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I read about nuclear warheads above and couldn't resist posting this here: "Magic" by Kaganov. ) Even though it's fiction, it's beautifully written. Andy did a great job. I think you'll appreciate it.
..разым двазым трызым рызым пята лата сигерь мата локом боком крюк за крюк из бульмы бульма урюк.. Знание некоторых закономерностей освобождает от изучения многих фактов. Мечты сбываются рано или поздно, так или иначе.
— I know. The Great Andy Patrick gave magic to the people.
— Yes, an American programmer named Andy Patrick published a ritual on the internet with which any person could be killed, wherever they were, knowing only their name, place of birth, passport or driver's license number, or tax ID number. And if all that is unknown, then at least their face.
— You have to mold a figure with his face and place it in the middle of a star...
— Quiet! — The Weather-man pressed a finger to her lips. — Be silent. That's not the point. Andy Patrick didn't give us the ritual so that all people would kill each other. Do you understand? He wanted only those people whom everyone hates to perish.
— He was killed first, — said Zayka.
— Of course, — agreed the Weather-man, — that's what he wanted, which is why he published his name and photograph in the manifesto. Have you heard about his manifesto? Or only about the ritual?
Zayka shook her head.
— I hope it's not forbidden to tell this in your city, — muttered the Weather-man. — In some cities it is forbidden, and in some it's even forbidden to mention Patrick's name. Some consider him a god, others a devil. But he was a simple man and believed he was doing the right thing. Do you know what he wrote in his manifesto? He wrote that every year there is more and more weaponry in the world, and this weaponry is becoming more powerful and more accessible. That previously a person had only a stone, an axe, or a knife with which a person could kill one, two people, three... but no more. Then people invented weapons — bows, arrows, gunpowder, guns. Then there was a scientist named Alfred Nobel; he invented explosives and said that people would no longer be able to wage war because war would become very dangerous. But people began to wage war even more. Then nuclear weapons appeared... Do you know what nuclear weapons are? Anyway, it doesn't matter. And so Patrick wrote that any scoundrel is now capable of easily obtaining devices to kill a thousand people at once, tens or hundreds of thousands. But weaponry is improving faster and faster, Andy Patrick wrote, and soon the technology of killing will become so accessible that any person will be able to secretly organize the murder of millions. And eventually, some villain will find himself who destroys the whole world. Andy Patrick wrote that if previously states and countries waged wars, then an era has long since arrived in which states do not need war, and battles are fought not by states and countries, but by individuals. Because with modern technology, waging one's own war has become possible for any scoundrel who wishes it. And now, Patrick wrote, all state intelligence services have long been occupied only with systems of surveillance, scanning, identification, and searching for terrorists; scientists are inventing newer and newer ways to track every person. But in the end, none of them will succeed, and all will prove powerless, because the problem is not in the technology for killing, but in the scoundrels themselves, who will always be found among people and will always invent an excuse as to why they have the right to kill, and why they must do it. Do you understand? If a person's soul is ready to kill other people — he will easily find both an excuse and an explanation as to how other people have sinned against him or against God, and he will choose a suitable quote from a holy book, and find a reason to be proud. And therefore, humanity has no way back, as Andy Patrick believed, but only a way forward. And there can be only one exit — to bring the idea of terrorism to its logical conclusion: to give every person on Earth such a weapon with which they could secretly, anonymously, and therefore completely with impunity kill not millions, but some very specific person — someone they suspect and consider a scoundrel. And then, Andy Patrick wrote, only those people will survive in the world against whom no one had any grievances, who are loved and respected by all, and therefore no one raised a hand to perform the ritual against them. And he gave people this weapon — an anonymous ritual of destruction. Do you understand?
************************** — Well, what am I to do with you... — grumbled the Weather-man, and then decided: — Do you want me to tell you how magic actually works?
Zayka nodded.
— You won't tell anyone?
Zayka convincingly shook her head.
— Imagine, — began the Weather-man, sitting down before her on a stack of sawn boards, — that demons hang in the heavens above the earth, and it is they who shoot lightning bolts.
— Demons? — Zayka asked back.
— Well yes, demons. These are very powerful demons; there's a whole thousand of them in the sky, they hang motionless behind the clouds and look down at the earth. And they are so powerful that they can live in the sky not for five years or ten, but for a full five hundred years. Can you imagine?
Zayka nodded, then looked up at him:
— But why do they do it, Grandpa Weather-man? Why do they shoot lightning bolts at people? Are they angry at people for something?
