Vlad suddenly pressed his lips to Igors neck.
Hey, friend, I understand everything, but Im not one of these! Igor pushed Vlad away. His face was smeared with something red. I tried to get up, but my body seemed paralyzed.
While you are dying, Igor, I will tell you my story. Im almost seven thousand years old, although I might have lost count. I traveled for a long time until one day I stopped on your planet. Our race had discovered the secret of longevity, but the recipe had one flaw. Two people must drink the alcoholic infusion of the parasitic fungus, and one must voluntarily give years of his life to the other.
Igor glanced sideways at the bottle with the image of Mendeleev.
Or if someone wants to take your life, then you can also take his years. This elixir of youth was a gift for us, but also a curse: to prolong the lives of their children, parents gave up their years, and the children cried until the end of their days about the irreparable loss. But when I found myself on your planet a thousand years ago, it became a real Eldorado for me. There are so many scoundrels who would attempt on my life. By the way, vampires do not feed on blood. Im an ordinary person. I just need a sample of your gene pool to analyze your estimated lifespan. But about our love for the blood of scoundrels its true, I couldnt drink anything else. You know, Im so tired of endless boredom. For the last two hundred years I have been looking for a successor. But only people as narrow-minded as you come across. You are not interested in science and art, philosophy is alien to you. All evening you only said a few words, and those were about hating those who have what you dont have. What will you spend your long life on if you are given it? Of course, my Graham number calculations are also not the best thing, but I will continue to look for myself rather than give my years to someone like you.
Robo-merchants scurried along the platform, selling dried fish and porcelain. Men and women hugged next to the train. We are glad to have a long-awaited meeting. The children who had not yet turned eighty-five were greedily licking their ice cream cones, trying to escape the heat. Igor Vasilyevich Negodyaev took the train, but never reached his destination, but no one noticed this: perhaps he got up at a stop earlier. He had no one waiting for him upon his arrival. Many people on this train get up earlier than their scheduled stop. Although, around the world, many irreplaceable people disappear without a trace, and they are immediately replaced by other irreplaceable ones. Maybe he decided to become a droid or fly to Proxima Beta, who will keep track of everyone?
A man with a notebook covered in numbers glanced out the window with one eye, hopefully looking out for someone who might one day complete his calculation.
Elven Syndrome
A bright sunny day, not a single cloud. The noisy three-dimensional flow of gravikars does not interfere with the illumination of the lower floors of the City. Its hot and stuffy, but I still feel like sneezing. Allergy is the main plague of the twenty-second century. People overcame cancer and AIDS, and later Corona and flucovabola succumbed, but each new help in overcoming diseases gave birth to new ones in the body. I, like you, with a ninety-seven percent probability, have had hay fever since childhood: it affects the bloom of any flower and the spore of any mushroom. What are the authorities thinking? Why dont they uproot all the plants on the planet so that people dont suffer? They are afraid of the damned Greens: «Stop deforestation!», «Greens are the lungs of the planet,» «Plants feel too!» What do I feel, the plants dont care? They are creatures if they sense my illness, but continue to spread poisonous pollen. I hope at least it will be easier on Mars. A long queue begins just outside the entrance to the station, above which is the inscription «Russian Railways wishes you a happy trip!» He wiped away his allergic tears and used his eyelashes to call up a certificate that was projected directly onto the retina. It turns out that back in the last century people used railways. The carriage moved along two long metal rods. Apparently, people did not live very well before the invention of gravikars. And after the accessibility program «Gravicar for every family member,» people learned to fly like birds. Turned thirteen get a license, buy yourself a car and fly to school in your personal car. Although, Katerina Kabanovas dream did not fully come true: we became more like bees flying out of skyscraper hives in search of work than like free birds conquering the skies.
Girl, are you the last one at the cash register?
Im not extreme. Im the last one.
After Russian became an international language, everyone became so literate: they correct others in any situation. But overall, I am glad about the end of American hegemony after the collapse of the United States as a result of the «revolution of dignity of all colors and races.»
Ill follow you.
