"Dayan, what are you worried about! You have the most ordinary daughter. An absolutely healthy child, smart, active. Most importantly, obedient! What are you unhappy about? I don't understand?!"

"Ray! She scares me! Sometimes it seems to me that she is not a child! Someone else, an adult, is looking at me from her eyes! You know, a four-year-old girl can't have that look!"

Oh! I got burned, it seems, in full! We have to get out somehow! But how? Okay, let's hear it further....

"Don't talk nonsense! What are you imagining? You didn't like the look! You do remember that she has an absolute memory, don't you?"

"Yes, I remember. What does that have to do with it?"

"And besides! She doesn't forget anything. He just remembers everything! Every day, every hour, every minute of your life! Just imagine yourself in her shoes. Remember everything!"

"Oh my God, Ray! This is terrible!"

"Plus, you know she's an empath! She feels us all, all our feelings, every emotion, yes with her memory!"

"Ray! It's just a nightmare! How did she not lose her mind?"

"She's been like this since she was born! He doesn't know any other life. It's normal for her."

If only that were so! That's the thing, I know! And that makes it even more bitter. My family found out about me being an empath about six months ago. Then my parents quarreled, I don't know for what reason. Only I, who was sitting in my room, suddenly felt such a wave of emotions: anger, resentment, even hatred! It hurt me! I rushed downstairs, my parents were standing in the living room and silently looked at each other, pouring this emotional cocktail all around! Standing between them, I began to ask them in a low voice to stop, I said that I could feel everything, and it was hurting me. As a result, she sat down on the carpet and just burst into tears. They rushed to me, hugged me, and questioned me. Sobbing, I buried my face in my father's chest and told him all about memory and empathy! Confusion and anxiety mixed in the feelings of the parents, the father whispered softly:

"I need to tell Ray, see if she can help."

But Ray couldn't help, she was stunned by the news.

"No, Ray, that's not okay! This is really, really not okay, Ray! My poor daughter! She sat at breakfast today and looked at us as if she couldn't see enough, as if we were all going to disappear, and there was such longing in her eyes...."

"Maybe something happened to her, Diane? Have you even asked her? Maybe I had a dream about some kind of trash!"

That's the moment. I'll tell you about the dream now, at least some of the questions will be removed. She pressed the sensor, the door slid open, went into the kitchen, greeted Ray. I took a decanter of compote from the table, poured it into a glass, stood, drank, and looked at the women.

"My daughter? Tell me, why did you look at us so strangely this morning?"

"I had a terrible dream, Mom!"

"Tell us about him," Ray said.

She told them about her dream, ended it almost in a whisper, and said she was sure it would be like this. I look at my mother with her hands over her mouth, tears in her eyes, fear for me and pity in her emotions. Ray sits there, frowning, looking at me with sadness.

"You're a Seer, Zhenya..." Ray says softly.

"The Seer?" Mom snapped.

"Our people occasionally have those who can see the future. Their visions are vague and often contradictory, but they learn to benefit from their dreams as they age. They warn others about the dangers that threaten them, and they also have extremely developed intuition, that's what they are called Seers."

Mom came up to me, hugged me, and said in a low, broken voice:

"It's not enough for you, my little one, your memory with empathy, but also this trash! Who in heaven doesn't love you so much that they put all this on you? I hug her back, snuggle closer and say to myself: "I know who, but I won't tell you, Mommy, I'll never tell you, this burden is not for your shoulders. I will carry this load myself." Well, I got gifts from the "voice"... either gifts or curses!

I hear the terminal chirping, and I come out of my memories. 6:45 a.m., the Tanirs will arrive in 15 minutes, and go to the pool to teach Hem and Tam to swim.

Finally, things have moved forward! I swam there, cautiously so far, not swimming into the depths, but already quite confidently. Hem, looking at such a case, seemed to redouble his efforts, gritting his teeth, and periodically I heard him whisper lying on his back:

"I'm not afraid, I'm not afraid..."

Uncle Dak was scribbling on his datapad, taking pictures with his camera, talking into it, puffing around with concern mixed with surprise and delight. I swam up to Hem, put my hand under his head and began to calm the guy down in a quiet, even voice.

