– What is it? – Ruthra asked.

– This, my dear, is the pulse of the planet.

– What's the pulse of the planet?

– This chart shows what is happening, where and when, and most importantly, for how much. This is one of the main parts of our center's purpose – to keep track of not only who, what and where is doing or intending to do what, but also what is being done. Really doing. Where and from where finances, raw materials, materials and, most importantly, intellectual capital flow. Our center receives information from all resources that collect data. All the intelligence agencies, all over the world. We're interested in everything. Including personal data of social network users, basic financial and economic indicators of firms, corporations, countries as a whole. Also the usual spy data, which has always been of interest to spies, information of special importance. As you know, of course, information of special importance should include information in the field of military, foreign policy, economic, scientific and technical, intelligence and operational and investigative activities. We are interested not only in hidden, secret transactions, but also in open ones, for example, stock exchange transactions. As you realized, there are stock exchange terminals here. Are you surprised? You thought this was some kind of secret center you imagined? That's the thing, insider information is that kind of secret information. Well, for example, let's say a ship carrying a highly toxic chemical material is hijacked by terrorists and is headed to, say, the UK. It's a three-stage operation. The first is an intelligence and counterintelligence operation, which means knowing about it in advance. The second is infiltrate and capture. But you'll be working on the third stage. That is to deal with the consequences of such events yourself.

– I don't get it," Ruthra said, raising his eyebrows upward.

– Nobody knows how they do it. I mean, some homegrown terrorists could not, for example, organize serious terrorist attacks. You understand that for the average person they can bypass our service, but only a highly organized special service can really stand up to us. And so people live, work, rest, plan something and at some point they learn that a ship has been seized and is carrying chemical weapons. Let's say the ship arrived in port today. What will start happening there when people learn that there is a threat of explosion and contamination? Fuss, panic, flight of capital, flight of people. What happens to the stock market in this country? It will start to fall, the economy will collapse. What are the consequences? The country will become poorer, will not be able, for example, to finance scientific research and, as a consequence, in ten years it will fall hopelessly behind. And if someone prepared in advance, i.e. organized to make the shares get cheaper, then he can buy up half of the country. I'm exaggerating a little bit. But you know what I mean, don't you? There used to be total opposition. If a country's power was undermined, it was by direct "undermining." Simply put, it used to be a real bomb, now it's an information bomb. Of course, I am exaggerating a bit, but the general mechanism is as follows. But the most interesting and the most secret is not this information, not how it is obtained, not even the center itself and its existence at all!

Yuri Vasilyevich fell silent and looked at Rutra carefully.

– Why? – Ruthra asked, running through a hundred options in his head.

Yuri Vasilyevich took Rutra by the edge of his collar and quietly, as if it were an incantation, said:

– All this information comes here officially, openly. We don't spy on anyone, we don't infiltrate anywhere, we don't bribe anyone, we don't break ciphers and codes, we don't steal anything. Everything is handed over to us voluntarily. This is a center for tracking those who are tracking everyone according to their structural purpose. In this center, all intelligence and intelligence agencies are united. Only they don't know it themselves. They don't know that the information they gather comes here. They do not know that there is a center where information from all the world's services is processed, whether they are secret spy services or official civilian services. As our German colleague likes to say, "from the maternity hospital to the funeral parlor." Everything, everything, everything. You see why no one can know about us? And I'll tell you something else. This will come as a surprise to you.

The colonel fell silent again.

– What?" Ruthra asked quietly.

– We are supranational. We are not subordinate to the Russian government. We are not subordinate to anyone at all and could be in any country. Everyone is subordinate to us. Our center is the control center of all significant intelligence services, globally, and through them all governments. All the top leaders of intelligence agencies and secret governments are one group. The center has many branches and representative offices. The main ones are the official secret agencies of the countries themselves. That, my friend, is how our glorious world works now. Information no longer has to be mined and stolen. You can just negotiate. And someone's already done it.

– And who is this "someone"?

– You will learn a lot more. You'll realize what kind of world we live in," Vasilyevich answered, shaking his head. – Now tell me, whose family are you going to be?

– From who?

– The information about your appointment came a long time ago, but your background is vague. I can't check it, there's no authorization. If I did it myself, it would raise suspicion. Here you have access to the deepest secrets – even the control codes of enemy satellites, or the trust accounts of the secret services, or the DNA of the president's children. But if you pry unnecessarily, the system will flag you as "suspicious. If you don't justify yourself, you're dead. No one's gonna take any chances. The latest technology, with which you will become very familiar, will make it clear that it is impossible to hide anything. Besides, everything here is mixed up. Those you thought were enemies are comrades and friends, well, or partners. Fighting, feuding, it's a contract, a performance. If everything you find out, tell anyone, they won't believe you, and if they do, the world will turn upside down. We have to live as a family here, to trust each other, otherwise – you can go crazy. The family that's out there becomes something mundane…

Vasilievich jabbed his index finger upward.

– You can't and have no right to even stutter about what you do. Forget everything you know. It's a world of its own, its own culture, its own concepts. Although your spouse has a clearance level, she's being considered for administrator. In that, you may be lucky.

Ruthra was silent, listening.

– You and your wife must have met in the system?

– Why would you say that?

– Here, as in many intelligence agencies, most marry by decree, to a "local". I got married that way the first time too, and my current wife has no idea where I go. Your spouse has been served papers on you too, which is why I'm wondering whose you're from. It's rare for that to happen.

– Whose? I don't know, I got her involved somehow. The system approved it, even though she still only has administrative clearance.

– Our service is a service of control over everything and anything, as well as planning and forecasting. That's why you don't get here by blat, by acquaintance, or for the merits of your parents.

– What are you talking about?

– I'm trying to figure out which mafia.

– Mafia?

Ruthra even smiled.

– Just kidding.

Vasilyevich's face became serious. Rutra became serious, too. He realized that this wasn't entirely a joke. The two burning gazes locked into each other, trying to siphon off all the information they could.