Екатерина Нугманова – Games of the Gods (страница 6)

– That's enough – the Curator's order sounded.

Once again, I just have a folder in my hands, which my interlocutor immediately took away. We sat down opposite each other again.

–I didn't understand anything,– I confessed.

The curator took a sip from his glass. What I thought was wine turned out to be blood. The curator drank blood like people drink wine. After drinking it in one gulp, he crossed his arms over his chest and looked at me very sternly.

Your visions cannot be interpreted literally. In your day, people were not particularly wise. Each succeeding generation of humans is less intelligent than the previous one, which is why you cannot see things so clearly. Blood is not simply water, and genes play a significant role. Your mind cannot fully comprehend what is written in the Book of Life, as the operating system is incapable of processing such a vast amount of information. This is what you perceive as it is. However, when the moment arrives, you will comprehend what you have seen, and then you will truly begin to live this experience. Thus concludes the Owner of the Castle's explanation.

The Bassoon is the demon of the winds.

Coffee with snow. Story 1.

It was a cold, cloudy afternoon on November 12th. Sleet fell on the rare passers-by, covering them with drizzle. I was standing at a catering cafe where they made fast food to take away. Due to the fact that almost everything in my city was closed due to the pandemic, the fast food cafe remained the only one in the city that served high-quality coffee.

So, I had a cappuccino with my new friend. He was a young man in his thirties, wearing a brown coat with bangs over his eyes and thick glasses. We were standing outside a cafe, where I was drinking coffee and he was smoking a cigarette. We talked about the meaning of life while we were there.

– Tell me, my friend Fagot, what the hell is going on right now? -The more I study and get to know the reality around us, the more I don't understand. I said to the Bassoon.

He was standing sideways to me and smoking. Carefully looking at the passers-by passing by us.

– Something's going on. Everything is somehow wrong, unfair. Something is going wrong and no one feels it.– I shared my feelings.

– Oh, they don't need to understand or feel anything. Most people have higher education instead of a head and heart, while another part of society has no soul at all, it has been exchanged for material values, drunk into alcoholic oblivion, sold or simply pawned by some demonic Force. Humans, like biological machines, simply walk and feed their master with their own vital energy. They're like bots in a computer video game. You should treat this world more simply. Imagine that you are in the latest video toy like Skyrim or the Witcher. You must admit that in such games, most of the characters will just be a beautiful background or addition to the game. Others will give you some kind of quest that will bring you money and experience when you complete it. You can build or buy houses, transport, get married, start a family, have sexual intercourse, raise children, improve your talents and abilities, earn money, and so on. It's just like in the game. Treat life the same way.– Finished the Bassoon.

– The fact is, dear Bassoon , that any game can be replayed if you don't like something about your gameplay or you simply die in the game. In my life, there is no second chance to complete the game. I have no right to make mistakes, and the consequences of my mistakes can be very serious.

– I answered the bassoon's instructions sadly.

– Don't worry, you're a human being and all people have the right to make mistakes. Otherwise, you wouldn't be here in this world. – Finished the Bassoon.

The Bassoon deftly jumped like a parkourer onto the roof of a stone house, waved at me and disappeared.

Future. Robots. Transference of consciousness. Story 2.

The alarm clock is ringing on Android. It's an unpleasant sound. We need to get up and take the child to school. Damn, I want to sleep. Stop. Something is wrong. I am not in my apartment, nor am I in my bed or wearing my clothes. Mom! What on earth is going on? A Bassoon magically appears in front of me. He is smiling strangely. When a demon smiles like that, even if he is as sweet and friendly as a Bassoon, it is obviously not good.

– Welcome back.– Bassoon greeted me.

–What the hell is going on? Where am I? What I'm wearing is some strange clothes.– I asked, desperately looking at the clothes on me with disgust.

– Just don't yell and don't freak out. You're in the future. Take a look around. You'll see for yourself now.– The Bassoon answered me.

