Part 2. Sun Of the Sleepless. Prologue
Sun of the Sleepless! melancholy star!
Whose tearful beam glows tremulously far,
That show'st the darkness thou canst not dispel,
How like art thou to Joy remembered well!
So gleams the past, the light of other days,
Which shines but warms not with its powerless rays:
A night-beam Sorrow watcheth to behold,
Distinct, but distant – clear – but, oh, how cold!
"Sun of the Sleepless" by George Gordon Byron
After the doors behind the uninvited guest closed, Nihlus Kryik spent a lot of time thinking hard about human nature. The holographic lock immediately turned red, and he stared at it as if it had all the answers to the questions that rose in the minds of many after communicating with the newcomers to the intergalactic community.
At first glance people did not differ from other races: in their history there were wars, revolutions, genocides... without which probably no single civilization evolved... But there was something in the earthlings that significantly distinguished them from all the others - their individuality, that caught imagination, and some inner struggle, as if some fundamental but opposite things, like thirst for life and striving for death, fought in them...
And the flame of this inner battle was so strong in the woman, who'd recently left his apartment. He had no doubt it generated an absolute fearlessness, dangerously bordering on madness and typical for those who had nothing to lose, simply because they did not need anything but the feeling of fire in the blood. Believing in something, such person was able to ignite the souls and minds of many and had charisma that could make billions follow...
It was a dangerous trait for an individual if someone like Nihlus couldn't find a way to use it for the common good in time.
But such individuals were most often unaware of the gift they possessed, enjoying the little things that temporarily gave them the purpose of existence.
And it would be a sin not to take advantage of such people, or rather not to direct them on the path that would lead them to success, to great achievements. There were those who had no place among the ordinary mortals, those whose potential should not be lost in the routine of everyday life.
Not moving, a frowning man was looking into the darkness of night. After nightfall, there was always silence, only occasionally broken by the screaming of an animal or the noise of a bird's wings... Silence had one dangerous property - to evoke the illusion of safety. However, this man was not afraid of succumbing to the charms of night silence: he was always ready, like an animal that had escaped hunters many times.
They say that people with a clear conscience sleep well. And though he had many sins on his conscience, he also slept well, though... he was a light sleeper, like those who were smart enough not to waste time regretting what could not be corrected, and knew life well enough to be always on guard.
Sometimes, like today, he couldn't sleep at all because he had a strange feeling: a new chase was not far off...