I’ve brought you God!. Eugene Nomak

a small room, half of which was occupied by a huge table with a hinged top shelf along its length. Scattered on the table were thin wires in multicolored sheaths, a few paper packages of resistors. In the middle, closer to the wall, stood a soldering station. And in the center lay an electronic device, which was a thin ring of copper wire and a black square flat block inside it. Tamura lit the table lamp-transformer on the bracket and turned on the soldering station, on whose indicator the temperature reading began to increase rapidly until it reached the value of three hundred and ninety-eight. Then she pressed the buttons to turn on the oscilloscope and the universal power supply.

      – Take that chair over there and sit next to it. – She sat down on a high computer chair, put on thin glasses with diopters, took out tin and rosin from the box and began to solder the coil wires to the contacts of the black block.

      – This is the controller with the solenoid. And here is the armature of the pulse electromagnet, – she pointed to the black block. – It is tuned to a strictly defined frequency and gives out a powerful two-second magnetic pulse, attracting everything that works at the same frequency. Right there, look. See the contact? Good eyesight?

      – I see it.

      – Hold the soldering iron. Not by the working part, you know. Dip the tip in rosin and tin the contact. Run it while the stinger is wet. Good job. And your hands are not shaking like mine. Now grab some tin with the stinger and tin the contact. You’re doing a good job. Now do the same with this wire. That’s good. Now, use a clothespin to connect the wire to the contact and hold it in place for a second with the tin. Holy cardiologists! You have a gift!

      – Did you get it? – The kid’s eyes are glistening.

      – Let’s check it out. Go get the box, it’s on the table in the hallway.

      – Now,» Batu jumped off the chair and a moment later was holding the box in his hand, shaking it up and down. – It’s heavy.

      – Well, unpack it quickly!

      He opened the package and pulled out a black starfish, rotating it in his hand and examining it.

      – The body was made of a self-sharpening composite alloy, and inside was the same electromagnet, only miniaturized. About the size of a dime. The beams are weighted. Activate it, here’s the jumper. Put it on the table. Now we connect the minus to the trap. – She’s connected the black wire to the block terminal. – And the plus side, we’ll just tap the contact. – The sprocket on the table snapped off and immediately magnetized itself to the block platform. And the whole structure was thrown off the table with force. – Not bad?!

      – It’s still on it,» said Batu, picking up the sprocket block and trying to tear it off.

      – Yes, we need to adjust the resting position. We’ll apply short, weak electromagnetic radiation so that the sprockets just hold onto the block and can be easily ripped off. – Tamura knitted a thin long screwdriver and turned the slot of the tuning resistor through the narrow hole. – And since they would be stacked there, each sprocket would duplicate the induction to the next sprocket. Now let’s solder the button.

      The witch closed the block with the lid and began to screw the screws around the perimeter of the platform. And, not having tightened the last three, she looked around the table for the missing ones. Then she turned over an iron coffee can and shook out the contents. There she began tweezing through the various nuts, springs, and screws looking for the right size.

      – All right! – she gave up. – No more screws. I’ll have to go to Luis’ tomorrow. – Then the witch put on her battle suit belt and fastened the grip block to it with a leather clasp. She pulled the remaining stars out of the box and turned to the boy: «Put them in different places around the room. Let’s see how they all fly.

      Batu took the shurikens and carefully placed them around the room. The witch stood in the center of the room, closed her eyes, took a deep breath, exhaled sharply and pressed a button. In the same second, all of the stars promptly tore towards Tamura. Three of them didn’t quite make a clear shot, but still hit the capture platform. The rest of the shurikens struck the witch’s body from different directions and knocked her to the floor. Tamura cried out in pain and turned around sharply. The remaining stars slid down her body and were safely magnetized to the block.

      – Oh, come on! – she shouted. – I’ve just been stitched up!

      Batu stood motionless nearby, watching the witch writhing in pain.

      – Can I help you? – he asked suddenly.

      – The cigarettes are in the kitchen, in a sugar can over the stove,» Tamura replied, taking off her shuriken belt and lying on her back. – Light one, please.

      Batu held out a lit cigarette. The witch took a deep drag and began groping herself.

      – Looks like all the ribs are intact. – It’s all down below. Stomach and flanks are bruised. Spider armor saved me from being torn and wounded. Why didn’t I anticipate the trajectory? They fly in a straight line. Good thing I didn’t get hit in the head! And they were just lying there, so they didn’t have time to build up momentum. What if they’d been stuck somewhere? Yeah. I should put a copper loop around my waist with reverse polarity around the perimeter. So they’d go around me. I’m gonna throw them on the run. Why didn’t life teach me that? I think six reels will be enough. I wish I had more and more often, but I don’t have that many. How much time do we have, Batou?

      – A little over an hour.

      – We’ll make it! – shouted the witch, jumped to her feet, pulled a shelf out of the nightstand and turned it over on the table. She selected a few coils from the contents, soldered them in series and attached them to her belt with nylon ties. She soldered the remaining ends to the contacts of the electromagnet armature.

      – You solder well and quickly,» said Batu, watching Tamura’s skillful work. – You must be an engineer by training?

      – Come here,» the witch said and put the belt on the boy. He opened his mouth and blinked his eyes.

      – Don’t piss! I’ve got it all worked out! The coils will work in counter-phase with the anchor and create a scattered electromagnetic field. While the anchor will attract the shurikens, the belt will repel them. The sprockets will fly in a circle without touching you.

      – But there are only four coils! And you said you needed six!

      – That should be enough. If you need anything, I’ll call CPR. You’re supposed to be in a black bag in the basement of the morgue right now. I’m the one who saved you. So don’t worry about it. I saved you yesterday, and I’ll save you now. Come on, breathe deep or you’re gonna pass out.

      The witch quickly took the stars and deftly scattered them around the room. The shurikens easily penetrated any surface and stuck deeply into doors, window frames, furniture, and walls. Batu shouted something, squatted down and covered his head with his hands. Tamura pressed the controller button with the big toe of her right foot and jumped back sharply into the corner of the room. The shurikens reacted instantly, bursting out of the surfaces and rushing towards the electromagnet, circling Batu. Immediately, a series of clicks were heard – the controller had successfully magnetized all fourteen stars.

      – Beaver, exhale! – said the witch. – It worked out even better than I thought. Would you like a cigarette?

      Batu uncurled and fell back on his heel. He swallowed and cried. His hands were shaking feverishly. He took a cigarette, took a drag and coughed.

      – Let me go, please,» he whimpered.

      – What’s the matter, kid? – The witch sat down beside him and began to stroke his hair. – It hurts me, and you are crying. Well, I’ll let you go. Where will you go? According to all the databases, you’re a dead terrorist. The city’s