Stranger

— Wait, do you seriously think that genetics doesn’t play a role?
— Of course not. Just think about it. Do you remember our class twenty years ago? Some found history easier, others physics. Some won at the Olympiads, others didn’t. By your logic, all those who won must have a superior genetic foundation, but that’s not the case.
— However, if I remember correctly, almost all winners came from at least class C.
— That’s something we probably won’t verify. Besides, we didn’t have any B's, as far as I recall. And the D’s mostly came from less fortunate families, so genetics only plays an indirect role here.
— Yes, you’re right. It’s hard to verify. But haven't you noticed that the regular workers from that factory outside speak as if they’re reciting a Markov chain: they take N words and just recall M words from memory. For example, after the phrase "Soviet Union," they automatically continue with "socialist republics," as it’s the most likely continuation.
— Not the best example, to be honest.
— Yes, I agree, I need to think harder...
— Moreover, your words carry a hint of fascism. You broadly labeled an entire group of people as "underdeveloped." While I partially agree with you, I’ve noticed similar behavior myself before.
— Exactly!
— Rather, the speech of some people resembles John Searle’s answers from the Chinese room experiment.
— That’s the one who doesn’t know any characters but responds according to a given algorithm? Essentially, he gives answers without understanding either the question or even his response.
— Yes, yes, that’s the one. However, I sometimes notice this in myself too. That’s why I believe genetics isn’t that important. Rather, a person’s character defines them more than any genetic platform.

Well, I’m home now. Why do conversations with former classmates sometimes feel so exhausting? It’s as if they don’t see the obvious, as if they deliberately ignore the facts and observations that lead to the opposite viewpoint. How can that be?

It's obvious that the key to the country's future lies in the potential of its citizens who ultimately receive a good education and then advance science and other fields. Yet, despite the possibility of birthing Class A children, even Class C is a rarity in our country. At the same time, the clear superiority of A's in everything is denied.

Although we can't deny modern advancements, we are indeed smarter, healthier, and overall better than people from past eras. A long time ago, science invested in technology, leading to new devices. Then we reached a point where systems became so intelligent that they knew better than the people themselves what they needed. After all this chaos and the complaints of the owners of these gadgets, we now have a ban on data collection (except for a couple of semi-state companies under strict control) and a ban on the development of supercomputers (again, with a few exceptions). We started investing in people; everyone can improve themselves. Enhanced vision, hearing, physical endurance, reinforced skeletons, built-in batteries for long hikes. Overall, it's all great, except for one tiny detail: we are different. All people can be roughly categorized into several groups. The first are those who were born the old-fashioned way. Their bodies are the simplest, prone to all classic diseases. The others are GMO people, divided into five categories: from A (the best of the best) to E (not much more progressive than the classic kids). This entire concept is called a 'genetic platform.' Depending on it, a person can enhance themselves: choose implants, and so on.

People have indeed become very different. Wealthier individuals buy Class A genetics for their children. The poorest settle for the simplest. And we have established a caste system, reinforced by science...

How did people used to walk through the forest? You were either near civilization and unlikely to get lost or starve (or tire from walking), or you were far from the nearest road, facing all the risks. Virtual reality does wonders—put on a headset, and you're in a forest where there are no people. Even more— you genuinely feel that there's no one around. It's calm and lonely. Interesting; what is this strange thing?

— Hi. How do you like it here?
— Oh wow. Who are you, or what are you?
— What's the difference? I'm here to talk to you. You don't mind, do you?
— I don't even know. Who are you? What do you want to talk about?
— Decency and curiosity have prevailed over your character. However, I'm interested in something else: do you really work as an engineer at a chemical plant?
— Yes, I do. But how do you know about the plant? And what are those conclusions about my character?
— As I expected, you're not an idiot, which is good. So let's take it step by step. The thing is, I need someone who can work as a chemical engineer in a lab. As you know, you can get databases of people with that title, but my order isn't the simplest. So I need someone who values the result just as much as I do.
— Is this something illegal?
— No, not exactly. It's a slippery topic, a gray area. Conditionally, if you move a trash can on the street five meters to the left (so it doesn’t block the walkway), you might get a thank you, or you could get fined. It's the same here.
— So basically, it's illegal. I get it. You wouldn’t tell me the whole truth here, would you?
— Yes, definitely not an idiot.
— Thank you. So what did you want to propose to me?
— I'll start from afar. As I said, I need an assistant who is willing to help not for material gain but for a higher purpose. Though this doesn't negate material benefits. So here's my question for you: why did you tell your teammate a month ago, 'you react so stupidly as if you have ghetto genetics'?
— Hmmm... How did you find out? Well, I said that for a simple reason — I was excited, we were losing, and she was letting the opponents gain the upper hand. I thought, by the way, that online games were generally not monitored by the government.
— You're right about the last part. For people to be able to reliably let off steam, there has to be a safe zone. One that is protected from any observation. So, by the way, you're not afraid to talk to me now, since no one is guaranteed to hear us in this forest of solitude. So I was just nearby, heard you. And then, with a bit of knowledge about databases, I saw that you’re also the engineer I need. But let's get back to the essence of your statement: why did you say that specifically? Not 'you're stupid,' not 'you're slow,' not 'what a noob,' but 'ghetto genetics'?
— Because we currently have a caste system due to these genetic platforms. If you're born with a Class C, you're practically dumber than anyone from Class B. You have no way to enhance your eyesight, no way to speed up your metabolism. And that can't be changed. Even in medieval times, one could change their social class, but now you can't. Progressive society, damn it.
— But they say that the most important thing is the person themselves. Character and so on.
— No, that's not true. A higher-class platform allows for tackling fundamentally different tasks, enabling true progress rather than just controlling robots in a factory. You can see this even in politicians and public journalists. They seem to calculate a bunch of moves in one go, which I am not capable of. I’ve noticed this for a long time, but sometimes it really stands out.

A strange person is hiding behind this nonsense. Obviously, he’s not a cop. It’s too complicated for them. And unlikely he’s from the special services; I’m too insignificant for them. But how did he find me? And I’m curious how he knew that this genetic issue affects me so much? Mysterious, of course. And at the same time, it really annoys me. Damn it, I need to stop going in circles and actually sit down, or I’ll come off as some sort of neurotic...

— That's a serious thought, very serious. As I see it, it has deeply affected you; your hands are still shaking.
— Yes, you’re right. But who are you?
— That's not very important right now. However, take a guess at who I am.
— Hmmm... Well… Since you managed to sneak into this forest unnoticed and in an unconventional avatar, you must be a hacker. Moreover, you somehow know about me and even tracked me down. Right?
— Close, but keep going.
— Are you, by any chance, wanted?
— No, of course not. Only those who want to make money on a slippery path end up wanted, and they don't think to find a cover. For instance, if you want to sell something illegal, always do it in a way that, in the worst case, the police find someone else and are satisfied with that. In the past, gangs were used for such schemes, serving merely as a cover and a source of cheap labor. Now it's a bit more complex, but the essence remains the same. So, no, I’m not wanted.
— Obviously, you need to figure out your genetics as well. You're probably not satisfied with your class either?
— No, I'm a pure A-type. However, I'm not rich enough to just sit around doing nothing.
— Hmm… Why do you need me?
— I see you're not interested in digging into the current situation. It's sad, but expected. To put it briefly: I want to steal a certain medicine that can change a person's class.
— Wow. Does that really exist? Seriously? What's going on? Or is this just some new scam?
— I can see your vocabulary isn't very large. Just 10 minutes ago you called me nonsense, and now you're using that same word for the inconvenient news.

