Earthly world. Russia, city S.

It's abnormally cold today, and I definitely need to hurry home to start looking for a new job. Otherwise, the New Year and Christmas holidays will be sad and bland. Hmm, this isn't looking fun at all! Not so long ago, I was an ordinary worker in the railway transport, but after a while I’ve found a few hobbies to spice up life, I wanted to quit and do something more interesting and necessary. To be honest, I'm an adventurer and romantic relationships are my second vocation.

Arriving home, I decided that I would start looking for vacancies through websites, since I don't want to eat and I need to keep myself busy with useful things. Hmm, uh, living alone has both pros and cons. My old friends are too involved with personal and family affairs, so it came to be we rarely see each other now. And to be honest, I no longer feel comfortable among them. Perhaps I still haven't matured? I don't know. Time will tell and give me answers. And now, in my thirties, I am a single man who longs for love, romantic relationships and other pink and sweet things, heheh.

Without hesitation, I chose the first job site at random and began my search in various categories. This one is a boring occupation, but there is not much offers around here. Next. Wow, this seems like a tempting offer! ‘The research center of the city of S. requires a candidate for an expedition and research mission, payment due to increased danger is amounted to ............... Call from 8:00 to 20:00, leading scientist of project X, professor Alekseev."

I read this vacancy several times and honestly it confused me a little. Although I did not ponder for a long time, and, since the time was right, I dialed the professor's number.

"Hello! My name is Maxim. I just saw your ad on the site, about working with a research mission."

A cheerful and strange, but interested voice from a man of about fifty answered me from the other side of the line: "Hello! My name is Professor Alekseev. Tell me if it will be convenient for you to come as soon as possible? Oh and do not be embarrassed by this demand, it is really a matter of life and death, as well as science in the name of the future of humanity!"

Wow, what was that? His words sounds just like some farce from a cheap Hollywood movie... I was clearly confused by his words, but I gave my consent still. In the end, can it really be that bad? Just so you know, everything is fine with my head, but I often listen to my heart, not my mind, and as a result I made quite a few mistakes. But when I think about the consequences of my decisions, it brings smile to my face and my past experiences are warming my heart.

"Yes, I will arrive as soon as possible at the aforementioned address and take the necessary documents with me." On the other end of the phone, I heard a happy exclamation, as if he just won a grand prize.

“That's glorious, Maxim. I’ll be waiting for you." The professor answered and I turned off the phone. Did I tell him my name? Perhaps, but I have no time to waste on such trivial thoughts.

Looking at my watch, I decided to collect everything I needed and, after putting on warm clothes, I locked my house and took a taxi to this mysterious place. Hmm... I've never heard of this research center. Well, it will be interesting! Probably… It's a right time to change something in my life...

And now our protagonist going by the name Maxim is heading towards the trap, arranged just for him. Baited by the excitement of adventure, he is absolutely clueless about what’s to come, until it will be too late to think about it. Will it be good or bad for him? The time will tell...

The bald scientist met me outside of the research center building. I would like to note that, while I was walking to the administrative building, it was almost deserted, and I was greeted by the lone spruce standing near the building. I stopped for a short while next to it to admire the spruce which swayed in the wind, but my eyes were lit up from the upcoming interview and I admit, I could not hide my excitement. I greeted my potential employer, to which he responded in kind and invited me in, putting his hand on my shoulder; we started to walk to his office on the third floor. As I expected, we’ve passed the security post and he put his pass to the elevator, after a short wait the doors opened and we started to smoothly ascend to the specified floor. When we were moving up, he warned me that I should not feel disturbed from what I’ll see, since this complex has several robotic assistants and other technologies that I will get to know later.

Walking down the corridor to his office, I saw a couple of women scientists wearing white coats and unusual-looking glasses. These glasses were larger and had some kind of technological functions, because I noticed some kind of display analogue being projected to its surface, like a computer menu. Also, a robot walked past us, but what surprised me was that it was on four legs and outwardly looked like a small horse, just without a mane and a tail. One can only imagine the expression on my face and the thoughts that were spinning in my head. The professor seems to have noticed my well-hidden reaction and, with a grin, offered to enter his office.

