– It's getting late! – he shouted. – You must sound a general alarm. We can't stop her. She's launching nuclear missile systems that bypass all the lockdowns.
Ruthra's voice trembled; he realized the provocativeness of his question and asked it nonetheless:
– What's going on? Is all this for real?
Everyone came, and amidst the clamor, Ruthra's serious question was the one that interested everyone. Suddenly there was silence. The Acting Chief of Staff of the Ministry of Defense said quietly and calmly:
– It's unbelievable, but the tech shows it's happening. Look at the screen, it's already issued targeting orders, so it's activated the RYAA-01 protocol!
– General evacuation! – shouted the head of the guard, and his shout stabbed a dagger through the ear into everyone's brain. – General evacuation! – he continued to yell.
Then ran over to the communications lockdown terminal, switched it to broadcast mode, and walked over to Ruthra.
– Get in the chair. You must sound the alarm. Open the safe.
– Which one?
– Oh, shit. We haven't transferred the locks to you yet. We need to open the package.
– What the hell is going on? Were you expecting me?! – Ruthra was yelling now.
There was no one left in the office anymore except for the crew, two naval officers, the chief of security, the chief of staff, and two members of the president's security detail.
– Mr. President, you're not prepared for this turn of events, and we're… We live in this, in daily training. You need to be evacuated to a secret underground bunker. Just give me a quick message: "Alarm has been sounded, possible nuclear strike throughout the country." The troops have been ordered. War has already begun. NATO is launching a retaliatory strike.
– What are you saying now?
– Mr. President! It's more serious than that. If the world was going to end, it wouldn't come on schedule. We have to go by the book.
– Go ahead, you're on the air.
– What the hell?
– Speak up!
Somehow Ruthra's memory had magically cleared. He remembered what was required.
– Dear citizens of Russia, an urgent message to everyone! Please remain calm, but at the same time I ask you to hurry. A nuclear strike on the territory of our country is possible. You have 30 minutes. Please don't panic. Communications will soon be out of service. If there are civil defense instructions, follow them. If not, try to stay in the building, close to supporting structures, away from glass. In a direct hit, there is no way to escape. In the general hustle and bustle, more will die in the crush. It's impossible to put everyone in a bomb shelter. Our hope is in God and the air defense system. Try to stay out of open spaces. The explosion is likely to be airborne. That's why heat and light waves are the most dangerous. The electromagnetic pulse will disable all electronic devices. Turn them off beforehand…
– That's it, that's it. The civil defense headquarters will tell you next," the head of security almost demanded, waving his hand.
When the airwaves went off, Rutra, having already entered the role of president, asked sternly:
– How could this happen?!
– This is not the time, please. Let's go," the security guard said pleadingly, grabbing his arm.
– The team is coming with me," Rutra stated.
– I'm sorry, of course, but they were admitted at your own request and by permission of the former president, only because you hooked them up to a supercomputer to control the cloning of the thymus gland. The president's clan made great use of it, and they made great business out of it too.
– All the more reason I need a team.
Ruthra first intended to ask them about the method the security officer had mentioned, and what had happened before.
They ran to the next room, the head of security opened the entrance to the elevator, where everyone entered… and rushed into the depths of Moscow's underground.
– Rutra, thank you, you're a true friend," Iulia said already in the elevator.
– Thank you, thank you," Andrian and Catherine repeated after her.
Only YatSan remained silent. Rutra looked at her. She was a lovely creature of about 25 years old. She was a thin, frail person whose eyes hid a gentle longing with a sly fury. She looked at Ruthra shrewdly, but at the same time with a hidden request, as if she wanted to say something… or wanted Ruthra to realize something for himself. Her gaze penetrated his mind, began to carry signals. Ruthra couldn't quite decipher them, just some fragments of the big picture. She was looking for help and support. She needed to make sense of the past to understand the big picture of what was happening to him in this world. Who were these people on his team? How had he met them? Why were they responsible for such a serious project? How did the president usurp his opening? Was he arrested? How did they know the entire technological process? Did he entrust it to the local Iren? Or does YatSan know something about it? Isn't that what her look is trying to say? Maybe she's being threatened?
His musings were interrupted by the Chief of General Staff.
– Where did you get that speech, the first strike methodology, the electromagnetic pulse?
Ruthra looked at him with displeasure. What did it matter now? Everyone was silent, for it was still to the end of their consciousness that they did not understand what had happened.
– Strictly out of curiosity," the Chief of Staff said, realizing Rutra's thoughts.
The elevator reached the waypoint, the door opened. They found themselves in the corridor. Iulia and Catherine were whispering, coming out later than everyone else. Then Iulia ran forward, grabbed the Chief of General Staff's arm, and asked begrudgingly:
– Will we know what happens upstairs?
His answer was shocking.
– Believe me, dear, we all have someone who will die.
The atmosphere was oppressive. They were walking down the corridor, and each step clapped the consciousness. It was beyond human capacity to believe what was happening (and also so suddenly). At the end of the corridor they were met by two FSO officers; after greeting them, they let everyone through without checking. Afterwards, they were led into the operations center. There were a lot of people there. It was something like a flight control center, which are often shown on TV during communication with astronauts. In some ways it resembled a movie theater hall, only there were monitors and tables in front of the chairs.
The huge screen ahead showed a battle of missiles. Unless one was aware of the reality of what was happening, it would have resembled a computer game. Lines and flashes flashed in the sky. There was a battle of technology going on. Missiles from both sides were halfway to their target. The Russian missiles were shot down by ground-based air defense missiles, but what the ones that couldn't be shot down did surprised everyone… Of course, the military knew this, but of course they couldn't actually test it until that day. Ballistic missiles released special charges when NATO intercontinental missiles approached and blasted them to pieces with high-altitude explosions. It is difficult to realize any event without experiencing it, especially if it is for the consciousness in the psychological hypostasis of negation: when we do not even want to imagine something, so unpleasant is it for us. On the screen (and, consequently, in the world) there was just such an event, but it was impossible to grasp it with the mind. It was impossible to feel the tragedy of what was happening. Everyone understood that everything was terrible, that it could not be allowed to happen, but nevertheless it did happen.
Rutra was the first to come out of his lethargy. The hall was noisy. Employees were hurriedly running between the rows, shouting something to each other.
– And really – how did it happen? –