Андрей Сопельник – Universe Aeternov. Book two. The Shadow that Remembers the Light (страница 5)
They read Brodsky under the bridge, argue about the future on the roof of the dorm, and every Friday they go to Dumpling House No. 1, where they have long been known by their first names.
3. THE LOVE THAT STARTS WITH A TICKET.
Inna Sandran studies at the same institute, but at a different faculty: Economics and Logistics of Transport.
She is not from Rostov – from a small town near Kamensk, Rostov region, Russia.
She is smart and reserved, but there is a fire in her eyes that is just waiting for its spark.
They meet on the train.
Andrey is a couple of hours late. Inna is sitting by the window and reading “The Master and Margarita”.
He fits, crumples:
– I’m sorry… I still have a ticket to Rostov-Glavny at home. Can you borrow yours? I’ll return it later.
She looks up, looks at him intently, as if she sees right through him.
“Take it, – she says calmly, and holds out the ticket.
– why? – He’s surprised. “You don’t even know who I am.” What if I’m lying?
“ – You’re not lying,” she says. “You’re just in a hurry.” To save someone. I can see that.
He laughs. She is too.
The train enters the tunnel, and for a second everything is lost in darkness.
When the light returns, both already know that
this is the beginning of something more.
4. ALEXEY IS A SOLDIER OF PEACE.
Alexey studies at the Don State University, Faculty of Physics and Mathematics.
A former conscript. He returned from the Caucasus with a medal… and a scar on his soul.
He doesn’t talk about the war.
He fixes old alarm clocks at night so that someone can wake up in peace again.
They get to know Andrey at the interuniversity Olympiad in mechanics.
Andrey solves the problem by intuition.
Alexey – by all the rules, through hard calculations.
They argue until they are hoarse, proving each other right… and then they go to the Coffee Grinder for tea and there they discuss how to arrange peace so that war is never needed again.
“You’re too kind for an engineer,” Alexey says.
“And you’re too kind for a soldier, – Andrei replies.
They’re laughing.
And in this laughter, the first sprout of a future solution is born.
5. DREAMS ON THE ROOF
One night, in June 1995, they all gather on the roof of the dormitory of the Institute of Railway Workers.
• Andrey – with his grandfather’s guitar.
• Vladimir Long – with a notebook.
• Vladimir the Big Kind – hearted – with a thermos of tea.
• Inna – with a blanket.
• Alexey – with a notebook on astrophysics.
They look at the stars and dream.
“I want everyone who raises their head to the sky to know that their dream is not stupidity,” says Vladimir Long.
“I want fire to forge bridges, not swords,” says the Big, Kind Man.
“I don’t want machines to replace people… but to help them stay human, – Alexey says quietly.
– And I… – Inna hugs the plaid, – I want to see all the ways and choose those where no one cries alone.
– And I, – Andrey smiles, – I want tomorrow to be better than today. Just because we decided to do it together.
At this moment, the Chrono-Heart pulsates for the first time.
Not in Aeternov, but in their breasts.
They don’t hear him.
But the universe is already celebrating: something has begun.
6. RETURN TO THE PRESENT
“We didn’t know then that we would become Avatars of Light,” says Andrey, standing in 1995 as a mature Chronos, next to his young friends. “We were just people.
“But that’s exactly where the power lies, – Alina replies. “It’s not that you’re the chosen ones. The point is that you chose each other even before the world demanded a feat from you.
Inna takes Andrey’s hand.
– Do you think I fell in love with the hero? “What is it?” she asks softly. – no. I fell in love with the student who gave the last piece of bread to the mutt at the train station. It is he who… saves the universe.
At this moment, the “Heart of Tomorrow” gently calls them back.
But before leaving, Alina approaches herself, a little girl of about five playing in the yard with a stuffed dog.
She bends down and whispers:
“You’ll do everything right. Dad won’t leave you. He just… chooses a world where you can be born again.
The girl looks at her and smiles as if she recognizes her.
THE END OF THE CHAPTER.
The crew returns to the ship.
The ship sings softly, the same melody that sounded on the roof in 1995.
“Now I understand,” Knox says without a trace in his voice for the first time in a long time. – You have not defeated the Darkness by force. You defeated her… with friendship.
– Yes, – Andrey smiles. – Because evil doesn’t know what to do with those who laugh under the same sky.
And somewhere in the depths of Mechanos-9, Knox takes a step forward… not as the Lord of Darkness, but as the same student who also once dreamed of a bright future.
Chapter 5. The fifth. THE ORIGINS OF THE SHADOW
“We thought that the Darkness came from outside.