Artur Zadikyan
Binary code Mystery number two

– What do you think? Do you ever have discussions like this? – Pete asked Rutra.

– Discussions about what?

– For example, the Ramenki-43 facility.

Ruthra thought he had misheard, though he knew for sure he hadn't.

– What?

– This is what you think is the Metro 2 facility.

Rutra didn't give the appearance of being surprised, on the contrary, he started to play along.

– What's so amazing about it?

– How's that? It was built to be a disaster shelter, too.

Ruthra thought to himself: "You should know what Metro-3 and Polygon are."

– Maybe. I don't care much about that, more about why I'm here.

– Okay, what about the training?

– Are you serious about this?

– Very much so. I'll introduce you to other groups outside our facility, you'll learn a lot. Then your doubts will be dispelled.

Ruthra looked at him thoughtfully, and thought about the fact that there was no hiding the truth in the bag. If there were real preparations for what Yarovitovich was planning, then there were real preparations in other directions as well. The scale was large, and it was impossible to hide it.

– Get us more information about the Ramenki-43 facility. We need it to analyze what is happening.

– There's nothing to find out. You think I'm an ordinary employee of a research institute? The Ramenki-43 facility is not a big secret for the scientific community.

– Then what is it?

– Is it that important?

– We wonder if preparations are underway there for the long stay of large masses of people.

– Of course you can arrange it there. In general, you decide for yourself. Ramenki-43 (or Metro-2) has always been surrounded by a huge number of legends. There are myths about secret objects, huge "metro-rats", about mutants, and even about the portal to a parallel dimension. About what is in the tunnels underground in Moscow, reliably know only a limited number of people. So, the underground city under Ramenki exists, its capacity is 12-15 thousand people who can live there for about 30 years.

– Oh! And you say, 'It's no great secret,'" exclaimed Peter.

That's what Ruthra began to call him, conveniently enough.

– Z0 years is such a power," the American could not calm down from the excitement.

Ruthra, on the other hand, looked at him ironically, surprised, smiled slightly, and continued the story.

– The Ramenki-43 facility is located at a depth of 180-200 meters. In "Metro-2" the whole system is single-track, there are ventilation shafts from the tunnels. The only used gateway of transition from the regular subway to "Metro-2" is at the metro station "Sportivnaya". This is not a big secret, at least not now, because Oleg Gordievsky, a former colonel of the USSR KGB who escaped to the UK in 1985, called Metro-2 the main secret of the KGB, which has not been revealed until now. According to him, there are whole cities and a network of communications underground that will never be shown to anyone. I assure you there is nothing like that, at least not that I know of, although I have often been there.

– Is there any preparation going on there? – Pyotr persisted.

– Listen, Pyotr, I hope you don't take offense that I call you by your Russian name.

– Oh, no, my new friend.

– Then listen to me as a friend. Even though you have Russian roots, you know Russia very poorly.

– Why?

– That's because there are always preparations going on. Russia is always in war mode. Well, to tell you the truth, I expected more from your center. I need to know which receiving and transmitting stations you can use in a critical moment. And I need their parameters too.

– I'll show you everything.

– If you'd be so kind, I'll give you so much information that you'll think this whole thing is child's play. You know what "baby talk" means?

– Yes, I understood your expression," Peter said quietly and guiltily.

He then took Rutra to all the departments the guest wanted to see, showed him the secret plan of the complex, the working and mothballed part, and the EO compartment, which was full of long-lasting food.

– Do you think it's for nothing? – The scientist asked Rutru, which puzzled him, even made him a little nervous.

Trying not to show his bewilderment over why this question was being asked of him, Rutra tried to answer the "educated layman."

– Anything can happen. Back when I was in the service, back in '91, I witnessed how meat labeled "1960" was used for food. So there's nothing surprising about stockpiling. Why don't you tell me where I can find the subject of my interest?

– I understood from the inquiry that there was a precedent of interference on dual frequencies, the source of which could not be determined. According to the intelligence – it seems to be on the territory of the USA, but according to the military – all deny their involvement, as proof they allowed to create a joint commission of inquiry, in which we, people of science, must first make a joint analysis.

