Thino'Pai

By Adrianna Bielowiec

LET YOURSELF BE FREE FROM REALITY AND ENTER AN EXTRAORDINARY WORLD!

 

They kill not for resources, territory or passing on genes, because the laws of nature have long ceased to apply to them. In their hatred, they do this because they can.

 

On the planet Calcaris, a psychopathic sect of atheists is preparing for a ritual. The perfect candidate for sacrifice seems to be young Hanako Sahara, an inhabitant of a quiet Asian town.

 

In the nearby forest, animals and people die and equipment breaks down, but the sheriff of the local tauricia claims that he has the situation under control. Could the anomalies be related to lycans who pose a threat to the entire world? Who is this extraordinary man of unknown origin accompanied by a shape-shifting dog?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Royal Hawaiian Press
• Release date: Jun 15, 2024
• ISBN: 9798227269065

Book preview

Dear Readers!

I am absolutely delighted that you have chosen this book for your reading. I hope that it will give you many unforgettable experiences and, above all, many hours of relaxing entertainment.

I was already thinking about the story when I was writing Onkalot, where Hanako Sahara is mentioned. An Asian village located somewhere in an isolated territory, surrounded by a huge forest, was fitting for the setting. I did not know if I would return to this thread, but it happened after I finished War with Kandrok. This military science fiction turned out to be a great years-long challenge for me due to its significant accumulation of technical descriptions, neologisms, also threads on strategy and tactics. After its publication, I needed a break, possibly to start with something lighter. And so I returned to the development of the aforementioned story, which is what it was intended to remain - a lighter young/new adult novel of manners, set in science fiction realities. Along with it, a short post-apocalyptic fiction story, biopunk Gen 56, was being written simultaneously.

I have received messages from you, dear book lovers, regarding the continuation of Firedust. The novel was supposed to be a single-volume from the beginning, and I did not plan to create a second one, mainly because I had no idea about the plot, which I saw as another version of the bestseller War of the Worlds. But maybe that will change if I can come up with something worthy of publication. Instead, for fans of the story, I have written Thino'pai, which, like Firedust, focuses on the psychology of the characters and their relations, rather than action-packed. So, if you do not feel like reading about epic fleet battles in space and a myriad of inventions of the future for the moment, Thino'pai may be a good choice.

All that remains for me to do is to wish you a pleasant reading! I also encourage you to share your opinion about it online, which will allow me to eliminate the weaknesses of my work and develop the positive ones. Please remember that I write books for you. Thanks to your activity, I know that the energy (if only it were possible to take at least one battery from Kandrok) and time I spend on my work are meaningful.

Adrianna Biełowiec

Prelude

A single blow from the powerful, Diarduk combat Mech's fist was enough for a crater to form in the gates of the mining equipment factory.

Members of the squad hiding in the building tightened their muscles. They were not soldiers, on Yakiji the institution of the army did not even exist. Instead, an equivalent called the mjabia functioned. This was used to support the population in extreme situations, such as natural disasters or threats from space rocks, either on the planet itself or in the colonies of the optically tetral system, where four yellow dwarfs orbited unconnected by gravity. The peaceful Ngozi Ya Kijani people enjoyed science and acquiring knowledge; they had never discovered life in space. Trusting their foolproof research methods, they were convinced that it had only developed on their planet.

Therefore, the Yakijans were as horrified as surprised when an enemy fleet literally fell on them from the sky. Rumors spread that the aggressor had chosen this planet as a target because of the system's suns, for they had an inclination toward powerful energy sources. As well as an obsession with light. The truth could not be ascertained - the cybernetic Kandrok were not reckoned to be effusive beings, although they chose to learn the language of their victims. The roundups and exterminations went through much more smoothly at the time.

At the time of the attack, the Yakijans had only industrial equipment, as well as devices to combat local flora and fauna. The sight of such 'weapons' in the hands of the indigenous people caused the Kandrok not laughter, but anger and embarrassment, because although earlier reconnaissance had left no doubt about the type of civilization they would face, they expected a greater challenge. The Yakijans had to forcibly diversify their military equipment to quickly adapt to the new situation. They began to manufacture war equipment based on the example stolen from the aggressor; production took off in the factories (which were still operating) of the matrix and on the colonies, but the situation did not improve much. They went from being a handful of sand to be a handful of gravel between the teeth of the enemy, who towered over them in all areas. All they had to do was spit that gravel on the ground.

Another strike from the Mech further bulged the gates. The third was brought out with the other hand, as it fell at a different angle, more to the right.

The fourth tore part of the gate from its hinges.

Through the clearances created, evocative sounds began to flow into the factory, testifying to the impending doom: the rumble of heavy footsteps of the Mechs and smaller combat robots, the rattling of energy weapons, the hiss of chemical ones blowing flesh off bones, the thunder of exploding charges, the hum of flying machines - with which Kandrok intentionally made noise - that no Ngozi Ya Kijani had even dreamed of. The invaders' intent was to bring death and destruction as if they were doing it not of their own will, but were programmed to do so.

The nervous, armed members of the squad looked at their commander, a man with patina-colored skin who wore a tuft of cropped blue hair at the top of his skull. Like every Yakijan, he had a forward-sloping facial skeleton, which made this people with vestigial tails and striations on their bodies a bit like colorful, tropical reptiles. No mjabia covered his head with a helmet, because to the enemy's weapons it wouldn't have made a difference anyway.