When I sat down on a chair near his desk at his invitation, opposite to him, he took out a folder with papers from the desk and handed them to me.

"I’ll give you time to read this agreement and sign it. Then I am ready to answer your questions about the essence of your work." Having skimmed through the boring text of the agreement, I stopped at one point interesting to me. It said, that from the moment of signing, I’m obliged to hand over my phone and I will not have any connection with the outside world, except for a special connection and only within the complex! No internet allowed! I’ll have to move around the complex according to the admission level assigned to me. Before putting my signature, I looked inquiringly at Alekseev.

"Is it really so serious? I hope I won't regret it." And without waiting for his answer, I signed it. I hope I didn’t do anything stupid. Because it won’t be funny!

I did put my phone and charger on his desk. He looked at me with a raised eyebrow, but without saying a word he put them in the safe, after having glued a tag with my data to it. Then, crossing his arms over his chest, he looked at me piercingly and began his instructions.

“So, Maxim, welcome to the anomalous activity research complex! The first step in your work will be two weeks of training and preparation. Today you will rest in your room, and tomorrow you will pass all the necessary tests with renewed energy. You’ll partake in your tests after a lunch in our cafeteria and I will take you on a short tour and familiarize you with the equipment. You will learn how to use it, because you will be working in an anomalous area with this equipment. We have conventionally called this area an "Air Portal". And yes, interrupting your upcoming question, you will indeed be dropped with a parachute into a classified section of airspace, and before that, you will have to make three training jumps with our instructors.” After somewhat evaluating glance at my reaction and making sure that I was listening carefully, he continued: "On the third day, you will go through a special procedure that will help you master your skills better. I call it the "Crash Course Catalyst"! You will see it for yourself, it is a painless process. Oh yes, here is your pass, it is marked in green, and these are the places that you are allowed to visit at this stage."

After some deliberation, I decided to ask him a few questions: "Can I get information on the upcoming assignment?"

“You will receive it, but not in full, otherwise you will not be able to sleep well!” After which he expressed with his face his readiness to listen carefully to my question.

"Has anyone already landed in this area before me?"

"Yes, several flying drones. They were able to cross the border of space and find themselves on the other side of the portal! But the information that they transmitted could not be obtained in full. And after about an hour, their activity ceased. We do not know what happened to them. But we have already analyzed something. For example, the composition of the air and climate conditions was very similar to the terrestrial ones!" Then he smiled broadly and added. "And to put a cherry on a cake, here's something else for you: this is another planet and it is inhabited!"

This answer will really prevent me from falling asleep tonight! It seems that my eyes began to twitch and chaotic thoughts clouded my overloaded head even more.

"Sorry professor, you mean I will be the first living being, a first man who will visit another inhabited world? And what am I supposed to do there? What is my assignment?"

The scientist put his hand to his forehead and sighed calmly. "You will indeed be the first human tester, but you will have a robot assistant with you, and other equipment which I will familiarize you with later. You will receive the rest of the instructions during preparation. And now, let me take you to your room, please try to rest." He noticed the excitement on my face and decided to cheer me up in a fatherly voice. "I understand that a really responsible mission falls onto your shoulders, but no matter what situation you find yourself in on another side of the portal, just be yourself."

After the end of the conversation, Professor Alekseev accompanied me to my room and strongly recommended that I rest and come to the dining room for lunch in the morning. I just wanted to ask him how not to get lost, but he interrupted my thoughts: "Do not forget your pass; there is a robot guide at the entrance to the living area. Just contact it and it will answer your questions regarding the direction."

Closing the door behind Maxim, the professor smiled ominously as his eyes flashed with a lightning sheen, he loudly snapped his fingers afterwards. Meanwhile in the room, our hero was sitting down on the bed with a thoughtful look, feeling very tired, he plunged into the embrace of dreams.

Visions while sleeping.

