The dim lights of candles snatched out of the darkness the wooden walls and the huge stove. On a table in the corner of the room, there were many clay and glass vessels, as well as several strange devices. The floorboards creaked under my steps. I very slowly carried a glass plate with two puddles of different colors, trying not to spill it, and put it on the table.

I pulled one of the instruments towards me. Its wooden pipe looked directly at a clay stage covered with a mirror surface, and on its sides were two more small movable mirrors.

I attached the plate on the pallet. With a miniature spoon, scooped up a transparent, viscous liquid from a glass vessel and dripped it into a small hole in a wooden tube. Then moved two candles closer, looked into the tube and, using mirrors, directed the light onto the pallet so that candles can illuminate the entire plate.

The transparent puddle was all dotted with barely visible web-like lines. The thick dark yellow consisted of thick sticks that jerkily jumped away from the web, clustering as far as possible from it. In the place where the two liquids were in contact with each other, no visible traces of life were left.

"I found it," I whispered softly, and then, laughing, I shouted, "I found it!"

There was a knock at the door. Opening it, I saw one man right on the porch, and a dozen more standing at a distance. It was a cloudy night outside, so only torches lit them.

"I found a cure!" I joyfully shared with them, expecting their happiness from the fact that the nightmare that has engulfed the whole world will finally end.

The men whispered about something, after which they crossed themselves, and the one who stood in the aisle did the same. Immediately after that, he grabbed me, squeezing so hard that it was impossible to breathe. Everyone else immediately rushed to his aid, tying my legs and arms.

“Hey, wait,” by some miracle I managed to squeeze out. “Listen!”

"Enough of your devilry, witch," the man holding me said angrily.

“You hangs around with demons and desecrate the bodies of the dead,” the one who tied my legs said no less angrily. “She herself cursed the village, but pretends like she cares!”

“Shut her up before she puts a spell on us,” said in horror the one who was binding my hands.

Someone pushed a rag into my mouth. Sickening smell.

Having finished with the limbs, they wrapped the body as well. Wrapped in a good faith - I could not move a finger. The one who knocked on the door picked me up and threw me into the hut, afraid even to accidentally step on the door threshold. The sound of a door slamming, the sound of nailing into the door. What are they doing? Are they really that crazy?

I looked around. Even if I crawl to the window, I won't be able to get through it - it's too small. Is there another way out?

The nailing stopped. There was a soft crackle. So it's worse than I thought. Crawl like a caterpillar to the knife? Hell, I can't even move a little.

It's already hot. Maybe at least one of them will feel sorry for me? There is no time and foolishness to hope for it. But I can't do anything either. I don't want to die, especially like this!

Billions of knives pierced my feet. Mooing through the nose instead of screaming. Be patient! I've had worse.

The rope with one of the knots finally burned, I felt that my legs were no longer tied. I tried to spread them apart, but they didn’t obey. The acrid smoke corroded my eyes and nostrils. I tried to wriggle out to see why it wasn’t working, but instead of legs I found charred meat, even slightly smoldering. What did I expect?

A quiet whisper swept around. I listened in the hope that I would at least be able to lose myself in a hallucination.

“That's not you. This is not your memory. It never happened to you, you were never here. Remember who you are and where you are before it's too late,” repeated in an endless stream.

I don’t understand. What does it mean? Red eye. Huh? Directly in front of me, an eyeball hung in the air, with a loose nerve dangling. Familiar. At the same moment I noticed it, the world began to blur.

***

Under the starry sky, right on the ground, Karina was sitting on her knees, trembling and wet, muttering something under her breath, in a voice interrupted by the chatter of teeth. Belyana hugged her from behind and whispered something, practically leaning her lips against Karina’s ear. Nearby were two large buckets of water.

Karina slowly opened her eyes. Belyana, noticing this, immediately moved away, grabbed one of the buckets and turned it over her. She, very inhibited, turned to face Belyana, blinked slowly, after which she tried to be indignant, however, this also turned out very slowly.

“Aaare… Youuu… Aaa… Duuumb?” she was about to say something else, but before she could open her mouth, she immediately fell down, just falling asleep.

“And who of us really dumb here?” only thing Belyana asked into the void.

Karina met the dawn with a second bucket of water, carefully splashed by Belyana on her. She immediately jumped up, intending to fret and fume, but met only laughter.

“Let's assume that now you're all here,” said Belyana. “What is the last thing you remember before an exciting trip to nowhere?”

“Holes from bullets ...” finally realizing where she was, Karina answered. “And by the way, where are they?” she asked when noticed that they are no longer exist.

“Just minus a year,” she said thoughtfully. “Still, you're damn lucky. If you had sunk a little deeper - I would have been forced to leave you here.”