He came... whispered the leader and looked resolutely at his companions. He wants to catch only me. You guys get out through the side cargo pocket in the depths of the complex, while no one has taken it yet. Escape to the mountains later. You have a chance to save yourselves! he finished with a growl, seeing that his men did not react. Chunki, lead them out.

It won't do any good, duat Salgo, replied the peach-skinned woman with a large number of brown, thin braids. You've seen what they can do. Their weapons and eyesight penetrate the walls. They know we are here. They're playing with us as the survivors in this sector, because they could have destroyed the entire factory long ago with barely a shot from the ship. She turned her chin toward the front facade.

The Mech grabbed the edges of the gates with its gigantic limbs and began to break and warp them, pulling them toward itself. This was accompanied by an unmerciful clatter as the brittle Yakijan alloy was crushed by the invader's indestructible diarduk.

Maybe this will make you think.

Salgo pulled from the armor's compartment an object that looked like an egg, with a glowing orange essence inside that had no right to be a fire enclosed in a completely airtight environment.

The mjabia's gazes became more panicked than when they witnessed the macabre made by Kandrok.

Wait a minute, isn't that an object from the contaminated zone? Chunki moved away, as did the others. You know you're not allowed to go in there. It could be a weapon. You'll blow up the whole city!

Salgo smiled a little.

I have been storing it for a long time and so far nothing has happened. Unfortunately, this object cannot be examined. I think that knocking down the casing will provoke some kind of reaction. You have one last chance to back out."

I'd rather blow up than get into the slimy white paws of those there. The man with the wounded face, called Jeuhiwa, muttered exactly what everyone was thinking about.

The entrance to the factory stood open, through curtains of smoke golden sheaves of one of the setting suns fell inside. Contrasted with its background was the dark silhouette of a Mech, which threw behind it the gates crumpled into a huge ball, as if they were the most ordinary stone. The faces of the squad began to be covered by a wave of heat beating from the fires and other types of energy dispersed in the vibrating air.

Standing at the leg of the Mech, the newcomer, who was accompanied by four varoth - meaning soldiers in the Kandrok language - could not have chosen a better setting for an impressive entrance.

He was an Avor, the core of the Kandrok supercollective. In Yakijan's eyes, he looked terrifying. More machine than living tissue (unless they were staring at the diarduk dark indigo-colored armor with carmine details, firmly integrated into the body). White skin. Hair of the same color reaching to the nape of the neck, bristled as if from being treated with a charge, shaved on the glossy sides of the head. The left eye orange like flames, while the other was red, artificial. Over his shoulder hovered a tentacled machine with numerous ruby visors surrounding the largest one in the middle. The Kandrok named them leberiks and were somehow paired with them; they served as support in the planet's annihilation process. Avor, with a look in which pride and anger competed with scorn, was somewhat hunched over - Salgo surmised this was because of the extra combat components. In his right hand he held a sizable weapon, the barrel of which he was almost dragging along the ground. Morphologically he resembled a Yakijan, but genetically the two species had nothing in common, as local scientists determined after examining the bodies of killed enemies. The conclusion was drawn that there must have been a biological convergence in the distant cosmos, resulting from evolution occurring in a similar environment - unless the Avors and Yakijans came into existence through an act of creation. But at the time of the attack, no one cared about the detailed genesis of the two species.

The five enemies also did not bother to shield their heads, only the lower part of their faces were covered by breathing apparatuses. Their shoulders and arms up to the elbows, where the tissue ended, were also exposed, the armor, moreover, did not cover the lung and abdominal pockets, it looked like ventilation spaces. Salgo didn't think the Avors were so reckless as to expose themselves in war, rather ostentatiously despising the Yakijan offensive, as they probably weren't hot. But it could also have been about quick access to areas of the body related to nutrition or healing.

The identity of the newcomer Salgo had the misfortune to know before: xepo Thino'pai. The biggest scum operating in this part of the planet. Wherever he didn't show up, he ended up with corpses among the unneeded Kandrok Yakijans and slaves among the needed.

Thino'pai chewed on something. As if telepathically, he gave a command to a huge Mech, which retreated, causing the ground to vibrate, soon to disappear among the conflagration.

The shooting quieted down, which did not bode well. Salgo surmised that Thino'pai had left them for dessert as a pleasant finale to Kandrok's assigned tasks for today.

The squad members, knowing from past experience that the enemy would not want to negotiate anyway, as well as talk at all, attacked with a scream on their lips. They scattered, firing. They hid behind the machinery and the main supports of the hall.

The cyborgs activated transparent blue shields of riumaric energy, known only to Kandrok, shielding the organic parts of their bodies. They got hit at their legs by projectiles without paying attention.

They deactivated the shields, moving deeper into the building. Frightened by their closeness, the Yakijans missed anyway, although they usually had the enemy in their line of sight. They had no such thing as targeting assistance in a direct clash, not to mention inexperience.

The Avors also opened fire, which cut or pierced everything inside the factory with ease. Several Yakijans were paralyzed, having recognized in them material suitable for reinforcing the multi-species Kandrok army.

