CLA.S.S NEUTRAL: Stranger Is Coming

Conversation. Brother. Just a dream.

"I like the way you coped with the monster last night. I wish I had more experience points. You're always battling with the monsters alone!" Alexander frowned.

"Stop being angry; you've collected all the loot." I sighed and asked sarcastically, "How many epic artifacts do you have?"

"M-m-m…"

"Well." I smirked. "Do you remember that proverb? If you dance you must pay the fiddler. So, if you want to fight the mobs, you need to share the epic artifacts with me."

"All right. I'll think about it."

We came back with my brother from university and discussed the game we had been playing for several years. Alexander was a year younger than me, but, nevertheless, he was a head taller than me and much more popular among the girls.

We always tried to help each other, despite a lot of arguments and even a couple of fights, which we could now remember with smiles.

The winter, as usual, was very cold. When are they going to build a weather control center? It'll be a wonderful life. Winters will be normal—it lasts six months now.

We were always cold, even warm scarves didn't protect us from the icy wind, which froze everyone on its way.

Large snowflakes fell from the sky, covering the icy paths. Trees and buildings were dressed in white hats and fur coats, as though they were tightly wrapped in their snow clothes to protect themselves from the cold.

People were driving home from work in their cars. The aerodynamic housings made them look more like spacesh.i.p.s than a normal vehicle. I wish they could fly already; many science-fiction writers wrote about the possibility.

Someday, I'll buy a car like this, and then I'll drive at maximum speed through the test stadium. Alexander didn't like cars; he was fonder of quiet walks.

At least, that's what he says now. I think he'll change his mind when he goes to work.

"Alexey, aren't you going to change the faculty?"

"No."

"Do you really like artificial intelligence systems?" He sighed. "I wish you were interested in space. We could visit the moon city. Now they are exploring gravity, creating wormholes, changing the principles of spatial anomalies, and-"

"I'm not interested, Alexander," I interrupted him. He could talk about space for hours. "You keep dreaming of space and wormholes, and we haven't even colonized Mars yet. I'm afraid we won't live to see this."

"What are you talking about?" He looked at me haughtily. "After a couple of years, they will erect an atmosphere generator on Elysium island. They'll heat the core and increase the magnetic field strength to the Earth's level."

"It's just plans. I don't see any action," I told him. "Artificial intelligence already exists and allows huge opportunities. Space exploration is impossible without such systems. Come on."

We reached the bus stop and waited for the bus. It was late. The bus was never late, so this was a little weird. Perhaps the schedule had changed, and we hadn't paid attention to it because we were arguing. The bus stop was overcrowded.

"You might be right," Alexander said after a while, making me doubt my own hearing. "Such systems will greatly simplify research and calculations at all levels; they could work in conditions inappropriate for humans."

"Can you repeat what you've just said? I've heard something that clever from you before." I made a face, and Alexander couldn't help laughing.

"You know, man, I think that one day you'll really change the world, but I won't be able to do the same." My brother smiled sadly.

I didn't notice the bus coming around the corner at high speed. It must have been trying to make up lost time. It crashed into the bus stop a few seconds later. The place where Alexander and most of the crowd had been standing was now empty. My brother had disappeared in an instant. The snow around the bus stop turned scarlet from the blood of the deceased.

The few other survivors and I couldn't understand what had happened for a long time. Alexander was somehow still alive, but most of his body was trapped under the wreckage. Exoskeletons, bought by our father for us, could protect us from many dangers, but not from such a strike. My brother tried to say something, but the blood flowed from his mouth, making him grimace in pain. He took my hand and smiled just like before the accident. He was right.

His hand weakened, and his eyes closed; the smile remained on his face. Tears were running down my cheeks only a few minutes later.