Six Digits

The Demiurge Academy is located between worlds, in space without time. Here, young people learn to create worlds, realise their responsibility, and understand the consequences of their actions. Demiurgs Sveta and Vitya, who are very young by local standards, study new things with interest. Zabava, their daughter, is taking her first steps in kindergarten, trying to learn about the world around her and playing in the sandbox filled with casts of worlds and souls. Even toddlers learn to understand the consequences of their actions because they are natural learners. “May I have your attention?” the elderly teacher asked, carefully looking around the group. “Today, we will be discussing conjugate worlds.” Who will remind us of the classification? Svetlana?” “Yes, teacher, » Svetka nodded, pondering for a moment. “The worlds are technological, magical, and conjugate, which means that magic and technology live in the same world.” “The main problem is the attitude of the gifted and the ungifted toward each other, » says Vitya, completing his favourite’s answer. “Exactly, » agreed the teacher. “The world in which the gifted suppress the non-gifted, we looked at in the last lesson.” “Br-r-r-r-r-r-r, » Alice shudders, having just recently received an “adult” index of responsibility. The teacher sighs, “Let’s look at a world where the ungifted have defeated the gifted, traditionally called’magicians’.” He doesn’t like the extremes himself, but it is necessary to demonstrate them. “Please pay attention to the projection.” A large window unfolds before the students, looking young and even very young. The projection of the world is merely a representation of the world, traditionally employed by deities during the process of creation or inspection. The entities known as “gods” primarily manage the affairs, stability, and order in the created world. Svetka recalls this information automatically, without thinking about it. Meanwhile, from the projection, a quick, panting child’s voice comes to the frozen young demiurge, and those present seem to plunge into another world… * * * “Hello, my name is Robert, and I am a non-human being.” Occasionally, a freak like me is born into a normal family, only to have his parents take him away to the nursery. I’ve observed children in this situation, unable to comprehend the reason for their removal. Some break down; some rebel… It’s pointless, because the overseers are not dormant and reward pain generously. I had the misfortune of being born in a nursery and never had the opportunity to witness life beyond the Wall. They say it’s a wonderful country, with no pain and always plenty of food and love. According to my ID, I hail from a Segal pack that has undergone over a century of crossbreeding with other species. We can make things that light up without electricity, protect against lasers, and so on. We’re trained to do this from the age of eleven, if they don’t take us away for experiments sooner. At the age of ten, I aspire to endure the training process. Then they will attach a unique collar to me and allow me to crossbreed and work. I don’t know much, but legends say that once upon a time we weren’t freaks but lived apart from the humans, and they didn’t even know about us. Then, a man named Blackbeard, I believe, chose to reveal himself to the humans, leading to our extinction. The kennels welcomed the fortunate ones who managed to survive. I long for a human birth, yet I’ve heard that Heitzels and centaurs reside on reservations, experiencing less frequent deaths and no torture at all. Once upon a time, I had a friend named Tali who was a Kaal packmate, but they took her to the lab immediately after the surge. Sometimes, a person born into a pack without a surge is fortunate, as they could potentially find themselves in the overseers or even behind the wall. But Tali wasn’t lucky… Now she’s probably resting forever in the destroyer, where it’s all over for her. I have a year to experience fear, and if I am fortunate, I will have seven years of schooling. Once we’ve completed our studies, we’ll enter the workforce, eliminating the fear of the destroyer. The chosen few will even be cross-bred. Rumor has it that in the distant North Country, people like me have united, created their own state, and have been successfully fighting with humans for their lives for centuries. However, these stories are likely fanciful, given that humans wield immense power and inhabit this planet, while we, as nonhumans, have managed to survive through acts of kindness. “Experiment number 17-297-66 involves generating emanations to block the ugliness of freaks.” Subject 3—466, Segal Pack.” The experimenter’s indifferent, slightly tired voice couldn’t drown out the horror of a child who wasn’t considered human here. “Shut his mouth, » a phrase that everyone but the experimenters dreads. “Yes, sir. The subject is ready, » the attendant reports. The child’s naked body, securely fixed, freezes on the bench. The green eyes desperately watch as the sensors and long needles enter the body. No body hair prevents instruments from drawing curves. A ready signal sounds, and a yellow light comes on. “Registers… Signal… Discharge! “commands the experimenter. The speaker’s mechanical voice sounded as if it didn’t belong to a human. Something strikes the boy, piercing him from bottom to top, causing him to scream silently in