Forward to Marvel Cinematic Universe

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The problem of project funding has been successfully resolved. With the help of the Ministry of Defence, the re-equipment of Uralmash and UZGA was completed, and the result was a significant increase in the efficiency of the enterprises. They were supplied with equipment totalling four hundred million killed raccoons, and in return I received about two hundred million in advance payment. With pennies. The rest - it was too early, but I was in no hurry, they were used to doing everything slowly, while they were rocking, while they were loosening up, while the workers were figuring out what was where... The main thing was that the technological efficiency of tank production was significantly increased, and this in turn significantly increased the tank building capabilities to produce modern vehicles. The cost of production was reduced by five per cent, and the manual labour involved in its creation was almost halved. The assembly of all equipment was done by robots, and the assembly of vehicles by robots. Men with machine tools were replaced by lathe centres with full software control, operated by robots as well - workpieces were installed and finished parts were taken out by manipulators, chips were removed and attachments were changed by mobile robots. The entire transmission and gearbox were made on site.

Reconnecting Uralmash to my electricity reduced the cost of producing heavy machinery by twenty-four per cent, compared to last year's price. At the same time, the re-equipped Sverdlovsk Tool Factory produced CNC turning centres, as well as equipment for electric induction hardening, working heads for manipulators and lathes; the Electronic Factory produced automation for production lines - conveyors, control and monitoring equipment, sensors and controllers, and assembled computer access terminals. All this - to create their own factories, so to speak - the main production capacity.

The whole process was sorted out in detail by the Director, who put the plans into reality, and I only watched how they were carried out. On the tenth of March I went to the presentation of my new plant for the production of industrial robots of the brand "Uralbot". The Uralbots were rather crude but efficient industrial robots that were made from purchased and converted factories, at a rate much higher than the production of the Abstergo industrial robots. Yes and technically they were different - less advanced, far less expensive and less efficient. However, they were much simpler to maintain and were adapted "for the proletariat", i.e. any more or less educated citizen could understand the principles of their work. The most complex Uralbot was an industrial manipulator placed on a wheeled platform - this one could move freely around the workshop, only it needed markers and stickers and programming of the workshop plan. Built-in software allowed it to find its own workplace and recognise machines, equipment, products, people and foreign objects.

The launch of the Uralbot brand was a success. The presentation was closed - only the heads of large enterprises in Ekaterinburg and the Urals in general were invited. Nizhny Tagil, Chelyabinsk. I conducted the presentation.

I came out in front of the audience - two dozen people, in business suits, apparently, they had primarafeted themselves before visiting the bohemian party. It was just the way it was - one of the halls housed the first large batch of my robots. They were engaged in small work, next to them stood "Bogatyr", the same one intended for metallurgists. Manipulator, carrying capacity of forty tonnes, which used a scheme with a rigid mechanical transmission - the central motor was located at the base, it was a traction motor from a freight electric locomotive, smaller motors - in each axis, they, through gears, provided movement on the axes. Usually such powerful robots are made hydraulic, but I didn't want to mess with hydraulics. The others were either belt-driven or pneumatic. Cheap and surly, although the level of pneumatic drive did not allow positioning the working organ as accurately as mechanics... At the presentation, of course, there were people from the Ministry of Defence - heads of military-industrial complex enterprises. In general, they were intelligent people, but recently the head of Uralmash had been shot dead - he was taking bribes, stealing black, and I didn't want to do business with such a "partner". So Bersi cleaned him up, in a general way. The new one was younger and much more honest.

- Gentlemen! - I approached the small podium, - since the presentation is closed, I will not speak traditional advertising phrases, we will speak for your money, not my own. Almost a year ago I received an order, personally from the Minister of Defence. The order was simple - to develop a simple and effective, and most importantly - cheap industrial robot for the military-industrial complex. The essence of the job was that the robot should be simple, reliable, versatile and efficient. The industrial robots available in Abstergo-Robo's product range were not suitable for one simple reason - they are much stronger, faster and more accurate than similar units from the world's leading brands. And significantly more expensive, which is important - Russia is certainly trying to keep up with the latest factory trends, but the issue of price is acute. The experience of my enterprises has shown that widespread robotisation brings tangible financial benefits, but the investment will not be returned immediately. That is why I started to develop a cheaper industrial manipulator. The result was a whole line of industrial robots similar in technical solutions. I called this line "Uralbot". Its essence is simple - it is a cheap, simple, reliable robot, more similar to a military machine than to capricious factory equipment. The size and characteristics of the Uralbots are very different - the smallest is designed to replace manual labour and has a lifting capacity of up to thirty kilograms. The smallest has only three axles and power - half a kilowatt. The largest is four hundred and fifty kilowatts. This robot with the code name "Bogatyr" has the size of a small crane and is able to easily manipulate loads up to forty tonnes, can work in difficult climatic conditions - in the cold to minus fifty and in the heat up to plus four hundred and eighty five degrees.

- Why such difficulties? - asked one of the invitees.

- It is designed for versatile work, including in conditions that are fundamentally inaccessible to humans. This allows us to significantly save on safety equipment and expand the area of its application. For example, in metallurgical production it can work directly with molten metal, as the air temperature above it is within its working temperature. Or in the cold - to do complex loading work, just one robot at a freight station can load containers or other products on railway wagons, the risk of injury among workers is reduced, labour is much easier....

