He was called only Paul. Neither Pavlusha, nor Pavlik. How could a slick, dyed blond in those expensive rectangular glasses have such nicknames? He could wear a hundred dollar coat, but not those nicknames. There was something noble, lofty in him... And something tough, it was not for nothing that he grew up in a military family. But for the Ognevy sisters, he was always just…

— Pasha, do you really believe me?

This question was redundant. Pavel attentively listened to every word that flew from Anna's lips. With his gaze, he resembled Orpheus, furtively glancing at Eurydice. But Anya did not disappear, unlike her sister, whose life gradually faded away in the arms of winter.

They tried to kill Masha. This phrase was impossible, incredible, invented. Maria Ogneva was the best of their trinity. She had no enemies. She was kind to everyone. What monster could do with her what the recent recluse told about?

Pavel hesitantly picked at the burrs on his previously well-groomed nails. Now they were both silent in the hope of somehow comprehending what was happening.

Outside, the blizzard only took the city more into its possession. From her biting touches, the car glass was covered with a thick blanket of snow. The interior of the Renault plunged into semi-darkness and seemed like a cage to Anna. Claustrophobia washed over her in waves, but fear for her sister caused her great anguish.

The girl hunched in the car seat so that her silhouette resembled a gargoyle, looking sadly from the roof of the Catholic Cathedral. The incoming nausea stubbornly shut the girl's mouth, but it was Anna who was the first to break the tense silence.

“I saw her through her implant…I…I…connected to it often…I saw her attacked.” She couldn't stop stuttering.

Her friend just shook his head.

“I didn’t think that was what you were doing all the time…” But even after these words, his firm voice didn’t waver. He didn't seem to care that she was following his girlfriend. Even in their most intimate moments.

Pavel knew how to keep calm since childhood. His face did not even betray the expected disgust that could have arisen after Anya's confession. For the past year, she's been spying on her own sister... disgusting.

— She zh..? he began, but Anya interrupted him.

She has less than two hours left. She is rapidly losing blood...

- Did you tell your parents what you saw?

- Of course not, you yourself know what happened between Masha, me and my parents ... Yes, I'm even afraid to call Lida! Someone covered myself with me, saying that Masha had left ... obviously it was one of our acquaintances. If the killer finds out she's alive... then it's all over.

“Anything is possible.” He pressed his finger against the metal plate, and the motor roared.

“A normal person would suggest that you go to the police. But I'll take you wherever you want. If you didn't call your dad right away... then you have a reason not to call the cops.

His gaze was understanding. With Pasha, she felt safe.

On the windshield, a digital clock shone brightly, which showed already 22:20. Less than two hours left... It's time to make a choice.

I'm breaking some laws. If they see me in this state, there will only be more problems,” the girl blurted out and grabbed her head.

“Okay, we won’t go to the police,” Pavel stated casually.

“There is a server in Masha’s apartment that downloads all the data from her eyes ... I think this way we can forcefully connect to the implants and see where she is,” Anya whispered, pushing her way through the darkness of the headache.

“Then let’s go there.” His hot hand lay on her shoulder. “Everything will be all right,” he said in a barely audible voice, probably more to himself.

Unlike her sister, Masha did not depend so much on the love of her parents. She was a bird that enjoyed life only by fluttering. It was too easy for her to move out, while for Anna even fifteen minutes from her home felt endless.

That is how long the road to Masha's apartment took.

New Year's Eve city with every minute more dissolved behind the veil of the impending storm. The lights of garlands, shop windows of cafes and bars have already sunk into darkness, and the white and red figures of Santa Claus and Santa Claus were now buried under the snow. Like the cold body of Masha.
 
The track ran between tall black towers. Long corpses made of tinted fiberglass. Why did they once seem so insignificant? Didn't they callous Anya's eyes, didn't test her patience?

Only bright banners crawled like motley insects along their gangrene-stricken walls. They were the only thing that artificially supported life in these buildings. They even flickered like life support devices.

However, Pavel did not look around, he was only worried about how not to be buried under the snow with Anya. The windshield wipers barely coped with the blizzard, which furiously whipped the windshield with its paws. To himself he swore, from time to time, squeezing Ani's hand. His palms, without the knowledge of the owner, reached out to the girl and did not want to let her go.

Her skin was covered in goosebumps. Those fifteen minutes felt like an eternity. But in the worst, most disgusting way, because she didn't want it to end.

