Автор: ФИЦКЕВИЧ ВАЛЕРИЯ ДМИТРИЕВНА / FITSKEVICH VALERIA DMITRIEVNA
Prologue
The world is developing! The cosmos is being known more and more! You always want to think about it as enthusiastically as possible, but you also involuntarily think about what could have happened to humanity if it were on the verge of some kind of crisis. Probably, this is partly what led to this idea. I hope this will become not just a pleasant reading, but to some extent a teaching.
I
"... no matter how much time passes, we still stay in one place. It may seem to us that technologies, thoughts, actions carry us forward through mysterious places, but in fact our kind does not change from this in any way. It may sound sad, but the truth is this. At the turn of 2100, to the regret of all the optimists of the world, things did not go very rosy. But I write this from my own point of view, from the point of view of the so-called "criminal".
When NASA was still able to find new planets that could somehow come down for life, some had doubts about the safety of everything that was happening, no one believed that it was so easy to cross space and settle in another place, which pushed many researchers to voluntarily fly into the unknown, leaving everything native beyond the orbit. So everyone decided that the "criminals" should justify themselves in the eyes of these pathetic people, so zealously punishing everyone who does something not according to their rules. So I'm OK..." - Malcolm's writing is interrupted by the haste that has formed so suddenly.
- Come on, where are these idiots?! Are we going to wait a long time for you to get up on your thieving feet and enter the ship?
Suddenly 5 people of different ages, genders and races lined up in a line. My hands were sweating, my legs were shaking – excitement gripped my whole soul and body. They are about to fly into space! And no matter for what reasons, it is important that they see the darkness filling the entire space, feel weightlessness and forget about the so-called sins, immerse themselves in building on 1CCONP (the first cosmos city on a new planet) – the first city of the planet suitable for human life in space.
A gray-haired old man with glasses walked slowly along a narrow corridor leading to a hall with open windows overlooking the rocket launch base, where the thieves of emotions were waiting for him, who in a few moments would be able to renounce their burden and start all over again. Step by step, he was right in front of them. There were 3 people in a row – two men and a girl, two representatives of other races: stem and agrestat, but in space suits and helmets, allowing them to cross space without problems, nothing distinguished them from each other, only at this moment there was equality. Stopping, the man slowly carried out his strict gaze at the travelers, and did not dare to call them workers, which they were after all.
"You," the man began, "are doing everything for the benefit of society, part of which you have been able to offend lately. You have already managed to fulfill some of your punishment by imprisonment, but, as far as you know, the current state has decided that even you can be useful ... If you leave all your past, then I ask you to be careful: no one knows what else can be on 1CCONP ... I remind you: if you find other forms of life – immediately inform the person on duty, who will always be in touch with you. Do not forget to make entries every day in the diaries that were given to you from the very beginning of your preparation, this will help us not only to understand what effect the planet can have on different living beings, but also you will not get lost in your thoughts. We believe," the man turned his gaze away, gliding over the people, to the rocket, which was still looking at him from the window, "that you will cope with your task properly. Svnov's gaze turned to each member of the team. – Good luck to you.
"Luck for losers," one of the men whispered, "thank you, sir!" the others said.
Later, the girl-stalk, Lina, wrote in her diary, which she considered to be sheer stupidity, that the way to the rocket was the longest in her life for her. Klaus, one of the earthlings, wrote that he almost did not remember how he ended up in the chair, Marie, a Frenchwoman, kept her diary in cipher, which they could not fully read, but she captured this moment in her native language, where she said that sadness for her native land no longer gives her peace TIMB256 limited himself to the word "fear" to breathe, and Malcolm, known to us, wrote that he did not see anything good in this "journey", but he categorically did not want to stay on the ground, so actively expelling him.
…5…
Everyone has been sitting in their seats in cramped cabins for a long time.
…4…
Bitterness and fear sweep through the blood of each participant.
...3...
"We could have already made the cabins more spacious," Klaus said in a half-audible voice.
…2…
Small smiles passed over the thieves' faces: the man clearly lifted the mood of the whole team.
…1…
The rocket shot skyward, leaving clouds of smoke behind it. Silence hung inside the cabin, echoing prayers for survival.
- I don't think we'll see them again. – It sounded outside the cabin, after which everyone, except the attendant, who changes every 4 hours, dispersed.
II
There was a tense silence in the rocket. No one wanted to start talking, no one wanted to know everyone's guilt and, of course, no one wanted to start talking first, although everyone understood that it was simply necessary: difficult moments are clearly easier to experience with each other's support. After a certain period of time, the entire depth of the dark, endless cosmos, in which it was so easy to get lost, unfolded behind the porthole.
