"So, from what I can tell, this was not a substation to the Brain Scorcher at Duga," Konrad explained. Or rather, the brain explained using him as a mouthpiece. "They're different things."
"Like, a living brain?" Sakharov scowled, while Hermann straight up laughed at the claim.
"You've quite the imagination, boy," he said, arms crossed.
But Dmitry was there to back him up.
"It's as he says. There was one giant antenna for one giant brain. And many, many zombies."
They agreed not to mention the fate of said brain, though.
Kondrad was still wary of it, and especially wary of what others might have thought.
But his new parallel brain kept its word—thought?—so far, and was rather helpful.
For example, the semi-auto shotgun was exactly where he suggested it to be.
Corporal Sokolov has been caressing it ever since they handed it to him.
"Strelok did a bloody job at thinning out the zombies and shutting the antenna down," the Captain added. "But he left plenty for us to deal with, too. I hope the loot was worth it."
Shakharov elbowed the old scientist, who paid no attention anymore.
"Hmm? The loot?" Korolev mumbled. "Yes, yes, it's quite the haul. Great job."
And he was already back to assembling something from it.
"But hold on," Hermann interjected. "If what you say is true, then a Psy Dampener we built for this thing will do nothing against the Duga, no? Should I contact Strelok and tell him to wait?"
"Well, it should still work," Konrad claimed after consulting with the voice.
There weren't too many options.
It was either another brain that they ruled out, or a recording of the emissions this one generated. That would have meant the Brain Scorcher was actually less adaptive.
Easier to filter out.
But knowing the size of the Duga, the researchers might've amplified it to hell and back.
'Still, you should be safe,' the voice claimed. 'I'll cancel out whatever rudimentary broadcast they have created. And protect anyone you're connected to.'
Which, in his strange wording, meant anyone he touched.
When Dmitry woke up and jumped to attention?
It was because he checked his pulse, and the brain could take over his body.
Konrad was the antenna now, and he wasn't very good at it.
Still, this thing read people's minds like it was nothing. Konrad would have had to practice for decades—and of course, have his magic back—to reach the fraction of its power.
He didn't have to worry about someone scamming him anymore.
"Give me three hours. No, two should be enough," the old Korolev offered. "And I'll make you two prototypes with an even stronger dampening effect."
"Most appreciated," Konrad smirked, right after the brain told him he won't need it.
But he had the Captain to take care of, too.
And it was easier if they didn't have to hold hands all the time.
"Speaking of work," Hermann noted, still sceptical. "We finished testing your artifacts."
Oh? That was yet another piece of good news.
While Konrad got by without getting shot in the lab, he had some close calls. Getting his Bubble and Mama's Beads back—with the brain on his side—he should have been invincible.
In fact, the good news didn't end there.
"The Bubble was as amazing as we expected," Sakharov claimed, handing it over. "But this—"
He held the strange double helix of his bulletproofing artifact, his eyes bright.
"Right. That," Hermann grunted, checking his notes. "Remember that we said we'd put that in the centrifuge to cleanse it? And that it would still emit some radiation no matter what?"
Konrad nodded.
Something about harvesting the artifact right after the Blowout broke it.
It might have saved his life, but it was also close to burning him to death.
For some reason, it kept accumulating heat—and radiation—until it became unusable.
"Well, I was wrong," the scientist noted, picking up a Geiger counter.
He held it right against the artifact, with the display facing Konrad.
No crackling, and the numbers didn't change.
It remained at zero, even when he knocked it against Mama's Beads.
"Huh?" Konrad blinked, taking a curious step closer. "Is it broken?"
But once he was close enough, the number jumped up.
His clothes accumulated more radiation outside than the artifact had right now.
"Turns out, it might be the most valuable artifact in the entire Zone," Sakharov claimed. "An item that emits no radiation, and can deflect even high-caliber lethal shots—"
Oh, yeah, Konrad could see that.
But the next offer would still catch him off guard.
"Hundred thousand," Hermann gritted out. As if someone was pulling his teeth without anesthesia. "In dollars, of course. It might be worth more, but this is all we can offer."
"But we'd pay in cash, and now," Sakharov weighed in as well. "No shady business or waiting."
"Oh, ah," Konrad mumbled. "That's a lot of money, but the thing is—"
He was the freaking duke of Halaima already.
Those dollars would be worth nothing once he returned home.
And without that artifact, he might have never made it in the first place.
Would it work in Kasserlane, too?!
"That's a shame, but we understand," Sakharov said, deflated.
In fact, Hermann didn't look like someone who understood it at all. But they handed him back the second artifact, feeling much cooler to the touch than the last time he held it.
"At least we added it to the catalog, and look forward to seeing a lucky Stalker find one soon."
"Which reminds me," Dmitry interjected, pulling out a big wad of cash.
"Ah, right, right," Hermann's eyes lit up, the youngest of the scientists all business again. "Pick any of the Meat Chunks from that cabinet. And you wanted a Slime, too, am I right?"
"A Slug, or a Micah, if you have them," the Captain said, surprising Konrad.
He never even heard of those. And why did the scientists expect this order already?
How long was he out to miss such a thing?!
'That's the money he got for twenty Swiss rifles sold through the individual named Barkeep.'
Right. Konrad could figure that much, but was this why he sold them in the first place?
'It seems like you two have been through a lot, and he wanted to be less dependent on outside help,' the brain offered. 'Also, you had a third artifact. Stone Blood? This is to replace that.'
Ugh, he almost forgot. So they never find it?
"I'm afraid a Micah would be beyond your budget," Hermann noted. "Not that we have one right now. But a slug we can offer. And a pleasure doing business with you, Captain."
Ugh. A lot of money changed hands.
And as Konrad expected, the Slug turned out to be the mid-grade version of the Slime.
It stopped bleeding, counteracting the Meat Chunk's weakness.
And with the Crystal Dmitry still had, he was still within the radiation limit it could handle.
Which was no longer an issue for Konrad, either.
He had the highest grade of anti-rad artifact with a non-radiating bulletproofing miracle.
A parallel brain, and soon a Psy Dampener as well.
Even without magic, he felt like he could take on anything the Zone could throw at him now.
But the truth was, he had no idea how many more horrors this place had in store for them.