- We understand that, a cargo terminal with a robot is not a new idea, - said Viktor Ilyaminov, the director of ChTZ, - you'd better tell us, how much does this miracle of technology cost?

- "Bogatyr" costs seventy-five thousand dollars. There are no similar robots on the market, so there is nothing to compare it with, but there are heavy manipulators from Kuki - tonne load capacity. Similar in the number of axles and load capacity Uralbots cost ten thousand dollars, that is five times cheaper.

- And what's the point? - he asked, - I understand that the components are domestic....

- Yes, actually, there's nothing funny about it, - I shrugged my shoulders, - Uralbots were originally created as mass machines for the military-industrial complex, to work in dirty shops and inhuman conditions. Why my competitors' robots cost more - they have complex hardware, much more complex than my Uralbots. Yes, the Uralbots are not typical representatives of the robot family - they are rather an alternative branch of industrial automata development. Over time, robots evolved mainly along the lines of complicating the matrix, software and hardware, increasing speed and accuracy. I prioritised practical efficiency, price and quality of work.

- So their accuracy is lower than that of ordinary industrial robots? - he persisted.

- No, the accuracy is the same. Not everything that is cheaper is worse. Just think of the Kalashnikov assault rifle. Mass-produced, inexpensive, reliable, and without any distinguishing flaws. Uralbot was created according to a similar philosophy.

The question of money arose. It was raised by the director of Chelyabinsk Metallurgical:

- OK, let's say we are interested in your products. What do you have to offer us and at what price?

- I can offer you robots both individually and as a package. Individually - the price is indicated on the price tags, in general - I have fulfilled Comrade Zotov's order, namely, I have reduced the price tag five times compared to world analogues, and localised production. Comprehensive robotisation is a set of measures to analyse production capacities, desired results and robotisation. It is carried out by Abstergo-Robo employees. So far, the results of robotisation of production facilities have been more than impressive - certain types of goods, like electric locomotives or my smartphones, are produced with the maximum participation of robots...

* * *

I had to drive a string of cars to my transport company to show people how Abstergo Transport works. They didn't believe me the first time, so I had to reassure them. After the entrance hall, we drove into the hangars of the workshops. The locomotive construction company had scattered its production facilities all over Yekaterinburg, components were already arriving here, but there were about a thousand industrial robots working on site. Not Uralbots, but ordinary Abstergo-branded ones. They worked quickly - they were casting blanks in the foundry, making mechanical parts... I led a string of Urals industrialists around the enterprise. The enterprise was surprisingly clean for these parts - as if the president visits every day with an inspection. Cleanliness, whiteness, and the steady hum of robots.

We took some time to see how the locomotive mechanics production works. The shop is large, lots of robots, several conveyor belts, two dozen CNC turning centres, and three maintenance staff - a sysadmin-programmer, a turner and a fitter. All three were playing cards before we arrived. However, the QC was also automated, so they should only intervene if the intermediate QC station screams about defects or something out of the ordinary happens. The robot kingdom I saw, and especially the three people playing a fool's game and the gears, shafts and machine parts constantly coming off the conveyor belt, impressed my guests to the core. Some preferred to pretend that they did not see anything unusual, others, on the contrary, were openly surprised:

- What are your workers doing?

The workers noticed us and the cards disappeared from the table. They sensed something wrong, they don't usually come here in such delegations. They jumped up from their seats.

- Sit down, - I waved my hand, - were there any problems?

- No! - the turner replied immediately, - nothing unusual.

- Well, then play on. I'm showing my colleagues our production....

However, my colleagues decided to look further. We visited the foundry, which also had six people and two dozen robots. At the end we went to the assembly shop. The locomotives, already ordered by the French and Americans, were being made there. The locomotives stood on wheeled platforms, with dozens of robots hanging from the top, assembling the equipment. Welding, bolting, scanning and fusing individual parts. There was no hull on the locomotive - it was a large platform, like a cargo platform, on which the units were standing side by side, covered with covers and not yet covered.

- This is a French order, - I explained, - the Americans have already bought a dozen similar locomotives, but the French have been hesitating for a long time....

- What about our railways? - One of the group immediately asked.

- Ours take longer than the French. The car is prestigious, expensive. It is fifteen per cent more powerful than the basic locomotive, plus the cabin looks more like a Porsche or a Rolls-Royce. Veneer, steel, genuine leather, indicators on the windscreen and seats for personnel, like in the business class of airliners... It is unusual for our officials to buy such comfortable locomotives for some proletariat. The Americans were the quickest to react, their railway companies ordered a dozen, and it has already been shipped.

- And how much has the cost increased?

- From two hundred to five hundred million rubles, - I shrugged my shoulders, - this is the price of less noisy and more tractive engines, now the locomotive has almost five times longer service life and much higher quality. It was after the disassembly that the Americans and the French signed contracts, before that they looked at it as just another miscarriage of the Russian industry, where you have to enter in pickle shoes and repair it eight times a week....

They were offended, but they kept silent. That's okay, I'm uncompromising.

* * *

UAV - how much in this sound for the Russian heart has merged, how little it has echoed... this is how we can call the results of the first experiments with unmanned aerial vehicles. The subject, it would seem, is fertile - there is an industry, and the need, and the ability to produce UAVs in small series. But at the same time no one was interested in it. The Ministry of Defence looked at drones as useless radio-controlled toys.

