"Your weaknesses and strengths?"

"My weak side is that I attribute positive characteristics to people that they don't have. And the strong one is that after every disappointment I don't lose faith in human kindness. And if I fall, I find the strength to get up and go forward again."

(from Rina's interview for the magazine 'Citizen')

Rina had never run so fast before. Even when she was running away from the scoundrels who drove her into the attic or from the evil spirits that almost killed her. She ran without noticing the damp cold, the musty stench, or the invisible hands clinging to her clothes. She raced through the dark tunnel, driven not so much by fear as by anger and despair, which fueled her rage. From this rage, the darkness lightened, and a maze of narrow corridors separated by translucent 'walls' of murky haze began to appear.

Other 'galleries' had their own non-life - unknown and therefore terrible: dark shadows floated in a milky 'jelly', stretched into shapeless blots or took the form of disproportionate silhouettes. Rina didn't look back, but she knew that the tunnel was closing behind her again. Energy was also spent on closing it, but this way she couldn't be afraid of an attack from the back.

The strength ran out along with the rage extinguished from the unearthly cold. Rina, breathing heavily, slowed to a walk. Her heart was ready to jump out of her chest after the sprint. Tears welled up in her eyes, because she ran away, but she didn't know how to get to the surface. Despair made it difficult to concentrate. The moans, sighs, slurping, squelching coming from other 'galleries' also added to the fear. Shaky 'partitions' swayed under the onslaught of unknown creatures. And in this strange and dangerous world, Rina was absolutely alone.

The tunnel suddenly narrowed. To the previous sounds were added a growl, laughter and indistinguishable muttering. The walls of the 'corridors' thinned, and tentacles and claws broke out of the haze every now and then, which Rina managed to avoid only by a miracle. Despair reached a peak, and at the same moment she clearly heard a loud squeak, as if someone had pressed an alarm button. It was this signal, either imaginary or real, that brought her to her senses.

Don't go limp. She will have time to die - not here and not now. Rina stopped to catch her breath, calm down and concentrate. Anger leads her down the wrong path. To get out, she doesn't need to 'lay' a tunnel, but create a door between this and the familiar world. And this requires a different mood.

There weren't many truly happy moments in her life. Even thoughts of successful concerts were bitter now: she has no new performances, and will not. The memories of his former life caused a dangerous melancholy. Rina lost her vigilance and barely managed to dodge the tentacles with the suction cups dripping with cloudy liquid. What an abomination! We must not delay, we must not get discouraged!

She took a quick step again and at the same time pulled a ghostly thread of one of the fresh memories: the kitchen of her village house is filled with the aromas of cooking food and the noise of voices. Vika sets the table, Yura stirs the sauce and says something, Nikolai listens to him with an ironic smile...

Rina wanted to remember the atmosphere of the evening when her house was crowded and fun, but for some reason she thought only about Nikolai. Carefully bypassing the painful memory of how he confessed his love to someone, she stopped at other moments: how funny she tried to keep incognito, hiding her face behind cosmetic masks, as Nikolai carried her in his arms from the river to the car. How he looked at her, thinking she was distracted. How his green-brown eyes darkened with indignation as he listened to her story. And how a smile made his handsome face even more attractive.

Thoughts about Nikolai relieved fear, gave confidence and filled with strength - bright and hot. Finally calming down, Rina focused on getting out of this place. And at that moment, when something plopped heavily and wetly behind her, she saw a door made of cracked and dark wood from time to time, through the slightly open gap of which light was making its way. Rina rushed to this door and pulled on herself, and when she was on the other side, she lowered the heavy bolt, locking the exit.

She only had the strength to walk to the nearest shop. Rina sat down, gripped the rough splintery crossbar of the seat with her fingers and closed her eyes. The surrounding silence did not frighten, but on the contrary, seemed blessed, as did the wind blowing over his face. Rina was shivering, but the night cold of the street seemed softer than the 'gallery' of the grave. And yet she was cold. Rina opened her eyes with difficulty. She didn't run away from Lebedev and come out alive from the otherworldly tunnels to freeze on the street!

Rina got up on her weak legs, leaned her hand on the back of the bench so as not to lose her balance, and looked around. The surroundings, like cotton wool, were shrouded in misty twilight. The moon loomed dimly in the low sky. The square was illuminated by the windows of houses. There wasn't a soul here at this hour. But silhouettes moved in the milky-yellow, as if creamy, windows behind translucent curtains. Rina smiled faintly, only now beginning to realize that the danger had passed.