unbearable pain. The naked-eye wave around the child causes the instruments to spark. “Experiment failed. The experiment failed.” “Are we going to raise the pulse?” “Yeah, double.” “Done. Attention, clear!” Again, the unbearable pain flooded the child’s entire body, forcing her to thrash in her restraints. The watchers themselves experienced a weakened version of the child’s pain. Even the weakened pain, which slowly drove the child mad, was extremely painful for the demiurges. The boy, desperate to escape, pleads for assistance, only to hear, “There’s an explosion in the laboratory, sweeping away all the humans and more than half of the non-human nursery.” At the same time, the child’s powerful surge pierces space, carrying him away just a second before the explosion. Meanwhile, the dumbfounded demiurges try to influence the world, but the old teacher has foreseen many things, so the students have only a record in front of them. A record that cannot be altered. Meanwhile, on the projection, the hunt for the scattered is unfolding. It’s a world where mages are subhumans, not even fit to be slaves. And what kind of slaves are possible in enlightened times? Any android can do anything faster and better, and there’s no need to feed robots. Therefore, the ungifted should have destroyed the gifted, seeing them as potentially dangerous. Once upon a time, mages decided to invade people, leading to the outbreak of a terrible, savage war of annihilation. They employed a wide range of weapons, including biological and nuclear ones, inundated entire nations with chemicals, and claimed thousands of lives. That was until a powerful bomb was used to cover a Swiss castle, the headquarters of the Chief Magician, and the remaining non-humans obediently laid down their arms. However, it turned out that not all of them were in a distant country; the formation of a northern conclave, known as the North Country, prevented the ungifted from leaving. They will undoubtedly face destruction eventually, but for the time being, they can continue to believe in their freedom. The demiurges see this very well and look at what men can create without hiding their tears. This lesson is challenging for many, but it is an important one, according to the old teacher. In the cities of the Conclave, natural exchange reigns, and the gifted try to live in compact groups. In one of these groups, a small boy suddenly appears, covered in wires and tubes. He appears, falls down, and curls up in a fetal position out of a desire to live. The boy immediately receives the attention of the village duty officers. It is very rare for children to appear in such places. It’s called blind transfer. Rarely do such children survive; adults have a much better chance. With only one hospital in the center of the Conclave and only FAPs on the periphery, the Demiurges watch as they magically lift the child and transport it to a paramedic’s station. The healer, examining the child carefully, removes all cables and wires, makes a diagnosis, and starts treatment. “Well, how is he?” asks the village head, who has received the report on the child. “Half and half. There’s a chance of survival, but not much. The boy was provoked by the splash. “The elderly healer replies sadly, “Pain.” “So, it’s a lab.” They still can’t make their dampeners, the bastards, » the man responsible for many of them said. “Lucky him, » says his interlocutor. As is customary for the gifted of the Conclave, they adopt the surviving boy and send him for training. The training follows a peculiar, unfamiliar program. Of course, the children learn magic, but they also learn how to survive in the wilderness. The program meticulously covers history, even incorporating staged illusions. For some reason, children are taught to survive in any era. The demiurges are beginning to realize what the gifted of this world are capable of: “to propel the souls of the children into the distant past in a powerful energy burst, from which it is possible to prevent what happened afterwards.” The omnipotent beings who looked at each other sadly know that the chances of such a thing happening are very slim. Days pass after days, adding up to weeks and months, and the intense learning does not stop. There must be some explanation for this, and there certainly is. The children don’t really think about it; they just live. Robert becomes acquainted with the other children, specifically the girls Alyona and Liliana, as well as the boys who outnumber the girls in their class. They enjoy walking in the forest, studying ancient arts with the Magi, and just sitting by the water. The boy has learnt that he is not a “degenerate” or a “freak, » but a gifted one, and that he has the same right to live as those “beyond the Wall, » and this fact awakens in him a burning hatred. He fiercely hates those who took away his parents and his childhood. Therefore, he strives to learn as much as he can. Meanwhile, a slow-moving battle rages between humans and the gifted. It could go on for a long time, but the non-humans decide to put an end to it. It is already known that the “non-humans” can do nothing against a free-flying bomb, especially if it is thermonuclear. Up until that point, the Neodarans refrained from making a decision due to their aversion to tarnishing the planet’s face and the fear of radiation, which would render life in a substantial area