Okay, I think to myself, let's treat everything like a funny dream. It's not real. I look around. I feel like I'm wearing virtual reality glasses. There's a lot of light where I am. Very modern and fashionable design, like they do in expensive mansions these days. I don't like this place; it's uncomfortable here. But there's a cool touch-controlled coffee maker in the kitchen. I press the cappuccino button. Well, it seems to me that the picture on the button is like a cappucino cup, so I press it. The coffee maker starts working immediately. While the coffee is brewing, I go into the bathroom and look in the mirror. I'm scared; it isn't me in the mirror.

Who is this woman? Whose are these hands? I am afraid. It cannot be.

I returned to the kitchen, where Fagot was already waiting for me. He was attacking my coffee with all his might. I handed the freshly brewed coffee to the demon, pressing the button myself, ordering the machine to make more. We sat facing each other at the kitchen table, trembling in anticipation of an interesting conversation with the demon.

– So, let's start with simple and understandable things. You have made the transition from shifting consciousness during sleep. Because the body you are in now is a soulless biorobot, you have quickly taken control of its body. Your personality has simply crushed the biorobots' programming personality. The wind demon started to explain.

–What about my body?– I asked quickly.

– You're sleeping soundly in your own time, tired from the delights of motherhood, my interlocutor answered sarcastically.

Yes, the delights of being a mother. He was talking about how my precious child drove me crazy yesterday when I couldn't put him to bed again.

– I volunteered to help you and accompany you during this time, so that you could easily make the return trip after the trip, and feel as if nothing had happened in your body. Fagot continued his explanation.

– But how is this possible? According to rumors, only puppeteers have such techniques. It is said that many members of the higher occult community are almost immortal because their souls are transferred from their old, decrepit bodies to new young bodies. Previously, they simply abducted weak-minded workers or stupid fashion models for this ritual. Now there are rumors about cloning people, and clones are being used for the ritual, which is top secret. Few people have knowledge and abilities of the soul like that. It's an entire ritual process. How did I accidentally manage to do it? I asked Bassoon, emotionally, in shock, leaning towards him.

–Accidents are no accidents, my dear," I said. "You're here because we need to make a peep. Do you enjoy peering? Here we are, but this won't last long. Let us hasten. I require some cigarettes or something to recharge myself. Can you locate something similar for me, so we may proceed? – The Bassoon has instructed me to do so.

I finished my coffee in a single gulp and hastened to search the apartment room by room for the item he requested. However, I did not find any cigarettes, although I did discover an object resembling a device suitable for a wind demon. It was a hybrid of a vape and a hookah, enhanced with spice. In my opinion, there was nicotine present in this device, although it could also be some sort of synthetic substance. In the absence of any other option, I presented the device to the Bassoon."

Fagot lit a cigarette.

– We're going to go outside and work with the woman whose body you occupy. We don't have more than an hour for this. So, pull yourself together. – My guide outlined the plan of action.

Said, done.

We went outside. It was hard to tell whether it was spring or summer in the morning. The first thing I noticed on the street were holographic images of different sizes. They were everywhere and there was a lot of light and noise from them. There were a lot of shrubs and trees decorating the street we walked along. Instead of Android phones and iPhones that we all use now, there were small hologram projectors equipped with artificial intelligence.

There was something strange about the rare people we met on the street. I didn't understand what it was, so I asked the Bassoon about it.

– Switch to inner vision, see the world of energy, not physical shells. – The demon suggested it to me.

That's what I did. The world appeared to me in a matrix dimension.

Blackness is negative thoughts, low-frequency entities, as well as spirits of diseases and troubles. All living things were green, bright and juicy in color. The souls of people, birds, animals, and plants were bright blue. Plants had small souls, animals had bigger ones, and humans had the biggest ones. There was no longer a slave network in the sky. Energy circulation between living beings had a golden hue. Biorobots were fewer than humans with souls. Non-living beings were without souls and their bodies were artificial. They possessed consciousness, memory, and intelligence, but did not emit energy. They were robots, mostly looking like people.