“Why are you worried about me more than about your own girlfriend,” Anya asked when Pavel helped her get out of the car. - You keep asking if I'm okay, but not a word about Masha. 

“A lot has changed over the past year.

What could have changed so much that you decided to reject it again? What does it have to do with New Year's Eve? Masha has not become less beautiful, she is just as smart. Your father likes her very much.

“My father wants a lot of things,” Pavel snapped, and for a second, fires of rage flashed in his eyes. “Learn it, communicate with these, behave like this… you know him. What happened between me and Masha is one of my few decisions.

Pavel held Anna's emaciated hand as they walked to the entrance, and even when the windy courtyard changed to a dark elevator, he did not want to let her go.

"Then what's the matter?" Can't you normally tell why this year of relations between you was needed, - she sharply pulled her own hand out of his "embrace". Pavel shuddered. He couldn't see his eyes behind his glasses, which were fogged up from the warm air, but Anya was sure that he shyly looked away.

“I can, but do you remember how you were when you were a kid?” You have to give something in return. Tell me what happened that day, a year ago.” His voice was a calm song, a howling wind in the pipes.

The bell rang and the elevator arrived at the correct floor. Anya did not want silence to reign between them again and she whispered:

- You rejected her, and she decided to live on, - Anya remembered that day as if it happened yesterday. Last December was stingy with frosts, and the ground was not covered with snow. But even on that nasty morning, my sister put on her best dress, asked good luck from the gods and shone from within. She was deeply in love, and this feeling made her the most beautiful girl in the world.

Anna went to the nearest door and began typing the password on the lock's sensor.

“After that damned date with you, she came back with mascara smudged and pockets full of tangerines. Said it was the best medicine for a broken heart. True as an appetizer for wine. How could I refuse such an offer to spend New Year's Eve?

In fact, Anya did not want to celebrate that day. Something inside screamed that it was not worth leaving the house on a winter night ... Even the long-awaited snow began to fall, as if foreshadowing trouble. But Masha was too stubborn.

- We had fun. We walked on New Year's Eve, eating tangerines, packaged wine. Where did we even get it? I don’t remember… — she clutched her forehead, grimacing at painful memories, — And then a snowstorm started, as if out of nowhere… she slipped and… Everything was covered in blood… It was snowing and I didn’t know how to drag her. There was no one around ...

The key code worked and the lock opened, Pavel silently followed Anya, as if the thread of the story that entangled him was material. In a tiny studio, there was barely room for a toy kitchenette and a folding sofa, next to which there was a coffee table with a built-in smart panel. This is the only thing that the girl could afford, moonlighting as a programmer. Only this did not prevent the student from filling the space with small things. Maria put everything on the shelves, not being afraid to dust them every day. Animal figurines, small frames with Polaroids...

But even despite the surgical cleanliness, the apartment was musty, like in a crypt. There were sticky notes on the cork board in the kitchen, with plans several months overdue. It seemed that time stood still in this apartment.

“I know what happened to Masha…” Pavel interrupted her. - More precisely, it does not bother me, - after these words, a wrinkle appeared above his nose.

A mirror flickered to her side. The girl shuddered when she saw her reflection. Artificial intelligence built into the mirror advised me to use foundation. As if only he could save her dilapidated body. Such as she called the ghosts of virtual reality, because in the course of time there was nothing left but their emaciated bodies. Her cheeks have sunk in for a long time. True, the face was crystal clear, which is not surprising - so many drugs were added to the food liquid.

Anya did not find anything better than switching the mirror to the news feed, but another AndroidLive advertisement popped up instead. “Tired of not getting tastes in VR? Buy our artificial receptors and your food liquid will sparkle with all possible flavors. 

- Everything is fine with me. We need to look for Masha ...

- Yes, not a damn thing is wrong with you!

From the words more like a scream, goosebumps ran down Anya's back. The girl was lost in conjectures, trying to solve the riddle of Pavel's facial expressions. His face was contorted with multiple emotions at the same time, and like watercolors mixed into black.

Anya, I always thought we were friends. So why did you choose an imaginary world over all of us? You didn't even call us when you woke up!

The guy took a photo standing among the Polaroids. On it, bosom friends smiled at a bright future ... It was the three of them, even before that tragedy happened ... He gently ran his fingers over their young, radiant faces.

