"Ut sementem feceris, ita et metes"
What goes around comes around. (lat.)
Heavy gray clouds hung over the city. The predawn morning fog was dissolving in the rays of the rising sun. Warm September gave the last summer days, but the leaves were already falling, reminding of the coming autumn. A young man in a hood wandered lazily along the deserted street. An experienced glance would immediately identify a seasoned gamer in him: a sluggish gait, lazy inhibited movements, eyes red from the monitor. The warm autumn wind, shaking off a dozen yellowed leaves from the trees, tore off the guy's tight hood. Gray unshaven face, red watery eyes. Only a cold, dismissive look reminded him of the king of the gaming industry - Alex Gotman.
Alex has been playing for years. One day I just wanted to test one of the new games developed by his wards and … disappeared. At first, the game took hours, then days, months, years. For the first time in several months, Alex left the house - he ran out of any food at all. And what to eat - he didn't care for a long time. He took food without letting go of the computer mouse. The warm autumn sun annoyingly blinded the eyes, accustomed to the semi-darkness of his "gamer" den, from where he did not leave, at times, for months. Rustling with the first fallen leaves, Alex slowly wandered along the street and suddenly noticed a sleeping man on one of the benches, from whom, even from a distance of three meters, he smelled of alcohol. Much has changed in recent years, and in today's society, almost no one drank alcohol - no one would have thought of it voluntarily,and even for their honestly earned money, poison yourself with narcotic poison. It was explained to children from early childhood that ethyl alcohol is an ordinary technical liquid, the place of which is in the economy and industry, but not in the stomach. And the fact that not so long ago people used it en masse - the current generation hardly believed. Therefore, an alcoholic, and even in the middle of the street, was a phenomenon out of the ordinary. Alex walked over and touched the man's shoulder. The thick smell of fumes washed over Alex from head to toe. In the man's reddened and swollen face, Alex hardly recognized his old friend Vasily Vasilyevich, the king of alcoholic corporations.that not so long ago people used it en masse - the current generation hardly believed. Therefore, an alcoholic, and even in the middle of the street, was a phenomenon out of the ordinary. Alex walked over and touched the man's shoulder. The thick smell of fumes washed over Alex from head to toe. In the man's reddened and swollen face, Alex hardly recognized his old friend Vasily Vasilyevich, the king of alcoholic corporations.that not so long ago people used it en masse - the current generation hardly believed. Therefore, an alcoholic, and even in the middle of the street, was a phenomenon out of the ordinary. Alex walked over and touched the man's shoulder. The thick smell of fumes washed over Alex from head to toe. In the man's reddened and swollen face, Alex hardly recognized his old friend Vasily Vasilyevich, the king of alcoholic corporations.
- What do you want, husband-zhik, - barely coping with the naughty language, with difficulty uttered Vasily Vasilyevich.
- Good morning, Vasily Vasilievich. You don't look good at all,”Alex replied.
- And this is you. Young d-d-yes early. How are you? - Vasily Vasilyevich squeezed out of himself.
- Yes, the products are over. I had to get out of the house. Have you already switched to "hawthorn"? Alex asked, wincing in disgust.
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- No, the orderlies from the nearest hospital sometimes pour alcohol. You can hardly find vodka in stores now - there is no demand. Nobody drinks. People have grown wiser. It was all in vain,”Vasily Vasilyevich answered, rubbing his eyes.
- Yes, and people stopped buying my games. Our whole team scattered. Even my most devoted colleagues, with whom I started in the nineties, said that the entertainment gambling business has died altogether, there are still separate training areas that are undergoing long-term control before entering the market. No one is interested in our stuff anymore. There are literally pennies left on the accounts,”Alex said wistfully.
- Do you know what happened to Uncle Misha? - Vasily Vasilyevich asked indifferently, remembering their mutual friend, who once headed the food industry.
- To admit, no, I do not know - answered Alex.
- He died recently in the hospital from peritonitis. The orderlies told. Gobbled up at his McDonald's. I don’t know where he found it - I thought they were all closed! The body could not stand it. Actually, this should have ended, he had been eating only semi-finished products from his old stocks for two years. Apparently, for so long he taught people that this is a normal and healthy food, that he himself believed. When you fool people for a long time, you start to believe yourself. I also once thought that alcohol is not such a bad thing. And if a little, then you can. That's what this “a little bit” has brought me,”Vasily Vasilyevich said with melancholy.
- Have you heard anything about Pyotr Petrovich? - Alex asked and closed his eyes, trying to hide from the bright September sun. In the early 2000s, Alex actively collaborated with Petr Petrovich, who led the sex industry, in the professional sphere, making the appropriate bookmarks in his games.
- I have not seen him for a long time, but they say that he left somewhere in the Crimea. He is being treated there for some terrible venereal infection, which he was generously endowed with by the "priestesses of love", with whom he has become addicted in recent years, - said Vasily Vasilyevich.
- He himself called his charges "animals", and now he behaves the same way. What an irony of fate … What a stupidity … - muttered Alex.
- The same thing happened to Nikolai Nikolaevich. He began to go to football matches, which he once organized, and even seriously became addicted to beer. I met him about three years ago - he had a beer belly bigger than himself, and apart from his football he could not talk about anything at all. I remembered then how he and I made fun of all these hamsters on the VIP tribune, and immediately caught myself thinking that now there is exactly the same hamster in front of me, - Vasily Vasilyevich said with a melancholy smile.
- Where is he now? Alex asked indifferently.