Damn, it seems like he doesn't understand. How is that possible? If I had known that class could be changed, I would have already been digging into this. And not just me. Damn, damn, damn. Or is this friend just a fraud? Let's assume that's the case. How would I check this?

— Your squint gives you away. You obviously think I'm just a regular con artist, right?
— Yes, to some extent. Can you prove to me that you at least don't want to scam and kill me?
— Good question. In short: there’s no way, you have to trust me. Sounds cool, right? So, I'll prove to you that I'm not lying about the genetic platform switch, and then I’ll even promise to do it. You’ll go into the dark web, check my reputation, and you can even draft a contract there. Anonymously, just like normal people do, although I know you well enough, but others won't be able to find you. I'll also show you that our venture is possible. In the end, if it fails, I risk my pristine reputation. Unfortunately, you risk your life. However, if it succeeds, you'll be a bona fide A-type, with the experience of being a C-type. And I'll get a device that will help improve things. Deal?
— Honestly… Probably.
— Okay, let's do it this way. You’ll soon receive a letter with my coordinates on the dark web. There, you can find me, send me a message saying 'Egoist' and your public key. I’ll draft a contract, sign it with my key, and encrypt it with yours. If I scam you, you can report it to the platform. However, no one has complained so far. On the contrary, I have many successful contracts. Does that sound good?
— Yes, of course. But I'm waiting for a lot more explanations from you.
— Naturally. Read up, study everything. Come up with questions. Dive into your second favorite game, the one with the fantasy setting. Go into the Forest of Monsters alone and hunt some monsters, and exactly two weeks from now I'll be waiting for you there. I’ll answer your questions, but you can hold off on signing the contract; I'm in no rush.
— Sounds fair. Okay.
— Alright. I won’t repeat everything now; I’ll outline the details in the contract.
— Thank you…

It's time to leave the forest. That was quite a stroll. Well, I’ll wait for the letter.

Another truth about the world's history

Everything was strange yesterday… Did I dream it all? Now, programs are harder to hack; they’ve learned to monitor security. Privacy is at a level, yet they still found me.

Alright, it doesn’t matter. If no letter arrives, then it means it was all just a joke. Or a dream; it doesn’t matter. Time to get back to work.

So, what is this letter? Some Nemo, here are his coordinates and the key. Interesting… Let's see if we can find something on some not-so-legal exchanges… Aha, here he is. Decent rating. Apparently, he’s been in this business for about 30 years and hasn’t scammed anyone. There are a few failures, but the losses were compensated without arbitration… Wow, he’s present on five platforms. Well done, what can I say? Alright, let’s play this game. He said to create a private/public key, send him the public one, and save the private one on a flash drive… Done.

Oh, I received an encrypted and signed contract. Great, what does it say… Aha, extract the mechanism capable of altering the organism’s genetic platform. Details, guarantees for rescue from the clutches of justice… Well, the person has a decent reputation. Alright, I’ll sign it and send it as is. What’s the point of waiting? In a week and a half, I’ll go hunting for monsters and chat a bit…

So, where is he? It's just me and my lynx companion here.

— Hey there.
— Wow, you inhabited the pet?
— Well, you could say that. I rather swapped the module in this virtual lynx; now I act through it. It’s nice when developers don’t remove debugging and manual control tools from the code.
— That's pretty good. But tell me the details.
— Apparently, you’re talking about our contract now. What do you want to know? More specifically, what do you know about our world?
— Well... In general, speaking about progress, the most interesting events started somewhere in the twentieth century. First came World War I, then World War II. Then, about a hundred years later, an informational confrontation began, which erupted into World War III. As a result, countries came together in a way that we now have a more or less unified government on the planet, although we all live in different countries. Currently, there are many people at level C, with a few states mainly made up of A-types.
— Yes, you conveyed some things quite accurately, but, as always, there are a couple of nuances.
— Hmmm... Isn't that how it's written in historical publications?
— Probably, I read them a long time ago.
— What am I telling incorrectly?
— Everything is correct, it's just that the essence of the changes was different.
— What do you mean?
— Let's skip the World Wars, the Cold War, etc. Let's focus on the informational confrontation. In the mid-21st century, the world divided into two main blocs — one with European civilization and the other with Asian civilizations. However, more than half of the countries, both in terms of population and territory, did not align with either bloc. Thus, the confrontation originated from here. Initially, it was economic, then it shifted to spheres of influence. Later, a conflict arose between corporations that were given a free hand for tougher competition on foreign territory.
— You're talking about contract killings, right? They've always existed, haven't they?
— No, it's just that the number of industrial espionage cases, leaks of databases, and so on, dramatically increased. Also, don't forget that it was the golden age of data collection. A ton of systems knew better than humans what they actually needed. Everyone was being analyzed, and so forth.
— Is that why privacy is so serious now?
— Yes, you're right. There was also another problem — systems were able to solve a range of tasks much better than humans. For instance, this was extremely useful for the military. As a result, both sides decided to eliminate their opponent. In the end, World War III broke out, with nuclear weapons, just as expected.
— As far as I know, they weren't exactly used...
— The problem is that it doesn't really work. Most of those who built the rockets created the bulk with flaws. Since profits can be made now, and in case of war, things would still be bad. Plus, it was hard to verify. In general, only a tenth of the weapons were actually what they claimed. Everything else didn't explode on time. As a result, nuclear weapons didn't significantly affect the war.
— You're talking about two sides, but there were actually three, right?
— More like four. During the war, the USA sent a couple of warheads to a number of Arab countries. It seemed accidental, although it's hard to say for sure. In total, there were: European civilization, Asian, Arab, and abstainers. For example, some African countries didn’t even notice the war, as they weren't heavily bombarded with nuclear missiles and had enough conflicts of their own.
— Hmmm, I've heard otherwise...
— Well, of course, European civilization won. However, there were also two other issues during the war: the mixing of nations led to patriotism problems. Specifically, many residents didn't want to fight against their homeland. For instance, an Arab in Germany didn't really want to fight against Arabs, which is logical. Another issue was overly smart systems. For example, they would send squads to their doom just to simplify logistics. In other words, they were purposefully sending their soldiers to die because someone miscalculated weights, and the situation turned out like this. What's interesting is that everyone really had this problem. Plus, there was the analysis of everything and anything, as I mentioned earlier. As a result, just analyzing the internet could help understand where troops were positioned.
— Wow…
— Uh-huh. In the end, after the war, we faced a couple of challenges. The first was the need to radically limit data collection. Can you imagine, a smart home in the 21st century sometimes couldn't turn on a light bulb without the internet?
— Idiots...
— Exactly. The other problem was how to preserve the nation. Because the more successful you are, the less desire you tend to have to have children. And, unfortunately, there’s also a downside — the less successful you are, the more children you will likely have. This had to be addressed.
— Essentially, that's fascism. You can't forbid people from having children just because they haven't had the best luck in life.
— Yes, yes, it didn't work out, I didn't get lucky. However, those thoughts really did cross my mind, there's no denying that. Eventually, we remembered the idea of genetic modification, conceived even before the Third World War. The point is that human nerve endings can be enhanced, but it requires asymptotically approaching a limit. Imagine a muscle. Ligaments have a strength limit, so the longer the ligament, the lower the maximum instantaneous force. And the more parallel ligaments there are, the longer the external ones, which means that by increasing the number of ligaments, we increase strength, but there is still a limit. The same goes for our neurons. If we intertwine them in a certain way, we can transmit more information from the limbs and internal organs, but again, there is a limit.

