharome: on the one hand, psionics and mutated people, on the other there are ordinary people and cyborgs. Psionics are still caught in order to rediscover the lost technology. Now you understand what awaits you, if someone from the knowledgeable people receives information that you have a working set of “Seraphim’s Soul” which is connected with psionic energy?”“I will be fucked up!” I said. “What options do you offer?”“Now I can see only two options: first, you throw everything in the utilizer and forget that these things once existed. The second one is much more difficult - to prepare and pass a test for the profession. Then, if you collect a complete set, only the Silver Guard, well, or some of the most powerful Psionics can deal with you. In this case, you can already at least partially state your terms.”“What is the complexity of the second option?” if Sanych undertook to consider the second option at all, it means something can still be achieved.“The difficulty is that now there is no one left who could give you the profession. So it can only be obtained through the center of the professions, having passed a certain test of professional skills and compliance. And the closest centre is on the tenth level. Not only will you have to prepare for the test - I can help you with that, - then you need to be able to get out of that place before you are taken to a special laboratory to be studied more closely.”“Damn, I need a couple of days at least to assess the risks. Okay; I am going on a raid in two days, and when I return, we'll talk about this issue. I can't make a decision right on the spot. By the way, what's your interest?”“To pursue my dreams.”“What do you mean?”“It will be difficult to understand. Now you practically do not understand our political alignments and many of the nuances of the existing way of life in Alpharome. Therefore, my explanations will not say anything to you for now; if you want to - we will return to this conversation when you get the profession of Scurfifer.”“If I get it.” I corrected him.“No, I say when you get it! Because if you do not receive it, then there will be no sense in this conversation.”“Clearly, then turn off your jamming system, I will have to think it over.”CHAPTER THREE: REFLECTIONSSaying goodbye to Sanych, I went to the headquarters. There was, of course, a desire to first go to the store and see what new things I could buy to upgrade my armor and weapons, but almost immediately I changed my mind. The first thing I need is to thoroughly think over everything and to decide if I really need this profession with such a unique set of things, this I should do at least for myself. And is it worth to start in view of the problems that will be caused?If I were just a gamer, I probably wouldn’t have thought about it. After all, the more unique they are, the more desirable it is for them. At the same time, they do not even think whether it will be useful for them or not. But I'm not a gamer, I'm just a person who actually is having a rest in here and has fun... Although, who am I deceiving? Since Tilorn met his group...? No, even before. It’s probably when I made a promise to Irala.Or maybe ... I stopped in the street, completely immersed in my thoughts, trying to understand when that crucial moment happened, after which I began to achieve my goals and stopped just having fun. In this way and in my mind, I scrolled the path I had traveled in Alpharome, but from any point of reasoning it turned out that literally from the first minutes I was engulfed in the excitement of self-development, trying not to yield to other players. I behaved in many cases just like a kid who seized virtual reality and now wants to be the coolest.It seems that something inside me is pushing myself to find solutions to develop as quickly as possible, ignoring most of the points that confuse me so much in this game. So, I have about one and a half days before the raid to the laboratory starts. During this time, I’ll need to collect the information of interest to me and analyze it thoroughly. Although I myself set the time for the start of our raid and I can calmly change it, but I decided not to do so, because I made a promise to Irala to return as soon as I could get her out.And promises must be kept otherwise why do you give them? Then, when we return from the laboratory, I will deal with the questions thoroughly. Having outlined for myself a number of goals, I went into the building where we were located, practically at the entrance of which I stopped, lost in my thoughts.Already almost getting to the second floor, where we were staying, I heard a sudden explosion, followed by Castra crying. I didn’t make out what exactly was in this scream, but acting by instinct, I jumped the remaining steps and literally in two jumps I was near the door to our room. Practically, without slowing down, I smashed our flimsy