What? Where I am? And when the hell did I fall asleep? Am I sleeping at all? The thoughts that I spoke out loud were heard only by me, but there was no answer, naturally. I have to be careful with what I got myself into. It looks like trouble. My thoughts did not last long as this clear dream began to transform the picture in front of me. Now, I stood on a cloud, in the night sky, among many stars. But wans’t not all to it, I looked around and saw a figure descending from the middle of this sky, in a shape reminiscing of a small horse with wings! And, is it a horn? I wish I knew what the hell is going on!? This little blue horse came closer to me with its wings folded, but here I saw its mane and tail! Hehe, I'm not a drug addict, but I definitely liked what I saw. This horse's mane and tail swayed in a nonexistent wind! And in appearance they resembled the same night starry sky which surrounded us! The little horse smiled at me and bowed, then spoke, to which I was not surprised.

"I am the princess of the night and the ruler of the kingdom of dreams, Luna from Equestria, glad to welcome you, wanderer! Can you tell me your name?"

But I did not answer right away, as I was impressed by what was happening. I think you can understand me. I am in a dream and everything is so ... different? At the same time, some kind of little blue horse princess is talking to me! But looking at her with a more appraising look, I noticed that, although she is a small horse with wings and a horn, she looks definitely beautiful. She looked like she noticed my gaze and raised one eyebrow. I cleared my throat slightly, yet did not make her wait long.

"Sorry, Princess Luna, right?"

"It's true."

"Do not misunderstand me! My name is Maxim, but ... Can you explain one thing to me? What's happening? How did you end up in my dream and why is it closer to reality than a dream can be?"

The princess gave me a slight smile, but before giving me an answer, she gracefully approached me, so close that I began to feel her real body with my every nerve! Her head, if we exclude the horn, reached my chin. She then unfolded one of her wings and ran it down my back, watching my reaction. And the reaction was natural! I felt tickled, from which I blushed deeply right before her face.

“If you want, you can touch me, you will see that in a dream I am the very real...”

Yes, I did as she suggested. My right hand, trembling slightly, slowly passed behind her ears and my fingers touched her magic mane. I cannot convey what I’ve felt; you just need to feel it for yourself, but it was close to cool, flowing water.

"Um ... it's so unusual." I said while having difficulty believing in what was happening. "But I like it. It is by far the best dream of my life. Here, where are you princess of the night, and I am a stranger in your kingdom." I smiled at her sincerely and added: "We stand on a cloud in the night sky and stroke each other!" It seems my last words made her blush a little. Wow, is she embarrassed?

"I don't have much time left to be with you, Maxim! But I’m giving you my great word, we will meet again!" And her image began to blur before my eyes.

It made me very, very sad. Those accursed magic horses in your dreams, which come to tease you! With these thoughts, I began to wake up.

"Oh yes, the professor gave me time to rest, but I'm hungry." I said to myself, and looking at the clock on the bedside table, I looked around the room for one last time and decided it was time to go to the dining room and, at the same time, establish my first contact with the surrounding staff. Especially with those robots! I think it will be funny. Although I still can't get this little blue horse out of my head, and, she is a princess! It looks like a jackpot! Hehe. With these silly thoughts in mind, I walked to the bathroom to carry out the morning procedures. Looking in the mirror, I’ve stretched and scratched my back, but when I sensed something foreign as I grabbed it with my fingers to see what I’ve found. My eyes widened in surprise!

"AAAA!!!" I fell on my ass with a frightened look. "What the hell is that!?" In my hands I was holding a small shiny blue feather! I quickly jumped up, ran into the room and began to examine it while sitting on my bed, where I passed out for some unknown reason and slept for an hour. Having carefully examined the bed linen, I made sure that there were no such feathers in its contents, especially in the pillow.

"So was it a dream, or not? Or are they performing some sort of a test on me? What should I do with this thing?" I asked myself, still looking at this feather. "Perhaps, when I meet the professor, I will throw him a new problem to solve, it’ll be my little revenge for all my stress today." I put the feather in the inner pocket of my vest and decided to end my day with a scouting expedition to the cafeteria. Leaving the residential area using my pass, I found the robot guide I was told about in the hallway. And then, the gears in my head have started spinning. All the robots I met during this time resembled uh... ponies? The only substantial difference was the lack of hair, mane and tail, but the structure of their body and limbs clearly resembled that little blue horse. This design was definitely not based on dogs like those robots I’ve seen somewhere before! The number of questions in my head only increased when I've finally noticed that I had been standing in front of the robot for around three minutes already. And then his eyes lit up with green lights and rays of the same color scanned my pass card. A mechanical voice, as befits a robot, spoke to me.

