Chapter 7.2 Extras. One day in the life of a Frontier's blacksmith (2)

The morning in the Frointier began with the streets filled with people hurrying about their business. Some of them stopped at small cozy cafes along the way to have breakfast and get ready for the work day. Others stood waiting for public transport or drove out onto the roads in their personal cars.

Parents walked their children to schools and young people strolled slowly. A lively atmosphere reigned on the streets of the city, filled with the ringing voices of people, loud car horns and the sounds of music that came from the open windows of residential buildings.

One of the reasons for such relaxation of people was the protective system of the Frontier – «Alcatraz». This is a powerful energy barrier that covers the entire city. It not only protected the last stronghold of humanity from external threats, but also created a pleasant atmosphere.

The air that passed through the barrier was filtered and filled with elements beneficial to the human body. Also, a special filter was built into the system, which showed the red skies of this world as an ordinary blue sky. Therefore, despite the fact that a crimson hell reigned behind the powerful walls of the city, inside the Frontier the world looked ordinary.

In the very heart of the city there was a powerful fortress, which consisted of six massive buildings connected to each other. This was the headquarters of the Knights who fought against monsters. Inside, there were scouts, blacksmiths, strategists, and many other people involved in protecting the city and supporting the Alcatraz system.

A small, simple car pulled into the parking lot opposite the fortress. Kramel emerged slowly from it. He worked in this fortress as a blacksmith. One of those who created weapons and armor for the Knights.

Life was already in full swing inside the building. Kramel paused at the entrance to say hello and chat with his acquaintances.

At this time, three men dressed in blue work uniforms were quietly talking nearby.

- This is strange, early this morning there was a drop in the power of the barrier from 100 to 68 percent.

- This can't be true we're talking about Alcatraz. This system was developed by people whose brains were supposed to be the size of a planet.

- But I saw it with my own eyes. It is necessary to diagnose all systems; perhaps there is a failure somewhere.

- Buddy, listen, today is the first working day after the weekend. Nobody wants to dig through a huge amount of data and look for some kind of failure that may not have happened.

- But, I'm telling you, I saw it myself!

- Go to the hospital, maybe you are hallucinating. In general, if you want to tinker with terrabytes of data, the flag is in your hands, go and do it. By yourself. One.

---

Kramel used the elevator to get to his workplace, located on the fourth underground floor. Two more guards rode with him, who worked in the field of protecting citizens from internal threats.

They had a dialogue with each other:

- Why are you so sleepy?

- I didn't have time to sleep at all. There was an emergency call last night, I was unlucky, they forced me to go investigate.

- I don't envy you. What kind of call?

- Some two cretins quarreled. One decided to listen to music at full volume at night, while the other was having trouble sleeping.

- And that's why they called you?

- If only that... That music lover not wanted to turn off the music, word for word, the men quarreled. Well, the second one, who couldn't sleep, broke into the music lover's room and beat the poor guy to death. And the call was made by a neighbor who was watching what was happening from her apartment.

The elevator doors opened. Kramel left.

- Not people, but some kind of animals...

One of the guards said in disappointment as the doors closed.

Kramel walked through the workshop in which workers were processing molten metal, giving it the desired shape. A couple of minutes later he entered his small office, in which lighting immediately appeared.

- Samuel, open yesterday's project.

One of the walls of the room was covered with unusual frosted glass, which glowed. Various drawings depicting swords and armor appeared on it, as well as numerous text entries.

- Mr. Kramel, Mr. Ortega has given you an urgent meeting in 10 minutes.

The room was filled with a metallic voice.

Kramel looked at the watch on his wrist; the time was 8 hours and 36 minutes.

- Then send a request to the logistics department for 8 White Blood bars. Let it be delivered in 3 hours.

- Request has been sent.

The voice assistant answered.

Kramel left the cabinet.

There was slight displeasure on his face. He wanted to get on with his project, but now he had to go to his superiors with a report. The man called the elevator again and entered it.

- Good morning, Mr. Kramel!

A young man ran into the elevator.

His appearance was casual. Disheveled hair, skewed glasses and wrinkled clothes. In his hands he held two fancy silver-colored instruments.

- Good morning to you too, Leonard.

The elevator began its movement to the 32nd floor.

- Mr. Ortega called you too?

Leonard looked questioningly at Kramel.

- Yes.

The man answered reluctantly.

