- Yes, if you can't fit in, you'll be a typical "Mortal Fish", - Aska repeated. - On Kiva, that's one word, the closest synonym is "useless".
- But ... - suddenly Kaas stopped short, he felt that he was already such a "Mortal Fish", unable to fit into life on Earth.
Seeing his confusion, Aska continued:
- This term is not offensive at all, so are called those who do not work for more than a year, and at the same time do not have significant own funds. It appeared only 200 years ago, by accident, and spread spontaneously throughout the country.
- The fish just swim and do nothing, just pick up food. And mortals, for a purely medical reason. The fact is that despite the fact that Kiva's medicine is really free for everyone, its levels were divided. An ordinary person who does nothing at all "Mortal Fish", will be treated, from diseases and accidental injuries, very efficiently, just as they cured you. But they will not be treated free of charge from old age.
- From old age? - Kaas asked.
- Yes, from old age, - Aska replied, - every active citizen can decide in what state they want to stop age-related changes, and while they work, this service is completely free. But if they do not work, then that costs significant funds, and even a hundred allowances will not be enough for this.
- Some successful people who have earned large capital can afford not to work for decades. By the way, your grandfather is one of those, he may not work for at least a hundred years and pay for any of his whims.
- Otherwise, how can you "force" people to work? - Aska asked.
- You can, for example, deprive them of free food and benefits. - Kaas suggested.
- You can, - Aska agreed, - but it also has its drawbacks, people will certainly work under such "compulsion" for the sake of food, but at the same time, if you look at the big picture, the quality of such work will be significantly lower.
- But why? If you pay only for quality work, they will try!
- You are greatly simplifying, of course, they will try, but all the same, if a person has to do work that they do not like, just for the sake of food, they will never develop in it more than necessary. They just won't be interested.
- In addition, everyone will have to provide work, guaranteeing work that almost everyone can do. Previously, there was a lot of useless work created simply to fill jobs, and those who did not have enough, still had to pay benefits. Such useless work had to be included in the general system so that it was justified, and almost anything was encouraged, and therefore, it was extremely difficult to get rid of this "dead weight", too many jobs were created in this way.
- All people are different and few people can do the same job endlessly, all people have creative breaks. Especially after, with the growth of the quality of medicine, the average life expectancy exceeded 150 years, there were more of them, interests changed, emotional relief was needed. Therefore, such a criterion was defined, "one year without work", and only when it is exceeded, the effect of free treatment for aging stopped. And in order to "reset" this year, you have to start working again and work again for one year. Thus, a person loses two years at once, therefore, few people allow their vacations to drag on for so long.
- Many, only having lost ten or twenty years, began to feel the need to do something, received their portion of inspiration, and even rolled back their age to the desired, which is not at all cheap.
Kaas listened as if spellbound. "One hundred and fifty years". This figure did not get out of his head. "It turns out I would die as a middle-aged man!"
- Do you want to see your grandfather? - Aska asked unexpectedly and waved her hand without waiting for an answer. The scene with the recording of Kaas speaking in front of the audience changed to something incomprehensible. It could be an advertisement or a TV show, a talk, or relaxing in a strange themed club. The only intelligible thing on this scene was a young, handsome man with emerald hair tied in a ponytail. His physique was athletic, but not muscular. And the dark, almost black eyes seemed to sparkle with red-orange highlights. He looked 25-30 years old.
- Is he my grandfather?
- Yes, this is Hoga Vix, and he is ... 318 years old! - As if hitting an anvil with a hammer, she finished.
While Kaas came around from another shock, judging by his appearance, could be a grandchild for his old self, and a father for his new self, Aska ordered three more sets of food and drinks, which almost immediately appeared on the same shelf.
- Okay, it's time for me to go, - she summed up, bringing Kaas back from prostration, turning off the picture to be sure.
- Today you have reached only 24%, this is not a lot, but the day was not wasted. You have something to think about.
- You already know how to turn on the video, the food is on the shelf, don't act strange, - she admonished.
Kaas mechanically stretched and took two cans of the drink at once, clearly regretting that it was nothing stronger and drank them one after another.
He still didn't say anything to Aska this time, only expressing his understanding with a short nod.
After she and her room disappeared, he fell onto the bed and lay there for almost an hour, without any thoughts. Then, quietly said:
- I don't want to be a fish.
He got up and went to the shower.
***
Kaas did anything but sleep. Despite how much he learned in a day, the picture of his new, young 318-year-old grandfather, who looked like some kind of immortal emperor from the manga, did not go out of his mind.
"How?"
"How? How did they manage it?"
"Is that why all the people I saw in the video looked young and beautiful ?!"
