- Humanity has dreamed of space for centuries, - she began, - Looked at the sky, as you then looked at the stars. Dreamed of breaking free from the shackles of the Earth. The very best representatives of your humanity, I suppose, dreamed and not only dreamed, but also broke free from the bonds of gravity, and along with that from the bonds of their primitive society.
Years, decades, and even centuries passed. And then, the year 2120 arrived. Humanity has not realized its dream in its original form. But the cosmos itself, in my person, has come to you. I will not say "the universe", I represent a very specific part of it, a sleeve of the galaxy "such and such", although, having accepted a certain rhetorical assumption, one could say so. And this is what I see. I see Mr. Zavirdyaev, who without a second thought gave himself into the hands of the veterinarians from AEX, and then suddenly began to show his unyielding character. All this disappoints me to some extent.
Zavirdyaev silently looked at Landskricht, ostentatiously clenching his teeth.
- In addition to the attack on the fortifications in the Superfederant, a whole series of similar roadmaps have been conceived and are already being put into action. In such cases, given the scale of the events, someone would say, "Who's counting?" But you can count them. My roadmap is aimed in particular at ensuring that there are as few cemeteries with a second date in the interval after October 20th plus a couple of months as possible. And that there are as few trenches as possible. You remember the trenches. You have no rational reason to resist, - with these words she reached out to Zavirdyaev. - Close your eyes.
Zavirdyaev closed his eyes. A few seconds later, he felt Landskricht's fingers gently grasp his wrist.
- And then what? - he asked with distrust in his voice.
- Well, now you see that nothing special is happening, - Landskricht's voice was heard. - Yes, that's true, nothing special, - agreed Zavirdyaev.
- And now get ready. Now even with your eyes closed you will see the image.
- After these words, a picture of the interior of the command module really appeared before Zavirdyaev's closed eyes, only his gaze was directed somewhere upward.
- Don't open your eyes, - Landskricht's voice was heard. - Now I'm looking up, and you seem to be looking through my eyes. And now I'll turn my head and you will see... attention!
- The field of vision began to shift. In general, it was quite clearly felt that the image was not being seen by the eyes. It was quite difficult to describe this difference in words, but it was there.
A few moments after the field of vision began to move, Zavirdyaev saw himself from the side. He shuddered in surprise and immediately opened his eyes.
- Well, I told you not to open your eyes. If I hadn't interrupted you now, your head would be spinning and your vision would be double, like a drunk. Close your eyes and let's continue.
Zavirdyaev closed his eyes without saying a word.
- Look, you see yourself, - a voice was heard. - Pay attention to the colors. They are almost the same as you see. In general, people do not have identical color perception, but the differences are insignificant. For example, I am irritated by bright colors, so I draw your attention to how everything will change now.
The picture really did take on a slightly different character, as if the color had been reduced. - Now look - here is my hand, - a hand with black nails appeared before my eyes. - I will touch the chair now. What do you feel?
- Nothing, - Zavirdyaev answered.
- That's right, you shouldn't feel anything. You only see. If you started, or rather, your subconscious started to invent what you feel, then that would be your minus. Now I'm going to touch your face, let's touch the tip of your nose, like doctors make you touch yourselves with your finger.
- I can feel it when my nose is touched. Well, I mean, I can feel it with my nose. What nonsense. I can see from the outside how I touch my nose with your hand and I can only feel... it really makes my head spin.
- In general, if you showed a person who doesn't even know electricity, an ancient man, a trick with a video camera, he would say the same thing as you. But you have to admit that what you are experiencing now is really not an easy phenomenon for you. A video camera won't harm a savage and this, what I showed you, won't harm you either. Open your eyes.