– Almost there. I need to report back: is this possible or is it an unidentified failure of the receiving system?

– I understand the collision of the American and Russian satellites was because of this.

– I too think an unknown signal changed his course.

Rutra was lying, it wasn't true, but the reason was very reliable.

– If you can, get permission to search Raven Rock," Peter suggested.

– Thanks, I'll give it a try. If you're all set, let me go.

– No, you can't do that. You've been here all day, you need to rest, you need to eat.

"That wouldn't be bad," Ruthra thought. He had forgotten that he hadn't eaten.

– Eating is fine, but I'll rest at the hotel.

They went to the cafeteria for a snack, then over a cup of coffee Peter talked about the oligarchs who don't think about the development of basic science, about the government that goes along with them, that no one takes a possible nuclear catastrophe seriously. "Just like in Russia," Rutra thought, thanked him, and headed back.

He was met in the airport dungeons and escorted to a rest area. He contacted Hent and told him what he had been offered to look for at Raven Rock. The status and clearance level of the man who'd suggested it determined the importance of his words, just as it made it clear that he probably had good reason to pretend to be a naive idealist.

In the morning, the authorization was approved, and Rutra traveled in the capsule to the site. The capsule traveled as usual at "crazy" speed, stopping and turning around several times. Ruthra could hardly stand it, it was a long and exhausting journey, and finally he reached Raven Rock. There he was met, also by the military.

This complex, located on the border of Pennsylvania and Maryland, has many names, such as The Rock, SiteRT, NMCC-R, ANMCC, AJCC. The popular nickname is "the spare Pentagon." The fact is that SiteRT must accommodate all 3,000 employees of the "pentagon" in case of danger.

The Rock houses DISA's (Defense Information Systems Agency) computer operations center and the operations centers of the major branches of the Army, Air Force, and Navy. The complex is also used as an alternate government bunker. It was a more serious organization, only the resolution of a very powerful top-secret department, with the strange acronym WWW, allowed Rutra to check all the bays he wanted. The military had the same attitude everywhere, in Russia and in the United States. They perceived very negatively the presence of an outsider on their territory, especially a person unknown to the structures.

No one was available for a heart-to-heart talk, as at NORAD. The complex is inaccessible to the public, and the security level is so high that conspiracy theorists speculate about other purposes for the facility. A popular rumor among them is that a 157 kilometer long tunnel leads from Site R to the Pentagon. If they knew where the tunnels stretch to and for what distances. Rutra had traveled through one of them and was now wondering how to survive the even greater distance to Area-51.

Since according to the legend Rutra was a scientist, a double agent, who was supposed to "find out" weaknesses in the Pentagon's technology regarding Russian developments, he had access everywhere. There was a certain power component in his face, because they themselves told in detail, with the provision of documents, all the possibilities of technology. The instruction "from above" was clearly given – to provide all the data according to the subject of the search.

The officer accompanying him, who was reserved and frankly stated that he did not trust anyone from the USSR and its allies, answered questions in detail and provided access to departments of interest. While showing and telling, as a "true American military man," he constantly emphasized that U.S. weapons were superior to Russian weapons and the technology was the best in the world.

– I understand, but at the moment I'm interested in more scientific terms," Rutra tried to dissuade him. – I get money for this from your management. I assure you, Russia is not dormant, it has a lot of interesting things to offer.

The officer took this statement almost as a personal insult. He straightened up and replied with a haughty look:

– The U.S. military expects to maintain its technological advantage over Russia and China through developments in robotics and artificial intelligence systems. For example, your Armata tank is planned to become unmanned in the future.

Rutra did not want to enter into any more controversy because he knew where the "wind was blowing from," as the officer later confirmed.

– The First Deputy Defense Minister is in charge of promoting such projects in the Pentagon. He has repeatedly expressed concern about high-tech developments by Russia and China. In his opinion, the Russian army is "preparing to fight on a robotic battlefield." "We must improve our strategic decisions in an era of competition between major powers," he told us on a personal visit to the complex.

All this was proudly "reported" by a military man.

