I never thought being a father would be like this! I was always indifferent to infants. "A little citizen" – and no sentimentality. I remember myself now, and it seems funny...
We quarreled about children before Bulgaria. We said a lot of things to each other. If that explosion had taken one of us, it would have been very difficult for the other to live with the damn guilt. All that was left was to pray that you wouldn't be revived either.
We were just stupidly lucky then, like a drowning man who is pulled out by a completely drunk man at the last moment, damn
It would have been known anyway. Sooner or later, the "Collective" would have given us away. But it's better this way—now, than later, right after the explosion. That would have broken us. Thank the Argon and the Wizard for staying silent as long as they could! And the Wizard knew, he was simply obligated to by his job.
We found out about it after returning from the Martian expedition. As they say, it's not enough to possess information—you have to fully comprehend it... It's not every day you learn that due to a twist of fate, we lost an unborn child we didn't even know about, damn it!!!
We survived it, but it was hard. If we had found out then, years ago, after the explosion, it would have destroyed us, but this way—it just hurt. If it had been a little earlier... before the quarrel, then none of this would have happened. What's the point of arguing about children when one is on the way! We had to live with this realization.
It hurt. That's what makes us human. Pain tells you you're alive! We tried to just live on, dedicating ourselves to work, rushing to hot spots and distant expeditions, relying on time, until one evening...
We had just returned from Jupiter's moon, Europa. The smart ones there were messing with a climate control system that was supposed to melt the ice. The planet was being prepared for colonization by aquoids. When I remember how we calmed the sharks, I shudder. If someone had told me that sharks, upon becoming intelligent, would become so hysterical and shy at the same time, I wouldn't have believed it!
So, there I was, dried out and mentally screwed to the max, slowly sipping strong kvass that even stung my nose—you can't find anything else in Pavlov's cafeteria—enjoying the fact that my brain remained virgin and unburdened by thoughts.
The medical examination for me was over in an instant, despite all the punctures. Pain is nothing compared to an intelligent shark pouring its heart out to you for three hours straight! So I rested, glad that it wasn't my headache anymore, and that they had found someone to blame, those smart ones!
My relaxation didn't last long. Now the butchers would finish with Katya, we'd go home, have dinner, take a shower, and fly to Italy in the morning. They finally found the remnants of the mafia there!
So, that's it. My eyes noticed the shadow's movement when the door opened, and my brain automatically switched to work mode, snapping out of my reverie.
"Um..." was all that escaped me when I saw Katya's face. It had a strange expression on it. There was a real storm of emotions. "Did something happen?!"
That's when I really lost it, when she didn't answer but continued to look at me with a strange gaze that sent herds of goosebumps running down my spine. My brain frantically sifted through options, discarding one after another, including the possibility that something had happened to my mother-in-law, until only absolute zero remained.
All the reasoning took less than a second, while my body automatically jumped towards my wife. I was dealing with sharks! Panic is contagious!!!
Katya, looking at my bewildered expression, said, tilting her head, something that changed my life forever:
"Congratulations, little Sergey... You're a daddy," she said, opening up, unleashing a storm of emotions and images on me, so powerful that everyone present involuntarily turned to us, stunned by the force of her feelings. "Well, daddy... You made a baby, and now you're bugging out?"
The world almost froze, and my vision lost its colors. My brain analyzed what was said so quickly and frantically that it went into combat mode!
Then it hit me, and I understood. Katya, having fully enjoyed my emotions, smiled slyly, stuck out her tongue, and hung on my neck with a squeal. I gently hugged her, stunned by this news...
What happened next! Oh-oh-oh-oh!!! It was something else!
Zinaida Petrovna was speechless, frozen like a pillar of salt for half an hour. Dmitry Sergeevich... I thought Comrade Sechenov had simply gone mad! He laughed and jumped like a lunatic, scaring everyone, spinning in a mad dance, living up to his nickname, waltzing with his wife, then with Katya, then with the security robots, who were in a stupor. After all, they were modeled after Katya's personality.
