Abandoned World: The Awakening

Maybe the old man became so arrogant that he began to think that he was the master of destinies? All sorts of things happen in people's brains, and when you control the mass consciousness of people, the roof can go off in no time — you look back and you don't recognize the person. But why now?

Peyton has been doing what he does for two decades. He's been a member of the Council of Elders for more than twenty years now, since the institution of the Council of Elders was invented. What's happened lately that's so special that he suddenly needs to do something like this? Or has he been doing it for a long time and we just haven't noticed? Wouldn't have noticed if it hadn't been for his heart attack.? Somebody, and Delaney at least had an answer for that.

***

— Are you feeling any better? — Heddock stood in front of Delaney, still holding the ice rocks to her head. The station used shards of rock cooled from the outside for cooling — temperatures

outside could reach minus 170 degrees Celsius, and by lowering molds with these rocks on special elevators, anything could be cooled instantly.

— I'm disgusted…" the girl was really desperate. In addition to the bruise on her head and the redness on her nose, she had a crying face and a burst vessel in her eye, making it even redder. She was pitiful to look at, especially since Heddock kept thinking of Sierra, who also frequented his office for similar purposes. And though he distinguished himself from Peyton quite thoroughly, the similarity of the situations made him uneasy.

Heddock crouched down beside her and put his arms around her shoulders:

— Delaney, it's all behind us now… Understand, it's better for us to know what happened there… Incidents of violence on the station are very dangerous. It affects all of us… We don't have the ability to relocate somewhere or give second chances at anything. There are only seven thousand of us. You know that yourself. That's all of humanity… We can't have people among us who are dangerous to the rest of us… Delaney, do you realize how important what you know is?

Heddock was very good at making conversation so that no one thought of turning the situation on him. It wasn't the first time he'd had to act on his own, but he couldn't say openly that he was in charge, of course. After all, he was officially not a rank-and-file member, but not the first, not an elder, not the head of the Security Section. And the role that was given to him as the head of the Enlightenment Section only allowed him to act with soft power, to ask for help, to be in the position of someone who needed something himself. And in this line of work it was only possible to ask for something, if it did not concern education and ideology. On the other hand, Heddock arranged things in such a way that ideology became pervasive in all walks of life in society, which meant that any deviation was nothing but his direct work. People didn't want to be guilty under him

— they wanted to do something for the common good, and that was his main advantage over those people who worked in the Security Section.

— I get it… And it's precisely because I get it that I don't feel like doing something that will send Peyton into Tosca.

— Delaney, we're doing everything we can to make sure that doesn't happen. He's an elder. He's supposed to set an example for us. Trust me, no one knows anything about this yet. And I give you my word that nothing you tell me will leave this room…" Heddock put his hand around the room and returned it to Delaney's shoulder. Despite her current battered and weepy appearance, she still looked very attractive. Also with that cutout on her chest. And with a few glances at her breasts from above, being quite close, Heddock felt himself getting aroused, which was bad timing. So he took his hands off her, sat back a little, and crossed his palms and stared into her eyes.

— You promise? Promise that Peyton won't go to Tosca?

— Delaney. No Longing. It's all behind us now. We just need to know what was there.

— I just came to him… I came as usual… We are very close… I really like the way he can say things, prove things, explain things… I mean, he's very smart… I really like that… I relax from that.

— Yeah, okay… You went to see him… What mood was he in?

— It was business as usual. He was happy to see me. He was happy as usual. And what he'd had to drink beforehand was business as usual, too. He drank before seeing me often enough. I even started to like it over time… I realize it was his way of relaxing. To make it easier for him with me…

You realize we have a dumb age difference. I don't know how whiskey can help with that, but… I just want him to be able to… Well… Fuck me. So he can do it.

— I understand… Okay. You came. He'd had a drink by then. He was in a mood. You went up to him— Then?

— We started making love…

— I realize this may not be easy to say. How exactly it was… It's not necessary. It's true.