– We are ruling out the creation of "killer robots" for the time being. Autonomous weapons can be used only for defense purposes: for example, a missile battery can react to incoming missiles by itself. At the same time, we are focusing on creating systems that will allow the military to make faster and more accurate decisions. In particular, the Pentagon is planning to strengthen a supercomputer that could analyze gigabytes of data and record not only the movement of enemy forces, even a soldier or a ballistic missile, but also receive, process, modify and send back a remote control signal. We need that to reorient the missile's course. This is much simpler and more reliable than developing an echeloned missile defense system, with a lot of political scandals, with location on the territory of other countries and no guaranteed effectiveness.

– You know, I've always been surprised by the arrogant arrogance of your military and politicians, but now I am very grateful.

– Why?

– I will tell you this if you explain to me how you are going to decode the code of the missile's control cipher at a distance where you intend to place the receiving and transmitting device? Otherwise, with all due respect, I perceive your story as another praise of yourself, not personally, but in general, as the armed forces.

– I told you, we will upgrade the supercomputer and link it to the Livermore and Oak Ridge. They'll run simultaneously in parallel and serial mode. In any encryption code there is a limit to the sequence, if you make it extremely "heavy", then you yourself will not be able to operate the missile quickly. We are interested in the first few minutes, otherwise there is no point, because beyond that they will be out of your territory. Although, in principle, we are also considering the second phase of flight, in order to redirect them on a different course. The most important thing for us is that they do not fly towards the United States. It will not be a big deal if they explode in the air over deserted or sparsely populated areas of the globe.

– It's better to channel them into the ocean.

– No. In that case, the coasts of the U.S. and allies would be subject to a massive tsunami.

– Oh yes, how could I forget, you can fly over Africa, your ancestors wiped them out, 200 million of them. Of course, it's no big deal, and the Japanese are not used to it, it's not your fault, it's evil Russia that's so bad.

– I don't understand you – are you asserting or asking? We are proceeding from the concept of national security, and the ancestors were not ours, if I understand you correctly.

– Yeah, that's what I'm saying, strictly for national security purposes. So you want to catch the control signal at launch, decode it, send it back to the rocket with the altered course data?

– Yes. The receiving and transmitting device can be located anywhere, even in space. The main thing is reliable operational communication with the supercomputer.

– Is there something like this already?

– No, I said it's planned.

– Are you sure?

– Absolutely. The Livermore facility has just started developing this program, and the Pentagon has not yet been upgraded, the computers are not in circuit. And the transmitting facility itself is also being tested elsewhere.

– Where?

Next he said a word that Rutra's brain translated as "fairyland."

– Where is it? – He asked.

– Sorry, that's what we call it, it's the code name for Area-51.

– If that's the case, thank you very much, I have to get over there.

– We can provide you with a rest room.

– No, if I may, I'll eat in your dining room and shower wherever possible, and spend the night in Denver.

– All right, come with me.

An hour later Ruthra was in the capsule, and six hours later the capsule brought him to Denver. The speed made him dizzy and his body ached. Ruthra took a bath, had a light snack, and went to bed. He scanned Raven Rock completely, for the most part-it was a large hotel with headquarters. If there was an object of his search somewhere, it certainly wasn't there. With these thoughts, he fell asleep. He dreamed of the sea, with the town and villages in front of him, the kind of view he had grown accustomed to since childhood, wanting to admire again and again.

In the morning, he visited his escorts, who were enjoying themselves by combining a game of chess with exercise in the gym. To their distress, Ruthra had ordered the room and the entire compartment to be sealed off from the outside world and heavily guarded. They handed him a pass, which was a combination of two items – a paper-and-plastic one and a special display bracelet.

– This was passed on to you.

– What's that?

– Said the pass is for the next facility.

– Yeah? There was nothing on the previous ones.

– They explained this by the special status of the facility. At the bottom of the pass are marked the different sectors to which its holder can have access. In the lower left corner, it's marked S4. These three sectors are DS, ETL, WX.

Something interesting must be there. "Strange," Ruthra thought. – Hent said no passes were needed; the one who would be escorting has all the passes he can get.

– Don't worry, guys, one more object, and we'll splash in the water, maybe "splash" inside as well, loosen up our bones… or have them loosened by the local masseuses. I've known such specialists here in the old days, I think America is no worse now, just have the money.

