looked at the door, it opened, the attendant was waiting.
– Show our colleague out.
Ruthra thanked him, said goodbye, and left. The attendant led him down the corridors to the proper compartments. He didn't enter the bays, only introduced Ruthra and showed him his security clearance. There were many interesting things in these compartments, but not on his quest. They were mostly laboratories and testing grounds. They were similar to what he had at his proving ground, only the emphasis was mostly on flying technology, biology, and studying the effects on the brain.
After looking through most of the compartments, Ruthra realized that the difference between "Polygon" and what was here was vast. The Polygon was not known to exist, while here there could be an "outsider", albeit a "scientist", but still an outsider. Or was he wrong? Could it be that the 'Polygon' was also visited by experts from here? "Right, that's it, Alikhanov talked about something like that," Ruthra suddenly realized. – "That's right. It's closed to the uninitiated, but to a representative of Echelon 2, they're one organization. They're working on the same program together. I wonder which one?" Ruthra decided to find out, now he had special opportunities – a blockage, an accomplice in the form of a cybernetic brain with human intelligence, information not only on the entire Internet, but also on closed, secret databases.
It was obvious that Rutra had not shown everything. It became abundantly clear – the processes of chipping and rapid learning are conducted and studied in various laboratories and compartments of the test site.
When Ruthra (or rather, his "renewed" brain_ had sufficiently studied the scheme of passages and levels, he asked the attendant to leave him alone. He was glad and kindly explained how to find his way to the right place. As in Polygon, a glowing line on the wall could be turned on. You had to get close to the wall, and a series of bars on the wall would light up in directions. You had to select the line you wanted, bring the badge closer, contact the badge chip with the luminous stripe, and then it became visible to the badge. Between the badge and the wall appeared a laser line of a certain color, corresponding to the compartment, which was indicated on the scheme. The diagram was located at each fork of the corridor.
The attendant explained how to use it, then gave Ruthra a machine to communicate with him, showed him on the 3D map that was displayed on top of the pass bracelet's display where the household unit with the sleeping quarters was, and went about his business. Ruthra was free, now he had to find those doctors.
Passing through the departments here was simplified. Admission areas were pre-inscribed on a badge that was visually invisible. Instead of a pupil scan, walking up to the door was sufficient. If access was granted, the door became matte, no longer reflective; if you got a little closer, it opened.
Ruthra contacted Isa.
– What department does Dr. Rousey work in?
– She is listed under the same letterhead as Academician Alikhanov.
– What's that?
– The letter sos; is the letter used to mark persons under special control, restricted freedom of contact and movement.
– Where do I find her?
– Bimolecular Transgeniology Unit.
– Can you connect to this station's computer?
– Uh, no.
– How do you know about who and where she is?
– I was provided with information, because I work for the board, and I was loaded with information from everyone who is connected to me. Everything they see, hear, feel, think.
– Even like that?
– You and your kind are the perfect spies. Everything you see, hear, feel, think, can be transmitted over a distance, without instruments. No external instruments. Everything you need is already inside you. The brain is the perfect receiver and transmitter. You only need to be able to amplify it, chip and decode the signals.
– Okay, I'm getting tired.
Ruthra found one of the intersections, lit up the schematic with his badge, found the biomolecular transgeniology unit on it, contacted the badge with his line, and went where the laser led. He remembered that the attendant had covered his eyes with a hooded mask. Ruthra did the same, visibility changed. Through the mask everything looked in matte color, his eyes didn't hurt from the constant wandering of the image, especially when there were several people moving through the corridors.
Soon he arrived at the place. The door wouldn't open, there was no clearance.
– What to do? – He asked Isa.
– Call her," she suggested or recommended.
– How?
– Wait, they're having lunch soon, someone will come out, tell them to call. It's normal here.
Rutra did so, and soon a woman, in her early thirties, of oriental type, came out.
– I'm here to see you. May I speak to you? – Ruthra addressed her.
– Are you from Russia? – she asked with hope in her voice.
– Yes," Ruthra answered, looking at her wonderingly. – Why, can you tell? Or did you recognize it in some other way?
– No. I knew a trusted specialist was coming, a doctor from Russia studying systems that transmit information signals in unconventional ways. Let's go to the cafeteria, have lunch, and we can talk.
– Were you expecting me?
– Yeah. Come with me.
She led him down the corridors, then led him into the compartment. What Rutru saw there was another mind-blowing experience. He stopped, his brain working like a dynamo, trying to make sense of what was happening. Alikhanov's rig stood in the center of the lab. Ruzi stopped too, waiting for Rutru and perplexed, studying his reaction. He looked at the doctor and said, to explain something to himself, and to check her for "his – alien":
– The proof of the Poincaré hypothesis and Perelman's "quirks" have a long-range calculation in order to prove the genius fantasist right, which contradicts the mathematics of the universe and comes from the human desire to believe in the illogical, the miracle, which leads humanity from one disappointment to another, that is, to the catastrophe that faith itself describes, because there is no other, which in the end, if not changed, will lead to the real catastrophe of humanity.
– What? What do you mean? – Ruzi asked, looking at Ruthra questioningly, smiling as if she had heard something she didn't dare to say.
– So much for the savior being digital this time.
– That's great. Anyone who's into this stuff will understand. Everyone has their hobby. Poincaré's hypotheses and Perelman's "quirks" have a long-range calculation? Hmm. How to say. Although… these proofs are only understood by a very narrow circle. That is, even if they are wrong – no one will know! Einstein is a fantasist. It's the same with his proofs. He was kicked out of school because of his poor math skills, but he had a great imagination. He tried to explain the mystery of the universe by voicing the work of other scientists as his own, but it contradicts (his theory) Newton's physics. The one on which all physics is based. The illogical miracle is the whole of religion. A miracle is always unexplainable, therefore not logical. And religion, while promising to save man and the world, keeps predicting the apocalypse. So it is not logical, but people consider it God's grace, because they need "spiritual food". Do you believe in God?
– Purely scientific," Ruthra said, sighing.
And he thought to himself, looking at the installation, "That's what it is."
Ruzi understood Rutra's surprise.
– It's a copy. My father worked with an academic," she explained. – After they were exposed, my father managed to move to America. In the '90s, Russia was a mess. His friends, microbiologists, were mysteriously murdered, and everything was disguised as a domestic or accidental incident. When Dad realized that someone very powerful was behind it, a super-secret organization, that no one cared