“Minus year?” she came to realize what she had heard. “What was it anyway?”

“Just someone's very curious nose decided to look where it shouldn't,” Belyana answered sarcastically. “I hope you had enough fun to never repeat this act.”

“Why would I even try to get inside your head?” Karina asked incredulously.

“Who knows? It would be easier to list the reasons not to do this, which obviously were not enough for you.”

“And yet, what was it?” Karina did not let up.

“A circus performance for uninvited guests,” Belyana answered. “Or maybe a reminiscence, who can tell in this days?”

“And you still claim that you're not crazy?”

“I never said that,” she giggled.

It took them about half a day to get to their destination. The city met them with walls 30 meters high, no less.

“The purpose of the visit and duration?” asked at the entrance a man in a cap, acting as a border guard.

“Tourism,” Belyana imperturbably lied. “No more than a day.”

“Weapons, drugs?” he asked.

“No, nothing like that.”

“Come in,” the border guard replied.

Metal detector frame. Full body x-ray machine. Disinfection chamber. New clothes, folded in an even pile - gray nondescript pajamas. Prick in the neck.

"Ouch," Karina cried out. “What is it?”

“Temporary document and tracking system,” the woman in the white medical coat replied as if it was normal. “Without them, entry is prohibited. They will dissolve into blood an hour after you leave the city, don't worry.”

All the people on the streets wore the same pajamas. Tall buildings around, blocking the light of the sun, between which there are sometimes shops and cafes.

Karina took a deep breath, already missing the gasoline stink of big cities, but she didn’t feel anything. Soon the reason became obvious - there was not a single car in the city from which an exhaust pipe would stick out. And on every corner there was a road sign promising exorbitant fines for air pollution.

“Boring safety again?” Belyana asked sadly, rather from herself.

“Looks like it,” Karina almost confirmed, “But not really. There are no cameras anywhere and collars seem to be only put on strangers. This blue mark is too noticeable, but passers-by don’t have it.”

“Seems true,” Belyana confirmed. “Amazing power of observation for a vegetable.”

“Huh?” not believing her ears, asked Karina.

“I say - it seems to be true. Cameras and collars are at least unforgettable.”

Karina looked at her, but even if Belyana scoffed, this time she did not show it.

“Excuse me, please,” one of the passers-by addressed Karina, “Is your companion bothering you?”

“I can hear it, by the way,” Belyana answered instead of her, but the man did not react to this in any way.

“Although it itches to say ‘yes’, but no,” Karina answered with a disapproving glance at Belyana. “She's always like that.”

“Forgive me if I offended you,” he said, bowing slightly to Belyana, after which he turned back to Karina. “Are you okay?”

Karina, indeed, looked rather pale.

“I can’t imagine what business it is for you,” she answered after thinking, “But if you insist, it wouldn’t hurt to have a place with a good food.”

“Oh, don’t worry,” the passer-by reassured her. “I just have a list of good deeds for every day. I know the place, let's go!”

Street changed street. Smooth paths, defibrillators every hundred meters. Each inscription on each wall is duplicated in braille. Here the blind old man is about to cross the street, and everyone who noticed him vyingly offers to help him. There, someone was tired of carrying a heavy bag, and already one of the passers-by fussed over to help him.

Finally they came. Their escort fled before they could say anything to him.

Inside was a feast of balance. Not too bright and not too dim light, not too loud and not too quiet classical music. There were not too many tables with people, but their number was enough not to feel uncomfortable. Even the design itself was, in its own way, a contract between tradition and innovation. Although, there were no prices on the menu, so Karina had to call the waiter.

“Excuse me, but where are the price tags?”

“Oh, you forgive me,” he answered in a tone, as if apologizing for a monstrous insult, not otherwise. “This establishment is only for visitors living outside our city, so everything is free.”

“What is the connection?” rightly asked Karina.

The waiter hesitated, but answered anyway.

“People from the outside come in different incomes,” he carefully chose his words, apparently trying not to upset anyone, “And we can’t identify it by appearance, so the owner decided that this was the best option.”

Karina did not understand the logic behind it, but she placed the order anyway. Belyana limited herself to water.

“Why are we here?” Karina asked her.

“How is it, why? You are gluttonous, like a pig,” Belyana answered, pointing her finger at her.

“I mean,” she said displeasedly, “Why are we in this city? Why not leave everything as it is? Who is bad for this?”

“And why did you even decide that what you see is good?”

“Maybe, because I still have something to compare with? So do you, by the way.”

“Think about it,” Belyana said, resting her cheek on her hand. “Let's take for example the owner of this establishment, who feeds everyone for free. Who will feed him?”

“Any of the people who will notice that he is starving?” Karina asked, not understanding what Belyana was leading to. “Or anyone he asks about it?”