"How can I help you sir? I am a robotic guide dedicated to helping local staff which have a green pass card."

"Um ... yes. Please escort me to the staff cafeteria of my access level." The robot started up and turned around and started walking while saying: "Of course, sir! Follow me!" I rolled my eyes and mentally swore that I’ll have to endure unimaginable difficulties. But I signed up for it myself, so I'm not complaining. It's just that the whole situation is too unusual for me so far, but I'll try to get used to it!

The weirdness of this evening consisted of total absence if human personnel, only robots were around, even in the dining room and I find this fact somewhat abnormal. After finishing my dinner I asked the robot if I could recieve some working clothes for tomorrow, and whether I could meet Professor Alekseev. The robot answered me in detail.

"Your clothes are in your room, in the closet, you can use every commodity in your room. Professor Alekseev will come for you tomorrow at nine in the morning. Try to be prepared before he comes. Can I help you with anything else?"

"No, thanks for the info, um... how can I address you?"

"Please, call me just Assistant."

After scratching my chin, I said goodbye to the robot pony and decided to examine the contents of my room. In the closet I found a work suit, overalls, and other similar clothes for work in the complex. In general, I've found nothing of note there. There was a shelf of books next to the cabinet. There was no TV, and, naturally, there was no computer. Bo-o-oring! It did have a nice shower room though, also a writing desk and a swivel chair. That's all the conveniences there were. And since there was still time before sleep, I took this little enigmatic feather out of my pocket to study it better. Fortunately, I found a magnifying glass in the table, in addition to writing tools. Looking at the feather with a magnifying glass, I noticed glittering sparks, not unlike stars in the night sky.

I remembered my short, but wonderful dream, my meeting with Princess Luna, as she called herself. "Was it true?" I thought in conversation with myself. “I already understood who she is, but Equestria, is it her home? In the end, she told me almost nothing..."

Only her eyes looking into mine and the touch of her wing on my back told me more. She would like to see me more often, and I can give myself an answer. I agree with her! That fleeting sensation, her soft touch, that short fiery spark in our eyes, I can’t get those things out of my head. Hehe, what am I thinking about? Am I nuts? But the blue feather in my hands says otherwise! And my mind entered into a struggle with the feelings of my heart. I like her, despite she is a magical pony from the land of dreams... I sighed. It was time to take a shower and try to sleep. I won’t lie, I was hoping to see her again that way.

But in my dream she never visited me again.

The next morning the alarm went off at seven in the morning and I cheerfully got out of bed, carefully made it up and headed to the bathroom. Having quickly coped with all the morning procedures, including a light breakfast, I began to calmly wait for my boss. Just as I was informed, he arrived at my room by nine in the morning. He entered my room and turned to me with a light smile.

"Good morning, Maxim! Did you sleep well? I see you still have a lot of questions, so today you are a lucky man who will receive his answers and start the preparatory phase."

"Good morning, Mr. Alekseev! I slept really well. But there is one thing..." After briefly recounting my visions and showing him the quill, the professor resolutely gave his notebook and began to write. Then he put the feather in a special box and looked intently into my eyes.

"Congratulations on your first contact, son! In fact, your statement is interesting, but not unique!"

I raised my eyebrows in surprise and asked him. "What? Why do you say that? Has anyone already encountered this?"

“In fact, yes! Everyone who works in this complex has gone through this. But these cases are not regular. And we assume it is related to the portal. The only thing that sets you apart is this object left to you from another world." He pointed with his eyes at a transparent plastic box that contained a blue feather, and added in a serious tone. "We have to send this sample for research!"

“Oh yes, of course, Professor, although I would really like to keep it for myself later. But I understand that I work here for the sake of science."

"Don't be frivolous. Now, please put on your white coat and follow me. You need to donate blood for analysis, and do some other things. Then you will be tested with sensors. Finally, you will be hooked up to a crash course. The same type of sensors, just made for checking your head. Heh! Don't worry, let's start our day."