That's why I took offence. First of all, I went back to the base and sat in the garage, building my wunderwaffle. The glider was based on radio-absorbing material. The engine was electric, battery-powered. Maximum capacity energy cell and propeller with variable pitch, blade length of about half a metre. The propeller didn't make much noise, neither did the electric motor, no noise, no heat, no other radiation. The simple adaptive camouflage made it difficult to find the object in the sky. After a series of experiments in the skies over Africa, I changed the concept - instead of one propeller I put two turbines on the wings. Convertoplane - could fly both helicopter and aeroplane. Six quarter-ton bombs could be placed under the wing. It was undesirable to take off vertically with a bomb load. Six correctable bombs - the main weapon, secondary - air-to-surface missiles with multi-level guidance system - heat, sound, television, and by laser beam from a drone or other corrector.

The UAV was similar to a motor glider, poorly manoeuvred and lacked sufficient strength, but due to the ammunition stowed in the fuselage, electric motors that do not lose power at high altitudes and do not require oxygen, capable of high speed turbines on magnetic bearings, it could take off at great heights - up to forty to fifty kilometres. Beyond that, the air is too thin and thrust drops dramatically. At such an altitude, being virtually undetectable by modern radars, it poses a special threat. Especially with concrete-piercing bombs, which can accelerate to high speeds in a steep drop.

The UAV was named the Altair. I continued to work on it, and even ordered individual parts to my enterprises. The optical-mechanical plant had to be equipped with a line for the production of thermal imagers and cameras with graphene optics.

However, this ultra-high altitude strike and reconnaissance UAV could not provide operational support on the battlefield. And we will probably have to fight - the Americans are back in Iraq. If we put aside all the media hype, it turns out that they are systematically and purposefully destroying any leaders capable of stopping the chaos. And they want a terrorist organisation to grow on the basis of general violence, which will control the entire Middle East. They need a clear and visible enemy. First Saddam Hussein, the old Iraqi leader, fell, then the extermination of all the major leaders of the Arab world began. One by one - Yasser Arafat poisoned, Egypt's Mursik killed, Iran's Sheikh hiding but out of business... And I foresee that soon the Americans will get their way. The Middle East will be taken over by wild fanatics who can be simply exterminated, at the same time taking the whole region under themselves.

Since I have plans to destroy the oil economy, it is even good that the Americans are spending so much effort to control the desert. Except that besides the geostrategic scale, there's a regional-tactical scale. And the regional-tactical scale tells me the following - oil was extracted in Russia throughout the 90s, and the money for it did not enter the country. In fact, the constitution and laws of Russia were written in the U.S. State Department, with Western money. Constitutional reform is one of the main requirements of the USA at subjugation of the country. In the nineties Russia was subjugated and looted. The nuclear heart of the country - five hundred tonnes of highly enriched uranium - was sold for five billion dollars to America, although the real value of this uranium is five trillion. In the entire history of the United States, they have synthesised only six hundred tonnes of such uranium. Ivanov, the president at the time, was a drunk, without outside support he was a nobody. And of course he authorised the deal, otherwise he couldn't, he would have been destroyed, and the State Department had several candidates to replace him. But comrade Lazarev beat them all. That's what he did, and he snatched Russian oil from the clutches of transnational corporations, and the money that had been simply siphoned out of the country by the so-called "Western" world flowed into the country. As a result, Russia began to get rid of the debts Ivanov had accumulated, and to increase its gold reserve. And that was three years ago, while oil is expensive. And the more expensive it is, the more revenue Russia and other oil producing and exporting countries get. The country has only just recovered and started to recover from the humiliation and robbery of the nineties, if you throw in thermonuclear energy now - it will undermine the basis of the country's revival. It is necessary to play on the reverse side, i.e. to increase the price of oil. Increase it as much as possible, and ensure the highest price and the most adequate spending of petrodollars. Investments in industry.

Having come to this conclusion, I decided that it was time to get my own strike force. But personally, I had to have a serious talk with the president, otherwise we will fuck up all the polymers. At the same time as I started designing military equipment, I began to ask for an audience with the tsar. Through the Minister of Defence.

On the morning of the twenty-second of March, two thousand sixth year, I got the news, I got a phone call from Zotov.

- Hyarty?

- Yes, Comrade Minister? - I answered immediately.

- How is our project progressing? I've already had a couple of calls from UVZ, talking about some "Uralbots" ...

- A budget version of an industrial robot," I dismissed it, "specifically for the needs of the military-industrial complex. Five times cheaper than the usual one, as promised. Although it will be simpler.

- That's great. You kept your promise. Our financiers have already calculated the cost of robotisation of some enterprises and are ready to place an order...

- I'd rather have my experts do the estimates. Firstly, they are well versed in robotisation, and secondly, my organisation has a very strict attitude to even petty bribery. I bet my estimate will be smaller.

The minister chuckled:

- All right, all right, I'll let your people go. Whatever factory you want. I had a chance to talk to the president yesterday. I hinted to him that you'd like a one-on-one. I hope you won't present your projects to him too?

- It depends on which way you look at it," I muttered, "I wanted to talk about geopolitical problems. And about our co-operation in solving these problems, after all, I am not the last person in the country. If I'm not mistaken, my enterprises are now valued at twenty-five billion dollars.

The Minister was silent for a while. Then he answered:

- I understand that you also want to talk about the military side of the issue?

