WebNovels

Chapter 30 - Right now

Right now, I'm lying at the bottom of some ravine, pressing my back against cold moss. Agnia is stretched out next to me. She's leaning her shoulder against mine and intently scrolling through a map on her smartphone screen. About a hundred meters ahead, behind the trees, there's a road. It runs along the forest and then turns across a field into the city. There's no movement on it. One section is under fire control from our artillery. Positional battles are ongoing in neighboring villages. The regular army and former soldiers of the people's militia are slowly pushing back the junta's fighters, slowly closing the lid on the trap. For now, it's quiet here. Although about half an hour ago some dazed Humvee drove by, so it's unwise to expose ourselves prematurely.

Dusk is approaching, and before nightfall we need to finally decide on the routes for approaching the target. Afterward, things could develop too quickly. And there must be no more mistakes.

"Look," Agnia whispers in my ear. "There's a residential area here. That's our informant's house. And over there are warehouses where they brought our truck according to her information. They cleared the area of civilians, I think not for safety reasons, but rather to attract attention. Even patrols probably don't guard the entire perimeter. If we approach from the fruit orchard side, we can slip through unnoticed. And we'll use the house as a temporary observation post..." She pauses. Looks at me, catching something in my gaze. "What? You're staring like that..."

"I'm impressed. Go on."

"So I'm learning, boss...— Agnia smiles.— Anyway... They know there are plenty of informants among the locals who will leak the warehouse's geolocation. Well, if I were them, I'd definitely leak it... When the next Iskander missile hits, it's only a matter of time. And I think they deliberately placed this barrel of shit right in the middle of ammunition to later claim the explosion was caused by a tactical nuclear strike. But... We know what they think. And they don't know that we know, so..."

"How do you feel?"— I interrupt her.

"I? What's wrong? I'm fine... Look, everything's healed already. Like on a dog..."

Rizoma really did an excellent job patching up the girl. You can't even tell where Kiryusha the butcher sliced her with his scalpel. And that swelling, or whatever it was, has completely disappeared.

"Yeah. Good."

"You're afraid I'll mess up again?"

"No... I just..."

"No, look... Take a look!"

Agnia lifts up her jacket sleeve. Along her thin pale arm, barely distinguishable from normal skin, stretches a black thread. Right near her wrist, under the skin, a small dark bubble swells up. It bursts, and a tiny spider with short, thin legs emerges from it. After hesitating briefly, it scurries along her arm, reaches her elbow, and skillfully climbs under her skin, disappearing inside again.

"Cool, right? Cool spiders?"— the girl smiles.

"You create separate bioforms. Interesting. But it's not magic. A pheromone trail is laid down. And they run where they're supposed to go."

"I told you. I control my body."

"All right,— I agree.— We'll move out in three hours. And for now, we can rest. Just rest, not stare at the screen..."

Agnia reluctantly puts her smartphone back into her inner pocket, looking displeased. She understands that in the dark, it only reveals our position. For a while, we both sit silently, listening to the rustling sounds of the cooling forest. The girl shifts uncomfortably in her jacket, wrapping her artificial snake skin tighter around herself. She presses closer to my shoulder.

"Kiss me," she suddenly says.

"Why?"

"Well... I don't know...— the girl stammers.— Haven't you ever thought there could be closeness between us? Or something like that..."

"You have half of my genome. My cells permeated your entire body while I was assembling you from pieces..."

"Well, I wasn't talking about that... I mean, about ordinary human desire..."

"For that, you don't have the necessary organs," I point out.— "Everything human that you still feel remains only in your brain. It's like phantom pain..."

It seems that the last clarification was unnecessary, because Agnia's voice begins to tremble noticeably. An obvious sign of changing emotional background.

"Do you want me to create the necessary organs?"— she asks with some defiance.

"Why?"— I repeat the question, then immediately answer.— "What have you imagined? Love? A happy family? Maybe a child? Have you forgotten who you are now? Then rewatch your favorite videos. You're a weapon. A predator who must consume other predators. The last link in the food chain. A consumer of the highest order. And the sooner you get rid of illusions, the better your chances of survival! That's all!"

Rizoma inside me cheerfully gurgles. From my restrained irritation, she received her small dose of adrenaline. Now I would continue and tear someone apart. But no... I fall silent and calm down. Only the cries of nocturnal birds disturb the silence.

"No. I am who I am,"— the girl replies firmly.— "And you... You know... They're all right... You really are a monster."

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