- Me too! Here, I bring the prototypes, they, of course, still don't work well. More precisely, very bad. More precisely, they don't work at all... B-but there is no problem, cause the main thing is what benefits my project of portable barriers will bring to our society! I think that if we use this technology...

Leonard conducted an inspired monologue, and Kramel rolled his eyes.

---

The elevator doors opened. There was commotion in the corridor, people were rushing from side to side in panic, trying to find help. Horror was frozen on their faces, and their skin turned white due to fear.

- What the?

Kramel muttered aloud.

He stopped one of the running men by the hand.

- What's happened?

- T-t-there...

The man stuttered violently.

He pointed to the large window at the end of the corridor. Through it one could see a huge gap in the barrier above the city. Panic reigned on the streets, illuminated by scarlet light.

- God, we can't contact the «Alpha» rank Knights, there's no connection...

One of the girls fell to her knees.

Kramel froze in place, not knowing how to react to what he saw.

---

On the roof of the highest part of the fortress stood a young, handsome man in a white robe. Next to him lay five dead bodies in office clothes, which were covered in fresh blood.

Behind the man stood two figures.

- What do you order, my lord?

A male voice sounded questioningly.

- Destroy everything. Try to leave as many traces of destruction as possible, and kill everyone you see, except those who manage to reach the borders of this building.

A man in a white robe, whose voice was unusually soft, answered cheerfully and cheerfully. The corners of his lips turned up.

- Start from the outer regions, so that the surviving people will come running here, to their impregnable fortress.

---

Just an hour later the city was ablaze with intense flames. All buildings and all infrastructure around the fortress were destroyed. Miraculously, the surviving people gathered in a crowd near the entrance to the central building.

- Open the doors! We need shelter!

One of the women tried to open the door, which was closed. There was no one visible on the first floor of the building.

- Please expect evacuation according to the rules of behavior in emergency situations.

A metallic voice rang out around the building.

- There is no evacuation! We see that all the guards themselves hid in the shelter! Let us go!

- Please expect evacuation according to the rules of behavior in emergency situations.

The metallic voice answered again.

The street was filled with women's screams, children's cries and men's curses. Some of the people who were at the end of the crowd forced their way to the doors of the fortress, hoping to find salvation there.

There was real chaos. Fear-stricken people fought among themselves in order to quickly get to the fortress. They refused to believe that the doors of the shelter were closed, and hoped that they would open at the moment when they approached them.

What was happening was observed by three figures floating in the air.

- What a disgusting picture.

The man in white robes said with pity in his voice. His face showed a sad look.

He pulled out a phone from his pocket, which he had taken from one of the generals in the fortress, whom the man had earlier killed with his own hands.

- The First, return the connection.

One of the figures opened his palm. In an instant, the space around the city was distorted, creating white noise, but then immediately returned to normal.

The white-robed man opened his contact book and called the person listed as: «Alpha» rank, Arias Conrad.

With his entire appearance he showed a mixture of embarrassment and sincere joy.

- General Colt, is there anything urgent?

A rough male voice came from the phone.

The man in white was disappointed. He realized that it was not Conrad who answered him, but someone from his team. This made him angry. He extended his palm forward. A huge sphere of air energy appeared in space, which became larger and denser.

- We were attacked, our defenses fell!

The man in white changed his voice. It made him rougher, but trembling with fear.

The crowd of people who were rioting below, trying to get inside the fortress, froze in horror. Everyone's gaze was directed upward. On a huge air sphere.

The interlocutor's answer came from the speaker of the phone:

- What!? Who!?

When the sphere became so dense that the streams of air flowing towards it were replaced by curved space, the man in white robes lowered his hand.

The sphere quickly flew down and, upon reaching the fortress, exploded with a powerful burst of energy. When the sound of the explosion reached the phone, the white-robed man broke it, squeezing it tightly in his hand.

The air currents generated by the explosion rushed upward. They lifted the white hair of the man who was responsible for the incident.

The anger on his face turned into bliss.

He happily looked at the crater that appeared below with his eyes, which were not human. They had neither pupils nor eye sockets. His eyes seemed to reflect space.

Thousands of different stars sparkled in them, constantly but slowly moving. In some places a black void was visible in them, and in other places it was as if stardust was floating.

- The stage is ready.

The white-haired man smiled tenderly. 

- Hurry up, my hero.

Chapter end