- And the military side, too. So far I have not produced weapons in my factories. You know, Abstergo is a quality mark in itself, I am not fond of budget equipment....

- However, I have done it for the military-industrial complex, - said the Minister.

- Because you needed it. You really needed it. Plus, my robots are the cheapest in the world, which is important.

- He's coming to the Ministry of Defence tomorrow. I told him you wanted to meet him, he said, "Let him come." Can you make it?

- Sure. Time? - I looked at the clock in my bedroom. Then at the wide panoramic window - it gave a good view of the land. The moon made it look so small, somewhere out there in the sky.

- Noon. Don't be late. One more thing - you'd better bring something he's bound to be interested in.

The minister switched off. I sat on the bed and thought. Grabbing something he'd be interested in... That was quite a number. I had to capture something that he would definitely be interested in... would definitely be interested in.....

* * *

What would interest the president? A tank, of course. I started working on a concept tank. I had to do it in 24 hours - until eleven o'clock tomorrow. And the Director - began to coordinate everything in the traffic police. He had a staff of lawyers working for him, to whom he gave tasks online, via SMS and calls.

He ran out to the garage:

- Bersey, we're making a tank!

- Oh, my God. Don't screw this up!

- Don't worry," I reassured him, "I've been thinking about building a tank for a week now. Ever since I met the director of UVZ. Scour all the tank projects in the galaxy, see what would be well received here. With similar specifications.

Bersih gave me six interesting tank designs. The first was a Kree tank, the second a Zonama tank, the third a Xandar tank, and three others from lesser-known civilisations. Kria tanks were built on a four-track scheme, that is, they had four independent of each other caterpillars, if you lose one of them, the tank could continue to move on the remaining ones. But due to the massiveness of the caterpillar mechanism they did not have an uninhabited turret, and this did not allow to ensure survivability.

As a result, I chose the Zonamov tank project, deciding to creatively "rethink" it. Firstly, the tank is small. The armour is big and strong, but the tank itself is rather narrow. This is achieved due to the uninhabited turret - the crew sits in the front of the tank, in a separate armoured capsule. The turret had a rather efficient automatic loader - up to twelve shots per minute, i.e. it could fire every five seconds. Secondary armament - two machine guns, paired with a KPVT gun and anti-aircraft PKT on the turret. The tank is narrow, its nose is like that of the IS-3 - "pike", i.e. an angle designed to break through walls. The weight is thirty-five tonnes. The tank engine is gas-turbine, one and a half thousand horses. At such a weight, caused not by weak armour, but by compact dimensions of the tank itself. The cannon, on the contrary, is a powerful 152-mm smoothbore. A reserve of thirty shells is quite enough for intensive combat.

The assembly of the tank began immediately, I was working in the smelter - I made castings with the help of the Force. AFAR radar had to be taken from the drone, slightly modified. The automatic loader was technically unified with the Uralbots. Protection against EMP was provided by a protective layer inside the armour, plus a rather expensive but technically simple protection against shaped charge shells - diamond armour sections. Diamond is the hardest substance on earth. The shaped charge protection sections are diamond plates of three centimetre thickness fused into the armour. When hit by a shaped charge, the diamond plate is destroyed, but there is no penetrating effect - the destruction of the diamond absorbs a lot of energy due to the distribution of energy in the crystal lattice. That is why diamond armour is not strong, fragile, but it protects better from one penetrating blow than any earth metal. The synthesis of book-sized diamond plates has been established on the LK. The crystal furnace is a fairly simple device. Loaded half a tonne of coal into it, and back came out neat shiny plates of grown diamonds, absolutely transparent. The graphene layer increased the armour's tensile strength, spreading the impact over a larger area. These same graphene honeycombs also acted to absorb the impact of anti-tank weapons. Classic BOPSs and steel armour booms didn't stand a chance at all. The armoured capsule balanced the heavy engine in the stern with its weight - the capsule armour was another layer, the same as the outer one. The tank turned out to be narrow - the width was within the maximum value according to the traffic police rules. This made the registration process easier - in particular, the tank could be driven around the city without additional escort, as it was in the category of tracked vehicles designed for driving on asphalt pavement - that is, with smooth tracks and acceptable weight - up to forty tonnes.

I'll say nothing about the external systems - a computer, radar, four cameras, a laser pulse rangefinder and a radio station... all rather modest for such a machine. But most importantly, the vehicle could be landed from an aeroplane. That is, in terms of weight and dimensions, it was well within the transport capabilities of the army's main cargo carrier, the IL-76. Although the aircraft could drop only one tank, but still, not a BMP, but a real tank with a large and heavy gun, strong armour....

By evening the fever had gone. But we still hadn't got a licence from the traffic police - bureaucracy. Permission for this, for that, compliance with this and that norms, in general, real nonsense. The pinnacle of nonsense was the requirement to comply with traffic safety conditions. So that a passing Zaporozhets would not crush my tank. I spit on it all and decided to go this way. It will be possible to give a bribe to traffic policemen, if necessary, and to clean up the video from surveillance cameras.

* * *

Ten o'clock in the morning. The tank, making engine noise, left the cargo bay of the aerospider. Chicos! We were in the undergrowth by the road. I stepped aside - Ares was in control for now. There were scout UAVs circling above us, assessing the tank's route and the iskine knew where the traffic was now. There was traffic.

