novelxo Chapter FATE. PART FIVE.
"It's unreal!"
"It's unreal, but we all play our part here. But this house and everything around it has been made for people like us, for those who just want comfort and peace of mind."
Going further into the house, I just could not contain my emotions. There was everything here that made me realize that all this time, I really lived in the wrong era.
The house had a small sofa and two chairs on which lay the most ordinary plaid. In the middle of the room was a fireplace, at the top of which hung a picture of mountains and forests.
"Feel at home. I know you want to see the second floor," Higgdalph said and smiled slyly.
Without saying anything, I went up the stairs. The soft carpet underneath my feet felt just fine.
On the second floor of this small house with the simplest brick walls, there were two rooms. And each of the rooms was not large, but nevertheless, very cozy.
A small bed, a small wooden table by the window, a table lamp, all this was enough to make my heart of a true historian beat in a fast rhythm and make me experience the saddest emotions. After all, looking at all this, I suddenly began to feel nostalgic about the times when I was not even there.
The second room was something like a study and a library. There were not so many books, but still, the most necessary and rare were on these slightly dusty, old shelves.
With some fatigue falling down to the chair, Higgdalph took off his jacket and casually threw it on the chair opposite.
"Sometimes, I come here and live here for a few days. Here, I feel so calm and feel good. And I don't want to go back to that strange world."
"What do you do besides studying history?"
"Let's just say I'm part of an organization that creates robots."
"I thought you were just living like everyone else."
"You were going to say by not doing anything?! Well, in a way, it's true. Now, rather than in the past, people do not need to work or do anything. Tell me, have you heard of an organization called Alpha and Brothers?"
"Alpha and Brothers?"
"Yes. You haven't heard of them. No one really knows much about them. Because this organization doesn't belong to SCIBMAG as the Friendly Robot Lab. Alpha and Brothers, it's probably a separate laboratory that develops robots that are made for gaming."
"For games?"
"Yes. You know that this is a century where a person needs to be able to have fun," Higgdalph said, and suddenly fell silent.
"So, you're working on creating combat robots?"
"Yes," he said.
Laughing, Higgdalph went up to me and put his hand on my shoulder and said, "You don't like it, but that's the modern world."
"This is your life. If you like to build combat robots, it's none of my business."
He smiled and came closer to me, whispering, "I would like to hear your opinion about my life. People have become so indifferent that I want to hear the other person's thoughts so much."
Standing so close to him, and besides, being much lower than he was, I felt some discomfort that made me step aside.
Looking at the books, I said, "I don't like everything that people care about. I don't understand what's good about when people going at breakneck speed to meet dangers, I don't understand why people want to watch two robots fight, and I don't understand why a person does anything to feel mortal again. Where is the mind?"
"I'm going to cry," Higgdalph suddenly said, and hugged me sharply. "You wouldn't believe it, but I haven't heard anyone else's opinion in so long. People have become so similar, they are not interested in anything, and in general, sometimes, I think that they have forgotten how to think. But you, Oki, you're just beautiful."
Surprised, I was just silent, while an exact copy of Tesla continued to hug me tightly.
"I'm sorry, it must be strange on my part. We hardly know each other. But you know, I'd like to be your friend. I'd like to know everything about you. Can I be your best friend?"
"Of course. Me too, I want to be your friend."
Smiling happily, Higgdalph, an exact copy of Tesla, once again embraced me and this day turned into a pleasant series of moments of simple tea drinking and reading books.