Having gathered her strength for the last push: to go out to people and ask for help, she headed across the spruce square to a squat building in the distance with a bright sign 'Supermarket'.

When she reached the road, a company of soldiers blocked her way. The recruits greeted Rina's appearance with loud cheers. Someone stretched out his skinny neck to get a better look at the stranger, someone whistled and made a greasy joke. Rina kept silent, so as not to provoke even more young guys, who in the twilight seemed the same, like figures cut out of cardboard: almost the same height, wearing hats on shaved heads and identical overcoats. The presence of soldiers in the city didn't bother Rina: apparently, the tunnels led her to some kind of garrison. It'll get out! The main thing is that she is in her own country.

The company marched past. But the guy who was closing the formation looked around and suddenly grinned like an animal: he lifted his upper lip and bared pointed fangs. Rina recoiled in fright, and then quickly crossed the road and ran into the store.

It was as cold in the supermarket as it was outside, although the store was small, with only two departments. Rina went to the bakery, where a saleswoman was standing behind the counter. But as soon as she came up, all the customers turned to her.

Embarrassed by such attention, Rina decided to wait for a skinny and long-as-a-pole saleswoman to serve the queue. Pretending to be interested in the assortment of gingerbread and rolls, she stopped a little further away. But the queue continued to follow her, at once forgetting about their business and conversations. Something was wrong here. Rina glanced briefly at the first customer in line in a red beret and a maroon coat with shiny buttons. The woman froze with a loaf of bread raised over the open bag, and the saleswoman with an outstretched palm on which coins were lying. And both were looking at Rina. Horrified by a sudden guess, she looked around the queue and made sure that everyone except her was wearing warm clothes: winter jackets, fur coats and coats.

How much time has passed in the tunnels?!

"Wh... what day is it today? A date? A month?" Rina asked in a voice hoarse from the horror that had come over her.

The queue was warily silent, only the man in the blue jacket suddenly lifted up his lip, exposing sharp teeth, and moved his nose as if sniffing.

"Alive," he said.

And the queue, suddenly dying off, rustled happily:

"Alive, alive, alive..."

"I'm sorry," Rina muttered in fright, backing away to the exit. Once on the street, she, unable to remember herself from fear, ran down a straight street: past the same type of five-story buildings - into the inky darkness. Now the silhouettes flashing in the lighted windows, as if in giant aquariums, did not calm, but frightened. Where is she? Where did it get to?! This is not a real city! Even though it disguises itself as such!

Rina ran again at the end of her strength, driven by predatory darkness and sounds: the creaking of a swing on an empty playground, the shuffling tramp of soldiers' boots, the howling of dogs. The street ended without warning: behind another typical five-story building there was a vacant lot, at the end of which was a white concrete fence. In the dim light of a single lantern, Rina saw a piece of barbed wire snaking over the fence and a five-pointed star painted on the gate. There was no need for other explanations: there was a military unit behind the wasteland. Rina clenched her fists and allowed despair to escape with a low cry. The place she found herself in was more frightening than the corridors. Apparently, thinking about Nikolai, she tuned in to his 'wave', and went to the wrong side of the military town where he used to live and about which he told her.

Rina screamed again, this time out of annoyance. There were no forces to open a new portal. How could this happen? There was nothing to do but turn around and go at random in the other direction.

The road of broken asphalt brought Rina to a stop. She didn't meet anyone else on the way, and that calmed her down a little. Maybe at dawn the town will emerge from the twilight and reveal its real side - albeit ugly because of the desolation, deserted, but real! Just to wait for morning. Freeze, quiet down, become invisible. Rina climbed onto the bench with her legs, buried her chin in her knees and hugged them with her arms.

It seems that despite the cold, she dozed off. She was awakened by a muffled rumble and light cutting through the darkness. Growling, snorting and flashing yellow eyes-headlights, an old bus rolled up to the stop and opened the front door with a groan. Warmth breathed from the inside, which beckoned Rina, who was frozen to the bone. She approached, took hold of the handrail and put her foot on the step. The driver turned his head to her and waited in silence.

"Get up!" Someone croaked impatiently in a hoarse, cold voice. Rina turned around sharply and saw that a conductor in a bulky jacket and a crumpled beret was briskly making his way to her through an absolutely empty cabin.

