LITMIR.BIZ

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about the desire to kill me. We will definitely make friends.»

      «I’d rather be best friend with that blonde in the first row than with you!» I think angrily to myself…»

      «A casual image suits you, really. And, most importantly, it gives food for thought to the blonde in the front row: how could you have come to this? And if the blonde starts to think, then it makes her a little brunette.»

      Unexpectedly, I giggle stupidly. Damn it, you can’t be angry with him for long!

      At this moment, a thin middle-aged man enters the plane. Round glasses slanted a little on his crooked nose. The rare hair is carefully combed back, evidently in a desperate and failed attempt to hide the bald spot. Despite his somewhat awkward appearance, in a strange way, he instantly disposes to himself. Perhaps the point is in the often blinking kind gray eyes. Stopping at the entrance to the salon, the man smiles uncertainly, slightly hunched over his thin shoulders, shifts from foot to foot, and finally speaks English with a pronounced Spanish accent:

      «Um, hello. My name is Jorge… that is, Joleo. Yes, Joleo is my play name.»

      Planck immediately jumps up from his seat and heartly shakes hands with the newcomer, greeting him exactly like me, as, I suppose, each participant.

      Alex leans over and whispers:

      This plane is just a bunch of characters. Here is our absent-minded botanist.

      «What character are you?» I whisper sarcastically back.

      «Isn’t it obvious? Strong, smart, kind and generous Robin Hood. I’ll take a million dollars from the rich people and give it to the poor ones!» he smiles so contagiously that I can hardly contain myself not to burst out laughing.

      «And, in my opinion, you are an ambitious, self-confident fellow!»

      «Maybe. But then the slavers will hardly be able to get a high price for me in the market.»

      Joleo walks down the aisle and apologizes every two steps. At some point, he stumbles and almost falls to the floor.

      «I’m so clumsy,» he repents in my direction, «I’m sorry.»

      For some reason, I feel sorry for this little fragile person. I’m surprised how he got into the Game with his natural shyness. Will other gamers «eat» him? Again, my bad habit of thinking about others. There can only be one winner in this game, and I should at least try to become one.

      «It’s okay, let me help,» I jump up.

      «No, no, do not worry, I can handle it.» He mumbles something and moves into the tail of the plane.

      At this point, the pilot is addressing the passengers in English with such a terrible accent that I have to make effort to understand him:

      «Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Li Cheng and I am the first pilot of our aircraft. The last passenger has just boarded, so we’re ready to take off. Please make yourself comfortable in your seats. The flight attendants will help you and give you instructions. We’re taking off in twenty minutes. The flight will last about 11 hours.»

***

      The plane taxies onto the runway and accelerates.

      «Are you kidding!» I hear Alex’s voice and see his smile stretched from ear to ear, «just don’t say you’re afraid to fly!»

      «I’m not afraid of anything, by the way, I have two parachute jumps behind my shoulders.» It’s annoyingly, how easily Alex saw my fears.

      He smiles mysteriously, generously showing dimples on his cheeks. Pawky dark eyes shine with pleasure.

      «You’re a unique person, Lavina. A kind who will fiercely fight in a bloody battle, and then weep over the body of a dead kitten. Don’t worry, statistics…»

      «I know what the statistics says,» I interrupt impatiently. «Air transport is the safest one. There is one plane crash for every one million flights.»

      «Nonsense! I mean something else,» he smiles ominously, «the plane falls very quickly, and there is no chance of survival… We have a long flight ahead of us, and the worst thing that can happen on the way is that I will get bored. So relax and tell me something about yourself, the extraordinary girl named after a force of nature. I don’t know anything about you except that you jump with a parachute, are afraid to fly, almost became a victim of slave traders and cry over the dead kittens. Oh yeah, and you’re just awful in the „Searching for Object“ genre! I wouldn’t be surprised if you have a hard time finding your socks in the morning.»

      Alex hints at our online game together. But he’s right again, this quest subgenre is not my strongest point. We’ve known each other personally for only a few minutes, and he again manages to drive me mad:

      «And you declare it to me, master of negotiations! Yes, we lost only because you managed to quarrel with all the characters in almost every game dialogue!»

      «Uh, and I was afraid that we would not reach an understanding,» Alex pretendedly wipes with his hand. «Where are you from? What motivated you to join this strange company?»

      «You first.»

      «It’s not a secret. I was born and raised in Moscow. Alex is short for Alexander. I have a law degree and worked in various small offices. At the age of 30, I am fond of online quests, engaged in mountaineering, basketball and I dream of opening a private legal agency to provide my services for both Russian and foreign companies. This is what I will spend my winnings for.»

      «What about „giving money to the poor“, Robin the Hood?» I ask sarcastically.

      «You have no idea how many people need free legal advice,» he suddenly becomes serious, «the poor are more likely to find themselves in difficult situations, become victims of unscrupulous realtors, traders, relatives, criminals, remain without a roof over their heads and lose all their modest savings… At the same time, they cannot even afford to receive qualified assistance.»

      I feel ashamed, so I change the topic and tell about myself:

      «My name is Victoria, I’m from Samara. I teach English courses at a language school and occasionally work as a translator. I love adventure and look for them in every possible way. That’s why I am here, aboard a plane flying in an unknown direction. I’m 25, and instead of thinking about family and kids, I sit for hours at the computer, pondering on another puzzle.»

      «And what will you spend your winnings on?»

      «I don’t think it will come to that,» I wave it off. «For me, the Game of the Century is a way to break out of routine and become part of something great and one of a kind.»

      Alex stares at me intently, as if trying to see through, and suddenly hits me on the spot with his phase:

      «You clearly underestimate yourself.»

      I raise my eyebrows in surprise, not knowing how to respond to such a statement.

      «You have one important, I’d even say, a unique quality that will make you special in this game.»

      «Yes, and which one?» I strain like a string, expecting another joke.

      «A very kind heart.»

      I have no time to think about his words, as the plane suddenly gets into a zone of turbulence, and it starts to shake severely. With the mind I understand that this is not dangerous at all, nevertheless, I can’t help being nervous: I grip the armrests of the leather seat with my hands and even forget to breathe out of excitement. After a minute, everything calms down, and I feel ashamed of my fear.

      I’m already planning a response to another stinging joke from Alex, when the plane seems to fall into an air hole. It takes my breath away for a second. But outside the window the sun is shining brightly, the sky is blinding with its blue – it can only be so blue here,

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