I turn over and look at Unfortunate. If you are the mind of the Net, if you are the human who have conquered virtuality, then you might be that very way out, the break through the barrier, the exit from this deadlock. Surely Dibenko understands that if Man Without Face is really him.
Should I play noble hiding Unfortunate? If he is salvation, a merge of two worlds?
I don't know. I'm just an ordinary man, accidentally having this stupid resistance against the deep-program. This helps me to earn my piece of bread, and sometimes – it even comes with a thick layer of butter and caviar. But it's not me who should save the world or decide what is good and what is evil for it.
I don't have anything except that funny shabby moral for which Vika was grieving, but moral is a strange thing, it never gives answers but on the contrary, it hinders from finding them.
It's much easier to be a just person or a scum than just a human.
I start feeling myself extremely bitter and lousy. A provincial sportsman might feel so, included in the Olympic team and ordered to compete with the champions. Not my destiny it is…
And at this moment a sound is born above.
I turn onto my back looking up into the blackish crystal again, and see a crack in it – a blue stripe across the whole sky, a dazzling straight arrow rushing down.
– What is it, Lenia?
Vika is already sitting, casting strands of hair from her face. When have she woke?
Or when have I fallen asleep?
What is it around us, a dream or reality?
– A meteor, – I reply to Vika.
The blue arrow is lower and lower, a thin ringing trill is its train, a clot of fire at the end – its spike.
– This is a star falling, – says Vika very seriously and I understand that I'm sleeping after all.
Unfortunate doesn't move.
The crack draws across the sky to the end and plunges into the ground. The blue strip dims – the sky knows how to cure its wounds. Only where the star have touched the ground, a pale light is glowing.
– You promised me that we'll find a fallen star, – says Vika.
Everything is simple in the dream. I rise and give her my hand, we step over Unfortunate and start descending the slope. It's wrong, one is supposed to go up to reach the star, but one shouldn't argue with dreams.
The blue flame sparkles in the grass, neither burning nor casting shadows. The star have fallen into the gully between two hills. A bit further is a conglomeration of cliffs, absolutely out of place here, as if torn from another world. This is important for some reason but now we only look at the star.
A clean flame, a fuzzy fiery ball, very small one, one can hide it in the hands.
I stretch my hand, touch the star and feel warmth, as tender as if I've set my hands under the spring sun.
– Now I know what the stars are, – says Vika, – These are the splinters of the daylight sky.
I'm about to pick the star up but Vika stops me.
– Don't. It is tired already.
– From what?
– From the solitude, from the silence…
– But now we are near.
– Not yet. We've passed our path but it's only half of the way. Let the star believe in us.
I just shrug, I can't argue with Vika. I want to smile to her but she's not by my side anymore, only the voice have left.
– Lenia, wake up!
What the hell, why…
– Lenia, Unfortunate is gone!
I open my eyes.
Morning, the pink light from the East, scared Vika's face.
Unfortunate is not by the fire. The sleep is great deceiver.
– Damned! – I swear jumping up, – When have he disappeared?
Vika fixes her hair, in the same gesture as in my dream.
– I don't know, Lenia. I've just woke, and he was gone.
– So here's the answer, – I whisper, looking around, – Here's the answer…
Unfortunate's gone. Fled from the Deep. So everything was in vain?
No, not everything, I've met Vika because of him.
– He had made us to know each other, – she repeats my thoughts, – Thanks for that at least.
I hug her, nudging my face into her hair. We stand like this for long, the dawn brightens around, the snow crest of the huge mountain sparkles, ripping the sky. It's no birds here, maybe Vika forgot to make them but the mountains become alive even without them, filling with rustles of wind, of leaves and grasses.
– I'll make birds for these mountains, – I whisper, – If we ever restore your hut…
– I don't want to change the mountains, they are free! – objects Vika immediately.
– The birds are free too. I'll just set them out through the window and will say: "breed and multiply"!