My lynx sighed and continued:

— In reality, the brain can also be improved. You can replace the circulatory system with a slightly more efficient one, better intertwine the neural connections, increase the size of the thinking organ itself. Furthermore, brain regions can be shuffled so that those which interact more frequently are closer together. In general, there is room for optimization, but again, there is a limit. In the end, we developed the concept of the most efficient human nervous system, but it was done in such a way that the neurons remained roughly the same. Similarly, we worked on all the organs, following the scheme of faster-higher-stronger. This is how we obtained a class A genetic platform. As I mentioned earlier, it can't get any better, unless we allow for DNA and other things. Although now there are talks about complicating DNA, so that the number of bases is not 4, but 6. This would help eliminate common viruses shared with animals, but that's a radical future.
— Interesting... And the other classes are seemingly simplifications of class A?
— Yes, you are completely right. If my source wasn't lying, class C was developed to be "the most intelligent of the viviparous." As you understand, the higher the class, the cooler the brain. For instance, in our first conversation, you asked two questions, and I partially answered the second, but in the end, you forgot about the first one. So to speak, not enough operational memory. And part of the conversation was forgotten.
— Probably... Right now, I won't even remember my initial questions. All that's left in my memory is an association of "some kind of nonsense."
— Apparently. Alright, let's continue. In all genetic platforms, there are only two fundamental differences: brain power and the number of nerve endings leading to the organs. Conventionally, an eye implant for Class A transmits more information than a similar one for Class B. This, in turn, sets limits on the functionality of the organs. For example, I can trigger the adrenal glands to release adrenaline into the bloodstream, but you cannot. Not yet.
— And what about Class C? You say it wasn't created by accident.
— Yes, you're right. We'll talk about the social structure of our society later. In general, if we've sorted out the elite children, let's look at the intellectual proletariat. So, Class C was created in such a way that the most likely representative would be, in intelligence, similar to a conditionally successful individual born the traditional way. For example, take a top lawyer with experience. They only get complex cases, having to analyze intricate processes, understand societal moods, and so on. In short, the brain is at work. Few can work that hard and think. And so, Class A was degraded to the point where Class C emerged.
— Hmm...
— Don't be sad. More than half of the world's population is dumber than you. And less adapted for life: they are weaker, not very resilient. Plus, you are certainly smarter than the vast majority of people from the past.
— Still, it's unpleasant to realize that I'm just a degraded version of the elite's children.
— I agree. That's precisely why I offered you a job.
— Thank you... I'd like to get out of this hole.
— You're right. Currently, the computational power of computer systems is limited, data collection is prohibited. AI is fundamentally impossible, as the power of the legal cluster servers barely suffices for a relative simulation of a mouse brain. Anything more complex than a rodent is simply not replicable yet. So, you'll improve to Class A level, getting closer to the top. While I’ll earn.
— Yes, that seems fair.
— I'm running out of time, I can't play as a lynx for long. However, your next task is to get a job at the Kamchatka laboratory. They are conducting experiments in nuclear physics, trying to obtain super-dense elements. And they need a chemist. I'll send you your resume. According to my data, it perfectly fits one of the vacancies, plus it doesn't lie. Just add details about your address and so on.
— Of course. Should I go to them?
— That's right. The process will take a couple of months. And we'll meet here in three weeks, but at a different location. I'll tell you the details about genetics and your task.
— Got it.
— Well, that's it. Bye. I mean meow, I'm like, a cat.
— Bye...

About the classes

Phew, it seems the first interview went smoothly. They asked me about my work experience, asked standard questions. We played the usual quadrille, where the employee asks for a lot, and the reply is that we're just not ready right now. Everything was standard; they'll ask for details in a month since it's vacation time for them now. Well, it happens.

But how am I supposed to steal the equipment from the lab? And why do nuclear physicists need such a thing? I'm thinking about it so much that I'm now sleeping not 8 hours, but sometimes six, sometimes nine.