I, in a tank uniform, without insignia, climbed through the hatch to the mech-driver's seat. It was cosy here - the seat was anatomical, the fit was quite tight, like in a sports car. In front of me - two joysticks, which imitate torsion levers. Of course, the tank was controlled by electronics, but the principle was based on minimal reaction time. Joysticks forwards - the tank goes forwards, joysticks backwards - it goes backwards. The difference between the joysticks is the difference in the speed of rotation of the tracks. A sharp jerk of the joystick - the caterpillar will stall and the tank will go sharply into a turn, up to overturn. Right in front of me - three displays.

I put on my virtual presence goggles. Blinked and in front of me appeared quite clear picture, as if I poked my head out of the tank. The camera was mounted in a gyroscopic ball, there were four of them - two front, one rear and one on top that could extend high up. Periscopic. At once the numbers flashed in front of my eyes - "Fuel 95%", "Status 100%", "Speed 0 km/h", "BC:30\500\500", "Motor life: 100%", "Track life: 100%".

I removed all this interface, leaving only the speed and quietly gave the levers forward. They acted on the principle of a computer mouse - slowly moving - more accurate positioning, quickly moving - faster going. The automatic box shifted me to second gear and the engine slowly started to accelerate.

The exit to the road was a little west of Moscow, from some secondary road. There were no problems - the tank easily entered the road, I took a place behind some parkette. Everyone was staring at me. It's good to drive a tank in Russia! And not a single policeman stopped me - the tank drove quite neatly along one lane of the road without hitting other cars. I don't know what they thought, but nobody stopped me. I left the highway and steeply entered the corner, taking a course on the Ministry of Defence. Eleven o'clock. For an hour I drove, enjoying myself. The tank drove very confidently, thanks to the feedback on the joysticks you could feel how all its mechanisms were moving - how finely the engine was vibrating, how tightly the caterpillars were gaining speed. It was very, very, very helpful when driving. The virtual goggles helped even more - I swivelled my head around and switched to the overhead camera when I hit a stream. It's a slightly strange sensation to sort of sit there, but at the same time your eyes can see you driving through the streets. It was like a game I used to play when I was a kid... it wasn't here, and I'd long since forgotten the name. But there you could also drive a car, switching to a first-person view, from the bonnet of the car.

I accelerated up to ninety kilometres on the Moscow Ring Road - the tank gained speed with difficulty. Acceleration to a hundred - thirty-eight seconds, quite a lot. The seat allows to feel almost no vibration of the car. At first, even a little nausea from the disynchronisation between reality and virtuality, but very quickly everything came back to normal - adapted. As a person can adapt to a video game, perceiving the virtual world, as if he understands that it is virtuality, but still there is a twinge in his stomach when suddenly a bullet hits his head or a virtual character falls from a great height.

Last turn... Ministry of Defence. There it is. I took off my glasses, glancing at the monitors and peered out of the hatch, stopping at the gatehouse. The air of Moscow was dirty, smelling of petrol, especially in spring. The snow had already melted in some places, and it was chilly.

- Hey, guys, open up.

Two soldiers with machine guns came forward.

- Who the fuck is this? What the fuck is going on here? - he came closer, looking at the tank, - what the fuck is this? Give me your name quick!

- I'm Hyarty. Hjarti Nicholson, have you heard? Zotov invited me. He said the supreme leader's coming today, asked me to bring something for the demonstration. Well, here's a tank. So you'll let me through?

- Are you crazy? - shouted the guard, - what tank? We're in the city.

- Look how narrow it is. I haven't even been stopped once by a traffic cop. Anyway, soldier, call the minister, tell him Hjarti's here.

- Yeah, I'll be right there.

- Bersi, - I turned to my iskin, - call Zotov, tell him that I'm at the outer gate, the guard won't let me through.

- I'm on it. Just a second...

While a soldier with a machine gun behind his back was bypassing the tank, another soldier came out of the booth and the barrier was immediately raised. The minister must have reacted quickly. I jokingly bowed to him and slipped back into the tank, the hatch closed behind me.

I had to switch on the external camera - otherwise I wouldn't have been able to park without suppressing all that jostling of limousines and security cars. The tank caused an unhealthy stir as I pulled up to the main gate. As I climbed out, I pressed the key fob. The alarm beeped, as it should. The result was a dazed look on the faces of the two soldiers who came out of the gatehouse.

Once inside, I handed my passport to the reception - the soldier behind the armoured glass accepted the document and registered me. And a parking space too, saluted, for some reason. I automatically repeated his gesture, luckily I had a tank helmet on my head.

* * *

Meanwhile, from the minister's office, through the armoured glass, the Minister of Defence was watching this performance. The president also came over and looked at the tank under the windows.

- You said he was eccentric?

- I did. But the tank... it's something new.

- It's the first time I've seen such a tank, - nodded an elderly, authoritative-looking man in a business suit and with a short lock of grey hair, - do you recognise the design?

- No," the minister shook his head, "judging by the size of the turret, it's uninhabited. Judging by the thickness of the cannon - about one hundred and fifty millimetres, judging by the width - there are two seats in the front part. A driver and a gun operator.

- It's a little small, - the president twitched his cheek, - it's not serious. Do you think he'll offer to buy it for us?

- Fuck knows, - sighed the Minister of Defence, - he offers to buy everything. Have you familiarised yourself with his watch?

