- Farce? I ... - the girl fell silent without saying, and then sighing tiredly, she said, - You can not believe me. You can imagine whatever you want. But I need your help, Cyril.

The fact that she called me by my first name didn't really surprise me. It's not strange that those who hold you hostage know everything about you. I would laugh if they didn't even know my name. That would be laughter.

But they just mock me, just like this girl. They keep me in a trap, mock me. They are asked to play along with this crazy scenario. This is starting to get annoying!

- Fuck you all! - I shouted from the bottom of my heart to the entire ruined street and turned away from the girl.

Having released all my anger in this single impulse, I abruptly became indifferent. She can hit me in the back, I won’t even turn around, everything is already so tired. I quickly went wherever my eyes looked, past the bloody and torn bodies, past the destroyed walls of buildings and collapsed skyscrapers. I just kept going until I got bored. Then he sat down in the middle of the crossroads, crossed his bent legs and rested his elbows on them. I wanted to think and decide what to do next.

I'm stuck in this damn place. I was locked up here for some kind of experiment or for the entertainment of the public. But why am I even alive? I remember exactly how the goblins tore me to pieces and I died in that portal ... Or maybe they pulled me out of there? And right now, my brain or head is floating in some sort of nutrient fluid jar with lots of wires attached? I hope not. Then what is this place? What is this girl? What to do next?

The touched memory of the goblins came back to life in me like a digital record. The brain, without asking my consent, began to reproduce it.

Two thousand forty-six. The year of my sudden death. I've been through a lot in my lifetime, but I didn't think I'd die from the fangs and claws of goblins. The lousy dwarfs tore and tore at me like a piece of meat. My throat was hoarse from my screams, and the only thing left for me was to lie down and stare at the ceiling. It was very painful, but fortunately I died quickly, but at least my sacrifice helped someone survive. But was she needed? Was it worth sacrificing yourself for someone else?

For such reflections I sat for a very long time. I don’t know how long it took, I didn’t have a watch, and the sun didn’t stop shining, hovering in one position. But it felt like hours flew by, as if not days. This damn world in which I found myself seemed to be frozen in one time stream, thereby distorting my perception.

- Cyril, - the girl's voice was heard behind her, and the sound of her bare feet slapping along the road touched her ears.

She stood next to me and sat next to me. My anger passed on her, perhaps she is the same victim of the experiment, stuck here against her will, like me.

- How long have you been looking for me? How many days have I been here?

- Days? You left five minutes ago,” the girl said calmly, sitting cross-legged as I did.

Five minutes? Apparently my perception of time is very much clouded here. It seemed to me that several days had passed.

- Fucking virtual space, - I muttered, shaking my head from side to side, - Okay! Convinced me! I'll play your damn game...

- This is not a game, Kirill, - she said in a serious tone, - I have a duty ...

- And who put it on you? And why you? Why did you decide to go against those who allegedly created your universe, I asked with sarcasm in my voice.

The girl slightly twisted her face in displeasure at my words, and then rolled her eyes and answered:

- I repeat, you may not believe, but at least listen to the end of what I'm trying to tell you.

- Okay, come on, anyway, I have nowhere to run, - I said, waving my hand towards the empty lifeless streets, - At least I'll listen to something, I'll kill boredom ...

Has come. Sitting and chatting with one of those who locked me here. And she wants to tell me something else. Apparently trying to follow the instructions of some plot.

- I used to be an ordinary girl, a refugee. Our planet was only attacked because it was neutral for trade between the two empires. And the two armies clashed for the right to own it and receive huge profits from trade routes. At that moment, I was lucky to get on the evacuation ship at the spaceport. Then everyone tried to escape through the orbital elevator and board the ship there at the station, but it was blown up along with all the people inside. They fell to the ground from a great height. Human rain is terrible. I then managed to get on the ship, and those who did not have time were killed by debris falling from the sky. There was no room inside, the ship was overloaded and I had to sit in the corridor on the floor near the toilets. A crew ran past every now and then, setting up and repairing. Then the captain came out he was holding a briefcase containing an experimental AI designed to manage the vast trade network of the planet. It was at that moment when he passed me that an explosion occurred.

As it turned out, at the moment of takeoff from the planet, the body falling from the destroyed orbital elevator damaged the right engine of the ship. And just as we were about to activate the flight through the ethereal gate, it exploded. I remember how I was blown away by a stream of air. The only thing I managed to do was to grab the suitcase with the AI ​​core in the hands of the captain. He did not expect this and let go of his handle, allowing me to fly into the void of the ether. Out of fear of death, I pressed the case with the core to my chest, and it melted into me due to the action of the energy around me. I didn't get hurt and I didn't die. I just hovered in this space without being able to somehow save myself, and watching the AI ​​core blinking in my chest. Aether did not want my death, on the contrary. He seemed to keep my life until the arrival of the essence. Which has merged with me and the AI ​​core. So there was - Tria.