plastic door, covering my eyes and part of the face with a second hand from accidental shards of plastic. As soon as I overcame such an insignificant obstacle, I immediately went into a long leap forward, extinguishing the inertia during landing, rolling and going on my knee almost near the arms rack where the pistols were kept.Grasping the handles of the first pistols, I turned around by a hundred and eighty degrees, changing the knee of the stop, and I almost heard the hip joint popping from such a mockery of myself. All this action takes a little more than a second in time, and I froze, arms outstretched, trying to cover the space where the enemy could potentially be. I stared with my eyes at Quartz and Castra, who froze in the same postures they were in when I burst into the room, and now they were looking at me with no less staggering eyes. Castra was almost in the middle of the room, holding a shoe in her right hand, brought in the backswing for a throw at Quartz, her goal at that time trying to hide behind a hanging pear.The room was almost the same as I left it. The only change that was evident were pieces of the folding screen, which were burning on the floor. As far as I understood, Castra with her right hand was trying to launch a missile at Quartz and with her left at the same time she tried to cover her upper body, because she was naked. I do not know what happened to them here, but it seems that I should be leaving the room at the moment.“Hmm ... It looks like I was not on time ...” Standing up, I headed for the exit, carefully examining the toes of my shoes. And then I added; “Forgive me for interfering with your pre-marriage games, but next time be a little quieter, otherwise I really thought that we were attacked,” on saying that, I left the room.Walking along the corridor, I rested my forehead on the wall and began to giggle. I do not know how Quartz managed to burn the folding screen, while she was changing her clothes, but it seems that now it will be very painful for him. My suspicions were reinforced by the roar of the evil Castra and the several booming blows that followed. Hmmm ... Probably better, I should quickly get out of here, or the angry girl might start to take it out on me.Of course, I am a commander, mentor, and so on, but in my life I remembered one truth: it’s better not to get in the way of an angry woman. You suffer yourself, or you will hurt her - it depends only on how good you are at dealing with conflicts. Quietly, trying not to make any noise, I moved to the flight of stairs, from where, almost crashing into me, two fighters jumped out in full gear. Stopping them at the last moment, I turned back, checking if everything is in order.“Are you sure?” The fighter with the sergeant's stripes did not give up. “We heard a scream after the explosion. Maybe someone needs help?”“I'm sure everyone is okay,” I smiled back. “Tell me, fighter, are you married?”“Um ... Yes ... And what does it have to do with it?”“Yes, despite the fact that there is now almost a family row! Imagine what your wife would do if you accidentally burned her favorite blouse?”The sergeant paused a little, apparently, imagining such a situation, and he even shuddered. After which he quickly retired, not forgetting to take the second fighter with him. I, remembering to see Sargos and Tilorn, changed my direction and went to the workshop where these two could usually be found. When I entered, I immediately got into a sort of cross between a laboratory, a meat processing plant, and a back room of a mad alchemist. Nearby there were various centrifuges, molecular splitters, scraps of organs of various monsters and the most ordinary distillers.I'm even a little confused. After all, I came here only once, when they only brought the equipment. But now I could not recognize this room, as well as Tilorn himself, who was running around between the equipment in a bright yellow robe and the same cap on his head, from which disheveled hair got out. In the middle, the room was blocked by a thick armored glass, beyond which the kingdom of Sargos with the explosives was spread out.Trying to attract Tilorn's attention, I did not succeed, or rather, he noticed me, but waved it off and, saying something unintelligible, was working on the device, which began to squeak. He shrugged his shoulders and sent a letter to me in which he was warning me not to proceed any further until, and having sent this letter to me, he went to Sargos through a glass walkway with two doors. At first, I could not understand the reason of having such a transitional gateway, but when the first door closed behind me and I was able to open the second, heavy music deafened me, which simply stunned me.Not only did this cacophony of sounds hit my ear membranes, but also I had to move like on a minefield. It feels like Sargos decided to practice installing minefields right