"Let's go for a ride," he wheezed and, grinning, flashed his eyes. The door slammed shut behind him, cutting off all possibilities for escape. And the bus, despite Rina's protesting cry, started moving.

 

 

 

"Kolya, can I come in?" Vika asked, because he kept holding her on the threshold.

Nikolai looked at her for a moment, as if doubting, and then nodded curtly and stood aside.

"You didn't sleep," she stated the fact, glancing at his jeans and T-shirt.

"What do you want?" Nikolai asked impolitely. Vika, usually businesslike and brisk, was now embarrassed, hesitated and looked into his eyes with a pleading expression.

"To talk."

"You chose the wrong time, Vika. I was already going to bed and...'

"Here, look," she interrupted him and handed him a piece of paper.

Nikolai automatically glanced at the drawing and asked in a changed tone:

"Did Stas draw this? When?!"

"I don't know for sure, because we've been a long time... It doesn't matter! Stas slipped this drawing under the door of Rina's house while we were away. Kolya, we'll tell you everything! Yura is downstairs, parking."

But Nikolai didn't answer, because he was already hastily lacing up his sneakers. Then he pulled his jacket off the hanger and grabbed the keys from the nightstand.

"It's not his fault, it's... me," continued Vika, jumping out after him on the playground. "That is, not all of me, but... we'll tell you!"

"You'll tell me on the way," Nikolai snapped, running down the stairs. Vika didn't lag behind, continuing to chatter something on the move. Nikolai pushed the door and almost collided with the journalist.

"Be quiet!" Yura exclaimed, barely managing to jump away. "Almost gave me a second black eye!"

"Sorry," Nikolai muttered, pushed Yura aside with his shoulder and rushed to his car parked nearby.

"Where are you going?!"

"Kolya, are you going to an amusement park? Now?!" Vika was horrified.

"And when?! Rina has disappeared again! And now I know where she is."

"Wait!" Yura stopped him. "We're with you!"

Nikolai hesitated for a moment. If they all go in his car, it's good for him. It's a long way. He had already spent a lot of time driving, had not slept for a long time, was injured, besides, he drank two mugs of beer, and the doctor injected him with an analgesic. Yura has also come a long way and is tired. But if they go together, they can change at the wheel.

"We'll each go in our own car," Yura said ahead of him. "Because if I understood everything correctly about Rina, I will need mine. Vika will go with you and tell you everything on the way! I'm behind you."

Yura spoke so confidently, as if he already had a plan. Therefore, Nikolai didn't waste time and agreed. Vika shyly took a seat next to him. And before she even had time to fasten her seat belt, he had already started from the spot.

Nikolai was silent all the way, and Vika, on the contrary, said: she confessed that she was spying on him and why. Then she assured him that she had not betrayed Rina. But, perhaps, the singer's location was tracked by the geolocation of Vika or Yura's smartphones. That's why they left their phones in the house.

Nikolai didn't say anything in response. He didn't care about the assistant and her confessions at all right now. He already knew that she was 'leaking' him to Merinov. And to whom Lebedev 'sat on the tail' is no longer important, because now the main thing is to help out Rina..

Vika sighed and, not waiting for Nikolai's reaction, continued. This time she told about her and Yura's 'adventures' and a meeting with the border guard Vitaly. And again Nikolai listened in silence. The road seemed to have absorbed all his attention. But, changing lanes from one row to another in order to overtake the leisurely drivers, and checking whether Yura was not lagging behind, he mentally summarized everything. The story of the former assistant about the experiment confirmed guesses of Nikolai, composed of separate puzzles. And the story of the escaped recruit complemented the overall picture.

The fate of the last person involved, Eugenie Sitsov, remained unknown. Why did Lev focus on him? Did the famous Jaguar's 'real feel' work? Sitsov was still a dark horse: who is he, why did he go to South Korea in the past, where did he disappear to? Did Gennadiy Sergeevich survive in the end, or did he die like Nikolai's father?

"Kolya, don't be silent!" Vika pleaded, unable to stand the tense silence that hung in the car. "Shout, tell me that I'm a traitor or something, but don't be silent! Don't finish me off, please..."

He glanced at her briefly, noticed that Vika was almost crying, and relented.

"Vika... Let's not cry. I'm not silent because I'm mad at you, but because I'm thinking. And in general, of course, it was necessary to talk to me first of all. You're a smart girl, Vika, and here you've been terribly stupid."