His expression changed abruptly and he was lost in thought.

Maria has always loved this dandy, but Pavel, in turn, rejected her for many years, until he gave up last year. Anya had these two, and she was happy. Although, being honest with herself, the girl admitted that she never wanted Masha and Pavel to be a couple. That's why she was a bad sister. A very bad sister.

Why are you asking? The girl finally spoke up. “At first I thought it was my cross. I'm talking about what happened to Masha. And then I realized that it’s just convenient for me not to exist in this world. I just hate being myself. There is no joy in my world anymore, only the ghost of a half-decomposed happy childhood that stands above the soul, - a chuckle escaped from Anya's throat, - Or maybe I myself am dead?

The last sentence broke something. Pavel's eyes darkened, and his lips broke the momentary silence with a heart-rending scream.

"How can you say such a thing!" With a sharp movement, he brushed away all the photographs on the nightstand. Bang bang! They fell and fell down like snow.

- What are you doing?!

— Yes, never mind! Can't you see that what I do is only for you. We all try... I'm ready to die for you!

She froze. Bitterness rose in her eyes, but with all her strength she did not show it. Her sister sometimes reasoned that memories were hot caramel: burning, sticking to hands and soul, but so sweet.

She was flattered by these words, it was precisely them that Anya longed to hear, but she had no right to be selfish. Everything should have gone to Masha and only to her. A false answer escaped her hoarse throat.

"Obviously you made the wrong choice," she chewed each word syllable by syllable, "you'll be an idiot if you die for me."

“If it helps you come back… Anya… Yes, I’ll cut out my own heart!” he called after him before slamming the door.

Anya automatically sat down at the coffee table, ran her hand over its clean surface, pressing the touchpad built into it. The numbers flew out with ease from under her fingers. The prosthesis definitely had to capture something... at least something...

Video flashed on the dim screen. The eye even now worked, albeit with errors. Masha was now in the midst of an endless milky expanse.

“So not all systems are out of order yet.” Anya rewound the recording half an hour ago. With a blank look, she watched as heavy steel fell on Masha's head. Again and again. This man knew exactly where to hit: artificial joints, sensors - everything was cracking at the seams under his blows. The attacker was clearly aware of the features of Masha's body.

His attacker's face was hidden behind a ski mask. Only a silver medallion, shining white from the reflections, was visible on his gloomy silhouette.  

Anya stopped at this point. Her lips pressed into a thin line. “The medallion was exactly with her that day.” A sharp pain shot through his head. “No, no, no, she didn’t die,” she whispered to herself and covered her eyes with her hands just to stop the tears.

The image of a smiling living sister warmed her soul. But her mind still remained somewhere in that cold snowy wasteland, next to a black, incredibly huge ghost.

“Your little sister will do everything for you to live,” she repeated, smiling slightly. Doctors would say that from madness, and Anya - from love for her own sister. She tried to breathe evenly. She still had time. The perpetrator did not hide the body far away. It was still in the area. Anya had every chance to save her sister.

Before leaving the apartment, Anna hurriedly assembled frame after frame, which Pavel threw on the floor with such hatred. Among this rubbish lay a digital photo frame. In the live photo, Masha and Lida, her friend, posed as Santa's reindeer, making funny faces. Anya's soul became bitter when she saw the date: December 30, 75. The girl enlarged the photo:

“Lida and Masha are best friends forever,” read the naive inscription below.

“It's already been a year… I couldn't believe that everything has changed in a matter of moments,” she thought, and flipped through the photo on the frame. There was a video behind her. Smiling from the whole mouth, Lida joyfully looked into the camera. Behind her was a white corridor with many doors.

"Hospital?" Anya pressed play.

“Today is the first of January two thousand and seventy-six. Look how much time has passed! Anya, I know that you take an example from Masha! If you want to be a very strong girl, it's time to wake up." murmured the friend.

“Sorry, I got excited.

“Does it matter,” Anna even thought for a second that she answered too sharply, but all emotions disappeared from her friend’s face again.

- Masha was ... She is a very good girl, but I could not go on ... I decided to part with her because of hopelessness. Wanted to run away. Hide. Forget. About everyone: about your father, about your parents, about you. Then ...

- Then why did you promise to come to her party. Decided to have some fun?

To make things right before it's too late.

- Pash, you're too late. Even the snow from that blizzard has long since melted.