Chapter 1 Prolog

Dolphins always push drowning people to the shore, we know this since the time of Aesop. All dolphins rescued at sea testify to the same thing. But does this mean that dolphins really always help people in trouble? Or are we simply unable to learn the stories of those who were pushed offshore by dolphins? The given example with dolphins resembles a well-known joke: "All 100% of the population of our planet have access to the Internet, this is eloquently evidenced by the results of a survey on the Google website."

Now, digressing from dolphins and the Internet, let's look at existing fantasy novels. More precisely, not even on the novels themselves, but on their main characters, especially on the "fallen" into other worlds and survivors of all kinds of Apocalypses. The typical male protagonist is necessarily muscular, like Conan the Barbarian. A woman is certainly so divinely attractive that no normal man can resist the sight of her. Both of them know how to shoot with two hands, they understand all types of modern weapons, and with medieval small arms and cold ones they even go for a walk with the dog and a picnic with work colleagues. In addition to all of the above, the hero must have a third at least a black belt in any martial art, almost always a scientific degree from a doctor of science and above, and there is always a close friend, who is well versed in exactly what will be needed further in the story: from knowledge of a long-extinct language to the construction of a thermonuclear reactor. And if the hero suddenly does not have any of the above, then he will certainly compensate for this lack of experience in all the hot spots of our time, an abundance of money or acquaintance with the coolest bosses of the criminal world.

How many of your acquaintances do you know who possess at least half of the traits described? Hardly. So, is it really impossible for a hero of a science fiction novel to exist without all the burden it is not clear where, it is not clear when and for the sake of what goals he has learned the skills of killing his own kind and surviving in extreme conditions? Can't the hero really be an ordinary person – a boring manager-consultant in a store or an ordinary programmer, and not at all a super-genius?

Of course, certain conditions will be required for our character to stop being an uninteresting, clogged gray shadow, and become a real hero in the eyes of someone. Firstly, we need weaker ones so that our character feels the need to become a leader and protect others in conditions where all the "real heroes" suddenly died or are in an incomprehensible place. Secondly, our character must be sure to remain a man in the conditions of chaos reigning around, not succumbing to the temptations of lawlessness. Otherwise, it will not be a hero at all, but a petty despot parasitizing on the weak and defenseless. It is unlikely that such a type will be of interest to the reader, and in the author it will only cause disgust and disgust.

Thus, the starting conditions are determined: a normal person with his possible weaknesses and shortcomings, in critical conditions, is ready to take responsibility for the lives of the weaker ones. So, let's begin!