Thino'pai took a different tactic, leaving the selection to his varoth. Aided by a leberiks that flew around the plant and pointed out targets to him, he approached individual, worthless Yakijans and fixed them with a long blade extended from his armored right shoulder. He decapitated. He stabbed them in the stomach and pulled all the way to the head. He cut in two. He cut diagonally. He had a diarduk at his disposal, so the armor of those there might as well have been made of water held in the right shape. One of the xepo defenders he grabbed by the face with his hand and crushed his skull into pieces. Green sweat and jelly-like brain oozed out from between his fingers.

Despite everything, the Yakijans had minor successes - one Avor fell, executed en masse with as such a coordinated action by a handful of mjabia. The carnage was interrupted by a Kandrok ship that suddenly fell on the factory. The colubrium completely crushed the building, the roof collapsed completely along with the half-kilometer-long hull. The scrap formed mazes filled with toxins and sizzling fire.

Coughing, Salgo didn't know what had happened to his men and couldn't hear them. Having freed himself from the trap that was crushing him, he trudged through the smoky drifts of metal, along the remains of the ship, eager to get out of the tunnel invaded by sharp fragments.

Smeared with grease and soot, he managed to break through into the open space, under a fragment of the evening sky. Panting heavily, he slumped on his back. He was slightly wounded in the leg, shoulder and loins.

Something powerful tore relentlessly through his footsteps, smashing everything that blocked his path. Yakijan presumed it was one of the many varieties of Kandrok robots, but soon he saw Thino'pai. He emerged from under the scrap, scattering it with the force of his cyborgized hands. He was joined by the leberiks, having found an air route all around. The Avors acted according to the criteria for the functioning of their own society, in which it was necessary to protect the leaders of the collectives, as well as the gerha, the head of the entire supercollective. That's why they hunted down Yakijan defense commanders so greedily.

Salgo pulled out an artifact with a smoldering core, which he slipped into a locker for the duration of the battle, hoping that despite their critical position they would nevertheless get out of trouble. Now, having lost all his men, he did not care.

Thino'pai walked unhurriedly toward him like a patient executor, scanning him with a ghostly eye. He didn't raise his firearm - he intended an extended blade for Salga. Red blood dripped from the wounds on the Avor's arm; for Yakijan, the dye of the blood matched the pigment of the skin.

Avor opened his breathing mask for a moment to spit out on the ground what he had been mumbling in his mouth so far - the unlucky native's finger bone, which couldn't be further stripped of flesh.

Salgo prayed that the attacker would come as close as possible. He was sure that the Avor, who had incredible scanning capabilities, would react at the sight of the artifact, but he didn't. So either he didn't recognize it, or Salgo came into possession of a worthless piece of junk, out of a vain desperation to see it as an effective instrument of revenge.

He stopped pretending to be excessively wounded. He broke off and with a shout attacked Thino'pai, who carelessly shadowed himself with his blade. Neither he nor his leberiks saw the Yakijan as a threat.

Diarduk pounded on the artifact's casing resembling volcanic glass. Not only did this one not break, but it did not even get a scratch.

Thino'pai looked toward the sky, where one of their destructors was flying by.

After this campaign, I will definitely become a Freed, he spoke up in Kandrok. He meant the most perfect form completely devoid of an organic body, a machine with orhada - the power supply of a living being, the essence of consciousness and existence - transferred to an artificial brain. This ultimate form was longingly aspired to by every Avor. Thino'pai lowered his gaze to his victim. You are physically unfit for absorption into the supercollective. He easily took the object from the weakened Salgo's hands, one and the other messing with his blood. He looked at the object indifferently, then threw it away, thrusting it over his shoulder. That's why I have to kill you.

He made a cut with the blade, which Salgo battered down at an angle with a rod picked up hurriedly from a pile of scrap metal. Thino'pai attacked him again, this time with a dagger from above and was again parried with metal held with both hands. Feeling humiliated, Yakijan had no doubt that the mean Avor was playing with him, putting a fraction of his strength into the blows.

You're fast despite your wounds, commented Thino'pai without appreciation. His leberiks hung sadly nearby, as if it had entered a dormant state. But still too weak.

They both glanced at the artifact, whose condition had changed dramatically. Moving inside like panicked, bioluminescent protozoa, the essence was now yellow and turning white.

The enemies looked at each other. Curious, Thino'pai knocked the Yakijan over with a sweeping kick and moved toward the object.

A rushing weight hit him from the right - it was Chunki, all alive, albeit dirty, who reached her commander and did the only thing that came to mind. She managed to throw the Avor off balance and they both collapsed to the ground. Through a hole in the wall, the last two survivors of the Yakijan squad, including Jeuhiwa, got inside and managed to escape from the varoth gathering from the ruins.

Jeuhiwa, along with Chunki, who had managed to slide off Thino'pai, began firing at close range at the Avor. They succeeded to wound him heavily. The last of the newcomers attacked the leberiks, in response to his constant rifle fire.

The artifact began to glow with an intense white light. Thinking, that he had found an explosive charge in the ruins of an ancient civilization under permanent quarantine and that a powerful detonation was about to take place, Salgo crawled to the object. He grabbed it, extending his sore arm.

As he turned on his back, he saw that the Thino'pai, smeared with his own and other's blood, had managed to knock down two of his comrades, and the last one was just falling under the fire of the leberiks.

Salgo stood up. Shouting, he swung and threw the object at the Avor.