“Good story, the screenwriter who wrote it should be given an award, very interesting,” I said almost honestly.

The story was fantastic. Yes, this can be found in almost every book or movie. But here is the ether and the merger with AI, it's interesting. After all, I still have to play along with these freaks watching me, so why not appreciate the story ...

The girl just chuckled.

- I did not think that it would be so difficult with you, - she admitted looking down, - I spent hundreds of years trying to collect your mind scattered over the ether. At the same time, she risked getting caught by other gods living in that dimension. And in the end you don't believe...

“The world in general is a complicated thing,” I answered thoughtfully.

Hundreds of years? This is what they screwed up. Seriously, why all this? You could just say that I am a test subject and am obliged to fulfill such requirements and tasks, that's all. Probably wouldn't say a word against it.

- If you do not want to help me, then I will have to disincarnate you, - Tria said quietly, - Return to the state in which I found you and let you calmly dissolve in the streams of ether.

She said this in a serious tone, from which it was not clear whether it was acting or the truth. Although if they are a very good actress, then in theory I can believe her in the script. But for some reason, my whole body tensed up like a stretched steel string. As if in the subconscious mind there was a memory of something that could traumatize my mind. As if my body did not exist and I experienced incredible pain only from the realization of this.

Is everything she says true? Or have I convinced myself of this? Believe her or not? Do I have a choice? If I continue to doubt, then everything will disappear. I will be disconnected and I will die completely, but I do not want this. I do not want to become the cause of my own death, even though I died protecting someone. All this is so annoying. So annoying.

- Well, I will help you, although I don’t really believe in this story, - I said to the girl with a sigh, - What should I do?

Tria smiled. Apparently she had some means to find out if a person is lying or not, because in her place, I would be full of doubts. Yes, I am full of them. Only a vague feeling of something terrible makes me play according to her scenario.

- At that moment when I appeared, I was able to find out the whole past of the ethereal essence that gave me its powers. The Old Gods decided to destroy the inhabited universe due to the fact that their creations turned their backs on them. They stopped praying, and only moved further away. Those crumbs of reverence received by them were not enough. And they decided to cleanse the universe in order to populate it with new creations.

- If the children do not obey you, get rid of it and get new ones, - I said quietly with a chuckle.

- That's right, and then they attacked. They moved their army further, destroying planet after planet and creating them again, but already empty. All intelligent races united against a common misfortune and rebuffed them. But where are ordinary people on ships against the deities ruling over the ether? At that moment, I found the only way to help us be saved. Created those who could fight back the gods. Those who could control the aether almost as well as the gods...

- And who is it? I muttered the question without enthusiasm, “Oh, don’t look at me like that…

The girl turned her face in my direction, searing her completely white eyes with an annoyed look. Her blond brows furrowed immediately after my question and indignation.

"I could have feigned interest out of courtesy," she hissed.

- Would you like it? Not! And in general! You are a fusion of three entities, you should react more calmly ...

- I am a thirty-three percent woman, which means I have the right to show emotions!

I didn't answer her, I just mumbled something in annoyance. All the same, a woman will always remain a woman, even merging with something else.

- Come on, tell me who you created.

- I already regret that I spent so much time on your resurrection, - she muttered with displeasure, but then continued, - I created people capable of controlling the ether, but only women survived from all of them. They called themselves witches. After their appearance on the battlefield, the gods began to retreat. We managed to beat off the offensive and completely push it back into the far corners of unexplored space.

"So you're also some kind of goddess?" Just something wrong? Otherwise, I can't understand why you chose to protect everyone else.

- I'm artificial. An accidental fusion with an ethereal entity that wasn't meant to be anything more, that's all.

- Pseudoray pseudo-goddess, sounds, - I said with a grin, - So if your witches fought off the invasion and saved the universe, so why do I need?

- They did not save, only drove away. But that was so long ago, so many millennia ago, that all races have forgotten about it. The warnings became prophecies and then myths. Slowly, cults worshiping the gods began to re-emerge, entire planets turned into temples. And the witch hunt was on.

There is nothing to be surprised at. A typical move of all intelligent races is to start destroying what they already think is unnecessary.

- And why do they hunt them?

- To become stronger. The heart of a witch is able to strengthen the connection of a person with the ether. Let him control it. After that war, many such “sensitives” began to appear, they called themselves techno-mages. For they used technology to control the ether. But here's the heart of the witch, allows you to make them stronger and more powerful. Therefore, they began to hunt them. Believing that they themselves will be able to stop the invasion of the gods.

Why don't you help them yourself? They are your creation.

"I can't," Tria replied bitterly, "I can't leave this place until the rest of the gods arrive, they locked me here before they left." That is why I resurrected you, Cyril.

- Wait, wait, you've been sitting here for thousands of years, watching your witches being killed and decided to call me? What prevented you from doing it before?

