meN/Ace
Defunct. Epic battle of neuralink
– Push! Push! – the monster growls choking. Another caretaker tapped him on the shoulder, pointing up. Throwing its head against the main tower of the tallest building, the creature whined even louder. – Selim is out!! He’s looking at us!! Work lazy, until I fry you. «He began to beat all the servants in order with his long fiery whip».
– I see him for the first time in two years, – his colleague looks up with admiration.
«And I only saw him once,» he answered, interrupting from the beatings. – Five years ago, in the village of Doeh.
– What is he doing? – the second warden interrupted him.
Lowering his lens device, leaving it hanging around his neck, attached to a leather belt, continuing to stand on the balcony in the same place, this guy slowly removed what looked like a crown from his head. His face did not appear from under the crown. On his head is wearing a frightening, stone mask, with twisted large, same stone eyes, or rather one right eye, the incision of which goes somewhere at forty-five degrees. This facial asymmetry was a little creepy, but not scary. Revealingly raising above the head this wonderful, in-depth, frame, like a helmet covering the entire head, made of tubules bent by petals connected to each other. The bottom is gold, and the top is silver, with large gems sharpened upward, green rubies in the center, and red diamonds on the sides. Carefully leaning the crown to his chest, without thinking twice, he silently threw it down. Thus, publicly renounced power in the Shelber Valley. Since that day, no one has seen Selim Svurt again.
THE LEGEND of KING AND SORCERER
Archaeological finds make up only a small part of what lies beneath the soil. Most of the artifacts from the distant past remain undiscovered. Some of them have already disappeared without a trace. Researchers from different countries, for several centuries, have been trying to unravel the cryptograms of the first civilizations. Modern historians cannot go back in time and write down real facts without distortion. Indeed, as practice shows, several thousand years ago, when the first human communities were born, there were no professional journalists, historians and philosophers. The manuscripts of those times did not carry reliable information on the existing way of life and the development of people. What is the point of believing the cuneiforms of ancient tribes, when they contradict themselves in many texts. It is easy to be misled when great figures are called gods and all scientific achievements are called magic gifts. Religious temples are named after strong tribes, and fertile lands were considered the tricks of lazy hunters who fertilized the ground with the remains of their prey around their homes.
Tigris River, May 23
The night was bright today. Under the light of the moon, the hunters carefully peered into the depths of the forest. Complete silence. Only from time to time were the sounds of crickets, the howling of wolves and the rumbling of owls. This place is full of animals. The Shelber Valley is the most fertile land in Mesopotamia, and in the whole world. (Shelber in Nahman means rich.) Moreover, it is forbidden to hunt in this place. This territory is an inviolable reserve. Only elders and governors can move freely here. Five young, handsome, very similar to each other, dark-skinned men stood in a small, oblong, trench-like depression. They were groomed like modern people. Smoothly trimmed black stubble, and some have beards. Stylish hairstyles, with hair slicked to the side, and neatly cut along the contour. They are members of the Nahmau royal families. Once again, they secretly escaped from the castle to take a break from the hustle and bustle of their entourage. A light breeze in pairs makes tall grass rustle. It smells very fresh and pleasant here. It is now harvest season. The fields are full of blooming vegetation. Naturally, where there is a lot of food, there is also a lot of game. Seth and Hora from Rohvem came to visit their brothers. They were considered the most talented people of the «upper kingdom». Young, hot and ambitious people have a lot to talk about. Boast of the harvest, architecture, weapons and clothing, as well as make many large transactions for the sale of pharmaceuticals, Sumerian and Sabarian cities, for the construction of a hydroelectric dam on the Tigris River, succinctly inscribing the structure into the interior of the fortress walls of the ancient castle of Shelber. When the kings cannot agree, their children take over. Clean heads not clogged with politics know how to compromise.
Prince Selim’s eyes shine like lights in the dark. Frozen in place, he looks with a smile at the border of the forest, as if at this second, a herd of wild boars will run out of there. In fact, he didn’t even think about hunting. His spear lay near the tree, the crossbow was tightly pulled behind his back in a leather case, and he left the dagger near the fire, a kilometer away, on the very bank of the river. All his thoughts were about how to properly dig water channels in this place, for the quick transportation of iron ore and oil products to his city. Hora’s older brother distracted him from his thoughts.
