LITMIR.BIZ

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power, that he will do something unpredictable. There must be a body that can react instantly to the situation. Do you understand?

      – You mean the possession of state secrets and the command system of strategic nuclear forces?

      – Everyone! You know very well that all changes happen by preliminary miscalculation – in documents, legislation, foreign and domestic policy, even school education programs.

      Rutra understood what he was saying. A person saw society and its condition from his own position, and the system saw everything as a whole at once, knew even more than everyone knew about himself. All the data were entered into a special program "Mosaic", and it calculated possible variants of development of society, a particular situation, a person, etc. Then, in order to achieve the desired result, one or another impact was made. The calculation process consisted of three stages. The first was a miscalculation for the next 25 years, the second – for 75-100 years, the third – completely classified, there were rumors that the calculation was made for a thousand years ahead. To the average person it would seem incredible and even ridiculous, but nevertheless – such things happened. Ruthra was only allowed to the first stage, but even that was sometimes shocking. And how can you not be surprised when you know that an event is going to be presented as if it were a fait accompli. Nothing happens by accident, everything goes according to a script. What struck him was that someone was handing over power as a baton, otherwise – how could one plan for hundreds of years ahead. Here he began to understand – who carries it out and how. Up there, the "F" department was in charge of forecasting. Apparently, Vasilyevich had talked about this situation, saying that if he passed the exam, he would be admitted to all departments.

      – All right. I'd like to know what's next. What am I going to do, what am I going to learn here? – Ruthra asked.

      – The first step is you have to become a different person.

      – How? What kind of person?

      – You must learn to turn into a double of the person who will be easier for our colleagues to understand.

      – What does that mean?

      – There is a kind of "Super Spy" system. After secretly eliminating, for example, the head of the FBI, you are a trained person who has already adopted his appearance beforehand, but inside you are still yourself. You have to become a person who could look like the right person, but with your brain. Enhanced, though.

      Ruthra couldn't believe his ears.

      – I'm sorry, that's crazy, what doppelganger? What about my family? I'm not gonna change anything.

      – First of all, calm down. Everything is pre-planned, as you've already realized. We don't want any failures, and if we're wrong about you, Vasilievich will be punished. If you don't want to change outwardly, there's a more complicated option. You have to change internally, and most importantly, in your head. It will be of special value, to protect it – you need to pass the first stage. In this phase, you will be a field soldier. Welcome to the arena. Goodbye," Yarovitovich said and pointed with his palm in the direction of the door, which automatically opened.

      The doppelganger entered, exchanged a glance with Jarovitovich, then looked at Rutra.

      – Please, let's go.

      Ruthra realized the situation was not in his favor, there was nothing to do, he had to obey. "What is an arena, will I really have to fight someone?" – he thought. It wasn't in his plans, so resentment overcame him.

      – Who do you answer to?

      – He will explain everything to you, and now – please, – said the master of the office, pointing at the double.

      There was nothing to do, so Ruthra stepped out into the corridor with his copy. After wandering through the labyrinth for a while, they stopped, and the duplicate said into the wall, "We're ready. The doors swung open, a huge gymnasium-like area appeared. The doppelganger turned on the television.

      – Look and get dressed. Hurry up. You don't have much time, they're waiting.

      – What should I wear? Who's waiting? – Ruthra asked with obvious concern.

      Footage of the brutal murders appeared on the screen. A man in a camouflaged uniform with a knife alternately cut off the heads of the men, who were bound and laid on the rails. The victims begged for mercy, but the executioner slit their throats in cold blood and slowly. Ruthra looked at the doppelganger, who glanced at the uniforms and combat equipment of the Special Forces fighters. There were different weapons to choose from. Ruthra looked at his copy again, this time he pointed toward the center of the hall. The room was divided into two parts by a special laser grid, behind which stood several men in combat gear.

      – They will soon begin to defend, or even attack! While they can't see you, hurry! – warned the doppelganger.

      A shiver ran through Ruthra's body, as if he were scalded. He could feel the breath of death. He wanted to scream, to be outraged that they had no right to control his fate, but he knew there was no chance. "What to do?" – he thought. There was nowhere to run. By accepting the fight, he had a chance to survive, after all, he wasn't invited here just to watch a gladiatorial duel. So the organizers were on his side. He rushed to the equipment, put on a special armored vest on his bare body, which looked more like a plaster corset, quickly put on a special jumpsuit with armored pads on the legs, helmet ShU-300, connected the loop. Now he had a lot of "tricks" – night vision goggles, sensor for detecting warm-blooded objects, sensor for approaching objects, rear and top view, device for detecting poisonous gases and radiation level, communication with the central computer server, spatial orientation, forced injection in case of pressure drop and anaphylactic shock, other "assistants" (ejection of caustic paralyzing liquid, light and noise darts, etc.). From the proposed set of weapons Rutra took a gas mask, a bag for grenades and the grenades themselves (light and shrapnel grenades), a Glock 26 pistol, an ARX-160 assault rifle, an OC-14 Groza assault rifle and grenade launcher, an Akela knife, and several magazines of ammunition.

      All the while, violent scenes were shown on the screen. The last scene was the stoning of a young girl who had her hands tied behind her back. The scene was horrible: she tried to turn away, but with each blow she bled, soon began to convulse and died. Chief in organizing the execution was the woman who took turns tying the girls up and throwing the first stone. "Why am I being shown this?" – Ruthra thought. The doppelganger understood his interest:

      – You're about to meet them.

      Ruthra put his weapons on alert, deciding to start with the ARX-160. The siren wailed, the glowing grid in the middle of the room went out, the lights and television turned off. The room went completely dark. Rutra reacted instantly, silently stepped back a couple steps, ducked and prepared to shoot. Suddenly the lights came on and there were four people in the room, three men and one woman. They were in combat gear, but unarmed. A double stood between them and Rutra.

      – That's a good reaction. Do you all really think we can have a massacre here? Time's up! – shrieked the copy of Rutra.

      The four men ran to the far corner of the hall and then into the next room.

      – Go ahead, hunter, don't screw up, my future depends on you," the doppelganger said with a sneer.

      Then he walked past Ruthra and pointed at his chest, at the area of his heart. Rutra didn't quite know what that meant. It was either "take care of your heart" or "be hearty. After a few seconds, Ruthra realized that he wasn't pointing at his heart, but at his breast pocket, and something rustled strangely. Ruthra didn't have time to check what was in there, because the lights went out.

      – Hurry up, they'll get a better position now," the doppelganger said and walked out the door.

      Chapter 2: Unnatural selection

      Rutra was thinking hard about what "they'll take a better position" could mean. In any case, he had to hurry. He ran to the door where the fighters had gone.

      Behind the door was an even more enormous room with models of houses. It was a mockup of a

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