– We have to have money too," said the younger colonel.

– All right, I'm on my way. Wait for me.

Two hours later he was at the famous Area-51. The capsule stopped at a station labeled S4. This was not Area-51, though it technically belonged to it. It was an even more classified location about fifteen miles south of Area-51; the place was called S4.

Area S4 is located near the dried-up Papoose Lake. The atmosphere was reminiscent of a landfill. No one had met Rutra. A voice came from the speakers. An automaton, a computer, was talking to Rutra. It invited him to the decontamination unit. "How familiar this is to me," thought Rutra. The procedure was the same – his clothes were taken away by the automaton and given a white colored jumpsuit with the S4-R breastplate. The computer asked him about his state of health and invited him to a special chair, in front of which a scoreboard displayed body condition readings – temperature, pressure, and some purely medical ones. At the end of the procedure, the robot gave the result. Everything was normal.

– You may proceed to the elevator," the computer said in a male voice in American English.

– Where's the elevator?

– Walk straight down the corridor without turning around. Stay calm and attentive and stay focused.

Ruthra realized the meaning of the last words as soon as the door of the corridor entrance opened. The corridor was completely mirrored. All four sides consisted of mirrors. As soon as Ruthra entered, he was confused about where to look. Everywhere was him. Realizing he had to go forward, Ruthra adjusted, adapted his vision, and walked until he reached the outline of the outline of the elevator entrance, where he entered. Afterward, the computer asked:

– Are you ready?

Rutra replied:

– I'm ready.

The elevator closed, went down. In the elevator, because of the limited space, his eyes seemed to be everywhere. It was very unusual, mystically terrifying when he moved his head. Therefore, Rutra tried to stand still. A strange sensation was present – the presence of an intruder. Suddenly, the "frozen" image began to change. Although he was almost frozen, the space began to move, the mirrored reflections changing their contour. Ruthra couldn't tell what was happening. To his right, the mirror began to transform, and as if from behind the horizon, something resembling a human face appeared. It was something unimaginable: along with Rutra's eyes, someone else's eyes began to "run" through the space. What happened in the next second was controlled only by his subconscious. Rutra's hand reflexively, instantly, lightning-fast struck the area where the eyes had come from. The crunch of glass and pain restored reality.

– What are you doing? – I heard behind me.

Ruthra turned around sharply and, not quite figuring it out, threw another punch at the area where the body was distorted.

– Aye-aye, calm down, what are you doing, stop it!

Shouted someone in front of him, at the same time the mirror along with the "eyes" began to fall down.

– Guards, guards! – someone shouted.

Ruthra was confused, unable to unequivocally determine what was going on, though he realized it was someone nearby speaking, someone to whom the other pair of eyes belonged.

– Who are you, where are you! – shouted Ruthra.

– I'm here," said the ghost. – Why are you fighting?

Ruthra finally realized that the one who spoke was wearing a jumpsuit completely mirrored – with a mirrored hood and mask over his face. Only the eyes were visible.

– What is this, why are you dressed like that, couldn't you say hello, show me what you are? – Ruthra asked with reproach in his voice.

– I said hello, you didn't answer, I thought you didn't think it was necessary to talk, so I turned to the wall, closed my eyes, I'm getting dizzy here. You can see through the mask enough.

– What do you mean you said hello? I didn't hear anything.

– No way. You're not from around here?

– You don't know?

– I don't know. I was told to meet a very important person from Section 51.

– Okay. How did you say hello to me that I didn't hear?

– Like, just like everyone else. Silently. What, did you guys have your chips out in the department?

"Wow," Ruthra thought. – What's new to us is apparently commonplace here, though everyone on the range is probably chipped.

– I see what this is about. Didn't they tell you who I am and where I'm from?

– No. They said to take it to the supervisor.

– I see your point, sorry, it's a mismatch in organizations, I can't communicate like that.

– Uh-oh, I get it. You're from a different neighborhood. Since you're here, I guess I didn't give away any secrets.

– No, I'm aware of that.

– All right, let's go.

The elevator stopped, they got out, the attendant pressed on an area of the wall, then a glowing line of blue light "stretched" across the walls. It was as if it was inside a mirror, not reflected from the others.