Thino'pai caught it reflexively. He stared at it. Fascinated, he could sense the heat beating from it, as well as the immense, unknown power.

A quasi-microsupernova explosion knocked Salgo back many steps and hurled him to the ground. Miraculously, he avoided impaling himself on a protruding piece of the ship. The phenomenon lasted barely a moment, then came a neurotic calm. The world seemed to be dying amidst the fire, its sizzle and smoke.

Leberiks and Thino'pai disappeared or evaporated. At the spot where they had been moments earlier, a large, hissing, glowing crater was yawning, as if a comet had fallen from the sky.

Salgo, with an overwhelming sense of relief, noticed that his comrades, scattered on the edges of the depression, were moving. He almost laughed when he saw the look on the face of a puzzled Chunki, who rose up on her elbows, looking first at the crater, then at him.

Whatever had happened had killed one of the invader's strongest, cruelest commanders, and that was all that mattered now. Salgo could allow himself to lose consciousness and get at least some due rest, which he did.

1. The girl from Zone Seven

Deeear cooompaaatriots wooork your's arse oooff! Deeear cooompaaatriots wooork your's arse oooff!

Hanako Sahara squirmed as she heard the regular rumbling of her feet against the floor made of a synthetic imitation wood called kamakuni. She opened her eyes and glanced at the clock that had a cat-shaped case. Fortunately, there was no tragedy; Fuhito had woken her up several minutes ahead of the time. Drowsy, supporting herself with her hand, she raised herself to a semireclining position.

What's wrong with you?

she said to her six-year-old brother. Who taught you such words?

This is the censored version anyway.

In general, is it nice to enter a lady's room like that without knocking?

Dad said that you're no lady at all, he replied feistily, already prepared to escape.

Hanako jumped off the mattress, at which point the boy, half squealing, half laughing, ran out of the room into the hallway. She slid the door behind him, also made of kamakuni, which was mostly the building material of the Sahara family's two-story, multi-generational house.

A little irritated, she adjusted her short-sleeved pajamas. She returned to the mattress to contemplate the alarm clock for a while. Once she had turned it off with a verbal command, she got up again and went out to the small terrace - one of several adjacent to the house. It overlooked most of the town of Sutafochun, whose name meant Star Fortune.

Calcaris, where Hanako lived, was one of fifteen planets orbiting a star marked A1. Despite the fact that A1 belonged to an optically triple yellow dwarf system, Calcaris' diurnal cycles looked similar to those on Earth, where most of its inhabitants came from. In the past, worlds or moons were selected for colonization based on their similarity to the Blue Planet, especially in terms of crustal density, globe size and gravity. The idea was to make people feel as comfortable as possible on them, according to evolutionary norms.

It was early morning in Sutafochun, very charming. The town was built in a natural depression of the land and was shaped like a gentle funnel. In the past, its colloquial name 'Sarlacc's Maw' had been adopted, but no one now had any idea what it actually meant. The height of the tapering cone was more than two hundred meters, and it was divided into residential and utility terraces. The individual rings were united by paths, bridges or footbridges, which was picturesquely combined with cascades, ponds and lush vegetation. If someone didn't want to walk around Sutafochun, he could use the aerial streetcar. Compositions of stone sculptures or individual statues, mostly of good demons and smiling animals, with cats and pandas dominating, were set up at each pond. The fading twilight was dispersed by spherical Chinese lanterns and solar crystals. At the base of the town was a recreational lake, where one could also swim. Next to the houses, on separate patches of gardens, stood chinoiserie-style gazebos-capels. Generally, the slightly eclectic, mostly homoethnic Sutafochun, where about three thousand people, mostly Asians, lived, could be said to be multicolored, fabulous and full of detail. Hanako personally preferred the old-fashioned term: kawaii, the place even seemed a bit childish to her, nevertheless she liked Star Fortune. On Calcaris, the population was concentrated in larger communities, separated by wastelands that could be traversed quickly by aerial routes. That is, quite unlike on Teichas, the moon of the planet Calcaris known as the Land of Gangsters, where self-sufficient, solitary residences, mostly of wealthy criminals, prevailed.

Meanwhile, on the plain surrounding the township stuck, like a wart on smooth skin, a nasty rabbit warren. Institutions, an airstrip, service facilities and a Myanmar leisure garden were also located there.

Sutafochun was famous for breeding pearl rabbits, whose skin resembled iridescent beads of pearls in the light, although to Hanako it looked rather sleazily like a reptile's. The import raw material was primarily the valuable fur of these genetic modifiers, obtained as from sheep. Two-thirds of the residents applied themselves to this business.

Having gazed at the residents unhurriedly getting ready for their daily activities, Hanako took another look at one of the pink-colored moons before returning to the room. The satellites had numerical designations compounded with the first letters of the globe's name, that is, from Cal-1 to Cal-5. Except for the stripy, blue-gray Cal-3, on which, thanks to its greater gravity, it was decided to set up a spaceport from which courses were set off over a distance of hundreds of light years, the rest of the moons were small.

The girl managed to get hold of a free bathroom. After doing all the toileting activities, topped off by slipping a pin with a homemade flower in her hair, she went down to the ground floor.

Good morning, Hanako, a one hundred and twenty years old Misaki, already in a two-piece employee uniform with a rabbit shop logo, greeted her.

