The meeting of two personalities is similar to the contact of two chemicals: If there is even the slightest reaction, both elements change.

Prologue

Tiredly pinching the bridge of my nose, I realized what had pulled me out of my state of concentrated work. Zoom signal. Someone wanted to communicate with me, and insistently. A fact that in itself causes amazement. My colleagues are still as busy as I am, my mother has flown off to the Martians on yet another educational mission, I have no friends at all—we’re somehow at a loss for life path. So it was a mistake to call?

Having activated the reception, I was amazed. We were not mistaken!

- Inna? – she clarified uncertainly, peering into the vaguely familiar face of the woman who appeared on the screen.

Following the logic, if my friend from school times is added ten years, then... exactly, Inna.

– Don’t you recognize? – the reality of long-standing memories, greatly enriched, giggled in response. - Four children. Not a moment of peace, and, alas, no time for yourself either. But you haven't changed at all. Even the glasses are the same! I never understood why you wear them? Is it really impossible to buy permanent lenses and forget about your vision problem forever? I wish I had such blue eyes, I would signal semaphores with them... And my hair would be exactly the same light color repainted. You've matured by ten years, but you still haven't understood the main thing. With your dark ones - you are an ordinary woman, albeit with blue eyes, and if you were blonde... You would have gotten married long ago!

Four? Blonde? Married? I was confused. It seemed like school was just a short time ago. And now there are four children. And I have no one to call - no husband, no children.

- Why are you silent? Inna, everything is correct. Strugova Inna, she was once. I barely found your contacts. None of my classmates had them, so I had to request them through the general information database. And it was difficult to find out. Well, my husband has an acquaintance in the Population Registration Service, but otherwise you are “under the heading” and your contacts will not be given out upon a simple request.

Logical. I'm a historian. And those who know about the past of the Earth are not only limited in their contacts, but are invisibly looked after by various control departments.

- I... uh... three higher education“I have,” she said and she herself realized how pitiful it sounded, somehow even justifiable...

- And which ones? “It was clear from the expression on Inna’s face that she asked out of politeness.

“Historian, psychologist and fundamentals of medicine,” she answered automatically.

- And the family? – The communication became too substantive in nature and looked more like an interrogation, while its purpose remained unclear.

And in general, it somehow became uncomfortable. What happens if I don’t have four children and a parasite husband, does that mean I’m somehow wrong? And the fact that I have almost ten years of education and scientific work dedicated? And what I know: people on Earth did not always live in the same type of residential blocks, which now comprised any metaplastic dome city, connected to others of the same type by a network of completely closed transport tunnels; Once upon a time our ancestors moved freely on the surface of the planet, on which there were so many plants that they even walked on them, and there was water?..

- No! – I answered sharply. – It’s still early, and I haven’t yet met someone with whom I would want... children.

I faltered on the last sentence. This was a little different from what I wanted from life, but Inna would understand it more clearly.

“I see,” she said for some reason with sympathy in her voice. – And I told you back in high school – don’t let Pashka Matveev go. What a guy he was! Captain of the school skeletal team. You should have gotten pregnant right away and got him married! Surely there would be enough of their own by now.

The statement shocked me. Not only was I forever disappointed in Pashka upon close contact, but also the fact that in the end he abandoned me was perceived by Inna as my fatal mistake. Yes, once upon a time I, together with my classmates, watching Pavel proudly fly past the school stands on the skyer, sighed hopelessly, desperately dreaming that he would turn his attention to me. And, oddly enough, he did. And we met... not for long. But, having become convinced of the completely empty and selfish nature hiding behind the external charm, I realized how mistaken I was in my desire to be noticed by him. And while I was painfully difficult, trying not to cause irreparable offense, choosing words in order to tactfully end our relationship, he simply presented me with a fait accompli by starting to date someone else.

It was still a little offensive, so when I heard Inna’s incredible statement, I even winced.

– May I have time to have a family and children! – objected to her. “I’m thirty, I still have sixty years left for this.” At the same time, unlike you, I know that the Earth was once alive! There were so many ponds on it that people could swim in the water! There were also hundreds of plant species. Can you imagine - hundreds! And there were no less animals. And in general...

“Hush,” a classmate interrupted the manifestation of my professional obsession, somehow nervously looking over her shoulder, “if anyone hears it, they’ll think that I’m one of these... well, one of the “gardeners”...

I choked. After all, I was one of them! Or rather, she adhered to their views. Unable to control the desire to learn new things, to miss the opportunity to observe the miracle herself, three years ago, on duty, finding herself in the holy of holies of the earthly scientific department - the repository of seed and gene samples, she stole three seeds of some ancient plant called “dill”! Of course, it’s a shame to realize that I was capable of such an act, especially since it was a clear violation of the law. But then, noticing these three tiny seeds, dropped out of careless clumsiness by an employee of the department, she could not restrain herself and, quickly brushing them into a handkerchief, squeezed her palm. And she hid her palm in her pocket for safety. And so I kept it there the entire time I was in the storage facility, constantly nervously expecting that now the scanner would detect me and recognize my loss...