Every two or three minutes a new passenger was allowed inside. It was my turn. The air conditioners and filters worked well inside, so I immediately felt pleasantly cool, and my runny nose went away.
Are you transporting explosives, narcotic substances or substances that enter into a nuclear chain reaction? asked the young African-Russian woman in a monotonous voice.
«Nuclear,» the guard looked up at me in surprise. I showed her my wristwatch. They are in America.
«Enough jokes,» the droid girl frowned. Of course, would an ordinary person do such monotonous work? Although I would go, but people are not hired very often: they need rest, they are not so hardy and efficient. Come in for inspection. Men to the left.
Boys to the left, girls to the right? I smiled. The security droid furrowed her brows again, but remained silent.
This is the hundredth time Ive gone through this procedure, and each time its equally unpleasant. He stripped naked and put his clothes in the provided container. All the nurses in this room are droids, but I still instinctively wanted to cover some places with my palm. One of the nurses ran the sensor along the body. After the local flucovibol pandemic, doctors learned that viruses can raise body temperature in a particular part of the body, and the rest of the body will be healthy, but no less infectious.
You have been sick in the last four weeks or have had contact with sick people.
«No,» I wanted to make the usual joke here, but they are unlikely to be allowed on the Martian express even with the slightest suspicion of any illness. Of course: the immunity of indigenous Martians does not develop the necessary level of protection against all earthly diseases. After a detailed examination of every millimeter of the body for the presence of darkening of the skin or the appearance of any pimple, the body was doused with a stream of antiseptic with the unpleasant smell of bleach.
You can get dressed.
I stood in line for a ticket. A droid operator sat at the window.
Girl, I need a ticket for the next express train to Mars City.
There are only tickets left for todays train in the IM carriage.
I started scrolling through what this abbreviation means in a dead language. Immortal?
Girl, do you seriously want to sell me a ticket to the lower class? So that I could fly in the same carriage with droids, anti-vaxxers and I almost spat out of emotion and with elves?
Yes, this carriage is intended, among other things, for the impressed. The lives of all Homs have the same meaning. And if you dont agree, you can buy a ticket for next week.
Excuse me, please. Give me one ticket.
On the top or bottom shelf?
The main thing is not the one near the toilet.
Thats it, I offended the girl. Of course, by refusing vaccination, you voluntarily deprive yourself of the right to visit any territory of Mars City except the Ghetto. And the rest found themselves in the role of outcasts by accident, and not entirely fairly. Those who chose the path of droids got the opportunity to cope with any job better than ordinary people, leaving sapiens without work. But its very strange to be embarrassed to travel in the same salon with someone who does all the physical and monotonous work for you. As for those who are impressed, here you will understand my feelings if you havent slept for the last two hundred years or havent watched the news all this time. Okay, Ill tell you a few words so that you dont think Im arrogant.
I dont remember exactly the year, but scientists then discovered a civilization on Mars that had gone underground many centuries ago. We are far from their technology. If the translators understood everything correctly, they live for several thousand years (I mean, each individual). They built mechanisms at the dawn of their youth and since then there has not been a single breakdown! «Made on Mars» is a special mark of quality. Let our shop workers not blame their crookedness on obsolescence technologies, we are far from Martians. Due to their underground lifestyle and small stature, journalists dubbed the Martians «gnomes.» The media said that the gnomes gave us Medicine based on nano-robots, but most likely it was a mutually beneficial exchange; I dont know what we could offer to such a highly developed civilization. The first military volunteers were injected with a portion of the «vaccine against all diseases.» Where else can you find such a number of volunteers if not in the army? Even the epsilon strain of flucovibola stopped working on young people. Some politicians also set an example. By the way, they are alive and still control us. The serum began to be injected into everyone who could afford it, including children and those seriously ill with incurable diseases. But the impression effect became known only after a while. The «cured» person became virtually immortal except for direct physical impact, nothing could kill him, and severe wounds healed before his eyes. But his psyche remained forever at the same level, and often the meaning of their life revolved around only one type of activity or even an object. In the case of the soldiers, this suited everyone: unquestioningly following orders, eager to kill. By the way, this caste of soldiers was the first to die, as they went headlong to the hottest spots. Everything also went well with the politicians: they never betrayed their ideals, for which they received the support of voters. But imagine the impressed children! Forever little girls and boys dragging a teddy bear with them. Some were lucky: their parents also took the Martian vaccine, and such Peter Pans live in endless overprotection until the end of time. But most of the parents are dead, and who will take care of these not-quite-humans? Ninety-nine who took the Medicine fell ill in this way. By analogy with the Martians, they began to be called «elves»: beautiful, immortal, but absolutely useless for society.