– There, something is moving, – he pointed to the left side of the line of the forest. – Something big. Now let’s watch a little, and come closer, – he said almost in a whisper.
«The beast is too far away, and it looks like it’s not alone, you don’t want to miss them,» Seth said in an undertone. «You’re not a hunter. We must get closer, the main thing is not to scare away. You, stay here, – waving his hand to the men to his left, he silently jumped out of the pit. – Come with me, Svurt. – Shaking his head, burning with excitement, Seth called him. – Let’s see if we can do something.
Without thinking twice, in anticipation, Selim crawled out after him.
«Damn it,» he froze for a moment. – I forgot my spear. – He, in response, silently shook his head.
– Get your crossbow. Suddenly it is a predator. I can’t do it alone.
«Okay, okay…» Taking out the gun case from behind, the young man bulged into the sky. – Two moons? How is this possible?
– What? – Wrinkling his face in displeasure, Seth looked up. – Where did you see the second one? – sighing, he expects a catch from a friend.
– She disappeared. I swear, for a moment, there were two balls in the sky. It didn’t seem to me. It was only a couple of seconds, but I clearly saw this moon, and next to it, a little to the right, the same yellow, the same size.
– Aren’t you drunk, my brother, – Seth grinned and, squinting, directed his gaze into the darkness of the forest.
Suddenly, the trees crackled straight ahead. Three other comrades also noticed this and immediately jumped out of the pit. The distant cries of the lambs rang out. Wolves ran out of the forest. Tails between their legs, they whined softly, and scattered in different directions. Panthers run out after them. Just as frightened, their ears flattened, they seem not to notice the people standing in front of them.
– And who are they so scared of? – Svurt muttered to himself under his breath, and aimed his crossbow in front of him. Together with his friends, he slowly crept up to the forest. Approaching the first trees, the guys carefully peered into the darkness. The unintelligible details of the bushes seemed like living things. Suddenly, a flock of birds flies out from above, making Horus flinch.
– This is a cursed forest! – his nerves could not stand it. – Let’s go back to the city, that’s enough adventure for me.
«Don’t you dare curse my forest,» Selim replied indignantly. – I am the owner of these lands. I have lived here for a very long time, and I know that it is safe here. – He entered the thicket and lit some kind of pipe, from below on a crossbow. With a dim, white light, she illuminated just a couple of meters in front of him. Well, at least something. Suddenly there was another loud crunch from the side. Turning sharply, Svurt took aim in the direction of the sounds. Then he quickly pulled his free hand on his wide honeycomb bracelet and it stretched out in segments to the very shoulder. Then, thrusting his hand under his shirt, he scratched in the chest area and armor enveloped his entire body under his clothes. A mechanical, folding suit turned him into a flamboyant warrior. Holding his breath, Selim moved forward. My heart began to beat quickly in my chest. Finally, an image of two people appeared in his eyes.
«Stop,» said an unknown voice. A strange man in a long robe and draped hood, he himself went to meet the prince. «Please don’t kill us,» a male voice continues with an unfamiliar accent.
– Come on out of here quickly. So I can see you! – raising his hands, palms forward, the stranger went out to his comrades. – You too! – he waved the crossbow, taking aim at the second, in the same robe, a man. – You are lucky that you nahmau, – stopping behind them, Svurt lowered his weapon. «Otherwise, I would immediately kill you like wild animals. And so, you will live to see tomorrow. Tomorrow you will be sentenced to death for crossing the forbidden territory of Shelber.
– But, we did not know that these territories are closed. There are no markings or fences here.
– Don’t be smart! – Dolmi, Selim’s cousin, approached him point-blank. On him, a similar miracle of armor was already deployed, with strongly protruding shoulders and covering completely the body and even part of the head. – Everyone in the district knows where you can walk and where you can’t meddle! Even if you are foreigners, this does not absolve you of responsibility. And take off your hood when I’m talking to you! Before you there are five heirs of two kingdoms, spoiled!
«I beg your pardon if I seemed rude,» the stranger removed his cape from his head. The second, behind him, also showed a face. It was a woman, young or not, in the dark it is not clear. It can only be seen that she is thin. The man is noticeably mature, also thin, but rather tall, strong and wiry. Can easily be dangerous. «I was looking for my sister,» the stranger began to make excuses. «We are heading from Eridu to Jericha with an educational mission. Also, we need the seed of a healthy man to fertilize my sister. Her years are passing, and we need a continuation of the family.