How I suffered later, how I searched for soil for my find - it’s scary to remember. Early in the morning, under the cover of the still-still darkness, I met with an illegal reseller, to whom I gave a week’s worth of water vouchers for a small bag of real land. How then she walked home, clutching her most valuable burden under her cloak, and was insanely afraid that they would stop her, check her, and then... How later, at home, with the delight of a child who had received a long-awaited gift, she felt the soil, closing her eyes and concentrating on such an unfamiliar tactile sensation contact with something real, natural... I couldn’t even imagine where the resellers got the land from. Perhaps smuggling from Venus?..

In any case, all my fears and even the pangs of dehydration, when I was left without a sip of water for three days, were incomparable to the delight that I experienced when the first shoots broke through to the surface of this priceless soil. Alive! Real living plants! Seventeen generations of my ancestors had not heard of this, but I... I could see them, touch them, observe them... At least secretly.

1

Alena Medvedeva

MASKS. ILLUSION OF MISCONCEPTION

Verlian undersea base

Three men, hovering near the plastic shell, inside of which was a girl immersed in sleep, were silent, pondering the upcoming conversation. It was urgent to decide what to do with her next.

We need to eliminate him,” Torio decided to break the pause. “I don’t understand why this wasn’t done right away, like with that earthling who escaped from the dome.

Nier was still thinking about what he should do: report the violation to the Council of the Higher or allow his friend and like-minded person to complete his plan? Today events took the most incredible turn: Orino violated the fundamental principle of the keeper of time for the sake of his place. What would Nier have done in his place? He did not know the answer, and this prevented him from making a final decision. The ideal solution would be the death of the girl, which is what he tried to convince Orino of.

Then block the memory? - Torio continued dejectedly, peering questioningly into the faces of his interlocutors. And then he himself doubted the effectiveness of this measure. - But this will not give a complete guarantee. Too deep a layer of memories has been touched. Something may stir them up and she will remember everything. And why such efforts? Woman no longer exists for contemporaries. She will not adapt to reality if we decide to return her.

No,” Orino finally condescended to answer. The Verlian's thoughtful gaze was fixed on Regina's face, and his voice sounded casual. He knew that they would not disobey him here.

Why? - Torio did not understand the reasons for such, as it seemed to him, unreasonable stubbornness.

The limit of exposure has been exhausted,” Nier again explained to the perplexed physician with a bit of irony. - Orino was too carried away by his capabilities. Now any interference with her memory or other processes of consciousness can lead to the most unexpected consequences, or maybe... it won’t. But the risk that she will turn into a mindless individual is too great. I am also for liquidation.

Excluded. - Orino waved his palm in displeasure.

He himself invited his brothers to discuss the issue of Regina’s future. But now he was irritated by their obvious reluctance to take into account his interest in this earthly girl. Both interlocutors persistently sought to get rid of the dugout as just an annoying nuisance.

This is a threat to disrupt the entire earthly project,” Torio tried to reason with him. “Now she has no place among her own people, and we can’t keep her in hibernation until death either.” An earthly woman has no place in this time.

“I can isolate her,” Orino promised confidently. “In this state, I will deliver her to my base, where she will remain after waking up, hidden from everyone in a special room that she will never leave. Will this calm you down?

But she will remember everything! - Torio could not contain his emotions. - Why such difficulties?! Let's just convince her to die now, that's all.

“I still need her,” Orino replied wearily. - And I can guarantee that the girl is not a threat to the future.

Alena Medvedeva

MASKS. ILLUSION OF MISCONCEPTION

Verlian undersea base

Three men, hovering near the plastic shell, inside of which was a girl immersed in sleep, were silent, pondering the upcoming conversation. It was urgent to decide what to do with her next.

We need to eliminate him,” Torio decided to break the pause. “I don’t understand why this wasn’t done right away, like with that earthling who escaped from the dome.

Nier was still thinking about what he should do: report the violation to the Council of the Higher or allow his friend and like-minded person to complete his plan? Today events took the most incredible turn: Orino violated the fundamental principle of the keeper of time for the sake of his place. What would Nier have done in his place? He did not know the answer, and this prevented him from making a final decision. The ideal solution would be the death of the girl, which is what he tried to convince Orino of.

Then block the memory? - Torio continued dejectedly, peering questioningly into the faces of his interlocutors. And then he himself doubted the effectiveness of this measure. - But this will not give a complete guarantee. Too deep a layer of memories has been touched. Something may stir them up and she will remember everything. And why such efforts? Woman no longer exists for contemporaries. She will not adapt to reality if we decide to return her.

No,” Orino finally condescended to answer. The Verlian's thoughtful gaze was fixed on Regina's face, and his voice sounded casual. He knew that they would not disobey him here.

Why? - Torio did not understand the reasons for such, as it seemed to him, unreasonable stubbornness.

