Choice... We make it every day... Some options change our lives insignificantly. And the choice itself is insignificant in the gutter of the universe... What will a person's choice change if, say, he voluntarily takes a vow of childlessness? Someone will not have children, that's all... And then the magic of choice comes into play... If a common worker has no children, what of it? There are millions like him, and many will have children. So no need to fear... But what if a King takes such a vow? An Emperor? The last of his kind? Then everything changes instantly... The choice ceases to be insignificant. For a King needs an heir, and the country needs a new King and ruler.
Magic, right? An ordinary person chooses, it would seem, his own future and no one cares, for the most part. But when a King chooses, heated debates immediately begin... However, Leonidas "Lyonechka" Ivanov was little concerned by this in life.
Initially... Much later, Leonidas realized those choices that should not have been made. But it was too late. And would the current Leonidas reconsider his actions if he got another chance, or would he follow the beaten path? He didn't know... After all, his choice in that specific situation had its pluses. More precisely, he always believed the pluses outweighed the minuses... Leonidas was born into an ordinary family... Only his parents were not that.
Both his father and mother drank almost nonstop, and when drunk, they beat their son. He never had any grandparents. The last grandmother died just three years before he was born... Still, Leonidas had no time to curse the universe for such injustice. Lyonya always tried to appease his parents by any means, just so they wouldn't beat him anymore... And this later turned into big problems... Taught that obedience and servitude bring peace, in kindergarten and later at school, he became a sort of servant... And the worst part was that he physically couldn't overcome himself. Everyone subjugated him.
"There was no man in him," as his father put it. He even tried to kill his own son when he turned thirteen... For which he ended up in prison for attempted murder of a minor. And then his mother finally drank herself to death... His father later died in prison from tuberculosis, and naturally, Leonidas was taken to an orphanage, where his servitude continued. He tried to negotiate with people, but they didn't listen. The world he found himself in by chance understood only the strong. Not necessarily those who hit hard, but at least those who didn't doubt their convictions. This world didn't even break Leonidas... Alas, for Lyonya himself, he didn't want to change.
Or maybe he couldn't? The ingrained message that if you help someone selflessly, they won't hit you, worked like a charm. Almost everyone took advantage of it, especially after he left the orphanage. Leonidas's choice of profession fell where he would have minimal contact with people... The second level of his protection, when he realized his problems with excessive pacifism, was precisely limiting contact with people... Especially with women and girls... Oh... That's a whole separate story. Girls... More precisely, girls in childhood are the cruelest creatures. Bitches in the flesh... It was from them that the chubby Leonidas (and it wasn't about diet; he was simply predisposed to being overweight) received the most terrible insults.
However, that didn't stop him from remaining a man of normal orientation... If he ever became a man at all... Although unlike those whom "real men" call "virgins," he at least once in his life had sex... Probably one of his best achievements, besides his translator's diploma. Do translators interact with people? Not Lyonya, who sits at home and simply translates whatever is ordered. From English to Russian, from Russian to English. It was always enough to live on, though sometimes just barely. This lifestyle affected his figure even more, turning him into a capital-F fat man...
At the same time, Leonidas began to acquaint himself with anything that would entertain him, and despite the protests of his neighbor, Baba Nusya, whom Leonidas offended by spending hours "bloating at computers instead of meeting girls," he didn't regret it. He became familiar with a huge body of work by various authors. Anime, manga, comics, games, movies, series... Thrown out by society, he began studying what would help him distance himself as much as possible from that society... Because on the street he was Leonid Ivanov, a man with a mediocre surname and an unviable character. But there he... As one author, widely known in narrow circles, wrote: "There he is transported into the place of the Main Character." He doesn't feel like pathetic Lyonya-Vanya, as they called him, but another person.
That was exactly what kept the man everyone called "Ordinary Geek" from taking unlawful actions against his own life... Yes, people could make fun of him, and he wouldn't say a word. His superiors could "almost literally screw him over," ignoring the contract and adding just a couple rubles to his salary. And he would swallow it... But here, at home, his computer awaited him, which he updated with enviable persistence every three years. Earlier, his finances simply didn't allow it... Yes... The surroundings around that computer were shabby... Bare walls, which he periodically had to clean of various fungi. The TV, standing on the nightstand in the apartment the state had given him, seemed to remember Joseph Vissarionovich and the Nineteenth Party Congress. There was only one living room... It seemed they had deliberately given him the worst option.