Instead of answering, the President put out his hand, on which there was a watch with a silver case and a navigator's hand:

- It's ingenious and simple. Sometimes you get so lost at a reception or a facility that it's not customary to ask for directions, and it's not customary to look for the navigator.

- That's true. But the tank... I think he'll try to sell it to us.

- You're wrong," interrupted a voice from the doorway.

Hjarti entered the office, bypassing the secretary, who had not had time to report. In his hands was a tanker's helmet, which he placed on the edge of the desk. Hyarty listed:

- Armour with five thousand layers of graphene to dissipate impact energy, diamond plates that completely absorb the shaped charge, half a kilo of osmium, iridium and ruthenium in the friction nodes, plus electronics on the level of a modern fighter jet, an engine of one and a half thousand horses, a full virtual reality system that synchronises the turn of the head and any of the four external view cameras, external defence with anti-missiles in all directions, plus two machine guns - a KPVT paired with a six-inch cannon firing twelve rounds per minute, an external surveillance system with four AFAR radars, ultra-high resolution cameras, and a fully-automated UAS that follows the target and selects the appropriate type of projectile....

Those present did not interrupt him. The President listened, however, sadly exhaled:

- The price, as I understand, is higher than that of the Abrams?

- Two hundred times more. About two billion euros. Half the cost is anti-shock diamond plates, which are very difficult to synthesise. I'm working on making the technology cheaper, but so far I'm having trouble...

- And you drove it? You were not stopped? - surprised the president, still impressed by the price of the tank.

- No, it fits into the width of the road, and its handling is better than a passenger car. Visibility, thanks to the virtual camera, too.

The desired effect has been achieved. The minister and the president were, to put it mildly, impressed. However, the president didn't believe it right away:

- I'd like to see that armour. At least one diamond.

- I can even give it to you, there are three spare plates in the tank, just in case. But later, actually I wanted to discuss with you a much more serious matter than a single tank....

The president's a little on edge:

- How serious?

- Of global importance.

- Will Comrade Minister come out? - he looked questioningly at Zotov, then at me.

- Not necessarily. It concerns him too, and I won't tell any secrets here. Apart from those already known to Comrade Zotov," I shrugged my shoulders.

We settled down in the office. The president's guards stood silently against the walls. I glanced questioningly at them and the president. Following my gaze, Lazarev said they could stay. I shrugged my shoulders. The secretary brought tea, and then we sat down at the table. It was going to be a tough conversation.

* * *

- I should probably start by saying that my company has a think tank. It does not only analyse the market, although it is the main direction. First of all, let me thank you for your work over the past five years. You have done a lot...

- Not so much," the president grinned.

- You have closed the oil trough to the State Department, removed their people from power, eliminated traitors inside the country like Osinski, paid off foreign debts, started to replenish the gold reserve, and forced citizens to pay taxes, and even by reducing the tax to thirteen per cent instead of sanctions... that's an impressive record. Many politicians can't boast of even one of those achievements. And that's not to mention Mr Soros's overblown propaganda. Although you can and should be more active in this field, you have sufficient achievements so far, given the amount of money you have at your disposal.

The President hummed, glancing at Zotov:

- Good, thank you for the compliment. But I'm still waiting to talk.

- Of course. As you know, the first thing I did when I came to Russia was to modernise the industry and transport infrastructure.

- If you mean those electric locomotives, then so far they are going to America... - the president said doubtfully, - but you go on with the idea. I am listening to you.

- The money is coming back to me for the production of Uralbots and modern machine tools for the Ural industry. And all I did was to remake the Granit electric locomotive, adding a designer cabin worth a million roubles. Well, and qualitatively raising the machine to a level that is simply not favourable to my competitors, so that they would not lose their usual markets for products and spare parts. Now my group of companies already has half of Ekaterinburg's industry, and its value, taking into account modernisation, is ninety per cent of the value of all Ekaterinburg enterprises. The former Optical and Mechanical Plant makes optical sensors, thermal imagers, and lenses based on graphene and monocrystalline optics. So far, the world has not even thought about industrial production of graphene, let alone ultra-high-definition cameras; I am the monopolist here. The former tool factory has switched from producing manual machines to robotic turning centres and their consumables. We have already received five hundred orders for them from China - the price of our centres is twenty per cent lower than our competitors, with higher quality and resource. Now we produce more than five hundred products, from microchambers and tools for microsurgery to diesel locomotives and giant robots for steel mills.

The main goal I'm pursuing is to reduce Russia's oil dependence against its competitors, the US and China.

- And why Russia? - suddenly asked the President, - it would be logical for you to work in America or China ...

- Because it is logical," he replied, "China is my natural competitor. Two billion Chinese, should I tell them about the robotisation of production? If robots are more efficient, it'll put hundreds of millions of Chinese out on the street, and that's a total disaster. And I won't let people near my technology, I don't need the human factor. And if I worked for America, it would completely destroy the world balance of power and allow them to crush you completely. I don't even want to think about what kind of monster that would make. That's why I chose your country as a natural and civilised counterweight to the hegemony of the states.

The President thought for a moment:

- Let's say. What's the benefit?