Only I and Bugay were in a state of meditation, trying to comprehend it all. My iron brother still couldn't digest that my godfather was now my father-in-law, and here was such a blow to his steel posterior. How I understood him, after all, he was molded from me.
"Well... congratulations, daddy! Now you're screwed for nine months!" said that steel scumbag, letting glints reflect off his mirrored mask, which showed my contorted face. Damn it, he had to spoil such a moment!
But, realizing that the preparation for the barbecue was right, I skillfully slipped away, mentally sketching out a plan on the go. There was a lot to do.
Even before I called the flip, I had drafted a house design. My social rating was 8.8, Katya's was 8.9, which allowed us to build a Provencal-style villa, not a typical five-walled hut. It wasn't even about social points. We received so many that we never reached the limit.
We already had a forty-hundred plot of land. We had received it long ago, and now our godfather and Katya's mother were living there in a reconnaissance module.
We were going to live all together, so our family limit was more than impressive. Ah, it's profitable to have large families. A large, prosperous family automatically raises your social rating by one point, which is sometimes useful for your career. Society values well-rounded personalities.
Waiting for the aerial vehicle, I headed to "Pavlov." I needed to update the medical database and download a couple of new ones... I wasn't going to leave anything to chance anymore!
Honestly, I ran away then, not wanting to be a burden at this celebration of life. I had no idea what it meant to be a father. What was I going to do with a child?!
But all my fears vanished when, five months later, I felt his mental response. He recognized me! The little sun, not yet born, reached out to me, transmitting simple images of colors, radiating happiness!!! Damn!!!
How can you not love your children?! Katya was simply radiating happiness. Her connection was even stronger: she was one with him! Through her and the neuropolymer, he saw the world, not yet born! It's impossible to convey all these feelings when your unborn child sees you and smiles! They told us, but it's one thing to hear it, and another to simply feel that connection.
And the moment came... Scary? Hell no! I'm a soldier! Can't I deliver my own wife's baby?! I practiced it so many times on the simulator that I lost count! A military doctor, or did I just go for a walk?
I don't know, maybe I took some of her pain upon myself, but the birth went easily. But I can honestly say: I'd rather be blown to pieces by an explosion again. Now, when I say "it could have been worse," I'll remember this!
"Greetings, new citizen!" the AI boomed solemnly, registering the birth of new life, but for Katya and me, it was background noise. Holding this small, wrinkled bundle in my arms, which let out its first cry, I felt all the pain I had carried for years dissipate. All our efforts were not in vain. The spilled blood was in the past, and only the future awaited us.
This was not a pampered child who needed immediate resuscitation after birth. Our blood flowed in him—the blood of those who dared to overthrow the old order. His body was already an achievement of science and progress. He would be a warrior, a scientist, or an artist. Any path would be open to my son. I would be proud, even if he didn't follow in my footsteps.
And I also realized that I would be among the first to fight any alien scum. I would stuff them with lead, burn them in fire, and crush them with an iron fist. Before, I fought for the future and my country, my family, but now I have another reason—to get up again and again and go into battle as long as my heart beats. And I saw this same fire of determination in my wife's tired eyes...
"Beautiful!" exclaimed Sasha, transmitting an image comparing our Azure and the ancient capital. I fell into thought... It's hard not to think when everything is so interesting! Children's emotions are something else! Perhaps that's why, at sixty, I haven't aged not only in body but also in soul, just like my wife?
It was only seven in the morning. The first shift of physical training had just finished and was now returning home for breakfast. I needed to decide where to go before the second shift started their exercises. Otherwise, we'd get caught in the biggest crowd. What could be done, physical training gives a decent increase in the limit, especially if done regularly.
"Eat or walk?" I asked my son, transmitting the options.
"Eat!!!" the expected child replied. Even though the journey from the steppes of Kazakhstan to Moscow took only two hours, and we had already been fed a light breakfast, what is a sandwich with butter and a mug of tea for a growing organism, with one boiled egg? And the fact that I gave him some of my breakfast doesn't really matter. I remember how I always wanted to eat and devoured food like locusts.
