Sit in the chair. Well, I sat down.
Put on the hood. Put it on.
Choose time and two rectangles Past and Future.
A sensitive sense of smell and everyday experience suggested: it smells like kerosene. A couple of years ago, Kalinkin found a curious scientific publication in a free newspaper, which they put in mailboxes. Of course, not everyone can handle an article about the hypothetical ability to travel in the universe using space-time tunnels in the form of wormholes. The persistent mind of Pyotr Mikhailovich was able to master it from the second time, but the idea seemed like an incomprehensible invention: is an instantaneous leap in time possible? And here, in the hall, this theory can be confirmed and become a reality! If what was happening wasnt a game or a waking dream, he was on the verge of a fantastic opportunity. However, Pyotr Mikhailovich quickly realized: after taking the first step, it will not work to change the process, you can lose everything Galya, the house, the usual and calm way of life, and, perhaps, life itself. The device hardly gives guarantees and insurance. On the other hand, the situation is so unique that, without a doubt, he, Pyotr Kalinkin, is a lucky man chosen by fate, a mole in the tunnel of Time! The unknown was so fascinating and attracted that it outweighed all fears and awakened in him a sense of courage. However, how valuable in his eyes are the promised paradise life on a pension of twenty thousand rubles, and bliss on quarter acre of land? Challenge accepted! The seductress sirens have already started their insidious hypnotic songs:
Become zero, become zero and everything will be very good, sounded in his ears, and he decided, as any adventurer would have decided in his place.
But which rectangle should I click on? Kalinkin scratched his head in indecision. There have been a lot of interesting events in the past, from the Early Paleozoic to however, what is the minimum step back? Is it possible last night? And an hour, a minute ago? If you think big, historically, then I would like to talk to Aristotle or, by the way, even with the cunning Gioconda
From the suddenly opened prospects, ordinary logic got stuck, fantasies overshadowed common sense. Pyotr Mikhailovich forced himself to calm down, and after a short hesitation decided to apply the method of scientific poke, leaving the choice to his Majesty chance. Really, why break your head? He made a wish, crouching down to the window, and began to observe: if a bird flies from right to left, then it is necessary to fly into the past, and if the vector goes opposite, it means into the future. Five minutes passed, and the birds, as luck would have it, seemed to have hidden somewhere, disrupting the experiment. The impatient observer was already shifting from one foot to the other, unflatteringly describing the whole feathered world to himself, when suddenly some dead sparrow fluttered at the left edge of the frame, then sat down on it, unaware of its historical mission. Seeing the old mans terrible, unshaven face behind the glass, the chick was stunned with fear, soiled the window, asshole, well, fluttered to the right and pointing to the Future!
Undoubtedly: very smart people came up with this device, Kalinkin came to the conclusion when two more signs appeared on the screen Time and Place, everything is concrete, fine tuning! Maybe its a virtual reality device, like five D? Then why in such a disguised form? Most likely, it was hidden by aliens from outer space, from another dimension! Those who are on flying saucers, the Americans showed them on video!
On the screen in red Attention! lit up a memo-instructions for reverse movement for a time traveler:
In order to avoid a dangerous situation! The return is activated at any moment of the journey by the command I want to go back.
The choice of a place with a poor imagination is obvious: a favorite city on the Neva river, Butlerova street, a native apartment with a balcony on the third floor The time is at random, in about five years, 2026, June. It was only necessary to answer the questions, as space and time moved apart, absorbing Kalinkin along with the mysterious apparatus.
Ten minutes later, Galina Sergeevna called her husband, then went to look for him in the house, walked around the whole plot, but, to her surprise, she did not find him anywhere. The iron barrel lying on the veranda was also missing.
CHAPTER 2. LEAP INTO THE UNKNOWN
It didnt seem like a long jump into the future to Kalinkin. Consciousness turned off, as with anesthesia, and it was not possible to feel anything during this movement through the years. Pyotr Mikhailovich opened his eyes and found himself in a painfully familiar six meter kitchen, clean dishes on the table, flowers on the windowsill, everything neatly tidied up. Cautiously, still not fully believing in what was happening, I walked around the apartment there is no hostess at home, the situation in the rooms does not seem to have changed, everything is as it was five years ago: Sony TV, photos hang on the walls, including his portrait, books shine with spines in the closet, on the sofa the usual pillows. I sneaked into the pantry, put my hand under an old blanket a stash of five hundred rubles on the spot, and his heart was relieved.