— Hi! How was your first visit to the lab?
— Hi! This time you disguised yourself as a legitimate account.
— Yeah, you're right, but not entirely. This is a non-standard account. It's sometimes used for testing the game, but due to the disorder, it can be floating around anywhere, with no control. Anyway, come into the instance Crimson Cliff, there will be two of us. The text is stored for some time on servers, but no one is dealing with negotiations. We'll take advantage of that.
— How do you know all this?
— I once developed programs, including for large companies. So I understand the level of chaos there perfectly. Conditionally, if you slightly and infrequently break the rules, they'll consider it mistakes. And there's a large probability that they would even be right.
— It does look quite reliable...
— Well, the legal department and the marketing team keep a close watch to ensure that few people figure it out.
— I see. However, I have questions about our topic.
— Yes, that makes sense. What are they?
— First: why have platforms worse than C, namely: D and E? Second: how can we steal the machine from the laboratory? What is it even doing there? How can we update the genetic platform if we need to update all the cells in the organism? And why is the machine kept secret?
— Quite a lot… However, it’s fairly rational.
— You know the answer?
— Yes, unfortunately. At one time, I didn’t work for a whole year; I just traveled through countries and communicated. I learned everything and tried to understand the essence of the nonsense happening in this world.
— So far, everything seems logical… Well, there are governments, courts, and so on.
— Yes, but your questions reveal a heap of problems. Just think about it, why make someone not Class A?
— Hmmm… The elite?
— Correct. So, let’s return to the middle of the war when a number of quite powerful people realized the threat from computers. Hence the rule: no autonomous system can be smarter than a certain benchmark. There’s a clever definition, but it doesn't matter. If a system cannot function without assistance, then their capabilities are combined. Consequently, the internet is dangerous, as its capacity in dumb numbers exceeds the benchmark. Hence we have the current network. The same goes for all robots, including industrial ones. If an entire plant is tightly connected in a network where machines communicate indirectly with the accounting system, then such power should also be limited. This means it needs to be divided into components managed by operators.
— It’s like the nineteenth century.
— More like the early twenty-first, but that’s not the point. The main thing is that we need a lot of workers, plus those who will monitor them. And what does a worker need, if we apply ideas from fascism and eugenics?
— Subjugation? Loss of rights?
— Nope. We need them to live longer but think less. Just like a stereotypical knight from the Middle Ages, but with a longer lifespan. To do this, we need to create healthy people, but not too smart ones. Moreover, if we carefully choose the hormonal system, we can also make them sociable, not aggressive, and hard-working. Moderately, of course, so as not to disrupt the fragile balance of the organism.
— Harsh…
— That's an understatement. Plus, don't forget that people were deliberately made less intelligent so they wouldn't even realize this fact. They thought that the main thing was character. Ha-ha, how ironic.
— Why did that thought about segregation even come to mind? I would understand if three and a half psychopaths would follow it, but for a bunch of people to do so all at once...
— Oh, don't tell me you didn't at least have a vague idea about this. And don't tell me you did anything for equality. That's how the other few dozen billion people behave. Everyone is fine with everything. Well, almost, with a few exceptions.
— At least I didn't know about it.
— Well, now you know. So what? All this is based on an ancient theory that Orwell accidentally described, and a few decades later was proven mathematically. If we consider our society from the perspective of game theory, one of the stable solutions is to divide everyone into three categories: the elite, who are hidden from view. The smart ones, who are visible but have to filter their speech and be loyal. In other words, they can only show their intelligence in the right direction. And a bunch of poorly educated people on whom anything can be done. They have no prospects, so they can think and talk about anything. Unlike the smart ones. And the elite shouldn't show themselves at all. It seems this was referred to as the inner party, outer party, but I can't remember the name of the third group. So, this is one of the solutions that brings the system to a steady state. That is, adding any new group leads either to the death of the current one or the removal of the new one. And changing roles within the group doesn't work either.
— How brutal… After all, 150 years ago, they already knew this wouldn't work.
— Well, they realized it would work 80 years ago. Or rather, even earlier. They just spent 20 years on science and preparing technology. However, we've digressed very far. So, long ago, they chose a scheme of three groups of people.
— But there are five of them.
— Six. One liveborn and five platforms. The first ones are becoming fewer, as less attention is being paid to diseases that are unique to them. Plus, overall health is worse. And a liveborn can only result from a couple where both are the same type, and they haven't undergone the sterilization procedure, which is required for many positions under some invented pretext. In general, it's all clear with them. I've already told you about the C-types; they are needed for intellectual tasks. The elite in European civilization uses A-types. Despite what seems like a defeat, the elite of Arab and Asian countries managed to negotiate a B class for themselves. However, there were many questions regarding the workers. For basic tasks, the E class is sufficient, but D classes are more efficient. However, they are also more susceptible to stress due to self-reflection, but you remember that already. Ultimately, there was a lot of communication, which led to the emergence of two classes at once.
— So, you just didn't reach an agreement, right?
— Yep, exactly. And you seemed to want to see logic and math everywhere. So, we have five genetic classes. Moreover, the difference between B and C is not that obvious, but A-types stand out significantly. And you'll have to work with them...
— Why? Isn't everyone here at least C level, more or less?
— No. To give a child a high genetic class, achievements and money are necessary. The first is either leadership or science. And these can only be obtained by those who are already of the required class. Or by chance. You can earn a lot only by rising above the crowd; however, B-types will not surpass A-types. As a result, parents produce children of about the same class. And due to quotas, there is a bit of random distribution. So ultimately, in the right countries and right regions, A-types live; in others, B-types, and so forth. I sometimes marvel at how neatly and skillfully the population has been shuffled. Plus, in such a chess-like order, you can visit all continents, near all major rivers, and you will always be in A-class zones. The same goes for D-types, which is even simpler since there are more of them.
— Harsh.
— This reaction has already happened, you are repeating yourself. However, let's continue. You asked the question in the style of "what is that device doing here?" So, due to certain restrictions, not everything can be done in countries with A-types. For example, you can't mess around with nuclear physics. Therefore, from power plants, you can roughly understand where there are few A-types. At the same time, as you understand, it is the A-types who really engage in science. They just go to another region for a couple of years. And here they are, which is something to be pleased about. Wait a bit, I’ll drink some water …

My conversation partner left on time, I still haven't digested this… Damn, I was probably happier when I didn't know the truth. It's some sort of hell… Lovingly designed by ourselves…

— So, let's continue. There is an old law that requires having a "way to obtain replacement organs near hazardous industries." A-types need slightly different organs, so in theory, there should be a warehouse of stomachs, livers, and so on nearby. This is somewhat unreasonable since they need to be disposed of in a week. And for that, there is a little device here that gives you a chemistry that allows you to take an organ for C-types, and there are supplies in a neighboring hospital, and transform it into an equivalent for A-types. Except that a doctor is needed, and they are here. Organs grow the same way anyway; the factories are pretty much the same.
— And when an A-type feels bad, they pull out the device, right?
— Exactly. Well, maybe they also test it, it doesn't matter. The essence is different: as long as there is a laboratory here, there is also the device. Actually, you need to pull it out from there.
— And how is the organ transformed? After all, it’s necessary to adjust essentially all the cells…
— You are thinking along the right lines. This is where our device comes into play. Its idea is simple: it creates specific viruses with a very limited program. In particular, it can make cells change their genetic platform by updating the DNA within the cells, and then the restructuring mechanism kicks in, where the organ will "strive to correspond to the analogous one for the required class." This is beautiful because almost every part of our body knows an "ideal state." And all cells will strive for it, which is what they use, substituting that very ideal state.
— Now everything is much clearer... And there are still questions, although the picture is coming together.
— That's reassuring. It's important to understand the essence so that thoughts complement the image rather than distort it further.
— I agree... What should I do about interviews?
— Go through them. Just don't mislead anyone. Be honest about wanting to engage in science to advance the world. Say that you hope this will help you secure a Class B for children. The people there are smart; they can break you apart. So just be as honest as possible.
— And then?
— We'll meet again; I'll tell you what information to gather. Just information! For the first six months, no active actions; we gather material. Just work, memorize everything. Communicate more. Let them think you're practicing lunch breaks.
— You're talking about the scheme where you constantly have lunch with different people so that everyone knows who you are and that you bring value.
— Exactly. Well, we'll talk about that more; we have time before your job.
— Okay, thank you.
— Okay… I'll find you a bit later.
— Waiting…
— Bye.

