Web of light. Part 2

Of the forty-five minutes I had allotted for forward movement, thirty had already passed when the first signs of armed resistance appeared. Shell casings. A lot of shell casings from automatic weapons — and a melted spot in the place of another shooter. It soon became clear to me why armed Yokai were being burned with plasma. One of the spirits was unlucky enough to receive a fatal blow between his helmet and body armor. At the same time, the weapon and armor remained intact. I couldn't sort out the "ferry" lying on top of things on the spot — there were so many layers in it. Strengthening, strength-enhancing, and mana-absorbing constructs were combined with others unknown to me. There were significantly more unknowns. The armor was "working"-the familiar cloud of altered water vapor... or not steam, but what my ancestors used there (I hope it's not mercury vapor?) It surrounded objects, turning the stormtrooper's military kit into a real mobile armor. There was a pistol in the holster on his belt, and a rifle with a collimator sight lay a little to one side-probably a Japanese assault rifle, because it didn't look like a Kalash or an M-16, and from modern weapons I can only learn what is in Counter Strike-how-I wasn't interested in these issues... since the age of nine. I mean, nine years "there." However... I took out my cell phone and took a picture of the rifle first, then carefully pulled out the pistol (and recognized the Glock), and fixed it. Then a helmet-sphere, a general kind of camouflage...

I had no doubt that Amakawa was working with the military, or rather with the military representatives of Tsuchimikado. Or was it still an "out-of-the-circle" contact? It doesn't matter. Another important thing is that the parents didn't just let the loss of so much "goodness" go away — they also lived quietly in Japan after the incident, completely openly. Shizuka said about "ten years after the fire" — it is logical to connect these two events. More precisely, the burnt-out terminal B is a consequence of these events. 2007 minus ten — 1997. It's lovely, I was "here" for about two years. I'm so glad my parents didn't drag me to this military base. Or is it still a laboratory? However, I can hardly imagine a "failed experiment" that can shoot plasma and the result of which must be crushed by tanks... Okay. Five minutes left, and the tank is just around the corner. I'll take a look inside and let's get out of here. It's more than enough for the first time. I picked up the gun and held it in my hands... and he carefully put it in the holster, and that one on the clothes of the deceased warrior of our clan. Yes, there's nothing to bury... but this does not mean that a fighter who died with a weapon in his hands does not need honors. In fact, he died for the clan, and therefore for me... Besides, where am I going to put my guns in the hotel? It's still clear that we need to assemble an expedition separately and fully dig up everything that has survived.

The tank appeared to be intact only from the stern — the starboard side and frontal armor bore numerous chips and were completely blackened — apparently, the machine was too tough for the flamethrower. Protected from top to bottom by clan skill, she withstood all attacks with honor... except for the last one, which killed her crew. The turret hatch was open, and I peered inside, using my cell phone's display to light myself up. It's dark, cramped, and empty. Here are the clothes, one pile, another...

"Em... I feel something..." Kaya called from the ground. "In the car."..

Without waiting for the end of the sentence, the snake pushed me away from the hatchway with one movement, and jumped inside.

"I found it, you know." she spoke up just a minute later and showed herself. The badge.

It's just a badge like an army badge, a simple strengthening "Ferry". In the spectrum of glasses, he had a weak background of magic — I would not have seen him.

In response to my questioning look, Shizuka said only one word.

"The Shard".

Now we've definitely done everything we could.

"Let's go back," I commanded.

As we walked to the terminal, as we climbed the stairs, I kept waiting for a look to rest on my back — hating, interested, indifferent... but no. Intuition was silent, Kaya was also calm. The battlefield was abandoned and dead, as were all its participants...

