– How's that?

– If you are admitted and happen to be present at the gathering, you will be very surprised. In the meantime, listen up. This is a complex expert system, equipped with multiple communication systems and sensors that monitor the combat situation. This system monitors the presence and intensity of conversations on the air on military frequencies, the receipt of telemetry signals from the posts, the level of radiation on the surface and in the vicinity, the regular occurrence of point sources of powerful ionizing and electromagnetic radiation at key coordinates, coinciding with the sources of short-term seismic disturbances in the Earth's crust, which corresponds to the pattern of multiple ground nuclear strikes, the presence of live people at the command post. Based on the correlation of these factors, the system makes a final decision on the need for a retaliatory strike. There is another variant of the system's operation. Upon receiving information about the first signs of a missile attack, the Commander-in-Chief puts the system into combat mode. After that, if within a certain time the command center of the system does not receive a signal to stop the combat algorithm, command missiles are launched. This is where the interesting part comes in. What is the combat mode?

– How's that?

– Here we go. At first, we did everything by the book. Every four hours, the codes change. The system resets the download and starts over. It's monitored by all the understudies and someone else! If any of the posts on schedule duty miss even a minute, an alarm goes off, and the codes are changed by one of the understudies, and the one who missed is classified. That is, nothing else is known about him. The most interesting thing is that in order to test the system, maintenance was once conducted under the new instructions. An emergency occurred during the maintenance. According to the instructions, the Cheget and Kazbek systems were switched off and they were de-energized. The commands came from the post of the object "Zero", that is, from us, or rather – from me, to whom all understudies are subordinated. Everything went smoothly, without fail, but after the moment of code change, which had not been changed, because the tests were in progress and the time of change was shifted, the system suddenly gave a command to the combat mode.

– Was it supposed to be different?

– You see, the autonomous control and command system was de-energized, we didn't enter a command, the system had nowhere to get an order.

– So what?

– Everyone's in shock. What do we do? Confirmation signals are coming in from all stations. The commander-in-chief is on the line: "What's the matter?" Submarines, missile sites are requesting confirmation or cancelation! My hair is standing on end! No one was really in such a situation. Although the launch training was going on in such a way that everyone was so sure of himself that he would have made a decision without hesitation. Everything was mixed up in my head. What if there was a malfunction, a mistake, a test, a drill? Time is running into seconds. I give the command to urgently shut down the phase and enter new codes. The thing is, the whole system was under routine maintenance. The decision was made at the top, that is, at the bottom. You know what I mean. There was no one to argue with.

– Why?

The general looked at Rutra surprised, not answering the question, he continued:

– Perimeter" requests "Cheget" and "Kazbek", but there is silence. We wait for a request directly to the post to confirm the presence of a person, i.e. to manually give the command "Stand down", and then it turns itself off. And the automatics records in the log that the command to disconnect was from a person. Who gave the command? At first we thought it was the understudies. We're waiting to see who will be sent to the "grave". A large gathering is announced. The question is raised: who made such a regulation? Specifically unknown. From official positions – the head of the Ministry of Defense, Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces and Commander-in-Chief – refer to the requirement of the developer of the system. All those who had anything to do with it, veiledly hint that it is necessary to deal with the specialists of NPO "Impulse", on whose recommendation the regulations were changed. That is with the specialists of the Zero Center, because in this situation our specialists acted under the legend of this enterprise. You should know that by the decree of the Government of the Russian Federation NPO "Impulse" was determined to be the leading organization for creation of automated control systems for the benefit of the Russian Armed Forces. Those responsible for Cheget and Kazbek report that the command came through an internal closed line. That it was coordinated and approved by the top leadership. It is not known who or what gave the command "Stand down". We had to close the case and deal with it quietly. That is, to take the blow on ourselves, declaring that there was no failure, the system worked according to its program. We appointed a guilty person for misinterpretation of the functionality of the stages of routine work, which was the reason for the fuss. Everything was settled, settled, but the questions remained. It is impossible to hide it completely. That's why "specialists" of NPO "Impulse" had to write a report about possible failures in the system due to interference from an unknown source. Admiral Hent says that after he conducts an internal investigation at the Zero facility, we will reconvene. The investigation isn't finished yet, though a reassembly is scheduled in a couple days. So time is short…

The general was silent again, thinking.

– What?" Ruthra asked warily.

A certain Admiral Hent, whom only the "veterans" of Center Zero knew, was an unknown, mythical person for Rutra. And if Vasilievich said that Zero was an international supranational organization that analyzed information flows from all intelligence services, including "hostile" ones, then who could this Hent be? His level Rutra was still imagining in the abstract.

– It would be surprising to me if you didn't have questions," the head of the "P" department finally spoke up.

– How, after your story…

– So think about it, but do not forget that at first glance this is some kind of official, let me say, vested interests, and secondly, it is a serious danger in the security system. And thirdly, it is a catastrophic situation at the world level. Do you realize what can happen if someone thinks that we do not control it or, even worse, that the control is in unknown hands? And what if it fails at all and goes off automatically?

– I can imagine," Ruthra replied quietly, and he realized the precarious ground on which the world and human existence lay. – Are you saying she can launch missiles?

– Exactly. When it happened, Hent looked like he was in first grade and they were asking him to solve an integral equation. I mean, there was no team with Zero.

– So what?

– Nothing. That's what we need to figure out now. That's where it all started.

Both were silent, staring into each other's eyes, unable to find an answer to their many questions. Ivashov covered Rutra's wrist with his palm and said in a friendlier tone:

– In this case, there is no "tug of war". You will most likely have the highest level of clearance. Believe me, everyone will help you. Everyone who knows this problem exists. Keep listening.

Ruthra didn't want to distract the general with questions, so he answered confidently:

– I'm listening.

– Officially, the automated Perimeter system is installed in the area of Kosvinsky Kamen mountain. There are four other points located in different locations that can duplicate the work in case of failure. Their main purpose is to collect, process and transmit data to the main post. The location of some may change. One of them is located here. The others are less significant.