Survival Algorithm

— Hi. How are you?
— Wow. Are you playing with the cat again?
— And you choose exactly that animal even in a different game.
— Yes, I like them more.
— You know, there’s a module on sale now that allows you to control various animals, like cats for example. Of course, the pet will also need adjustments; a small implant will be added to it. However, after that, you can exchange data. For instance, you could command it to attack an enemy or assess the situation, sniff around, and listen. In response, you get emotions like 'smells like that sample with drugs,' which is incredibly useful for police. And security gets easier too; you can send a puma after a hypothetical criminal just by thinking about it. It won't finish off the violator, but gently subdue them. Or however the guard wants.
— That's cool...
— Anyway, tell me about your progress.
— I've joined a team that deals with theoretical studies on the chemistry of superheavy elements that don't exist in nature yet.
— Wonderful.
— According to the math, some inorganic compounds with superheavy elements can be reduced to organic ones. We just need to lower the temperature to increase the density. It works correctly for already studied materials. I will need to create molecules with these superheavy substances, find organic analogs, and adjust the temperature accordingly. Then it will be easier to use new elements that can be produced in that very laboratory.
— That's interesting. But why is all this necessary?
— They say that theoretically, the new element will allow the creation of an incredibly efficient battery.
— Yes, that would be nice.
— Right. Moreover, in the event of a battery breakdown, a stable energy-rich substance is formed that can then be decomposed with acid. Thus, in the case of an accident, energy is not released but rather bound. At the recycling plant, you can pour electrolyte into a bucket, add acid, and start the centrifuge. The superheavy element will flow down the walls last.
— That's wonderful. Who are you working with?
— I haven't memorized the names yet. There's a chemist with a bunch of publications and two physicists of the same level.
— Not bad. Are they here for long?
— I don't know...
— This is important. So, survival rules. First, you must understand that you are a child compared to them. Do you remember how you tried to deceive your parents when you were a kid, like by bringing home bad grades?
— Yes... I probably looked down.
— You're right. More like you acted quieter than a whisper and lower than grass; you didn’t talk about lessons, answered shortly, and tried to isolate yourself in your room.
— Probably...
— That's an adequate reaction, but the older ones, well, from my perspective, could read it perfectly. Similarly here: forget that you are an adult out there, successful in life, and so on. In the laboratory, you must understand that compared to the A-grade students, you are that same child, and if you try to deceive them, you’re a child with a failing grade whose parents have figured everything out.
— And how should I conduct myself?
— Don't lie to them, don't evade, answer honestly, and always have an excuse for your actions. If the child understood a different reality during the weekend at camp by consuming grated nutmeg, then the parent will easily realize that something is being hidden. However, if in addition to this, our child also ventured outside the camp in the evening despite the restrictions, a clever deceiver would use this fact to mask the true meaning.
— Hmmm... Reasonable.
— Of course! If you ask any politician if he stole anything, what will he say?
— Mmm… Probably that stealing is bad. And that he never stole anything.
— Yes, you could say that, but a lie detector would indicate that there’s some deception present. It would be more accurate to say that he, like all of us, is not without sin, and long ago, when he was young, he borrowed a book from the library and never returned it. No, he didn’t forget; he simply didn’t want to return it. The book was old, it even contained the first edition of the novel 'Come Then, and Let Us Judge' by the now-forgotten Vladimir Mikhailov. This priceless item was in the library for more than a hundred years before it fell into my hands. Since then, the writer has died, his country has undergone several rebuilding phases, a war has occurred, and yet the book remains the same. Such is the artifact of a bygone era. I kept that book for myself, then simply stopped going to that library. I was unbearably ashamed; I couldn't look the staff in the eye, people who safeguarded the knowledge I had stolen, and then I didn’t find the strength to return it. It is very bad to steal things, and since then I have made every effort to ensure that such incidents happen as little as possible.
— Cool, it's like listening to a debate.
— That's exactly it; the person answered honestly. Most likely, he did steal, but it’s always better to have a cover so the investigator backs off. Actually, you don’t need to break the rules. Just find out what can serve as your cover for the future. I won't tell you the planned scheme just yet, just in case.
— Yes, that will be safer.
— Agreed. In a month and a half, it will be your first working day. So just engage, learn as much as possible. Find your way to the infirmary. Sniff out the situations that lead to an evacuation. Then we'll continue. About six months from now.
— Long time.
— That would be more correct. You'll do just fine without me at first. The most important thing is to remember that you are a child among adults. You are a student among teachers who are also engaged in science, constantly improving their minds. Don't try to deceive them, agreed?
— Yes, okay.
— Perfect. Or meow, since I'm again from the family of furry ones.

Laboratory

— So, hello everyone. This is Ivan, our new chemist. He will help us prepare new elements to anticipate possible chemical compounds.
— Yes. Thank you!
— Great, let's go, I'll show you your workspace.

I'm so anxious. More than at previous jobs. It's surprising how well organized everything is here. Just the workspace is amazing. Back there, I had a cramped cubicle where the ventilation didn't always work properly. Here, the chemical laboratory is a work of art. It's like they took an aviation hangar with huge ceilings and then divided it into sections. And they didn't forget about specialized hoods and the horizontal airtightness of the boxes. They set up adequate computers with large, clear screens. And the equipment itself is new, though, as I understand it, the laboratory has been here for three decades.

— Hi, Ivan, once again. How do you like your workspace?
— Hi, Stuart! It's great. However, I'm still studying materials on previous research.
— Wonderful, wonderful. I simply don't have enough time to practically check all the ideas that come to me. But we need to hurry, as our calculations show that soon we'll be able to synthesize the first superheavy element, which will indeed allow us to store energy. Just think, after hundreds of years, humanity will finally be able to create a battery that can store more abstract energy per kilogram than a liter of kerosene.
— Yes, that will be cool. We can begin a gradual transition away from modern, yet still smoky engines.
— Do you like history?
— I occasionally watch videos about ancient things.
— That's right. Although my question is different: do you enjoy finding analogies from not-so-distant past to ironically point out the shortcomings of modernity?
— That's a tough question...
— Yes, technically speaking, it's complex-subordinate. And that doesn’t make it uninteresting. Look, do you know that at the beginning of the 21st century, there were already attempts to introduce electric vehicles? Of course, it’s pretty obvious that one of the true goals was also to eliminate less progressive manufacturers, who, by a happy coincidence, were primarily not in those countries that dreamed of ecology. Interesting, right? You don’t prohibit competition; it’s just that car manufacturers from non-first world countries have to simultaneously produce both classic versions of cars and not forget about the new ones. Logically, they were pushed out of the market and so on, but that’s not the point. The important thing is this: back then, they rushed to update before science was ready with the platform. In other words, if the classic innovation scheme looks like first researching and then creating, in this case, it was the other way around: first, they build a new world, and we’ll explore whether it’s possible in the process.
— Wow. However, that was just a local idea, right?
— Not at all, many countries then jumped into such foolishness, which perfectly demonstrates the logic and consistency of politicians and also the electorate. And we digress again because quite a few really cool engineering platforms were created at that time, but a couple of crises and wars corrected the situation; we are moving again in cars, but now they are different.
— I thought the transition to gas happened naturally. Just like the move away from coal, there were already cheap deposits that had been depleted. Plus, methane is more environmentally friendly.
— Yes, you're right, but only partially. Transitioning to methane is logical and sequential; it's a great energy carrier, but that switch occurred after recognizing the issues with electric vehicles. It became clear that there is an absolutely radical amount of carbon dioxide in the air, on one hand. On the other: in some parts of the world, it's actually very cheap to obtain energy, whether from the sun or from hydropower plants. This leads us to the next idea: we set up plants in areas with cheap electricity, create lots of simple gas—methane and others. Then this substance can be converted into energy for heating, with an efficiency slightly lower than 100%, which is already impressive. Or, with lower efficiency, into movement energy; however, hybrids have thrived in this area, so ultimately, it resulted in quite a decent solution. But then World War III struck, and after it, the idea of a shared energy system collapsed due to the fact that all large systems were banned. Consequently, autonomy became extremely important again, which severely undermined all ideas from the electric vehicle era.
— I would have never thought… Can we repeat history now?
— That's correct, but now in the right sequence. For example, it's often more advantageous to gather things for a trip first and then begin the trip to avoid the problem of forgotten items, and so on. However, in reality, sometimes you can start the journey first and then repack along the way, perhaps involving someone in the back seat. In rare instances, that may be sensible: you quickly gather a bunch of stuff in your apartment, grab several bags, and then in the taxi, someone rearranges things into suitcases. Most often, something goes wrong, but sometimes it works! Right now, we are handling batteries in the correct sequence: first science, then factories. First packing, then taxi. This reduces the likelihood of problems, but it doesn't mean that this approach will be effective 100% of the time; it just has a higher probability of being reasonable than any other approach.
— Yes, that sounds logical.
— I see you're tired, which is expected since it's the first workday. Please check out McCooper's research on pseudo-organics based on zirconium.
— Okay, I'll look through the materials.
— Great. Alright, it's late, I'm heading home. See you!
— See you!