The memories of growing old, getting sick, and actually slowly dying on the Earth made his heart tremble. It was only a few days ago, the memories were just as vivid and clear, but it felt like that life had been cut off completely.
"What if it's all a dream?" Kaas thought anxiously. You definitely don't want to wake up from such a dream.
"No. No. No. Get it out of the head."
Despite the fact that he received a lot of new information for that day, his head worked as if it were wound up, the nervous system was at its peak and did not want to calm down.
"What have we got?"
"I've been here for several days, so this is hardly a dream. But, whether it's a dream or delirium, or reality, doesn't matter. In any case, this continues and therefore I need to accept the current situation."
"An incomprehensible creature with truly divine powers. Three wishes. What are these desires? After all, nobody even asked me what I could wish for."
"Magic? Let's say."
"But then why is there a postponement?"
"Why not give the magic right away? Dangerous? But if it is dangerous, then why is this period so short?"
"Why 5 years and not 10 or 15? Given that life here is so long, where is the hurry? I could become an adult like most, at the age of 30, and before them there are still as many as 20!"
"Something in Aska's words seems strange."
"Aska! It may well be a second wish."
"When would I not dream of such beauty next to me?"
"How many books have I read where the main character had such a companion?"
"This is even too similar to the plot of many such novels, about the accidental travelers!"
"And this could be the third wish!"
"Well, of course, get into another world! Or start over! Or to become young! Or live forever! Or all at once!"
Tired of lying, Kaas got out of bed and started a gymnastics program.
"Aska, she's very weird."
"She looks like an angel or a goddess descended from a heavenly palace. And how did she behave, was she really angry, or was she just trying to appear more strict? Is she bad at pretending or is she just walking away quickly?"
"And this dressing up in an obviously military uniform."
While Kaas thought about Aska, a strange smile never left his face, as if he was not doing gymnastics, but indulging in fantasies of "dual cultivation".
"She intimidated me so many times, but never once mentioned with what my failure threatened her."
"Obviously she won't get a body and maybe they'll just erase her like a junk piece of code."
"Maybe she thinks I'm going to blackmail her?"
"She doesn't seem too shy, but she didn't say anything about herself at all, except for the very minimum."
Kaas, feeling a surge of sympathy for Aska, involuntarily sighed, "I never learned to perceive beautiful girls as ordinary people. She can have any insidious motives. She also may not be at all who she introduced herself to be."
"And the whole story she told may turn out to be fiction."
"Everything is too strange and seems far-fetched. And even incredible! Too many things happened together, all these incredible coincidences, mysterious creatures, granting of wishes, more like a children's fairy tale. It's like being in another world isn't surprising enough for this scenario."
"But, in that case, it can be anything!"
Thoughts swept like a hurricane, with many different versions, ranging from the "squirrel" and dying delirium, ending with the experiment of aliens, and in fact, if you believe everything that happened, then this is it. Anyway, his whole story in this place began with Aska.
"In the end, for her, I'm just a savage, and not even pretty."
"Could it be that she only wants to get rid of me faster, hence the time frame?"
"I don't want to repeat old stories, it's better not to bother."
What Kaas took from his past life - the nerves must be protected. Even with their amazing medicine, he saw no reason to tempt fate, a broken heart surely as incurable as an erased personality. He hasn't had a good experience with girls, what's so strange about being allergic to even trying this kind of relationship?
"But now, I'm only 10 years old, he suddenly thought. Maybe I can consider my mistakes and start over?"
However, the old feeling of emptiness and misunderstanding that he began to feel over time in relation to other people did not disappear anywhere, although life was new, but he himself, with his life experience, was still the same.
After gymnastics, he felt hungry.
"Night gluttony!" thought Kaas and reached for the can of food. You don't have to think about being overweight with his new lean constitution yet.
The food, and the drink with which he washed it down, again turned out to have a new, unknown taste.
Could it be that all the food here is only in cans? Kaas thought, remembering how sweetly Aska ate the fruit after which he was named.
"I'll have to ask Aska."
Kaas sprawled on the bed and relaxed.
After a while, he felt that the bed began to adapt to him, at first a little, then more noticeably, under the head and under the neck, he felt something resembling a pillow, and minor changes along the whole body made him feel more relaxed.
Previously, he did not notice this, perhaps it was not before, but now, he deliberately began to turn in different directions, studying the behavior of the bed. If you lie on your side, your shoulder sinks into the bed like into a jelly, keeping his hand free to move. Face down, its gives in, leaving the ability to breathe normally. No matter how hard he tried, the bed persistently yielded to any position of the body, while maintaining his mobility and a safe position for the spine.
"I'll have to ask Aska." He thought, finally falling asleep.