Hi, grandma. The girl kissed her on the cheek.

How was your night? Well-rested? Misaki asked cheerfully; her good mood practically always accompanied her. She was the mother of Riku, Hanako's father. According to the custom in more traditional homes, it was the wife who moved in to her husband's family. This was also the case with Hanako's mother, Shuang. Her parents thus lived separately.

I had a beautiful dream. But a some animal destroyed its best-looking episode. Hanako looked at Fuhita, eating rice with apples and yesterday's futomaki, with a sinister-like gaze.

Didn't you manage to kiss Hiroshi on the lips? burst out the boy with a full mouth.

The girl made a wry face at the sound of that name. Leaning her seat against the countertop, she reached for the cocktail prepared by Misaki, containing all the necessary ingredients to start the day. She stroked the black and white ferret that walked across the table and began pressing its muzzle between her side and shoulder.

And is it possible to kiss something other than the mouth? she teased him.

Well, it is possible, for example in the a...

Okay, better keep quiet.

Well, arms can be kissed. And what were you thinking?

Don't talk with your mouth full, you'll get the hiccups again. And don't say stupid things about Hiroshi. Hanako took a sip of slush as thick as yogurt. She looked reproachfully at her grandmother, who, giggling under her breath, was preparing a meal for the still-sleeping household members who were going to the afternoon shift. Sutafochun was home to citizens who valued tradition and diligence. The help of robots or androids was used in part, while the basic income, which a citizen of the planet is entitled to for the mere fact of being born, was not collected by anyone here. The girl soaked her countenance in sarcasm before looking at Fuhita again. How is the homework for today, done? She bite back with tongue in cheek.

The boy made a face and took care of his breakfast.

Education of children and youth by Calcarian standards was carried out in several ways. According to planetary statute (each globe had separate laws), a child could be injected permanently into the frontal lobe with an entraser - a bionic device invented by the rebels, later adopted and perfected by the Kiritian military nation. Oders, that is ordinary people who are not Kiritians, had access to a basic version, which proved sufficient for their needs. Entraser transferred the required dose of knowledge to the student's brain each year, according to the curriculum. The process took a few minutes and in most cases was harmless to the body, as was the entraser itself implanted in the head. Those who, for various reasons, did not want to install a bionosaurus for their children, for example, because they feared complications or surveillance, could educate them in the traditional way, by sending them to school or arranging for remote learning. Fuhito had a headache from the entraser, moreover, a cyst had formed around it and it needed to be removed. So he went to a local school. Meanwhile, being at the high school level, seventeen-year-old Hanako enriched herself with a statutory dose of knowledge every year. She often cut her brother off in terms of the entraser when he began to tease her.

That's enough, said Misaki. She took the ferret, which was picking at her salad, off the table and set it on the floor. I'm going by transporter today to get a supply of food, we have the first course to orbit. Would you like me to drive you to the factory, Hanako? It will be faster than by orbus.

I'd be very happy to, thank you. The girl finalized her breakfast with a cup of cranberry juice. I'll just clean up the room some more.

Wrap it up and meet me in half an hour at hall three, because I have to get going.

When Hanako was ready to leave, she almost ran into Riku, who had just woken up and was walking toward the kitchen, rubbing his forehead. They measured each other's eyes for a moment."

Good morning, father. The girl bowed her head slightly in greeting, which came off as overly official.

Riku murmured something indistinctly and headed toward the food refrigerator. Hanako led him away with her eyes, then left the house.

After a quarter of an hour, she was already at a sizable airstrip near the rabbit house. The entire local industry involved the existence of a large logistical infrastructure, from the rabbit enclosure itself, open and indoor, to transportation, a research center, selection center, veterinary center, embryo house, break rooms for those off-planet, tannery and other institutions directly and indirectly related to breeding.

Hanako started working here last year. Since human life had long since become heavily automated (although many people still perforce lived a traditional existence, especially at home), and the role of humans was mainly limited to controlling diagnostic and industrial processes, a simple occupation with high safety standards maintained, the work had been legally permitted for fifteen years. Before she started, Hanako helped around the house, but then she wanted nothing to do with rabbits, which became a source of conflict with her father. After all, the entire family besides her worked in the local industry. However, the girl had a solid reason to stay away from these seemingly cute, harmless animals.

When she was a young girl, one evening there was a security malfunction at the facility and a full house of rabbits, seeing well after dark, scattered around the neighborhood. A couple came into the houses through terraces that were opened for the night. An adult animal could reach a weight of sixty kilograms. One such giant flew onto the mattress in Hanako's room and pressed against her face, from which she began to suffocate. She was too weak to knock off such a weight, which did not deign to move. On the lowest shelf of the dresser was a knife that Shuang's mother had used in the evening to cut fruit, and perhaps she had forgotten to take it. The silent cry only intensified the need for air, but the girl, even in desperation, did not dare to reach for the blade and stab the animal. Due to oxygen debt, she began to have hallucinations, seeing the rabbit as a horrifying demon with glowing red eyes, swelling so fast that its entire body filled her room, pushing out the last precious cubic millimeters of air. She remembered vividly its large, imagination-enhanced foretooths moving toward her throat...

None of the household members staying in the house at the time, chatting merrily and loudly, had any idea of the drama taking place behind the door of the children's room. Hanako survived only because the rabbit eventually decided to go exploring elsewhere.