He turned on the TV for interest, and there he dont understand: either a cartoon, or a press conference:
Attention, attention, Ivan the Fool at the microphone. Today we will find out how many percent of the remaining people as a result of optimization
Kalinkin was not interested in fairy tales, and he de-energized the storehouse of news.
And where is Galina? So June is the same month, she is obviously at the village, planting a vegetable garden, Pyotr Mikhailovich realized. Maybe Im there too?
This metaphysical question took him by surprise: what happened to me in 2026? An amazing discovery was waiting for Pyotr Mikhailovich in the corridor by the mirror: where is my gray beard? A strange face of a man of about forty-five looked at him from the looking glass
Wow the shocked traveler could only squeeze out and almost cracked his head on the open closet door, and when the ability to think returned, he realized:
If there is my reflection in the mirror, then the age and appearance change when jumping, a fact! But I wasnt warned about this monster on four legs
A clock ticked on the shelf, busily counting down the seconds of the new time.
Honest mother, what should I do? Kalinkin burst out in despair, but there was no one to hear his words in the deserted apartment. However, there was still hope: upon returning back, everything would return to normal. And how to check: isnt everything happening an illusion? Slowly going out on the stairs, he called the neighbors apartment, introduced himself as a relative of Galina they say, he did not find her at home. The neighbor opened the door, did not recognize him, but said the obvious about his wife: at the village. But then the following question arose reasonably, and Pyotr Mikhailovich asked it with difficulty his throat was so tight with excitement:
And where is her husband?
Galina Sergeevna shared with me, shared, the neighbor lowered her voice conspiratorially and stared at me, as if she remembered a horror movie. Her husband disappeared at the village about five years ago, she was wanted, but they didnt find him anywhere. And why are you interested? she asked suspiciously, as if realizing that she had given away a great secret to a stranger.
Yes, I am aware that he have disappeared, maybe some new information has appeared, looking down, Pyotr Mikhailovich squeezed out with difficulty.
New information that electricity has risen in price again, and a tax on clean air has been introduced, the neighbor abruptly cut off the conversation, startling herself, and slammed the door.
Having found out that five years later he, the former, was not in the house at the moment, Kalinkin reasoned sensibly: to meet himself in the future is pure fiction. A.P. Chekhov was right: it cant be, because it can never be! The miracle machine transported Pyotr Mikhailovich to another time, but there was an updated image of him in the future, changed beyond recognition and not coinciding with the usual one. So, the neighbor communicated, one might say, with the personality of Kalinkin, but in a different bodily shell. Heres proof of discovery number two: its impossible to recognize a time traveler
Pyotr Mikhailovich returned to the apartment, sat down on a chair in the kitchen to think about the situation again:
So if I disappeared from that time, what should I do next? How can I prove at least to myself that I made a leap five years ahead?
The pernicious habit of pouring in a hundred and fifty grams of vodka to clear his brain, he resolutely left in the past: the experiment should be pure, unclouded alcohol, in the name of the interests of all mankind. However, there was no vodka at hand either: Kalinkin checked the refrigerator just in case. Lofty motives have generated a solution ingenious in its simplicity: I will take some object with me from my apartment, and even this plastic elephant standing on the dresser upon returning to reality, it will be a material proof of time travel.
Thats right, and Ill tear out todays calendar sheet for memory: June 17, 2026, Pyotr Mikhailovich decided, put the elephant in a plastic bag and went out into the yard for a walk I wonder what has changed in the neighborhood?
On a beautiful summer day, Kalinkin walked alone along the sidewalk past old brick houses and narrow lawns with stunted grass. Neither oncoming nor cross all disappeared somewhere, which seemed very strange.
Are all extinct, or what?
Cars whizzed by, throwing out dirt and soot the era of electric carts has not yet come, as once planned. He turned left onto the broad Avenue of Science so it was written on a sign attached to the brick wall of the building.
So, science exists in Russia! Kalinkin noted to himself.