Vika laughs quietly.
– Okay, try.
– What's so hard? – I summon up my courage – A simple program… I'll study Bram, will make a behavior algorithm. I'll draw various chaffinches and sparrows in the beginning, then hawks. Biogeocenosis… right? I've forgotten, I think we studied this in the fifth form, at the lessons of the nature study…
– Biologist you. Maybe you'll set free Zuko's slippers as well? Lenia, let's surface now and go to some restaurant. Have you ever been to "Pink atoll"?
– No.
– A beautiful place, Shultz and Brandt drew it. I invite you.
– Okay. Let's search before we go though…
Vika steps back from me and asks sharply:
– Search for whom?
– For Unfortunate.
– He exited the deep, why don't you understand?
– I do. But let's look for him anyway, okay? Maybe he wanted to go to do pee-pee and fell into the canyon?
– So he deserves it… – mumbles Vika, agreed already.
Firstly we pass the edge of the nearest slope, looking down. Then Vika searches the valley to the left from the stream, and I – to the right. Involuntarily my gaze is attracted down into the gully where I found the star in my dream: some cliffs can really be seen there.
But the business first. I must make sure that Unfortunate is not with us anymore.
I even climb up a little, following our path, it's just for the sake of it, to clear up my conscience.
And there, in the small crevice which we easily jumped over in the light of the dimming day I find Unfortunate.
I stand above the crevice silently, looking at Unfortunate from a ledge 3 meters above him. A couple of minutes passes until he makes sure that I've noticed him and raises his head.
– Good morning, Gunslinger.
I stay silent, I don't have strength even for the anger anymore.
– It's too hard to see in the dark, – utters Unfortunate an amazingly fresh and genius idea.
It wasn't that much to fall but he was unlucky. Even from above I can see that his right leg is swollen and Unfortunate is sitting trying not to touch it. I get the slippers from behind my belt, put them on and descend.
– I'm sorry, – says Unfortunate when I pick him up and scramble out of the crevice.
– Why? – I just ask.
– So that you wouldn't hesitate. I can't explain anything anyway.
– You're fool. Only suicidal ones are wandering in the mountains at night… or the Black Alpinist.
– I never was in the mountains before. And who is the Black Alpinist?
It's quite a long way down to the camp and I have time to tell him the tale of the Black Alpinist and that company that was dragging ball dresses and tuxedos to the mountains, then several real stories. We approach Vika when my store of the mountain legends runs out. I put Unfortunate on fir branches scattered by the fire under Vika's icy glare and say:
– What can be better than the mountain walk without any gear? Only the mountain walk with an injured one on the back.
I wonder, what will she do now.
– Give me the belt, – commands Vika.
I couldn't expect that much of aggressiveness.
– Vika, using 'Warlock'…
– Shit. You unfinished diver! I need a tourniquet!
I never was curious whether virtual clothes can tear or not, and don't want to try – the mountain sun is cruel. So I abandon the idea of tearing the shirt for tourniquets and give Vika my bandana.
She mingles with Unfortunate's leg for a long time, shaking her head gloomily when he moans in reply to her careful touches.
– The shin is broken, – she sets the diagnosis, – Without a shift I think, as strange as it might be.
– You're a doctor too?
– No, just a nurse, but an experienced one. I need more tourniquets.
I have to sacrifice my shirt after all and the jacket put on the naked body looks as a complete mauve tone. We put Unfortunate's leg in a self-constructed cast.
– Not even a single idiot, – now Vika allows herself to vent out her anger, – not a single cretin in this world have ever managed to break a leg in virtuality! What do you have in reality, huh? Do you have a broken leg?
– No… – mumbles Unfortunate.
– Thanks God for this at least.
We look at each other, our previous evening's battle mood have vanished. One thing is to abandon a deceiver in the virtual world, and a different one is to abandon a wounded person in the mountains, and the fact that the mountains is a fake changes nothing.