***
Kaas woke up dissatisfied, is it really a matter of waking up at the most inopportune moment ?! In a dream, he was just finishing reading a book left on Earth, and at that very moment, the dream receded and was replaced by reality, and of course he was interrupted at the most interesting place.
While Aska was not yet there, he did gymnastics, and feeling fully awake, he went to the shower.
Yes, in a past life, he would have to be forced or threatened to do gymnastics at that age. And only after many years, he was able to appreciate its importance, especially when he could no longer do it even if he wanted to.
For the past 30 years, he most of all preferred to lie on the couch, however, once again in a young and energetic body, he really began to experience an involuntary desire to move.
However, this gymnastics, although it was acceptable and even very effective, and almost certainly super-calculated and mega-useful, as it should be in the world of the future, but it was also completely unfamiliar to him.
When Kaas got out of the shower, Aska was already waiting for him, in the same strict uniform, but already dark gray, and without a holster. The cut and ornamentation of "shadows" made it perfect for her figure and elegant without any comparison. Although, if she suddenly dressed up in the most ordinary bag, no one would notice the difference, any, even the most exquisite clothes on her, played only the role of a screen hiding beauty.
His gaze lingered on her bewitching image, completely ignoring the view from her "window", and small changes in the interior.
- Will you eat? - she reminded him, bringing him out of an involuntary stupor.
- Yes, give me five minutes, - he replied, reaching for a can of food
- Why so long? Can't you eat in one minute?
- If I drink in one gulp, maybe I will have time, but it's not so tasty, - he answered, sipping food from the can.
- But, FIVE minutes is really too much, if you are going to spend half an hour on each can, then there will be no time to study, - Aska was indignant stamping her foot.
- What is another half hour? Half an hour is thirty minutes!
- Stop! This means that your time is counted differently than ours! - She said and for a moment, thinking, continued:
- While you eat for half an hour, I'll tell you about how time is counted. - She said with undisguised sarcasm, making a clear emphasis on the words "half an hour".
- In total in a year, 292 days.
- The year is divided into 10 months, 9 of them are 29 days long, the last month of the year, 31 days.
- Also, the year is divided into 73 weeks, 4 days each, they are also called halves.
- Halves? - Kaas asked.
- This is because before, there was a division into a week of 8 days, and in the year, there was a "half", which was used as a holiday of the end of the year. This was done for the convenience of organizing working hours, people worked 6 days, and rested for 2 days. Now, in Kiva there is no such rule, so they returned to the old version. Anyway, no one measures anything in weeks. - Aska replied.
- The day is divided into 20 hours, 10 hours for the afternoon and 10 for night, this does not mean that it is light for 10 hours and dark for 10 hours.
- Each hour is divided into 10 minutes, a minute into 10 seconds, and a second into 10 litas.
- It turns out that if you have half an hour it is 30 minutes, then here, it is 5 minutes, so 1 minute is equal to 6. - She explained.
- More! On Earth, there are 24 hours in a day, not 20, - Kaas noted, - therefore, one local minute is equal to 7.2 minutes of the Earth. And how do you determine the exact time with such long minutes?
- We, not "you", you'd better get used to the new order. More accurate time is measured with a litometer, which can measure time to millionths of a litas. However, these outdated methods are suitable only for everyday needs, and scientists measure time in completely different units. - she asked.
- 292 days a year, there were 365 on Earth, it turns out that the planet rotates more slowly here?
- The planet is called Assia. - for some reason, there was pride in her words.
- And no, this does not mean slower or faster, it means more or less rotations around its axis while it makes a rotation around the star.
- You just need to get used to the methods of counting and measurements accepted here, comparing the two worlds, without reference to elementary particles, which most likely coincide in characteristics, is useless. How long does the Earth day last? How long is the Earth meter or how much does the Earth gram weigh?
Kaas was shocked to realize how much more to learn and understand. And most importantly to get used to. Indeed, all previously "indestructible" concepts are just invented for convenience, and on Earth, even the same ones in name, they were corrected and changed many times. Why should it be different in Assia? Yes, they did not start counting by the phalanges of the fingers, but came to the decimal system. The planet moves in a different orbit, perhaps itself of a different diameter and mass, and even the Sun itself may differ significantly in its characteristics. But Kaas did not know the exact parameters of the Earth, except that it is about 40,000 kilometers in circumference, what can we say about the Sun ?! Or the Moon?
While he was thinking, he did not notice himself as he drank a couple more cans of the drink.
"Perhaps only such constants as the PI-number will be the same."
Thoughtfully turning the empty can in his hands, he put it on the shelf, where 2 cans of food and 3 drinks were still intact.
"How much is it in grams?" he suddenly thought.