— They aren't angry, — sighed the Weather-man, — they're just brainless. They have no soul; they don't know how to think, feel, or understand. They are stupider than any chicken. They aren't even alive; they are iron and round. They have neither arms nor legs, and they are deaf — they don't hear sounds. But every demon has a lightning bolt and a large round eye with which the demon looks down at the earth day and night. These eyes see through air, through sky, and even through the earth itself. Wherever you are — in a house, in a river, in a well, you are still visible to the demons.
— Even in the dark? — Zayka asked.
— Yes, — nodded the Weather-man. — even in the dark. Because demons do not see the light that we see. They have different eyes and they see a completely different light. There are many rays in the world — we see ordinary light with our eyes; other rays are invisible, they turn the needle of a compass; others transmit heat... And there is also such an invisible light emitted by the very core of the earth, and all people glow in this light because people have a lot of carbon... Well, ash, to put it simply. And ash glows in these rays, and a special eye can make out any contours. People didn't know about these rays for a long time, but then they found out and built demons. And they released them into the sky so that from there they could watch every person and record in their books of fate where everyone is and where they are moving.
— And did Andy Patrick release the demons into the sky? — Zayka asked greedily.
— No, — shook his head the Weather-man, — not him, other people. People gave these demons all their passport lists with photographs, all driver's licenses, all tax numbers — everything so that the demons knew exactly where each person was by name. Do you understand? And... how should I explain it to you... people gave each demon a special gun that shoots blue lightning, so that the head of security among people could at any moment... well, let's say, call a demon on a special secret phone with a special password and order them to burn some very bad person, a terrorist, a murderer, or a criminal.
— Is the head chief Andy Patrick? — Zayka asked.
— No, of course not, — responded the Weather-man irritably. — Andy Patrick was a petty, young, and overconfident little man; he just worked as a programmer for the head chief in one department. The head chief had many programmers, and each did something, taught the demons something. It's just that Andy Patrick secretly made a recognition module and inserted it into a firmware update... — The Weather-man fell silent, shaking his head distrustfully. — No, you won't understand it this way... How can I explain it to you? Look... Previously, demons only knew how to accept commands via a special phone, and no outsider had access to it. And Andy Patrick had no access. But he came up with a way to secretly teach the demons to accept commands and inscriptions directly from the ground — from any person's hands. Because demons see everything that happens on earth, and all Andy Patrick had to do was invent some special signals for the demons and teach the demons to pay attention to them. Do you understand? Andy Patrick came up with the idea that if a person molds a thing in the shape of a star out of ash and scratches names and document numbers on it, then such a star would become a signal for the demons. The demons would be able to decipher the inscription, find that person in their books, figure out where they are, and destroy them. And if the names are unknown, but a doll molded from ash stands in the center of the star, the demons will examine it carefully and try to find a similar person. And if the demons decide that they have found him, that this person's face is very similar to their doll, then they will destroy him with lightning too. But Andy Patrick didn't tell anyone about the demons. He said it was magic and published the ritual. And therefore no one knows how it works or where the heavenly lightning bolts come from. And if you tell them, they won't believe you, because demons are complicated and confusing, but magic is easy to understand.
..разым двазым трызым рызым пята лата сигерь мата локом боком крюк за крюк из бульмы бульма урюк.. Знание некоторых закономерностей освобождает от изучения многих фактов. Мечты сбываются рано или поздно, так или иначе.
You did the right thing by posting it, otherwise I would never have read it. Actually, Andy did everything wrong; instead of leaving humanity in such a miserable state, he should have just wiped everyone out.
Added 2 minutes later It's an unpleasant feeling after reading the story; I don't like it when the main character dies(((
Where do we go? Where do we end up when we save the world?
She did the right thing by posting it, otherwise I would never have read it. Actually, Andy did everything wrong; instead of leaving humanity in such a miserable state, he should have just wiped everyone out.
:( Well, I think he did the right thing. And the fact that he gave everyone equal access to this perfect killing machine, and that he gave humanity a second chance, probably.Siverfale
It's an unpleasant feeling after reading the story; I don't like it when the main character dies(((
actually, Andy is not the main character, but rather a plot device. It's not clear what happened to the main character, whether he died or not, so everyone can imagine the ending they like :)
..разым двазым трызым рызым пята лата сигерь мата локом боком крюк за крюк из бульмы бульма урюк.. Знание некоторых закономерностей освобождает от изучения многих фактов. Мечты сбываются рано или поздно, так или иначе.
"Although, I guess I'm probably just lacking in honor. And possibly, in conscience. And this, in your opinion, is 'honor'. Maybe you should create a separate topic to discuss this concept." I repeat - Only those who are completely devoid of honor and conscience alter other people's posts when quoting them. So, it's not 'possible', but definitely true. Honor is something you lack.
Sesame
Arandor