We decided to repeat our journey so as not to get lost. I also had to call Rinko's parents and explain that we had entered a place where mobile phones do not catch — otherwise they were already starting to worry when they themselves could not "get us" an hour ago — and the rescuers almost did not get it! Kuzaki herself was still unable to explain herself, and Hiroe's smile was extremely crooked. And I... And I was sure that something "like that" had happened. The clan, officially called the "sixth", could not just lose its vassals without a trace. It was clear to me before that my father was not a fool, but now, looking at the combat kit of the dead spirit, I realized that Himari-with-a-katana was really a child's cat. Something like a babysitter toy. Well, she doesn't look like an assault combat unit — even the snake in the canon was able to swaddle her. Well, or she was trained to be a "ninja" — to get within striking distance, chop and knock down. Himari wasn't inside the "hidden"-I hope Kaya could really feel her... And I don't even know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. However, there was still hope for a picked-up "fragment" — perhaps it would be possible to pull out the "shell" of the murdered yokai from it — and perhaps he or she would be able to tell me something about what was there and what happened. Kso! The New Year is just around the corner, and here's the news. A wonderful, simply wonderful omen... However, it's easy for someone now.

Entry 4

Yeah, it was a hell of a ride... Hiroe and I, being more "thick-skinned", left in the evening, and Rinko and Kaya needed another day. Crossing paths together, we fell silent, not knowing what to talk about — all the everyday topics seemed like mere trifles against the background of the tragedy of ten years ago... But gradually everything returned to normal. I suspect that if we had come across bodies and corpses, with the smell and splashes of dried blood, we would not have gotten off so easily. I also noticed that zashiki-varashi began to spend more time with me — it was obvious that after sitting in one place for so many years, she felt uncomfortable with so many impressions, and I turned out to be the anchor that reliably belonged to her world — home. Seizing the moment, I asked Kaya if she would be able to repel the plasma clot with her protective field if she was inside the estate in Noihara, and in response I received a thoughtful look. However, I think that the house's power shield should withstand at least one plasma strike.

I had to tinker with the "splinter". It took me a moment to notice that there were about three dozen fireflies gathered around the die I'd left on the table, hovering around with interest. Remembering how spirits develop at the lowest level, I was alarmed — but before I could pick up the token, one of the lights "sat down" on the metal... and was immediately absorbed. I promptly made a "fu-fu", it was not enough just to take away the last remnants of energy from the miraculously surviving "fragment" — my amulet is too powerful for such operations. Meanwhile, the inhabitant of the cube captured another unwary, and ten minutes later, another one. The glow of the amulet seemed to have intensified, and I decided that nothing was in danger. Just before departure, the "splinter" could already pull in an E from a distance of twenty centimeters and shone with a fairly confident light. Alas, I couldn't just leave the partially dead spirit from the tank crew in the hotel like that — you never know who will do something with the amulet, and if they throw it away, that's not the worst thing. Through a simple experiment, I became convinced that pumping human mana (from a wooden amulet that I made from a small piece of board) causes about the same effect — at least the fragment "came to life", increasing its activity. On the last day, a very faint semblance of an aura appeared around the amulet... But Mizuchi couldn't tell me how much longer this process would take or how much energy would be needed. As a result, the token and amulet wrapped in cloth came with us to Takamiya in a magic-proof bag. Hopefully, the basement and the "artificial" feeding will eventually be able to "resurrect" the fallen Yokai clan fighter...

The new year 2008 came into its own under the snow and rain, sharp, cold gusty wind and the incessant running of low, gray-orange clouds in the urban glow. Shizuka seriously suggested making a fireplace — during my absence, I "screwed on" the batteries in unused rooms, and it was, let's just say, not hot. Ginko was the only one who didn't care — the master returned, whom she could squeeze, Kaya and Mizuchi, who would be able to feed the wolf, who was tired of eating fast food and semi-finished products, what else do you need for happiness?

We arrived in the evening. I waited in semi-prostration and memories of what happened for the start of the online broadcast of the New Year's address by the President of Russia. I knew this uncle both from the textbook of modern history for the next, graduating (from elementary school) class, and from my searches on the Internet when I was trying to figure out how the political situation "here" differs from "there". Well yeah.. differ. If I had been interested in politics before, maybe I would have learned something else interesting. And the appeal... His favorite word, "reforms," never came out, which led me to decide that the situation in Russia might be better here than in "the homeland I left behind by a whim of fate." Maybe I'm wrong, but at least that's what I'd like to think. And the helicopter drone over the waters of the gulf seemed to hint at better financing for at least the fleet... Speaking of the military...