"Well, I'm still waiting!" I finished the conversation and put on a work suit, all was going according to Alekseev's plan.

After spending half of a day on boring testing, I suddenly remembered uh... robotic ponies.

"Professor, may I ask something?"

"Please, speak freely."

"Why do all of your robots look like ponies, or, well, their semblance?"

And then he looked at me with an impressed face, after a little thought, he took off his glasses and gave me an answer. "Starting with the fact that Project X is well funded, so can see about a dozen robots on all floors. But as for why they do look like four-legged creatures, as you have already noticed, ponies, it is because our project is connected with the upcoming contact in another world. As you’ve already guessed, their inhabitants look approximately the same as our robots. Their looks resemble those of inhabitants of the world on the other side of the portal. So why exactly ponies and why you did not meet any other people in your green sector of access? The answer is: this done with the aim that you would begin to get used to this particular form of life, to which you will be sent to make contact to. You may not see any other people for a long time. By the way, today you will get to know your partner on the upcoming mission and, from now on, he will be with you all the time, even in your room!"

"I think it makes sense." I briefly replied and after thinking a little over his answer suddenly realized what awaited me. Sighing, I asked him. "Professor, what is the results of my tests?" He turned to the computer, looked at something, took a surprised look, turning his back to me, wrote down the results and put them in the archive.

"So let me get you up to speed first!"

"Oh, I'm all attention, professor!"

He looked at me seriously and I saw sparks in his eyes, after which he snapped his fingers. And then I fell into a trance for a while. I heard a completely different voice from him, his voice echoed in my ears.

“From now on, you must forget your name! Your new name is Heart Path! Remember this! And now I clap my hands and you repeat to me what your name is!" He clapped his palms and I woke up from the trance. I could hardly focus my gaze on him, but the tone was serious.

"My name is Heart Path!"

"That is great!"

What happened to me?

The professor pulled this device out of the safe, similar to virtual reality glasses, just not so bulky, but more compact, and handed them to me along with a brochure with instructions.

"Here, this is your kit, keep it! These high-tech glasses can perform a number of functions, including communication through a small earpiece. Their functions include: magnification, like binoculars, night vision, thermal imager, as well as a built-in computer and a camera, all functions are controlled by your voice. Any commands will be executed on your behalf and voice. You can activate these glasses if you press on this button, then you will have to say your name. Well, just read the instructions about using them tonight."

Wow cool! Now I will enliven my boring evenings.

"Thanks, professor! When can I see my assistant robot?"

"After lunch, he will be waiting for you in your room. Remember, it is expensive equipment! Treat it appropriately! By the way, your robot pony can give you detailed instructions and advice about your glasses. Your personal robotic pony is the best model at the moment. You will learn the rest from it personally. Well, now you are free for today, but tomorrow we will start to practice with a thing that will surprise you."

Forty minutes later, I returned from the dining room to my room and noticed a new, mmm, face! Yes, this robot pony was sitting like a dog near the table; his differences from the rest of the assistants were obvious. Firstly, it was slightly larger, secondly, it had a blue HAIR COVER all over his hull. He also had a short mane and tail! Hahah, they are real jokers, those scientists! Its eyes were as if alive, but they clearly did not move and lacked muscles. In general, this is a good emulation. I came closer and squatted in front of it, by the way its mane and tail were silvery. Waving my hand in front of those lifeless eyes, I thought that it will take some time for me to get used to it, especially if I wake up at night to visit a toilet!

"Err ... Hi! Can you hear me?" The robot pony turned its head to me and met my gaze, then his mouth moved and smiled? This is fascinating! How far did our technology go?

"Hello, Heart Path!" He stretched out his paw (hoof?) to me for the purpose of… shaking hands? "Please, do not be surprised! I am a much more advanced model of the assistant robot. My name is Night Fog." I reached out my hand in response and gently shook that robotic hoof of his. Heh. Looking into his eyes, I decided to ask the first thing that came to my mind.

"Why Night Fog?"

"I have capability of deploying a smoke screen when necessary. And also to pull a wagon with a load, well, in general, I will be your personal assistant in your mission. You won’t get bored together with me. Oh yes, I have a function of playing music, this command can be performed by using your glasses set. More than ten thousands different tracks are uploaded to my hard drive."