- Crazy. The man has naturally gone mad. The last time a team lost there, which he called “ours,” he had a hysterics right at the stadium. The ambulance immediately took him to a psychiatric hospital. Now, they say, he is sitting in a solitary ward, looking at one point, and like Hermann from The Queen of Spades something like Three-Seven-Ace repeats and sways like a metronome. Anything they tried to get out of this state is useless, - said Vasily Vasilyevich.
- Have these stadiums for professional athletes been closed yet? I heard that all these major league football teams were disbanded and the broadcasting of matches on TV was stopped,”Alex said in surprise.
- So it was two years ago. Then, in some places, large competitions were held, - answered Vasily Vasilyevich, - but the stands were empty. People have already realized that professional sports are harmful to society, and have realized how idiocy they were, rooting for all these teams of athletes. Gradually, they completely stopped buying tickets to competitions, and then they took measures at the legislative level - they reoriented budgets for the development of physical education and mass sports. Now we have only amateur football - in the yard, and the fans are guys from neighboring entrances.
- Is it true that nicotine was recognized as a drug and now for its trade - it seems like they can even start a case? Alex asked.
- Yes, you, young, sit in your den, do not know anything at all. It has long been recognized. And addicts to this stuff are now treated in the best clinics with modern equipment. They say that after a couple of weeks they are discharged, they say, the physiological dependence is not so strong, and the majority no longer has mental dependence, since any advertising of cigarettes was banned. Well, those who sold this rubbish were deprived of all licenses for commercial activities. Therefore, now finding a smoking person is like meeting a crocodile in Red Square! - Vasily Vasilyevich laughed.
- It's amazing how all these "conscious" ones, whom we have never really taken seriously, have turned so many Overton Windows in the opposite direction in just a couple of decades. It turns out that this is even faster than we promoted them. We instilled certain things in people almost from birth, and they completely changed reality in such an insignificant period. I never thought that some bunch of activists, whom everyone in society considered crazy, could change the world like that,”Alex said thoughtfully.
- Yes, Alex. If twenty years ago someone told me that everything would turn out like this, I would just laugh and think this person is crazy, - agreed Vasily Vasilyevich, swayed wearily, leaned back on the bench and began to snore. Alex pulled on his hood and lost himself in dark thoughts.
The sun rose high above a quiet street where two disadvantaged people sat on an old bench. Both of them in their entire lives wanted only one thing - that they had everything. And they achieved their goal - they already had everything. In the past.
The sun has risen over the entire vast country, where cities are no longer full of provocative advertisements, where alcohol has long ceased to be a food product, and ethyl alcohol, like gasoline, turpentine or hydrochloric acid, decides to take only the insane. Here, in a couple of minutes, an ambulance will be called to a person lying on a bench unconscious, because no one will think that he may just be drunk. In stadiums, where fans used to shudder in insane ecstasy, hundreds of citizens are now jogging in the morning, and dozens of posters calling for a healthy lifestyle are placed in the stands. On playgrounds and in yards, where the tobacco fog has not hung for many years, children play peacefully, who have never tasted anything sweeter than natural fruits in their lives, and have heard about toxic chemicals stuffed with flavor enhancers only from adults.like a scary bedtime story. They also heard about how, more recently, their peers played computer games for hours and watched TV, stuffed with nonsense and advertising. But they no longer believe these tales. How can you believe that a reasonable person has a desire to plunge into a meaningless illusion? How can you waste time on this, when there are so many interesting and informative things around, when there are so many things to do and so many opportunities? Children burst out laughing, bursting into loud laughter, listening to such tales. And the sun rises above their heads higher and higher, illuminating the path to a new, happy life.that a reasonable person has a desire to plunge into a meaningless illusion? How can you waste time on this, when there are so many interesting and informative things around, when there are so many things to do and so many opportunities? Children burst out laughing, bursting into loud laughter, listening to such tales. And the sun rises above their heads higher and higher, illuminating the path to a new, happy life.that a reasonable person has a desire to plunge into a meaningless illusion? How can you waste time on this, when there are so many interesting and informative things around, when there are so many things to do and so many opportunities? Children burst out laughing, bursting into loud laughter, listening to such tales. And the sun rises above their heads higher and higher, illuminating the path to a new, happy life.
And only far, far beyond the Arctic Circle, where an almost empty colony of the special regime "Polar Owl" is located on the outskirts of the whole country, is still twilight. A decrepit emaciated old man turned his gaze through the large cage of the lattice of the walking yard to the endless sky of the polar night, strewn with bright stars. In his empty eyes there is nothing but pain and weariness. Only by looking more closely, one can recognize in this old man - Ivan Ivanovich, the king of television, who many years ago was convicted in accordance with the new law on criminal liability for the promotion of alcohol and drugs in the media. His sentence ended, but he remained in his cell, refusing to return to society. His only entertainment is an old TVwhich he begged from the jailers when he was still serving his sentence. Someone thinks that Ivan Ivanovich has not come to terms with the fact that the world has changed, and now other people live in society. Someone is sure that he simply cannot forgive himself for past actions. Probably, he will soon remain the only resident of this prison, because since television switched from entertainment to educational format, crime has practically disappeared.
And the sun of new life opened up joyful horizons of the future world. Having risen to the zenith, it lit up with its rays a huge country in which a great free people lives. And his iron will, grinding more than a dozen beautiful fairy tales about the freedom to "take everything from life," directs the sails of historical development in only one direction - towards Humanity.