Chapter LXXX: Sinister Visions

 Images flashed before Boris' eyes. Memories, places he had visited, faces, voices. Summers during his childhood, long boring days in the army, sleepless nights in the Zone. The battle of Flea Market during his first days as a renegade. Sultan spitting at him when he was still a gladiator. Friends he had made, Dima, Vityukha, Dimuha, many more. Lena, laughing at his jokes. The beautiful night sky at Truck Cemetery. The Duga antenna complex shining in the moonlight.

Boris opened his eyes with a gasp. He was no longer in the Miracle Machine lab. He was standing on a rooftop, away from the Zone. The sky was blue, the air hot and the city noisy. He looked around. Judging by the large steel construct in the horizon, he was in Paris. He tried to move, but couldn't, as if glued to spot.

  • What the hell? How'd I end up here?, Boris asked out loud.

He did not get a magic answer. And he didn't really have time to wonder more, when a sudden flash of light struck upwards in the horizon. Like a gigantic bolt of lightning aimed at the sky. People in the streets cried out and pointed at the sky. Boris was sure he heard at least one "Sacre Bleu" among the crowd. The air grew odd around the city, like a grainy and yellowish tint had overtaken it. Boris recognized the change. He had seen it before, near Brain Scorcher and Miracle Machine. The people in the streets slowly started to look more and more nauseous, stumbling around the boulevards or collapsing to the ground, holding their head.

Boris tried to shout for them to run, even if he knew how futile it was. He opened his mouth, but before nothing came out. A black veil dropped over his eyes once more, and the vision changed. This time, he was back home in Minsk. The old Soviet block apartment had cracks in the walls, scratched furniture and cheap glass windows. A wave of nostalgia struck Boris, thinking back to all the memories of childhood. But the thundering sound coming from outside turned his attention away from the memories.

A wave barreled forward, like a sandstorm of sheer energy, a tsunami of deadly radiation and force. It covered the rooftops and streets, engulfing the people running away, screaming hysterically. Boris observed in horror as they disintegrated. The sky flared and he could see a passenger aircraft spin downwards at terminal velocity, both engines dead. It disappeared into the emission wave, and soon a cloud of fire and smoke burst out, parts of the fuselage flying out. Boris felt sick. Emissions in Belarus? How?

He gave one last look at the decimated city, the desperate few survivors trying to outrun the outburst of death. It was futile. The tide reached the cars and runners, sending the vehicles spinning or twisting the vehicles into metal balls, tearing the civilians limb from limb to chunks. Boris retched. He had seen a lot in the Zone, but this made his heart sink out of sheer shock and depression. His former home city utterly destroyed without reason, without pity. He fell back into unconciousness.

Once more, a light flashed through his eyelids. A distant humming of machines could be heard. Opening his eyes, he saw a familiar screen helmet and through it, Oleg Zakarov's face. Zakarov smiled relieved, but it soon turned to horror when Boris turned his head and vomited on his shoes.

  • That's... totally uncalled for, Zakarov protested.

  • Your feet smell about as bad already, stop crying, Dima replied, appearing from behind Zakarov shoulder.

  • Sorry Doc, I don't feel too good. How long was I out?, Boris asked, exhausted beyond measure.

  • About 15 minutes. What happened?, Sanyok spoke, his face slightly concerned.

  • I saw a lot. Too much. I think the Sin attacked this place for a reason, that reason being far more sinister than just the reactivation of the emitter. Guys... I think we might have just been tangled into something bigger than ever before, Boris answered, his eyes cold as ice.

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