The Before Short Story Series. Part 1 - Иван Перепелятник

‘I love my job, Bosch.’

‘It's important. I agree.’

‘How's your burger?’

‘Delicious, Elena. Thanks for asking.’

Sitting in a restaurant on the first floor of the airport, Elena and Bosch slowly continued with their lunch, moving on to desserts and coffee, paying no attention to a series of service announcements lost in the infinitely large international terminal of Dulles Airport. Everyone around was hurrying on business. Parents with restless children were obviously aiming at a resort vacation, judging by the bright shorts and the same cheerful shirts the whole family was wearing, which did not quite fit the beginning of the autumn season in any way. Formal business suits, whether of businessmen, lawyers, or maybe politicians, were supposed to emphasize their important social status and gave an unambiguous answer to everyone around—we are busy people, we should not be distracted by any trifles. A couple of young girls, carefree and not hiding fatigue, sailed towards the exit from the airport, seemingly after a long flight.

‘Are you ready, Bosch? Let's go to the hotel?’ Elena blushed.

Bosch looked at her:

‘Well, let's go.’

Bosch's personal capsule took passengers to downtown Baltimore via an underground highway in ten minutes. After walking around the city, the couple finally arrived at a hotel on the Patapsco River.

‘Will you come up?’ Elena asked without apparent embarrassment.

‘OK.’

The Bell

‘Hi! You are looking great, honey! Well? Tell me! I can’t wait to hear your story,’ entering the factory office, Susan began to question her friend straight from the doorstep.

‘I don't even know where to start, Sue’, smiling broadly, Elena handed her friend a small box wrapped in a stars-and-stripes paper.

‘What is it, dear?

‘A gift for you. A small souvenir from America.’

‘Wow! We love some surprises,’ Susan shook the box. ‘What is it there? Tell me!?’

‘Open it and have a look.’

‘Well, okay, then’, the friend started tearing up the package.

Having dealt with the box finally, Susan almost screamed.

‘Ah-ah!, isn’t it charming! Oh my God! What a beauty!’

‘Quiet, please! We’re going to be fired straight away!’ hushed her Elena.

‘Not both of us together! Someone has to do the job! Ah? That's it!’ reasonably objected Susan, carefully examining a small bell.

‘It's from the Washington Cathedral.’

‘Elly, thank you so much! It’s so beautiful! My collection will soon deserve a personal exhibition—“Bells from Cathedrals of the World”! Would you come?’

‘Well, of course. For sure. Just get me, Sue, dear.’

‘I got it that everything was fine with the cultural program’, Susan carefully put the bell down on the table. ‘Is there anything else you could tell me?’

‘I’d say so, you also need to use the services of this travel agency. Su-san, this is something unimaginable. I had never ever had such impressions from trips…’

‘Elena, Susan, good afternoon,’ greeting the ladies, a tall dark-skinned man dressed in a business suit and tie entered the office. ‘What’s the status of the report? Elena, I see you've had a good holiday. I am very happy for you. Now, as they say, recharged and back to work. The report for September will be ready, as I expect it, today.’

‘Good afternoon, Gustavo. Thanks. Yes, I am very happy with my holiday.’

‘I'm glad, Elena. Very good. What about the report? I’d like to have some more information, please.’

‘We plan to finish the work this week, Gustavo.’

‘I need a final version, not a draft, by Friday. Early next week, we report on the results to the council, so, ladies, I ask you not to let me down. Agreed?’

‘Of course, we will do everything by Thursday.’

‘Good. If there are any problems, I’ll be in touch. It is an important matter. So if…’

‘Got it, Gustavo. Thanks.’

‘Well, that's done! Back to work then!’

V-Tours

‘Good afternoon. Please come in. How can I help you?’

‘Hello. A friend recommended your agency to me,’ Susan handed the manager a business card that Elena gave her.

‘Ah! Of course! Are you Susan? Elena Vega told about you.’

‘Yes, that's right. I just wanted to understand first of all how your company works. Which destinations you may offer then. But for some reason I couldn’t find any information on the internet.’

‘Susan, please come in. Make yourself comfortable. Can I offer you water, tea or coffee? Maybe you prefer fresh juice?’

‘Thanks. Water, no gas, please.’

‘Of course. Just a minute.’

‘You are right, Susan, given the unique profile of V-Tours, the experience that we offer to our clients, we really do not advertise our services widely. V-Tours relies on the feedback of those customers who have already experienced our service and are ready to share it with their friends and acquaintances. This is the way we develop our business, put up the number of our customers. In simple words, recommendations of our customers drive our development. So, as you can see, the reputation of our company is much more than just the budget spent on an advertising campaign. We are glad that your friend recommended V-Tours opportunities to you.’

‘I got it. Good. But which way, in such a case, can one still understand in detail what exactly the specifics of your agency's work are? Why it is unique, as you are saying? Elena said that you will tell and show me everything.’

‘Of course. After all, that's why you came to us.’

The manager handed Susan something like a motorcycle helmet—except that there was no recess, no cutout for the eyes. The front part of the white cast helmet ended, apparently, somewhere at the level of the nose. At the same time, it was very light. The interior upholstery stood out with a bright blue fabric.

‘What is it?’ Susan asked, turning the helmet in every direction

‘A working prototype of a neuro-communicative interface. To some extent, its functionality is similar to a virtual reality headset. Only in our case, virtual reality