The limit of exposure has been exhausted,” Nier again explained to the perplexed physician with a bit of irony. - Orino was too carried away by his capabilities. Now any interference with her memory or other processes of consciousness can lead to the most unexpected consequences, or maybe... it won’t. But the risk that she will turn into a mindless individual is too great. I am also for liquidation.

Excluded. - Orino waved his palm in displeasure.

He himself invited his brothers to discuss the issue of Regina’s future. But now he was irritated by their obvious reluctance to take into account his interest in this earthly girl. Both interlocutors persistently sought to get rid of the dugout as just an annoying nuisance.

This is a threat to disrupt the entire earthly project,” Torio tried to reason with him. “Now she has no place among her own people, and we can’t keep her in hibernation until death either.” An earthly woman has no place in this time.

“I can isolate her,” Orino promised confidently. “In this state, I will deliver her to my base, where she will remain after waking up, hidden from everyone in a special room that she will never leave. Will this calm you down?

But she will remember everything! - Torio could not contain his emotions. - Why such difficulties?! Let's just convince her to die now, that's all.

“I still need her,” Orino replied wearily. “And I can guarantee that the girl will not become a threat to the future.” I'll deal with it myself later.

Nier groaned, slapping his hand against his thigh in frustration.

You're obsessed! It's time to understand that the whole idea with possible conception- is not feasible. Otherwise this would have happened already! How long have you been trying?

An expression of disgust flashed across the doctor's face. Orino instantly picked himself up and, looking at his friend with a dissatisfied look, explained:

There are legitimate reasons for failure, now I know that. Regina used an earthly method to prevent conception.

His interlocutors' faces stretched out in surprise - on Verlinea such birth control was not practiced, natural selection was enough.

By the way, Torio, I need to remove this substance from her body. It has a hormonal basis and is effective throughout the year.

The medic shook his tail fin thoughtfully and turned his gaze to the capsule.

It will take me a couple of hours to identify the hormone. And then I can suggest the composition of the solution for its destruction and remove the decay products.

And then, after a slight hesitation, he suggested, casting a questioning glance at Orino:

If an earthly woman is needed as a carrier of reproductive material, then you can quickly extract it and carry out artificial insemination...

“I would like to remind you,” Nier abruptly intervened in the conversation, “that there was already one such experimenter who conducted experiments on crossing with earthlings. And we are all aware of their consequences. Don't repeat mistakes. Regina must be eliminated - and all problems will end. And you,” Nier clapped Orino on the shoulder, “calm down and in time you will understand that this was the best way out. Because of this dugout, you are making too serious mistakes.

The last phrase contained an obvious hint: there is someone to report about the fact of interference in the past.

How would you reason if your nyehs were activated? - Orino growled, piercing his friend with a sharp gaze. - Could you give up the opportunity to get a descendant... now? At the highest level! Smog?!

Nier involuntarily shuddered.

Perhaps I am not able to understand you. It’s too incredible to even mentally be in your place. But Chielo? She almost completed the transformation. Soon she will be there and will be able to save you from loneliness. Your obsession with having an heir will pass.

Orino sighed and, ignoring the doctor who was listening to the conversation with curiosity, continued:

I know what I want and I am confident that I will get what I want! The risk is minimal. Chielo won't help here. The past crossbreeding experiment did not involve the participation of a superior Verlian. Tiravias took the gene loci of true Verlians as a basis, using them to try to rebuild the DNA of earthlings. I think this is his mistake. He sought to create earthlings like us - superior. Believed that this would lead to the discovery of greater potential in their consciousness. It will accelerate their natural development and our rapprochement.

Don't stoop to such comparisons! - Nier protested, interrupting Orino. - Earthlings are a flawed species by nature. They are a failed experiment, a mistake. They exist, essentially, in spite of everything. And this is your strange desire, your goal - a child born by an earthly woman... An earthly woman, think about it! This is unnatural.

This will not be widespread. One cub is enough for me,” Orino quickly objected. - We cannot judge something that has never happened. What if Tyravias' idea made sense? The girl's saliva contained the same enzyme as our women. And it just so happened that it was the earthling who awakened my nyahi, triggering the thirst for reproduction. I won't miss this chance. I need a girl - and she will live.

Torio, whose eyes were already wide open at the end of this speech, remarked with a note of exploratory delight in his voice:

It would be interesting to try. Artificial insemination- and we will get an answer to the question: is this possible? Shall we do it?

Orino remained thoughtfully silent, turning his gaze again to the capsule with the girl. The pause dragged on...

“I guess we should try,” he finally agreed with Torio, “but I’m tormented by fears.” Earthlings are a strangely emotional and suggestible race. They have not come close to realizing the enormous, yet untapped potential of their own minds. They do not understand that with the power of consciousness they can direct any processes in their body, change and rebuild it in any way they want. Why, even re-model your own DNA and thereby improve.

Torio nodded:

Yes, this is common knowledge. This is where it lies main problem of this civilization - earthlings, having mastered only ten percent of the brain, are stuck on this and do not want to move on.