Abandoned World: The Awakening

— I found some files. There were movies and a game. The first day, I only turned on the game. That's it. Starcraft… You can see it there. I can see the save files on my computer, and it's easy to see at least from them that I couldn't watch anything else because I only played the game… There's nothing forbidden in it. It's just humans, Zerg and Protos fighting over resources on other planets… There's nothing to disprove your version of history, is there, Mr. Heddock?

It's nice that he realizes what he can and can't do. And yet he realizes that some of the information is not available to the head of the Enlightenment Section. Heddock looked at him and thought that the people living on the station were much smarter than he had previously thought. After all, even people like this jerk are capable of hiding secrets in the general mass from him that everyone knows, and Heddock is not allowed to know. Even assholes like this are capable of that yes for twenty years. And deep are we buried with these illusions if it has gotten to this point.

— Of course not… You should have given this game to research right away, and you would have gotten it back just as you gave it away.

— Yes, yes, Mr. Heddock… But I got carried away… Frankly, I just got carried away and the next day…..

— Okay, so when did you see the movies?

— I've seen the movies, Mr. Haddock. I just clicked on them to see what was on. I saw it was a long time and I closed it immediately… I wouldn't dare without permission….

— Taylor-Taylor… I want to help you, don't try to talk yourself out of it, that's just digging yourself into a hole. I can help you, and I am. So help me help you.

— I just don't want to upset you, Mr. Haddock. That's all. Everybody doesn't want to upset you. You're so good, so kind. We don't want to say anything that would offend you.

— If you mean that no one believes in my theories, our past history, thinks we're not on Earth, then I'm not learning anything new right now.

Taylor's eyes flickered with fear, then surprise, then relief. It seemed to him that now he had nothing to hide, that this was all a game that could not end in anything bad for him or for anyone else. Now there is no point in hiding anything at all, because since the leader of the Enlightenment knows everything, the world is something very nice and soft, and that in this world it is impossible to do any harm to each other for reasons that seemed the most formidable before. Probably also the punishment for the felony is some kind of myth that only the citizens of Apollo 24 are scared with.

— Yes, I'm sorry, Mr. Haddock. I really thought you didn't know… Of course, it's rash of me… I've only seen two movies… The Shadow… And Armageddon… I know it would have been banned. They wouldn't let us see it. And I watched it without permission. I'm not going to be sent to Tosca for that, am I, Mr. Haddock?

— Of course they won't. If you keep telling it like it is, it'll be all right for everybody. You know, the station has very fair rules, and there are many people who broke the rules and then confessed to everything and were released… Nobody knows about them, because they keep quiet about everything… They also watched movies and not only. They found materials that cannot be shown to others… They just tell us everything as it is. To keep us informed. The elders, the security service, of course, me… When we know everything, we have no reason to throw someone into Tosca, believe me… Especially since you've already gotten your punishment in the form of bludgeoning. You've had it, haven't you?

Taylor cocked his head, feigning some pain at the touch, and nodded affirmatively:

— Yes, Mr. Heddock… I was very frightened… I didn't even expect that you could hit someone like that… I remember, of course, from your lectures that violence on Earth was constantly developing and changing into different forms, but to experience this on myself… I couldn't even think of such a thing…

— Keep talking about movies. Why wouldn't they let you watch Armageddon if you handed in the flash drive?

— Well, you see… There's a big asteroid coming toward Earth that's going to destroy everything if it's not stopped… And people are sending two shuttles to it to drill holes and blow it up from the inside. Blow it up with nukes. You see, Mr. Heddock. Nuclear. And everyone knows we live in a nuclear reactor plant… I mean, we live in a place that could explode. in such a way that all of us would be gone.

— Understood, Taylor… And you didn't mean to panic… Fair enough….

The phrase seemed to have a kind of therapeutic effect on Taylor, and he felt more like talking. Because his actions were openly seen as logical. Self-evident. It wasn't the kind of thing that should be punished by imprisonment in Tosca….

— Yeah…" Taylor continued. — I didn't mean to panic… And there's more… More importantly…