in his workshop. Looking around and realizing all the futility of his undertaking, I sent a letter similar to the one sent by Tilorn and left the workshop. There was only one place where I could sit quietly and think. Therefore, having reached the stairs, I climbed a little higher and onto the roof. Having sat between a small ventilation tube and a side that girded the roof, hiding in such a way from prying eyes, I started thinking.I really wanted to get this profession, I really wanted it all, but that huge mass of problems that this profession brings was stopping me. After all, in fact, apart from a unique set of equipment, it will give me nothing more, but there will be a lot of problems. For example, I can solve the issue with psionic energy through Krill, although I don’t imagine how to contact him. But what brings the status of neutral, is not yet clear.Sanych does not want to disclose information, and the hunt for me will obviously begin. And my wards were formed ... I, of course, do not care about all these problems, but I don’t want to let down those people who trusted me. So, I have made up my mind! Returning after the raid to the laboratory and giving this ammunition to Sanych, I will let him deal with it. It’s better to be without any profession at all, since I don’t need such pain in the ass. Having dealt with one question, I went mentally to another, namely to the oddities in the game. I decided to write out all the points first so as not to forget anything and not get confused. Opening the notebook, I was about to start writing out the points of various oddities in this game, but the incoming message icon distracted me.Sender: LekshaText of the letter:I contacted my person; he is ready to take up your work. The price is only ten thousand. But he also asked me to tell you that if you pay him thirty thousand now, he will give you very important information on your access card. As he put it: “The information is so interesting, and the longer the customer waits, the less interesting it becomes.” If you are going to transfer money, do not forget about my little share.Hmm ... Wow, he intrigued me, indeed. If I understand correctly, he has some extremely important information. It seems that the amount of money is rather small for that, but I don’t want to lose the information either. Okay, until I check, I won't. Sending the letter with my consent and transferring the money, taking into account the bonus for Leksha, I got up and began to pace the roof waiting for an answer, which came in about five minutes.Sender: LekshaText of the letter:I’m sending you the text from my person:“An hour and a half ago, one of the clans from our outpost took from me the exact same access card, already decrypted and re-flashed, so that it would give access without asking for the password. But hacking the access to security systems did not work, there is a complicated algorithm. Judging by the encryption and some minor details in the code, there is every reason to assume that both cards are for the same object. ”“H******! I’ll kill those m ****** and fuck them in ****** ....”I cursed for about thirty seconds, using all sorts of abusive words to describe those motherfuckers. I did not expect such a possibility of being let down, although I should have foreseen the possibility of such events. Okay, I need to calm down, I can change everything. Fearing the worst, I am half an hour late, plus the time for fees. Not so much, there is every chance to get to them before they clean up everything there. Having opened the mail, I quickly wrote a message and sent it to the guys.Recipients: Tilorn; Castra; Quartz; SargosText of the letter:ATTENTION!!! GET READY, YOU HAVE ONLY 15 MINUTES. GET ANTI-DROID WEAPONS, PLUS PLAYER VERSUS PLAYER MODE! PVP PROBABILITY 90%!!!While rushing, jumping over two steps, to my floor, I sent another message, on which the success of my whole undertaking depended. If he doesn’t answer me until we get to the laboratory, he will have to choose between one of two extreme options. I would not like to use them, because neither of them promises anything good to me. Already bursting into our room, I sent a letter to the team.Recipients: Alexander CarefireText of the letter:I really need your help! I do not ask for fighters, because I understand perfectly well that you will not give them, especially given the fact that I may have to fight with the fighters of one of the clans registered in your outpost. But I need to help the person who I promised that I would not abandon ... At least, tell me how I can avoid getting the red level in the event of a clash with clan fighters. I will be ready to fulfill any of your requests.Rushing into the room, I found Castra and Quartz, who were urgently gathered ammunition. Considering that they were in the room at that time, it was easiest for them. From the remnants of former luxury in the