- Not everything is done out of profit alone," I shrugged, "I care about our planet. The world is very shaky and fragile, and humanity will not survive World War III. Now the Americans have received a tangible blow on the nose and hope that the period of your rule will quickly end and it will be possible to return the nineties, when an American with money in Russia was the master of life. However, it is likely to end in the third world war - having got rid of Russia they will be left alone with China. Right now your neutrality towards China means that you can stand with them against America as well as for America if the Chinese, say, want new territories in Asia or even Europe. When they realise that you are not going to retire, much less give power to their pawns, they will act more rigidly. Russian industry should be ready for this, as oil dependence has already ruined the USSR, they are likely to repeat the trick with cheaper oil. They have a thing for repeating their successful moves, even if they are again not so effective and predictable.

- Let's assume that I am well aware of this. Briefly and clearly outlined the basics of the situation, then what? - the president clearly wanted to hear the best part. Hjarti didn't disappoint:

- Next comes me. If you say that, then you simply don't know what I do in Ekaterinburg and how far my products are ahead of the world's competitors. At one time my smartphone gave Jobs a heart attack, the rest is no less spectacular, it's just that only specialists can evaluate it.

- I've seen your tank. It's impressive. Robot smartphones are not my thing," smiled the president, "but the tank is very clear. Although it is better for professionals to hear it...

- Passive anti-shock armour means that this tank can safely withstand a dozen hits from RPGs. The main trouble of tanks - vulnerability to shaped charge weapons - is removed. Graphene puff - this means that only a concrete-piercing bomb can penetrate it. Armour-piercing tank shells will leave a large but shallow dent, while an armour-piercing head will stop at a diamond, and get stuck in the armour like a splinter. Virtual reality - so it has visibility similar to that of a man sitting on the armour. One and a half thousand horses at thirty-five tonnes of weight - that it can race with a car and can be thrown out of a plane, along with a troop. Plus the crew protection layer is identical to the outer armour - you can kill it only by hitting one point with shaped charge ammunition. Tandemniki can't help. Six-inch cannon - bigger than any other tank. He alone can take out two dozen Abrams in a duel in two minutes, withstanding their fire. Plus a completely unique control system, which allows you to feel with your hands on joysticks even stones under the tracks...

The President looked at the Minister. He covered his eyes:

- If it weren't for the price, it would already be in service. And you wouldn't have been able to get away with it, Hjarti.

- I know," I laughed, "if it weren't for the price, I would have brought it to you two months ago, along with a whole factory for its production. Now Russia is in a special period, a period of respite. America is still looking for levers of pressure on oil countries, hoping to remove you, Comrade Lazarev, from the presidency. But the respite will not last long, and then the zugunder will begin. Perhaps I'm voicing a trivial thought?

The President nodded his head:

- Nothing new has been voiced yet.

- Good. I've finished the introductory part, I've outlined the political situation. Now about your country. About the development of industry - I have already done everything I could. My factories are not just individual producers of goods. They are producers of industry...

- In what sense? - Zotov asked.

- Robotic labourers, machine tools, tools, electric locomotives to move goods around the country and equipment to turn those goods from ore into finished goods. I didn't just buy up all these factories and plants for nothing; together they produce not only goods, but also new, high-tech factories. I now have the resources and ability to set up any kind of manufacturing anywhere. Tanks, aeroplanes, computers, even nuclear reactors, and in two years I can produce nuclear aircraft carriers and space rockets. It's too specialised a field.

- And this on the basis of one industrial city? - The president didn't believe it one bit.

- Keep in mind that I have modernised the enterprises I bought very deeply and seriously. The technical complexity of the products has increased many times over. Take your watch for example," Hjarti nodded at the president's watch, "I didn't buy a single part on the side, they were created entirely at my factories. First at the parent company, then I distributed them to the others. Electronics from the headquarters, mechanics from the tool factory, glass from the optical factory. And the equipment that produced them is also one hundred per cent mine, my own. Not a single third-party machine or piece of equipment was involved in the production. Abstergo is a closed industrial microcosm.

- Good, - the president nodded softly, - I understand you, it's very interesting. But I guess there is a purpose to our conversation?

- Yes, of course. What I can do, I have explained to you, now I will go directly to the variability of further actions, - Hyarty smiled, - the variability is that at the moment, together with me, Russia could regain its positions, even if not of the fifties, but of the eighties, lost with the collapse of the Union. I created a mechanism to create industry and tested it on Ekaterinburg. The success was resounding. The sales volumes of Ekaterinburg enterprises on the world market have increased by one thousand two hundred per cent over the past year. And that was even before we started selling machinery from the factories, this year we have already exceeded last year's figures in terms of sales volumes, and it is only spring.

- That's very interesting, but..." the Defence Minister started to say, but the President interrupted him with a gesture. Hjarti, smiling, explained:

- 'Comrade Zotov, we are talking about money. Moreover, we are talking about import dependence. Every factory brings profit and reduces the country's import dependence. For the first time since the early nineties, the country is receiving tangible revenues from imports of high-tech goods - smartphones, optics, electronics, robots, electric locomotives. And the imports are not going to Honduras, but to the states and the European Union! I bet that when the American president saw smartphones with the inscription "Made in Russia" in his entourage, a new puzzle of the picture of this world began to take shape in his head. While it's still just beginning to take shape.....

- Did he see it? - smiling, Lazarev asked.

- And reprimanded his assistant, one-on-one, - Hyarty grinned even more.

- How do you know that?

- There are sources," Hyarty replied slipperyly, "but so far he's doing fine. I'm an American, so he thinks that in a fit of eccentricity I've suddenly decided to set up a smartphone assembly facility in the Siberian wilderness.

- That's the Urals, isn't it?