"Fearing for a dear person is not so stupid," she muttered. And Nikolai unexpectedly agreed with her, although a few days ago he thought that he had practically no 'pain points'. Only the mother.

"Rina ran away from Lebedev so that no one noticed it, but she was seriously guarded. I suspect she opened a portal. But no one knows where she will end up."

"Do you think Stas told you where to look for her?"

"I hope so."

Nikolai hoped for it so much. Picking up Rina from an abandoned park and taking her to a safe place didn't seem like a difficult task. It will be difficult if Rina is not there. This will mean that she has not been able to get out of the wrong world. And he didn't know how to get there.

Lost in thought, he did not immediately notice that the headlights were flashing behind him. Only when the car overtook him and honked loudly, Nikolai started up and parked on the side of the road, deciding that Yura was asking for a rest. But the journalist jumped out of the car and ran up to him:

"Did Vika tell you everything? About portals, border guards and trials? About the fact that Rina is a portal girl, I already know."

"Yes, I did. Rina ran away from Lebedev so that no one understood how she did it."

"She escaped through the portal," Yura said with confidence. "I'll bet. But we won't get her out without a border guard! We need Vitaly. There's an intersection over there. If I follow Vitaly from here, I will significantly shorten the way. Which means we'll gain time. Vika and I spent almost a day in another parallel and were just very tired. But the businessmen walked there full insane, you know? I'll regroup with you later!"

Nikolai didn't object, but asked Yura to take Vita with him, because at night in an abandoned park it is unknown who and what they might encounter. And with Yura, she will be safe.

"And be careful. Don't drive so fast!"

"Who would say," Yura grinned, hinting that before that they were racing at an exorbitant speed.

"And this... Sorry for the blow!" Nikolai shouted at his back. "I was wrong."

Yura didn't answer, just, without turning around, threw up his fist and opened the door of his car to Vika.

They parted at the intersection. Yura 'saluted' with his headlights and sped off. Nikolai also increased his speed. The navigator indicated that there was less than a quarter of an hour to go to the right place. And there is no plan.

Nikolai parked as close to the gate as possible, pulled a flashlight out of the trunk and headed deep into the dark park.

"Rina?" he called, guiding the beam and hoping to make out a familiar figure in the swaying shadows. But the park was silent, like a predator lurking in ambush. Only dry branches crackled under the soles of sneakers, and gravel rustled.

Nikolai reached the center, walked around the frozen rides, but met no one. The park was silent, and in the light of the flashlight, the rides resembled creepy skeletons.

Nikolai took out his smartphone and saw that he had been here for less than half an hour. Yura is unlikely to have already reached the right place. Besides, he will need time to persuade Vitaly to come here. Nikolai's attention was attracted by the icon of a new message.

Rubik sent the dates and locations of the tests. It looks like he hacked a top-secret and super isolated military network. The guy is brilliant and... desperate. Nikolai remembered Lev's warning about traps and sent along with gratitude the phrase: 'Don't get caught'. However, Rubik is certainly cautious even without his warnings.

Nikolai sat down on a bench and looked through the short list, looking for the coordinates of the place closest to the park. The date and time of the last test roughly coincided with Yura's visit to the park. That's why the journalist was on the other 'side'. And Yura and Vika arrived later. Perhaps by that time the 'hole' had already been patched up.

He decided to study the list in detail at home. The hacker never answered, so Nikolai called him.

"Hello," came a lazy greeting in response.

"Thank you!"

"Yeah," Rubik replied, continuing to drawl the words. "What else?"

"One person is interested. I want to know what happened to him."

"I'm not a search service for you," Rubik chuckled into the phone, but then added: "Give me full name and in general, who is this."

"Sitsov Eugenie," Nikolai replied and told everything he knew.

"Okie-ee," Rubik drawled and, without saying goodbye, disconnected.

Nikolai walked around the park again. The darkness gradually dissolved into the coming dawn, and the outlines of the rides became clearer. However, he didn't extinguish the flashlight in the hope that Rina, if she was here, would see the light. For the same reason, he kept calling her, but there was no answer.

Nikolai went to the racetrack and sat down on the edge of the car to rest a little. Lost in thought, he glanced at the dark bulk of the Ferris wheel and was startled to see a silhouette in one of the booths. Nikolai immediately took off. But when he ran up to the attraction, there was no one in that booth. In this place, where the boundary between the parallels is broken, he can expect anything. Therefore, Nikolai stayed to watch the Ferris wheel.