form of loads of various equipment and weapons, which I got from the lair of the gangsters, more precisely from what I saved for further development later, several sets were formed for different occasions.Now was one of those occasions. Castra changed her light overalls to a heavier-weight outfit, but with stronger armor and a lightweight closed helmet, giving her the opportunity to switch to a closed life support system. So now, with a great desire, for fifteen minutes she can even go into outer space. For a longer time, unfortunately, there will be not enough air. But I haven’t seen her new shoes, or rather I’ve seen them before, but they looked a little different then.Now, however, the thickness of the sole has slightly increased, and a portion of the sole on the toe has a characteristic blued-colored metal, as does the triangular insert on the heels. In addition, she put on bracelets that completely covered her forearm from the wrist and almost to the elbow. At first glance, I did not find any changes in her equipment. Quartz, on the last exit, only changed the shotgun, and for three seconds he stood and looked from one to the other, torn apart by the variety of choice: take the same, tested, or new with two barrels, with protruding corners at an angle, similar to small round wings.His doubts were quite clear to me. The shotgun left in the rack was much lighter and more compact, allowing him to be more mobile. But the one he took, had more ammunition and higher rate of fire, but, apparently, Quartz remembered the potential PVP mode and decided that increased damage is more important. I noticed all this, glancing at them as I was walking by to get my things. I took off my everyday clothes, without being embarrassed by Castra - now it’s not the right time to think about it - and I hastily began to get changed to a set of clothes with aramid yarns and polymer seals.I had not used it before, since on its own it has pretty low protection level, mainly from penetrating and kinetic damage. But here's now, the bottom layer under a set of armor with hydraulic amplifiers, to which I grew in level after a skirmish with the droids, suited just the way.“Volper, what happened? Your message was really worrying,” Quartz spoke as if saying tongue twisters and at the same time he was placing a backpack on the floor and now hastily stuffed it with ammunition and various trifles.“Tilorn and Sargos will catch up with us, then I will explain, so that I don’t repeat everything twice. By the way, where are they now?”“Sargos is in his workshop; he has an entire military arsenal there. He started working really hard after you pushed him for a couple of ideas. And as for Tilorn - I have no idea.”“Tilorn went to the local technicians, I saw him in the door ... or rather, and I saw the remains of the door,” Castra wedged in, and she was already fully ready, as she was the most easily equipped fighter of our squad. She stood with a small backpack about twenty liters behind her back. Having quickly examined herself, she added. “I'm ready!”“Well done! Then, go run to get Sargos and tell him to join us, he should hurry up; we have not too much time on our hands!”She immediately dashed out of the room and sped away. In the meantime, I had to make a hard choice. The set of armor weighed pretty much, slightly limiting my mobility. And now it was worth deciding which weapon to take with me. For a couple of seconds having estimated the pros and cons, I decided to take an automatic rifle with a short barrel, and two pistols with the ability to conduct single and automatic fire instead of a paired complex. And, of course, I remembered to take the set of knives.Sargos came running when I was already putting grenades and spare shops along special pockets, finishing stuffing my backpack with already equipped magazine cases. I usually carry cartridges in packs with me, they take up less space, but now I'm not sure that I will have time to install the cases. Turning around and noticing Sargos, my eyebrows reached to the top of my head. Trying so hard, he was pulling a huge trunk, swollen in all directions by volume, probably, three hundred liters of volume. I just wonder how it hasn’t crushed him yet.“Sargos, fucking shit! Are you going to take all this trash to the battlefield?”“Of course, no,” he started being certain and dead serious, and dropped the trunk to the floor; then he began to dig in it, taking out various elements of equipment. “Here you are. I’ve got various things. But I didn’t manage to modernize them.”“Okay, come on, you have ten minutes,” he confirmed with a nod of his head that he heard me.Three minutes later, Quartz and I completed the set and were ready to move forward. Sargos, meanwhile, had already put on his set of armor and fastened many different items to it, not all of which I could recognize by looking at them. So, being almost ready, it remains only to understand where Tilorn is. It would be not so good to start without him. But as they say, speak of the devil and… Here he is. Tilorn came into the room already fully equipped and ready for the battle.