I make my way along the long corridor in search of the desired compartment. A forest of bare legs looms above. And here is my place. The sheet and duvet cover are neatly folded on the bed.
Young man, will you have some tea? asked the conductor droid.
Yes, black with a spoon of sugar, please.
A couple of minutes and the steaming drink in the glass stood in front of me. Apparently, this glass holder was made in the mid-twentieth century a real rarity.
Are you busy? Apparently this is my place.
The compartment neighbor turned out to be a blond, curly-haired girl. My heart seemed to beat a little faster at the sight of her. Only this familiar look: emptiness and absolute detachment. Elf?
Im Ilya.
«And Im Alena,» she extended her hand, but instead of shaking hands, I involuntarily brought it to my lips. Alena pulled away.
Lets have breakfast?
I took a printer out of my bag and set a program for boiled chicken, and Alena printed out cucumbers and boiled jacket potatoes on hers. At first we ate in silence, I glanced at her casually, and she lowered her eyes. Then we started talking.
I had lung cancer, stage four. The doctors didnt give me even a year. I didnt have much choice: either voluntary vaccination or a grave. You cant imagine these feelings! First, the whole body is shrouded in a veil of indescribable pain. And then relief: there is no endless burning in the chest, even without painkillers. The doctor carried out repeated examinations: there was no trace of the tumor.
«My wife also got an injection. More precisely, the ex-wife was very worried about her appearance. Seeing the first wrinkle, she signed up for vaccination. Since then, she has not left the mirror, admiring her ideal appearance day and night. Tell me, should I have continued to work, equipping her with new doses of cosmetics, and in the evenings watch her profile in the mirror? And every family that took the «dwarven medicine» has its own little tragedies. Therefore, many did not like those who were impressed. Who needs people functions?
Many of our people have sunk to the level of «former intelligent people.» Although, there were no «ours» everyone came to the hospital to solve their own problems. To achieve something, you need to work on yourself for years and constantly improve. Studies have shown that it takes six weeks to go down. Forty days and now you are already accustomed to being at the bottom, from which you can again get out through years of work on yourself, which the impressed are no longer capable of.
Meanwhile, the space elevator had already lifted our car into orbit. Now we will reach the required speed value and forward to the conquest of Mars: for those who have not yet been to their planet. We were rotating along an axis, so the view outside the window was fabulous: the stars merged into stripes and circles, creating a feeling of wish fulfillment.
Are you impressed too?
«Yes, unfortunately, I am no exception,» Alena answered me.
On what? What does it feel like to be impressed?
I myself didnt notice the moment of transition. One day I noticed that it was becoming increasingly difficult for me to remain without Tolik, my husband. We leave for work, and all my thoughts revolve only around him. I tried to hide my endless love for my husband from those around me, but Tolik apparently noticed something. I suggested that he give himself an injection, but he categorically refused.
How I understand you, Tolyan! I remember Karinas face when she did not leave the mirror for hours on end, forgetting about sleep, and about food, and about me. I also vowed to myself to live an ordinary mortal life.
«Thats how we lived until his old age,» Alena continued. «And then he had a heart attack.» I made a diamond from his ashes, which I still keep close to my heart. You cant imagine how much effort it takes me not to give up, just to continue living. Theres an eternity ahead, but I dont know what to do the next morning.
«Or maybe» I kissed her on the cheek. Tolik will understand. You dont lose anything.
During the kiss, her empty eyes looked like the artificial eyes of a robotic toy. I pulled off her clothes, and only the lines and circles of stars in the emptiness of space witnessed what happened next.