The sofa, which he unfolded, creaked and was living out its last days... And that lifespan was short, considering Leonidas's weight category of "over a hundred and forty kilograms." The kitchen was as primitive as could be: just a gas stove, a table with a stool that miraculously held Lyonya's weight, an ancient refrigerator, and a new microwave standing in the very corner, as if asking, "What am I doing here?" That same question was asked by Lyonya's girlfriend when he brought her here. It was that visit to his apartment that became their last date. And it wasn't that the girl was impressed by the standard smells of a bachelor pad or the clutter... No, Lyonya was a fairly clean man. And before a girl's visit, like any normal man, he had cleaned and polished his apartment to a shine.
Besides, Nadya was a fairly average girl; such girls don't marry oligarchs. She was average in every way. Black hair falling to her shoulders, height 1.70 meters, figure... more inclined to be overweight. An average face, nothing memorable. But even she was struck by Lyonya's apartment... What had she expected? Orphanage kids get apartments, but not penthouses! In any case, what's done is done... Lyonya had long since forgotten both Nadya and everything connected with her, returning to the routine. To his life.
The computer's screensaver appeared as usual, showing a standard picture for that type of man. What kind of standard? You can make fun of geeks, but if his screensaver shows a beautiful woman sunbathing in a rather revealing swimsuit, then not everything is bad. That still makes him a man, not a f*g.
"The project is done, I think," Leonidas muttered to himself. "So today I can relax and play something..."
The main advantage of his PC, after the graphics card and processor, Leonidas considered the amount of memory. Five terabytes — what can't you fit in that much space! So many games, books, movies, and series... Porn, eventually. Is he a man or not? Women, if they go "too long without," start throwing themselves at every guy, but men! Men know about alternatives, and the main thing in a man's body is the absence of restrictions like a menstrual cycle. But Leonidas didn't start his PC for porn. Cursing, he shut down the mining program (you can't really play games while mining; the program itself was set to autorun), Leonidas opened the notorious "Games" folder and began to choose... What to play was the eternal question. Outside, the heat was unbearable; the Sun seemed intent on completely melting Moscow into lava.
And what does summer mean for a gamer? Exactly, almost no games come out in summer. So he had to choose from reserves like "play when there's time.".. Or replay. So he had to choose... Hmm... "Star Wars"? No, maybe today it's better to pick another space saga, less famous but also legendary... Casting aside his doubts, Leonidas clicked on the Mass Effect 2 folder, immediately thinking about who to play as... Or should he go back to an old save?
He hadn't even launched the game when the doorbell announced the arrival of guests.
"What the devil brought them?" Leonidas grumbled angrily, walking to the front door. "Who's there?"
"Lyonya, open up!" a demanding voice came. "It's me..."
Leonidas squinted, peering through the peephole. The person's face, a man's, was vaguely familiar. Square, flat... A thug's mug... Still, he definitely recognized Lyoshka Nechaev, his "comrade" from the orphanage. After a moment's hesitation, Lyonya opened the door...
"Lyonya!" Lyosha tried to hug his old "comrade," but his arms couldn't reach around. "Hey, how's life? I see your clothes have changed — did you get fatter? You can't do that, Lyonya... Ah, whatever. Guys, I told you Lyonya would let us in!"
"What are you..." Lyonya started, but five... maybe six people rushed into his apartment.
"They're with me, Lyonya. We decided to hang out with friends, and guess what, cops got on our case, so we ran. And then I remembered you live nearby. So why not hang at your place?"
Lyosha hadn't changed: with his unattractive face, he still had the same scrawny build. With him came three women of average appearance. One was even overweight, the second, on the contrary, skinny, and the third more inclined to be chubby. Two men, on the other hand, were quite muscular... Though it was strange that a potbellied woman was hanging out with guys like that. But maybe they were just colleagues from one job.
"Make yourselves at home," Lyosha waved his hand, as if it were his own place. "Lyonya, what's in the fridge?" he asked his friend. "I'm hungry. Got anything for beer?"
"Ummm..." Lyonya drew out. "But I wasn't expecting guests..."