They're talking so much, it's overwhelming. And the amount of information that's thrown at me every time is just insane. To be honest, they know how to draw analogies. I just suggested an experiment, and they immediately responded that they had done something very similar before. They studied it, but not the chemical properties, rather the physical ones. The dependency on temperature and other similar parameters. I wouldn’t have seen the similarity right away if it hadn’t been presented to me that way. It feels like being a C student talking to straight-A students, and they are a couple of years older too. Alright, I’ll follow the advice, so I’ll keep listening.

— Steward, could you please tell me how to get to the medical station?
— Yes, of course. Is something hurting?
— No, I just want to grab a couple of ointments for possible burns. They’re unlikely, I know safety protocols. But just in case, I’d like to have them nearby to reduce the chance of a problem.
— Reasonable. The way there isn't the simplest, so let me show you. And while we're at it, let's speculate, but not about work. Tell me, as the president of a country in the early 21st century, how would you establish your companies in other countries? Let's say you have, hypothetically, an insurance company whose headquarters, obviously, is in your own country. It reinsures, which is also obvious, first and foremost in your country, as it's just more convenient. And there are a couple of neighboring countries where you could outcompete the locals. So, here's my question: how would you assist with 'fair competition' if you have plenty of resources? Well, you could tweak laws a bit, plus you have intelligence agencies that could also help.
— I would try to implement a bunch of small affiliated companies in another country. Because a large monster can easily be outmaneuvered by someone small.
I understand you, even though you're not entirely right. History shows that only a large corporation can attack another one this broadly. Otherwise, competition tends to degenerate a bit, as a big corporation can stay in an unprofitable market for a long time, because it has plenty of money and all the necessary employees, like accountants and so on. Of course, history knows of well-publicized exceptions, but that doesn’t change the recommendation: attack big with big. So, here’s my question for you: how do you destroy another corporation?
Interesting... Perhaps you need to eliminate key members. Managers, for example.
No, if you take classic managers out of the game, those who manage other managers, the corporation's situation will only improve. Unfortunately, or fortunately, that's the way it is.
Then, I guess, you should engage in sabotage and diversion.
That's also not quite right. Management itself is quite capable of doing that. And it's not just them. After all, if someone has been doing the same thing for about 10 years, even if progress has moved on, they start to realize they can be replaced. They also realize that it would be unfair to them. As a result, our employee starts to hinder the company, creating bureaucracy and proving to everyone that they are extremely necessary. In short, they become a typical saboteur. So that's not the answer either.
Hmm...
In practically any company, there are about 5 (or 10) percent of people on whom everything else depends. Of course, everyone feels like that, but it doesn't change the essence. Otherwise, the company grows, everyone changes positions (like promotions and so forth), and eventually, the company becomes ineffective; it stops growing. If there are no competent people at all, the company goes bankrupt, so the balance lies somewhere in this point. It’s not in the top managers' interests to find these 5%, as there’s a huge risk of landing in the 95%. However, a competitor might find them for you and attempt to eliminate them, but not physically; they’ll just make them resign.
This could have been done before!
— Are you talking about the 20th century? If so, you're not quite right again, as people in the 21st century started leaving a ton of information online. Moreover, data flowed freely, while governments often just prohibited discussing leaks. And they only displayed the appearance of activity. So, possessing data allowed one to find 5% of a competitor's company and force them out.
— How, for example?
— For instance, there is a manager who has learned to effectively lie to their subordinates. As a result, a person works for the first year, hoping for a promotion. In the end, they learn from colleagues the terrifying truth about the swamp they are working in, and then the manager convinces them to stay longer, saying that the team is great and everything will be fine soon. This continues for another year, and eventually, the person quits. Without an effective manager, they would have left in the first month. Instead, they worked for a whole two years, putting in effort but received very little in return.
— That's inhumane...
— Perhaps, but what's important is that our comrade was actually bringing profit to the company. However, one could discuss with each subordinate of our manager through social media, and people would raise a fuss at work, leading to the manager being suspended. After some time, the entire department was disbanded due to its ineffectiveness, resulting in the corporation losing a portion of its market.
— Isn't that good?
— It would have been good to get rid of a couple of top people; then the department could have been increased almost several times. However, there's another telling example. Imagine a company produces a product, and someone verifies it. Strangely enough, everything often hinges on that person: they are the ones who prevent the delivery of complete garbage to clients. The others don’t care much about this, as bonuses are given for other reasons. So, remove this person, and the company will quickly lose customers.
— Reasonable... I'm curious, did that really happen?
— Strangely enough, yes. That's exactly how they acted, which is quite remarkable because companies were collapsing right before everyone’s eyes, and hardly anyone knew the true reason. I doubt they will find out, to be honest. By the way, here is the medical station, but wait a second. I have another question for you: if you found out that the company is under attack, what would you do?
— That's a question... I think it would be unwise to inform management about it?
— Of course, this would be a losing option, as the higher a person is, the less their actions differ from those of a saboteur, unless they’re in that 5% that are rare.
— And there's no point in telling colleagues about it, right?
— Of course, because a saboteur is just impossible to find. For instance, there's a manager who decided to save money on equipment by providing everyone with cheap computers. And the numbers turned out great; there are plenty of workstations! The details are sad, as it turned out that employee productivity has dropped significantly. This is hard to detect immediately, so the manager received a bonus; he’s done great and all that. And I have a question for you: was he a saboteur?
— Of course. It’s a standard scheme.
— You're right about the scheme, but that’s absolutely normal behavior for a manager: to save 10 while losing 100. Because otherwise, you'll have to work hard, study the market, and keep up with technology. In general, you can't gain bonuses by being profitable; that's the problem. Well, judge for yourself, what’s easier: to be better than a competitor in real metrics or to draw figures that, if you don’t delve into details, suggest you're better than them?
— Horrible…
— No kidding. Alright, in general, I showed you the medical station.
— Thank you!
— Okay, good luck.