- Americans only know Siberia," Hjarti waved his hand, "okay, let's get down to business. At the moment the states are actively trying to participate in the events in the Middle East. So far, only to gain tacit control over oil. They want to pull the price collapse stunt. We can not only passively prepare for this trouble, but also parry a blow in the place of its infliction.....

- Meaning?

- You benefit from expensive oil. Theoretically, its price can be raised to two hundred dollars per barrel, this is the most profitable situation. And if the price increase will be connected with the war in the Middle East and the reduction of oil production in Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, Libya and Syria. This will simultaneously increase the state budget revenues and allow the creation of industry according to the already tested scenario. At the same time, if Russia maximises the production and sale of oil, coal and gas, Russia will be out of oil dependence within ten years. In three years it will be technically possible to create the whole range of its own electronics - computers, network equipment, TV sets, control systems... the Americans will orientate themselves and seize control over oil, but it will no longer give them leverage over Russia. Why, the energy carriers are their own, so are the resources, industry is relatively isolated and can switch to its own resources. The lever of pressure that was created in the USSR with the transition to petrodollars will be broken and will not help. Here different variants of events are possible, but the main place of Russia will remain the same, and stability will allow to create continuity of power, as in the Americans - presidents change, but the policy remains the same. Everything, the world balancer is created and the terrible consequences of unbalance of the system will dissolve by themselves, or with a small push....

- So you don't want our country to take the place of the world leader?

- God forbid. Uncontrolled growth, no possibility to stop... if the Americans could stop or weaken their economic and military expansion, they would have done it long ago. However, if they stop - first there will be a huge crisis, and then, grateful for dirty and bloody methods, other countries will tear America apart, as they tore Germany in forty-fifth.

* * *

The discussion had been going on for two and a half hours. The President was clearly running out of time. But we had to keep going.

- I'm not going to lie, the picture you've painted is very attractive. However, there are political pitfalls that you are not taking into account.

- I take everything into account," I conferred with Bersih, "down to the smallest detail. It's just that you overestimate some of the problems and don't take into account how much some countries would be happy to be with Russia, even if only not with America. At least that's what my think tank believes, after your think tank's analysis.

- Okay, let's say, - the president sighed heavily and sipped half a glass of strong tea, - but let's say that the Arabs will be on our side... Let's say.....

- On your side will be Serbs, Transnistria, you can count on CIS and India, if you help Indians in their problems with Pakistan.

- And what the fuck for? - the president asked rudely.

- A naval base in the Gulf of Kachchh. India is right next to the Arabian Peninsula, from there it is easiest to operate along Arabia's maritime borders. In India could be located a central transshipment point for cargoes to Arabia, and the distance there to Arabia... a medium bomber, like Tu-22 will be able to sprinkle bombs all over the Middle East. Ships will be able to land and evacuate soldiers in a day all over the peninsula.

While I was talking, the President unfolded a map of the world, looking at the locations I had indicated.

- Having a naval base in the Indian Ocean, especially with a friendly India, is powerful," commented the Minister of Defence, "while our base is there, the Americans will not poke their heads in, but if they openly interfere with our military, they will fuck it up, I know them.

- I'm not sure. But there will be provocations like in the eighties near Crimea... - the president thought, - you tell me, can we make such a move or not? - he turned to Zotov.

- We can, but only technically... the industry will not be able to provide a constant supply of engines and oil at such a distance.

I intervened:

- We can make one of the countries friendly and buy oil there, cheaply. In exchange for immunity and military assistance in defending against Alahakbar neighbours. Refine it into fuel already in India, put a refinery right in the same gulf. It's a short distance.

- Profitable..." the minister pondered, "say, Qatar. What is the idea?

- It's a serious matter, - the President thought.

- We only need to ensure low rates of oil production, right? That is, the country, which is friendly to us, will be able to receive double income from its fields. And the rest will fall victim to competition," I said.

- The Americans will interfere. And in the most brazen way, just take positions in the UAE ....

- And what? Will they go to war in India? Or will they fight with our bases? - I asked, - we have a direct railway connection and a friendly country behind us, while they have supplies of everything in the region, down to toilet paper, far away. In the end, they're going to be at a disadvantage, no matter how hard they try. They need to secure hundreds of oil production facilities, up to and including missile defence. We need to target oil production and transport infrastructure. We're across the Strait in India, they won't risk attacking our base. Plus we'll need to rearm the army, so we'll dump old equipment, up to war-time equipment, to our "Arab allies".

- And who are they gonna shoot at? The Americans?

It doesn't matter if they shoot at each other or at the Americans, as long as they don't shoot at us. And the general chaos will generate a wave of migrants, if we pre-equip the means of transporting refugees to Europe, it will be good....

- What is good? - Zotov asked.

- The EU is not homogeneous. And the racial question has always been the most painful after the war. If refugees pour into Europe, the EU will start to fever. They will have to come up with a new migration policy, the conflict between their hand-wringing liberal mood and the reality where dirty churkas in every alley want to steal from a poor Frenchman or a Dane - it will seriously affect the unity of Europe. After a dozen high-profile scandals, there will be a breakdown in the value system. Eventually Europe will either be swallowed up by the Arab world, becoming a new hot spot where we can intervene on the side of the native Europeans, taking control of most of the country and kicking the Arabs out, or they will manage on their own, but their unity will end, and that will weaken them either way.