I clarified with an image where my son wanted to go. He, after thinking for a bit, chose "Cassiopeia." If my senility isn't deceiving me, then there should be a branch of this state restaurant chain somewhere... there!
We left the platform so as not to interfere with the intelligent beings boarding the train. Walking down the aisle from the platform, past the ticket counters, we reached the entrance to the city subway. At the entrance, behind the scanner terminal, sat a proud felinid, staring with unblinking eyes at the holographic monitor. It seemed like the intelligent cat was just sleeping with its eyes open, but its ears twitched from time to time. It simply disdained irritants and enjoyed the feeling of its own grandeur, sitting proudly so that its Aspect of Defense jumpsuit and long, fluffy tail, whose fur gleamed from care, were visible in all their glory.
Next to him in the guard booth, a wolf-like creature and a human were playing "Believe—Don't Believe," practicing building mental images through a simple card game. Another wolf-like creature, leaning against one of the scanner frames, held a handheld scanner like a club, drilling its gaze into an ordinary dog.
Waiting for the lady with the dog to reach him, he barked heartily right into the poodle's ear.
"Rude!" yelped the lady, trying to calm the dog, but that was all. The wolf-like creature was, as it were, within its moral rights, and its mental message to the dog: "Traitor"—was more than eloquent. Intelligent dogs don't like their unintelligent brethren, and I understand why perfectly. To betray centuries of loyalty and service with cowardice, abandoning reason, fearing the horrors of space... For those who chose duty—a stain of shame on the entire lineage because of most of their brethren.
The felinid hissed angrily and, without looking away from the monitor, waved its paw, so that its mechanical thumb, which they were proud of, was visible, giving a mental reprimand to the junior guard, but it was perfunctory. Cats are too pompous for this to get distracted by trifles, from their point of view. As for me, they are lazy, but they skillfully play up their flaw, presenting it as a virtue.
I grunted, drawing attention to myself. The wolf-like creature standing by the frame instantly snapped to attention, devouring me with a loyal gaze, wagging its tail slightly, trying to curry favor with its entire demeanor.
I grunted again, gently nudging my son towards the scanner frame so he would go first. His tail wagged even faster. What could be done, humans are alpha for wolf-like creatures. Humans from the Aspect of Defense are leaders. All this is amplified by collective shame, although, as far as I'm concerned, they have already paid all their debts, but they have a big hang-up about honor after all this.
There are simply no better guards in the Union. Despite their outward sloppiness, they will leave their post only dead, feet first. Only they can't be let into the warehouse! They won't steal, but they have no concept of neatness. Therefore, they are not taken into squads. Wolf-like creatures and quiet—do not go together, not at all!
Sashka grunted, seeing the intelligent dog peek out of the booth, tilting its head to the side, its floppy ear hanging comically as it passed through the frame. He had one of the caregivers in his kindergarten who was just like that—they love to play with children. Sometimes it's even unclear who is the bigger child.
I pass through the frame behind my son. The felinid behind the terminal turned its head, reading the device's readings, which showed the contents of my spatial backpack, checked my electronic ID, requested biometrics, and only then closed its eyes for a moment, sending an approving image. Show-off. If Katya were here, this fluffy bastard would have put on a whole show.
"Matriarchy, however," I thought, mentally grunting, taking my son's hand again. He's a big boy now, but Moscow is four times bigger than Azure.
Exiting onto the "Progress" metro station, we went up the escalator to the surface. As we walked, Sashka counted the hermetic doors and energy curtain projectors. Counting six of each type, my son nodded respectfully. His grandmother had taught him to notice small details, while spoiling him terribly! I simply won't believe that a reconnaissance officer, even retired, can't hide a bag of candy from a child so that he won't find it!
Going up, I figured out the most convenient way to get to the nearest "Cassiopeia." If the metro and "Indian Station" are behind us, then we need to go... that way!
"Myshovka" was a new district of the ancient city. It was completed only about ten years ago, and it housed workers from nearby factories and design bureaus or was a stop for tourists. The branch of underground transport tunnels connected here with the metro and surface trains. The city's residents didn't want to build a new station in the city center, so by a general vote, they determined its location here. It was almost impossible to get lost here.