"Ham, calm down, relax. You're stressed, so you can't just lie on the water. Listen to my voice, I'll try to help you..." oh, for the umpteenth time!

"Do you remember when we went fishing in the summer?"

"Is that when you set Vaska on the brothers? Of course, you can't forget that!" Hem burst out laughing.

"Yes. Do you remember how we used to lie on the shore in the grass and look at the clouds and figure out what they looked like?"

"Yeah, I remember! You also named the animals of the earth, and everyone wondered how you knew so many of them."

"Here. And now — close your eyes! Closed it?"

"Yes, I did."

"Remember that day. Imagine that you are lying on the grass and looking at the deep blue sky, clouds are floating across it...."

The guy relaxed, his emotions became calm, his arms and legs floated and swayed on the surface.

"I imagined, here's one that looks like... what's his name... and I remembered, an elephant!"

"Well done! How do you feel now?"

I asked, but I knew perfectly well that there was serenity and peace in Ham's feelings. I held his head with my fingertips, and he quietly swam after me in the shallow water of the pool.

"Eugene," Hem whispered, "Little fox!" It's like I'm flying, it's so cool!"

"You're not flying, Hem, you're floating."

"Am I swimming?!"

"You're sailing, Hem, you're sailing."

Then I was overwhelmed by such a strong feeling of delight, and it was as if a string inside me was stretched and snapped with a thin tinkle. I felt an answering feeling of wild, uncontrollable joy rising from inside me. I laughed out loud, Nain was laughing and shouting next to me, whistling and hooting.

"Little fox, let's go deep," Hem said softly.

"Won't you be scared?"

"I'm not afraid anymore, I'm not afraid at all, Zhenya!"

Ham turned over in the water and not quite skillfully, snorting and splashing water, swam to the deep part of the pool. I rushed to catch up with him, because if he gets scared again, it will be difficult for me to get him out. Damn, he's crazy! I caught up with him just above the very depth, he lowered his face into the water and lay on the water like that. Diving under it, I saw a look of blue eyes full of delight, looking down into the depths of the water. Hem looked at me, smiling. I swam close, basking in the feeling of delight and gratitude of the young Turian. She surfaced next to him, and Hem looked up, snorted, and smiled.

"It's so beautiful, Little Fox, it's... it's so great to swim! Almost like flying!"

"Let's swim to the exit, Ham. You've had enough for today."

"Whatever you say, Zhen."

After getting out of the pool, I came across Dakar's thoughtful gaze, the doctor's emotions were calm and, it seems, doomed. She walked up to him and, looking into his bright blue eyes, asked:

"Uncle Dak, I did it! Do you see?"

"Yes, Zhenya, I see it! And I also see that your experience cannot be shared."

"Why?"

"Because I know of no other empaths, neither among humans, nor Asari, nor, especially, among Turians. I haven't even heard of their existence, and you alone can't teach an entire race."

"But the guys overcame their fear on their own! I only helped them!"

"No, Zhenya, not by yourself! It was you who defeated their fear, you and no one else. The device showed it clearly."

"And what should I do next? I thought this experience could be useful to all Turians... But it turns out that he is useless. I can't teach you all!"

"No, you can't. And don't. It's enough that you taught my boys and Nain. And all the others... Well, our race has never been able to swim, and I think it will continue to live without this skill. I will not send the report. He'll only draw unnecessary attention to you. Let's go home, Zhenya."

When they returned, the whole group went to the Tanir's house. Nain rushed to Kaadi from the doorway, barely taking off her shoes.

"Mom, Mommy! She did it, she did it! They swam both Hame and There, it's so cool! Really, Mommy?!"

"Really, honey," Kaadi came out into the hallway and looked at us curiously. "Children, can I congratulate you on your success?"

At the same time, the Tamil assumed a proud pose, like a Roman senator, folded his arms on his chest and, looking into space, declared:

"Yes, Mother, I have learned to swim!"

Ham just went up to his mother and, looking at her with completely happy eyes, said in a low voice:

"Mommy, this is just great! It's like flying, I just don't know how to tell you how I feel! You spread your arms and fly, and there's a blue distance below, and it's so easy...."