From then on, she was afraid of these lagomorphs, she hated them. Often at the mere thought of them, she could smell the gross, heavy musky odor, the warmth of their scampering bodies associated with the dangerously hot sun. Situated on the sides of the head, the arched eyes resembled the blinds of a monster, seeing everything going on around it. Every detail of her life. As a teenager, Hanako refused to work in a rabbit shop, as well as neurological interference with her memory, to get rid of childhood trauma. Riku, her strongly conservative, neurotic father, who was ready to ask for help from the Kiritians to get the procedure done perfectly, eventually relented and had the girl instead work at a bar-restaurant on the orbital station, so that she could at least learn how to prepare meals for her future husband and children there. Of course she was upset that Riku was trying to set up her life. At first she actually worked at the Sky Calcaris - only because she liked the vibe of the place - but then, to spite her father, she went to the factory for a position as an industrial process controller, where there were too many handsome white young men for Riku's taste. Not to mention the rebels and 'bad pennies' from low social stratum hanging around. The Kiritians have so far failed to subdue Calcaris, which was unofficially linked to the rebels. Hanako didn't understand why, she only knew that the Immortals, thanks to their advanced technology, would have conquered the planet in 24 hours if they had wanted to. She supposed that the missing link in understanding this precedent was precisely the rebels.

Hi, Hanako! Jack Schwartzberg called out to her warmly, waving his hand. As usual, he wore a dirty workshop drill. He was something of a handyman at Sutafochun, although officially he kept an eye on the technical aspect of the rabbit shop. If anyone had any problem with equipment, they turned to Jack with it, whether it was a breakage with a skulak - an anti-gravity flying vehicle resembling a motorcycle without wheels - or someone's food composition machine screwed up. The young man was from northern Europe on planet Earth, as indicated by his fair complexion, blue eyes and blond hair.

The girl smiled and waved him off. The medical analyst Nathan Nakalski, an olive-skinned Indian who usually puts his long black hair in a braid, also nodded to her in courtesy.

Hanako received a message from Misaki on the holonote - a personal assistant - that she was free to board the transporter now. The food was not produced locally; it had to be brought from the other hemisphere of the planet, where there were grain plantations on the soil that had been most fertilized in the terraforming process. The girl climbed the airlock gangway to the hangar, walked down a short corridor and took a seat in the cockpit among the group of seven. Her grandmother was one of the two pilots.

The carrier rose vertically, pointed its bow toward the sky and began to pick up speed. Slumped in her seat, Hanako, seated in the corner by the shield, watched the dwindling enclave of Sutafochun, which appeared to be a bustling center, but only from the level of higher clouds could it be seen that it was barely a tiny wound on the planet's body. Calcaris, as a fully sterraformed globe, consisted of agglomeration zones. The one with the rabbit farm was number seven. It included the poorly developed areas to the west of Sutafochun, while to the east stretched the thousand-kilometer-wide Colonist Forest with flora characteristic of Earth's temperate zone mixed with subtropical, though it was mostly modifiers. For Hanako, this particular forest was a favorite retreat from noisy, crowded Sutafochun. The seven also included other villages located on the border with the forest, such as Tikimo.

Half an hour later, the girl was already on the spot. She got off together with the two passengers who had been lifted. As a child, she wondered why there were such stations orbiting around planets or moons, when there was a risk that they might fall on people's heads, and it must cost a lot to maintain them. She later learned that the idea was to have a better opportunity for takeoffs and arrivals (at least for the Oders, since the Kiritians, with the propulsion systems of their ships and crafts, didn't make a difference), and that simply maintaining the facilities on a large, mobile platform was proving to be cost-effective.

The station had a ring structure, with the largest platform, three kilometers in diameter, serving as a landing pad. Inside the spherical bubble generated by the network of external heads, air and convenient pressure were maintained. Artificial gravity, in turn, was generated by atoplax particles, an invention of the famous Kiritian scientist Maximus Figam. A large concentration of them produced a hyper-heavy mass of small volume, such as the size of a fist, and the protective umbrella of other-dimensional properties stretched around them ensured that the atocula did not reach a mass comparable to that of the planet. Indeed, the shield completely altered the perceived properties of such a realistically hyper-heavy sphere in the external environment, making people feel that there was gravity under their feet, as if they were walking on an Earth-type globe - or something like that. Hanako's brain usually blew out the other side when dissecting the issue of gravity on shuttles or space stations, so she preferred to limit herself to thinking that it worked and there was no need to drone on about it. To her, as a simple Oder, such knowledge was not necessary.

Having greeted a few acquaintances she met, she headed to the gates of the factory where household machinery components were manufactured. The android at the gate scanned her pass, after which Hanako walked through the lobby to the staff room to change. She looked in the mirror at the reflection of a girl one meter sixty-five centimeters tall, with shoulder-length black hair draped over her ears, hazel eyes, a petite figure and facial features. As for her, the latter were bland, too girly. She put on a mahogany work apron and headed for the hall.

For the mental and health comfort of the workers, a maximum working time of six hours was established long ago. Those who wanted it could work longer at their own risk, but forcing by the foreman was forbidden.