At one time, in connection with the liquidation of the Institute of Mechanical Engineering, it was fired, and after a short thought, Pyotr Mikhailovich went to the night watchmen: well, the old man should not go to taxi drivers, although if life forces
Interestingly, philosophized Pyotr Mikhailovich, in the twentieth century the country created institutes of physics, chemistry, mathematics, and in the twenty-first century institutions of all kinds of problems suddenly began to arise: problems of the economy, problems of globalization, problems of entrepreneurship. It turns out: institutes and scientists are not engaged in science, but in problems that people themselves have created Is this the progress? What were you thinking about earlier?
Thinking in this way, Pyotr Mikhailovich slowly moved along the avenue to the Akademicheskaya metro station and curiously looked at the signs of beauty salons and bank boards with a rate of 5253 rubles to the yuan, but in his seemingly smart head, nothing clicked, illuminated, puzzled and where are the dollars, and where is the euro? The metro turned out to be in the old place and has been preserved in almost the same gray, dull form, with concrete walls, a pie-thick roof and glass doors, representing stability in the field of architecture. And here people were already scurrying, crowds of people, Russians of the future. Oncoming streams of passengers poured out of the ground lobby and rushed back down, disappearing underground. The faces of those walking in the crowd were hidden by masks, and on the heads of each there was a headdress with a white plaque and a black number. Mentally, Pyotr Mikhailovich picked up a suitable comparison: a gathering of beekeepers in a huge apiary! He even rejoiced at his quick wit, but not for long: someones male voice with a characteristic southern accent interrupted his thoughts:
Citizen, what are you doing here?
Pyotr Mikhailovich turned around: in front of him stood two stocky beekeepers, dressed in strange clothes, like the uniform of security guards in a shopping center five years ago.
Im looking at the subway building. Whats the matter? Kalinkin was genuinely amazed.
Why without a mask and a security number? pushed, the one who is older. Pyotr Mikhailovich, trying to resolve the situation without conflict, politely asked:
I forgot at home. And who are you?
We are a volunteer squad of the Guard of Russia, he received a proud answer, you have grossly violated (it sounded like vi have violated) the decree on a special temporary regime. Follow us.
Where to?
To the police!
Kalinkin felt funny and even curious some kind of incident, but he did not resist and contradict. The trio tramped along Civil Avenue to the building of the police department, where, after completing a quest with a cheerful color music, they found themselves in the duty room a place of rendering legal services. Vigilant amateurs, having fused Pyotr Mikhailovich to professionals, turned around and recovered for a new search for evaders and violators. The chief on duty with one big star on his shoulder straps, apparently a general, took the guest into a separate room, sat him down on a chair and ordered him to wait. Kalinkin looked around: a black door, blue worn linoleum on the floor and the same blue painted brick walls, a barred window, an unpleasant, stagnant smell Pyotr Mikhailovich even mentally refrained from unpatriotic comparisons, but he felt extremely shitty.
A nasty premonition sucked him in the pit of his stomach, a painful feeling of guilt arose; as if by magic, the constitutional rights of a citizen instantly self-destructed, and the personality and dignity of a person turned into something virtual. Involuntarily shivering, as if the punishing sword of either the proletariat or the bourgeoisie hovered over him there, under the ceiling, he became frightened and quiet. Five minutes later, a man in civilian clothes entered, but this one was already without a mask, sat down at the table facing Kalinkin and began filling out a questionnaire: first name, last name, patronymic, year of birth, registration address in general, everything is like under Tsar Peas. From time to time he glanced at the monitor screen and tapped the keyboard keys. When the overture was over, questions began to pour in:
What is the date, month, year today? Kalinkin answered unmistakably.
Why without documents? Why without a mask and a number? The man didnt look up from the table.
Sorry, I forgot at home.
And what were you doing at the metro station?
I stood and looked at the pavilion building.
Why? The man raised his head and stared unfriendly at the prisoner.
How why? Its just interesting to watch. And what, is it forbidden?
Its not forbidden, but normal people dont just stand by the subway and dont look ostensibly at the pavilion. Who did you have an appointment with and for what purpose?
I was alone and didnt plan any meeting. Just walking. Dont you believe me? Pyotr Mikhailovich was genuinely surprised.