“And who will feed the next one? And the next one? And then continue the chain to a link that cannot help anyone. What will it do?”

“And who said that there would be such a link at all?” rightly said Karina.

“Although it is obvious that this is exactly what will happen, but still this is not the question,” Belyana sighed. “The question is what will the one who cannot help in any way do. Finish your meal already, it's even more boring than the safety slaves.”

After finishing their meal, they went through many surveys from the staff on how much they liked it here and whether everything suited them. It was only after this protracted exchange of pleasantries that they were able to return to the street. Karina looked pleased, while Belyana clearly expressed her disgust at what she witnessed.

“You know, you could at least pretend,” Karina told her accusingly.

“Also I could have three boobs,” she grumbled. “If you can't benefit somehow from it, there’s no reason to pretend. And if they want to be licked, then they are free to do it themselves.”

After that, Belyana did not utter a word until they reached the building, surrounded by people with machine guns around the perimeter.

“Guys!” she called to them. “We need to go inside, let us in!”

“Forgive me, please,” one of them replied as he ran up to her. “This is a protected facility and no one is allowed here.”

“We really need it,” although her expression was plaintive, her eyes shone mischievously. “If we don’t get inside, we will be very sick, we won’t be able to sleep, and I might even die!”

The guard's eyes flickered in shame. Several times he tried to say something, but immediately stopped.

“Fine, but just for a while, I'll show you the way,” finally giving up, he sighed.

“See?” Belyana asked Karina. “The most guarded object in this city is the passage yard. Get here at least someone with bad intentions, and it will end very sadly. And even a beacon will not help them until they vote as a whole community that getting rid of the pest is the lesser of the evils.

“You are a mood killer, after all,” Karina answered sadly.

“Excuse me, where is your destination?” the guard asked them as they approached the door.

“In the place to which you attached all this unhealthy structure,” Belyana answered.

The corridors of the building were like a huge maze. It is not known how long ago they were built, but the concrete walls were already moldy. The passages turned, went up and down, sometimes forks. Without an escort, Belyana and Karina would definitely get lost.

“We arrived,” said the guard, stopping at the iron door. “I'll wait here for you.”

The situation inside was rather unexpected. Carpets on the walls. Lots of cabinets with glass doors filled with all sorts of crystal tableware. Even though it was clear from the dust that the room had been abandoned for a long time, it still exuded some kind of nostalgic coziness. Right in the middle of the room stood a large pink crystal branching out into sharp spikes. Inside it was part of the dining table, on which there was even a plate with half-eaten dinner, and also a chair on which a smiling old woman was sitting.

And here is an object lesson,” said Belyana.

“Huh?”

“The compassionate old lady, having come to the conclusion that this is the best option, simply killed herself to ensure that her domain would remain here forever. And the most unpleasant thing is that this line of magicians was interrupted on it. Who knows if this one little god will ever reincarnate.”

“And what, it will truly remain?” the only thing that Karina paid attention to.

“Hobbyhorse, huh...” Belyana sadly answered. “It will remain if no one touches a crystal. However, the fate of all who are under it influence is right before your eyes.”

“Is it possible, somehow, I don’t know, to leave the domain and so that they don’t end up like that?”

Belyana defiantly twisted her fingers in her ears, as if they were blocked, and asked Karina to repeat.

“Maybe you yourself will stay here to run after each of them and dissuade them?” Belyana asked irritably. “I don't really care. If you want, stay. If you want, we'll leave the crystal here. You want - all at once. One way or another, any of the decisions are yours. If you expect that I will also stay, so that you will not be bored in this swamp - you really shouldn’t.”

“And why are you always so mean?” Karina asked sadly. “I didn’t even ask about this, but is there a third option.”

“For kindness - you can listen to folk tales. However, even they will surprise you unpleasantly - you are unlikely to have heard at least one that was not spoiled by hypocritical censorship,” Belyana answered. “And I have already voiced the third option and so - get rid of the domain in any of the ways.”

“Fine, fine. And how to get rid of it?” she tapped the crystal with her hand, from which there was a specific iron ringing. “What kind of crap is this?”

“Fire with fire. Although in this case your power is useless. I'll just take it with me.”

“But you are also a wizard,” Karina was surprised. “Why carry such a hulk?”

“Here everything is a little more complicated, but let’s tell I'm not going to carry it.”

Belyana took hold of the crystal with her hand, and there was a familiar electrical crackle. One movement of the hand on herself - and the old woman disappeared, and the dining table collapsed with a crash.

“Well, at least I’ll ask now,” Karina said. “What was it?”

“A shortcut,” Belyana's gloomy expression was replaced by a chuckle.

“I see,” wrinkling her nose, she answered, after which she mumbled, “As if I should have expected something else.”