His parallel brain had definitely learned something from the Controllers, and—
Konrad wasn't exactly happy about it.
'Anomalies ahead,' it warned them a hundred yards in advance. 'Turn left. Run fifty paces until a gnarled pine. Now, turn east, and beyond those bushes you'll already see the town.'
Yes. The fact that range was no longer an issue was great, but—
That bastard abused his talents to the hell and back.
"Jesus," Dmitry whispered as they stumbled upon half a dozen Flesh mutants. "Are they dead?"
"They're sleeping," Konrad noted, repeating what the voice told him. "He says he turned their brains off until we pass, but somehow forgot to tell me."
And who knows how many other things he forgot?
Or if he played with their brains the same way, since—
'You know as much as I do that it's impossible,' the parallel brain scoffed. 'Your military friend has his dampener, and you—well, you would notice if I tried.'
But after he expelled Konrad from his own body twice, he wasn't sure if he believed that.
"Didn't you say you'd no longer exist if I died or lost my memories?" he grumbled. "But it didn't stop you from taking control. And whenever I ask what you have learned—"
'It'd take a week to explain,' the voice claimed, almost waving him off. 'Aren't we in a hurry?'
That, they were.
The sooner they got away from that cursed farmhouse with the dead Wolves, the better.
He wished they could give them a proper burial—or at least cremate them with fire magic, but alas. He still didn't have it. Meanwhile, the parallel brain was getting bolder.
'We're about to overtake a small gang of Stalkers,' it noted. 'Should I take them out?'
"Don't you fucking dare," Konrad seethed, but um, well—
At least he asked him this time.
'You should hear their thoughts. They're no better than bandits.'
But he didn't, nor did he want to.
In fact, he'd rather this thing stopped reading his as well.
Not that he thought of anything secretive, but—
His head was pretty much a mess after that massacre.
If he saw any Controllers, whether they looked like an adult or a child, he wouldn't have hesitated to kill them. And while he hated those out-of-body experiences—
'Good to know you'd allow me,' the brain snickered. 'I'll keep that in mind.'
Ugh. And right when he almost got the privacy of his thoughts back.
He made good progress in shielding his mind from those demigods back in Kasserlane. But thanks to the parallel brain, it was all gone again.
Although if he got his magic back—which he promised to work on—that might have helped.
'Well, as a matter of fact, I have a strong working theory, or rather, a confirmation for an earlier one. Given how much they appreciated that mana gem you sold in Kyiv—'
"Why d'you have to remind me?!" Konrad groaned.
He couldn't believe he somehow aided their research.
Those monsters created Controllers, Bloodsuckers, and who knew what else, and he—
"Quiet down a bit," Dmitry grunted, scanning the area with the Gepard's scope. That was the only part he still had, as Konrad prohibited dragging that bulky—and empty—gun along.
"What?" he grumbled back. "Can't I have a healthy argument with myself now?"
As if there was anything healthy about it. But once he couldn't even laugh at himself—
"Be my guest, but do it in silence," the Captain said, pointing forward. "Stalkers."
"I know," Konrad said, rolling his eyes. "The discussion started about how to deal with them. Big brain wants to take 'em out, but I say we avoid them instead, before we're in their PDA range."
'You're no fun,' the voice accused, but offered an alternate route anyway.
"So he can do anything the Controllers could now?" Dmitry asked, eyes narrowing.
As if Mister Parasite would tell him.
"That's my guess," Konrad grunted. "And everything the Poltergeists and the Dwarves could, too. Plus who knows what else, including me—wish I still had my Psy Dampener."
'Rude. But you're more or less correct,' the voice claimed. 'Turn right here. There'll be a tunnel.'
And beyond that, they finally caught their first glance at Pripyat.
"Damn," Dmitry whispered. "For a long-abandoned ghost town, this place is sure busy."
He offered the scope to Konrad next, and—
"A tank?" he scoffed. "They have a fucking tank?!"
No. Hold on. Wait.
Who were they even?!
'According to the thoughts of those other Stalkers, they are the Monolith. And now that I see them through your eyes, I'm willing to bet they're the same guys working with my researchers.'
Okay. That simplified things.
"They have to die," Konrad gritted out.
"Insider info?" the Captain smirked. "Too bad you didn't let me bring the Gepard. Look, they even have some Exoskeletons. And the brass said it's still in an early development phase."
"Exo-what?" he scowled. "They're wearing chitin like insects?"
But whatever that was, he could tell these guys meant business even as a non-military person.
About thirty to forty soldiers patrolled the ghost town, armed to the teeth, and—
That tank seemed like a crazy overkill, mutant threat or not.
"It's a hydraulic-enhanced armor, almost like a mech," Dmitry explained. "It lets soldiers carry some crazy thick bulletproof armor. Oh, and like, a heavy machine gun without extra support."
Okay. The only thing he understood was that they'd be a pain in the ass.
'Not for me,' the parallel brain scoffed. 'I can take over one of them if you want and wreak some havoc. Then you could sneak in and meet up with your Strelok buddy, and—'
Ugh. Konrad got the chills.
What kind of monster was living inside him?!
Stupid question—he controlled hundreds of zombies before retreating into his head.
What did he expect?
"I still don't know how you increased your range, but don't go overboard," he warned. And sure, he knew he couldn't rein him in, but "You don't want me to complain to Lily and Gabrielle."
"Who?" Dmitry asked, reaching for the scope, but Konrad wasn't done yet.
Even though—crap. He should've kept that info inside his head.
"Don't worry about them," he muttered, finally finding those chitin armor guys. "Only trying to keep our little helper under control before he starts World War Three."
'Rude, but noted,' the parallel brain grumbled. 'And they're still Exoskeletons, not chitin armor.'
"Same difference," Konrad said, waving him off. "So what's the plan? The sensible one."
He saw no sign of Strelok yet, but there were plenty of anomalies.
Then, those Monolith guys—
And that tank kept drawing his eyes over and over.
That, and the other group of Stalkers.
"Hey, would you look at that," the Captain whispered. "They're going for it."
They indeed were. A group of five, wearing some high-end gear and western weaponry, but—
About twenty paces in, the Monolith had noticed them and opened fire.
No questions asked, no identification, not even a warning shot.
Even they had to lie low from the hail of bullets, hundreds of yards away.
'One dead, the rest retreated,' the parallel brain reported way before the dust settled. 'And they had some bulletproof Artifacts like you—except not bulletproof enough.'
"Well, that answers a few questions," Dmitry muttered. "We'd better be smarter about this."
Yeah. And hope that Strelok was still alive in there.