"Fine! This is truly amazing news! Do you think we can be friends?"

"Of course, sir! If you have any questions or requests, please let me know!"

I took off my shoes and lay down on the bed, indulging in thought. Hmm... I’ll have to leave my world in twelve days and I may never return. By the way, proceeding from the information received from the professor, I already know, that after landing, I will have to find the missing drones in order to retrieve information from them. Then, when meeting with the local population, I must act as a messenger of goodwill from my world to transfer a cargo of some goods and books about our world history and the like, that will be inside a container. Well, or implement them for another purpose, depending on the circumstances ... The exact time frame of my mission is still unknown. If all goes well with the natives, I’ll return back home if the portal is will be still opened. Then my mission will be completed and I will receive my fee. The amount indicated on the papers was consistent with the dangers of the work. Simply put, I will not be able to earn this amount of money in whole my life!

But what if everything goes according to a different storyline? Not as rosy as it seems to me? In this case, I have a protocol called "Assimilation" in order to survive in a new world. And since I’ve read this point in the contract and left my signature there, I’m still obliged to execute it! I hope I won't regret anything. And if the local population of that world really as cute as Princess Luna, then I will find something to busy myself with in that world! Yes, I definitely will not remain lonely; Night Fog will be with me, my faithful assistant. By the way, the following question arisen, so I looked at my robot.

"Hey, Night Fog! Do you have any combat functions? You know, in case of emergency situations. I know that putting on a smoke screen is certainly fun, but I would like something more weighty when it gets hot!"

Night Fog turned its head to me and smiled again. Heh, I like this robot, honestly! "Yes, Heart Path, you need not worry I’ll be covering your ass not only with just smoke screen when combat protocol will be activated!"

I blinked a few times in surprise when I learned that this robot can speak in this manner freely, and he does the same with his answers in general. "Are you serious? Give me any examples."

"In addition to these hooves, I have built-in small arms from the "Whirlwind" system. The ammunition reserve is limited, but I am able to reload myself. One of the containers that will be sent with us will contain ammunition and your personal weapon."

"Wow, this is a really serious statement, but the professor did not tell me about it!"

"The professor has provided me as a trusted assistant with open access to this information."

I sighed with some relief, then stared at the ceiling and spoke in a prankish tone. "Well, I think we'll make them dance for us there!"

The robot released a semblance of laughter, but not like other mechanical ones, it was rather alive. "Haha! I think you're right sir! I will not let you get bored and I will not let any offense coming your way. Of course it’s if I'm nearby, and you are in danger."

"Yes, I feel that we’ll be good friends!"

The next day.

Today is the third day of my stay in the complex and the professor promised me some kind of surprise. And here I am, standing in some kind of closed hangar with my robot, waiting for the professor to leave the equipment storage room, which had a red clearance level. Naturally, I was denied an access to that area. So, he appeared with two cases and went to the table, put them down and called me over. I looked at the Night Fog, cracked my neck and went to inspect the contents of the cases.

"What are these strange gloves, Mr. Alekseev? They weigh no less than a couple of kilograms, that's for sure!"

"Let me introduce you to one of our experimental gear, Amplifier Gloves! Yeah, these babies weight that much until you put them on! Try it!"

I put on the left glove first and then the right one, their length almost reached my elbows. I looked inquiringly at the professor. "Well, they are still heavy even for extravagant clothes, although not that it’ll be impossible to get used to them!"

"Yes it is! Now put on your glasses and activate the “Amplifier” protocol. I did as he said. The glasses gave confirmation to my command and through their lenses I saw that my gloves began to glow along their contours. Three-barreled mini-guns, about fifteen centimeters long have jumped out of its inner structure on each hand. Wow, I feel like some kind of futuristic soldier or magician. Immediately after that I felt the weight of these gloves lowered by twofold.

"What's next, professor? I really can feel that something is helping me to move my muscles!"

"Now let's go to the training room," said professor.

After we entered this so-called training hangar, he brought with him a second case with a red handle and put it on one of the boxes. There were several mannequins made of wood in this room, as well as many boxes of different sizes. The professor sat down on one of the boxes and gave me his command: "Activate gravity mode with your voice command!"