– Show your little sister closer, – the bearded man grinned, – maybe I can render her such a service.
– We’ll see. She is very tired now. During the last rest, she went to pick mushrooms and lost her way. I was looking for her all day and we, just recently, met here.
«Sounds believable,» the bearded man sniffed.
– Did you walk the mushroom trails? – Svurt looks from under his brows, frowning. – There are no edible mushrooms here. There is only death. Alluring and frightening.
– That’s it. What kind of mission do you have, «Seth asks without much curiosity. – Judging by this, there is nothing to teach us, since you went west to the Jews. The path is not close, of course, and how much do they pay you?
– We don’t need a fee. It’s free. This is charity.
– No, well, have you heard this beggar? Hora laughed. – Look at yourself. Well, what an idiot you have to be to walk barefoot half the world and not ask for a penny.
«Take them to the horses,» Selim said calmly to Set. – Now we will take them to the castle, and tomorrow morning, I will personally talk to them. If they don’t lie, I will let them go. If they lied, then I will publicly feed them to my beloved lions. And I will go while I check if they have awakened the evil sleeping with eternal sleep in the forest of the dead, a couple of kilometers north of this thicket. Don’t wait for me.
– What are you talking about? Hora approached him in bewilderment. «Recently, you said not to call your forest damned, but now you declare that evil lurks there.
– Keep it simple, buddy. I just went to shit.
Laughing at their friend, the men moved towards the river, taking with them two strangers. There, their horses and tent were standing by the fire. The princes treated the prisoners not like criminals, but with respect and understanding. This was affected by their good upbringing. Early in the morning, when the first rays of the sun had not yet passed through the walls of the majestic castle. The son of King Shadakh – young Selim, temporarily replacing his father, the ruler of Shelber, while he went on a campaign, with his retinue turned into narrow streets between giant towers. People who got in his way fell to their knees, or simply covered their faces with their hands, not believing their eyes. One of his stern, elegant appearance discouraged those around him. As if from the future, its protective frame shone in different colors. Stopping at a long stone wall, he exponentially clenched his fist, raised hand, signaling his bodyguards – the invulnerable guards Shadakh, to stop. Approaching the thick bars of the iron grating, he raised one eyebrow in bewilderment and grinned.
– Who put you here? – he asks two strangers in torn dresses, sleeping on top of each other in an embrace.
– My lord, – came from behind a pleasant, clear intonation of one of the guards, in fantastically beautiful, silver-blue armor made of incomprehensible material. – Maybe you need the ones in the next cell? He asked in a quiet, ringing voice. Slowly, approaching the next cage, Svurt froze in bewilderment:
«No, they weren’t dressed like that,» he said.
– But, over the past day, only two street cameras were occupied. Those brought by your brothers were seated here.
«Yes, yes, my lord. He speaks correctly. – A man of about fifty came up to the fence. He is wearing expensive clothes. A blue checkered caftan, like a short cloak, with a slit in the back, yellow patterns and stripes on the chest. Shiny, jeweled shoes with elongated, pointed toes. A woman in a white short dress with an unbuttoned collar came up with him. She was not just thin, as it seemed yesterday, but very slim and curvy. On her feet are very strange white shoes made of solid fabric. They were high-soled sneakers with red laces. – Your hotel is so-so, – the stranger smiled. – But, I’ve been to places and worse. «Only now, by his voice, did Selim recognize him as yesterday’s wanderer. Once again, carefully examining the prisoners from head to toe, he turned in displeasure to his guard:
– Who changed them? And for what?
– They will not give you an answer to this question, my young boy, – the wanderer took hold of the bars with both hands. – How much time is left before the verdict? He stroked his short gray hair with his right hand.
– I don’t know. Maybe… you won’t have a verdict.
– This castle, – the wanderer with admiration examines the blurry buildings seen in the distance, fused with each other. – It was not built by you.
«How do you know,» Svurt came close to him.
