Six Digits

Prologue. The Academy of Demiurges

The Demiurge Academy is located between worlds, in space without time. Here, young people learn to create worlds, realise their responsibility, and understand the consequences of their actions. Demiurgs Sveta and Vitya, who are very young by local standards, study new things with interest.Zabava, their daughter, is taking her first steps in kindergarten, trying to learn about the world around her and playing in the sandbox filled with casts of worlds and souls. Even toddlers learn to understand the consequences of their actions because they are natural learners..

"May I have your attention?" the elderly teacher asked, carefully looking around the group. "Today, we will be discussing conjugate worlds." Who will remind us of the classification? Svetlana?"

"Yes, teacher," Svetka nodded, pondering for a moment. "The worlds are technological, magical, and conjugate, which means that magic and technology live in the same world."

„The main problem is the attitude of the gifted and the ungifted toward each other," says Vitya, completing his favourite's answer.

„Exactly," agreed the teacher. „The world in which the gifted suppress the non-gifted, we looked at in the last lesson."

„Br-r-r-r-r-r-r," Alice shudders, having just recently received an "adult" index of responsibility.

The teacher sighs, "Let's look at a world where the ungifted have defeated the gifted, traditionally called'magicians'." He doesn't like the extremes himself, but it is necessary to demonstrate them. "Please pay attention to the projection."

A large window unfolds before the students, looking young and even very young. The projection of the world is merely a representation of the world, traditionally employed by deities during the process of creation or inspection. The entities known as "gods" primarily manage the affairs, stability, and order in the created world. Svetka recalls this information automatically, without thinking about it. Meanwhile, from the projection, a quick, panting child's voice comes to the frozen young demiurge, and those present seem to plunge into another world...

* * *

"Hello, my name is Robert, and I am a non-human being." Occasionally, a freak like me is born into a normal family, only to have his parents take him away to the nursery. I've observed children in this situation, unable to comprehend the reason for their removal. Some break down; some rebel... It's pointless, because the overseers are not dormant and reward pain generously.

I had the misfortune of being born in a nursery and never had the opportunity to witness life beyond the Wall. They say it's a wonderful country, with no pain and always plenty of food and love. According to my ID, I hail from a Segal pack that has undergone over a century of crossbreeding with other species. We can make things that light up without electricity, protect against lasers, and so on. We're trained to do this from the age of eleven, if they don't take us away for experiments sooner. At the age of ten, I aspire to endure the training process. Then they will attach a unique collar to me and allow me to crossbreed and work.

I don't know much, but legends say that once upon a time we weren't freaks but lived apart from the humans, and they didn't even know about us. Then, a man named Blackbeard, I believe, chose to reveal himself to the humans, leading to our extinction. The kennels welcomed the fortunate ones who managed to survive. I long for a human birth, yet I've heard that Heitzels and centaurs reside on reservations, experiencing less frequent deaths and no torture at all.

Once upon a time, I had a friend named Tali who was a Kaal packmate, but they took her to the lab immediately after the surge. Sometimes, a person born into a pack without a surge is fortunate, as they could potentially find themselves in the overseers or even behind the wall. But Tali wasn't lucky... Now she's probably resting forever in the destroyer, where it's all over for her. I have a year to experience fear, and if I am fortunate, I will have seven years of schooling. Once we've completed our studies, we'll enter the workforce, eliminating the fear of the destroyer. The chosen few will even be cross-bred.