A cunning plan.

So, I've been in the lab for almost six months now. It's exhausting, to be honest. Though the fatigue is more pleasant than from working in a factory. Interestingly, I was told earlier that the scientific field is mortally boring. Well, you don’t see the results of your labor, unlike in a live enterprise. But no, it's quite the opposite. In the factory, you just see the results, but they’re not yours; they belong to the factory. In science, however, you feel your tiny contribution. But at least it’s yours.

— Hi! How’s it going?
— Oh man. You scared me.
— Well, sorry. How's the reconnaissance going?
— So, I checked a couple of rooms. It looks like the encoder is in the medical block. Besides the main area, they have two offices: one with medications, and the other has a coded lock. The sign says "hazardous waste," but the door is metal. Moreover, it seems to open outward, although the hinges are hidden deep. So it’s probably a safe or something like that.
— Beautiful! But it’s too early to relax. Now you need to figure out how to sneak into the office unnoticed. I understand correctly that you previously served in the fire department?
— Yes, this was my first job. I determined the cause of the fire based on various types of soot on the walls. Different materials leave different soot on the walls and ceiling. Plus, they have dissimilar intensities. My task was to establish (or confirm) that the fire had indeed started due to a sparking outlet and, conditionally, a carpet. Since there were people who liked to create paths with flammable mixtures all over the apartment and then turn on the stove and step away for a minute. If the frying pan was heated with water and oil, then later this setup would ignite the floor. And the flammable mixture spread the fire around the apartment.
— I didn’t know the fire department did this. Isn’t it the job of investigators, like the police, or hired by the insurance company?
— Good question, I hadn’t thought about it… Maybe the insurance companies sponsored the fire department.
— Well, that makes sense, because in this case, your payment would pass under the category of "charity," which provides economic benefits. Clever, I respect that. However, we digress. You’ll somehow need to photograph that wonder machine. From what I saw, you’re the only one who worked with the firefighters. So, if they need to check the aftermath of that fire, you’ll be the first to go… I hope…
— But why would they let me into that room in the first place?
— We’ll have to figure that out… You have to use the fact that you’re the only one who can assess that room for fire damage, simply relying on your experience. However, nobody is going to do this just because, so we need to somehow prompt that whole bunch to conduct an inspection… We could organize a mini-meeting outside to end up with inspectors arriving… Safes always have their own atmosphere; it's obvious that it's insufficiently protected from fire… So before the inspectors arrive, they’ll need to find someone to check everything on the off chance… Well, I hope…
— And what if not?
— It’s not a big deal; it’s safe for you. In general, we agreed, your task: to casually tell the local doctor that you worked as a firefighter. Explain that after what you’ve seen, you strictly adhere to safety protocols, and then you often try to take precautions.
— Actually, that’s true.
— Hooray! Then we decided that I will try to arrange a check-up for you. Your task: to memorize as much as possible how it looks. Ideally, if you can take some pictures of it. They will be useful for me to prepare a dummy that we will use after the operation. Then hardly anyone will realize that the device is actually missing.
— I have another question for you.
— Y-e-es.
— How can you change the genetic platform? You need to update all the cells of the body.
— It's complicated, but possible. As you know, people of different classes have different organs. They are either grown at the factory specifically for the required class or adapted. I told you about this. However, in reality, it’s more complex, as the operation has to be performed on a living person. The person is put into a coma, and the first virus is introduced into their blood, which will start rearranging the nerve cells according to a new scheme. The thing is, each of us has an ideal state of the body encoded, except for those born alive. Therefore, as soon as the cells change their functioning style, they will begin to change to match the genetic platform of category A. This only works for nerve endings and does not affect other organs at all. That’s a little aspect of our platforms. All other organs are just slightly better than the standard, while our nervous system was essentially made from scratch. So, the nerves will start to reorganize, but your old organs won’t be able to work with them, except for the skin and bones, although those are not really organs. In essence, almost everything that actively interacts with platform class C is unlikely to be able to communicate with A-class endings. In any case, we won't take risks, so you just need to replace all your organs.
— That’s quite radical.
— There’s no other way. Two weeks after the virus takes effect, your organs will start to fail one after another. Within about a week, all of them will either be replaced with artificial ones or simply removed. In about four weeks, or close to that, your nervous system will be ready to function at a high level, and then a new heart, stomach, and everything else will be inserted. You will need a couple more years for full adaptation, but you’ll be able to walk literally two months after the process begins.
— Wow.
— Exactly. This device generates various viruses, including those we need for this operation. You get the idea, roughly.
— Yeah, cool.
— Great. Alright, I'll get in touch with you later. Good luck!
— No, wait a minute.
— Yes, of course.
— Why does it seem to me that AIs are unusually talkative?
— Ha. That's a simulation error. The thing is, if you enhance the brain to the level of an AI, and then adjust the genes that might contribute to schizophrenia, there arises a very curious nuance: the internal dialogue of the person becomes more complex. I forgot the scientific term, but the essence is clear: it gets a bit more difficult to talk to oneself. As a result, the brain improves by X times, but this ability only increases by about X/2 times. Consequently, a person is less prone to schizophrenia, but it becomes very difficult for them to analyze their thoughts alone. They can't consider everything from different angles.
— What a thought...
— Exactly. As a result of this, it's vital for a person to share information and process it. And if that were all. Due to their relatively advanced perception, AIs find it easier to draw different analogies. Allegedly, according to legend, a scientist who discovered the benzene ring dreamt of a snake biting its own tail. And by morning he realized that this could be the solution to his task; you know how it is. So, these kinds of dreams and analogies happen constantly with AIs. You can observe the statements of politicians; there will be comparisons with something from another field at every turn. In the style of 'we need to look to the future in the social sector, not just slightly improve the current state; for example, look at the development of technologies, where there is a constant race toward an as-yet unattainable ideal.'
— So they all act that way, talking without stopping.
— Yes, that's right. It's the curse of the developed; it's hard to stay silent and not share information. To be honest, I'm now interested in whether there are psychological deviations in this regard. For example, who would start cooperating with the investigation faster when imprisoned in a solitary cell: AI type A, AI type B, or AI type C?
— Has anyone conducted such experiments?
— On paper, we're all the same, so serious experiments will be stifled in their infancy. Unfortunately, everything else will prove nothing anyway…
— Interesting… People are different, but we cannot acknowledge that.
— Yes, you're right. However, our planet has gone through this before. And we've digressed again. What other questions do you have about the laboratory?
— None for now… I’ve memorized roughly what needs to be done.
— Great. Then we’ll get in touch in about six months. No rush, and there's no need to look for me. I’ll try to arrange a situation for you to make exact copies of the device, you know what I mean.
— Yes, alright.
— Agreed. Bye!

