“We simply whipped into shape what had already been invented by Bartini. Our ancestors also had a bellyful of the self-appointed “masters of the world”. War was just a matter of time. The ancestors decided it was a bad idea to carry nuclear warheads to orbit. Instead, they came up with a simple yet genius device: just imagine, cassettes with self-homing hard steel plugs are cruising on different orbits around the Planet. No need for any explosive substance, simple control: a signal with a target coordinates is sent to the orbit bases from the Earth by means of a laser ray. Then, following trajectory calculation, launch is performed from a base located nearest to the target. It selects explosion force on its own, depending on a target. For instance, destruction of a bunker with a robot-factory requires about 10 machs. Mach is a unit that measures the speed at which a hard steel plug meets with the Planet. 10 machs is enough to produce an explosion of 10-15 kilotons in trinitrotoluene equivalent.

This simple and powerful weapon is overgrown with such a huge layer of legends that no one can figure out how it actually works. The Coalition’s engineers made efforts to reproduce it but they were not smart enough for that.”

“This stuff will help protect those like you against missiles. But the way, it was not Coalition who knocked you down but an acker from a roving armed gang”, added Frol, “They don’t give a toss whom to knock down – be it Coalition’s or our people.”

“Alex, if you don’t feel comfortable talking to void space, we all take on the form of holographic projections. Is that OK with you?”

“By the way, all of us have alternative cyber bodies,” said Nikolo.

“There no need for projections as I have already gotten used to the virtual conversation,” Alex responded, “let’s continue our talk.”

“May I interrupt you for a minute?” asked Helene River. “Alex’s bioenergetics potential is below average now. Her body requires rest. I suggest placing Alex in a bio capsule with nano-gel for sixteen hours. Meanwhile, I’ll set her right.”

“That’s reasonable enough,” said commander’s voice.

Chapter 3

Human brain can not tell dream of reality.

Alex! Do you prefer to simply watch dreams or to be shown the civilization history, starting with the twenty first century?” asked Frol’s voice, “Take at my word, there is a lot you do not know about the world. What you were taught at the training school was limited to takeoff, landing and equipment operation,” his voice sounded so enthusiastically that Alex smiled and nodded, “I’ve always chosen knowledge.”

“Great! I’ll show you to a bio capsule,” Abel stepped forward. He rose up and headed towards the translucent wall, which instantly disappeared, opening up the passage.

“Thank you for a warm welcome. We’ll talk later,” said Alex. Now she felt tired and longed to drown herself in a bio capsule sleep. She went after the Wolf; his head was to her left at the level of her shoulder. Abel’s strong cyber body was surprisingly mobile and had a touch of animal gracefulness. Seeing that Alex was tired, the Wolf was moving slowly, with his head low. His hair had turned gray with steel glitter. Yielding to a sudden impulse, Alex patted him on the back of his neck; his hair was soft and nice on the touch. In response, Abel slightly twitched his ears and looked at her out of the corner of his eye. He continued walking in silence, but Alex guessed that he liked her gesture.

She made a mental command to the nano-chip and sent Abel a thought form: “Abel, when I was doing my first courses at the lyceum, I dreamt of having a cyber friend who would look like a big dog or a wolf, to share with him all my thoughts and to whisper to him all my secrets. Tell me, how come you are a wolf and such a big one? Did you make the skeleton by yourself?”

For some time Abel kept silent and then she heard his response thought form: “I was created and upgraded here at the base and, as you can see, they spared no resources on me. Then, at early stages of my development, I was shown the world, or rather what was left of it, through sensors of a drone flying on mission and a cyber shark. I carried on with intensive self-development, and after passing all tests, I applied for an independent basic cyber body in the form of a wolf or a dog.

“But why a dog?” Alex asked keenly.

“Ancient people used to say that a dog was man’s best friend. Before cyber-friends appeared, people had kept animals in their families as pets, while the dog had been one of those pets. And I reckoned that a big dog would be an even better friend. That’s logical, isn’t it? And besides, this body allows one to easier cope with a pack of GMAs and even a tank.”

Alex gave Abel a sharp look and put her palm on his back.

“Abel, I think I know one secret of yours: you want tо be closer to people and to better understand them. If the war was over, what would you be doing? Have you ever thought about that?”

And she again patted the Wolf on his wide spine. Instead of answering, Abel turned his head to her and looked straight in the eye.

“Here we are, Alex, thank you for our conversation. Have you even been in a bio capsule before?”

“Yes, I have,” said Alex, “and more than once.”

“Then you’ll figure out on your, we’ll talk later. You are a good person, the war hasn’t spoilt you. Go and have a sleep, and I’ll have my Cyborg Dreams.”

With these words, he turned around before the door with the biological section pictogram and slowly went back down the hallway, with his tail down in a wolf style and ears slightly drawn in. Alex perceived that she had taken the most important slot in Abel’s soul.