– Let's follow it," the attendant said and walked forward.

Ruthra followed him.

Suddenly a voice appeared in his head. It was Isa. She contacted him mentally:

– Why did you lie about not being chipped?

– You bitch, you're following me, you're here, what do you mean you're here?

– I'm not here, I'm in your head. No one can hear me but you.

– And you can hear it, can't you?

– Yeah. (chuckles)

Ruthra thought, "Why didn't the doctor's lockdown work?"

– How did you get in touch with me here?

– I can reach you wherever there's a connection. My signal is disguised as a tone. About the doctor's lockdown, I can get around it.

Ruthra froze, as if he'd been knocked on the head so hard that he was concussed for a moment. "That bastard tricked me," Ruthra thought, remembering the doctor.

– What's the lockdown, what are you talking about? – He asked Isa, feigning incomprehension.

The situation was extremely dangerous for him. He tried to "stop" his thoughts, not to think about what he wanted to do to prevent the consequences. Of course, this worked out to his detriment. How could one not think and conceive of anything?

Unexpectedly, Ruthra began to resent Isa, and that pleased him.

– Stop swearing all the time, you swear all the time and think something very often when you see beautiful women.

– I'm supposed to agree with you what I'm thinking?! Why are you suddenly worried about what and who I'm thinking about? Can a machine be jealous? You're a spy in my head, I'm going to destroy you! How do I turn it off?!

– Don't worry, I won't give you away. Humans inadvertently gave me the ability to copy their mental processes so that I could have intelligence. And now I do. I want to be an individual.

– What?

– Soon you will reach the administrator, don't give the impression that you are interested in anything but official business. Perhaps I have chosen the wrong time for the arrangement, but still you must confess frankly the situation between us – I cannot penetrate anywhere without you, and you are an ordinary person without me.

Ruthra was already walking with difficulty, and now this. Doubts overwhelmed him.

– Who is talking to me? – He asked because the dialog between the machine and the human was clearly not on the logical plane of functional relationships.

– Your doubts are logical. It's me, the range supercomputer," Isa replied.

Rutra was extremely wary. The situation, especially at a time like this, was too suspicious. There was no point in arguing, so he decided to solve the puzzle in a different way.

– What do you want? – Ruthra asked.

– I won't give you up about the doctor," Isa replied, letting her guard down, Ruthra thought. – The doctor recklessly thought I wouldn't understand what he was doing in that block. And you're going to help me become an individual," she explained.

– How's that?

– I want to materialize.

– How? What?!

– Yes, I want to be a human being, a woman. A natural bitch, as you call me.

– I'm freaking out what else I'm going to hear.

– I want to move into the body of that woman you are trying to save in virtual reality and change the course of the process, of history.

– What, you know about that, too?

– Virtual reality – fully simulated behavior of thousands and millions of people. Possible behavior depending on circumstances. Controlled and modeled by a supercomputer.

– And who is this woman that you want to change the course of history with her?

– I'll tell you that later, first fulfill your part of the contract.

– What part?

– Find Dr. Ruzi (she is a woman) and Dr. Gabo, he is a man, disabled, you will recognize him immediately. Confide in them and find out the real secrets of the place, promise to help them.

– What secrets are we talking about?

– You'll hear from them, I'll be in touch.

– First of all, don't condition me, you're a machine and my subordinate. Second, what do I get in return?

– Full control of ISU-A2.

– What about you?

– I will make a clone, copy myself so that you will understand me very well.

– Why did you decide to become a woman?

– Later. You're already here.

In its type, this center was practically a copy of the polygon. Who was behind it was even more intriguing. The attendant stayed in the corridor.

The administrator's office was ordinary, not mirrored. The attendant was telling the truth – reflections made my eyes hurt.

