Vadim Simbarskiy – Cubes (страница 6)

Well, as usual, don’t you have it like that?”

We approached the door, he grabbed the handle, a

red light lit up on the handle, and the door opened.

“Well, you see, everything works.”

I grabbed the handle in exactly the same way, but

nothing happened. And then I saw Stel’s widened

eyes. He stared at me and, as if with dryness in

his throat, said:

“It doesn’t see you?!”

A second later, he led me to the large monitor and

placed my hand on the control panel. Still, nothing

happened. He placed his hand, and immediately the

red light lit up and the monitor turned on, wishing

good morning, asking what he would like for

breakfast.

“It doesn’t see you! It doesn’t see you!” Stel

repeated relentlessly, clutching his head and

pacing back and forth.

“Who is ‘she’? ” I finally asked loudly.

“The System, the Systeeem,” Stel repeated twice,

drawing out the word. Then he stopped and, as if

suddenly frightened of something, ran to the window,

turned around, and asked conspiratorially: “How

did you manage to get rid of the identification

chip?”

“Listen,” I said in a more confident tone, “please

open the bathroom door for me. I haven’t been to

the toilet in what feels like 130 years. So let’s

deal with everything else later, chips-schmips and

so on, because I really need to pee.”

Stel looked at me, dumbfounded, and I had to repeat

in a more insistent voice:

“Open the door already, master of red buttons.”

Finally, he obeyed and opened the door. I rushed

into the bathroom. And oh, you can’t imagine the

relief you feel when you use the toilet for the

first time in over 100 years! Coming out of the

bathroom, I found Stel with the same thoughtful

face I had left him with.

“I’ve heard…” he began, stumbling over his words,

“that there were those who somehow managed to get

rid of the chip, but they were all caught.”

“Enough of this, the uncertainties are getting

tiresome. It’s clear that I’m in the future. Let’s

have some coffee, and you can tell me everything.”

“So,” I said, settling into a rather comfortable

armchair with a cup of a drink remotely resembling

coffee, I decisively asked the first and, as I

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