– Oh, I know everything. This castle was not built by people. He raised his head contentedly. – Yesterday you were so excited when I said that we were picking mushrooms. And when everyone was gone, you went to check if we had picked at least one fungus. I know why entry into that forest is prohibited. It’s not all right there and you know it. You have too many secrets, and if ordinary nahmau find out about them, Shelber’s power will fall.
– A curse was sent to our castle. Every year, it collapses on its own. And every year we restore it. Over and over again, my grandfather and my father have lived here their whole lives. They could not understand this pattern. Towers bend and change their shape. We consider this to be the curse of the Osiris from North Africa and Jericha (a city in Israel on the site of the future Jericho). My grandfather and father slaughtered these peoples with particular fury. Like the barbarians, they went on military campaigns and conquered distant lands for the purpose of profit. My grandfather did not return from one of these trips to the east. He died about sixteen years ago. My father should have returned from the west a month ago, but there is no news of him. The innocent Sumerian peoples whom they made to suffer by enslaving them. The rebellious Sabarian peoples, which almost completely died out due to the cruelty and oppression of the Nahmaut kings. We call them monkeys, savages. But, they are not as stupid as they seem. They have bewitched us and the Rohvem Valley. I have no idea how to remove this corruption, but I will do everything to atone for the guilt of the nahmau before other peoples.
«I don’t need your revelations, kid,» the stranger shook his head, narrowing his eyes slyly. – Nobody sent damage to you. This is self-hypnosis. This castle is not broken, it is simply not completed. Its construction should be completed by those who started. Do they just want it? The anomaly will not stop here, it will increase every day. I see that you are an immaculate soul. I am ready to help you.
«I didn’t ask for your help, old man. – Svurt drew attention to the woman, carefully examining her gold ring. – Did she swallow her tongue?
– She’s wild. Crazy. Doesn’t know the Nahmau language. I took it away from a bear on the river bank as a baby.
– Too sexy for a savage. How old is she? She is well-groomed like from a wealthy family, don’t powder my head.
«Okay, just kidding, this is my cousin,» he glanced at her with his eyes. The woman was distracted and looked at her fellow tribesman, then at Selim. Proudly lifting her head, coquettishly approaching the grate, she slowly licked a thick iron bar along the way. Then, she approached Svurt as close as possible, pressing her whole body against the pipes:
– WOF WOF!! She growled unexpectedly loudly. Frightened, the young man jumped back, reflexively, placing his hand on the hilt of his dagger. The woman laughed. «He seems to like me,» she said to her brother.
– What are you doing? – the wanderer pushed her back slightly. – In fact, she has an injury. Seventeen years ago, she was brutally raped by barbarians from the west. She was no longer a virgin, but one of the best girls of the tribe, it was hard not to notice her. Burning our village to the ground, the soldiers fished it out, tore up her clothes, and began to mock her. Then their commander came and dispersed them. Delighted, she thanked him. But, in vain. He took her to the house and raped her too. However, it’s good that our man was there, hiding behind the wall. With a stab in the back, he stabbed the leader of these bastards. As it turned out later, he was a major military leader. After his death, the invading army turned back, and since then did not set foot on our lands for a long time.
– This, of course, is very interesting, but let him first let us out, then continue to tell your stories, – the girl interrupted him with a serious look, apparently not wanting him to talk about her.
«Seventeen years ago, was she no longer a virgin? So how old are you now? – in bewilderment, Selim approached again. «She looks twenty years old.
«She is eleven years older than me. I’m twenty-three, she’s thirty-four. Our tribe is very small. Just a few families. Due to constant incest, hormonal failure occurred in our family. For the third generation, we suffer from Progeria. But Carney’s disease somehow worked in the opposite direction. Now she is the oldest representative of our people. On average, we live twenty-five to twenty-seven years. If we’re lucky, we’ll live to be thirty. It looks like it will be about ninety years old. But I no longer worry about death. I managed to recover. And, I won’t grow old anymore. The mutation of genes affected not only in the negative direction. It also influenced intelligence, the way of thinking. During my not very long life, I have created a great many useful things to which you have to go for thousands of years. But, the main thing is not even that. I am standing now, communicating with you through this cage, but I can easily get out of here. And, with a snap of your finger, destroy this whole castle. As he speaks, Karnay grabbed the smooth iron pipe of the grating with one hand and began to rub it with quick movements. With her other hand, she slowly lifted her dress from the side of her hip. Her slender legs made the prince pay attention to them. Above the knees, she is wearing black ribbons embroidered with patterns, like stockings, tight-fitting legs. She fiddled with her eyebrows and pulled her lips slightly, making them plump. Her face is smooth, natural. No makeup and wavy hair styled at the back secured with a white comb.
