LITMIR.BIZ

      That’s it, she’s going to solve it now.

      Arina jumped up from her chair and ran around the room. As a tigress impatiently beats her tail, sensing a caretaker in a dark corridor with the key to the cage in his pocket, so she began to pinch her ears and pull the tip of her nose. The legs in her fur boots really looked like paws. Arina turned to the table and froze, again examining the thing that had been occupying her for several months.

      A cube was made of a strange metal (Pure? Or an alloy? Arina was not sure, but she did not venture to consult with colleagues). It was seventeen centimeters diagonally. She discovered it during the excavation works conducted by the chief archaeologist of the Antarctic station «Narwhal 2» Arina Sergeevna Ionova. And it immediately fascinated her. Heavy, smooth, hot if you hold it in hands for a long time, mysteriously shimmering with matte silver.

      Arina realized right away that this was a puzzle. Since then, she even forgot to eat. One by one, she deciphered the riddles of the metal cube, enjoying each one. She reminded herself of a thief with a loot. Here he is impatiently taking out thin silk dresses and designer shoes from someone else’s suitcase, sniffing expensive lace underwear, shaking out chic trinkets, but the real treasure should be at the very bottom.

      To Grieg’s «In the Hall of the Mountain King» performed by Matsuev or Kuznetsov at maximum volume, Arina brewed velvet Galapagos coffee San Cristobal Organic in her French press. When one has been working at a secret polar station for more than two years, the state does not refuse such whims as coffee of a certain kind. According to her rider contract, the most modest among the scientists and managers of Narwhal 2, she was regularly supplied with Carla Fracci perfume (removed from production 7 years ago), beans of her favorite coffee from Galapagos, several kilograms of Oryol apples for her birthday in early September, and records of new albums and concerts by the world’s best pianists. She won’t be able to listen to Matsuev live for another three years.

      Numerous parts rotated in different planes. It was like a Rubik’s cube, only much more complicated. Different shapes participated in the game: cones, octahedra, hemispheres, parallelepipeds.

      Arina was moving the pieces of the metal puzzle. Some were smooth, and some with convex engraving. The thin lines should form a pattern, like on a coin… It seems that something similar has been met in China… There were a lot of things there. But how could such a thing end up in Antarctica?! If it’s a mechanical toy, it’s very heavy. How can it be dated? Carbon analysis in the laboratory showed, of course, a lack of carbon and nothing definite: «Weak radioactivity, no health threat. The molecules of the metal under study resemble one of francium isotopes, not found on Earth.» So maybe it’s a space thing? Arina snorted and wrinkled her nose. But what a strange metal. Such an elegant piece of work… Unlike those remains of wood, that Argentine scientists found 5 years ago near today’s Narwhal 2 base. And now dug up at 39 meters depth, how to explain it? Everything will become more obvious when she assembles the message encrypted on the cube.

      She developed a logical algorithm. The work was fascinating. What will she get from this message from an ancient civilization, or aliens maybe?

      A week later, the contours of a man’s face appeared on the front side. Every day the image became clearer. What an amazing thing! Exquisite. What a pity that the station does not have a powerful X-ray device (the existing tube did not master it) nor an isotope flaw detector! If she could explore the insides of this toy. What’s in there? And what the hell is this metal?

      Draining another pot of coffee, Arina decided to cheat. Using a laser system, she took an exact copy of all the cells, entered the data into a computer program and began to set the sequences. After 5 hours, having gone through a hundred thousand options, the computer gave out a portrait.

      Arina printed out the drawing and peered into the face of a man with determined eyes. His forehead was encircled by a metal band decorated with a quatrefoil in the middle. Wavy hair reached to the shoulders. The man extended his hand and looked at Arina like a king. Powerful, majestic. She began to call the mysterious man from the portrait the King. With this clue, she completed the puzzle faster.

      Arina was trembling of the coffee and anticipation. What a godsend! She always believed that she would make an archaeological discovery… And now she is closer than ever… But first she must carefully figure out everything herself. She is a scientist, not a school girl: it’s too early to squeal with delight.

      The puzzle is almost ready. Each correctly placed detail adds pine to the wavy hair, prominence to the veins on the arm, patina of wrinkles around the eyes, relief to the metal decoration on His Majesty’s forehead.

      When Arina takes her eyes off the cube, she stares at the printed portrait and freeze. In contrast to her strange, bearded colleagues at the station, the King looks attractive and courageous. His portrait deserves to be assembled as quickly as possible! Arina rushes back to work.

      In a couple of seconds she will enjoy the long-awaited victory. To the sounds of the «Waltz of the Flowers,» Arina solemnly approches the King and, looking into his eyes, moves the last combination of the mysterious puzzle.

      Suddenly the majestic face floated like metal. Arina observed a strange transformation. It was as if tears of mercury streamed down the portrait, changing the King. The lips softened, the face rounded. The hair grew rapidly and straightened. Confused, Arina extended her hand and ran along the side edges of the cube. They grew warmer with every second, as the cheekbones were outlined, and the eyelashes swept over the large eyes with playful stitches, for some reason familiar, similar to… her. Hearing the voodoo drum of her own heart instead of Tchaikovsky, Arina looked at her portrait in amazement. There is no doubt about it! The mysterious cube showed her own image to her. It flattered her a little. It emphasized the advantages and hid the shortcomings like a professional makeup artist. But still, it’s her, Arina Ionova. Just… what the hell?!

      The girl on the cube – a rather awkward allusion to Picasso’s painting – extended her hand to Arina. The shape of the nails was also Arina’s, but the length was more ideal, beautifully grown. In bewilderment, Arina pulled out her hand and touched the image.

      Instantly an ice storm pulled and dragged her inside it, scattered piercing fragments, showered her with flashes of the northern lights, poured the ink of the polar night, turned off, one after another, the human buttons from the wires of life: hearing, vision, touch. Consciousness.