'The Controller's about to reach them,' the voice warned, and—
Come on, how would he know that?!
That meant his range wasn't the same as that mutant's, but far beyond it. And he never bothered to explain how that happened—or why—during that lab incident.
'Hey. I still can't move without you,' the brain warned. 'Or—I can. But you'd be mad, so—'
"Oh, you got that right," Konrad grunted, dashing across Pripyat's streets.
At least he was still invisible, but the place the voice indicated was quite far.
This town was huge.
"Don't let that thing take over them," he said two blocks in, with one more to go. "I've a hunch if you detected and even read that monster's mind, you can do something about it, too."
'Why, yes,' the brain confirmed. 'Could simulate a Psy Dampener on his targets, but—'
"Don't but me, do it," Konrad barked, turning the final corner.
He caught the very moment those four—Strelok and three aircrew—emerged from the sewers.
It was easy to tell why they picked the laundromat to do so, too. That was one of the few buildings that broke the grid and gave them a little cover from the patrols.
But it also hid that Controller, and they ran straight into its arms.
'Any closer and it'll detect us, too,' the voice noted. 'There are only so many people I can shield at once. And I can't attack while I do it, either, so—you take care of it.'
Yeah, he was about to.
In fact, it might have been lucky that Dmitry—running a few paces behind—didn't bring that monster of a gun. It would have been too loud. But his sword? Running up while invisible?
Thick that neck might have been, but it would never stop Welf's masterpiece of a blade.
'We're spotted. I'll focus on shielding you now,' the brain announced.
But whether that was a good idea or not, Konrad had no time to argue.
Twenty paces, fifteen, ten—
This Controller seemed even bigger than the rest. It looked a bit confused at first, but reached out towards him regardless. Those four didn't even realize what they had run into yet.
But as the mutant tried its usual trick, to rip his mind out of his body—
For the first fucking time, nothing had happened.
No ugly tricks from his parallel brain, either.
No out-of-body experiences or killer headaches; Konrad was still himself, and—
Now within five paces of the monster.
But as it screamed out in frustration, it felt like the sound waves alone had pushed him back. Or even if they didn't, that bastard was loud enough to alert the entire freaking city.
'Invisibility's gone, so finish this fast,' the voice urged.
Not that he had to.
Konrad had already gathered all the momentum he needed.
And his wide swing could have taken out a charging horseman, too.
Against a Controller?
Well, sure. He could feel a considerable resistance.
And not even from that thick and veiny neck, but almost like a force field around that monster.
But was it enough to stop him?
No. Once he pushed with all his weight, momentum, and muscle strength—
The pressure ceased, and his blade flew through the rest of the way.
That terrifying final scream—
It still echoed between the tall prefab buildings by the time that big ugly head had landed. It rolled straight into some overgrown bushes, the body remaining on its feet, until—
Almost like in slow motion, it finally collapsed.
Well, that's about his silent entry while being invisible.
As his eyes refocused, his gaze met the terrified soldiers.
And, um, an exasperated Strelok, too.
So the parallel brain told the truth. He recognized his target, but—
The man himself was far from impressed.
"Great. We can look for another hiding place," he grunted, urging the airmen to run into the laundromat. "And those fuckers have been chasing us for two days now. Where have you been?"
Wha—
"S-stuff happened," Konrad scoffed, wiping his blade clean. "I ran here as fast as I could."
He didn't want those guys to see his blade, but—
They were all too busy staring at a floating head, turning pale and trembling.
'Oh, my bad, your military friend was still invisible.'
And no. Dispelling Dmitry's invisibility didn't make the scene any less surreal.
Why the hell was he carrying that ugly, decapitated head?!
"Finally one that remained intact," he said, running towards the laundromat. "I can give this to those scientists to analyze later. All the rest had exploded."
Ugh. He was still on about that?!
That sight definitely wasn't helping with their big escape, but—
"H-he's the Hero of Kyiv?" one of the soldiers realized.
"What? Here?!"
"Told you they'd send someone," the third one yelled, earning himself a kick in the butt.
"The Monolith will send someone, too," Strelok grunted. "To turn you into Swiss cheese, so go."
Right. The whole reason they were trying to sneak around.
For the spirits, that thing had the loudest death-cry, damn it.
And it only took a minute for the first Monolith patrol to run along the street, following it.
They had already been inside by then, watching as more people arrived to comb the area.
"Fuck, I thought we could finally rest a bit," the tired Stalker kept grumbling. "Have you found a back exit yet? Hurry up before they surround the entire building."
Luckily for them, those winter-camo soldiers were quite stumped by the headless corpse.
Yes, those cursed researchers made those mutants to bolster their forces, but—
'Controllers were never deployed,' the voice confirmed. 'And they're confused about what took that thing down, too. I guess the sword was the right choice. It'll buy us a few minutes.'
Great. But Strelok didn't seem to share the parallel brain's optimism.
For one, it seemed like he was about to explode, trying to keep some loud scolding inside.
And the reason wasn't even Konrad this time, but Captain Bandera.
"Throw that shit away. Are you crazy?" he whispered, unaffected by the soldier's fame. "Do you even know what that is? What if it can regenerate or take over your body next?!"
Oh? It seemed like this wasn't his first time running into a Controller, either.
But now that he thought about it, had Strelok and the Captain even met before?
No, no, wait, he was focusing on the wrong question again.
Could that monster actually—
'No, it's dead,' the parallel brain claimed, and Konrad imagined he was smirking wide. 'Why, yes. It feels great to be the smartest in the block again. Their thoughts are hilarious.'
Ah, of course. But if he was so confident about his superiority now—
"Can't you make those guys forget what happened, or steer them away from the laundromat?"
Again, he should have gotten used to talking only in his thoughts, but—
When he didn't have his magic, nor his wives he used to use telepathy with, it felt too strange.
And now, all the soldiers stared at him, trying to guess who he was talking to.
'Weren't you worried about them thinking you were weird?' the voice inside laughed. 'But yes. Yes, I can. Give them false hunches and stuff. Does that mean I can mess with their heads now?!'
Ugh. As long as he wouldn't go overboard and create another army of zombies—
"Do it, I'd rather clear some things up in this place."