"Yeah, Lyonya," Lyosha pulled him aside. "Relax... So you weren't expecting us... Don't fuss. We'll hang out and leave. Sorry, we couldn't find a beauty for you. But we'll pay for everything, and extra money never hurts, right I'm saying..."
"Is that a computer?" the full woman asked. "What stone's in there? And the vidyukha?" (Author's note: "Stone" is slang for processor, vidyukha for graphics card)
"Hey, don't touch!" Leonidas protested, breaking free from Lyosha's grip, and walking over to the computer, he put it to sleep, shoving the woman away rather rudely.
"Whoa-whoa," she waved her hands, "acting like a total loser and a jerk. Maybe I'm just interested."
"Vera," the guy said to her, "don't start. We came to relax, not to work."
"Alright, Vasyan," she smiled at him.
"What, is there a table here?" the skinny woman asked.
"I saw one in the kitchen," another replied. "But there's only one stool, and it's almost broken."
"Eh, Lyonya, Lyonya," Lyosha sighed heavily. "Pretty weak. Oh well. We'll move the table into the living room. And everything else, I assume, is available, Sofya?" he asked the woman.
"Yeah, it's fine. There's a stove, a microwave..."
"The main thing is the computer," the fat one continued. "Everything else is a matter of acquisition."
"That's my computer," Lyonya objected. "Not yours. And don't claim rights to it."
"Oh," the fat woman marveled. "Shouldn't you, as the host receiving dear guests, share everything with us?"
"Shut up, Vera," one of the men replied. "Leonidas is right. It's his computer, and you have no right to touch it without his permission. Whether to share or not is a strictly personal matter."
"You're pushy, Valera," the woman retorted. "Talking back to a woman."
"He's just putting her in her place," flashed through Lyonya's mind. "And I should have been the one to do that. But I can't... For some reason."
"Alright, okay," Lyokha smiled, barely squeezing into the room. He and another guy were carrying his kitchen table. Sofya came behind, carrying his stool. "We took everything... Let's sit down... Lyonya, you too, you're the host. Help your comrade and friend organize a banquet for his first vacation..."
"Why don't you hold the banquet at the 'Yar' restaurant?" (Author's note: one of the most elite restaurants in Moscow) "You bragged that once you got a job, you'd do just that. But nine months have passed since you became a physical education teacher, and you still haven't taken our whole orphanage group to 'Yar'. Windbag," Leonidas thought angrily, but only smiled and went to help. "It would be rude to throw them out, I have to help. They'll get drunk fast and leave fast," a plan formed in his head. "Or turn them over to the cops, since they mentioned them... And are these all teachers?"
"Well, to my first vacation and my first vacation pay!" As soon as they had more or less set everything on the table, the men immediately poured themselves a shot of hard liquor. "It went down well!" Lyosha said. "Well, shall we have another, colleagues?"
"Let's," Vera supported.
"It's a good thing the skinny one sat on the stool. Vera definitely weighs more than me, and she would have finished that stool off," a thought flashed through Lyonya's head.
Lyonya knocked back the vodka... Definitely, his body had an incredible plus — an amazing resistance to alcohol. He could easily outdrink this whole honest company... And then throw them all out onto the street...
"By the way, Leonidas," the skinny woman said. "I turned on the portable grill on the kitchen," an electric one, apparently. "Can you help take it down later?"
"I'll help... WAIT!" He jumped up abruptly. "How'd you turn it on? The kitchen wiring is crap. You can't turn on more than three appliances at once there! The fridge, the microwave... The gas stove! Damn!"
He ran to the kitchen...
"Whoa, hold it, you fool. Your house is grounded!" Lyosha exclaimed.
"The fool is you! This building's been in emergency condition since Medvedev left, if not earlier!" Leonidas burst into the kitchen, hoping to save at least some of his kitchen appliances.
Quickly spotting the grill with his eyes, he grabbed the cord and tried to pull it from the socket... "Damn, I should have told them to go to hell right from the start," crossed the mind of the adult man being shocked by electricity. Such voltage, unfortunately, is something no ordinary person can withstand...