In the distant past, when automation-linked artificial intelligence had become so advanced that it could take the place of humans in any occupation, a test was conducted on a control group of a million people, with subgroups divided according to various parameters. These people did not have to work at all, and received a civic income generated by machine labor, enough to provide all their needs, as well as a not too exorbitant amount of entertainment. The test, which lasted several years, ended in total disaster. Its participants became lazy, got fat, did not want to have offspring, their ambitions declined. Selfishness intensified, they stopped caring about the affairs of the Zodiac Universe, any form of entertainment quickly brought boredom, few played sports or pursued their hobbies with passion. When such a person was asked what the purpose of his life was, he merely shrugged. Then, based on research, the most convenient social model was established - the cooperation of people and machines, where the latter were expected to do work that meant loss of health or life for humans. Services where the human factor predominated were more expensive.

In the factory where Hanako was employed, the work was done by machines, with humans doing maintenance, repair or inspection. The girl's job was to scan assigned, already-prepared products and analyze them in the successor to the computer capripod to see if something was a millimeter too curved or a gram too heavy. In addition, she strolled the aisles of the hall, checking the displayed parameters of the working equipment. These were not exhausting activities, although monotonous, so six hours of work fitted Hanko perfectly.

Nothing interesting happened during her shift. She only grimaced in spirit when the foreman told the team that they would have a paid week off due to overproduction of goods in several departments.

As the quitting time approached, Sahara, who was at the end of one of the alleys, made a stealthy tactical retreat at the sight of Hiroshi Sakai. Unluckily, a few months ago he too had been employed at this factory, having left the rabbit factory. He was accused of being involved in the theft of animal parts, each having a value of thirty grams of painite, a mineral established by Kiritains as the most valuable raw material. At such a price, a pretty decent skulak could be purchased. The missing livestock was never found, nor was the evidence incriminating Hiroshi, but due to his position as a security specialist, the blame was placed on his shoulders. This seemed strange to the girl, for why would a young man belonging to one of the richest families in Sutafochun commit theft? Nevertheless, the animals in the evening were still there, and during the night they vanished into thin air. Hiro may indeed have been involved in the incident, although the rabbits themselves were smuggled out by someone else. In any case, the stink stayed and, at his father's insistence, the boy changed his place of work until the matter was cleared up, or at worst, forgotten.

Hiro didn't notice her, standing turned sideways and busy talking to a man Hanako was seeing for the first time. It's possible he was explaining something to a new employee, showing issues on a holonote projection. Sakai worked in an adjacent department; the girl had already made an effort to have shifts at a time different from his. But it sometimes happened that he came in early. That's why she sometimes seriously considered whether 'Sky Calcaris' might not have been a better option after all, but that would have meant losing a latent altercation with Riku.

Sahara liked the station's largest bar-restaurant. She had to wait more than two hours from the end of work until the arrival of the orbus running to the 'Rabbit House' port. Orbital buses had irregular flight times, depending on the station's location relative to the planet, but deviations from the average were slight. Sahara's a free periods were always eagerly spent in the 'Sky Calcaris', so even a longer break suited her.

The facility was decorated in a state-of-the-art style, with ubiquitous metal, reminiscent more of the interior of a Kiritian ship than a restaurant. Excluding the cleaning robots, service was exclusively human. On the sides of the vast dining room were distinctive smoke balls, activated at the counter. When the facility was used as an entertainment space, for example for a corporate event, colorful, non-toxic smoke of the desired intensity was sometimes released from the spheres, which could linger in the room subtly like stimulant fumes, or so thickly that it was impossible to see the palm of an upright hand. The owner of the 'Sky Calcaris' was a middle-aged extrovert from Greece named Eremon. He looked more like a brash official with neatly combed hair than the stereotypical cook with surplus of weight, but unlike many bureaucrats he had a warm-hearted attitude. He took care of his own business, didn't smart off, and had nothing against anyone, so he didn't have any enemies either. Sometimes he was involved in small-scale smuggling, usually of Kiritian articles, as Hanako found out when she worked for him. She did not interfere in matters that were not her own, and was able to keep secrets. She herself once acquired some fine goods in such a transaction.

Today Eremon personally prepared and served her dinner: a rice dish and black soybean tea.

The girl sat against the wall, from where she had a view of the entire room. She already recognized many of the regulars who, like her, stopped here while on the road or waiting for transportation. She noticed a middle-aged couple running a boutique in the station's upper ring, as well as other local entrepreneurs coming to the 'Sky Calcaris' for good meals, the selection of which was vast due to the multicultural customers. On the other side of the room sat a heavily built, pale Kiritian with a stony face. He spread such a somber aura around him that not even flies seemed to sit at the nearest tables. Wearing light armor, the Immortal was busy with his PDA, the better equivalent of an Oders holonote; on the tabletop stood a generously plated bowl of an already cooled meal and a mug of beer.

Hanako had several occasions to observe the Kiritian eating the entire contents of his plate, but he was terribly poked along with it, focused on his own affairs, clearly not paying attention to his surroundings. He visited the station in passing. He was here alone as a member of the hated hegemon nation - only twice had Hanako seen him with a group of comrades - especially in an area of rebel activity, against all odds, was not recklessness on his part. If someone had hurt or shot this Kiritian, the entire station could have turned into stardust, hit by a long-range missile from the Immortals' ship. Those would not likely have bothered to check who was at fault. The opposition and Kiritians had not fought battles with each other for decades, but the tension between them, which had been perpetuated for centuries, had not lessened. They were like dogs separated after a fight, escorted to corners of the garden. They kept growling, demonstrating their teeth, saliva dripped from their mouths, their ears lay on their skulls. All it took was an inappropriate gesture from one of them, a little provocation, and the fight would flare up again.