Everyone had already got up from their seats, adapted to the conditions in which they had to fly, but there was still complete silence. At the moment when the full realization of everything that was happening came, Malcolm's voice rang out: "Well, maybe we'll get acquainted?" After that, everyone scattered and tried not to cross paths until the end of the flight itself, despite all the actions they had to do according to the instructions of those on duty from the Ground. According to the instructions, they rechecked all the data, pointers, stocks, vital signs of each of the flying. So several earthly days passed, but the fellow travelers noticed only that time dragged on incredibly long for them.
During the flight, when there was no need to check something forever, write a diary, everyone occupied themselves as best they could. As criminals, they were provided with "instructive" books, which, of course, had to be read out of great boredom, but at the moment of competition in the tedium of the unchanging wall, the cosmos, which had time to get bored, and books trying to teach you the mind, falling all in a very strange manner, the porthole certainly won. Agrestat TIMB256 was mostly asleep. Marie scribbled everything in her diary. Malcolm tried to understand the spaceship more and more, Klaus still tried to disturb everyone's peace and talk, but when he appeared, everyone pretended to be terribly busy (the walls probably acquired more and more charisma). Lina played with her abilities: as a representative of another race, being a "stem" she stimulated faster plant growth.
The endless parade of boredom and the depths of space is interrupted by the message of the next attendant: "Reception, Earth-Earth, Earth is speaking. 1CCONP is close. Please prepare for boarding. I repeat, please prepare for landing." Fuss. That's what reigned on such a calm ship. Everything was flying in different directions, but after a couple of minutes, when it was said: "To the places", everything finally became as it should be.
The landing was by no means soft. Unfortunately, the coordinates calculated by the employees of the analytical center were erroneous. And the "criminals" got to the other end of 1CCONP. The planet was yellow. The ground was like beach sand. There was some semblance of the Earth's atmosphere, but there was no visible blue sky at the top, familiar to earthlings, with the Sun illuminating the day, dark space and an infinite number of stars were visible, which had become familiar. As mentioned above, the landing was not pleasant: a smaller part of the ship was damaged: "... it will be possible to repair it if Klaus stops being offended by the general silence or our superman (crossed out) agrestat stops sleeping, and someone finally helps and remembers why we are here..." - wrote in his Malcolm's diary.
The travelers got out of the rocket, the smoke spread around the rocket, everyone was extremely surprised that the air was exactly like on Earth, which caused a little fear to creep into their thoughts: if there is air, then there is something that can live in such favorable conditions.
- Now, comrades, whether you want to or not, but we need to get acquainted. – Said, of course, Malcolm, who was already sick of the eternal silence and hidden discontent with everyone.
Everyone looked at each other incredulously, and only Klaus was happy.
"Finally, you won't be able to ignore me anymore!" The young man shouted. – I'll start. My name is Klaus, if you haven't forgotten it in eternal boredom, like you, I am characterized as a criminal, although we all know the truth. I'm ready for all the conversations, but in general, we should eat.
- I agree. Lina answered briefly, looking suspiciously at the sand on the new planet.
The idea was extremely successful: everyone sat in a circle, taking pre-prepared containers with food for each day and meal.
- I'm Malcolm, - said the man, - I've already inspected the entire ship at the time of our flight, so I understand a little about the technical plan, I wanted to remind you that we will be able to get back to Earth faster when we have done all the experiments, research and, - he threw a hopeful glance at Lina, - grow some plant cultures. I'm not suggesting that we become "friends for the ages", I just want to do the work intended for us faster and calmly disperse.
Everyone nodded their heads thoughtfully, rethinking everything in their heads.
- It seems to me, - everyone heard a voice that had never been heard before, - we will cope. – The owner of the voice was TIMB256.
Lina and Marie stuck to each other: Marie showed confidence only in Lina, although in her diary she still wrote in ciphers that no matter how much she wanted not to trust the being of an unearthly race, this is the only soul more or less close to her who stepped on the surface of 1CCONP.
During a small lunch, various things were discussed that were noticed during the flight: Lina noticed the incredible pride of Klaus, Malcolm drew attention to the extremely sound sleep of the aggregator, which made him wonder if he was alive. The time was spent quite pleasantly, after which it was decided to move on to the place where they were supposed to land.
III
The problem with traveling on 1CCONP was the time intervals that were almost impossible to trace: there was always boundless space in the sky. The only way to check the time was Klaus's watch, which allows you to keep track of at least the time of the Earth. It was a long and dreary walk. Everything merged into one, everyone repeatedly lost their way, the yellow sand and the black sky were confused.