Kaadi hugged her eldest son, pressed her cheek to his head and said,

"Good boy, son."

"It's not me, Mom, it's all her, our Zhenya!"

We are sitting at the kitchen table, drinking erg (a kind of Turian fruit tea) with buns. Kaadi looks lovingly at us all, devouring rolls with both cheeks, and at the gloomy, thoughtful Dakar, frozen like a statue with a bun in one hand and a cup of erg in the other, staring into space with unseeing blue eyes.

"Have you made a report, Dakar?"

Dakar shuddered, focused his gaze on his wife and answered in a low voice.

"Yes, Kaadi, but it's pointless to send it."

"Why?"

"Because we don't have another Eugenia Shepard. Neither with us, nor with anyone else. And without her, the whole idea is a waste of time. I decided not to draw the attention of our hierarchs, or even the Asari matriarchs, to her. If the information comes out (and it will!)... this is not at all what Zhenya needs now, or in the future either."

"Won't she leave here?"

"I don't think so, but just in case, I'll talk to Reyan and Mikhail. Well, it's worth connecting Tael, he's a great master at hiding various information out of the blue."

"You know best, Duck. Do as you see fit."

Kaadi looked at me with an unusual warm feeling:

"Thank you, baby, you're a smart girl."

I was so embarrassed, I think I even blushed....

"Come on, nonsense! You're friends, and we do everything we can for friends. That's what my daddy says."

"A good life credo! Stick with him!" Dak says and runs his hand through my hair.

The doorbell rings from the hallway, and Hem and Tam get up from the table and run into the hallway. There is a hissing of doors and Deniska's loud voice.

"Well? Is there a movement?"

"Otherwise! We've learned, both of us!" A Tamil voice is heard.

"Honestly?" It's already Leshkin's voice. "Well, the beauties! Ah-ah-ah! Well done! Take five, bro!"

clapping of hands and loud friendly laughter of four guys can be heard. Thin arms wrap around her neck, and Nain's hard, hot cheek is pressed against her cheek:

"Let's go to my room and have a chat at the Basik. I need to practice, that's what Rien says. Are you coming?"

"Yes, let's go."

January 01, 2359, 1:15 a.m.

I look out the window, it's snowing again. Large, soft snowflakes, slowly swirling, cover everything around with a fluffy white blanket. So we celebrated the beginning of the new fifty-ninth year. Shouting and laughing, they ran around our Christmas tree, set off fireworks, lit torches and sang songs. It was easy, and I was possessed by a kind of gentle serenity. It's been a week since I stopped having my scary dream. I thought that maybe everything would still work out, well, there can't just be bad things in life!

Haymon gave me a great gift for the New Year, said that he had shaken up his piggy bank, asked his father for money, persuaded his mother and bought me a hunting knife at a gun shop in Gagarin! He picked up the handle, though it grew, but it was quite in my hand. Kaadi must have helped. The slightly curved, black metal blade, 12-13 centimeters long, had an intricate pattern of thin silver lines that curled closer to the guard into an inscription in Turian: "claw". The handle has a comfortable grip, made of reddish polished wood. At the end of the handle is the head of a mythological grinning beast. The sheath is made of brown leather, with straps attached to the arm or leg. I always go with him now. We are used to this, Mendoir is a young colony, and everyone is armed here: both children and adults. Five kilometers from the city, a natural wild territory begins, and wild animals in the city limits will not surprise anyone. The brothers have been carrying light pistols since they were seven years old, it's a battery-powered railgun with ten charges in a clip, 10 mm bullets, conical, with notches.

The initial velocity of the bullet is only 300 m /s, which does not give a strong recoil, but the stopping effect is enormous. When hit, the bullet crumples into a pancake with a diameter of 20-22 mm, and I personally saw how such a bullet broke a fifty-board. There is no need to explain what will happen to the same snuff from the impact of two or three such bullets. By the way, in all the thirteen years of the colony's existence, the colonists never shot at each other with weapons, neither adults nor children. I wonder what the advocates of the ban on the possession of weapons of the population in that Russia from a previous life would have responded to this.... Time is passing, and in three months I will be five years old, four of which I remember completely. What will the new year bring me? We'll see. As they say, we'll chew and see.