The bar-restaurant was also visited by the rebels as well, mostly the same group of frolic young men in their thirties. They usually came to drink, and behaved loudly enough, as if they liked being the center of attention. Today there were five of them, including one newcomer. Hanako did not associate the new man, but as soon as she glanced at him in passing, she could no longer take her eyes off him. He was wearing, like the rest of his companions, a gray-silver flight suit that accentuated his medium-sized physique. His light complexion matched perfectly with his brown hair, luxuriant and fluffy to the point of wanting to comb his fingers through it. The features of his face, which showed several days of facial hair, indicated his European origin. His mouth practically never closed, he laughed a lot and seemed to be a social butterfly. He stood up for a moment to warn the waitress and go get another order; he appeared to be quite tall. Overall, he was compellingly handsome.

As he returned with the decanter and plate, he caught Hanako staring at him like a child at a dream toy in a store. When he smiled sympathetically at her, she abashedly shifted her gaze to the fuzzy mess of her rice. She felt like slapping herself in the face.

Christian Sandstorm. She shuddered when Eremon appeared next to her with dessert. His suggestive satisfaction made her even more tense. Forget it.

She had a pineapple cookie in front of her and could at least focus her attention on it. Unfortunately, that didn't work, because Eremon moved away, not deigning to announce what was wrong with Christian. She propped her head up, placing her hand so that her fingers obscured her view of the handsome rebel.

She couldn't stand it, and half a cookie later she moved her hand to peek more boldly toward the center table. Apparently, she must have caught Christian's eye, because after a few seconds he too looked at her. He happened to have a serious expression on his face, which immediately vanished in favor of a charming smile. Intended for her! This time Hanako didn't react like a frightened virgin... which indeed she was, she just subtly returned the smile. Christian raised his glass as if for a toast, took a drink and from now on focused solely on his laughing companions.

The company soon got drunk more, their words and laughter began to disturb the guests. Before there were any major arguments, the rebels left the premises.

Not knowing why she was actually doing so, Hanako left immediately after them. She followed the men with her eyes, heading for the air shaft leading to the lower ring of the airstrip.

After a while, they flew off with five fighters toward the depths of space.

Soon the orbus appeared; almost all the seats were occupied.

***

In the evening, a bread festival began in Sutafochun, which was to last until morning. On kamakuni platforms spread around the lake, also in small squares in the higher parts of the town and areas near the offices stood many tables with various types of bread, from the classic to the most fancy. In general, the festivities - and many similar ones were held throughout the year - made the already quiet existence of the residents more pleasant. It was possible to meet en masse, talk accompanied by music, eat delicacies, dance, and take part in contests. There were more lights and people than usual, as people from other villages in the zone seven, including those outside the zone, came to Sutafochun. The lanterns set up everywhere, both stationary and free-flying, could compete with the star-narrowed sky, where two yellow dwarfs looked particularly bright.

Hanako and Lan, a Chinese friend a year older than her, settled on a bench near the edge of the upper ring, from where they had a view of the entire Sutafochun. The spreading heat from the side of the funnel could be clearly felt. The girls weren't too interested in the festivities, glancing in passing at the people playing mainly to check that no one was approaching.

Lan, who almost had flushes on her face, was telling a story not too syntactically:

"Once Nathan and I were lying like that next to each other after everything, I felt... I don't know how to describe it... immense power boosted by happiness?

I had the impression that I was much stronger. Someone important. At first I was terribly afraid, having heard all sorts of strange things about the first time, but once I experienced it myself, all fear completely disappeared! There was absolutely nothing to be afraid of. Most of the stories turned out to be nonsense, but it is well known that people make things up to scare the uninitiated or to prove themselves."

So, are you saying it was wonderful? Hanako didn't come up with a sharper comment.

Absolutely! I envy you that you still have everything ahead of you.

Shut up! She smiled, scratching an itchy spot near her nose. I'm not in a hurry.

And how do you get along with Hiroshi? Lan asked too boldly.

Hanako snorted a peal of laughter.

We aren't together, have not been and never will be. He used to belong to our gang, but I never liked him, although I tried to be tolerant. My stupid brother accidentally saw Hiro hitting on me twice, but he no longer witnessed me brushing him off. That's why he started telling people these bullshit stories that he's my boyfriend. I hate Hiro, in addition, he is not my type. He began to be interested in me so suddenly, which makes no sense at all.

You can't help who you fall in love with, dear. It is guided by the rules of chaos.

Hey!

Lan took a sip of wine straight from the bottle; the girls brought a bottle from the festival.

Nearby, a black limer, nervously wagging its tail, began barking at the departing shuttle.

Never say never, said Lan philosophically. What is your type, anyway? Probably a stocky redhead in cool armor, many times older than you?

Lan has rarely met Hanako for a chat lately. The two of them and the other kids used to be a close-knit gang, with one of their favorite activities being trips to the Colonist Forest. Aside from injuries, nothing threatened them there, for