unfeasible. However, the time has come when they openly discuss the “final solution”. However, the gifted, aware that this eventuality is inevitable, hold out hope for a thermonuclear solution, as it provides the missing energy for ritual actions. In their quest to eradicate “non-humans, » the Neo-Darwinians fail to consider children or the fact that those they label as “non-humans” possess intelligence on par with humans. They also show no concern for the costs involved. Modern magic’s capabilities allow the gifted to set the reset date and predict the moment of detonation of a fifty-megaton charge almost to the second. Therefore, when the general assembly signal sounds in the middle of a clear day, everyone already knows what to do. We informed the children beforehand about the upcoming events, their actions, and the necessary preparations. “This will be our last ritual, which will take all of the planet’s magic. All of us will perish, yet you will endure. The ritual will throw you into the past, and if we’re all lucky, you’ll be able to stop Blackbeard. And if not, at least live your lives happily. We’ll have our only chance, and with this ritual, we’ll send anyone who can survive back down the river of time. No one knows what time you’ll end up in, but hopefully we’ve taught you well.” Yes, that was the reason the children were taught this way. There was an opportunity to alter history and ensure the survival of numerous families. A chance to avoid war. The Demiurge saw this hope very well, never giving up trying to stop the ungifted from rushing to their doom. Suddenly, as if from a clear sky, the signal sounds. The adults hastily make their way to their designated locations, while the children make their rune circles and bid farewell to their loved ones. Robert silently weeps, “Again he faces death, again separation, again something unknown…” He has not been happy about new things for a long time because new and unrecognised things in his life mean pain, suffering, and death. It is impossible to get used to; it is impossible to accept. Here are the adults pulling a dreary motif… And somewhere in the heights, a terrible bomb began its journey… Here, the shields holding the magic shimmered… Small parachutes corrected the course, and fuses fired. Here the wave swirled, and it seemed as if all the guardians of the human race stood up… With a metallic click, the bomb went into action… A girl of amazing beauty appears in the middle of the field and smiles sadly… The countdown timer turns on, and the altimeter starts… The adults begin to scatter into ashes… The mechanical fuse moves forward. A second sun appears in the sky, “a huge one, many times bigger than the usual one, » and then darkness descends. A giant mushroom, visible hundreds of kilometres away, rises above the taiga, marking the end of the war with the “non-humans.” The most powerful ritual absorbs the fierce energy, scattering innocent souls not only across the river of time but also across numerous worlds. And with the last breath of magic, with the last exhalation of the gifted, the demons come to earth. The ones feared in ancient times were described in the sacred texts of numerous religions. Not afraid of fire or ice, protected by powerful armour, they invaded through the gap in reality by the tens of thousands to remind the arrogant people that everyone has their own destiny. Having killed those who had always stood guard, declaring themselves free, they were unaware that their freedom would now be reduced to a delicacy. * * * The demiurges cannot hold back their tears, seeing the destruction of the world by the will of those who inhabited it. It was tough to bear, extremely difficult to see, so the elderly teacher gives his students enough time to recover. But the lesson does not end here, so it is necessary to continue. “Many worlds find a way to protect themselves, » says the older teacher. “And the gifted and the ungifted coexist quite organically, often without knowing anything about each other. You’ve seen an extreme version of a world that doesn’t exist anymore, but there are others…” “Tauris? “The young man, possessing sorrowful violet eyes, posed the question. The mentor sighed, “The world of Tauris. The world of Tauris, created as an anomaly, is full of mysteries and strange events.” “Are you referring to the time lapse?” asks Svetka, who, of course, has heard of this world. The teacher nods, “Including.” The world where the gifted and the ungifted coexist bears a striking historical resemblance to the planet where Sveta and Vitya were born, with one notable difference: “the gifted fall through time.” There have been more than five such cases in the world’s history — a significant number. Like a mockery, they cannot influence world history despite living terrible lives and changing… Quite different from the first example of the teacher, he was preparing to reveal its secrets. Although the world has changed, the lesson remains unchanged. A projection of the Tauris world opened before the demiurge. Victor understood what they were talking about just by looking at what was on display. He sighed heavily and hugged his beloved tighter. Anticipating her tears, the young demiurge wished he could protect her from what would be shown, but the teacher… The projection moved, allowing the all-powerful beings to immerse themselves in the history of the second connected world.