Walking along the main avenue of the district, named after academician Lebedev, admiring the "pencil case" five-story townhouses, we reached the restaurant in five minutes. All that remained was to cross the road.
"Dad, have you been to the 'pencil cases'? Is it true they look like spaceship cabins?" Sasha asked.
"On reconnaissance ships, cabins are sometimes even smaller than a 'pencil case' apartment," I replied. "These are still quite cozy, though small, like all 'pencil cases.' This series even has a small kitchen and its own bathroom in each, but you can still reach the walls by extending your arms. It's not social housing for 'invisibles,' but for tourists and young specialists until they raise their rating and change to better housing. So, the residents here change for the most part every autumn. Some, on the contrary, like the miniature size."
"Cool!" my son whispered enthusiastically, causing an involuntary smile. Although he says he's big already, he's still a child at heart sometimes. As soon as he hears about spaceships, even any nonsense becomes cool. What could be done, he was born for the vastness of space. The tests at school clearly showed this. He took after his grandfather with his obsession with the stars, not his mother and father. But at least he won't crawl through the rain and mud on his belly.
Crossing the road, we entered the restaurant. The state-run restaurant "Cassiopeia" was part of an interplanetary chain. The Coordination Council put forward the initiative to create such establishments about ten years ago for a general vote as part of the "New Dawn" project, proposing about a hundred options. We even had to hold two voting stages, which took several minutes—and that's a lot in modern reality! It's convenient when you vote through your subconscious without leaving home and without being distracted from work.
The peculiarity of this chain was that in addition to the regular menu, they also offered a national menu, which changed every three days. As they said—so that no one would be offended. It turned out to be convenient: you can always eat familiar food or order something exotic. This is not the Venusian "Kolosok." As for me, their pastries are too salty—or maybe I'm just imagining it...
Upon entering, we were met with a scene that made my eye twitch. The restaurant was full of people. Almost all the tables were occupied, but there was practically a vacuum at the edge. The cause was a panicking shark! Apparently, there was some kind of firmware bug in the menu tablet, and it displayed text formatting for humans or felinids, not for these hysterical fish! And now a female shark, judging by her protruding fins, was poking at the tablet with her biotechnological hands with such force that the glass, designed for their foolishness, creaked.
Robot waiters just helplessly gathered around the lady in distress, while a dolok, a space marine, somehow brought here, grinned and puffed with its breathing apparatus. Intelligent killer whales only need a reason to laugh. And if you remember that they are ship pilots and infantry on them... everyone will have fun!
Letting out a mournful groan, I ducked under the thick tail flailing around and quickly climbed the furniture, transformed to fit the lady's dimensions, to my son's admiring gaze. A couple of clicks on the screen—and the text became one large, monolithic paragraph. I don't know why, but small objects and texts cause these creatures to have an attack of irrational panic.
What causes them more panic than this is the abundance of eyes, but instead of panic, they try to destroy that many-eyed creature in the most bloody and destructive way they can! On Europa, the smart ones lost a probe like that, and Rukh'khe apologized for a very long time afterward, as did his parents. The little one couldn't control herself in her fins and smashed an apparatus that was six times her size!!!
"Thank you..." the shark thanked me, breathing nervously but calming down. "I accidentally pressed the wrong button, and then everything was a blur... If you ever need the services of a clerk, you can contact me."
You can't be angry with them! They are cute, these intelligent sharks.
"You're welcome," I replied to the lady. "It's my duty, citizen. Will you help me down?"
"Oh... Of course!"
The shark lowered me without even straining. They have monstrous strength! With such strength, you could tie tanks' "trunks" into knots, but no—they are perfectly peaceful creatures, although you wouldn't say so from their appearance. They make excellent psychologists and officials. However, if the day started like this... I know myself! Expect adventures. For reliability, only Pastukhov is missing on the horizon...
"Hello, comrade commander!" a very familiar voice rang out behind me. I jinxed it... I didn't even see him amidst the dolok!