After uploading the photos from my phone, I made sure that the base (somehow I couldn't bring myself to call the "Mystical House" with so many weapons a laboratory) I found a Japanese TYPE 89 assault rifle, the pistol was indeed a Glock, but the tank turned out to be a rather old TYPE 74 model. The rifle, by the way, is also not the kind that was made yesterday. Apparently, the Amakawa unit was armed with army weapons, if not decommissioned, then from long-term storage warehouses. Of course, it's hard to judge by the ruins that were literally scattered over a pebble, but it's unlikely that the Yokai were in military service on a regular basis — rather, it was an experimental action... or even a one-time job. Although why guess at the coffee grounds? It is necessary to go and look — and purposefully: perhaps, from the surviving objects or, as Kami-sama is not joking, from the surviving documents it will be possible to at least understand what was there...

...I took Shizuka and Kashi to meet Kaname Senior. I should have taken the Tengu as well, but I just didn't dare. An involuntary reaction, which can occur to a person who suddenly discovers that spirits really exist, could spoil the mutual impression of a thousand-year-old Raven (and I would like to say Falcon) and Hiroe's mother, and if the two do not get along, most likely, there will be a big fuck. In addition, Kashi was the head of the Trust, and I also wanted to finally close this issue today.

We met in the living room of Kaname's house. After mutual shuffling of Kashi and the hostess of the house, and in an emphatically homely atmosphere, they went into the living room and sat around the dining table. It was only after Hiroe sat down on my side of the chair as if nothing had happened that I realized how important this meeting was. Not just informal gatherings between two families... Well, the spirits may not be my family, but my clan is a fact! No, Kaname Jr. took her exam today, the exam for independent management of her own affairs. That's a naughty girl! She could have hinted, and then I would have planned the conversation more carefully and laid out the roles with the lines... but, apparently, that's exactly what my analyst didn't want. Something like "everything should be natural." Well, then let's start with aces.

Aya-san, first of all, I would like to demonstrate something to you — and this is directly related to the business conversation that Kashi-san and I had with you. The Water Resource Trust was planned by us"-I waved my hand at Devourer, Shizuka and Hiroe-"as a means of extracting hard-to-reach materials. Lifting the cargo of sunken ships... and this allows us to greatly increase the percentage of successful operations.

Mizuchi nodded at me... and it disintegrated with water. Once — and there is no girl. No matter how prepared the woman was, no matter how much she expected "some kind of mysticism" from us, she couldn't keep her face. I even stood up, looking at the clothes of the Goddess of Rivers lying in a pile in a puddle of water. There was no girl.

"Ar"? Hiroe's mother started a sentence and immediately cut it off: the snake began to gather from the water in another part of the room, deliberately slowly, first a transparent silhouette, then the contours of the figure immediately with clothes, then color and opacity. Her clothes were made of the same water and were of a different color and style.

Shock! In our opinion, it's a shock. It's good that we rehearsed this particular scene, with some variations, for the film. It gets creepy if you look at it the first five times, then take it easier.

"Er... em. Can i..." Kaname Sr., having obtained Mizuchi's hand, once again made sure that her eyes were not deceiving her: the hand. It's human. And then — r-time, and water! But in the shape of a hand. And then Mizuchi showed class by rushing to her clothes in a wave and in an instant she was not only dressed, but also dry. The "drop" pulled out of the jug on the table, frozen into an ice ball in front of Aya-san's eyes, did not add anything special.

However, the "steel lady" had already regained self-control and was now pumping up the situation at a rapid pace — I recognized the well-hidden, but such a characteristic gleam in her eyes! She pumped it up. And now she was looking only at me. And she was smiling. I shivered, openly. Why hide? No one has ever left such a "bison"!

"Yuto... san. Apparently, I need to ask you exactly what you wanted to tell me with this demonstration, besides to convince an old sick woman (Hiroe snorted loudly!) invest your modest capital in a Trust venture... which will be there right after we talk, I appreciated." she made an imperceptible gesture with her fingers, as if inviting me to tell her everything... and I, involuntarily copying the gesture of "telling the truth" (Hiroe's influence, manipulative chips slip through again, involuntarily!), began to "prick".