New Contract (Perimeter Defense Book #3) Read Online Free
Author: Michael Atamanov
damned! My thoughts started to get mixed up. The questions that seemed important just a minute earlier, now had utterly no purpose. Perimeter Defense is a future technology development simulator... Well, alright. Though it was hard to believe, it did explain a lot.
"And can I bring my own body into the game?" I wondered.
Miya's eyebrows curved inward in surprise and her lips puckered in dismay.
"A strange question, Ruslan. You have seriously let me down. You already know the answer to it. That would be impossible for a large number of reasons. How can you possibly imagine bringing a physical body into a computer game? It would be impossible to add even a single material object to the virtual world. Just as it would be impossible to remove anything material from Perimeter Defense . Only thoughts, minds, and knowledge. That thing there," she said, pointing at the box, "is nothing more than a Chinese souvenir. A plastic pearl. Georgiy saw it at a stand in the mall and bought it for me, because it really does look like the in-game object. I did give it some embellishments as well, of course. Perimeter Defense is used, among other things, for discovering and training people with latent psionic abilities. After many years of training, I learned to use these skills not only in the virtual world, but outside of it as well."
Despite all my skepticism, I couldn't find any inconsistencies in the Truth Seeker's words. Although... I pointed to the two twins at the neighboring table.
"And who plays the nonhuman races and the Aliens? Why did they understand when I spoke Ravaash?"
Miya shook her head in reproach:
"Ruslan, that's no fair. You've already asked all three questions. Let's try to stay within the rules, as we agreed. I answered your three questions. I'm sure you'll find answers to the rest sooner or later. For now, I need a complete list of contract terms from you. Here's a pencil and a sheet of paper from my notebook. I'll give you a couple of minutes. I need to go figure out why my companion is taking so long."
The red-headed beauty retrieved a miniscule cell phone inlaid with large shiny crystals, maybe even real gemstones, from her small purse and left the noisy room into the stairwell. My gaze was involuntarily drawn to the leather purse she had left behind. There was probably a ton of interesting stuff inside, maybe even some secret inventions that would cast some light on what was going on... But I shook my head, chasing off the criminal thoughts, and took the pencil. So, what do I want?
Miya came back seven minutes later when my list of demands was already practically finished. The woman stood motionless for a few seconds, staring vacantly somewhere past me, then forcefully hurled her phone onto the floor. It broke into a great many pieces, and the precious stones scattered around the floor. You didn't have to be a genius to figure out that she was very upset, and even enraged. I wonder who could have brought the Truth Seeker to such a state of white-hot fury?
"Mr. G.I. won't be coming to the meeting," Miya told me, somewhat coming back to her senses. "It seems that he, at the very last moment, had a change of heart and said that he doesn't want to meet with you personally because he suspects you might not be very happy to see him. What an egotistical narcissist!"
I could have been wrong, but it seemed I saw a deceitful glint in her teary eyes.
"Alright, Ruslan, seeing how Georgiy left me on the hook like this, I don't have any more reason to protect him. Yes, you're right. Georgiy was occupying your body the whole time you were playing Perimeter Defense . Don't act so surprised. One of the reasons the game was made was to improve human-consciousness-transfer technology. It can be done either via special machine, or by strong human psionics like myself and Mr. G.I. If only you knew, Ruslan, how hard it will be for me to carry everything by myself... If only I had the strength... There's no time. We're seriously
"And can I bring my own body into the game?" I wondered.
Miya's eyebrows curved inward in surprise and her lips puckered in dismay.
"A strange question, Ruslan. You have seriously let me down. You already know the answer to it. That would be impossible for a large number of reasons. How can you possibly imagine bringing a physical body into a computer game? It would be impossible to add even a single material object to the virtual world. Just as it would be impossible to remove anything material from Perimeter Defense . Only thoughts, minds, and knowledge. That thing there," she said, pointing at the box, "is nothing more than a Chinese souvenir. A plastic pearl. Georgiy saw it at a stand in the mall and bought it for me, because it really does look like the in-game object. I did give it some embellishments as well, of course. Perimeter Defense is used, among other things, for discovering and training people with latent psionic abilities. After many years of training, I learned to use these skills not only in the virtual world, but outside of it as well."
Despite all my skepticism, I couldn't find any inconsistencies in the Truth Seeker's words. Although... I pointed to the two twins at the neighboring table.
"And who plays the nonhuman races and the Aliens? Why did they understand when I spoke Ravaash?"
Miya shook her head in reproach:
"Ruslan, that's no fair. You've already asked all three questions. Let's try to stay within the rules, as we agreed. I answered your three questions. I'm sure you'll find answers to the rest sooner or later. For now, I need a complete list of contract terms from you. Here's a pencil and a sheet of paper from my notebook. I'll give you a couple of minutes. I need to go figure out why my companion is taking so long."
The red-headed beauty retrieved a miniscule cell phone inlaid with large shiny crystals, maybe even real gemstones, from her small purse and left the noisy room into the stairwell. My gaze was involuntarily drawn to the leather purse she had left behind. There was probably a ton of interesting stuff inside, maybe even some secret inventions that would cast some light on what was going on... But I shook my head, chasing off the criminal thoughts, and took the pencil. So, what do I want?
Miya came back seven minutes later when my list of demands was already practically finished. The woman stood motionless for a few seconds, staring vacantly somewhere past me, then forcefully hurled her phone onto the floor. It broke into a great many pieces, and the precious stones scattered around the floor. You didn't have to be a genius to figure out that she was very upset, and even enraged. I wonder who could have brought the Truth Seeker to such a state of white-hot fury?
"Mr. G.I. won't be coming to the meeting," Miya told me, somewhat coming back to her senses. "It seems that he, at the very last moment, had a change of heart and said that he doesn't want to meet with you personally because he suspects you might not be very happy to see him. What an egotistical narcissist!"
I could have been wrong, but it seemed I saw a deceitful glint in her teary eyes.
"Alright, Ruslan, seeing how Georgiy left me on the hook like this, I don't have any more reason to protect him. Yes, you're right. Georgiy was occupying your body the whole time you were playing Perimeter Defense . Don't act so surprised. One of the reasons the game was made was to improve human-consciousness-transfer technology. It can be done either via special machine, or by strong human psionics like myself and Mr. G.I. If only you knew, Ruslan, how hard it will be for me to carry everything by myself... If only I had the strength... There's no time. We're seriously
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