– Are you flirting with me? – unable to bear it, said Selim.
– Me not! – the girl quickly cut off her hands, standing in the starting position.
– Let them out! – Svurt turned to the guard. One of the knights approached the stone partition between the chambers and pressed on one of the bricks, then on the other, just below and to the right of the first. And then, he pulled out the third, leftmost, top brick. Something clicked, and the iron bars, one by one, quickly rooted into the ground. – What is your name, wanderer? – Finally he asked the name of the gray-haired man in the caftan.
«Call me Grul.» Smiling, he walked out into a narrow street, his sister following him.
– I have no time to talk more with you. You say you can help remove the curse from the castle and forests. So come on, help, or you are a crook posing as a great sorcerer.
«If I’m a swindler, how can you explain this?» He thrust his hand into his silk caftan and pulled out a large book, trimmed with red fringe. With silver upholstery around the edges and a convex blue planet in the middle. The entire cover of the book consisted of three-dimensional mathematical figures. – This is a book without a title. I have three copies. One I can give to you. But, there is a small problem. It is written in the most difficult language, Gomeropoles, of my little tribe. It is a dynamic language and the words are not static here. But, whoever understands the text, the reward will be generous. – He opened the book somewhere in the middle, slowly leafing through thick, wonderful pages, as if made of transparent plastic or barely bending silicone. The embossed gold letters were very small but legible. The text is really very strange. It was immediately apparent that the symbols were scattered chaotically. Either they rolled into a spiral in circles, or they were arranged in straight lines, self-intersecting rows and columns at different angles. Otherwise, nothing surprising, just unfamiliar hieroglyphs.
– Survival instructions? Or the philosophy of the gods? – With irony he stretched out his hand for the book. – Whatever nonsense is written there, I like the way it is sewn. Colorfully, elegantly. We did our best. Taking the book in his hands, he patted it hard. «I’ll put it on the shelf in the throne room in my round wine rack. I will show drunken priests and governors on holidays. Are there any pictures?
Frowning with a serious face, Carney stood right in front of him.
– Hey, if you don’t need this book, pass it on to someone who is interested in it. If you knew what information is there, you would create a whole library of copies of this text.
«It’s strange that you speak Nahmout so clearly, and your friend’s accent. – With a light breath of wind, Svurt smelled her hair. He was so pleasant that he was remembered forever. – Let’s go to my nearest location. I’ll feed you well and ask you a couple of questions. If the answers satisfy me, the guards will lead you out of the city; if not, I will be your evil judge.
«Interesting suggestion,» Grul raised his hands. – Of course, let’s go.
Arriving at the royal chambers, a gray, stone structure, with a glazed mosaic roof, and jutting out sharp towers of an iron frame. They silently looked around. The damp, cold room does not delight the guests. An oval lacquered table in the middle caught the attention of the gray-haired sage. This table is built in the style of a huge egg splitting across. One half of the egg is a table, and the other, suspended from the ceiling with thick chains, is a chandelier. A glossy white table and a similar chandelier with glowing blue veins outside and kerosene lamps inside.
– Ergonomic. You have a delicate taste, – the wanderer turned again in search of a chair. – I appreciated this chip with the shell of a huge lizard. Is this one of your father’s trophies?
«Don’t talk about my father. He may have died. The room was not designed by us. The castle is as old as the world. This table has been standing here even before the beginning of time. – Selim went point-blank to the table, and the floor beneath him fell slightly. Some green thing rose with a crash right behind. It turned out to be a pull-out chair, with a pointed, petal-shaped back. Without saying anything, Carney repeated the trick, stepping on the lever tile next to her, and settled herself comfortably in the chair. A couple of minutes later, a servant rushed into the hall. Waiters set a full table by forcing it with decorative crockery. In each container, there were different dishes. Minuscule portions, about two teaspoons in size, are neatly laid out in the middle of the plates. The wine decanters were full, but the glasses were almost empty.
