- I don't know about you, but I've always wanted to die!
There were some insecure claps in the hall. The young guy was standing onstage, amusing the crowd.
- No, well, really! Imagine, there is actually a god! - The crowd laughed. - He's sitting there in heaven waiting for one of us to visit him! And no one comes! The phone is also silent! Goes out on the lawn near the house to check the mail - nothing! Not even a single letter from the tax office! What's to be surprised about, though?
The guy pulled his head off.
- It is the best offshore zone there! - The audience did not stop laughing. - Just imagine how lonely it is for him! Alone, all alone... And here I will appear! God would have taken a vacation right away, and we'd have lost it all! That would be a party! I would have told him so much news!
The audience applauded again.
- When I told my friends the idea, everyone supported me. And then it hit me! Why don't I bring someone to keep me company? And what do you think these hypocrites answered? "No, you better be alone, friend, I'm busy, I'm sick! One of them replied: "What if he has a small living room and there is no room for the other person?
The hall was laughing.
- Can't find a place? Can you guess? Dude! It's God! Look upstairs, there's plenty of room! After all, before that, all the people got there, and everyone had enough! After all, no one came back!
The comedian waited for the audience to calm down.
- In general, I want to say that the more friends you have and the more different advice they give - the better. For example, one of them expressed an interesting idea. What if I'm wrong? Maybe there is nothing there, and there is no god... Or there is a god, but there is no internet at the top... Well, the internet, for example... Guess what, such a setup! Then I won't be able to order pot from the ground! And we will both be sad to sit and go check the mail...
A comedian walked up to a fictional mailbox, opened it and looked inside. - Again, nothing... - the guests laughed again.
- I don't want to die! - The guy continued. - And I swear to God, you too! Why not? Because it's not that bad. Seriously! It's fucking fun here, it's a lot of cool stuff, isn't it? - The audience supported him with whistles and applause. - So, you know what... Let this old rat come down here! - A comedian blew his head off. - Hey, can you hear it up there? Get the fuck down here!
At that moment several robots burst into the hall. Without ceremony, they immediately opened fire with automatic rifles on visitors. The hall, which contained dozens of smiles and was filled with laughter, was now filled with human screams and puddles of blood.
***
Bruce was sitting on the podium with a jubilant crowd and watching the gladiators fight. The creators of the arena tried their best: everything was as close as possible to the atmosphere of the time. Only holographic images and other modern things did not allow to fully immerse in that distant era.
One of the gladiators skillfully mastered two swords, not giving his opponent a second to rest, constantly going on the offensive. The opponent chose another tactic. He performed in heavy armor, using to defend the round shield, and to attack a powerful axe.
Bruce periodically looked at the phone screen. Quotes on the fighters jumped in one direction or the other, but initially the favorite was a gladiator with two swords. Bruce was waiting for the enemy's counteroffensive with a shield to catch a high coefficient on the favorite, but never waited. On a gladiator with two swords, the odds melted in front of his eyes. The bookmakers had almost no doubts about his victory, just like the spectators in the stands. People began to get up from their seats, looking forward to a quick outcome.
Bruce looked at the tiny odds, and couldn't help but bet a large sum. At the same moment the crowd annulled. Losing gladiator with the help of a shield was able to knock the enemy off his feet, and then killed him with an axe like a cow in a slaughterhouse.
The audience was rejoicing. No one expected such an unexpected outcome. The honoring of the winner lasted for several minutes, after which people hurried to leave the stands. Bruce, on the other hand, stayed in his seat for a long time, looking somewhere in the void...
- What the fuck? - Bruce looked at the screen where the dead gladiator was alive.
- Just unlucky, you know? I almost won! Next time it will definitely work!
- Joe, how long have you been saying that? You have not won a single fight yet!
- I will win!
- While you are getting more and more into debt. Recovering your body is not a cheap thing to do.
- Look, I will definitely win. Two - three fights will cover all expenses!
- I don't know, I don't know...
- Don't you believe in me?
- I do believe...
- Well, then what?
- Did you hear about the meat grinder at the club yesterday?
- What a horror... Why are they doing this? People will be restored anyway!
- That's the thing, that's not it.
- What are you talking about?
- All the files on the killed are missing from the network, they can not be restored.
- How is this possible?
- Damn hackers. They hacked into one of the servers and stole all the information from there. There were thousands of profiles there. So you're lucky today that your profile was in place. Next time you don't have to download it...
- Oh, shit, what are you gonna do?
- Visit their headquarters and question Nina.
- Hmm... Where is your partner?
- Sick.
- Be careful there.
- I will try...
Bruce got on the subway. There was an evening show on the projector.
- What do you want to be? - The leading boy asked, but he didn't answer.
Then the man turned to the audience.
- If you became the happy owner of the child, you should not rush him to choose a future profession. After all, now it is not a limited resource at all...
- Mike, what's the most important advice you can give about kids? - interrupted the host.
- Oh, yes... Never have children... It's expensive, troublesome and useless.
The train shook a lot. People shouted when robots broke into the train from both sides. They grabbed people and handcuffed them to the handrails. Bruce dodged one robot and hit him in the head. But he could not cope with the other attackers. Grabbing Bruce by the neck, he fastened him to the handrail, just like the rest of the people.
The train slowed down so that the passengers almost flew to the other end of the carriage. Two more robots jumped in, knocking out the side windows.
- You have committed a crime and surrender to the authorities immediately! - were demanded by the newcomers.
- We don't obey robots that don't have the last update," the criminals replied.
The robots began to fight each other, turning the car into a pile of scrap metal in the process.
When the train stopped, it started moving again.
- I don't understand... - Bruce wasn't surprised that the train had started moving. He was surprised that the train had moved backwards, while at the same time rapidly gaining speed.
- Help, somebody! - Begged by a man wearing a seat belt in the corner.
It took the partners a few minutes to defeat the criminals. Having torn off the defeated enemy's sawing arm, the robot began to try to connect the contacts to it.
In the distance, the signal of the approaching train was heard. Everything became clear: someone decided to push the trains against each other.
- Don't panic, everything is under control," the robot tried to calm the passengers down.
Having picked up the necessary contacts, he turned on the electric saw, but it immediately stalled, and then broke out.
- Forgive me... - realizing that a collision is inevitable, the robot picked up a blade and hit Bruce's arm with all its might. A piece of meat flew away, after which Bruce fainted.
When he woke up, he saw Nina in front of him.
- Are you?
- I'm surprised no less than yours... How is your hand?
Instead of the usual brush, Bruce saw a mechanical hand in its place. Controlling it did not bring any discomfort, there were no barriers between him and his new hand.
- Surprisingly..." Bruce said with trembling.
- We didn't kill people at the club. We hacked into the server, which I won't deny. But we didn't delete profiles, we didn't need to.
- Then who? - Bruce asked.
- We've been spying on the network for a long time. On that server, we found dirt on both the network and your boss. He knew that once you got to us, you'd know the truth... And he couldn't let that happen. The "accident" in the subway had to solve the problem, but we intervened in time.
- What's the big deal that we could have done...
- Now you're gonna find out...