Chapter 3.1 (1/2)
Jed
Chapter 3 Part 1
Jed was like an island surrounded by a sea of sand. At the entrance, there was a cargo terminal. They parked their land rover in the parking for non-resident vehicles. The city flourished due to it being a market located in between other cities. Dingo led Angela to the market. Along the streets under the eaves were small shops. Everything from garbage to food was traded here. There were bright posters with booze and women with heavy makeup standing in the doorways.
Angela was shocked to see so many people here. There was nothing in the desert, so all the people gathered here. There was real pandemonium on the streets. Following Dingo was already difficult. Some strange traders told her,“You there beautiful, take it while it’s cheap,” and they offered dried lizards and scorpions soaked in rum. Angela turned away in disgust. However, Dingo was enjoying this bustle. Somehow managing to catch up with him, Angela asked, “And how do you plan to collect information?”
“We’ll look for those that could have traded with the Pioneer.”
“And do you know who to look for?”
“We’ll sort it out on the spot.”
Dingo headed for an alley, further from the main road. Here everything was different. There were suspicious men everywhere. They seemed to be eyeing the pa.s.ser-bys. Here there were stores, selling stolen goods and drugs. Dingo kept walking. He stopped before a store that was selling suspicious electronic parts. Near the window on a table sat a man, that was in charge of this store.
Dingo spoke to him,“ ಐ ಓ ಔ ಕ ಖ ಗ ಘ.”
Angela watched doubtfully. She did not understand the language that Dingo spoke in. There were several different languages mixed up together, forming its own dialect.
The man looked at Dingo suspiciously.
“ಙ ಝ ಞ ಲ ಶ ಹ ય ર લ ળ વ ಕ ಖ দ ধ ন প ফ ব অ আ ই.”
The man spoke.
“র ল শ ষ স অ আ ই ঈ উ.”
Angela turned on her wrist computer. She activated the automatic translator. But their conversation had too much slang. After a simple translation, a lot of words were left, the meaning of which were unclear. She could have asked Deva’s operator for an algorithm for an exact translation, but she couldn’t use the satellite communication system.
“ભ મ ય ર લ ঢ ণ ত থ ળ વ શ ષ.”
Saying something, Dingo held out a small diamond in his hand.
“ સ ই ঈ উ હ ড ঢ ণ ত ধ ন প ফ ব ভ ম য.”
The man got up and went into the store.
Angela said in a whisper, “Hey, translate.”
“Oh sorry,” Dingo was able to answer before the man came back.
“ র ল শ ষ স অ আ.”
“Hey.”
“Later.” He said to Angela and followed the merchant deep into the store.
“Wait… Oh d.a.m.n it!”
Angela’s dissatisfaction reached its limits. She will not forgive for not explaining anything to her and doing what he wants. In Deva, she always carried out investigations on her own. She decided by herself and acted by herself. She got the information from the network and gave instructions to AI support, she solved many cases of interference with the system. But in the real world, she wasn’t capable of anything. She couldn’t achieve anything.
“What is this… How is this! d.a.m.n him!”
Angela herself did not notice that she lost control, and three hooligans noticed her.
“I can’t translate, I can’t collect information. Why does this world outside of Deva even exist? Why do they live in such a disgusting place?”
She continued to grumble as the hooligans approached her. Two of them came in from behind. One was a small but strong guy, like a wrestler, and the second had a bubble gum and a knife in his hand. The third that stood in front of her wore round gla.s.ses and a Hawaiian s.h.i.+rt.
“h.e.l.lo beautiful. Lost?”
The wrestler added.
“Let us walk you. But you have to pay for that.”
“Huh..?”