False kings and jealous gods

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

How do you live so gracefully? 

And would you show me 

How can I save the child in me 

A world a child would see 

How do you fall so gracefully? 

(Poets of the fall - The child in me)

Sybil cursed loudly and juicy (in Rhatian, of course; she never besmeared her native language by curses), trying with one hand to get to her safety rope, which was hidden in her left boot, while another hand was struggling to keep to an uncomfortable edge of the balcony. Balancing like this, when you bangle at a height of a three hundred-storied house, is a doubtful pleasure.

During her short but turbulent life Sybil had overcome through many trials, but today fortune wasn't on her side obviously. There are such unlucky days, when all the circumstances are against you so, that whatever you do, it only gets worse. Although at first this day seemed to be perfect: a faerie show of the public execution of several "enemies of the empire", hic est rebels, fighting against the regime of an usurper Rhatie the Eighth, had to attract all the rich Narama citizens to the main square. They had truly left their luxurious appartments on the higher levels of the city and went there, but Sybil almost forgot about multiple cunning traps set for such uninvited guests like she was. One of these traps met her with a strong electric shock, when the girl had just stepped on this balcony. Luckily Sybil was quick enough to move aside and she got a light hit only, but still she fell down and all her carefully thought-out plan was almost ruined...

However, she had finally managed to get the rope off her boot and, having activated a hook, she threw it over the balcony railing. Having chinned with her strong arms, the girl skillfully jumped higher and avoiding another steel trap disguised as an innocent flower pot with a rather beautiful flower (jacinth from Valaak?), she turned out to be next to the transparent plastic door. She had a lot of her own smart devices, one of which needed just two seconds to find out the code for the door to slide away.

- Home, sweet home, - Sybil muttered, carefully stepping inside. In her hand she held a scanner to indentify another traps, but obviously there wasn't anything else. He was strange, that minister, if he didn't care much about his dwelling safety. If she had lived in such an awesome apartment, Sybil would put at least a killer-droid on each entrance...

Finding herself inside, she hardly kept a shout of admiration. Here it goes, wealth! When natives on the lower levels sleep next to rats and every day fight for each piece of bread, rhatians fatten. Everything in this apartment was transparent and gold. In the kitchen in a golden vase there lay such fruit Sybil didn't even know the names of. She couldn't help but to take one of them - it was a round red sphere, so flavorous, that her mouth watered at once. It was against her rules, because she never took anything she hadn't come for, but this time temptation was way too strong and Sybil put this fruit under her cloths and forgot about it immediately.

In the opposite corner of the room, just like the customer had told her, Sybil found a transparent table with a built-in computer. Having come closer, she immediately plugged in. Having put an earpiece in her ear, she turned sound on.

- I'm here, - she said quietly. - Transmitting you the data.

When it was finished, the girl copied the data onto her own storage device (she used to do it always, providing her own insurance, and as it turned out, she did the right thing) and she suddenly heard voices. It seemed, that the owners of the apartment came back earlier for some reason, but she had hoped to leave through the door! She had to go to the balcony again.