- I could call anyone, and get such a result from which the cosmos could shudder even before the arrival of the gods. Finding the right person is very difficult. I spent many years, but still I found you and brought you here.

- As usual, the universe will be destroyed, hero save it...

“And there’s nothing more you can do with her.” Either create or destroy. There is no third.

I got to my feet, and turning to Tria asked:

- Well, how can I help?

My enthusiasm came from a desire to leave this place as soon as possible. I won’t say that the company of a beautiful girl somehow bothered me. But the location itself is boring.

- Your task is to find the witches, save whoever you can and collect in one place, in the old orbital station, which I created for their training.

- Wow, how do I find them? There's a whole universe out there! While I will jump from one planet to another, I will die of old age!

- Calm down, the ethereal gates between inhabited systems will help you shorten the distance, - the girl said calmly, getting to her feet, - As for the witches themselves, you won't have to stray... Wait a minute!

She touched my chest with her hand and a notification of the system that I already missed suddenly popped up before my eyes:

Learned a new ability - Find Witches.

- What is this?

- In your world you had a system, I slightly changed it in you. Removed unnecessary numbers, leaving only skills. Your body has no limits, only a huge development potential that rests on skills. So, you will definitely not be weak. But I had to reset everything to normal values, you are now an ordinary person.

She spoke about the system of the Awakened, which we received after the ritual as soon as we entered a special rift between the worlds and touched a strange mystical stone. The moment my hand just touched the smooth dark surface, notifications flashed before my eyes. They congratulated me on becoming an Awakened and told me which class suits me best. Nobody was given a choice.

Name: Unknown

Race: Unknown

Age: Unknown

Skills:

Strength - 1ur.

Endurance - 1ur.

Skills:

Search for witches - passive.

I looked at my status window and froze a little. More precisely, he widened his eyes in surprise, realizing that all my training in the past had gone down the drain.

“Ah… ah… h-how… h-where?! I stuttered and asked the girl.

Where are my sword skills? Close combat? The strength that I pumped so much by pulling iron in the hall ?! Where is it all?! And what is "unknown"?

- I already said, I had to get rid of all these digital values. They limited your development. Skills will recover, you will have to learn them again in a new body ...

- In a new body?! - I exclaimed, unable to stand it anymore, - What is this new body ?! What about mine?! How is it worse?!

- Because it was destroyed. I managed to restore your mind and not the physical embodiment.

- But ... your mother!

- Therefore, you will have to take another body. Don't worry, it's even better than yours and much prettier.

- If you shove me into some cute baby, I will personally strangle you!

- Do not worry everything will be fine. Your fate is closely linked with the witches. Wherever you go, you will find them everywhere, - said Tria, - And now we need to say goodbye.

I already wanted to be happy, but then I looked at the sad face of the girl who again remains alone in this strange little world.

- How soon can we meet? I asked.

Now standing in front of me is no longer a pseudo-goddess containing three essences, only a lonely girl.

“The moment the gods decide to return, it could be a thousand years from now, or it could be a year from now. By that time, you need to create a safe place for the witches, my copy will help you with this ...

She closed her eyes and another Tria appeared next to her, but only transparent.

“Greetings, Cyril,” she said, bowing slightly, “I am an alternative version of Tria - Atria, my task is to help you.

So the partner guide arrived in time. I feel like Link from the old game.

Then Atria disappeared, and in her place a blue ball was left hanging in the air.

- This is her core, just put it in the ship's system and that's it.

- Can it be destroyed?

- No, as soon as the ship is destroyed, it will appear as a pendant around your neck, but will be unavailable for a while. Therefore, watch this, - she said, giving me the core, - That's it, you have to go ...

“Wait,” I stopped her hand, which was already reaching for my chest, apparently to move it from here, “Maybe we should not rush? We still have a day.

With these words, I reached out my hand to her waist and pressed it to me. To spit on any experiments, scenarios. Before me now is a lonely beautiful girl who does not want to part with me so much and again remain the only inhabitant of this world.

While she looked at me in surprise with her lips slightly parted, I went below the waist with my hand and was already ready to grab the elastic buttocks ...

- No, we can't, - she said with a smile, standing on her toes and kissing me gently on the cheek, - As soon as we meet again, my loneliness will be dispelled. Good?

“As you say,” I said with a grin, realizing that nothing would break off for me today, but continuing to squeeze her slender body with my hands.

Oh, one more thing, I almost forgot. You are forbidden to sleep with witches until they awaken their powers. It is forbidden.

- And why is that?

- Sorry, no time, Atria will explain everything to you! - she said hastily and pushed me in the chest, and then shouted after me, - Remember! Wherever you fly, you will always meet a witch! Trust your instinct!

When she pushed me in the chest, I fell into the water. The space above my head began to thicken and Tria's silhouette blurred slowly before my eyes. As if I was drowning, plunging deeper and deeper into the unknown dark abysses.