- We will never get to this place again, we will die here, and our bodies…
- And I even like it here! Klaus interrupted Marie. – Freedom! Svo-bo-yes!
"Why do you think we're free?" We were literally sent to prison, from which there is nowhere to escape," Lina objected, "well, for example, can you at least guess where the house is?
There was a brief silence.
- Does anyone even know what it looks like where we're going? Marie chirped nervously.
- Base. They have set up a base on which we should work, everything should look like a kind of dome ... - One of the men tried to figure it out.
- So what do you think is ahead? Lina said through her teeth.
- Well, everything is finally getting better ... - Klaus whispered contentedly.
IV
The base wasn't very fancy. It was clear that no one tried very hard to make it suitable for convenient experiments, it was simply satisfactory. Gray walls, greenhouse control panels, papers for a map of the area, a lot of tables. The only thought of all ...... was rest. During the conversation, the most interesting topic came up, which everyone had already registered several times in their diaries.
- And what emotions did you steal?.. Klaus asked cautiously.
On the threshold of 2100, it became difficult for people to experience sincere emotions, which gave scientists the idea to create an apparatus capable of generating them and transplanting them into another person who wanted to feel something, but the apparatus could also act in the other direction: it could not only generate, but also take them away from people. Many criminals were punished in this way, but the most desperate came up with the idea of stealing devices in various ways, just to feel something. As you could see, these were the ones who were poisoned on an unknown expedition. Here is a short list of what the "thieves" wanted to feel:
Malcolm – happiness;
Klaus – freedom;
Lina – sorrow;
Marie – significance;
TIMB256 – love.
V
- And did we need it? – Klaus said, - They locked us up in the middle of nowhere…
- Yes, you singled me out, - TIMB256 began, who was a small, plump man, but the difference between the aggressors from ordinary people was their ability to stretch out as they wanted, which made them translucent and almost without any facial features, - I had to feel loved at least once, for the sake of that's what you can die for…
- I needed grief to honor other stems that burned on the same experimental planets.
- I just wanted to feel important.
"I had to," Malcolm began, but his words were interrupted by a loud noise on the roof, as if something was hitting it.
- What the hell…
- What is this?!
Various questions spread around the base, but the answer to them was only in the fear that followed them around during the search for the building. They clearly disturbed someone's peace. They obviously broke into someone's house. Few people would like invaders from other planets. The blows on the roof sounded stronger and stronger.
"We have to do something," came from one corner.
- We were sent to feed unknown animals, - came from another corner.
"HUSH, you," Malcolm shouted, "we need to think urgently about how to save ourselves, so quickly pull yourself together and take something heavy…
- I don't think it makes sense to defend myself, - Lina tried to start, but she was immediately given something heavy in her hands, which she hurried to throw away. – Yes, you understand! This land... here is artificial air... the sand here is like fake... the soil, it's fake… Do you understand?
Four pairs of startled and frightened eyes were fixed on her.
- When I was looking at the soil, I couldn't sprout, which scared me, but now I'm starting to understand ... everything is done artificially... Like in a cage.
- Like in prison. – her words were supplemented by others.
- For criminals.
- For us.
- Finally, you guessed about all our plans, - a voice came from one of the monitors, it was the same gray-haired man. – It is worth admitting that we used you as a consumable. Understand, the Earth is threatened by many new species, in order to protect the Earth, we had to come up with a creature capable of destroying another without hesitation," his words were often interrupted by the roar of the roof, "but to check it out… We needed you... those whom no one feels sorry for anymore…
- Yes, you are just as pathetic as your whole pseudo-scientific gang of analysts! Klaus started to swear, but Marie turned off all the equipment under the pretext of lack of help.
There was an urgent need to come up with something. Something that could save five unfortunate people. But, alas, it was too late. The roof broke under another blow of a synthetic monster created to destroy.
Different soaps were in the minds of the "criminals", some had a thought about what they would write in the diary. Five people called thieves died at the hands of the atrocities of humanity just because they wanted to feel like people experiencing a lot of emotions. People have killed people for wanting to be like that. Humanity is a fiction. The age of technology, space progress is interrupted by the complete unwillingness of people to remain human. The world has finally rotted away.
Subsequently, a real research team was sent to 1CCONP to find out if anyone was still alive. Diaries were found, which were asked to be kept in order to actually understand whether the "workers" could guess their fate, whether they repented for what they had done.
"... I just wanted to feel alive..." Malcolm explained in his diary.
Afterword
The written text represents my own belief in this world that it will not be able to rot as much as it is presented in the story. I want to believe that our world at the moment when new civilizations and species are found, we will not be so aggressive and we will find something in common. In any situation, you should remain human.