– Let's go to those cliffs, – I suggest.
– Okay. I saw them in my dream.
One glance is enough and we don't say anything else. There's no laws for unreality. Whatever it is, a dream or reality – we descended to the fallen star together.
11
The cliffs are really out of place in this valley. The glacier might bring boulders, but not such a huge lumps.
– Looks like it's really an exit to the different space, – agrees Vika turning back to me, – Are you tired?
I shake my head. To be honest, my hands are tired to hold Unfortunate but there's no time for such trinkets now.
– If the program had really broken through to some foreign server, – reasons Vika, – then the channel will be one directional. We sure will be able to exit but if we need to flee…
– As a last resort, we have 'Warlock', – I say but without much confidence. I'm not too eager to fall into blue tunnels anymore: too weird pictures did I see on my way.
– Okay, let's go. Maybe there's nothing at all over there. – Vika sighs and steps forward. I lag after her. Unfortunate is silent, either feeling himself guilty (which is right) or doesn't want to hinder. And this is a right behavior too.
We move along the narrowing canyon. At some point I look up estimating the height of cliffs. They are obviously higher than it seemed back in the valley. Very encouraging sight indeed…
The pass becomes narrower and narrower, we can't walk side by side anymore. I start to move my side forward, this way the risk to hit Unfortunate's injured leg against the cliff is less. Maybe it would be a good idea to put the winged slippers on, but this idea came to me a bit too late, now I won't be able to turn and bend over. Vika swears quietly in front of me having problems too, I gloatingly think that Madam with her dimensions would be stuck long time ago.
It gradually becomes colder, an icy wind breaks into the slit from somewhere. This is good, very good!
– Lenchik! – says Vika in a muffled voice, – Yes!
I see the light in front of me, blocked by her silhouette. Vika shifts somewhere to the side and I step into her place. I hit the Unfortunate's leg against the wall on my last steps anyway and he moans quietly.
The canyon brings us to a weird place.
There are mountains – but different ones. They are not just uninhabited
– they're wild, as if the life was here some time ago but then something killed it. A twilight. Maybe it's day anyway but the sky is blocked by dense lead colored clouds. Everything is enveloped in desolation and dull melancholy. A path winds down the slope among black fangs of the cliffs.
– What is this? – asks Vika quietly, – Lenia?
I gaze around. No, this is a different space for sure, and I think a familiar one.
– The Elves, – I say, – This is some role-playing server. They play here.
– Like in "Labyrinth"? – speaks Unfortunate out.
– No, in a different way.
– We won't go far here, – says Vika gloomily, – Either we'll freeze or the Elves will shoot us incidentally.
– We'll freeze first, – I say. My shirt was used for tourniquets and I carelessly disposed of my jacket.
– That's okay, at least your exposed torso looks way too impressive, – says Vika ironically. Good for her to talk, she has a jersey and Unfortunate has masking overalls from "Labyrinth", it's quite warm.
– If we just had somebody to impress, – I stretch my hand, – Vika, there's a path in front of us, we should get there and search for people.
– For the Elves.
– People, Elves, Dwarves, whoever.
The snow is almost knee-deep, we slowly lag along. Unfortunate whispers guiltily:
– I don't understand anyway…
– Do you know who Tolkien is?
– He's an author…
– Just please don't recite "The Lord of the Rings" by heart, okay? So, this is a virtual space created by his fans, role-players. They congregate here, put on the bodies of his characters and play various plots, either Tolkien's or other authors'.
– A theater, – decides Unfortunate.
– Well… sort of.
Unfortunate silences, completely satisfied by explanation while I'm still quite far from complete clarity.
What server is it? What are the laws of this particular world? Where are allowed exits located through which we could get Unfortunate out?
I even fear to think about what to do next.
The path is well treaded down as if a whole army marched here not long ago. The snow melts as soon as it touches the path, maybe due to the magic. Role-playing world lives according to its own laws, the magic exists here.