“Who should I kill? Who to save?” He blurted out immediately, turning his head around.“Calm down, for the time being you do not need to kill anyone,” I cooled him down. “So, I will explain in brief, because there is just not enough time for us to think,” making sure that everyone listened to me attentively, I continued. “Before meeting you, right before the first wave of the breakthrough, I got into one very interesting laboratory. The way I found it is unimportant now, but the point is that in this laboratory there is an artificial intelligence unit, who may have full self-awareness and, so to speak, the soul…” Tilorn wanted to say something, but I interrupted him. “Tilorn, I know that in reality all such experiments have failed. Therefore, I say that it is possible. Maybe it's just a well-written non-player character, or just some kind of a bug in the cluster of the artificial intelligence who manages the server. But when communicating with it, the full spectrum of emotional, mimic and psychological reactions inherent in a living being was noticed by me. Yeah, according to her brief history, theoretically, it should be no longer artificial intelligence, but a full-fledged mind. In general, it does not matter; the question is that I promised to pull it out of this laboratory ASAP. We were preparing for the raid there, but the situation had changed. According to the information I have received, a couple of hours ago, one of the clans received a pass card to this laboratory, so we are now moving forward at the maximum speed there. Your task is to provide me with the breakthrough through monsters right up to the lab. I will go inside alone, as there is every reason to assume that there we will have to fight the clan fighters, and I have no desire to let you down for getting the red level. Everything is clear? Any Questions?”“And what about the opportunity to challenge the right of ownership...?”“Not in our case,” I interrupted Castra, “firstly, officially registered organizations have this right, which we do not. Secondly, I do not intend to give them the opportunity to capture the laboratory. I need to be the first to reach the central room, where the information carrier with the artificial intelligence is located; otherwise there is a chance that I will not be able to release it.”“Are you sure that as long as the battle goes on, one or several fighters will not leave, taking with them the most valuable trophies?”The guys became quiet, thinking about something. I was also silent, giving them the opportunity to gather their thoughts. They had literally just a dozen seconds, after which Tilorn took the floor.“Volper, I do not know what is going on there, but we are going with you till the end!”“No,” for greater persuasiveness, I negatively waved my head. “This is not your problem. Do not forget that if you get the red level, problems with law enforcement agencies will occur, and, most likely, you will lose access to the outpost.”“Volper, you recently made me think about my decisions and excessive care. Now you yourself do it, contrary to your words. So we go with you till the end, and this issue is not discussed. We just inform you about that decision of ours. You once believed in our group and supported us, now it's our turn to repay the same. And do not argue with us!”Looking at them, I saw in everyone's eyes only one determination to go till the end with me. I wanted, of course, to yell at them, to use abusive words, but…. Yeah, even, if necessary, to knock on the head so that they do not engage in this bullshit! But now, seeing their eyes, I understood that nothing would help, they would just silently follow me. Therefore, I could only accept their decision.“OK,” I said it with difficulty. But quickly assembled, I continued in a normal voice. “Then let’s move forward. Castra is the head patrol, the rest are in two pairs, the first pair is Tilorn and I, the first number is Tilorn, the second couple is Quartz and Sargos, the first number is Quartz. We are moving as fast as possible. Castra, you are leading us along the route, I’m sending you the coordinates. Monsters are to be ignored; we enter into the battle only in case of attack. Ready? Then let’s get going, time is money!”Quickly checking whether everything is sitting well and whether the badly fitted ammunition does not give away where we are, we moved out of the base trotting. Now we should come on time. Even if Carefire does not respond to the letter, I will still pull it out of that place. Otherwise, why would I have invested fifty million?Read more Scurfifer (Alfarome. Book 2) ................
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