All this running has left me feeling a bit ill. After talking to Maria Kain I think I'll try to get some rest. I really don't think a family reunion would be too hard after all.
: Whatever happens to me now, you shouldn't be surprised. Just promise me that you will not doubt me...Bachelor: It appears that Aglaja is your relative? I did not know that.
Maria: Yes. She is a younger sister of my lovely mother. There is no-one who would hate my mother more than she does.
Bachelor: It seems like your mother had a lot of enemies. What did she do to deserve them?
Maria: What do you know about it? Have you even seen her, even once in your life?How can you judge her...
Bachelor: Come on, I did not mean to offend you... What is that, tears in your eyes?
Maria: I saw Aglaja last night. Right before the train arrived! I was sitting by myself and tried to think about my dear mother, and suddenly it was as if someone touched me. I turned to the window and suddenly saw her.
Bachelor: What did she do?
Maria: Pale as death, she stood close to the window, pressing her palm to the glass. And her face touched the glass too, just the tip of her nose. She looked straight at me, not blinking. She could not enter, but she wanted to, very much.
Bachelor: She wants to reconcile with you.
Maria: She hates me for my mother's magic. I know what she wants. To see if I am the same as my mother or not. Oh, she will not leave me alive! Right now, when it all begins, and my mother's force wakes up in me... She will feel it.
Bachelor: She says that she frightened you when you were children or something. I understand if you don't like her, but I think you could get over it if you would just give her a chance to talk to you.
Maria: No, I do not think so... You may think it's a whim, but I cannot doubt my premonitions now. Too many people may suffer from it. Let it be a prejudice, my imagination only, but I will not let her into the house. Not for anything!
Bachelor: But you seem to be prepared to leave the house yourself. Where are you going?
Maria: No! I'm not going anywhere. And even if I was, you can't forbid me!
Bachelor: You're not good at lying. Maybe I shall tell this to your father.
Maria: No, don't tell him. He cannot be disturbed now. Today is the day of memory. There's no need for you to go.
Bachelor: Maybe he'll know a way to calm you down.
:
The memory of a person grants him immortality of another kind. But how
soon people have forgotten Simon! He fades more and more every minute.Bachelor: Your daughter was going to leave her house and go out into the town. Do you know about her plans?
Victor: Yes, I know. I told her not to but she won't listen to me.
Bachelor: Can you imagine what's going on out there?
Victor: I don't need to imagine, doctor! It is enough to look out the window.
Bachelor: Do you know why she'd leave her house?
Victor: I think that she was going to meet the architect, Petr. She needed to ask him something about the Tower. Probably about the internal workings of some chamber. She's been troubled by it lately. It's connected with the memory of Simon, or rather the loss of it.
Bachelor: It's devilishly dangerous out in the streets. Why are you so indifferent?
Victor: The people say that Lilich has brought order to the streets in a rather draconian way. Is it true that the gallows was set up already, near the railway?
Bachelor: That reminds me, Aglaja Lilich asked for a meeting with Maria.
Victor: I do not think any good will come out of that. Aglaja has always been a malicious little girl... But I've never given up the hope that some people can change for the better. Every time I've met an old enemy after some time of separation, it was with impatience that I looked forward to our meeting.
Bachelor: You are just a magnanimous person, victor. Very much a visionary. Few people share your views.
If Maria is headed all the way across town, she probably left while I talked to Victor. But I can go back to the Inquisitor and tell her that she'll have a chance to meet her niece outside of her home, and won't have to intrude on her.
: Ask.Bachelor: Maria will soon be at Petr Stamatin, the architect I talked to you about earlier. If you want to see your niece, hurry up.
Aglaja: This is an invaluable service, Bachelor... I own you a debt of gratitude!
Bachelor: I will come by as soon as I can. I'm hoping for a scene of happy reconciliation.
Finally something is going just fine! I better hurry over to Petr studio.
: I will never forgive you for that! You brought her here, didn't you?Bachelor: I only wanted you two to make up for your past.
Maria: Oh, how naive you were... Did you really trust her? Tell me, did she hypnotize you or something? You could ruin all of us, if that hasn't happened already. Petr is unconscious. What will we do if he doesn't wake up?!
Bachelor: Did she attack him?
Maria: She does not need that. As soon as she entered the room she realized everything at once. Oh, what you have done! Now she knows about Petr. It is good that he lost consciousness, but we need to call for help right away.
Bachelor: Forgive me, I didn't mean for this to happen.
Maria: If you want to mitigate your fault, take her from here. Take her away! I cannot do it myself...
Bachelor: Ok, I'll do everything you want, just don't start crying. Oh my god...
I rushed up the stairs, expecting the worst.
What the, Aglaja seems to be quite calm. What happened here?
: And I'm just bringing the man of this house around. He started to tell me such interesting things.Bachelor: What things?
