“That actually makes things worse. You just don't understand.”Vopros shook his head.“You're a dark puppet in the hands of Fate. Nothing depended on you then, and nothing depends on you now. You won't understand me.”He glanced at me.“You think you do. But you don't.”Then his ears suddenly twitched.“Wait.”Vopros sniffed the air.“Do you smell that?”I stopped and took a breath.There it was. Smoke.“Smoke,” I said.“Over that dune!”Vopros pointed with one paw.Curiosity got the better of me. I scooped him up and ran toward the dune he'd indicated. The gray sand was surprisingly firm beneath my feet, barely shifting as I ran. Within seconds, I reached the crest and crouched down, carefully peering over the top. The source of the smoke was about a kilometer away. Someone had built a fire.A very, very large one.“Mmm... smells appetizing,” Vopros murmured.I gave him a look.“They're burning corpses.”He shrugged.“That might make sense for some people. But not for us.”I leaned fo

I stared at them for a second.They were ridiculously stretchy. Latex wasn't exactly flimsy material, after all. A rather unconventional idea came to me. Pleased that I'd remembered them just in time, I walked back to the well and lowered the bucket.“What are you doing?” Vopros asked, clearly puzzled.“Stocking up on water.”I hauled the bucket up, tore open the first condom, and carefully began filling it.I didn't want to push the material to its limits, so I stopped at around two liters.Vopros leaned closer and sniffed the strange container.“What is that?”“A latex contraceptive.”His ears perked up.“You usually put it on a man's penis before intercourse. It helps prevent an unplanned pregnancy afterward.”I shrugged.“I can see there's a lot about my world you don't know.”“I never claimed to know everything

I thought about that for a moment.“So they stay within strictly defined territories?”“Pretty much.”“What happens when they run out of food?”Vopros burst out laughing.“Starvation? Hahahaha!”I stared at him.“What's so funny?”“Not when corpses are falling from the sky!”“Oh, come on. The corpses didn't always fall from the sky.”“Of course not.”Vopros shrugged.“The creatures didn't populate the Grey Lands all at once, either. When an endless supply of free food suddenly started appearing here, the ancestors of today's beasts must have found a way to cross the roads.”“Even though it hurts them?”“I imagine they forced themselves through somehow.”He paused.“For those creatures, crossing one of these roads is probably about as painful as twisting your own balls.”I winced.“Lovely comparison.”“But think about it. Suppose you're starving. Not just hungry—you're literally wasting away.”Vopros's grin returned.“And all the while, you're standing on one side of the road, smelling

I stared at him.So Vopros was basically a webcam model in this house. A magical cat webcam model. That was a sentence I never expected to think.“You could also try your luck as a repairman,” Vopros continued. “Quite a few things around here have broken down. They’re becoming an eyesore.”“A repairman?”“Or a technician for household artifacts. They’re somewhat like your primitive gadgets.”He pointed toward my dead phone.“Like that communicator of yours. Only much easier to operate and maintain.”I sighed.Apparently, in other worlds, there were only three viable career paths:Webcam model. Corpse. Or IT support.Vopros padded toward the gate.As he approached, something opened in the stone. An eye. A real eye. It blinked once. Then twice.Something inside the wall focused on us, examining me and Vopros with unsettling precision.I stood perfectly still. The eye blinked again. It was creepy as hell.“Don’t make any sudden moves,” he warned. “They’ll burn you straight to the Abyss.

After finishing dinner, I drank the last of my water and let out a long, satisfied belch. Things were looking up.“Anatoly. Proceed to the hall.”The voice seemed to come from somewhere near the ceiling.“Copy that,” I said.After putting the dirty trays into a designated cabinet, I followed another trail of blinking lights through the corridors. I still had no idea how they worked.Magic? Technology? Some combination of both?At this point, I was almost afraid to ask. Someone would probably explain that the lights were powered by the souls of dead electricians or something equally ridiculous.The corridors were cluttered with cabinets, broken furniture, and other obstacles. I had to twist, duck, and occasionally perform minor miracles of agility to avoid brushing against the dust and grime. But I made it through. Strangely enough, I felt pretty good.My stomach had finally stopped trying to claw its way out of my body. The food was doing its job, and with every passing minute, streng