«Funny,» Grul took out of his pocket a round thing the size of two of his fists and, also going up to the table, rolled it straight in the direction of Svurt. He abruptly slammed the oval ball with his palm, stopping it at the very edge of the table. Then he raised it right before his eyes. There was a toy in his hand. A transparent egg, with a metal partition inside, on bearings and a pile of sand.
– What is it? – in bewilderment he twirls the trinket. Then, looking closely, his eyes slowly bulged in surprise. Inside the glass egg, across there was a partition with small holes in a circle. On the hinges, when the oval was rotated around one axis, it retained its horizontal position. Sand poured into these little crevices. It poured up and stuck to the top of the oval, as if it were magnetized. From one container to another. Also in the lower part of the box, the sand stuck to the partition, and did not lie at all at the bottom, at the bottom.
– This is a clock, – calmly speaking, the wanderer leaned on the table with both hands. – Just an hourglass. Consider this a gift. I know you will be looking for a catch, but there is none. Time inside this form goes in the opposite direction. – Svurt silently put this thing on the table and continued to look until the remaining sand completely adhered to the upper wall of the vessel. Then, he turned the egg over, and the yellow dust continued to pour from bottom to top. – This clock works in a hundred-fold frame of reference. A primitive device that contains an entire universe. An exact copy of ours.
– How can there be a universe in the sand? – Selim grimaced incredulously. – Even on a reduced scale, it cannot have such an absurd shape and composition.
– As much as you can. If you break the shell, this sand will simply fly into space and take positions in space opposite to those of matter. For us, it is not real. What you see is the broadcast of the sand dust that is actually there.
– Here are the cases. I will definitely keep this curiosity. – He got up from the chair, which abruptly slid into the stone floor and began to pace around the empty, gloomy hall, the light into which barely penetrated, through the high, but narrow and dull windows. Removing a beautiful ring from his little finger, with his own engraved surname, covered with purple diamonds in a circle, and protruding crystals that emphasize volume, he approached the girl:
– Take it, this is my gift. More modest than yours, but… he is dear to me.
– The name ring of the rulers of Shelber, – she raised the ring up to the light, aloud, slowly reading the inscription.
«I see you like wearing rings. Well, add one more to your collection and accept the offer to become my wife. – The woman smiled broadly and was surprised at the same time. Looking at her brother, she laughed out loud. He looked at her seriously, and it is clear that he too was holding back a smile.
– What’s so funny? – the young man could not resist.
– If you want to marry me, give me the ring that you have on your other hand. – Svurt raised his left hand, clenching it into a fist. On his ring finger, an even more beautiful ring flaunts. It is completely transparent, with moving shining grains inside. If you enlarge it greatly, you will notice that these are not just sparkles floating in some kind of solution, these particles had certain shapes of objects and different inscriptions.
«No,» Selim dropped his hand. – This is the ring of the great Lafar Veia, and it will remain with me forever, as I promised him. But apart from that, I can give you almost anything.
– Very grateful. I need a seed, not a husband, «she replied calmly. – My heart has been occupied by my brother for a long time, I’m sorry.
– Then why don’t you create an artificial fruit with your own capabilities? – Selim grinned, moving the dishes and sitting on the table.
– Because my DNA code, in combination with the DNA of a healthy person, can give a new perfect look, much faster than doing it by the method of selection. – Having drunk wine from two glasses at once, she carefully got up from the chair, which also automatically slid into the floor. – And I will not go anywhere from here until you help me, – Grasping the man by the neck, she pulled him off the table, she sat down in his place, she spread her legs, showing her white panties.
– Enough, – Svurt turned away. – I won’t do it here. Moreover, with him.
– It won’t hurt. I see you want it. In our tribe, sex necessarily takes place in front of witnesses, so that everyone knows whose child will be born.
«But, I’m not in your tribe. And you cannot use me in your dirty deeds. Remember, not one woman in the world, and not one man, will decide who I should inseminate and who not. My father, could not force me to marry not one of twenty concubines, but you so simply decided to take advantage of my pure Nahmaut blood and run away. – The woman jumped off the table, grabbing Selim’s hand, put it on her chest. Svurt felt that he had fallen in love with her, and struggled with the temptation. Passionately kissing her, he pushed the girl away from him so hard that she even fell and took out his sparkling sword.