A story from the collection “The Book of Lies.” New century - new literature - new science fiction. Science fiction, first of all, because it was she who always, at all times, knew everything in advance. The writers whose works are collected here are already represented, one might say, by venerable authors - Sergei Krasikov and Max Frei. They, that is, these “new science fiction writers,” are certainly talented. But the main thing is that they have one important feature: much less love for all sorts of technical “bells and whistles” than before; instead, a little more psychologism.