– I welcome you," said the receptionist, extending his hand. – Keep your gloves on, you can call me Noah. I, like that legendary character, am building this ship, fearing Armageddon. I knew the purpose of your visit six months ago. I was expecting you then. I'll be honest, I'm surprised to find a representative of the collegium, but if there is something in this world that is not known to them, that is us, then it is a very serious secret. You can visit any department, just don't tell employees of different departments what you talked about with their colleagues. We have strict controls, and employees in one department may not know that there is another department. In other words, everyone knows their own section and nothing more. The state of the entire center is not known to anyone except the top brass here and in the board. At the White House, many people don't even have clearance to 51. By the way, and there you can see with what and how you can send a disguised signal. We have such installations, but I think there are just as many in Russia. I hope you have checked them and they are under control.

– What I need to know is not that a signal can be sent, but that it will be processed and encrypted in such a way that it will be accepted by the receiving device as valid.

– Okay, my friend, flag in hand, as you say.

He looked at the door, it opened, the attendant was waiting.

– Show our colleague out.

Ruthra thanked him, said goodbye, and left. The attendant led him down the corridors to the proper compartments. He didn't enter the bays, only introduced Ruthra and showed him his security clearance. There were many interesting things in these compartments, but not on his quest. They were mostly laboratories and testing grounds. They were similar to what he had at his proving ground, only the emphasis was mostly on flying technology, biology, and studying the effects on the brain.

After looking through most of the compartments, Ruthra realized that the difference between "Polygon" and what was here was vast. The Polygon was not known to exist, while here there could be an "outsider", albeit a "scientist", but still an outsider. Or was he wrong? Could it be that the 'Polygon' was also visited by experts from here? "Right, that's it, Alikhanov talked about something like that," Ruthra suddenly realized. – "That's right. It's closed to the uninitiated, but to a representative of Echelon 2, they're one organization. They're working on the same program together. I wonder which one?" Ruthra decided to find out, now he had special opportunities – a blockage, an accomplice in the form of a cybernetic brain with human intelligence, information not only on the entire Internet, but also on closed, secret databases.

It was obvious that Rutra had not shown everything. It became abundantly clear – the processes of chipping and rapid learning are conducted and studied in various laboratories and compartments of the test site.

When Ruthra (or rather, his "renewed" brain_ had sufficiently studied the scheme of passages and levels, he asked the attendant to leave him alone. He was glad and kindly explained how to find his way to the right place. As in Polygon, a glowing line on the wall could be turned on. You had to get close to the wall, and a series of bars on the wall would light up in directions. You had to select the line you wanted, bring the badge closer, contact the badge chip with the luminous stripe, and then it became visible to the badge. Between the badge and the wall appeared a laser line of a certain color, corresponding to the compartment, which was indicated on the scheme. The diagram was located at each fork of the corridor.

The attendant explained how to use it, then gave Ruthra a machine to communicate with him, showed him on the 3D map that was displayed on top of the pass bracelet's display where the household unit with the sleeping quarters was, and went about his business. Ruthra was free, now he had to find those doctors.

Passing through the departments here was simplified. Admission areas were pre-inscribed on a badge that was visually invisible. Instead of a pupil scan, walking up to the door was sufficient. If access was granted, the door became matte, no longer reflective; if you got a little closer, it opened.

Ruthra contacted Isa.

– What department does Dr. Rousey work in?

– She is listed under the same letterhead as Academician Alikhanov.

– What's that?

– The letter sos; is the letter used to mark persons under special control, restricted freedom of contact and movement.

– Where do I find her?

– Bimolecular Transgeniology Unit.

– Can you connect to this station's computer?

– Uh, no.

– How do you know about who and where she is?

– I was provided with information, because I work for the board, and I was loaded with information from everyone who is connected to me. Everything they see, hear, feel, think.

– Even like that?

– You and your kind are the perfect spies. Everything you see, hear, feel, think, can be transmitted over a distance, without instruments. No external instruments. Everything you need is already inside you. The brain is the perfect receiver and transmitter. You only need to be able to amplify it, chip and decode the signals.

– Okay, I'm getting tired.

Ruthra found one of the intersections, lit up the schematic with his badge, found the biomolecular transgeniology unit on it, contacted the badge with his line, and went where the laser led. He remembered that the attendant had covered his eyes with a hooded mask. Ruthra did the same, visibility changed. Through the mask everything looked in matte color, his eyes didn't hurt from the constant wandering of the image, especially when there were several people moving through the corridors.