Medical confidentiality

So, my gauze mask is completely worn out; it’s time to change it. Ever since a month ago when I almost got hit by steam, I always work in it. I’ve become somewhat paranoid… Anyway, there’s time, I can change it all while the centrifuge is working.

Familiar corridor, though few people walk it. It’s surprising how few incidents happen here; during my time at the plant, the line was stopped once just because of an economist; what the hell is this?? Why did we shake? And what’s with the blue mist?

Alright, put on the worn-out mask, need to turn off the equipment; the situation isn’t right. Let’s run. Why is it shaking so much, like an earthquake?

Great, the lights went out. Considering it’s night and the emergency lighting isn't working, I'm in a bit of trouble. And all phones were checked at the entrance; what a nuisance… If I remember the layout right, the emergency exit is in the hall with some mist. Forget it, I’ll run through the medical office; thankfully, they have an outside exit.

The door was jammed, but I managed to force it open. Wow… I definitely didn’t expect to find a dead doctor here. All in the best traditions, the door is armored, but the wall isn’t. That’s why it fell right on this Hippocratic follower. And there’s some device in the room. What a great chance to take it out of here. Expensive, I guess. I’ll take a photo and return it later; it might be useful.

Alright, here’s my vehicle. It’s such a rush, no one cares about me. It feels like something exploded under the building really hard, and not just once. And my head is starting to hurt; what kind of awful thing scattered around?

Let’s get in the car, let’s go home…

Investigator

— Hello, Ivan!
— Hello,… Who are you?
— I’m an investigator, here are my documents.

…

— Do you have any idea where you are?
— Probably in some kind of hospital for prisoners.
— You are right. I have a couple of questions for you, if you don’t mind. It's in your best interest to cooperate with the investigation.
— Of course… What do you want to know?
— Why did you take the device from the medical section home? And what were you doing there?
— I was heading to the exit of the building. The medical section was the safest route. I went in there, and the doctor was killed by the door. Apparently, she was guarding some valuable equipment. The doctor is dead, the expensive device is there, plus the building might catch fire soon. I took the device and carried it out, hoping to preserve it. Luckily, it wasn't too heavy. There was chaos around, and I made it to my car. Everyone was too busy to notice me, so I took the device home to return it later. It’s worth a lot, especially after what happened. My head was starting to pound, I rolled into my house. I don’t even remember the last part, just acting on autopilot. Then I woke up here.
— What does the device produce?
— I don't know… Probably something medical. It had a biological hazard sign on it, so I think it deals with some bacteria or virus. Either it detects them or modifies them. I don’t know...
— How did you plan to sell the device?
— I didn’t want to sell it, I wanted to return it!
— Maybe you wanted to sell the results of the device’s work?
— No, I don’t even know how to turn it on.
— Alright. Who is Elena Einstein?
— Who?
— Elena Einstein. Who is that?
— I have no idea. Who is that?
— If the lie detector isn’t lying, you’re telling the truth… Alright.
— Who is this Elena?
— She’s wanted. Three years ago, according to our data, she tried to steal a similar medical device. Unfortunately.
— I see… What happened to the factory?
— Unfortunately, I don’t know the details completely. And I can’t tell you everything. The official version: an experimental error, plus a violation of safety protocols. Eventually, the tank with the substance overheated and shook quite a bit. Then the safety system activated, but the pressure spiked, which caused the situation to repeat in the neighboring similar tanks. Thankfully, there were no radiation leaks. It’s unfortunate that there were still casualties.
— Yes, I saw the poor doctor myself.
— Yes. In general, get well soon. And sorry for the trouble. By the way, we put the device back in place. As you may have already guessed, there was a search in your apartment.

The operation

So, they threw advertisements in the mailbox again... What’s the point? A bunch of vague excursions, trips to remote countries... Well, for me, everything is fine there.

What is this? An advertisement for a trip to a cat show, plus a tour of the physics museum, with one of the oldest tokamaks. Sounds suspicious... And there are dates available, just need to book the trip on the site. Too many coincidences.

…

I wonder why this radio is lying in the hotel? Clearly new, although such are currently unpopular. Who needs it in the city when you can call on a mobile phone? I wonder if anyone will answer...

— At the device!
— Hi, Ivan! How was the trip?

Damn, a child's voice. How creepy...

— Hi! Who are you?
— You will understand. Please tell me what actually happened after the explosion? And I'll give you the password right away: lynx, puma, partner.
— I got it. I took the device home, set it up. Then I saw the USB diagnostic socket. Can you imagine, someone is using it? Out of curiosity, I connected to the device and while poking around the menu, I found the command 'copy current state'. I activated it, getting a file with what seems to be firmware. It seems like the developers forgot to disable the debug mode. Just in case, I found the nearest exe file and appended the downloaded data to its end. When launched, no one will read the block that is just tacked onto the end of the file, so my signature even survived. No one found anything, so the program is still with me.
— Hooray! However, you really made me happy. As you understood, I had to lay low since the police started digging around. But it’s okay, now we have the most valuable thing — the algorithm to build the virus we need!!!
— Is that enough? What about the actual device? Do we have the key?
— Everything is fine. All these virus generators are standard. They just pour in different programs, and more often than not, they put algorithms for creating bacteriophages in there, or at the very least, something for fighting cancer. These are harmless things, so the device can be retrieved. Just need to tweak it so it doesn't remember what it's doing and so on, but that’s solvable.
— Cool...
— So get ready for death. In a couple of months, the old you will be gone, but a new person will emerge, someone from whom bad people stole part of the documents and gave a blow to the head. So in six months, you'll start life anew, from a clean slate, so to speak.
— Have we really reached a conclusion…
— Only a few steps left. Come to the café by the tree over there, the one you saw from the taxi, I think. There's also a monument to Marie Curie nearby.
— I understand.
— In four days, for example, at 5:00 PM, sit somewhere, and your envelope with the flash drive will be exchanged for an envelope with a travel voucher for where you will go next. There are extreme sports and all that, so no one will be surprised when they receive a death notice.
— Creepy, yet logical.
— Great, that's it, I'm waiting.

The sea

A special plus of working as a scientist is the long vacation. I've never worked for several years without a break before. It's cool to have a titled genetic platform. And that's when I can truly relax from the talkative colleagues. Goodness, how they love to talk… And I still haven't learned to do that…

— Lena, are you coming?

Again the family is on vacation. Of course, it would be silly to stick together. It's better to shout so everyone can hear. Even the woman in front of me flinched.

— Anna, please place your payment method right here…
— Yes, of course. However, your check-in process is lengthy, just like opening a bank account.
— Unfortunately, the instructions are like this…

…

— Hello, do you like cat shows?
— Hello, who are you?
— Do you remember the not-so-successful experiments in finding an ultra-heavy element?
— I figured out who you are.
— And I actually saw you in person.
— Did you guess that my name isn't the same as it was at birth? Yes, you've definitely gotten smarter.

Source: habr.com