Konrad let out a sigh.
"Yes, I know," he whispered, keeping an eye on those vehicles. "But I can't cast spells at random. Not without mana, which is hard to come by, and with all the unknowns in that Dome—"
'Have to be strategic?' the brain scoffed. 'Please. You still have your crystals. Grow some balls.'
As if it were a question of having any.
But without knowing what to expect—
'About a hundred Monolith guys,' the voice offered, tone casual. 'I've scanned the area and gathered all the intel. While keeping Dmitry in the loop and helping him in a sticky situation.'
Was he bragging? Sure, that did sound busy, but—
If he already knew all that, why not tell him earlier?!
'I didn't want to overload your system,' the brain claimed. 'I know how much pressure you're under right now. I've been studying your magic, too. And the way things are inside you—'
"Is picking me apart counts as scouting, too?" he grumbled.
'Hey. I value your privacy, and have been walking on eggshells around you.'
He was? Hah.
Then the brain was either terrible at it, didn't understand the meaning, or—
His analytics might have run much deeper than Konrad had suspected.
But before he could pry any further, an unexpected headache hit him right in the face.
Not the worst or the sharpest, but it was so sudden that he almost fell on his ass.
"For the spirits," Konrad grunted, hands squeezing his head as hard as he could. It felt like if he didn't, it might explode—and both his brains would have scattered everywhere.
And the fact that the same kind of pain echoed from that mutant didn't make it any better.
'Hold on. One second, and—'
The pain was gone.
As if the headache had never even existed.
But Konrad was still on the ground, and Strelok gave him a pointed look.
'My bad,' the brain explained before he asked. 'I got careless with my probing while we talked, and someone must have noticed it. The Psyonic Energies are through the roof now.'
"Yeah, could feel it," he grunted, eyes drawn to the tank.
But it still didn't move, barrel facing forward.
So wherever that wave came from, it was either separate from those Monolith people, or—
'Oh, it kinda is,' the voice claimed. 'But also isn't. It originated from deep within this place. I panic-cut off all my probes before it traced them back to us, so we're safe. But, uh—blind, too.'
"So we weren't until now?" Konrad asked, still rubbing his temples.
Again, whatever that brain did in the background, he had no idea.
'Fine. Here's everything I have figured out by now, so stop moaning.'
And while he might have gotten what he wanted, Konrad regretted asking immediately.
Images swarmed his mind. Plans. Notes. Logs of conversations he never had.
The Dome and the CNPP's floor plan.
Which Teleportation Anomaly led where, and—
"Hold on," Konrad yelped, almost too loud in the quiet night. "Why is Dmitry back? And Sokolov? Even this guy who wants to kill me for some reason?!"
The plan was that the Captain would lead those soldiers back to safety.
And they erased Yuri's memories, too, yet here he was, filled with murderous intent.
'Still working on that. But as I said, I've been running a few plans in the background, in case—'
"In case what?!" he demanded, no longer caring about the noise. "In case I changed my mind and wanted to put everyone's lives in danger? There was a reason I sent him away."
Dmitry Bandera was a nice guy, but in this celestial game, he was not even a pawn,
A mere, unlucky bystander.
He shouldn't have been here in the first place, so as soon as Konrad reunited with Strelok—
'How about people who want to be in danger?' the parallel brain asked. 'You have your reasons to fight, and this Stalker has them, too. But have you thought about what the Captain wants?'
"I did. To fight for his country, I guess," Konrad grumbled.
Which might have been patriotic and all.
He could have even thought that fighting the Monolith was the right thing to do, but—
"This is my fight against Lucifer's lackeys," he whispered. "And I'm not like Gabrielle, in case you have already combed through my memories of her. I won't get bystanders involved in this."
And he was firm on that matter.
But the voice put things in a new light.
'Well, this bystander does not think of himself as one,' he pointed out. 'He believes that you're friends. Comrades, even. And that you fight his country's enemies, so he wants in on it, too.'
"And you could have corrected him about this by now," Konrad grunted.
Instead, that brain must have turned them around, putting them in danger, and—
'You either succeed, or thousands of words would be in danger, right?' the voice asked. 'You said you can't cast your magic now, but you have to get inside and face a hundred soldiers.'
He didn't like where this was going.
But for the first time, it felt like he was reading the parallel brain's mind instead.
'Can you actually afford to be picky about your allies?'
Or, to put it better: could he turn away someone who already wanted to fight?
The answer in both cases was no.
But he could still decide what part to play in any plan involving him, and how much risk to take for himself. And now that he saw what plans this parallel brain made?
"Fine. We'll involve them. And I'll rely on you, too. But at the first sign of danger—"
He didn't even have to finish; the voice must have already broadcast his thoughts to Strelok.
"You want to surrender?!" the veteran Stalker demanded. "After all this?!"
Ugh. Where was his privacy now?!
This is why that stupid brain should not have let others into his mind.
They didn't know each other long enough to understand his thoughts.
But yes.
"I have a plan," Konrad grunted, getting up and pointing at that tank. "And it involves me drawing their attention to let you inside, then, in case I have no other choice, to surrender, too."
Because weapons in this world were no joke.
And no. Even if he was willing to make some risky moves so others wouldn't have to, he still didn't plan on dying for no reason.
Why sacrifice himself to infiltrate the CNPP if he could have his enemy carry him in instead?
"That'll never work," Strelok protested, but his expression changed. "That's way too reckless."
The stupid brain and its broadcasts again.
Once he won and returned to Kasserlane, he'd have Lily do something about it.
And hoped she wouldn't make it worse on purpose.
"Well, it is reckless, but also unexpected," Konrad pointed out. "And if they find out that I have what they've been chasing all this time—I doubt they'd want to kill me anymore."
Plus, even if he miscalculated—
No. He had two brains to run the numbers now.
And while Konrad didn't like his second one, he had elected to trust him.
Or at least those numbers. For now.