Abandoned World: The Awakening

had made a good point. He hadn't thought of that at all… When he'd considered the pros and cons, it hadn't occurred to him that people might want something else. He was accustomed to twisting the elders as he wished, and through them to twist people. But that was about the mind, not the result. The result was already a matter of gain, and its achievement was the need for a good accounting of all that was and wasn't there… People really wouldn't want to only work during working hours, and not much else. Those elders, who are now under his thumb, wouldn't necessarily want to behave the same way if they were in a different position… Sierra didn't tell him this thought, and it's understandable, since she doesn't know the ins and outs of his position. But in reality, that was what he would be most concerned about — how much the Elder, left in charge of such a separate station, would continue to be loyal to him. He didn't give a damn about how long everyone worked there. As long as they stayed under his command. And, in fact, while it is impossible to guarantee this… After all, we will either have to rely on specific people, and here it is very easy for him to make a mistake. Or to invent new methods of control, which he does not have. Moreover, now he controlled many processes personally, and the power itself was also based on this — he himself made decisions on many private issues. In the situation of individual stations, this will not be the case, and in this case, it is worth considering whether these stations are so necessary. Wouldn't it be better to be content with what we have now… However, no. No. It won't last forever. And he needed a backup… He really needed a backup in case this suicidal psychosis went over the edge… And this strange feeling was already starting to pass. It seemed to be completely gone… He could ask her about it now. What she thinks about people's capacity for self-destruction.

— Darling, I have one more question for you…" he began, and then his right hand reached out on its own to his left hand and began to press the soft tissue at the base of his thumb with his finger, and then pressed the nail into the wound there. At that moment he noticed it and quickly pulled his hand away.

— Charlie, what are you doing?! — Sierra shouted, and moved closer to him, peering at his palm, which was bleeding just a little bit. — What's the matter with you? Are you nervous?

He couldn't say a word. Just then his sanity turned upside down and then back again in a matter of moments. Some blood on his palm, Sierra looking at him so surprised just a moment ago, already running to get some medical supplies. And now this darkness that was so apparent to him just a second ago, suddenly left him completely, coming out from the left side of his head. Where a woman had stroked him not so long ago.

Heddock sighed, then blotted it out and looked at his palm — he'd really done this to himself, without feeling any pain. He didn't remember any of it, but just as the cut was visible on his left palm, so too was there a piece of skin and a trace of blood under the nail of his right thumb. Oni looked at it and tried to realize that he had just done this to himself. Tried, but it didn't work. He didn't remember it. Only some inky blackness that was now in some distant past.

Sierra had already come running back with absorbent cotton, hydrogen peroxide and band- aids. She's a wonderful woman, though. So caring and concerned about him. It would be a shame if she couldn't have children after all.

— Honey, tell me… Why can't we make babies? — Heddock asked her as she was putting the band-aid on. — We've fucked enough.

— It's strange to hear that from someone who is in charge of the education section. — Sierra replied a little ironically. — I don't know what you want to teach everyone. What kind of education to give them. And for what purpose. But there are some things you can neither hide nor reveal on purpose… There are periods. Every woman has one. They recur periodically. About once a month. That means a woman can get pregnant. And then when a woman gets older, like me, she stops having periods. And that means she can't get pregnant. Like me.

Elder

Peyton Cross was as proud of nothing and no one as he was of himself. And he started every day in front of a mirror. That was how he considered the beginning of his day. Even upon waking up, the first thought that dragged him out of bed was the need to see himself in front of the mirror. He would walk over and begin to give a tirade about how right "his" next decision was. Whether it was recent or old didn't matter. He just needed to talk. Every day. And only then could it be considered that the day had begun.