Aglaja: Certain things... about his creativity, basically. About how he breaks the laws of terrestrial matters, determined by nature. It seems I have met a real god-fighting person! It's curious. In our times such people rarely last long.
Bachelor: What's that sparkle in your eyes?
Aglaja: Nothing, I'm just thinking... About the destinies of people who start from such similar grounds. You know, recently so many bright talents have flashed and then died down. Almost all of them tried to break the laws of history, of nature and of morals. Always the same way.
Bachelor: Just what were you two talking about?
Aglaja: I asked him about his drawings, and he said: I do not know what this is, and I do not wish to know! He pushes it out of his memory. He stared at these walls as if he used to look through them before. So I did not come here in vain. He was just about to tell me about it, but then Maria came...
Bachelor: What happened?
Aglaja: Not much. Maria ran in, but as soon as she saw me here with him she ran out again in tears. Not much of a reunion. It's sad that everyone sees an enemy in me. I only wish them good.
Bachelor: I really hope so. I put my trust in you. You struggle for the sake of the truth, just like me.
Aglaja: Thank you. I hope I will not disappoint you.
Bachelor: And now you'd better leave. I'll take care of Petr.
Aglaja: Certainly. I find this person, Petr Stamatin, very nice! I think it's necessary that we protect him. In any case, thank you. You have done a great thing, although this may not be obvious at first sight. Let me thank you for your service. Is there anything you need?
Bachelor: I wrote to you in one of my reports about the White Vaccine. I was told that more was produced, and that you have a few samples of it.
: Ah, Daniel, so you have a brother too?Bachelor: You're seeing double. How are you feeling? Can you hear me? You're not in charge of the cremations anymore.
Petr: Oh, that is right, my friend! Take the mask away, I do not need it. Or maybe I shall mix ink in it.
Bachelor: Tell me what happened here.
Petr: I had a vision, my friend. When I learned about Saburov's intrigues and realized that death was knocking at my door, I wanted to satisfy my thirst one last time, so that I wouldn't have to face my death while sober.
Bachelor: You don't have to worry about that anymore. The Inquisitor has promised your protection from Saburov.
Petr: Yes. I was notified of that. I'm ashamed to say I thought it was a sign. I see signs in everything these days, man. So I thought: No, I have buried myself too early. I have not performed all my missions in this world. I was relieved and happy.
Bachelor: So you drank even more?
Petr: And again I drank. How could I not? But this time with a purpose. You see, on the bottom of the glass I started to see clearly the image of my future creation. Have you seen the tower on the other side of the river bank, the one that overcomes the law of gravitation, the one able to capture dreams?
Bachelor: Yes.
Petr: Soon I shall erect a new one, greatly surpassing this one. Twyrine pitch has taught me to see our three ordinary dimensions differently. It turns the mind inside out, and changes everything. Do you understand me?
Bachelor: I do not understand it at all.
Petr: But that is unimportant! When in my head I had the complete image, calculations, drawings, everything, I raised my eyes and saw the punishing angel standing in my room. Her sight burned through me and her smile turned my dreams into nothing.
Bachelor: It seems like you found a lot of things at the bottom of that glass.
Petr: She said: I know who you are, Petr. On this stone you have erected what should not be. And she leaned over me, opened her blood red lips, and I just knew that her kiss would forever banish my dream from me. In fact, this was an angel of disbelief. A tempting demon of doubts.
Bachelor: Tell me exactly what happened.
Petr: I heard a familiar voice from the door. Maria came in and fought with the demon! They tore at each others throats and lashed out with their nails... Here my consciousness left me.
Bachelor: What did she look like, this angel?
Petr: She looked like Nina used to do, filled with the light of a terrible force. These closed walls did not prevent me from seeing that above her real body there was a shining silhouette, with the head touching the sky. She... Oh, there she is! Look, she is still here! She devours my drawings, licks off one line after another!
Bachelor: Petr. Petr! Wake up! What's wrong with you? Damn it, he's just raving madly...
: Was this really designed and created by the will of a human being? Of this drunk, poor and so vulnerable man?Bachelor: I advise you to get acquainted with his twin brother if you want the whole picture. Let's leave this place.
Maria has left already. I can't understand her. She's acting like a kid. I honestly can't tell why she has anything to worry about. Aglaja wouldn't do anything to hurt Petr.
What does she want from him anyway? Why is she so interested in that absurd tower? It's only a piece of art, isn't it? She's talking like Simon's ghost is alive in there or something.
I have a feeling I've messed up any chance I have of getting Maria and Aglaja to reconcile, but I'm not sure if I should feel guilty about it or not.
Summary: We received the mask, but Maria seems to have gotten into a big fight with her relative Aglaja. No one has gotten hurt, but Petr seems to have been thrown off from his dreams of defying reality and building a bigger tower. But why is the tower so important?
We'll take a big rest before the next update, to get that infection meter down a bit, then we'll see how we can deal with the traitor agent.
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