"Mode activated!" I answered, and began to observe the effects of these gloves.

"Now put both hands on that heavy metal box and lock the target!" The professor ordered.

As soon as I gave the command, pointing my hands at the indicated object, red and blue electric arcs flew out of them and entangled the box.

The professor looked at my surprised face and, making sure that I was ready, decided to cheer me up and said. "Well, don’t hesitate and lift it up and put it on another box."

I’ve made some mental effort and the glasses passed the command to the gloves, after which I began to smoothly lift the metal box.

"Wow, I like that, professor! And what is the maximum weight they can lift?"

"About three hundred kilos, that’s the limit. But don’t be too happy with yourself, these babies also have a drawback. Unfortunately, the battery will last for twelve hours MAX with active use. But they can self-charge themselves by absorbing solar power, as well as charge from a standard electric network. A full charge from the sun will be eight hours, from a network just two. But the question is that we do not know how things are with energy in that world! Therefore, use them only when necessary and save the charge." After that the professor made sure that I carefully learned the lesson and, after consolidating my practice, continued: "This is not all of their functions! Activate Combat mode."

"Done! Battle mode is on!"

"Now, move any hand to one of the wooden manikins. Grab the target and issue the Shock Strike order! And hit all six targets."

After I aimed one hand at one mannequin and the other hand at another one and captured the targets in the blue-red rays, I made a command. After the command was given, both targets were instantly engulfed by strong electric discharges; arcs of electricity were dancing on their surfaces, leaving behind only smoldering residue. Most sinister grin stretched across my face and I went all out with the remaining targets. Having experienced new emotions, I turned to the professor and, like a combat pilot, made a report: "Sir, all specified targets are destroyed! Awaiting your further orders, sir!"

The professor just chuckled at my billowing enthusiasm. "Hehe, of course! Can you see that distant target? It’s a rubber mannequin. Zoom in on this target with your glasses and activate the "Silent" mode, then fire one of the hands. You will notice that a crosshair will appear in the goggles to help you correct aiming."

I felt like some kind of robocop. Nevertheless, I fired a silent shot from my right hand and saw that one of the barrels was slightly smoking. After bringing the glasses closer, I saw a dart sticking out approximately in the center of the target. The professor started his explanation with no delay.

"These are darts with a soporific agent; they are designed to disable living targets without harmful consequences for them. As you can see, you only have three barrels on each glove. Take this into account for tactical purposes; you will be reloading them manually. We'll be repeating our training with these miraculous gloves during this week, but for now, take them off."

After resting for a couple of minutes after putting both gloves in the case, I decided to ask the professor what was in the other case.

"And this is a Glock 20 pistol. You will be practicing shooting by yourself every day. But let me remind you: this is a deadly weapon and it is intended solely for self-defense. This means that you will not open this case without necessity! Do you understand me!?"

"I’ve understood everything, sir! Using this weapon is allowed only in situation of self-defense."

"Well, now you're free for today. From tomorrow on you will be practicing parachute jumping. The weather is just right for that."

And so, the time has passed, and my preparation finally ended. I was successfully skydiving and training with equipment together with my robot. But the destined hour was approaching, I had to go and meet my fate in a new world. With a thoughtful look, sitting in the helicopter, I received the last instruction from my boss.

"First, we will drop off four cargo containers and you will go next.” Alekseev shouted to me. " Night Fog is inside this blue one! You must release him first and then he will help you with the rest! Do not be worried, he will be able to pull your whole caravan consisting of the remaining three boxes. Trust him, your equipment and YOURSELF! Ha ha ha! And good luck, Heart Path!"

"Thank you, sir! I will definitely need it. I hope we meet again!" After my cargo was sent into the abyss above the abnormal accumulations of energy, I stepped over the threshold of the helicopter and started my descent!

Sitting in the helicopter, Professor Alekseev watched his parcels go into the portal. "Now we are even, brother Chaos..." He said, as sparks flashed in his eyes. After about ten minutes, the portal disappeared, leaving only common clouds behind...

Author's Note

What will happen next with our hero and his robot assistant? The time will come and everyone will show their cards.