* * *
70 BBY. Ninth month, tenth day. Tustra, Maternity Ward
The day began standardly for all sentient beings. Tustra — a majestic and beautiful city, bathed in the golden light of the star Sephi, named Tustra Prime — was waking up after another night... On the outskirts, the roar of speeders gradually became audible, though the city center was quiet due to its huge pedestrian zone. Incredible parks, recreation areas, crystal-clear lakes, and entertainment centers — that was what lay in the center of Tustra, along with the Royal Palace. This planet was and is inhabited by the Sephi. In essence, the Sephi greatly resembled humans... In appearance... They had similar bodies, slightly longer arms than humans, and similar fingers. However, for the lion's share of the Sephi, they resembled humans so much that most people wouldn't notice the difference. If not for their pointed ears and incredibly long lifespan.
Ideally, a Sephi can live up to four hundred years, and with proper care, all six hundred... Though one must also remember about Force users... Some of them can live up to a thousand years. At least there are rumors about a Jedi woman named Fay traveling the Unknown Regions, who, according to rumors, has been traveling since the Ruusan Reformation.
Despite having a King, the Sephi are quite free. King Alaric is wise and old; unlike many kings and dictators, he does not enslave his people. And the people repay the wise King with boundless loyalty and love. During Alaric's reign, not a single civil war has occurred, and Tustra itself has hardly participated in any conflicts.
The silence of one of the most elite maternity wards, however, was literally shattered this morning by the screams of a woman in labor. That woman was Mayla Flyingstar, the head maid at the palace, currently on well-deserved leave due to pregnancy. The medics reacted instantly... The woman in labor, who had just gone to the bathroom after waking up, was escorted to the ward, where a droid quickly delivered the baby, immediately proceeding to calm the child.
Mayla Flyingstar — a rather tall, beautiful woman with dark hair and the same dark eyes — breathed heavily.
"A boy," the droid announced. The cry of the new inhabitant of the planet could still be heard. The first breath is incredible pain for every infant in the world. "Performing standard procedure," the droid declared, pricking the newborn's vein and taking just a little blood. "The newborn individual has been found to have 14,130 midi-chlorians in the blood."
Naturally, the woman recovering from labor pains didn't hear this, though later the parents — Mayla Flyingstar and Dennis Flyingstar, a simple technician from the Royal Palace hangar — were informed of their child's results, which made Dennis only sigh heavily. Such a result would definitely attract the Jedi, meaning their cute child with black hair and purple eyes, inherited from his father, would become a member of that Order... On one hand, it was honorable, but on the other... Whispers had already begun in the canteen that the Jedi had declined. Still, such things are always said about representatives of authority.
Though if one were to say that about King Alaric, a hundred percent of the time one might get a punch in the teeth for it... The Flyingstar family descended from humans... Humans who had migrated to Tustra in their time and mated with the Sephi. As a result, their descendants mostly resembled humans; namely, they were predominantly standard height, whereas many Sephi could grow up to two meters (Author's note: the metric system will be used). Also, the Flyingstars did not have such long fingers, and their hands themselves were standard. Light — that's what the newborn boy was named — would also fit this description in the future... If he lived, because Mayla had barely let him out of her arms since he was given to her. It seemed she would fight even the Jedi when they came for the child, and their protocol droid had several times advised counting the number of ribs after Mayla Flyingstar's hugs... And now they'd have to find a new protocol droid instead of counting ribs.
* * *
"Damn those bastards," that thought flashed through my mind (from the moment of transmigration, the narrative begins in the first person) as electricity convulsed me. "Why did I die so stupidly? I could have done everything differently! Completely differently! But no, I had to go and pull it out. Only the fat guy from 'Reincarnation of the Unemployed' died more stupidly. And now... I'm dead, what now? Where's hell or heaven? Didn't I deserve at least something?"
And then something hooked me, by the stomach, and lifted me up... It spun me around, rising higher and higher... And I saw... Strange golden energy pouring out of a sphere... I don't know what affected me, but I ran... Or flew? Whatever, I began to close in on this energy, and as soon as I touched it, I was thrown back... Bright dots flashed before me, like stars... Strange pieces of land... I was carried at some incredible speed until I felt a strange slowing... Or not? Was I not slowed down? Because I found myself near a giant, fiery ball... The Sun? I only managed to glimpse the object, realizing it was a giant fireball, and then I was thrown downward. I fell, and my world plunged into darkness...
The last thing I felt was incredible pain in my chest. And also the crying of a screaming child.
"Where did a child come from?" a belated thought appeared in my head.